Friday, August 17, 2012

Amy's In The Arts Interview!

Today I'm the featured artist at Amy's In The Arts!  They did a fantastic write up about me & Sunbreak Soaps.  I'm very honored to be picked!

You can find the interview here.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Christmas Fragrances!

I'm sick this week, and hubs is recovering from shoulder surgery.  So I'm not making soap, and when I'm not making soap I'm thinking about soap, and when I think about soap I buy soap stuff. 

It's a bit of a problem.

But maybe this is a good thing!  I'm planning ahead for Christmas soaps!  Maybe it seems silly to be thinking about Christmas already, but I've never been through a Christmas season as a business before, and I'm kind of worried I won't have enough... so there's no time like the present to start figuring out what I'm going to make!

For me, inspiration always starts with the fragrances!  So without further adieu, here's the list of fragrances that I've ordered and descriptions of each!

Fresh Fallen Leaves - "What can we say..This fragrance smells just like the aroma of fresh fallen leaves. You won't believe how true to life this smell is" 

Christmas Cabin - "A wonderful blend of bayberries and cranberries with a top note of freshly crushed cinnamon bark with hints of orange zests."

Christmas Cookies - "Smells just like a freshly-baked, buttery Christmas Cookie with frosting."

Christmas Memories - "Christmas memories at their finest!  Christmas memories fragrance begins with top notes of orange peel and cranberry sauce; flowing nicely into middle notes of cinnamon sticks and freshly ground cloves; with base notes of evergreen and pinecones."

Winter Garden - "Refreshing and clean!  Winter Garden fragrance will remind you of the fresh clean smell of winter air while walking down a snow-covered path.  This fragrance begins with top notes of fresh lime and menthol;  middle notes of Douglas fir and lavender;  with full-body base  notes of eucalyptus and pine."

Christmas Cabernet - "Cabernet has a classically deep red color and displays a lovely bouquet of berries and oak. A full-bodied wine with good varietal character and power, it offers rich cherry flavors with excellent balance and a long finish. We have combined this lovely aroma with hints of Christmas time, and created our version of Christmas Cabernet. You will want to celebrate when you smell this fragrance!"

Cranberry Orange - "A delightful blend of citrus notes of orange, satsuma, yuzu, and tangerine; followed by notes of cranberry, peach, and hints of spice."


I tried to get a little of this and a little of that so that there'd be something for everyone!  And for those who answered my poll on my Facebook page - I already have peppermint and gingerbread covered. :)

Can't wait till I'm healthy and my new ingredients arrive so I can get started!

Monday, August 13, 2012

More Art Glass!

My husband had shoulder surgery on Friday, so I'm sorry for my scarcity the past week.  It's just been crazy at our house preparing for the surgery AND my first soap event which happened on Friday without me.  Yes, that's right, my soap made it to an event even though I didn't!  Whew... what a week!

As a little distraction I thought I'd go ahead and post a few more art glass pictures from our trip to Seattle a few weeks ago.  These were taken at the Tacoma Museum of Glass.

I don't remember the name of the artist who made these wall hangings, I know the second one is blurry, but I loved the colors of it, so I thought I'd post the picture anyway.  These two made me think that it would be fun to make an impressionistic soap with these colors!



 And then we walked into the Chihuly exhibit.  Be still my heart!  The first group was from his Navaho series.  Chihuly is also interested in basket weaving and blanket weaving, and these vases demonstrate that interest.  The marks on the front are "woven" together to make the design.


 And then the sea forms!  This blue one was probably my favorite.  But blue is my favorite color so I'm a bit biased.


 I loved this one too, a basket full of other sea forms... so gorgeous!


 This one absolutely glowed!  I think maybe orange is becoming my second favorite color.



 I know this one is a bit blurry, but I thought it was a fun combination of sea forms and goblets.


 And then, the coups de gras!  The bridge of glass.  It's a pedestrian bridge that goes over I-5.  It has three parts to it.  The first part is this huge wall, and in the wall are hundreds of compartments, each with it's own fantastic piece of art glass!  It was quite the site to behold!  The more you looked, the more amazing things you saw.  I wished I could have stood in front of it for an hour, that's how engrossing it was!  My picture only shows a sliver of the wall, but it was all I could get in the frame.


The second part is two towers of blue ice cube like bubbles.  And I know my picture doesn't show it, but they were huge!  Two pillars of extreme proportion!


And then... my camera ran out of batteries!  ARGH!!!  But the third part was even more exciting, so I borrowed a picture to show you.  It was a tunnel, and above you the ceiling was covered with sea form glass!  It was fantastic!  The sun shining through and lighting up the whole thing.

Bridge of Glass, Chihuly Art, Tacoma WA

If you're anywhere near Tacoma, WA, I highly recommend checking it out! 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Interesting Etsy Stats

I saw this interesting Infographic and I thought I'd share it here.  It has some really great stats about Etsy!

Did you know that Etsy is worth more per employee than Ebay?  I didn't!

Did you know that Etsy items are the most pinned items on Pinterest?  I didn't!

Wanna learn more?  Read on!

Etsy MBA
Created by: www.MBAOnline.com

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Art Glass Inspiration

When I make soap, I intentionally and unintentionally draw inspiration from things I love.  One of the things I love is art glass. 

Hubs and I recently took a trip to Seattle, and you pretty much can't go there without seeing amazing art glass.  Whether it's Chihuly or some other amazing artist, it's everywhere!  (And if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend reading this story about me and Mr. Chihuly.)

On our way home, we went to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA.  Currently on display there is an exhibit by Lino Tagliapietra. 

This was the first of his pieces that caught my eye!  I love the implied movement and how it appears to be defying gravity!


 Loved the colors on this one.  Hubs was impressed with the ones that had scored marks all over the glass, and this one was like that.


 I thought that the layers on these vases were really interesting.  Curious to see if I could make a soap version of these!



 The blue with dark edges looks so much like a landscape scene!  It's truly mind boggling to me how they can do this with molten hot liquid glass!


 I think the artist was showing his playful side with these!  The one on the left was titled "Batman".


 This art glass wall hanging was huge!  And of course, blue is my favorite color.


 Another amazing squiggle!  I'd love to have something like this in my house.  Only problem?  Twin 5 year olds.  Need I say more?


 Of everything on display, I thought this was the most impressive!  It must have taken so much time and patience to make each of those layers, etched in a different pattern, with that clear layer in the middle that the observer looks into to see the inside of the piece!  Incredible!


So what kinds of things to you like to look at to find inspiration?