HSMG Conference Miami

view from our hotel

Wow! May was a blur (clearly since its now almost the middle of June). I had a busy month with the annual soap conference, fun times in Miami, wedding plans and a big birthday. The main event was the 2011 Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild Conference in Miami - which then turned into a pre-pre wedding celebration. The soap conference was a blast (as always), I shared a room with the fabulous Jen Hardaway from Klean Spa (she has shops in Santa Monica and Burbank). I met great people, got the chance to talk soap to my hearts content and I learned a lot of great things from the speakers. To make sure that I dont write a 3 page blog post, I've condensed down a few things from the conference.

Swirl Class with Kat from Otion

Here are my top 5 take-aways:

1. soap cannot be 100 % certified organic according to new FDA regulations
2. preception creates reality (a key point from speaker Barbara Cocoran)
   
3. customers are the single most important person in my biz (I already knew that)
4. knowing when to say enough when swirling
5. there is no perfect size company so I have to choose what works best for me

2011 Biz Goals

to do list by mondernemotive

I've been meaning to post these for a while and finally (the story of my blogging life) have them postable.

• Create a real business budget: I am a little embarrassed to admit this but I have never created a budget for my business. That is not to say that I didn't track my sales or purchases or my COGs (cost of goods sold). But I have never had an actual budget as a guide. Part of the reason was I was scared, how much would I actually need to make to move to part time work? or quit my day job all together? I also kept putting it off for other “more important” tasks. This year I’ve vowed to create a real budget for myself so I can track my progress, create goals and make changes when necessary. As of last week, I have finally created a real budget for my business. There are some scary numbers there but at least I have a real idea of what I need to make to move my business forward.

• Add three new products to my line. I would like to add lip balm, candles, and whipped scrubs to my line this year. I hope you are all as excited about these new products as I am!

• Add a soap of the month club. Done, you can check it out here.

• Add 2-3 new wholesale accounts each quarter. This is a big goal. After completely my budget I see the necessity of adding additional accounts if I want to move to part time work by the end of the year. This is also a part of the business that is a bit hard for me. It is really scary to put your business out there, especially when it is such a part of you. However, its something I have to get over if I want my business to succeed, so I need to suck it up and get it done.

• Create a production schedule. I’ve created a long term production schedule and am working on breaking the larger goals into smaller pieces. I feel so much better. :)

• Create a marketing plan. Marketing is on of my biggest business struggles. I’ve read books, gone to seminars and I still don't seem to have a full grasp of everything, especially a plan that I will consistently follow and refer to. So, I started seeing on of the free business counselors at the San Francisco Chapter of the Small Business Development Center. I should have a “real” plan in the next few months.

• Start blogging 1-3 times a week. Obviously this has been going ok, but could be better. I need someone to get tough with me - any volunteers?
  

Post Turkey Day Sale

pumpkin spice, chai tea and ginger orange peel soap

I tend to be a last minute Holiday shopper but in an effort to mend my ways and help others I am having a Post Turkey Day Sale. Everything in my shop will be 15% off November 26 – 29. Plus, if you spend $35 in product you get free US shipping. If you happen to be a newsletter subscriber you get an additional 15% off – sign up here. Happy Shopping!

p.s. my fellow SF Etsian’s are also having a sale – check out the shops that are offering discounts here.

The Soap Studio Part 1

A few weeks ago, I let everyone know about my exciting new soap studio and posted a few of my studio inspirations here. I would love to say that the soap room is looking as amazing as these studio spaces but I haven't quite completed my soap room project. I have basically gone from this:

to this:


which isn't horrible but it definitely needs some work. Here is the plan: Mister is going to build some extra shelving into the closet area, then I can re-organize a bit, reassessing the space to see if I need more organizational devices, I'll sew curtains to cover the closet (I haven't touched a sewing machine since I was 13, so that will be interesting), put up my bulletin board, then some art and I'll be much closer to my Etta + Billie soap studio vision. In the meantime, I am dealing with the semi-organized chaos. :)

HSMG Conference 2010

It's been just over a week since I got back from the 2010 HSMG (Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild) Conference in Denver, CO and I am still adjusting to my 'normal' life (moving doesn’t help ease the transition)! I looooved my time at the conference. It is a great opportunity for crazy soapmakers to meet each other, share and learn. It's wonderful to find a group of people who are as passionate as you are about the same things – it kind of feels like summer camp for adults!

soapers showcase entries, can you spy my geranium patchouli? hint: its next to a showcase winner

There were wonderful presentations ranging from Liquid Soap Making (Soap Queen Anne-Marie Faiola) to Branding (fellow bay area girl Alison Covarrubias) to The Nature of Chemistry (Dr. Cindy Jones). I really enjoyed Kayla Fioravanti's (Essential Wholesale co-mastermind, fabulous mom and all around awesome lady) presentation on formulating your dream business; Donna-Maria Coles Johnson's (Social Media guru and Indie Biz Champion) simple breakdown of social media strategies; Jamilla White's (E-Commerce Diva and all around kick ass lady) energetic E-Commerce talk; Kevin Dunn's (soapy mad scientist - I won his latest book Scientific Soapmaking and got him to sign it) hilarious breakdown of Trace; Robert Tisserand's (Aromatherapy Icon) insightful discussion of essential oils and fragrance oils (I was ready to move to Ojai so I could become his apprentice)

me grinning like a fool next to Josh Onysko

and Joshua Onysko's story of Pangea Organics (I got chills while the man was talking! His passion was completely infectious and his values hit so close to home…I considered packing everything up and camping outside the Pangea facility until the man hired me). The whole conference was filled with amazingingly energetic successful woman (and men) who generously shared their stories and support, which makes the conference a wonderful uplifting informational experience.

When I wasn’t filling my head with business info, I got the chance to meet some new folks and spend some time with people I met last year like my fabulous award winning (HSMG Soapers Showcase Best Melt and Pour Scent) roomie Jenn Hardaway from KLEAN SPA (photo below is Jen with her certificate) and the hilarious incredibly successful Lela Barker of Belle Lucce.

There were parties (Wild Wild West extravaganza sponsored by Kayla and Dennis Fioravanti), networking meet ups (where my table really got loud and I met some fab ladies like super funny Amy Kalinchuk – the Old Crone herself :), Kristen Bowen and Rose Cunfer) and had a few drinks at the Spotted Dog with Debbie Chialtas (Melt and Pour soap star), Erin Pikor (amazing cold process soap artist with killer arms), Bill and Val from super lovely Piper Tate and my pal Lori Nova (super bath and body teacher and creator of The Nova Studio).

I had a great time and can't wait till next year's conference in Miami (I swear I am starting my workout and savings plan now).

Weekend Recap: Last Weekend

Last weekend, Mister and I went on a mini-break to Napa. I know it seems as though we go on mini-breaks all the time (Muir Beach), but really it happens very rarely because Mister works on Saturdays and because of our limited budget. However, when I was feeling spendy I found a great deal on Jetsetter for the Avia Hotel Napa (the bath tub totally sold me), so I went for it. But, that was in December, so we had to wait a few looong months.

Our trip was finally here (woohoo)!! Before we went up, we decided that we were going to stay in city limits, rather than venture about the Napa valley and focus on tasty relatively cheap food and wine (wine tasting can get pretty expensive when its $10-$20 at each winery).We headed up to Napa Friday night after work, checked into our hotel, and headed out for some dinner. We walked to the Pearl Restaurant - an Asian fusion spot frequented by locals. We read some great reviews on Yelp and were not disappointed. The owner greeted us at the door and was extremely gracious and attentive. To start, we shared a potato swiss chard sausage soup. For the main, I got the Chicken Chile Verde with homemade tortillas, creamy polenta and veggies. Mister got the Meatloaf with a Brooklyn style Red Gravy, mash potatoes and veggies. Both mains were great, but Mister and I both agreed that mine was pretty amazing. For dessert we shared the house made brioche bread pudding which was yummy. We headed back to the hotel, where Mister promptly fell asleep and I took a lovely bath.
The next morning we headed out in search of coffee, pastries and the Taste card. I found out about the Taste card, which gets you a taste at 14 tasting rooms in downtown Napa for $20 (all are walking distance from one another), while paging through a Budget Travel magazine. The card is a great alternative to the pricey wineries around Napa Valley. We got a bit off course in our early attempt to reach The Model Bakery at the Oxbow Market (I blame Google maps on our iphones) but it made our Coffees, Pecan Sticky Bun and Egg, Chorizo Breakfast Torta totally worth it. After breakie, we did a quick circuit of the Oxbow Market and I bought a few spices from the Whole Spice Company to try in soap. We walked off towards the rest of downtown to find the visitors center so we could get our Taste cards. We ended up taking the long way to get there and got a great tour of the down town transit station - really sweet. At least we got more walking in. With cards in hand and a plan to do a circuit of the downtown tasting rooms we headed out but got briefly sidetracked by a few antique stores (I couldnt help it - there were sparkly things calling my name. I found some fabulous earrings, old vichy springs mineral water bottles, and old soap boxes). We didnt realize it till we headed to our first wine tasting spot but the Mustard Festival was in full effect in Napa so it was crazy packed. Our first tasting room was the Napa General Store, which is in the old re-furbished red brick mill. After being denied at the neighboring tasting room because of the festival, we decided to get away from the festivities and found our way back to the Oxbow Market area. We went to Mason (which specializes in delicious Sauv Blanc), GustavoThrace (Gustavo inspired the movie Bottle Shock), and Taste at Oxbow featuring Mahoney Vineyards (the wine maker and owner were there pouring glasses of wine. We chatted up the wine maker for about an hour and liked everything so much we joined the wine club). By this time we were a bit tipsy and hadnt really eaten lunch yet and it was almost 4pm, so we headed to The Fatted Calf (soooo good) for some cured meats, got one last glass of wine in at the Wine Merchant, grabbed cheese from the Oxbow Cheese Merchant and a baguette from The Model Bakery and headed back to the hotel. After our snack and a nap we decided to make one last trip out for the amazing pulled pork sandwich at The Bounty Hunter. Back at the hotel, I took a bath and went to bed. It was an amazing day.

After a lazy morning we headed to the ABC Cafe and enjoyed home made biscuits and gravy, spiced apple and cream cheese stuffed pancakes and coffee...wow. We then said good bye to Napa and went back to the city.

As you can tell we had a very fatty delicious lovely weekend...I want to go back every weekend.

Its back....

Start spring a little early with my uplifting Rosemary Lemon soap. My revamped formula has much more citrus punch with hints of herbaceous rosemary and moisturizing fair trade shea butter. Banish dry winter skin with the exfoliating properties of ground rosemary leaves and skin soothing calendula petals. This will definitely help with the winter blues.

Weekend Recap: Soap and the Sea

I had a great weekend. Saturday morning was filled with making some Peppermint Lime and Geranium Patchouli soap - the entire apartment smelled amazing. Then Mister and I left to meet a few of our friends for a one night mini break at Muir Beach. Six couples rented rooms at the Pelican Inn a fabulous little British Pub/Bed and Breakfast about 30-45 min north of San Francisco. We had a great time chatting at the beach (even though the weather was iffy), drinking a few beers, playing Apples to Apples and laughing it up around the fireplace. If you are ever in the area I highly suggest a visit - the Pelican has great beer and delicious food. It was really hard to leave yesterday!!

Guess what!?!?!?!

I made it onto Etsy's front page!!!!! (yes, I do need that many exclamation points that's how excited I am)

I received the excellent news this morning via fellow SF Etsy Street Team member Kendra (thanks a bunch!) that my Citrus Poppy Seed Soap made it onto Etsy's front page yesterday evening. OMG! I cant believe I missed it, but thanks to the fabulous Craft Cult site I was able to get a glimpse of what my lovely product looked like. Ever since I started selling on Etsy about I've wanted to be on the front page and it feels amazing to have it happen (one goal down approximately 9 million more to go - I say that in a good way). Check out the mini version of what my front page looked like. I am definitely going to celebrate by buying myself a treat this afternoon (cookie or fresh made juice??) ;).

2010 handmade olympics!

I just entered my citrus poppy seed soap and my friend Erin's reindeer head pillow in the eco-friendly category at rikrak studio's handmade olympics 2010! go check out all the entries, add your own (wink wink), and check back for the results.

The Show!

My booth

So, my first show went fairly well. I did better than I expected, I met a bunch of fantastic SF Etsiers (Sarah Deragon, Annie of Sourdoughs, Rebecca of JimDandys, Kendra of KendraRenee, Erin of Eristotle...) other crafters (like Jess of XOJF and Liz of 1 by liz) and my fantastic friends came to visit me (and make purchases).

My fabulous friend and customer Heidi

Thanks to the ladies of Lightbox SF for making my first show so painless - cant wait for the next one!!!

Trippy photo of me at my booth and Liz in the background

My photos didn't turn out very well - Sorry - still getting a hang of the new camera!

HSMG Conference Palm Springs...finally

More than two weeks ago I attended the Hand Crafted Soap Makers Guild Conference in Palm Springs and I still think I'm recovering ; ). I had heard a lot of great things about the conference from Lori Nova of The Nova Studio and I am sooo glad that I was able to attend this year. I was a really wonderful opportunity for me to majorly geek out on all things soap!! Plus I got to meet tons of incredible people - including some serious role models like my very own conference roomie Jen Hardaway of Klean Bath + Body, Lela Barker of Bella Lucce, Anne Marie Faiola of Brambleberry and the list just keeps on going....

Lori Nova and I

The conference was meticulously planned and organized, the VP of the HSMG Leigh O'Donnell (and future president) did a great job. It truly is incredible how many events, presentations, networking hours, meetings and meals were packed into 3 days. There were presentations ranging from topics like Setting Up Shop with Linda Stevens of Upland Soap Factory (who is hilarious!) to The Media is You with Donna Maria Coles Johnson of the Indie Beauty Network. I was shocked when I realized I was understanding (and really enjoying) Cold Process Kinetics (heat in soap making process) with Kevin Dunn, PhD (apparently I have turned into a science geek in my old age). Kevin had the coolest animation to show the chemical bonds between soap and water molecules and the different ways soap molecules can arrange themselves...so neat - you can check it out here. The first evening, Kayla and Dennis Fioravanti (check them out on Twitter here) of Essential Wholesale threw a lavish party -

My table at the party

complete with jugglers, stilt walkers, an incredible ice sculpture/martini fountain,


delicious food, a bag filled will amazing natural products (I cant get enough of the Bitter Almond & Vanilla Lotion), and two very talented comedians: Wendy Leibman and Jon Reep. Jon had me in tears, I was practically hyperventilating I was laughing so hard...oh lordy that man is fuuuunnnny. After the next jam packed day we had an evening to pamper ourselves with Spa Night - don't I look fabulous?

Thanks for being my personal photographer Bill (from Piper Tate)! Somehow I managed to make it to the pool each evening (staying up way past my bedtime) to chat it up with my fellow soapers.

The last day of the conference was bitter sweet, it started with a Indie Meet up breakfast hosted by Donna Maria where I was able to meet fabulous Indies and talk about legislation effecting our industry. Oh and I also got to talk cupcakes with Anne Marie. Fellow soaper Cindy of Sudz N Bubbles and I got more than we bargained for when we went to a local spot called Randy's. Randy's is a Palm Springs staple and is frequented by sports stars and Hollywood celebrities. Randy was extremely genial if a bit eccentric, his walls are covered in photographs and autographs and his menu was a binder not only filled with food options but also articles, factoids and more photographs. You can ready more about the lunch here. After another afternoon of classes the conference ended with dinner, an awards ceremony and tons of pictures!

Kelly Bloom (Southern Soapers) and I

The next day was rough, I was sleep deprived and had to be up at 4am for a 6am flight back to SF so I could make it to work by 9 (I know I am totally crazy). I am thankful I didn't have anything serious to do at work that day because I was loopy!!!

I really had a great time and I am so glad that I went. I know that I am definitely attending next years conference in Denver!! Hopefully this time I'll get to hit up the spa.

Etta + Billie Featured on Bright Side Project

My products were featured on the Bright Side Project last Friday!!! I am absolutely ecstatic!!!

What is The Bright Side Project you ask?? Well it is an ingenious project created by Miss B (aka Tristan) to bring a daily ray of sunshine into everyone's life through product giveaways (win by answering sweet questions like "What is you favorite memory from your childhood?") - which in turn helps her publicize emerging artists, designers and other product creators. I received an email from the lovely Tristan last week asking if I wanted to participate (she found me on Etsy) - after checking out her website I was ready to jump right in (sadly I had no idea about this wonderful project before last week!). One of my favorite parts, is that I was able to create the question and I get to pick the winner. The question is:

What is your favorite scent and why? What memory does this scent evoke?

Scent has always fascinated me (good thing I work with it all the time) - it has the most incredible way of transporting you back in time to specific memories...every time I smell Aqua Di Gio I think of being in behind the stage of my 6th grade class play trying to get the attention of my crush who was too busy being mischievous to notice me...sigh. Ok, enough reminiscing. There is still a chance to win four of my soaps until Friday April 24, so get your butts on over to the site and answer the question!! Link is here and check out the rest of the site here.

1st Soaping Adventure of 2009 and some lessons...

So Monday I decided to take a "sick" day to stay home and make some soap (hopefully no one from work is reading this). I had a well thought out plan to have breakfast with Mister, make some soap, meet a friend for lunch at 12:30 and then head to Target for some supplies, leaving a long lazy afternoon to do whatever. Of course, as many soapers can attest, things do not always go according to plans.

While Mister put my mold together, I got started - mixing my lye and water, measuring my oils and melting, preparing my additives and scent. As far as time goes I kinda forgot to factor in the that a larger batch takes a bit more time - half way through I realized I would be late for lunch. Called my friend to reschedule. Back to the soap. Finally it is time to mix the batch. Now its time for splitting the batch. I usually just eyeball this part but this time I actually measured it out with the scale - which is when the first minor calamity occurred. Because I was in a bit of a rush, I poured too quickly and raw soap spilled over my scale and onto the table....WOOPS!! At this point I thought - ooh I should have Mister take pictures. Great idea! So now he is involved in taking pictures of me in our poorly lit small ass kitchen while I continue my soaping. As you see, we got some sweet photos of me in my giant sweatshirt/sweat-pant combo looking extremely attractive. Finally its time to add the fun stuff - I add my ground lavender buds and essential oils to my lavender batch (isn't it pretty!?!?!). Stir it up and then add my colorant (a little more orange than I was expecting), poppy-seeds and essentials oils. I stir some more hoping that my batch will thicken quickly since I am beyond late for lunch and am impatient to put these babies in the mold. Finally, I decide that they are thick enough and I pour the citrus in the mold - beautiful, no issues what-so-ever. OK, now time for the lavender, I start pouring, everything seems OK - then Mister points out that raw soap is leaking out of my mold....OH CRAP! So I scramble to hold the towel to keep the soap from going onto the floor while simultaneously trying to scoop what I can back into the mold (I hate wasting any soap). Eventually, I think that the soap has thickened enough to stop leaking and I continue pouring the soap into the mold - wrong move. The soap starts leaking again more quickly - before I can grab the towel to stop it, it has poured onto my shoe and on the floor....Son of a B*?!@*.

Eventually, the soap thickened and I was able to cover my mold and head out to lunch, but my whole "plan" for my day was shot.
Looking back at Monday (and some other soap days) I realize that I need to learn a little patience while soap making and I need to try not to do "everything" in one day. I am always so excited about coming up with combinations and the final product that sometimes I forget to slow down and deal with whats happening in the moment. My goal for next time is to focus on the process, and not rush things because things usually don't go according to the plan. I am also going to try to not put so much pressure on myself to get everything done according to a schedule cause life just doesn't work that way.

Also, I wont be letting Mister put my molds together ; ).

P.S. I am hoping to have my soaps available on etsy in February, so stay tuned!!!