Soap of the Day - Orange and Cream Dream

I like the idea of this soap but the execution is still a bit off. I'll be making it again and I'll post the new version when it's complete. In the meantime, it will have to do as the soap design of the day. :-)

Soap of the Day - Massage Bar

Today's soap design is a handcrafted massage bar. It isn't your average massage bar, this one has individually crafted balls embedded in the main bar which means you get the great massage feeling all the way through the bar.
We used oatmeal milk and honey for the fragrance and believe me, it smells good enough to eat!

New Feature - Soap Design of the Day

SOAP DESIGN OF THE DAY

Today's soap design is a little beauty the man came up with the other day. The design is somewhat reminiscent of ocean waves, but he wanted a more stylized effect. I think he hit the mark!

I mentioned in an earlier post that we just received an order of new fragrance oils from Bramble Berry, and in the order they included a free sample of Pomegranate and Black Currant. The man used that to scent this soap and let's just say I'm hooked. I love the scent, not too sweet and not too tart, just fresh and summery. I'm not very good at describing scents so I'll steal Bramble Berry's description:

Pomegranate and Black Currant: This fragrance is based on a delicious juice that is found at many health food stores. This blend has tart Pomegranate notes, enlivened by citrus zest and intertwined with juicy Black Currant notes with just some light hints of soft florals and leafy greens to give the fragrance depth. It is a surprisingly sweet blend, almost as if the Pomegranates and Black Currants were sugared prior to blending.

It smells fantastic, my unscientific testing found that both men and women like the scent.

Check back tomorrow for another new soap design!

Woo Hoo Our Soap was Reviewed on Rare Bird Finds!

Big excitement here are casa Soap Wish! Our soap was reviewed on the cool blog, Rare Bird Finds!

We love the blog, lots of really unique finds, and we're thrilled to be included.
http://http://rarebirdfinds.typepad.com/rare_bird_finds/2009/02/soapwish.html

Happiness and Joy

Happiness and joy at casa Soap Wish, our order of new fragrance oils arrived from Bramble Berry! click here I ordered 16 different fragrances and they ALL smell fantastic:

Baby Rose, Apricot Freesia, Chamomile Bergamot, Green Tea, Island Coconut, Lavender, Oatmeal Milk and Honey, Pearberry, Plumeria, Red Apple, Turkish Mocha, Vanilla Select, Watermelon, White Tea & Ginger, Blackberry Sage, and Yuzu

I went out to dinner last nighte with some girlfriends and when I came home the man was already making soap with the Chamomile Bergamot!

I also ordered a few micas and my two new favorites are Merlot Sparkle and Aqua Pearl - both beautiful colors, one bold and sparkly and one soft and sweet.
I've got big plans for these fragrances and micas so keep on the lookout for new soaps.

Check out Bramble Berry for the best soap making supplies.

click here to visit Bramble Berry

More Magic from the Man

Here's a sneak peak at a new line of mosaic soaps the man has been working on...




There are several more waiting to be photographed, including a very cool red soap with black, green, and red checkerboard in the middle.

In the interest of balanced reporting, here's what the boy has been working on...

Three Soaps and a Scrub

I admit it, this is the lazy person's blog post. The boy was sick and I spent my time reading to him about warriors and battles so I never got around to writing a post. I did manage to work on a couple of new soaps and a new sugar scrub while the man finally cut the cool soap he made last week.

More New Soaps

If anyone needed further proof that the man is a talented soapmaker here are a few more of his creations. By the way, he's an awesome cook as well!

This one hasn't been cut yet, but I liked it so much I just had to share it!

As Promised - New Soaps!

More to come....

New Soaps On Their Way

We've been working away on some new soap designs (photos to come soon). I hope to have them listed tomorrow and I'll post some photos here as well.

Have you checked out Soapy Love? Debbie is the original Soapsicle designer and her soap designs are fantastic. We're major fans! She has a new magazine (ezine?)out now and it's chock full of great soapy ideas!

Speaking of which, I'm really thinking about starting a blog to showcase all the great bath and beauty products I've come across while researching soapmaking. I've been blown away by all the talent out there. Would anyone be interested in daily soap finds?

Good News - Bad News

The good news is that I still have the ability to do a split. The bad news is the event occurred on my ice covered driveway.

With flexibility not seen since the early eighties, I slooooowy slide down into an almost perfect split while attempting to get to the bottom of the driveway. This amazing feat was accomplished in front of the half the neighborhood waiting for the school bus. My grace is now legendary.

I have a lovely bruise on my chin as a result, and for the life of me I can't imagine how I bruised my chin.

Why was the driveway covered with ice? Well, let's just say the man organized the pantry beautifully that day. Needless to say, when he heard about my gymnastic ability the driveway was cleared in no time.

Start-Up Business Ideas

I'm an idea person. I'm not much of a follow through person, but I am an idea factory if I do say so myself. I have a loyal following of friends that routinely ask me for my "brilliant" idea of the day. These are all ideas for businesses by the way.

A friend of mine challenged me to come up with ideas for businesses a different friends could start. I came up with a list of questions and from their answers I gave them 3 to 5 ideas for businesses for them to start that are tailored to their likes and dislikes.

Just for fun I'd like to try it with people I don't know. Answer the questions below and I'll send you 3 to 5 ideas for start-up businesses.

Here goes...

1. Age range (18-25 26-32 33-40 41-51 52-62 63+)
2. Where you live (city and state)
3. What you do for employment now
4. Three things you like to do
5. The first toy you remember

No guarantees of course, but I just might come up with something you love!

Snow Day II

We had a real live snow day today...storm team coverage and all. We made this soap today in honor of the lovely white blanket outside. It smell like heaven...oatmeal, milk & honey is probably my all time favorite fragrance.

Over the Rainbow

This is my favorite version, I hope you like it too.

Creativity Part Two

Here at Casa Soap Wish we like to make things out of other things. The man is particularly good at making things out of unusual objects. Here's an example of what he made out of a large nail we had in the garage (for unknown reasons).

False Advertising

This sign hangs in our kitchen. At the moment it's a bit of false advertising. Oh, it's "clean" in that it isn't "dirty", but it is messy. The bane of my existence is the island in the kitchen. It doesn't matter how often I clean it off during the day, it is always covered with stuff again in minutes. School papers, bills, books, a bag of Goldfish (crackers), keys, magazines, all flock to the kitchen island as if pulled by some kind of magnetic force field. The only scary part is where would all this stuff go if we didn't have a kitchen island?

PS - Not to worry, our soap making operation is in our 1500 sq. ft. fully finished, hardwood floored, fireplaced, basement. Free from any contact with the kitchen island.

False Advertising

This sign hangs in our kitchen. At the moment it's a bit of false advertising. Oh, it's "clean" in that it isn't "dirty", but it is messy. The bane of my existence is the island in the kitchen. It doesn't matter how often I clean it off during the day, it is always covered with stuff again in minutes. School papers, bills, books, a bag of Goldfish (crackers), keys, magazines, all flock to the kitchen island as if pulled by some kind of magnetic force field. The only scary part is where would all this stuff go if we didn't have a kitchen island?

PS - Not to worry, our soap making operation is in our 1500 sq. ft. fully finished, hardwood floored, fireplaced, basement. Free from any contact with the kitchen island.

Teddy Bear Love

Single and Looking for Love
My friends say I’m just a teddy bear and I think they’re right. I haven’t spent enough time in the gym this year so I do have a bit of round belly, but not too much, and as for my backside, it’s a bit flat but still cute. Right now I tip the scale at 3.5 ounces.

I like to show my style with a bright red scarf, but I’m open to other colors if you prefer something else. I wear a chocolate scent that brings to mind a box of chocolates…I’m told the ladies dig it.

I like hanging out with someone close, long rides on the beach (I’m not much of a walker), laying on my back and staring up at the sky, and long steamy showers.

If you’re interested, please press the “add to cart” button and I’ll meet you at your place.

Teddy Bear Love

Single and Looking for Love
My friends say I’m just a teddy bear and I think they’re right. I haven’t spent enough time in the gym this year so I do have a bit of round belly, but not too much, and as for my backside, it’s a bit flat but still cute. Right now I tip the scale at 3.5 ounces.

I like to show my style with a bright red scarf, but I’m open to other colors if you prefer something else. I wear a chocolate scent that brings to mind a box of chocolates…I’m told the ladies dig it.

I like hanging out with someone close, long rides on the beach (I’m not much of a walker), laying on my back and staring up at the sky, and long steamy showers.

If you’re interested, please press the “add to cart” button and I’ll meet you at your place.

Heart Soap

Not too much time to post tonight, but I wanted to share these happy little hearts.

Heart Soap

Not too much time to post tonight, but I wanted to share these happy little hearts.

Change

I live in the suburbs of Washington, DC, so you can imagine the scene around here yesterday. I passed a bus that said Proudly Serving Little Rock Since 1944, and it struck me how far things have come. In 1944 Barack Obama couldn't have ridden on that bus and here it was carrying people all the way from Little Rock to see him become President.

I believe things can be different and I have hope that the future for all of us will be bright.

Change

I live in the suburbs of Washington, DC, so you can imagine the scene around here yesterday. I passed a bus that said Proudly Serving Little Rock Since 1944, and it struck me how far things have come. In 1944 Barack Obama couldn't have ridden on that bus and here it was carrying people all the way from Little Rock to see him become President.

I believe things can be different and I have hope that the future for all of us will be bright.

Your Brain on Soap

This is soap......

This is your brain on soap...



Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I'm working on the computer and I hear major laughter mixed with some evil cackling coming from the kitchen. The man and the boy are in there alone, I can only hope whatever they're up to does not include using the only surviving kitchen towel.

We make soap so we have a lot of leftover pieces of soap laying around (well, we used to have leftover soap laying around) from projects that didn't quite turn out or colors that came out wrong...you get the picture. So the man and the boy started playing around with it and the result is what you see here. It's completely made out of soap, except for the plate which I will never get to use again.

We have different names for it, but we're partial to The Cliffs of Insanity (we like Princess Bride) and Your Brain on Soap. We keep it around the house to remind us of what could happen if we keep thinking about soap.

The truly funny part is anyone who has seen it in person loves it. Go figure.

Your Brain on Soap

This is soap......

This is your brain on soap...



Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I'm working on the computer and I hear major laughter mixed with some evil cackling coming from the kitchen. The man and the boy are in there alone, I can only hope whatever they're up to does not include using the only surviving kitchen towel.

We make soap so we have a lot of leftover pieces of soap laying around (well, we used to have leftover soap laying around) from projects that didn't quite turn out or colors that came out wrong...you get the picture. So the man and the boy started playing around with it and the result is what you see here. It's completely made out of soap, except for the plate which I will never get to use again.

We have different names for it, but we're partial to The Cliffs of Insanity (we like Princess Bride) and Your Brain on Soap. We keep it around the house to remind us of what could happen if we keep thinking about soap.

The truly funny part is anyone who has seen it in person loves it. Go figure.

Spring Deer

This is our spring lawn display, or at least that's what I'm telling the neighbors. It's true, we still have lighted deer in our front yard (please excuse the small decapitated one). The man says it's too cold to bring them in and frankly, I'm just waiting to see how long it takes.

Spring Deer

This is our spring lawn display, or at least that's what I'm telling the neighbors. It's true, we still have lighted deer in our front yard (please excuse the small decapitated one). The man says it's too cold to bring them in and frankly, I'm just waiting to see how long it takes.

Creativity

Here's creativity in our house..

Me: "Look at the pretty colors I layered"
The Man: "I finally finished my scale model of the Taj Mahal, made out of 4 toothpicks and two pieces of tape"
The Boy: "Do you think it's okay the dog ate my experiment?" "You know, the one I had growing in the sink?"

Who do you think makes the intricate soap designs?

Creativity

Here's creativity in our house..

Me: "Look at the pretty colors I layered"
The Man: "I finally finished my scale model of the Taj Mahal, made out of 4 toothpicks and two pieces of tape"
The Boy: "Do you think it's okay the dog ate my experiment?" "You know, the one I had growing in the sink?"

Who do you think makes the intricate soap designs?

Photo Shoot

The man is the photographer in the family. We make soap. He takes a lot of pictures of soap. He gets bored taking a lot of pictures of soap. The other night he was busy taking pictures of some of our new soap designs, and as I worked on soap across the room, this is what I heard....

The man "That's it, work it baby"
The soap nothing
The man "Come on give me a smile"
The soap nothing
The man "Yeah, baby that's it, move towards me" etc.
The soap nothing

Conclusion: he needs to get out more

Photo Shoot

The man is the photographer in the family. We make soap. He takes a lot of pictures of soap. He gets bored taking a lot of pictures of soap. The other night he was busy taking pictures of some of our new soap designs, and as I worked on soap across the room, this is what I heard....

The man "That's it, work it baby"
The soap nothing
The man "Come on give me a smile"
The soap nothing
The man "Yeah, baby that's it, move towards me" etc.
The soap nothing

Conclusion: he needs to get out more

Woo Hoo One Hour Delay

Here in Northern Virginia an inch of snow is an automatic seven car pile-up. More than an inch of snow triggers twelve hours of "STORM TEAM COVERAGE". Which means if you end up with a day off from work you can't watch anything on TV other than "STORM TEAM COVERAGE".

We had a light dusting of snow yesterday morning and for some reason the boy's school had a one hour delay. When I woke him up (later than usual) and told him about the little bit of snow, his first words were "Victory is mine!". I had to laugh, in his view all that hoping and inside out pajamma wearing paid off.

Woo Hoo One Hour Delay

Here in Northern Virginia an inch of snow is an automatic seven car pile-up. More than an inch of snow triggers twelve hours of "STORM TEAM COVERAGE". Which means if you end up with a day off from work you can't watch anything on TV other than "STORM TEAM COVERAGE".

We had a light dusting of snow yesterday morning and for some reason the boy's school had a one hour delay. When I woke him up (later than usual) and told him about the little bit of snow, his first words were "Victory is mine!". I had to laugh, in his view all that hoping and inside out pajamma wearing paid off.

This Train

This isn't my style of music normally, but I love this song. I've played it so many times the boy covers his ears when he hears the first strains of music. Enjoy!

This Train

This isn't my style of music normally, but I love this song. I've played it so many times the boy covers his ears when he hears the first strains of music. Enjoy!

Snow Day

It's cold here again today, but still no snow in sight. The boy is very, very disappointed that despite wearing his pjs inside out and flushing ice down the toilet (?) he hasn't had a snow day yet.

I love snow days, though as an adult you don't get many, they're like a little gift that brightens up the week. A chance to stay home and watch the beauty of nature from inside a toasty house. The whole neighborhood is quiet and covered with a white blanket that hides anything unsightly (like the condition of our lawn). It's a chance to be still and enjoy the show.

One of my favorite things is the sound of kids playing and it doesn't get any better then a snow day for that. Their laughter echos through the neighborhood and before I know it I'm out there sliding down the hill too.

After awhile people begin moving about and the beautiful snow turns to mushy, slushy, brown stuff that is more a nuisance then anything else, but until then it's a great way to remember what it's like to be a kid.

Snow Day

It's cold here again today, but still no snow in sight. The boy is very, very disappointed that despite wearing his pjs inside out and flushing ice down the toilet (?) he hasn't had a snow day yet.

I love snow days, though as an adult you don't get many, they're like a little gift that brightens up the week. A chance to stay home and watch the beauty of nature from inside a toasty house. The whole neighborhood is quiet and covered with a white blanket that hides anything unsightly (like the condition of our lawn). It's a chance to be still and enjoy the show.

One of my favorite things is the sound of kids playing and it doesn't get any better then a snow day for that. Their laughter echos through the neighborhood and before I know it I'm out there sliding down the hill too.

After awhile people begin moving about and the beautiful snow turns to mushy, slushy, brown stuff that is more a nuisance then anything else, but until then it's a great way to remember what it's like to be a kid.

Welcome! A Little History....

I'm writing my first ever blog post while a POW, locked in my home office. I should elaborate, the boy (who recently turned 8) has two of his best friends over and after a heated battle with air freshener, they have taken over the house. The man is secured downstairs, fortunately in an area that allows him to continue working on soap, and I am secured in the office guarded by a formidable 8 year old with a nerf gun. Do boys just come hardwired for this kind of thing?

I have tried more crafts than I care to remember and after the first few months (hours, days, weeks) of passion for the latest and greatest, I lose interest and move on to something else. Of course, that's after I've purchased every possible accoutrement needed to become a professional. Perfect example:

• I fall in love with some beautiful dotted fabric (I'm a sucker for dots and stripes) so I buy several yards in all the colorways and coordinating solid colors.
• What will I do with this fabric? I decide I should make dog beds. We have a dog and he could use a bed; however, he's not the dainty kind and the fabric is pretty dainty. The dog ate his last bed, need I say more?
• I must need padding, a cutting mat, trim, and thread. Quick purchase.
• Wait, I need a sewing machine....several trips to various shops and discussions with the man (whereby I assure him this craft will stick) I purchase a sewing machine.
• Problem, I have no idea how to sew.

You get the picture, I could have a MAJOR yard sale. Now, the thing that has stuck for the last few months has been soap. The man is extremely artistic and he has come up with some amazing ideas for designs, which we'll be adding to our site a little bit at a time.

I'll explore more of our soap history in another post, but for now my guard has disappeared and I'm making a break for it.

Sheila

Welcome! A Little History....

I'm writing my first ever blog post while a POW, locked in my home office. I should elaborate, the boy (who recently turned 8) has two of his best friends over and after a heated battle with air freshener, they have taken over the house. The man is secured downstairs, fortunately in an area that allows him to continue working on soap, and I am secured in the office guarded by a formidable 8 year old with a nerf gun. Do boys just come hardwired for this kind of thing?

I have tried more crafts than I care to remember and after the first few months (hours, days, weeks) of passion for the latest and greatest, I lose interest and move on to something else. Of course, that's after I've purchased every possible accoutrement needed to become a professional. Perfect example:

• I fall in love with some beautiful dotted fabric (I'm a sucker for dots and stripes) so I buy several yards in all the colorways and coordinating solid colors.
• What will I do with this fabric? I decide I should make dog beds. We have a dog and he could use a bed; however, he's not the dainty kind and the fabric is pretty dainty. The dog ate his last bed, need I say more?
• I must need padding, a cutting mat, trim, and thread. Quick purchase.
• Wait, I need a sewing machine....several trips to various shops and discussions with the man (whereby I assure him this craft will stick) I purchase a sewing machine.
• Problem, I have no idea how to sew.

You get the picture, I could have a MAJOR yard sale. Now, the thing that has stuck for the last few months has been soap. The man is extremely artistic and he has come up with some amazing ideas for designs, which we'll be adding to our site a little bit at a time.

I'll explore more of our soap history in another post, but for now my guard has disappeared and I'm making a break for it.

Sheila