So sad...

Back in December, on Christmas Eve, while preparing for our annual get-together with Hubby's family, he fell down the stairs. It wasn't a typical case of clumsiness, see half of our house is in a perpetual state of renovation, we tore everything out except the outer walls about 4 years ago, and every time we've thought we might get it done, plans have changed. Over time it's become an unofficial storage area. We were storing some things for my sister-in-law when she moved to North Carolina, and when she came up over the Christmas holiday she wanted to take some of her stuff home with her

Best Christmas Gift ever - Dixie, a rescue dog from NC

So in the process of him helping her bring her things down, she tells him to be careful on the stairs because there is some lumber laying on them. He gets cocky, says he's fine, that he's been up and down that death-trap set of stairs hundreds of times. No sooner does he say this, and he steps on the lumber, slides down the stairs, and then can't walk properly for a good month. After having it examined the day after Christmas at the ER and then by an Orthopedic Surgeon we knew that if it wasn't better by the beginning of February, we'd be looking at surgery.

Luckily for him, it was fine by the beginning of February, and after a month of living on short-term disability we were ready for regular paychecks again. No such luck. Work had no work for him, and he had to use the ONLY 3 weeks of vacation/personal time he gets for the whole year so that we could have an income. After that, still no work. Time for unemployment. It is now March 26th, he's been out of work for over 3 months and home with me every day... As a happily married couple, you'd think we'd be driving each other crazy and just about ready to start calling divorce lawyers by now.... not so much... the last 3 months have been the best in our married life, but alas, it had to end sometime... he went back to work an hour and a half ago, and I'm missing him like crazy already...

However....!

With him being gone, it will be much easier for me to find time during the day to get some stuff updated on the Lupine Ridge website, get some new soaps made, fix some candles that need fixing, and prepare some orders! So thank goodness for the rain today, this momma is gonna be busy!

Honey, Honey, Honeycomb! And new labels!

Here are some pictures of the Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap I made yesterday... made with real chopped oats and clover honey... I added a cute honeycomb imprint to the top, I love it!

And this, this would be my beautiful new product labels... I left the blank area so I can handwrite the type of soap/candle/etc. Once I get a bit busier I'll have them pre-printed with the different types so I can cut out that extra step, but for now, I think this will work nice! Thank you LOADS to my best friend Alisha Robinson of The Pixel Alley for the beautiful flower logo and her amazing ability to design things exactly right for me with only one try... I don't think I've ever had to send something back to her for adjustment... she's wonderful about just "Getting it!" every time! Love her to pieces :)

Hubby and I decided not to go through with The Big Move for the moment, so instead of being cramped and having soap, candle and mineral makeup supplies and inventory take over every inch of our living space, he's making me my own product lab in the basement! Not sure how long that will take to complete, but you can bet I'll be posting pictures of the progress!

Soap, soap, soap!

Well, the citrusy soap I made with sea salt didn't work out so well, so that's been put away to be turned into laundry soap or something someday...

Today I got some soap supplies I've been waiting on, and made some much anticipated Lilac soap... I was going to try and experiment with color swirling, but I added the color too late in the game, so I just mixed it all in and made it a light lavender color, smells great though!

In the process of making some Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap now, with real oatmeal and honey and a honeycomb pattern... excited to see how this one turns out :)

Soy candle materials should be here next week sometime, and in a few more weeks I'll be ordering supplies for making Mineral Makeup! Business has been great, and I'm feeling awesome about the direction things are going in!

Busy Day In Kitchen Chemistry!

Today hubby and I each had half the dining room table occupied... He was on his side siphoning off some homemade blueberry wine that has been setting for about a month (time to separate the good stuff from the stuff that's settled to the bottom!) and I was on the other side whipping up a new sea salt soap concoction in my crock pot... I got Oldest Son to help out with that, he zested some orange peels for me while I mixed up the soap and hand chopped some lemon-balm... What we created was something that I hope turns out really well (though in the next batch I may add some citrus essential oils for added fragrance purposes!)... We made something of a Citrus Sea Salt Scrubbing Soap! Working title of course, so bear with me if it sucks, haha...

I put a little White mica in with the stick blender to add a tiny bit of a shimmer, but didn't add much... when we added the orange zest the soap mixture turned a light orange, not sure how it will look once it finishes curing, though it looks a bit more yellow now in the  mold... Put some chopped Lemon Balm in for looks and a little citrus-like fragrance... mixed in fine sea salt and sprinkled coarse sea salt over the top... What do you think? I'll be able to cut it tomorrow, and I'm hoping it doesn't crumble!

 I cut the Cocoa-Mint Swirl soap first thing this morning and FELL. IN. LOVE. - Third time's a charm with that one... I've attempted it twice and it didn't work out either time, but oh my word, it smells DIVINE! Here's a picture!

 While sitting at the table with hubby and smelling this wonderful new soap of mine, we discussed our plans to move... which I realize I haven't announced before now, but that's because it was a completely out of the blue decision! A piece of land and a gorgeous historical house and barn were offered to us at an absolute STEAL of a price... and all I can say is two words... OCEAN VIEW! *Swoon* - We got in contact with the person offering us this huge deal the other night and confirmed with him that we wanted to go ahead with things. He emailed us this morning with some numbers we needed to consider, such as approximate utilities, taxes, maintenance costs, and then some other details he wanted to work out with us... it was a very good email and we are feeling much better about the idea of moving, and the potential income it brings us... during our talk we decided that I will be getting my very own soap lab (OFFICIALLY!) in the new house, where I don't have to worry about picking things up and putting them away so we can cook dinner or eat dinner, or anything else like that, haha... We also discussed the potential (if business keeps on at the rate it's been) to expand to the point that we have an actual retail presence for Lupine Ridge Botanicals right from home! It's all very exciting!

Aside from that, I've spent my day fighting with an almost 3 year old who doesn't want to take a nap, processing soap orders (I got more this morning, AND found out that my soaps are selling well at Madlyn's, a Consignment store in Waterville, Maine... AND, Annie's Consignment Corner, in Derry, New Hampshire contact me and ask about selling them as well!) and next on my list is tweaking some little things on my Soap website and adding some new content pages...

That Was Super Satisfying...!

First meal I've been able to eat since Monday, in a reasonable amount of time, with minimal cringing!

I got my left wisdom teeth out on Tuesday morning, and I think I've eaten a total of 5 meals since then... most of my sustenance has been of the liquid and pharmaceutical forms... No pain meds since 6:30am today though and only minor irritation in my lower gums... this is a plus, especially since the day after my procedure I developed an infection on my jaw and was laid up for the next 24 hours severely swollen and in pain, fighting chills and a fever... I slept Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday away!

Feeling much better now though, and was able to get back into soap making last night! Which is good because my new supplies have all arrived and even though I just launched my website a couple weeks ago, I've received a bunch of orders so my inventory has been running low!

I had a special request for Patchouli, so my first batch after I got my new supplies was a soap I call Patchouli Lavender Ripple. Same basic recipe I use for most of my other soaps except I decided to experiment some more with coloring soaps naturally (previously I've only used Cocoa powder for coloring). I added a little bit of Paprika and didn't stir it in really well so it has some flecks that are darker spots, but the whole bar has a slight orange/tan color to it. What do you think?

Since I've been feeling better I have done 2 types of soap. First batch was to replenish my inventory of Lavender Rosemary Bliss (my favorite so far!) and then re-did a batch I had messed up before... Cocoa-Mint Swirl... I swear it smells like Peppermint Patties! That batch is still in the mold and I can cut it tomorrow, but I'm very excited about how it's turned out so far... Here are some pictures of my latest two batches :)

The bars made with the new mold are not much bigger than the bars I made previously but with my new mitre box they are a much more consistent size and look so much nicer!

I signed up a few weeks ago to donate some samples and a door prize to a fellow small business that is celebrating their anniversary in a couple months... today my tape sealer bags from Cello In A Box arrived and I was able to package up a business card with a sample of my soaps for each of her goody bags. I also created a gift bag with a full size bar of soap and a scrubby that holds the bar of soap inside of it (reduces the risk of losing your soap down the drain, AND exfoliates!)

Here's a picture if the finished sample packs... and if you are looking for packaging ideas, click Here to check out the company and their products!

I'm off to go relax some now that I've gotten so much done today... Enjoy your weekend!

Waiting To Test New Stuff!

I'm getting excited... March 7th my Oatmeal Tea Tree oil soap will be cured enough so I can test a bar and see how I like it!

I launched my Website yesterday and started a Facebook fan page a few days ago and have gotten a lot of people asking about Oatmeal Tea Tree Oil Soap, so I'm anxious to make sure this batch is awesome because I'm sure it will be a best seller :)

Picking up some materials to make some more of the batches I've already got on hand, cause I'm running low on soap inventory already! I've got 2 orders to fulfill in the next week, and have some requests for other fragrances, so may pick up some new essential oils while I'm in town today too.

But Ooooh, I just remembered... I ordered a new Silicone Loaf mold, a crinkle soap cutter and a Mitre box so I can cut my soaps a consistent size and they will come out a consistent shape and size! Now I'm anxious... I have to wait until those come in before I can make more soap... AHHHH!!! I could make soap with the mold I've been using, but each bar winds up being vastly different sizes and the mold tends to warp when it's hot so sometimes the shapes are odd...

Alas, I guess I'll wait until they come in, but I'm still picking up the supplies today!