Soap, Drugs, & Rock and Roll

This is old news that I was recently reminded of. Dr. Bronner's makes great soap -- this is a fun video about what is and isn't soap. Enjoy.

Minted Lime + The Fisherman

This past holiday season I had the opportunity to exhibit at, "Cut the Craft," in Manayunk. It was there that I met C. and her husband who asked me if I would be interested in making a custom soap for them. They had been purchasing quantities of soap they called, "minted lime," from another soap maker. That person stopped making soap for whatever reason and they were missing their favorite soap. I took on the challenge and am so pleased with the results that, "mint + lime," is now going to be a part of the regular hand + body line-up.

Next up, "Fisherman," the latest addition to the Identity soaps. Made with anise and lime essential oils, and cornmeal. Fisherman's soap is an old classic in the soapmaking world - fishermen would wash with anise to hide their human scent from fish for a better catch. Some fisherman soaps were also used to get rid of the fish smell after the fact. Either way, we love how refreshing this soap smells and it's now a part of the team.

All-natural soap always takes about a month to cure so these soaps won't be available till mid March.

Soaps pictured above:
*mint + lime with organic spirulina
*fisherman - anise + lime with ground cornmeal
*cilantro - now with organic holy basil
*geranium + cinnamon - now with organic red palm fruit oil

Down Time

The last couple of weeks has been spent re-organizing the work space and focusing on the never ending task of labeling. There are times (in my alternate life as a painter) when I decide a painting is finished, hang it on the wall, and after a certain amount of time looking at the thing, wonder what I was thinking when I decided to stop working on it. I have a similar attitude when it comes to the soap labels - there's just always room for improvement. During the rush, there's never time to fix anything so down time is always filled with tedious graphic design. I often contemplate what it would be like to just hire a designer with mastery of everything Adobe who could probably do what I'm doing, better, in half the time. Then I think about what a control freak I am and how labeling hundreds of bars of soap at a time makes it easy for me to pick out the flaws, and I'm glad I only have myself to blame. This recent overhaul of the labels has born the cross band - many of which are cut from labels that are now obsolete.

Identity

A new line up of soaps: Gardener, Fighter, Herbalist, Nomad, and Punk. We've got more coming so stay tuned. Feel free to make suggestions.

Handmade Holidays

As much as I think my soap makes a wonderful gift, after seven years of giving soap as gifts I suppose it can start getting old. Last year I made a bunch of ceramic soap dishes to soften the blow of, "soap, again," but this year I just didn't have the extra time. I am a notorious last minute shopper, whatever the occasion. That's not to say I'm a careless gift giver - I do put thought into even the smallest of offerings - but the shopping is often left till I can't avoid it any longer. Today I am thankful for the wonderful sellers on Etsy who graciously promised to mail me my last minute gifts by Christmas. (The gorgeous birdhouse I bought, pictured above, was made by Ryan O'Rourke of I Heart Birds.)

Art Shop Action

Art Shop neighbors, Lindsey and Jesse. Jesse made wooden earrings and Lindsey made pancake and cocoa mix. You don't really get the full effect of this display from the photo, which was impressive with a sprawling tree branch holding all of the earrings.

The aforementioned stacking crates display and my niece, Madeline, salesgirl extraordinaire. Note my sister's gold and silver tutus in the background.

I traded a jar of Jennie's apple butter for a bar of soap - so delicious and almost gone.

Carina with my niece, Penelope, posing with a chocolate moustachio.

Carina's photo props, silhouette portraits, buttons, and more. So fun! Oh yeah, and all of these photos were taken by Carina who is a photographer by day and a prop maker/ head band knitter by night.

Ceramic plates, cups, ornaments, and more with glamorous prints of animals on them.

Holiday Craft Fair in Phoenixville

Another last minute fair in Phoenixville on December 12. How are we going to be in two places at one time? Holiday magic, of course!

Location: 400 Franklin Avenue Phoenixville, PA
Time: 10am-6pm