In over my head?

What was I thinking taking all this stuff on so close to my wedding?  I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  I want so badly to focus on my shop and preparing it for the impending holiday rush (please, oh please, recession, let there be one!)  but I also have to prepare for the craft fair in November and all the little wedding details that still need to come together and did I mention that there seems to be something on our calendar every weekend leading up to our wedding!  My new soap molds arrived today which means now there are no more excuses for putting that off (darn!).  I'll let you all know how the liner free molds work, I am excited to use them!  

Holiday Rush

What are you all doing to prepare for the holiday rush?  I feel like I am already behind.  I need to order more supplies.  I am still waiting for my molds to arrive and then I can really get moving.  I'm just so overwhelmed between wedding planning, job hunting, and craft fairs and holiday prep my head is spinning!  I really want to integrate some new projects/ideas into the shop too before the holiday rush but I might be piling too much on my plate. Not to mention, I am already starting to think about Christmas gifts, I am going to be making a lot of gifts this year since the purse strings are, well lets just face it, they are glued shut right now!  Note to self: Hop in time machine, go back in time, pick a wedding date that isn't in November, right in the middle of the holiday season!

Print Gocco

I really would love a Print Gocco. We almost bought one recently to create our wedding invitations but decided to go with good old fashioned printing instead. I have a ton of ideas going through my head and a lot of the projects I want to start involve screen printing but we only have huge screens and to coat and prepare the screens for a 3 x 5 design just seems crazy! I mean, just look at the beautifulness (word?) you can create with a Gocco...

Photos: A Lovely Morning Blog, Bridbird, Morris & Essex

Strawberry Bubblegum

This print makes me happy...

Photo: Papermoth

Happy Monday

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I have a loooong list of things to do this week, I'm already looking forward to the weekend and the Antiques Fair in Mt. Dora I am going to.

Photo: Irenesuchocki

Shop Talk

I'm ready for a complete shop overhaul. I want to revamp my logo, my colors, my shop photos, everything. I'm basically looking to do a "shop baptism."

I need a cohesive look and right now I don't think I have it. I have some shop photos that were taken in New York on the wood floors in my apartment with really cool partial light coming in through our window and then I have some shot here, outside on the balcony. I've been doing some research on how to build a light box, I think that will make a huge difference in how my photos turn out.

My labels and packaging also need to be improved.   I've been looking around the internet for inspiration, here are some of my favorites. Stay tuned for some big changes!

Photos: Flickr, Naiad, Flickr

I'm back

I'm back from the mountains. It was such a great trip. I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things so I will be back Monday with regular scheduled posts! Have a great weekend.  

Photo: ffflowers

Words to live by...

Photo: The Love Shop

Green Tea & Peppermint Soap Bars

Just added to the shop! This is one of my favorites, it smells so clean and refreshing. Also available in mini sizes.

Shop Update

New items in the shop!

Free Shipping

Free shipping on soap orders of $10 or more, until March 23rd. Get an early start on your Mother's Day shopping!

Spotted on Etsy...

How cool is this porcelain soap dish...it would look great with one of my soaps in it!

Photo: khphillips

Twitter Coupon

http://twtqpon.com/2cpq10

The past few days have been overcast and I haven't been able to take any photos....so frustrating! I have a couple of new soaps that are ready to list in the shop but until I can get a few decent photos I guess it will have to wait!

That is one of the nice things about working from home, when it's raining and yucky outside you get to be curled up inside on the couch with your laptop and a nice cup of tea working away!

I'm still adjusting to being laid off. It definitely has its advantages and disadvantages. I have been able to get a very long to-do list accomplished within a matter of days, not months as it would have taken when I had a job. I get to go the grocery at 11 am when literally, no one is there! I get to cook my breakfast and lunch every day as opposed to grabbing something quickly around the office. I haven't taken the train in days. I get to wear sweats all day and I don't have to put on makeup. In a lot of ways it's great. It just doesn't feel right not bringing in a paycheck, not actually going to a job and making money. It definitely doesn't feel like a vacation. I'm looking into a bunch of things right now and just trying to figure out what the next step is from here.

Shop update

I've added a couple of new things to the shop today. A new soap, Chai Tea Latte, which smells fantastic, and lavender sachets.

Last week I added a couple of new soaps as well, Geranium & Honey which is a nice floral scent blended with honey to help moisturize the skin. Also, Sweet Ginger which has a warm and herbal scent and has been blended with dried orange peel for a soft exfoliation. All are available now in my shop.

There are a few more on the curing rack that I should be able to list in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!

Ugg...

I was planning on taking photos for the shop today but it's overcast and there is not enough light coming into my apartment to get a decent photo. I have a ton of new inventory that I'm anxious to list. I was playing around yesterday with some photos, I think I got some decent shots...I was losing light fast and usually I have Mike's help to set up each shot so things went a little slower than usual. Here's one of the shots I really like.

What now?

Well it's Wednesday afternoon, almost 2:00, and I'm sitting in my sweats with Peewee in my lap, drinking tea and writing this blog post. Why, do you ask? Because on Friday, I was laid off from my job. It seems to be a blessing in disguise, now I have a chance to focus on Kopah and the wedding, and a million other things that were on my to-do list. It seems to be a blessing, but it's still been difficult to get through.

My mom says it's like a death, you go through the full range of emotions, and it's true. I've been angry, sad, anxious. I've cried more than I thought I would. When you're let go from a job it's a different experience then when you leave by your own accord. You don't have that freeing feeling that comes with giving your notice and walking out the door on your last day, knowing you never have to worry about expense reports or databases. Instead, you're left carrying all your stuff home in a box and wondering what the hell just happened.

It's everything I expected and then, it's nothing I expected. The days go by much quicker now. I am waking up and getting started at the same time every morning, but before I know it, it's lunch time and then Mike is walking through the front door. It's lonely, and quiet but in a nice way. I miss the girls in my office and being able to talk about last night's episode of The City (do we trust Jay or is he totally playing Whitney for a fool?!) but the quiet is nice and now I can get things done without interruptions. I also thought I'd have a lot more time to do the things I want to do but I find that I'm so busy with errands and random things that come up that I hardly get to do anything for me. In any case, it's an adjustment that will take some getting used to.

I'm trying to take the whole thing in stride because honestly, this is what I've always wanted. To work for myself, be my own boss, make my own hours and now I can. Only now, I have to make it work...there's no job to fall back on, no security blanket of any kind. It's just the motivation I've been looking for...

Missing you

I've been missing my little blog lately...I've just been so crazy with other projects (i.e. wedding & honeymoon planning!) that I haven't really had the time or energy to post here and the day-to-day life of me has been rather uninspiring lately. I really don't want to bore everyone with a 2 paragraph post about what I had for breakfast so the posting here has been light but that doesn't mean I've been slacking!

If you pay any attention to the sidebars of this blog you will see that I have been slowly adding to the "curing rack." I am determined not to let my new year's resolutions slip through the cracks this year! I even sustained a minor soaping injury this weekend to prove it. A 10 pound soap mold dropped onto my stove and my ring finger got caught in the middle of it all, the soap mold won and I almost lost my finger nail!

I've also started a new blog and while I'm not totally committed to it at this point, it's something I am passionate about and have been wanting to do for so long. It's slow getting started but I am blaming the all-consuming wedding planning, it's my new excuse for everything!

Photo: Flickr

Checking in...

I'm still here, just swamped with a million things going on right now. I started off the year with a really great momentum and somewhere I kind of lost my focus with Kopah which sucks because I had really good intentions for this year.

I think I kind of got side tracked when I found a location for my wedding and went into full planning mode. Everything else sort of got pushed to the side. But I am still here and I am trying to get focused again. It really is a goal of mine to make this business successful. Sometimes I think I'm crazy trying to do that in an economy like the one we are in now but I am trying to remain positive and hopeful! After all, I need something to fall back on if I lose my job.

Daily dose of cuteness

How adorable is this little clutch! I can never resist anything that has dachshunds on it!

Photo: Field of Roses