Yep...it's me...AND I'M BACK!!

Heeelllloooo to all of my faithful blog readers!!! Yes it's been a long time...I'm actually kinda embarassed that I haven't posted anything in so long! It's funny how I always start out each year saying "I'm going to do better with my business, blog, website, etc." "I'm re-focused and motivated"!! Ha ha...every year same oh same oh. Well I am saying the same thing this year!

This is my make it or break it year. I told my husband that I would devote my time and energy into this business this year and if it didn't work out by the end of 2013 I would close up shop and just have a "hobby". So this is my year to make it work.

 

 

I have so many goals for this year. Personal, Financial, Spiritual, Business, etc. So my plan is to organize my goals on a spreadsheet and then hang them up and reevaluate them every Quarter. I got this idea from Youtube vlogger that I follow. I'll have to find her name and let you know. But anywhoo...evaluating my goals every quarter will help to keep me on track (hopefully) and then I can cross some things off my list or add more goals.

So for the next couple of days I will be working on writing all of my goals down on paper. I have had my spiritual goals written down since September...so now I'll just expand that to my Business. That way I can be balanced. I feel like I've rambled on and on in this post. So my next post will be more focused. It's late...I had this bright idea to eat some super sweet peach cobbler around 12am...and now I'm beginning to think that wasn't such a good idea :)

**Disclaimer: This is not the Peach Cobbler I ate, but it does look delish so you can find the recipe Here on this blog.

**Another Disclaimer: Please excuse any typos or incorrect grammer...it's late and I didn't really proofread good!

I hope you all have a good night! Off to bed I go! By the way I did make a couple of new soaps so I'll post some pictures of those the next time. Until we meet again...Toodles!

~Yvette

New Website currently in the works...

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd check in for a bit and tell you what I've been up to today. It's kind of cold & chilly here in SC today! We've had a really mild winter so I really can't complain much about the weather.

 I am currently working on a new website so that is taking up sooo much of my time. I would love to be making soap today. However...this is a necessity. I decided to go back to a website with a shopping cart because I think that will make things a lot easier for me & my customers. So instead of emailing me or calling with your orders you can go ahead and place your order right from the website and it will direct you to paypal to pay at the end of your transaction. No worries, you don't have to create a paypal account to pay, you can just pay as a guest if you'd like it's a very secure website. Now if you have to pay using a check or money order then you still need to email me at carolinasoapco@yahoo.com 

I haven't quite figured out if there's a way to bypass the paypal checkout. Also, your paypal receipt will say "Miranda's Collection" and it's fine that us: Carolina Soap Company. I just need to change the name.

**For all my local customers who get your products delivered to you type in the coupon code: LOCALPICKUP and shipping charges will not be added to your total. Make sure you put it in all caps.**

I have about 17 products listed so far and I need to take pictures and list others. Well as I type this I think that what I will go ahead and do is...go ahead and list some other products and upload the pictures later as I take them. That way you can go ahead and order anything that you need (just not pretty product pictures to view).  Well I'm off to do some more web design so until next time...

Here is the link to the new website: http://www.carolinasoapcompany.com/

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that I did go ahead and discount the "Oceanfront" soap that didn't turn out as planned. It's listed on the website for $2.50! If you'd like to try it hurry b/c there are only about 7 bars to go around at that price. I do have a confession: I've been using this soap for the past 3 weeks or so and I love it. So that's why it's only 7 more bars left. I'm going to try and contain myself and sell those bars.

Hopefully my next batch will come out as planned :o)

So now...until next time...toodles!

~Yvette

Chamomile Tea, Oceanfront, and Lavender Eucalyptus Soaps unmolded and cut

Just wanted to share with you all pictures of these soaps after I unmolded and cut them down to size.

I will have these listed on our website in about 4-5 weeks after they have cured.

"Chamomile Tea"

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"Oceanfront"

Oceanfront doesn't look too bad considering what happened to this batch. So I'm pleased. :o)

To read about what happened read my previous post here. I will more than likely sell this batch for a discounted price since I'm not 100% pleased with the outcome. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the soap, it smells good and still lathers up well just like my other soaps. Just not pleased with the "look".

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"Lavender Eucalyptus"

Smells wonderful as always.

Thank you for looking and reading! Have a wonderful day!

Off to make more soap...stay tuned.



Yesterday's Soaping Adventures (Chamomile, Oceanfront and Lavender Eucalyptus Soaps)

See I kept my promise...I'm back! So like I told you all yesterday I made 3 batches of soap: Chamomile, Oceanfront, and Lavender Eucalyptus. I was so excited to be back in the kitchen soaping after a little hiatus I did all my prep work the night before so I was ready to go come 6am.  

My first batch came out wonderful! That was the Chamomile.

Isn't it pretty and soothing looking?! I put chamomile flowers throughout the entire batch and then sprinkled a few flower buds on the top. I'm pleased with the way this one came out so we'll see how it looks when I cut the bars down to size. It smells absolutely wonderful, I love Chamomile Tea and this smells just like it! Very relaxing. I'm not sure what to call this one so any suggestions would be welcomed! I wanted something more than "just" Chamomile. Maybe "Relaxing Chamomile Tea"? I don't know...let me know what you think. Either on Facebook or below in the comments section.



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OK those are lovely so on to my second batch. "Oceanfront" was inspired by my love of the beach. Especially Myrtle Beach, SC -- if you've never been you should go it's one of the best beaches IMO....but I may be a little partial :o)

Anywho back to my soap...I had a great soap planned. It was suppose to be White with blue swirls throughout (kind of ocean inspired) with a blue/white swirl on top. Not too fancy but pretty ya know. As I mixed my oils, fragrance, and lye solution together the mixture STARTED TO SEIZE!!

Now for all of you who are not soapmakers and you don't know what that means. The best way I can describe it is the soap begins to thicken up quickly (really almost instantly in this case) and it's more like the consistency of applesauce or thick mashed potatoes. Everything started to immediately separate and not blend together. You should have seen me screaming!! "Drama Queen" I know! I immediately poured it into the mold and pushed it down in there trying to smooth the top to make it look decent. Went back to check on it like 15-20 minutes later and it literally was like a mold full of oil...all separated. As you will see below I then dumped the soap out of the mold and into my crockpot. I decided to slow cook it and then put it in a round mold with the hopes that it can be salvaged somewhat. We'll see later when I unmold it how it turned out.

LESSON THAT I  LEARNED: When working with new fragrances or essential oils remember to do a "small" test batch so that you don't waste your ingredients if all doesn't go as planned. :o)

I will  make an attempt at my dream "Oceanfront" soap again. I may need to find another combination of scents though.

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So now on to my 3rd batch. I was a little nervous about mixing this one up even though I've made my Lavender Eucalyptus soap TONS of times! But I was beginning to doubt my skills. I waited about 30 minutes and then attempted it. This one came out beautiful as usual. I tried to leave most of it cream colored this time and only a small portion on the top is lavender, so I'm also anxious to see how this one turned out once the bars are cut!



So those were my soaping adventures yesterday. I will unmold and cut these down today and report back to you all! Thank you for reading and listening to my soap rambles! Until next time...

Hiya Everyone!! I'm still around :o)

Where has the time gone?! This year has truly flown by! Wow, this is all going to take some used to again. I've been MIA  for a while now on my blog and I am so sorry to those of you who follow my blog and wonder "when in the world is she going to post something"? LOL...TODAY is the day! Yeah I'm so sad :o)

Seriously though my goal for 2012 is to at least make a blogpost once a week. Hopefully more, but for now that seems like a realistic goal to me.

Lots to do before the end of the year, which is only 3 days away. I've got lots of new things planned for 2012. We did home parties this year and plan to do the same next year as well as participate in a few more craft shows. New products, designs, changes to our website, newsletter, more youtube videos on our channel...you get the idea. I will definitely be asking for your input as we make necessary changes and I want to say to you all thank you so much for your support throughout the years. Next month will be our 7th Anniversary in this business journey and we look forward to growing a lot more!

I have soo much to tell you all, so what I'm going to do is organize everything by subject and then make seperate posts. I will start with the soaps I poured today and what I learned in that experience (hint hint:  seizing soap). I just finished making a Chamomile soap  (haven't decided on a name), Lavender Eucalyptus, and Ocean (long story on Ocean). That will all post tomorrow with pictures. Hope you all have a wonderful day. We're having beautiful weather here in SC this winter I hope it stays that way!

Myrtle Beach, SC