HSMG 2008 Conference in Burlington, VT

It's almost here! Next week I'll be heading to Vermont to the annual Handmade Soapmaker's Guild conference. I'm on the volunteer staff but will have plenty of time to attend workshops, hear successful speakers and relax. I'll come back with a full report and a full car of goodies. I'll be in my heaven!! Keep on soaping! p.s. Sneaking in a batch of Oatmeal-Milk-Honey and Lavender Milk before I head out. xo

Craving Coconut

Must be the warm weather that I'm craving Coconut. Made a batch of Coconut After Tanning Lotion, "Body Kisses" and Coconut Almond Calendula soap. In the mood for some spicy Clary Sage with a hint of French Lavender w/ground oregano. Yep, spicy. Swirled sage green oxide through a batch of this Lavender Clary Sage. Nice!!

Details of this Saturday's Cat Show

WE HAD A GREAT DAY!

SOUTHERN TIER CAT FANCIERS, INC.
18th ANNUAL ALL-BREED

CAT SHOW

April 19, 2008
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Broome Community College Ice Rink
910 Upper Front Street, Binghamton nY
Special Event – “Parade of Breeds”

A variety of clothing, collectibles, pet toys & furniture and cat care items will be available for cat lovers & cats!

Admission:
Adults $5
Seniors/Teens $4
Children 6-12 yrs $3
Children under 6 yrs Free
Receive $1 off the admission fee when you bring a cat food item for donation to local shelters.

Cat Fancier Show

Love Cats? The Cat Fancier Show is coming to Broome Community College Ice Rink this Saturday, 9-5. It promises to have lots of things to do, especially vendors, beside over 200 kitties. I'll be sharing a booth with my favorite Tastefully Simple person, Alexia. So if you want some beer bread and some beer soap, come see us!

Small Class Big Fun

Only five of us today but that allowed lots of room for creativity. I joined them and made a couple batches of goat's milk soap. One box of vanilla almond with coffee grounds swirled with chocolate for my favorite coffee shop, Sip of Seattle. They'll have a Trivia winner raffle every week with an opportunity to win a bar of Mocha Java Vanilla Almond. My second batch was split 1/2 Ginger Mango with ground ginger colored orange and 1/2 Lemongrass with Lemon Balm herb swirled yellow. The rest got into layering. Meiko piled up 5 different colors with 2 scents. Besides a few clumsy moves by me, what a great class! Thanks for your help Paul xoxo.

Mastering the Art/Craft of Soapmaking

BCC Master Class is this Saturday. It is very rewarding to see students get creative with their techniques in this class. We'll learn natural colors, layering, splitting batch, soap cakes and enriched soaps/lotion and tons of information. Don't forget to bring a bar of soap from your last batch to make your enriched lotion. Lots of clays, dead sea mud, herbs and scents to choose.
Once you become a Master Soapmaker, the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild is a great organization to join. Lots of benefits! Check them out http://www.soapguild.org/.

Norwich Advanced Soapmaking was Today!

We had a great day with the guys and ladies today creating and sharing our creative batches of soap. Remember you go home with over a $100 value with 30 bars of goat's milk, vegetarian, creations scented with healing essential oils and herbs. Some favorites made today were the goat's milk with fir needle and cedarwood; anise swirled with a little black oxide; goat's milk, patchouli herb, superfatted with Vit e/castor oil and scented with Karma fragrance. The whole building smelled great.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the spa services day at Jan Fiore's from 1-5 pm where you get to sample quite a few healing amenities like color and heat therapy, aqua chi foot therapy, chair back massage, reflexology and many others. Look for Angelicglow Homemade Soap there, too.

Here a photo of my house buddies getting a little fresh air this afternoon. Finally, some decent weather. Have a great weekend!