Peace, Love & Soap

Discovering doTERRA!!

2012-01-27T12:59:00.002-05:00

A few months back a friend of mine introduced me to an essential oil blend called Slim & Sassy! I had heard some of the girls where I workout saying how it gave them energy, stamina & was great for getting the metabolism revved up...so I tried it. That night I felt an extra boost at Zumba and when I got home I was buzzing around making dinner & cleaning up. I wondered what was different about the way that I was feeling and then I remembered taking the Slim & Sassy oil. The thing I love most about it is that it is all natural therapeutic grade essential oils- grapefruit, lemon, peppermint, ginger & cinnamon. I checked into the doTERRA company and ordered some Slim & Sassy. After about a month of LOVING it, I decided to become a rep for the company. I have always leaned toward the natural approach to health & wellness and this company's values were right up my alley. Plus, I think it's a great compliment to my natural handmade soap business- Peace, Love & Soap! Since then, I have tried many of the doTERRA products such as, Past Tense (for headaches & tension), Breathe (for my son's allergies), Lavender (for relaxation & sleep) and many more... Not only does this company have great products, but they also have great incentives and avenues of earning money by becoming a representative...paid in cash, not products!

The last thing I ever thought I would do would be to add something else to my plate. I hate giving people the hard-sell and pressuring them into buying products. However, doTERRA is a company I believe in with high quality products that actually work!! I love the natural approach...contact me if you'd like to know more about products or becoming a representative.

peaceloveandsoap@live.com

http://www.doterra.myvoffice.com/katiemwill/

www.peaceloveandsoap.com

Peace, Love & Soap...Changing Modes!

2011-11-13T17:29:00.002-05:00

Well, It's that time of year again... Our farmer's market has come to an end and we have some shows gearing up for Christmas, but all in all, we are shifting from selling mode to production mode. Thank goodness, our wholesalers & faithful customers keep us selling throughout the winter. However, this is the time when we spend lots of time in the Bubble Factory concocting next seasons wares. It has been an amazing year and we feel so fortunate that Peace, Love & Soap is thriving!

The Bubble Wagon!!!

2011-10-16T21:06:00.002-04:00

I cannot express how excited I am about how the Bubble Wagon turned out! This picture was taken right after it was finished of myself & Richie, our friend from Canada who came down to wrap it for us.

Youtube Review!! Peace Love & Soap ~ Handmade Vegan Soap Haul/Review

2011-08-06T19:11:00.000-04:00

This is so cool!! I just randomly found this review on youtube!!

2011 HSMG Miami

2011-06-21T15:02:00.003-04:00

This year I was lucky enough to be able to do something that I've wanted to do for a few years now...attend the HSMG annual conference. It was held in Miami, which is my hometown, so I felt comfortable venturing out on my own to go. I had the best time and met some of the nicest people ever! It was fun to be around people who find value & excitement in soap like I do. I got to enter my soap in the Soaper's Showcase, which held some of the most amazing soap projects I have ever seen! The speaker's & instructors were so knowledgeable and I felt so Blessed to be there.

This is my friend Lashonda, aka The Soap Coach.

This was at the Essential Wholesale party at the Ft Lauderdale Museum of Science.

I became fast friends with Jackie & Leiann. I hope to see them again one day!

This is Holly. Thank goodness she "accidentally" sat at our lunch table. I was so glad to get to know her. She even bought me a peace sign bracelet because she said it reminded her of me!

This is our keynote speaker Barbara Corcoran signing my copy of her book. She has such an inspiring story. Certain parts of her talk brought me to tears...she is a great speaker.

Below is a short video of the conference including the makeshift limbo game that we started with my walking stick. All in all, it was such a fun time and I am thankful to my husband who took vacation time off to watch our boys so I could go.

Our new Custom Project- Art in Action!

2011-05-09T16:11:00.009-04:00

Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I love art, creativity & music. A few years ago when we first moved to Greenville, Mike & I stumbled upon an art festival downtown, called Artisphere. As we walked down into the beautiful Falls Park we heard some rock music blaring and saw this guy with crazy blonde hair dancing around & slinging paint. Even my little boys were mesmerized. As we watched, the life size canvas turned into a painting of Tom Petty! Ever since then, my family has loved the art of Brian Olsen. Every year, we are usually camped out the entire weekend in front of the Art in Action stage, like little groupies! I know it sounds silly, but it's so fun to watch. Take a minute to watch this video and you'll get a glimpse of what his art is like:

With all this being said, I am very excited to announce that Peace, Love & Soap has been working with the Art in Action team and we've come up with a custom "Art in Action" soap bar! It will be sold this year at the merchandise tent of Brian Olsen, Art in Action. The soap is all natural and handmade, of course, and it also has exfoliants in it to help wash paint (or whatever your medium may be) off of those artsy folks hands! So don't miss out on your Peace, Love & Soap, "Art in Action" bar and definitely don't miss out on watching Brain Olsen do his thing!!

Here are some pictures of us enjoying Artisphere through the years...

This was the first time we saw Art in Action

This was the second year. The boys love running around Falls Park in between shows. I love this picture!

I actually won one of Brian's painting in an online contest. So many people pulled together & voted for me to win the painting. I couldn't believe it!

So excited the day it came!

This is the boys with their Art in Action tattoos!

The boys think he's the coolest!!

Peace, Love & Soap's First Saturday Market of 2011!

2011-05-09T15:38:00.002-04:00

When I say that the market came in with a bang, I am not even kidding! The Carolina First Saturday Market in downtown Greenville, SC is always such a joy to be a part of. This is our fourth year down there and every year gets better than the last. This Saturday was crazy busy the whole time without a minute to relax, not that I'm complaining ; ). My friends & family that came to visit had to jump in and start bagging, cutting and helping me take money. It was so exciting!

Here are a few pics of the day!

It was chilly in the morning, but warmed up quickly.

This is my sweet hubby! He got to come down with me to help set up before he had to leave for work. We are a team!

Peace, Love & Soap Garden

2011-05-09T13:45:00.002-04:00

This year, in an effort to be better organized, I had a jumpstart on my soap stock- which freed up some time to get back to my garden...not to mention I have the perfect spot and can finally stray from my usual container gardening (which has been good to me, don't get me wrong!) This is just the beginning of some peppermint that will eventually be dried and used in our soap. Peppermint is a great thing to grow if you want to start simple. A container is not a bad idea, because it spreads like wild fire.

Here are a few more of our veggie plants we have going. So far, its heirloom tomatoes, red peppers, squash, zucchini & watermelon (for Cameron).

This next little bud is what I am most excited about! I have decided to try & grow my own loofahs for my loofah soap. Many of my farmer friends have given me the confidence to give it a try, so we shall see. I started them from seeds from ones I was given last year. I planted them last week and I will keep the progress updated.

This is the other view of our garden. We hung the lattice for the loofahs to travel up. Hope they like it! : )

Peace, Love & Soap has moved!

2011-04-09T09:40:00.002-04:00

Peace, Love & Soap has recently moved into a much bigger area (about twice as big!), and it has not been an easy task. But, it has truly been worth it. I am meeting with my business consultant today to go over my new set up and plans for the next year and I'm so excited! This month I start my festivals & shows, the first one being The Heritage Festival. Last year was a great turnout and this year is supposed to be double! The Carolina First Saturday Market starts in the beginning of May and I can't wait to see my market family and faithful customers again. It means so much that people make a point of coming down to get their soap and then order it through the winter from my website. That's a lot of work to get some soap and I am grateful for them!

Peace, Love & Soap gets a couple shout outs!

2011-04-08T19:24:00.003-04:00

This is My Good friend Becca, talking about her awesome shop in the Pendleton Arts District. She has the best trendy clothes & jewelry in Greenville, check out Style by Becca. Make sure you watch the whole video until the end!

Peace, Love & Soap in the new Raleigh, NC Whole Foods Market!!

2011-02-26T10:42:00.002-05:00

We were so excited to be asked to be part of the grand opening of the Raleigh, NC Whole Foods Market!! The store will open in early March and you can find Peace, Love & Soap products there!

Lately I have been very busy filling wholesale orders and figuring out how to transition into bigger equipment in order to ramp up production. I am excited to say that we will be working on new pictures for the website in the next couple months, and boy do we need them. Tax time is upon us and that is never fun, especially since bookkeeping is not my forte. However, I finished up my part of it yesterday and will be glad to have that behind me for another year. It was actually pretty exciting to see that Peace, Love & Soap is growing in all of the ways that it should be. I am not a numbers girl and really don't pay much attention to that unless I have to, so it was a good checkpoint for the year.

Today is a beautiful sunny day and as soon as I finish my coffee I will dress the boys and head out to the shop to make soap. I love my setup because they can play while I watch them & work. I also have a little couch out there so Cameron can sit & practice his reading.

Peace, Love & Soap Happenings!

2011-01-16T19:34:00.005-05:00

It's starting to get busy around here once again! For some reason I had anticipated a few months of no soap activity, but much to my surprise, it was more like a couple of weeks! I'm not complaining because I have to admit I was getting a little antsy and already subconsciously setting goals for the upcoming year and market season. Things seem to be constantly changing here at Peace, Love & Soap which I think is great because it's a sign of growth. Our retail packaging is about to get a makeover and I can't wait to reveal our new look. In the last 3 days I have made 29 batches of soap and mixed almost my weight in bath salts. I'm trying to stay ahead of the game as much as possible this year to free up some fun time during market season. A major goal I have is to have all of the soap made before the market starts in May. Day before yesterday I took a little road trip to Charlotte, NC to pick up my new workbench. I am so happy for this because I have been working off of two 8 ft. plastic tables and they are shot!! This is a major deal for me.

Peace, Love & Soap has had the opportunity to be a sponsor in a race taking place on February 5, 2011 called A Hero's 5K. It is in memory of Geoffrey Whitsitt and other Upstate soldiers who have fought, lived and died for our country. I have offered that anyone who signs up to run with the Peace, Love & Soap team gets a free bar of soap. We have 2 signed up so far and I hope we get lots more! C'mon, I'm itching to give some soap away! You can sign up here:

www.aheros5k.com

In fact, if you mention this blogpost to me, I'll throw in a lip balm as well!

24/7 with Peace, Love & Soap in SKIRT! Magazine

2011-01-13T11:19:00.003-05:00

I know most Greenville folks have picked up skirt! magazine at some time or another. I love flipping through each month to see what is new and fresh around town, which is why I was so excited when they called me and asked for an interview for the new "24/7" segment.

The funniest thing is that my family went to Whole Foods for a bite to eat a couple days after Christmas. I knew that the article was coming out in January and wasn't at all expecting to see it when I breezed past the stack of mags, grabbing one on my way to our booth. My husband casually said to me, "Are you gonna look for your article?" I looked down and saw that it WAS the January issue. I about died when I flipped to the page and saw it! I know it may not be a major deal to most people, but it was so fun to see and my boys thought it was cool seeing mommy in a magazine!

Check it out, just click on the link below...

http://greenville.skirt.com/247/meet-katie-williams

Free Coffee Day...let's give back!

2011-01-13T09:32:00.004-05:00

This year as I looked around at all that we have and hurt for the people who are suffering with this struggling economy or whatever else, I had the strongest urge to give back in some way. I wasn't sure what I would be able to do and as I was thinking about it, I stumbled on "Free Coffee Day" which was put together by Drew Horton, to serve Greenville's Homeless community as the cold weather kicked in. I wanted to be an example to my children of how to have compassion, understanding & the importance of serving others before yourself. I had lots of friends contribute blankets, coats & long johns...and we packed up soap. I know it's not a major life or death necessity, but I thought it might be nice to be able to wash up and feel clean & fresh.

It was amazing to me to see how much the people appreciated the gifts that were given to them. Their eyes lit up to a new pair of socks or a long john shirt. I think the ladies particularly enjoyed the soap, but there were a lot of men who were very happy to have it as well.

My kids warmed up to the people right away and would pick out the ones who they hadn't yet given soap to. The men & women loved the kids and you could see their faces warm up to the extended hand of a child. I felt like it was because children are innocent and nonjudgmental.

Those gifts were all specific requests of the homeless people of Greenville who had gone to the previous Free Coffee Day. It was very interesting to me so see what the people had asked for. It was everything from socks to a Bible to a basketball. Each individual had a different treasure.

Christian loves to be a part of everything we do and I loved that this was such a simple act with such a big lesson.

This is Cameron packing baggies of soap for the people who would be down at the shelter.

The biggest lesson I learned is that these people who received these items are the same as anyone else. Some of them had been homeless for many years and some for many months. Some of them looked homeless, and some of them didn't. Each person was once somebody's child and were loved greatly or not loved enough. Some were there because of a life of poor choices, but some were victims of circumstance. There were so many men who were dying for work, but couldn't find a job, therefore couldn't pay for housing. It made me realize that this is real. And for those of us who have so much, we need to give back to those of us who are having a hard time, without judgement.

All work & no play is no good for Peace, Love & Soap

2010-11-08T15:59:00.002-05:00

I have switched gears lately from production mode to selling mode. All summer I was cranking out soap like it was going out of style and it was beginning to take a toll on me. I also realized that I had worked so much this summer that I didn't take time to do some of the fun things that were on my agenda. This has taught me that I need to take time to plan and restructure for next year. Peace, Love & Soap has really grown in the past year so I need to accommodate my infrastructure to match that. I have really enjoyed having some time off with the kids since the market has come to an end. I am pacing myself through the holidays. I'm trying to enjoy every minute of my children being small and thinking every little thing is so wonderful. I want to be more like that. I realize that in order to be productive, you have to have downtime...and it's ok to just sit and be still.

Peace, Love & Soap: www.peaceloveandsoap.com | Your Carolina - Local Entertainment for Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson S.C. and Asheville N.C.

2010-10-29T16:04:00.000-04:00

Here is this morning's segment from Your Carolina with Jack & Kimberly! I am so thankful that they asked me back to the show and I had a really good time.

Peace, Love & Soap: www.peaceloveandsoap.com | Your Carolina - Local Entertainment for Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson S.C. and Asheville N.C.

Tea Tree Rocks!

2010-09-22T08:34:00.002-04:00

I've started "featuring" a soap each week at the market just to be able to share extra information about my products with my customers and get the word out about some great properties of certain essential oils that I use. One of my all time favorites is my Tea Tree bar. I originally made this bar for a young man who needed help with some trouble spots of acne. I do my best not to make any "claims" on my products and I'm not going to do that now. But I will say that Tea Tree essential oil is one of God's natural gifts. It has so many wonderful properties such as being antibacterial, antiseptic & antifungal. In my opinion, it is a perfect substitute for the harsh chemical "soaps" or better yet, detergents, out there. My bar has grated orange peel which gives a light exfoliation, to slough off the dead skin cells. I started using it when I turned 30 and my skin decided to act like I was turning 13. Now it is one of my favorites!

Peace, Love & Soap at Mountain Park Farmer's Market!

2010-08-30T14:00:00.001-04:00

This is my sister and right hand woman, Abby! She helps me in all aspects... This picture was from the Mountain Park Farmer's Market in Traveler's Rest, SC.

Peace, Love & Soap on Your Carolina with Jack & Kimberly!

2010-08-29T15:29:00.002-04:00

Peace, Love & Soap will be appearing on Fox Channel 7's Your Carolina with Jack and Kimberly on October 29th! We were guests on the show back in 2008 and they have decided that they would like us to visit again. We are excited to be a part of the fun! Here is the clip from the last time. I can think of a few things I would do differently and many of my processes have changed, but, we all have to start somewhere, I guess?!?!

http://www.yourcarolina.tv/ycvideo/entry/peace_love_and_soap/

As summer comes to an end, we are finding that Fall is revving up to be just as busy! In the past two days I have had two retailers approach me about potentially carrying Peace, Love & Soap products. That is super cool! It has been kind of crazy lately, and I am feeling the need to better organize my time. Any suggestions or techniques are welcome....

This is my Pop, talking about Peace, Love & Soap

2010-08-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

Peace, Love & Soap Market Pictures!

2010-08-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

Change is good...Right???

2010-08-21T20:29:00.003-04:00

Lately in my life, it seems that everything is changing. My oldest son has started kindergarten and my youngest will start preschool for the first time next week. My business is growing and taking new direction. My sister moved on from our home to college, and my Dad is getting ready to move back across the country after his recovery from a broken neck. As summer comes to an end I find myself feeling uncomfortable with these and more changes that I've been experiencing. I've been trying to evaluate exactly what is it that I feel , and to be honest, I just don't know! I've come to think that it's not necessarily the outcome of the change that bothers me, it's the fact that things are changing. Looking back on my life, I think I've always been this way, I've just never realized it. I will be happy when the newness of everything wears off and I am used to this new season of my life. That being said, I look at my children and my family and I am overwhelmed with happiness and blessings that I have. Guess I'm just feeling reflective tonight...

Peace, Love & Soap is now in Whole Foods Market!

2010-07-31T17:22:00.002-04:00

I am so happy to say that after a lot of time, work & meetings, Peace, Love & Soap can now be purchased in Whole Foods Market in Greenville, SC. They are offering a variety of products including our bulk soap, bar soap, scrubbies & bath salts. So, if you are in the Greenville area, stop in and try some! Thanks to all of my loyal customers who have already stopped in to support PL&S! Here are my boys standing by our bulk display!

Peace, Love & Soap Crew!

2010-07-01T18:02:00.002-04:00

This past week at the market, I got to bring my two little stowaways. My sister, Abby, usually watches them for me while I work on Saturday morning, but this week she was busy. I will admit that I was a little nervous because, although they are wonderful kids, they are 3 & 5 yr old boys! All in all they were very well behaved and it was kind of neat having them with me. There were a couple of minor hiccups, but I'm so thankful that I have a job where I have freedom to bring them along. I made them a mini fort under one of my tables to play and color. Check out the feet sticking out in the picture below!

This is the view that I had of them, although they were pretty much out of site from my customers. Those who did notice, thought it was pretty cool!

This was a quiet moment. It was fun, but it also made me very thankful for the help that my sister gives me each week!

Tennessee Soap & Candle Social 2010

2010-05-21T15:49:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday I ventured over to Tennessee to go to my first, ever, soap & candle social. It took me a while to actually get there. I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to my parents house in North Georgia the night before, and then get up at 3:30 am to drive 4 1/2 hours to Franklin, Tennessee. It was really exciting to get to talk to other people who shared the same passions that I do. People who appreciate essential oils, lather and hardness of a bar of soap. I know it sounds silly, but it's true. I also got to learn a little about candle, lotion making & felting which was very interesting.

These were two of the awesome ladies that I met at the show, Lance & Rita. We all had lunch together and shared some laughs. They are sweet women.

This was just part of the group, there were around 30 of us all together.

This was one of the coordinators, Birdie, and her daughter. Here they are giving away door prizes which were great. Thanks to the generous sponsors, we all took at least two gifts home- nice ones, too!

Overall it was a great time! I enjoyed meeting Birdie, who is such a sweetheart, and hearing wisdom from others who know far more and have been crafting soap far longer than I have. The ladies did a great job coordinating the social. Our goodie bags were awesome! I hope I get to go back next year and bring some of my candlemaker friends. Thanks for the great time, Tennessee!

Some of my Inspiration...

2010-05-21T15:27:00.003-04:00

I wanted to post a few pictures of the beauty of the North Georgia Mountains where I spent half of my childhood. This is a huge part of my inspiration to make natural products using what God gave us! These are my Mom's gardens, by the way...

My Dad found these baby birds when he was trimming the bushes. He was so worried that the Mama Bird wouldn't come back to her babies, but she did.

This rose bush is huge, the picture doesn't do it justice.

This is the view from my parents front door. I never get tired of it and try not to take it for granted!

2010-05-12T15:11:00.004-04:00

Lots of great things have been going on lately, in fact I probably don't even have time to fit them all in, but I will try. First of all, I had a great Mother's Day. I got to hang out with my family downtown at Artisphere. The weather was absolutely beautiful, a perfect day to be in the park. We sat & watched my favorite artist Brian Olsen paint live. It's called Art in Action and it so cool. He put on a contest to win one of his paintings for the fan who got the most votes, and guess what- I won! It was really amazing to see so many people voting. I will write more about that later.

I have also been working with Hellion Brewing for the last few months to come up with a couple different varieties of soap using brewers yeast. It was very interesting and my first private label project. We did a plain eucalyptus, a plain rosemary and then a combination eucalyptus rosemary. The soap turned out really smooth, I was happy with the overall outcome. It's amazing how many different things you can do with soap!

The market has had a great start. Last Saturday I had another record breaking day to match the first. I hope that it doesn't slow down, I love seeing the streets crowded.

For the past month I have been working with a major retail chain to carry my soap. The process has been very long & involved, but I know it will be worth it when I see my soap on their shelves. I don't want to divulge who it is, yet. But, trust me, I will keep you posted.

In the past two days I have made 9 batches of soap. The month of May will be crazy busy for me so I'm trying to plan ahead and get a good stock up. Business is continuing to grow and I couldn't be happier...and more thankful!

Swirls Galore...

2010-05-05T17:09:00.001-04:00

Just been practicing with swirls & color...

Carolina First Market Comes in Like a Lion!

2010-05-03T20:16:00.008-04:00

Main St. in downtown Greenville was buzzing this past Saturday morning! I have never seen such a crowd in my three years of being down there. Downtown has the coolest vibe and when it is full of people supporting their local farmers & artisans, it's just amazing. Peace, Love & Soap had its best sales day ever! By twelve o'clock, we were almost out of soap. We had many of our faithful customers re-up their soap stock, and tons of new faces as well. I picked up some green garlic, handmade spinach gnocchi & saffron pasta. We had it for dinner tonight and it was so yummy. The Greenville Times snapped a shot of Cameron & I headed back to our booth with our garlic. I'm pretty sure Cameron was begging me to buy him boiled peanuts (which I finally did).

I have also been working on my swirling techniques so I will post some of those pics. Mike made me new molds which are so much more efficient. I love them!

Things have been going great for us and I'm really excited about things to come. This weekend is Artisphere and I get to watch my favorite artist Brian Olsen do his thing called Art In Action. Check him out on youtube, it's amazing!!

Thank God for Spring!

2010-03-30T15:48:00.002-04:00

This was taken in our beautiful Falls Park, right in the heart of downtown Greenville, SC. It is one of our favorite spots to go on a beautiful day!

Our First Market of the Year!

2010-03-24T17:44:00.004-04:00

Although sales have been great so far, we have not yet had a market day- until today! Christian and I headed over to Clemson University's Farmer's Market this morning after dropping Cameron off for school. The weather was absolutely gorgeous which made it a pleasure just to be outside. Christian was a very good boy, willing to "help" out in any way. Overall, our first market of the season was a success and we were even asked to come back and be part of the Earth Day festivities at Little John Coliseum (the big football stadium). Exciting!!

New Pics for Peace, Love & Soap - Tell Me What You Think!

2010-03-21T16:11:00.004-04:00

It's amazing how many hats a person must wear when trying to run a small business and a small household at the same time (which, usually my household runs me!). Today I was taking pictures of my products and making macaroni & cheese at the same time. Yesterday I was making soap and the beds. I feel very thankful that I can be home with my boys and still have outside interactions with my wholesalers and customers involved with my business. This week I dropped by a local restaurant that had expressed interest in carrying my soap in their place. There was a lady ordering at the counter who kept looking at me. At the same time we both said, "You look so familiar!" Then she shouts out, "You're the soaplady! I love your stuff!" It made me feel pretty good to be called the soaplady (oddly enough, it wasn't the first time), but even better to hear that she loved my soap and she went on & on about my lip balm. It never gets old to hear that somebody is enjoying the fruits of your labor. I'm going to post a few pics from today. My husband probably could have taken much better pics, but I am impetuous and can't wait! So there!

Revving up for Spring!

2010-02-26T00:11:00.002-05:00

Well, I thought that the soap business would be at a lull for at least a few more weeks...boy was I wrong! Things have really geared up in the past couple of weeks and thank goodness I had my new workspace set up just in time. I have been working on a project with a local brewery that I can't wait to write about. For now I have to keep it under wraps. My retail orders are pouring in and the feedback is amazing! There are people calling the stores requesting notification when my products come in. It's so exciting! I have a couple of meetings this week that I'm hoping will be fruitful, and in the meantime, I've been mailing out internet orders.
I finally obtained the rights to the www.peaceloveandsoap.com url!! This is great news because I've been trying to get a hold of it for two years and it was "taken". I can't wait to get my website up and make it much easier for customers to order online. We've been exploring different site options and it seems the more I get to know, the more confused I become! I'm anxious to get started.
I love my new set up. I have more room than I've had yet, and actually have shelf space to fit all of my stuff. My favorite thing is the custom fragrance hutch that my Dad built for me. The kids like to play in there while I'm working which works out great cause I can keep a good eye on them. It's pretty much a win, win!
Saturday I will have my first outdoor event of the year. I will be at Earthfare grocery store on Pelham Rd. The weather is supposed to be really nice, so hopefully we will have a good turnout. If you're in the area, come stock up on some Peace, Love & Soap!

Peace, Love & Soap Loves the Supper Swap Girls!

2009-12-04T17:44:00.002-05:00

I have so much to write about that I'm sure I won't be able to fit it all in at once, but here goes. Right now I am sitting on the floor of our room at the Grand Vista in Orlando. Despite todays rain, it's been a great vacation spending time with family & friends. I am so happy to have a quick break from the fast pace of life and the Christmas season. I keep reminding myself, "Slow down and take in these moments." I've had a very busy soap run, lately. I am thankful for the business that I really haven't had to work very hard to get. I've been up to my son's school, to my husband's golf club, and filling mail orders in between. I had the most amazing thing happen last week. On my way home from an event I got a voicemail from one of my retailers saying that they had moved my soap to the front of the store and it had flown off the shelf. They needed 120 bars as soon as possible. Then when I got home, I got an email from my banner guy that he needed 200 bars by the end of the week. Now I will admit I was a little worried that I might not be able to fill both orders because I had been so busy with other events going on that I didn't have much stock. I even had my poor husband hobbling around on his ailing ankle making soap for me while I was out selling! Long story short- we managed to pull it off with soap that we had wrapped from the women's show. Thank God something good came of that show! Another very exciting thing that has recently happened was that some very good friends of ours, the Supper Swap Girls, gave us an amazing shout out which can be seen here, http://www2.wspa.com/supperswapgirls . They have a regular segment on the 12 o'clock news on our local channel 7. They spoke so highly of our little soap operation. It's friends like these that help us advance in the indie-business world!
Also, my mom has been out there spreading the word to some local outfitters, so hopefully they will be partaking in spreading some Peace, Love & Soap. Without the love and care of others, we could not thrive as a business or a family. We are Blessed.

Peace, Love & Soap is now Certified SC Grown!!

2009-09-15T15:47:00.004-04:00

I am so happy to announce that Peace, Love & Soap is now a Certified SC Grown product!! This means that our company has been evaluated and qualified by the State of South Carolina Department of Agriculture to be a partner of the Certified SC program. Since we use many products in our soap that are grown or originated from South Carolina, we qualify. This is very important to many people who believe in buying only local and sustainable food and products. Peace, Love & Soap will now be promoted through SCDA promotional efforts, events, and programs! Thanks to the SCDA and all those Palmettovores out there! We appreciate your business!

Peace Love & Soap is ready for Fall...

2009-09-15T15:29:00.002-04:00

After the show I was definitely ready for a mini break from soap. My family had been so helpful and supportive through the planning and execution that I wanted to give them a break too. In Cameron's last week before pre-K we just chilled around the house building tents on the back porch, riding bikes, watching movies and lots of other laid back activities. He started his first soccer league and he absolutely loves it! Mike is helping coach and he loves it, too! He couldn't wait for this moment since he is a devout soccer (football to him) fan. This past week Cameron started school and he is quite content being back with his friends and teachers. He cries when I come to pick him up, which sort of makes me happy because I know that he enjoys being there. Christian and I have also enjoyed having a few hours to ourselves in the morning. He revels in the attention and I revel in giving it to him. He is talking so much and I cannot believe the things he says. He is very kind and loving and I hope he always will be.

Lately I have been canning a bunch of veggies to last us through the winter. I love canning. I really think that its a therapeutic hobby that is so rewarding. It's so cool when you line up all of your jars and know that they are straight from the farm! So far I have canned corn, green beans, marinara, and tons of salsa (it is a family favorite!).

Today, when I get back from my errands I will make some soap. I'm glad that I took a break because now I'm ready to do more. I've been getting lots of internet orders and have decided that I really need a Peace, Love & Soap website. I plan to get that up before Fall is in full force.

Last Day of Show

2009-08-31T18:35:00.004-04:00

My last day at the show was far better than the first two. There was much more business and people to talk to about my products. I was really surprised about how many people had heard of Peace, Love & Soap and had actually used it! My sister Abby went to the market and ran my booth and then came over to help me at the show. It was fun to walk around and see the different booths. I couldn't help but notice how many women were there who had started thier own businesses just like me. It's so great to live in a country where if you have an idea, you have the freedom to do what you want with it- that's big. It's easy to take for granted until you realize that every country is not as free, especially toward women. It really makes you appreciate the men and women who make sacrifices so we don't have to!

Peace, Love & Soap at The Upstate Women's Show

2009-08-28T23:21:00.002-04:00

I wanted to post some pics of the show from today and yesterday! It's been a good experience and lots of fun meeting the other exhibitors. The picture below is of Tommy K and Bill S from Vision Printing and Graphics. They did my backdrop and banner and I was so happy with it. Not only did they do an incredible job, but they got them to me in very short notice! Also, I have to give props to Matt Williamson who is so talented with the graphic stuff. He made a really great looking banner out of a few not so great quality pictures that I gave him to work with! Thanks guys!

Below is a picture of myself with Amy Parham. She was a contestant with her husband Phil on the Biggest Loser. At first I was pulling for them because they are from Greenville, but as the show progressed, it was evident what nice people they were and I really wanted them to do well because of thier character, not their zip code. I was really excited to meet Amy and relieved to find that she is as nice in person as she is on tv. I brought her some soap and hope she likes it!

Here is my wonderful family! They have indulged my insanity and nonstop soap talk for the past month (when I signed up for the show). I could not have done it without them and I vow that after tomorrow they will have homecooked meals again!
Next are a couple pictures of my booth. I was very happy with how it came out. My Dad built the wood shelf especially for the show. It is totally collapsable so it will fit in my little car. I love it and it's extra special because I know it was made with love. My Mom and a good friend, Karen, came out to the show today and I was so mad that I forgot to take pictures of them My Mom unknowingly was dressed to match the theme colors of the exhibit hall- purple and white. Some good friends of mine also came out to support me and we got to walk around for a while and look at the other booths. It was fun and it made me feel good to have so many people care! All in all it was a good 2 days. From what I hear, I need to brace myself for tomorrow. It's supposed to be really busy. We shall see!

Peace, Love & Soap Expands its Line!

2009-08-10T11:09:00.004-04:00

There have been so many things going on lately that I'm ashamed to say I haven't had time to even write about them. As I write, there is a two year old standing behind me, in my chair, with his little arms wrapped around my neck telling me he wants to eat. I will try to keep this short and sweet for his appetite's sake!

Mast General sales have been really going great! They reordered only two weeks after the first order! I will be there this Sunday from 1-4 to do a sort of meet and greet and answer questions about my products. I'm trying to pull together a soap demo so people can see how the soap is actually made. The Farmer's Market store in Blairsville is also rocking & rolling on the soap sales. My sister delivered their third order this weekend. My wholesale customers are such a pleasure to work with.

August 27-29 Peace, Love & Soap will be at the annual Upstate Women's Show at the Carolina First Expo Center. I am super excited about the show and have been gearing up for it for the last month.

We have also added a few new products to our current selection and so far we've gotten great feedback! We have a Sugar Scrub, Bath Salts, and pure glycerine bar. The Sugar Scrub and Bath Salts are offered in Lavender, Peppermint, Sweat Cream, Paradise & Sweet Pea. The glycerine layered bar is offered in Citrus Basil Peppermint, Citrus Peppermint & Sweet Cream. The Sweet Cream has sold out twice at the market!! I also have some fun items that I will picture below.

We have taken a couple of big steps in ordering a shrink wrapping system and our first 55 gallon drum of oil!! I know, I know, probably sounds silly, but it is a major step for us. We feel that these things are needed to keep up with our orders!! Peace, Love & Soap is growing- What a Blessing.

We are truly a family business. I may make the soap myself, but there is so much more than just that going into it. My husband, sister and even the boys all pitch in whenever they can. I'm so thankful to be surrounded by people who care. My cousin, Jamie, brought her kids over for a visit last week. She and her daughter, Madison, helped make some bath salts and sugar scrubs. Madison joined me for the market and we had the best time selling and talking to customers. She was a great help! Thanks Maddie!!

Big News at Peace, Love & Soap!

2009-07-10T11:20:00.002-04:00

I am so happy to announce that you can now find Peace, Love & Soap products at the Mast General Store in downtown Greenville, SC. It has been a pleasure working with them on their first order and am proud to have our soaps in the store! So if you live in Greenville, go check it out!!

Peace, Love & Soap Featured on Change Starts at Home!

2009-07-02T14:53:00.003-04:00

Things have been kind of crazy around here, lately. We just moved into a new house, which was such a Blessing because we were quickly outgrowing the place we were in. Along with most others, I officially hate moving! I know that hate is a very strong word, but I mean every letter of it. However, we are all moved in and it is wonderful! My boys have lots of room to run and play and I have twice the area for my soapmaking. I have been filling soap orders like crazy and the market has been going really well.
My oldest son started t-ball last week and it is so fun watching him play a team sport. Since he was a baby I imagined how cool it would be to go to his games and practices one day, and it is! He made friends with another little boy on the field and I overheard them talking to each other. They were saying how they really wanted to catch a ball and get to throw it in to first base. Finally, a ball came straight to Cameron. He quickly scooped it up in his glove and when he looked down at the ball, he picked it out of his little glove and tossed it to his friend so he could throw it to first. My heart sunk with joy and before I knew it I screamed out, "Way to go, Cameron- that was great, buddy!" His coach, unfortunately did not feel the same. He yelled out to Cameron, "Next time throw it to first base yourself, it took extra time to pass it to someone else and for them to throw it in." He turned to me and said, "Hey Mom, that wasn't something to cheer about," "but it was kind" I fired back. See I think the coach was wrong. Empathy and compassion for others is something to cheer about. My child showed good character by letting his little friend throw the ball instead of taking it all for himself. I hope that those characteristics follow him into adulthood. He is such a Blessing to our family!
As far as soapy news goes, Peace, Love & Soap has been featured on the San Fransisco based site Change Starts At Home. Check it out under the Economics section! http://www.changestartsathome.com/ Thanks for the support! It means so much!

Interview with Cafe Handmade!

2009-06-12T23:16:00.002-04:00

Click on the link to check out my interview that is featured on Cafe Handmade!
http://cafehandmade.blogspot.com/2009/06/mommaprenuer-katie-williams-peace-love.html

New Packaging!

2009-06-10T12:36:00.002-04:00

This is the new label designed by my husband. We wanted something that will work better for retail stores who don't have tons of space. I love the new label and the shrink wrapping makes it even better!

Peace, Love & Soap is Growing!

2009-06-07T15:15:00.005-04:00

A lot of things have been going on lately in my world. A couple of weeks ago I was approached by 2 very popular retail stores in Greenville. They were interested in carrying local products for thier customers. I was so excited to meet with them, but I had some major preparation to do before the meeting. The most important being packaging that would work for a store that didn't really have space for full logs, a cutter, etc. I racked my brain all day and almost threw my computer out the window trying to figure something out. I wanted a unique label that would represent the nature and quality of my product. Just in the nick of time, my husband showed up and rescued me (and the computer!). He put together an awesome label, if I do say so myself! Thanks, Mike! I shrink wrapped a few bars and was good to go. I met with both places and they both wanted my products- Yay! I will announce where they are when it all goes through. I'm so excited.

On Friday, my youngest boy, Christian, turned 2! I can't believe it- where does the time go? A couple days before his birthday he told me that he was ready for the big boy potty, and he's been in undies ever since! Is it supposed to be that easy? I'm not asking any questions, I'll just go with it.

We are also about to move to a new house in 2 weeks. This is a major Blessing because we were quickly outgrowing this place. The boys will have a nice yard to play in and more living space. Not to mention I will have twice the area that I work in now, for my soap making!

I bought a baking tray rack (probably not the technical term) on wheels the other day, which I kind of feel is a soap artisan's right of passage! I loved setting all of my bars on the trays to cure! FUN! So, I've definitely been busy and I love it. The market is going very well. I am getting to know lots of people in Greenville. I love the sense of community that you feel downtown, it's really great!

Welcome to the World Baby William!

2009-05-28T10:01:00.002-04:00

I am ecstatic to announce the birth of our newest member of the family! William Michael Griffith was born on Tuesday April 28 at 10:16 am to my beautiful sister-in-law Gina and her husband Andrew. He is a precious little guy and we can't wait to meet him in person! We love you, baby!

The Saturday Market

2009-05-24T13:29:00.005-04:00

I am so thankful to be a part of the Saturday morning farmer's market. It's almost like a family and i love bartering my soap for organic lettuce, herbs and even homeade chocolate for the boys.

My sister came down to visit me with my boys. It's such a nice atmosphere in downtown Greenville. They had fun walking around and getting snacks. Cameron likes to go see Buddy May. He is a bee farmer who brings live bees making honey in a window-type box. It's really neat! Check out Cameron's face in the background of the picture! Priceless!

A lot of my previous customers came out to buy more soap and some dropped by to let me know how much they are enjoying my products, which makes me Happy!

Greening Your Cleaning?

2009-05-18T18:55:00.003-04:00

Today I drove up to Asheville to some of my favorite natural food stores. I needed to get some lip balm and bath fizzy ingredients. It was a quiet, beautiful day and I felt good getting some stuff done that had been on my mind for a while. When I got home, I placed a bulk oil order. It's exciting to run out of oils, because it means I'm selling lots of soap!
I just finished refilling my natural cleaners and thought I would post the "recipe" for those of you who are interested in greening your cleaning. I wasn't so sure about this until I tried it and now this is all I use. It's hard to believe how harsh and toxic some everyday household cleaners can be. Best of all, these are simple and affordable ingredients. Just get a 24 oz. all purpose spray bottle and fill it with this:
1.5 cups Water
1/2 cup Distilled Vinegar
1 tsp. Castille Soap
3/4 cup Hydrogen Peroxide
20 drops Tea Tree Oil
20 drops Your favorite essential oil (I like lavender or lemongrass for cleaning!)

Try it and let me know what you think! Happy cleaning!

The Joys of My Boys!

2009-05-17T15:18:00.002-04:00

These top two pictures are on the first day of the market season. I had both of my little helpers with me. Although it was hectic at times, I loved having those little guys around. As you can see in the first pic, they were being bribed with organic lollipops! Works every time! After the market we walked down to Falls Park to see the Ducky Derby, where they released thousands of rubber duckies down the falls. The kids loved it!

These are my little munchkins playing chef with me in the kitchen. They love getting involved with everything I am doing, including my soap. Cameron is thrilled with any little job he can help out with. He also likes to smell the soap and guess which scent it is. Did I mention he knows most of his essential oils? He told me when he grows up he wants to be a soap maker. Christian is my sniff tester. He likes to smell my bars and he says "Mmmm, Momma, soap!" I take that as a compliment. These boys are what makes everything worth it for me. They are my happiness!

Pop Loves Peace, Love & Soap

2009-05-15T15:15:00.002-04:00

I had to post this picture of my Pop with his bath fizzy. I was showing him the stuff that I had been making lately and gave him a bath fizzy. Two minutes later he was off to the tub with his fizzy. He is so funny, always making me laugh! These are his new favorites so I left him a few. He said that his skin was so soft after his bath and he loved the strawberry scent. Good advertising, Pop! I love you!

Peace, Love & Soap - News

2009-05-15T14:27:00.003-04:00

Right now I am taking a break from making some soap cupcakes and thought I would take a minute to update my blog. I have been so busy trying to keep up with my market that I feel like I'm running a little behind most of the time. However, I welcome the business and realize that I am learning how to balance my crazy life and prepare. Next year I will have a better idea about how to stock my inventory and I (hopefully) will have plenty of soap made when it's time for the market to start. My loofah scrubbies have been a really hot item, lately. I had the pleasure of doing business with a kid named Mitchell Mieszek last week. Mitchell started his own business growing and selling loofahs while living in Florida, not far from where we moved. His mother, Kelly approached me a couple of weeks ago and told me that he still had loofahs that he would be willing to sell me if I was interested. In the spirit of keeping it local and helping out other small businesses, I wanted to find out more. Mitchell has sold his loofahs locally to a couple of boutiques, such as the Pink Azalea on Main, and has even sold them as far as New York. His loofahs are a very high quality and I happily purchased around 25 of them. I am proud of Mitchell for being such a great businessman. Along with the loofahs he also teaches piano and cello. Look out for him, this kid is going to go far!

Peace, Love & Soap Loves Word of Mouth

2009-04-29T16:09:00.002-04:00

The coolest thing happened to me the other day at a festival. I was chatting to a college student about my products and she decided to buy herself a bar of soap for her birthday. She carefully smelled each scent putting plenty of thought into her choice. She finally made her decision and excitedly went on her way. I was really pleased that she thought that much of my products and had a nice time talking with her. A few hours later she rushed back to catch me before I packed up my stuff. She said that she'd called her Mom and told her about the soap that she'd bought and her Mom had said "is that the girl from Peace, Love & Soap? You better go back and get me a cinnamon apple swirl!" She explained to me that all the girls at her Mom's work had been raving about my soap!! She said to me with a smile on her face, "you didn't know you were famous did you?!" I absolutely did not! That really made my day to know that people were enjoying my soap enough to tell others about it. My business is growing thanks to my customers who take pride in buying from local, small business owners. My next big event is the downtown market this Saturday. I can't wait! Tomorrow I will be making soap all day...I am waiting on my lip balm containers to arrive any day now, my orders are backed up! What a Blessing...

Peace, Love & Soap at Earth Fest

2009-04-21T16:32:00.003-04:00

Peace, Love & Soap had a wonderful day at Earth Fest! It was held on the campus of Greenville Tech and the students were very into my products and how I made them. The wind was so fierce that I actually thought a couple times that my tent might become airborne, but no worries, we stayed grounded. My loofah scrubbies sold like hot cakes and I think my coconut cream lip balm is becoming a fast favorite. I made up a few "Garden Starter" kits that I thought might be good Mother's Day gifts, (I will post a picture). They seemed to get a good response so I will make more for my booth at the market. It's amazing to hear peoples' opinions about everything from pricing to signage. I like the input and take it into account when planning my events. I bought my first hierloom tomato plant of the season and Cameron can't wait to get it planted! It's called Brandywine Pink- I thought that was a pretty name. It will be the start of our organic container garden for the year. We did one last year and I couldn't believe all of the veggies we had, not to mention the fun! Happy Earth Day!

Peace, Love & Soap News

2009-04-19T18:14:00.002-04:00

Peace, Love and Soap is finally starting to get busy, and boy am I ready! For the past few weeks I have ordered my bulk oils, had more labels printed, and started stocking for the spring. I have been busy making lots of soaps and lip balms. In addition, I have added a couple of new products to my line. My loofah scrubbies are selling like hot cakes and I am excited to debut my bath fizzies. This Tuesday I will be at the Earthfest held on the campus of Greenville Technical College. The idea of the festival is of course- reduce, reuse & recycle. I will be explaining how I keep the impact of my production and packaging low on the environment. The following Tuesday I will be at my son's school, St James Episcopal. I was very flattered to be asked to set up a table so the moms and dads might make a few Mother's Day purchases. I can't wait! The teachers have already placed many orders and spread the word about my products. One thing that I have learned in this business is that word of mouth is golden, and it goes far. I am so thankful for the people who enjoy and tell others about Peace, Love & Soap, it is a big deal! I have so much more to write, but I have to tend to my little indians.....

Peace, Love & Soap is crossing the Pond!

2009-03-13T13:57:00.006-04:00

I have been meaning to write about this for a while now and am so excited to announce that Peace, Love & Soap is expanding abroad! Our family in England, Lee & Joann Scott, own a very cool pottery studio named Buttercups (http://www.teespottery.co.uk/). Here you can choose to paint preformed pottery or dishes, or actually throw your own using the potters wheel. My husband & I both gave it a whirl while we were visiting a couple of weeks ago. One try and I'm hooked! It was amazing to form a very artsy, unique bowl from a lump of clay. Anyway, after putting our heads together, they've decided to carry our soaps and lip balms in the shop! I am so honored to be able to extend my products to such a cool venue. Not to mention, Joann (who is a natural artist) painted some Peace, Love and Soap dishes and accessories which will be on display in my booth at the downtown market in May. They are beautiful, she did a great job! I am posting some pictures of our time at the studio. It was right up my alley! I think that personalized, unique gifts are becoming more popular these days. Also, it's a family outing that is affordable with take away memories that you can cherish forever. I hope that my handmade soaps and lip balms will be the perfect pairing with thier handmade pottery.

Soap making today!

2009-03-07T14:37:00.004-05:00

Well, I have just completed my third batch of soap this morning. I'm excited because I am coming out with a new bar for spring/summer. It has dead sea salt in it and the most wonderful coconut fragrance you could ever imagine with just a hint of warm vanilla. I can't wait to see how it turns out. My house is so quiet right now, the only sound I hear is my kettle boiling in the background- Wierd! My Mom has graciously taken care of my boys for the last couple of days so my husband and I could go see a concert and have a night out in Atlanta. We had the best time together! The longer we are married, the better our relationship gets and I'm so thankul for that! So today I have dedicated to boosting my inventory. The batches that were made this morning will not be ready for sale until May, just in time for the market! Have I mentioned that I can't wait!?! The weather today is a georgous preview of spring and it makes me feel hopeful of the things to come, maybe that's what inspired my beach bar. I am now going to start on some solid lotion massage sticks, not quite sure on the fragrance- although I know I will do some peppermint. I am more than ready for my boys to come home, as much as I've enjoyed a quiet house, I miss them so much!

Cheers from the England!

2009-02-23T07:38:00.002-05:00

I have spent the past week having a wonderful time with my in-laws in Northern England. Right now I am sitting at the table getting ready for my lunch, while most of my customers and friends are sound asleep cozy in bed. Getting used to the time change does take a couple of days! Mike and I and the kids surprised my mother in-law for her 60th birthday! It was so fun keeping such a big secret and seeing the looks on the faces of our family when they saw that we were here. We've had such a good time! Just wanted to say Hi from jolly 'ole England! I've got lots of new and exciting things on the horizon for Peace, Love & Soap- I can't wait to tell you all about it! Cheerio!

Focusing on Spring!

2009-02-05T12:39:00.002-05:00

I'm getting really excited about preparing for spring! The downtown market will start back up in May and I can't wait to see all of my friends that I met last year. I'm anxious to start on some spring scents, as well. One of my new bars will be called Cocoa Beach which will be a combination of coconut blended with chocolate frangrances. I can't wait to try it out. I also have some great ideas for some new infusions that I've had in mind since the fall. I wonder if my massage lotion sticks will be a hit?!? We'll see...They've done very well online. I will be working on some lip balms this week. I'm almost completely out! 'Tis the season for chapped lips, I guess! It's so easy to get complacent in these slow winter months, I'm so happy for my internet orders! I'm thankful for everyday that I have the freedom to do what I love!

To Mom

2009-01-30T14:33:00.005-05:00

I haven't had a chance to blog lately because there has been so many things going on in my life, not much to do with soap. I am so sad to say that I lost my grandmother last week. She was 81, but lived like she was 50. It was sudden and unexpected, she left a big empty hole in our family. Her mantra in life was to love unconditionally and cover up any imperfection of a loved one or close friend. She was an angel who met needs of people she barely knew and never let anyone go without. With her, you felt like you were the only one in the room. She was a proud and doting grandmother who insisted we call her "Mom" or "Great Mom" (for the little guys). "Don't ever change" was written in every card and she never hung up the phone without saying it. It's hard to imagine life on earth without her around, but I know I will see her again. She is in heaven watching over her patchwork family. I am inspired by Mom to love unconditionally without judging and to carry on her legacy of a giving, kind heart. We love you Mom!

Where there's a will, there's a way!

2009-01-11T12:04:00.003-05:00

Well, I have to say that I'm ready for spring! I try to enjoy each season as it comes, but I think winter would be much nicer if it were about 2-3 weeks of the year. One major reason that I'm getting antsy is becuase I can't wait for the market to start back up so I can get some soap moving. I have been pondering the idea of making soap and candle sets and I really want to learn some perfumery techniques. The macdaddy of all soap conferences is coming up in May and I really need to generate some revenue so I can make it out to Palm Springs. There is so much still to learn, and this is the place to gain the knowledge. The sooner spring gets here, the closer I am to Cali, baby! Erin Brochovich will be there along with many other fellow soapers that I would love to meet in person- I will find a way! I have a few new recipes that I will be trying in the next few days. I've gone about a week without making anything- I am craving a soap binge! Wish me luck!

New Creations!

2008-12-30T18:37:00.003-05:00

I wanted to post a few pics from today of my new slabs. Yesterday I went on a soaping binge and made Sweet Pea, Patchouli Lavender, Eucalyptus Lemon, Apple Cinnamon Swirl & Oatmeal. I was so excited that I'm finally getting the knack of the marbling technique! I know, I know- nerd alert!!! Anyway, I also put some pics of Cameron bagging samples and Christian doing some quality control sniff tests! Afterall, this is a family business!

Your Carolina Video Clip

2008-12-24T09:07:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the video clip from Your Carolina. Hopefully it will work ok, I'm still learning my way around the computer.

Peace, Love and Soap :: Your Carolina

Peace, Love & Lotion Bars!

2008-12-20T19:47:00.007-05:00

Well, I'm pretty excited because tonight I tried something new. I made push up lotion sticks. I have been interested in doing it for a while, but wanted to focus on my soap and really get my routine down with that. So tonight I brought out all of my supplies and ingredients and went for it. It's really kind of funny because I ordered some lip balm containers from a company and they accidentally sent me push up containers. At first I was really kind of annoyed at their mistake, but then it got me thinking about expanding my product line. See, everything really does happen for a reason. This product is about a 3 oz. push stick of solid lotion. It goes on very smooth and is made up of beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and vitamin E. I scented it with a Chai Tea fragrance, however, I wanted to use patchouli. In this craft I've had to learn to be unselfish when creating my products. My favorite isn't necessarily everyone elses! The chai tea is a warm, spicy fragrance that I thought would be great for the season. Now I just need to figure out some labeling and bam, they'll be on Etsy! Check'em out!

My Hubby!

2008-12-19T16:54:00.003-05:00

I am so thankful for my husband, Mike. He is a wonderful hubby and daddy! We are a team.

Hello Carolina!

2008-12-19T16:21:00.004-05:00

Well today was the day that I have been talking about for months, now. We finally had our moment of local fame on the "Your Carolina" show with Jack & Kimberly. I was not nervous all morning which is odd for me. Everyone at the show was so inviting and complimentary of my soap (and my kids) that it made me feel so relaxed and right at home. Right before I went on, I felt that twinge of nerves that can either push you into motor mouth mode, or completely erase all knowledge of the subject at hand. Well, lucky enough for me I pretty much kept it all together. I think the fact that I really believe in my products and love sharing about them helped me feel calm. The only thing that I didn't do is mention my etsy account. I can't believe I forgot that! And when I watched it, I realized that they put the wrong web address up on the screen. I emailed the show when I got home, so hopefully they can fix it on their website. At first I was really bothered about it, but my ever-soothing husband helped me to not be too hard on myself- I love you, honey! I will post some pictures of our morning at the show. It is held in the Michelin building in downtown Greenville, this building is so cool (it really helped keep my boys occupied) Hope you enjoy the pics, and thanks "Your Carolina" it was a pleasure being on the show!

Peace, Love & Soap on tv!

2008-12-18T20:47:00.002-05:00

We will be appearing on "Your Carolina" in the morning at 10am. I'm really excited and surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Say a little prayer for us that everything will go well.

Peace, Love & Soap loves Kelly Ripa!

2008-12-17T21:52:00.003-05:00

Some of you may have noticed a couple weeks ago, that I wrote on Twitter how I was excited because Kelly Ripa had just received some of my soap. Ok, so here's the story......My beloved cousin, Jamie and her daughter, Madison were taking a much envied trip to NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. She lovingly offered to deliver some of my products to Kelly Ripa while she was at the show. I thought this was a great idea and fixed up a little goody bag of various soaps and lip balms. I packed cupcake soap for her little girl and soapsicles for her boys. Not sure if Jamie would get the chance to give them to her personally, I just hoped for the best and eagerly awaited Jamie's phone call! Guess what?!? She did it. Jamie called out to Kelly and Madison ran down the bag of Peace, Love & Soap products! She said that Kelly seemed enthusiastic about her gift. I hope she enjoys my soap. I threw in a bar for Regis, too. She seems like a cool lady, maybe she will drop us a line or two on blogspot- you never know!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-15T14:27:00.004-05:00

Last night I made up a batch of peppermint lip balms. I love using peppermint in my products because it is so stimulating to the senses. The aroma is still very alive in my kitchen even today. The lip balm came out wonderfully. My goal was for it to have a light tingly effect when applied, and it does. The events that I attended on Saturday were great! I made some new friends and had a really fun time at Roxana's house. She was a wonderful host and I also loved getting to know Marcy. They are very neat women! Roxana makes lovely handmade jewelry, you can check out her stuff at www.beadingmom.etsy.com I especially love the tree pendants! Marcy makes custom gift items such as monogrammed ponchos for kids, coffee mugs, and ribbon purses (which are so cool and unique!) her website is www.geocities.com/marcydurham .
My time at the Cliffs was also a lot of fun. The staff was so helpful to me in getting set up. It's always a pleasure to visit. Sales were great and I had lots of return customers. I know I go on & on about that, but anyone can buy a product once. I figure if they come back for more, that's the ultimate compliment! I'm sure things will slow down for me now, but I will be working on my etsy account ( www.peaceloveandsoap.etsy.com ) and building inventory. I can't wait for the market to start back up in the spring. I have some new ideas brewing so this break will give me time to develop my plans for the new year. I feel so Blessed to have the freedom to do what I love- be a mommy and make yummy soap!!

The Taping

2008-12-10T09:50:00.002-05:00

Yesterday they filmed the clip for "Your Carolina". It was super easy and I do have to say that I'm glad it's over. I think the anticipation of it all was making me more nervous than the actual event. Can't wait to meet Jack & Kimberly on the 19th. The next thing on the horizon is this Saturday when I will have 2 shows. In the a.m. I will be at an event with a few other moms who specialize in handmade goods. That evening I will be at The Cliffs for a Christmas shopping event for the members. I have a pretty good stock set up so I think it will be fairly easy to prepare.

My First Customer!

2008-12-08T21:01:00.006-05:00

This weekend went off without a hitch- almost. Besides the fact that my sister showed up at 7:30 am to her market that started at 1:00 pm, all went very well. It was such a great feeling to have two booths going at once. I had quite a few return customers which always makes me happy and had the chance to meet a few new faces. My very first customer from the market returned to purchase more soap. His name is Rod and he is a very cool guy. We had a nice time chatting while I was setting up for the day. I took a picture of him by the sign to put in my Peace, Love & Soap scrapbook. I also snapped a picture of my soap wreath that I made as a decoration for my booth. I threw it together last minute, but so many people liked it, I decided to put it on my blog. Today they are coming to tape my soapmaking for the show. At first I was nervous, but now I am excited to share about my craft. I hope I don't get tongue tied or say something stupid (which I've been known to do when I am nervous). I will just be myself and hope for the best.

2008-12-04T15:02:00.002-05:00

In the past 2 days I have made 12 batches of soap. That is a record for me. I've tried to think of creative ways to display my soap at the market. My Etsy sales are really picking up, which I am so greatful for. I was happy to see that my new Frankincense and Myrrh bar went down so well at my last event. One lady bought some for her friend who is a priest! How cool is that?!?! I hope he enjoys it. My sister will be running a booth for me at the Blairsville market on Saturday. I'm pretty excited- I guess you can say Peace, Love and Soap is expanding! (at least for a day!) This Tuesday a film crew from the show "Your Carolina" will be at my house to film me making my soap. I have been busy getting my tree up and my decorations looking nice for them, which I'm sure won't be part of the clip- oh well! On the 19th I will be on the show talking about my business and my soap-what to wear? I will remind my local friends nearer to the time. In case you haven't noticed by this blog, my mind is all over the place- as usual!

A Great Night

2008-11-24T22:23:00.002-05:00

Tonight I was at The Valley golf shop selling some soaps to the ladies of the Cliffs communities. It was a great success. The ladies were so sweet and seemed to be very enthusiastic about my products. Thanks to everybody for coming out to shop. So much fun!

New Scents!

2008-11-24T11:09:00.002-05:00

I just unwrapped some new creations and I'm so excited to see how they are received. My Frankincense and Myrrh is to die for (if I do say so myself) and the sweet pea came out beautifully with a light baby pink swirl. I also added calendula petals to my plain oatmeal bar, for those with very sensitive skin. Calendula is known for its healing properties to the skin so it will add to the effectiveness of the bar. My husband made me an awesome display for my lip balm, which I will ever-so-proudly be using tonight. He has really come through on building my molds and displays. Thanks Mike, I love you! I will try to post a picture soon. We wanted it to be as natural as possible so we went out to the park and found an old piece of wood to make it out of. Can't wait to use it!

Headed to The Valley!

2008-11-23T14:30:00.002-05:00

I am very excited to be visiting The Valley tomorrow evening. The ladies of the community will be there to do a little Christmas shopping. I have spent today in the kitchen working on my inventory and preparing for the event. It's always a pleasure to visit with the ladies from The Cliffs, can't wait!

Thank you, Blairsville!

2008-11-23T14:13:00.003-05:00

It was great going back to my old hometown for the Holiday Market. I was lucky to have my sister helping me at my booth because we had a lot of setup to do. When we drove through town on Saturday morning it was 9 degrees and still dark! The morning was very cold. Understandably, there were not many shoppers out until around 10:30, when it was actually bearable. Our day went so well. It was great to see old friends that I hadn't seen in years. Many people were enthusiastic about my products and it reall made me happy. Also, I was approached to be advertised in the Local Food Guide, since many of my ingrediants are purchased locally. This is great news because they are going to be printing 33,000 copies to be distributed throughout the southeast region. Wow, that's cool! All in all, the market was a success. Sales were great and the day was beautiful!

Holidays are here!

2008-11-20T14:39:00.004-05:00

I have been busy as a bee preparing for the upcoming markets that I will be participating in. My lip balms are selling like a charm. Funny, because they were kind of an after thought that seem to be really catching on. I have to go mail an order from Etsy today. On Saturday, Nov. 22nd, I will be in Blairsville, Ga. They are having a Holiday Market and I can't wait to be a part of it. I spent half of my life there, so hopefully I will see some old friends. Also, I am proud to say that I am an official member of the National Association of Professional Women. I got my notice in the mail today! Yay!

My latest creations!

2008-11-17T13:45:00.002-05:00

I had to post some pictures of my new babies!

Twitter Bug!

2008-11-17T10:40:00.004-05:00

I have just created a Twitter account. I have heard about this new thing, but really didn't see the point. It is a site where you have 140 characters to update what you are doing at the moment. These days I don't really have that much time to get on the computer, but I'm going to try it and see how it goes. I think it will be fun if some of my other friends are on there, too. If it's just me doing it, not so much! I made some pretty little cupcakes yesterday that I can't wait to photograph them and put on my blog and Etsy. My sister helped me make some more soapsicles and I cranked out a few jumbo lip balms as well. I think these are my favorites at the moment. I like chunky little things like that! Anyway, if you want to check me out on Twitter here is my address, twitter.com/peacelovesoap (my entire name wouldn't fit). I am going to commit to try it for 30 days and see if it catches on. Feel free to join me!

I have two markets coming up. I will be in Blairsville, Ga. next Saturday for the Holiday market. On December 6 we have ours in downtown Greenville. Can't wait!

Peace, Love & Soap makes Etsy radio!

2008-11-16T14:57:00.004-05:00

I was very honored to find out that Peace, Love and Soap was mentioned on a blog radio show on November 10th. The lady who broadcasts the show had purchased some of my soap and a couple of lip balms. I just listened to the broadcast and it was really neat to hear her talk about how much she liked my products. She is a member of a group called Artists Helping Animals and her Etsy store is called Dogonwear. She makes adorable clothes and stuff for pets. It was so nice of her to give me a shout out! It brought a smile to my face!

Peace, Love & Cupcakes!

2008-11-07T11:13:00.006-05:00

I wanted to write about the cute little cupcake soaps that I made up and brought to the market last Saturday along with some hand poured lip balms. I wanted to have something geared toward the children because so many come up to my table to look at my soap. I made up these cupcakes that look like they have strawberry icing on them. They smell like cupcakes too! I was so happy that the kids loved them, I actually sold out! The lip balms were really popular, too. They are made of cocoa butter, beeswax and olive oil. They were fun to make and I think they would make great stocking stuffers. I will post the picture I took from saturday. Hope you like them.

Plans for Fall!

2008-11-07T10:59:00.003-05:00

It is so beautiful here in the mountains at this time of year. The changing leaves are so bright this year, some of them almost look neon! Last night I made 2 new batches of soap, english rose and nag champa. Nag Champa has been such a great seller, but it's kind of like patchouli- some love it, and some hate it. I love it! December 6th is our last market of the year and I'm so sad that it's over. I have a few appointments with people interested in carrying my soap in their stores, which I'm really thankful for. I got my tax ID number the other day so I am official and ready to go. That will make it easier for the bigger retail stores to set up accounts with me. I'm also going to be working on my hand poured lip balms. Those sold so well, I was kind of surprised. I have learned that you can never really tell what people are going to like. I enjoy being pleasantly surprised when I'm sure somebody is going to love a certain scent and then they go for the opposite. It keeps me on my toes. I am also going to always have completely natural products as well as my mostly natural ones. For some, it is merely a preference, but there are many who have such sensitive skin, they cannot handle even cosmetic grade products if they are not natural (by that I mean "from the earth- natural" not what the stores call "natural"). I know this from experience. My baby has such sensative skin, I have noticed a difference since I started bathing him with natural soap.

What's in a name?

2008-11-01T19:53:00.002-04:00

Today was a great day at the market. I met so many interesting people. That is one of my favorite things about doing it. I had a few people comment on the name of my business, which was funny because nobody has ever said anything before. Back when I was trying to come up with a name, my brain was racked. I disected any and everything to do with soap, bubbles, and cleanliness. The funny thing is, Peace, Love & Soap was one of the first things I came up with. I was sure that the real name would take me much longer to find, so I went on to ponder against my first judgement. My husband liked it, and that is what helped me stick to it. Looking back, I'm so glad I did. I met one of the coolest guys ever, today, and it all started with Peace, Love and Soap. He came up to my booth and asked me if I was some kind of hippie! I assured him that I wasn't around long enough to be a real hippie, but I do agree with most of the ideas that came out of the era. We both said that the one thing that ruined the hippies were drugs. (not saying that all hippies used, but I'm sure most did!) He went on to tell me that he loved the hippies because they taught him how to love like a mother and a father. When his 3 children were little, he lost his wife to cancer. He went from daddy, to mommy and daddy. He was a man's man who had been in the Korean War and raised to be "tough". Now he had to be a nurturer. It was the hippies who taught him that it was ok to be a man and be loving and hug his little kids. Many people in his generation thought that it was the mother's job to do the hugging and kissing and the father's job tell their little boys to "suck it up" and be brave. He said that he was freed of this stereotype and it made his life better. He was able to enjoy his love of art and music without feeling like it was wrong because he was male. We had a long, great conversation and I hope I see him again! The last thing he said to me was that if you love somebody expecting something in return, then you are not loving them at all! I think that is so great! I'm sad that it was my last week, but I'm looking forward to December 6th when we have our special holiday market. Until then, I will be looking for festivals and working on my marketing and displays.

One More Week!

2008-10-29T12:54:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday was a success at the market downtown and the farm. The weather was a little damp in the morning, but it was bright and sunny by the afternoon. There was a great turnout for both events. It was fun doing the soap demo. I explained how to make cold processed lavender soap. I unmolded it on Sunday and it smelled so good (if you like lavender!). This Saturday will be the last week of the regular downtown market. They hold a special holiday market on the 6th of December, which will be fun. I got the picture from our Robin Williams show so I will post it on the blog. That night was so fun. This week I will concentrate on making some cinnamon apple and pumpkin spice. Those were my top sellers last week, along with the lemongrass. I'm sad that the market is ending for the season when I'm just getting to know everybody. Can't wait for next year!

Hopeful!

2008-10-24T12:59:00.003-04:00

Well, tomorrow is the big Autumn Festival downtown. The weather is said to be cold & rainy. Bummer! I hope there is a good turnout. I have a pretty good stock built up. I'm really excited about my demo at the Cliffs Organic Farm. I have all of my supplies ready. Today I will be working on hand pouring some lip balms and making 2 mint chocolate batches. Busy Bee!

Stocking up

2008-10-19T23:40:00.002-04:00

Today I have been working on getting restocked for my upcoming events. I made a new batch of lemongrass poppy, which made my house smell wonderful! I also made an oatmeal batch, for those with sensitive skin. My third batch was cinnamon clove. Clove bud essential oil is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It smells so good and it keeps its scent so well in the soap. I colored it naturally, which was very exciting to me because I like to keep things as natural as possible. I will post a picture of how it came out. It got a pretty good review at the market, so that made me feel good. I'm also excited about the soapsicles that my sister and I made. I love the fact that I have something for everyone at my booth- the kids were wild over them. I will try to get a picture up of those, too. For the next few days I will be concentrating on building my stock so we will have a good showing for our big day Saturday!

Fall is Here!

2008-10-18T13:53:00.004-04:00

Today was a really good day at the Market! The weather has definitly changed and Fall is in the air. It was kind of fun to get dressed up in my warm jacket. I had a couple of new products at my booth that really went over well. One was a Soapsicle, and the other was sort of a soap mobile (basically bars & balls of soap strung up on hemp string). My sister and I did the soapsicles last night and it was so fun working together on a project. I also brought a new scent out, cinnamon clove. Those sold like hot cakes, but lavender patchouli was my best seller today. It's very interesting because you never know what people will be in the mood for. I am really loving the market community which consists of the "vendors" and the die hard attenders. It's a fun network of people who I can completely identify with. Many people asked me where my boys were today, which was sweet. I signed my baby sister up for babysitting duty, she didn't mind. I left the market with much less soap than I came with, which is what I consider a successful day!

Peace, Love & Robin Williams!

2008-10-15T23:33:00.003-04:00

Tonight was a very exciting and fun night for me! My husband and I got to go see Robin Williams at the Peace Center. It was great because we really don't get to go on a lot of dates together. The show was Hilarious! By the end, my cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard. After the show we went backstage to a sort of meet and greet thing. Of course, I brought 2 bars of my most popular soap to give as a gift to Robin- cinnamon apple swirl and mint chocolate. I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how Robin Williams would take some girl giving him a couple bars of soap. But, he was great! He said that he would definitely use it and keep it in his bike bag to use while on the road. He took a big whiff and commented on how good it smelled! I was over the moon- and I'm sure my cheesy grin gave me away. I told him about my blog and said that if he got the chance, to leave me a message. We shall see! Well, Mr. Robin Williams, you looked awesome and after using my soap you will smell as good as you look! Had a great night, Thank You!

Double duty for Peace, Love & Soap!

2008-10-13T19:31:00.002-04:00

Saturday, August 25, Peace, Love and Soap will be pulling double duty! In the a.m. we will be at the Autumn Festival on Main in downtown Greenville. It's going to be a really fun event and I'm totally excited about it. Then, that afternoon, I was asked to do a soap demo at The Cliffs organic farm! I am very honored to have been asked to be a part of ther Fall Festival. Now I need to time myself so I can make my demo around 30 min. I don't think this will be a big deal. Once you have your materials prepared, it goes pretty fast. I love this time of year with the georgous weather and festivals going on.
Yesterday I unmolded a test batch that I had made using curly shavings from another batch. My objective was to make each cross section look like it had curly q's in it. I know, it sounds confusing, I'll post a picture later. Anyway, I am very happy to say that it came out looking really cool! Can't wait to share my picture and get some feedback on it!

Now you can buy online!

2008-10-13T19:20:00.003-04:00

In response to some of my customers interested in purchasing more soap, I have opened an Etsy account. Etsy is pretty much the ebay of all things handmade. The Market will be over soon and with winter coming my options to get out there and sell more soap are limited. This is a way for anybody to shop at anytime. I just opened it a couple of days ago and I listed only two scents to try and see what kind of response I get. If there is an interest, I will definitely list more. Also, if anyone has a request that you want me to list, let me know. Just go to, www.peaceloveandsoap.etsy.com to find my products. Hope you like!

Exciting News for Peace, Love & Soap!

2008-10-09T18:54:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we recieved some very exciting news from the producer of a local television show called "Your Carolina". They want to feature Peace, Love & Soap on their show on December 19th! I have already been hard at work revamping my inventory for the upcoming holiday season. I feel so honored to have the chance to talk about soapmaking and starting up a business. I'm glad I have some time to get my thoughts together! Wow, I'm excited. I know it's kind of a long way off so I will remind all of my local friends to try and tune in closer to the date.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-10-08T11:22:00.004-04:00

Well, today I am 29! I am learning that as you get older, you must change your expectations of your birthday. The day you were born is a great day to reflect on all of the little (and not so little) Blessings that have been sprinkled throughout the year. It's not about presents or gifts, it's about the happiness that you feel when you look around and know that you are loved.
Okay, enough of that philosophical stuff. Yesterday was very exciting for me. I got to go to Asheville and pick up my bulk organic oils that I had ordered a couple of weeks ago. Those 5 gallon buckets were beautiful! I know, I know- nerd alert! It's nice to know that I can keep making my soap without having to run to the store every couple of days because I was out of something. I had all of these different recipes and oil blends going through my mind as I was waiting for my oils, it was like torture. But, now I can make them happen. I also want to say thanks to my customers who take the time to send me comments on my blog. It almost brings me to tears when people tell me how much they enjoy my products or give me props! I know that is super-cheesy, but it's true. Thank you, thank you, thank you......

To Market, to market!

2008-10-04T14:50:00.004-04:00

Today was a really awesome day that I had been envisioning ever since the thought of selling my soap came to me. It was our first day at the Carolina First Saturday Market in downtown Greenville. It is a really cute farmer's market that takes place on Main St. and is a treat for the locals as well as tourists. I was honored to finally secure a booth, but a little nervous because I would be bringing my boys with me. Don't get me wrong, my kids are well-behaved, but you can only ask so much out of a one and three year old. Not to worry, they were little angels. The market lasted from 8-12. My neighbor came to see our booth around 10:30, which was great because she took the boys for a walk and played with them for a while. I couldn't have asked for a better day. My sales were high and I got some great feedback on my soap. Apple cinnamon swirl is definitely a favorite among my customers and the mint chocolate also went over well. Last night when I put Cameron to bed, he said a special prayer for our booth at the market. I thought it was so neat how he realized that it was so important to me that our day went well. His prayers were answered and we all enjoyed our time together. Now I need to focus on getting my inventory back up and ready for our next market adventure. I hope it is as good as today!

Peace, Love & Soap LLC!

2008-09-29T10:06:00.005-04:00

Many changes have taken place lately concerning Peace, Love & Soap. We are an official LLC! We also made our debut this Saturday at two stores in Greenville. You can purchase our soap at Reedy River General Store (formerly Pott's Natural Foods Store) and Brew & Ewe! It is so amazing how this has gone from an interest to a full blown business. There are many more opportunities in the works that hopefully will be in place in a couple of weeks. I have to give props to a really good friend of our family, Nancy. She organized all of my legal stuff for my LLC right down to the stamp. She is a wonderful lady and I owe her big time for taking the time to help me. This new endeavor has come so easy, so far, that it doesn't really even feel like work. I hope that it will stay stress free and fun. My husband has been so supportive of me. He believes in me and the potential of my business, which gives me the peace to keep marching. Most of all, he never complains about me spending any little bit of extra money on oils. He is a wonderful man. I love you, Mike! I had my ten year reunion this Saturday and it was great seeing all of my friends from back in the day. It's funny how you see yourself change, but don't expect anybody else to. I had a really nice time with everybody. I was glad to see that everyone is doing well. Go UCHS!

New Pictures

2008-09-21T20:14:00.005-04:00

I finally had some time today to snap some shots of some of my new soaps. The flavors are berry, vanilla sandlewood, apple, mint chocolate, pumpkin spice, & Holly Mint (not in order). I also put one of my lip balms up. I am going to make more colors. As of now, my flavors are vanilla & watermelon. I opened my grapefruit today and it is a beautiful pink. My marbling effect didn't quite come out as expected, but I'm open! It smells wonderful so that makes up for it. Hope you like my latest pictures!

Lather Up!

2008-09-20T17:01:00.003-04:00

I placed my first order for bulk ingredients the other day! I feel so official. Today I completed an order for one of the stores that will be carrying my soap. My bags are ready, just waiting for my labels, which are getting printed. I made a grapefruit batch today that I can't wait to unveil. I marbled it so that should be interesting to see how it turns out- pink & white. I love how the marbled bars look, still trying to get the hang of it. I've ruined about six shirts from not wearing my apron. The funny thing is that I have about four hanging in the garage. They are just way too cute to get anything on and mess up! Oh well, guess I'll wear old t-shirts from now on. My inventory is building steadily. I'm still trying to wittle my scents down to about six with a couple holiday specials. I made a Holly Mint bar the other day that I just have to sniff every time I walk by. It puts me in the mood for Christmas. Speaking of, I'm totally loving this weather. My windows are open, music is on, kids are playing nicely (for the moment!)- Life is good!

Organicfest!

2008-09-13T17:15:00.000-04:00

We had such a good time at Organicfest, last Saturday! The kids dressed up like garden creatures and marched (& strolled) in the parade. We got lots of yummy & healthy samples. The music was great and the products were so nice, I wanted to buy one of everything. I got a lot of shopping done, while in Asheville. They have great stores where I can by lots of soap ingredients in bulk. I love going there. The drive is beautiful and there is a cool vibe to that city. The kids and I had a wonderful day together.

Life is not a solo!

2008-09-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

Life is not a solo. My mom has been telling me that for years, to the point of annoiance, actually. But as I get older, I realize that it's true. My business grows everyday from people that are helping me market my soap. My cousin has been selling away, while at her job- talk about multitasking. A good friend of ours has taken the time to show my products and now Peace, Love & Soap is going to be in a store in downtown Greenville! Not to mention she watches my kids for me if my husband and I go out! I am so excited. Another store in Greenville will be carrying my soap in slabs. That way you cut off as much as you want at a time. That is appropriate for this place because it's got that general store feel to it. Wow, I couldn't have done this myself. I am thankful for all of my support and help. I got to make lip balms for the ladie's golf tournament where my husband works. They went out today so I hope everyone liked them. I am trying to get eight basic flavors of soap down, that way I can get those eight bars down to a science. I've been experimenting with different aromas. I'll be sure to blog what I come up with. Thanks, guys for all of the love, support and sales! I'm happy!

Peace, Love & Hard Work!

2008-09-05T12:39:00.002-04:00

Things seem to becoming together quite nicely. I've been hard at work coming up with new recipes for the fall & winter seasons. I made a pumpkin pie soap, night before last, that smells good enough to eat! The kids and I are going to Organicfest in Asheville tomorrow. I am so excited, I've been saving up to get lots of great ingredients. Not to mention, Asheville has better natural food stores than Greenville. I still consider that to be local since it's only an hour away. I altered my muslin bags to have a drawstring. This is better because the soap is more accessible for viewing and sniffing. My marketing team has been hard at work and sales are going up, up, up! The hardest thing right now is the balance of taking care of my kids and my eagerness to improve my business. The kids come first! If I ever start to forget this, they quickly bring me back down to earth. Thanks guys, I love you so much! Cameron (31/2) pitches in by turning my bags right side out for me, as I sew. He is very helpful and interested in my soap. He knows many of the essential oils and anxiously tells me his thoughts on each one. Slowly, but surely we're getting there.

My New Packaging

2008-09-01T11:21:00.000-04:00

I have had a couple of people approach me about stocking my soap in there store! This is very exciting to me, but I still need to perfect my packaging. I've tried a couple of different ideas. The boxes are cute, but most of my bars are too big to fit. I like the bags, but you can't see the soap. Oh the stresses of marketing! I may never find the perfect answer!

My First Sale!

2008-08-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had my first experience at selling my soap. At Monkey Joe's they are having a "Christmas in August" promotion where people who have a craft or handmade items come and sell thier goods. I was a little nervous at first and my biggest fear was that nobody would want my soap! It was quiet for most of the day, which was good because I could get comfortable with my setup. I had both of the kids with me, but they were dolls! I made a few pretty good sales. I was happy with that considering the amount of people that showed up (not many). The best thing about the whole experience was the great feedback that I got about my soaps. It was so encouraging to know that all of my efforts weren't for nothing. I actually made something that other people liked! Wow! that's a great feeling. I left there very tired, but pleased with my success for the day. The hundred bucks I made felt like a thousand! I'm definitely going for it!

Starting My Business!

2008-08-14T15:20:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to be venturing out into the soap world. I learned to make it after overcoming the fear of the unknown. Now I'm hooked and I want to share my creations with the rest of the world. I know that I'm being naive about starting a business, but in some ways I think that can be a good thing. I will be documenting my failures and triumphs on this blog. If nothing else, for me to look back on for fun. I'll be posting pictures of my creations so please feel free to let me know what you think. I'm open to positive and negative feedback.