My first craft show!!!

Soon I'll be making another huge step for my little business! Yep, I'm gonna do a craft show!!! Thanks to my cousin Katie (owner of Kdee Massage) who found this show! She will also be there selling some of her homemade goodies, and hopefully doing some massages.

Here is the info:
DATE: July 2nd. 2011 TIME: 9:00am to 6:00pm
PLACE: Floor ...& Decor Outlets parking lot on 59th. and Bell Rd.
5880 W. Bell Rd. Glendale Az. 85308
There will also be food and music :) and what is really cool is that all the money earned from booth rentals goes towards breast cancer research!

Tattoo Soaps - Day 48 of 365 days of Soap

I have been wanting to try this technique since I very first started making soaps! I first saw the idea on this great blog goplanetearth.blogspot.com, another great soap making resource. They actually sell transfer paper, so you can print out your own designs. The way my little soap business works, is I make little soap, sell it, and reinvest in more supplies (molds, raw soap, colors etc.). I don't think I have yet to make an actual cash profit, but I have a closet overflowing with molds and other fun stuff. So anyways, I've been saving up to buy some transfer paper. It's a little pricey, as far as soap supplies goes, but totally worth it. Then I usually get side tracked, and spend the money on packaging, or scents, or whatever. Then finally I was like light bulb! This paper is meant to be made for temporary tattoo's, why don't I just buy a couple of them and see how it turns out?!? Then Wa la, we now have day 48 soap! I'm still gonna save up for the paper because I have a few of my own design ideas, but for now it's Captain Jack Sparrow (another favorite of mine, wit whew).

I won a contest!!!

I won an "Aloha Mold Contest" held by Soapqueen.com! Look at May 9th's blog to see my name! They were asking what kind of molds their readers would like to see, and 4 winners were picked! The winners received 4 molds of their choice! The molds are given from brambleberry.com (they have really great stuff). I'm so excited I won, and thankful because this will really help out my "365 days of soap" project :) Thank you so much Soap Queen, and Brambleberry!!!

Please visit both these websites, they are really great soap resources, and make sure to check out my Facebook fan page to see how I use the molds!

How to: Fortune Cookie Soaps

These super cute soaps are very easy to make, just make sure you work quickly before your soap gets too hard. I apologize that my photos are not the best quality for this tutorial, I was trying to work fast lol.

You need:
White Soap
Light Brown/Yellow soap
Silicone Bread Pan
Silicone Jelly Roll Pan
Knife
Round Cookie Cutter

Step one: Fill the bottom of a silicone bread pan with white soap, about a 1/4 of an inch high. Let dry while you fill a silicone jelly roll pan about 1/4 inch high with light brown/yellow colored soap.



Step two: Cut the white soaps into strips that look like paper, mine were about 3 x 1/2 inches.

Step three: Take the light brown/yellow soap out of the jelly roll pan while its dry, yet still flexible. Cut out 4 circles using a round cookie cutter.



Step four: Lay a strip of "paper" in the middle of the circle, just under the halfway line.



Step five: Fold the circle in half in one direction, then half again in the other direction.



Wa la, you have fortune cookie soaps :)
To learn how to make these, I looked up a real fortune cookie recipe. Here's a link if you would like to check it out! http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Fortune-Cookie

Need a great autistic info resource?!?

A website contacted me regarding my Autistic Awareness Soaps last week. They want to use them for a give away on their brand new website that opened up over the weekend, carlieshero.com! They placed an order, and will be giving them away shortly :)

This website is for anyone who is affected by autism, whether you work in the field, or are a parent or family member. You can ask questions, and get advice from others who have the same issues as you. My favorite part of the website is the brag board, and that is where people post great accomplishments that were made that day!

They are not doctors, they are just people helping people :)

Fun with Soaps

I just listed these new fun soaps in my shop, I just thought they were so great I had to share! I think they would be so great for "Over the Hill" party favors, or gag gifts, or a gift for your favorite dentist :)

April is Autism Awareness Month

Even though April is almost over, Autism is still here. Together we should spread autism awareness every month in hopes to find a cure, find support and educate!

In my shop I currently offer a set of puzzle piece soaps, and all of the proceeds are donated to a wonderful school for autism in Prescott, AZ called Ascend. Here is a small list of other etsy artist who donate some of their proceeds for the cause also!

chrisgalli
jadjusjewelry
brighttgr
YOURDAILYJEWELS
8littlemonkeys
hannahcreates
shannondee
piecesofhope
melissawuest
ChristinaG

This list is just a small number of artist, you can find many more on etsy.com. Thank you to everyone for spreading the love!

Easy Soap Party Favors

These cute favors I recently made for a wedding that was being held on the beach in San Diego. The seashells were the perfect shape to use for this party. To make these favors, or similar ones you will needs: 9 inch pre-cut circles of tulle, seashell or other shaped soaps (available at Soaps and Such by Holly), and ribbon ( I cut mine about 8 inches long).


First lay your soap a little above the center of one of your circles of tulle.


Now Gather the tulle at the top of the soap.


Tie a ribbon around the gathered tulle.


Now finish it off with by tying the ribbon in a little bow, and wa la you have a beautiful party favor :)



I hope you have fun making these pretty favors! If making favors isn't your thing you can still have them at your party by going to my shop under the "assembled party favors" section :)

Chalk it up!

This last weekend I went to the neatest festival called, "Chalk It Up" in Prescott, AZ. Visit their website chalkitup.org to see all the great pictures, or to find out more.

I missed going when all the artist were creating their pieces of art, but I got to see the tail end of it Sunday morning. I put the kids in the stroller, and got a cup of coffee, and just really enjoyed being surrounded in so much color :) If you would like to see more the pics I took, check out my Facebook album titled, "Inspiration".

365 Days of Soap

Back in February I watched a lecture by an artist named Noah who has a book about making something everyday for a year. He talked about how it helped his creativity. You can find more info on him at makesomething365.blogspot.com.

I decided to take on this challenge, and make a different soap everyday for a year. Here you can see my interview if you scroll down to April 3rd, makesomething365.blogspot.com. I've only been doing the project for a little while, and I have already learned so much. It takes a lot of commitment, and I applaud all who can complete this task with out any altering. I on the other hand have a very busy life, and tons of stuff always comes up. So I learned that I've got to keep going, and it okay for me to make adjustments. I'll try my hardest to stay on track, and I hope you enjoy all my new creations :)

Also, many of my soaps will be available for purchase at my shop, Soaps and Such by Holly.

If you would like to follow my project more closely, I update daily on my facebook fan page

Thanks so much,
Holly

Hello!

So I was on Facebook today... multiple times, and I realized I think I need to start blogging all my updates. My soap shop has been open for over a year now, and I'm getting so much more to talk about :)

On this blog I will share all my soapy "Dish", and share some tutorials and how to's with you also. Some of my tutorials will be soap related, and other's will be the "such" in Soaps and Such by Holly. Thank you so much for reading my blog, I hope you enjoy it!