Yay!! Over 200 Sales!

The past two weeks have been crazy hectic!  The week of the flash sale, I had so many orders that I was afraid I was going to run out of Fugly Soaps before the week was over!  It pushed me well over 200 sales (221 to be exact!), so I've been contemplating how to do the 50% off sale I mentioned earlier.

I've decided to keep it a "members only" sale and not announce it all over Etsy like I did with the flash sale.  This means you're going to need a code!  So, starting Monday and lasting til Friday at midnight (Saturday??), you can use the code THANKYOU50 to receive 50% off your entire order!

This week, I've been busy preparing for the Big Fish Bounty craft show this weekend.  I've been mostly busy making sure I have everything ready for the show.  This will be my first "indoor" show, so I'm kind of excited about it.  Okay, okay, it's not really indoors, but it is under a pavilion, so it's my first show that's not on the street.  Come check out my booth!  I'd love to see you there!

Anyway, here are a few of the things I've made recently

Fresh Cut Roses got a new top because it
thickened up too fast to swirl.

A new soap called Sandalwood Rose.

Patchouli all natural soap was added to my Etsy shop.

Jasmine oatmeal soap was added to my Etsy shop.

FLASH SALE!! Fugly Soaps 50% Off!

This week only, all Fugly Soaps are 50% off!! I've got an overstock of Fugly Soaps and need them gone, so hop on over to my Etsy shop and stock up on handmade soap for just $2 a bar!
www.rusticsilksoaps.etsy.com

Big Things Are Happening Here...

This week has been wonderful!  Business is steadily picking up (a huge thank you to all my wonderful customers!), so Rustic Silk Soaps is moving into its very own studio!!  This is a big accomplishment for me and I cannot wait for the move to be complete.  I'll be holding a celebratory sale when I'm finally into the new building so stay tuned!

With business booming, I've decided to open up shops in other market places as well as Etsy.  This week, I've opened a shop on aftcra, and am in the process of opening a shop on 11 Main.  This is to branch out and give my customers more power because there are people who don't want to shop on some websites.

Also, this week, I've been soaping up a storm to create all new soaps!  I've made Secret Wonderland dupe (that I have yet to think up a new name for), Honeysuckle, Fresh Strawberries, and Watermelon Lemonade (a problem child).  I also have plans to make at least one batch of soap called Morning Brew today.

 The surprise inside Secret Wonderland dupe.  My jaw literally
dropped when I cut into this loaf.

Secret Wonderland dupe and Honeysuckle waiting to be
unmolded.  Secret Wonderland* is a coconut milk soap while
Honeysuckle is made with carrot juice, raw honey, and
calendula petals.  Both are absolutely fantabulously bubbly!

My latest problem child, Watermelon Lemonade.  As stated,
it accelerated trace really quickly, but I was not prepared
for it to start weeping.  I hope to cut it today.

I've had a busy week this week, as my Etsy sales are now at 187!!  Just 13 more sales before I'm going to hold a huge 50% off sale as a thank you to all of the amazing people who helped Rustic Silk Soaps get to where it is today.  I'm so thankful for each and every customer that shops with me.  You're support has been so amazing over the past year and a half.  I cannot believe just how far my little business has come in such a short time.

Psst!  Don't forget to come visit Rustic Silk Soaps at the Big Fish Bounty event in Canton, MS!  Its at the Canton multipurpose complex on June 27th from 8-6.  See you there!

Hog Wild Festival 2015

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the post being a day late, I had computer troubles yesterday.  Electronics always seem to act up when you need them the most!

Any-who.. I had a wonderful day at the Hog Wild Festival this year!  My Mom and I were setting up by about 6:30 that morning.  It was bright and sunny alreay!  We had put the tent up the night before, so all we had to do was actually set up the display.  We finished just a little after 8:00.

It was a beautiful (if very hot) day!

Where our booth was located, we were surrounded by political booths.  Side rant:  I hate political booths.  I personally would rather see them out in the community showing what they can do to help rather than berating everyone in earshot with how they're going to help.  We all know 9 times out of 10 that they never do what they said they would...  Also, the booth to my left was a woman running for office and she thought it was the best idea to come stand in directly in front of my booth (not her own!) to pass out her materials... End of rant.

The booth to my right was an airbrushed t-shirt booth.  That was really pretty neat as I could peep over and watch him work while no one was visiting my booth.  I was also pretty much in the food vendor area, so I was smelling delicious barbecue, corn dogs, and funnel cakes all day long.  I'm not entirely sure how, but my mom and I went all day and only bought a snow cone!

I did fairly well at the festival.  I almost tripled my booth fee despite a threat of thunder storms all day and a few short showers.  I will definitely be going back next year.

Here are pictures of my booth!

Thanks for reading!  Check back Friday for what I've been doing.  (Hint - I've expanded!)

Look What's New!

This week has been a little hectic here at Rustic Silk Soaps.  Business has picked up exponentially and I've outgrown my kitchen (and my entire house for that matter!).  Soap stuff is literally crammed in every nook and cranny to be found.  It takes up half of my living room, a whole hall way, closets, and usually my kitchen counters...  So I'm moving out!!

Well, I'm not moving out, but everything soapy related is.  I'm finally getting my own soaping studio!  I am literally so excited I feel like jumping up and down.  I'll finally have my own place that is for nothing but creating wonderful, deliciously fragrant products.  And I guess reclaiming half of my house is a plus, too.

Moving everything isn't going to be any fun, but at least I'll have a chance to reorganize again because everything has become quite chaotic.  I got my hubby to agree to a soap studio because I told him either I need new shelving in the house, or I need my own space.  He quickly agreed to a soap studio.

Anyway, other things have been going on this week as well!  I've released my first products in my skin care line.  My Rose & Aloe facial toner and facial moisturizer are currently available for purchase in my Etsy shop.  The first stock is limited, but more will come very soon!  I'm also working on an oatmeal based line.

Rose & Aloe facial toner and facial moisturizer.  Naturally colored
a soft pink due to the brilliant red rose water used to make them.

I've also finally gotten my Bubble Cookies listed on Etsy.  Right now, there's only four fragrances, but many, many more are to come!  You can find them in my Bath & Body section, along with a few other items.

Last, but not least, I've spent all week preparing for the Hog Wild Festival.  I'll have a booth there tomorrow and look forward to seeing you!  I'll have all kinds of products available - soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs, salt scrubs, bath bombs, and all of the products mentioned above!  Looking forward to a great day meeting people and talking about soap!  I'll do an update Monday about the show.

Thank you so much for reading!

What's New at Rustic Silk Soaps

Hi, you!

In the past year, I have seriously neglected my blog.  I eventually decided to close it down until I could figure out how to give it the attention it needs.  I'll be honest, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to post.

Well, I've finally figured it out! At least for now.  Every Friday, I'll be posting of what has been made that week, what has been added to my Etsy shop, and other little updates are going on at Rustic Silk Soaps.

So without further ado, here are some of this weeks projects!

Juniper Fields and Grapefruit Rosemary Aromatherapy Bombs just after
unmolding.

Juniper Fields and Grapefruit Rosemary Aroma Bombs waiting to be wrapped
and labeled.  Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey and Gardenia soaps waiting to be
trimmed up before being moved to the curing racks.

Gardenia, the first soap in my new line of lard soaps, and a restock of
Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey - one of my best sellers!  Ready June 17th.

After many requests, I finally made a Patchouli soap!
eady June 16th.

Patchouli waiting to be trimmed up.

Last but not least, Coco-Not was added to my Etsy shop.  You can find it here.

Introducing Lard Based Soaps!

I began Rustic Silk Soaps with the intentions of only offering vegetarian and vegan products.  I never planned to change that, but recently I've begun to feel differently.  Don't get me wrong, I'll still have plenty of veggie soaps available, but I've finally decided to include some lard soaps in my line up.

When I first started making soaps, I was put off by the thought of using animal fats because I was slightly icked out at the idea of slathering it on my skin while I bathe.  I broke down one day and finally made a soap out of lard.  I hot processed it because I wanted to try it quickly to see how it compared to my recipes at the time...and I found it very drying.  I figured this soap was bound to be inferior to my veggie soaps, so I passed the soaps off to my mother-in-law after a good cure and forgot about them.

After about six months, she asked me if I had any more of them.  I told her no, but that I would make her some and let her know when they were ready.  Once cured, I gave her several bars and kept the others to cure further.  A few weeks later, she contacted me and let me know she wanted a couple more because she had given some to one of her friends that had visited and raved about the soap in the bathroom.

Then, one day while I was visiting, I used the soap by her bathroom sink without thinking.  After I dried my hands, I couldn't help but notice how silky my skin felt.  Imagine my surprise when I realized I had used the soap I had given her!  I was quite impressed with the soap, and started questioning my decision for using only veggie oils and butters.

The final decision came when someone pointed out to me that using fat in soap was an ecologically responsible way to use all of the animal that was sacrificed.  When I was growing up, I spent lots of time outdoors hunting deer with my Dad.  He instilled in me from a very young age that you only take what you need and use everything that you can.  The thought of disrespecting the animal's sacrifice by not using every part slowly nibbled away at my mind until I started seriously rethinking my mindset toward animal soaps.

To date, my mother-in-law has recruited several people who are in love with the lard soap that I began making for her.  They all claim that it's the gentlest soap they've ever used.  So I have decided to include this soap in my line up for the people who need a little gentler soap.