We've got a winner!!

Hey everyone I am happy to announce that Michelle of zuppaartista.etsy.com was the winner in my drawing for the free Lavender Orange soap give away. I've just sent a message to her informing her of her winnings. This was a lot of fun! Look for more free give aways in the future. Thanks for all of those who participated.

CONGRATULATIONS MICHELLE!!

Last day to enter FREE SOAP drawing

At the end of today some lucky person will win one of my Lavender Orange handmade soaps. All you have to do to enter is click on this link FREE SOAP and follow the directions on that post. It's quite simple really :)

I will draw at 6pm this evening eastern standard time and announce the winner. Please be sure to leave a way to contact you in the comment as that is the only way I can inform you of your winnings. Thank you.

If you are reading this in a Facebook note, a reader or something other than my actual blog then follow this link to participate. DeShawn Marie Handcrafted Soap Blog

For the Love of Paris

I've been to Paris several times, but in the summer of 2007 I had the opportunity to stay there for a little over a month. The time I spent there was magical. I stayed with a host family in a lovely apartment in the 16th arrondissement. This is the view off the balcony of the apartment I stayed at.


I wish I had practiced my french more and learned more while I was there, but a guy I had dated from there ended up meeting up with me and I spent my whole summer in love instead ;-) I guess that is really what Paris is all about anyway LOL.

I took many pictures of the fabulous bread in Paris. I am fascinated by their bread artisans!! Here is a photo I really liked.


The thing that really strikes me about Paris is everything seems to be an art. The French take such pride in how they do things. It is a true town of perfectionism! The pastries are gorgeous, the cheese delicious, the wine superb and the food magnificent. If it isn't good they won't serve it.

Here is a picture of some wonderful french cheese.


Here are some cakes and pies I took a quick shot of.


I love the fact that you can sit in a cafe all day, people watch and slowly sip a cafe au lait or some wine and they don't chase you out or get upset that you've been there for 4 hours. Everything is in it's own time. There's always time for one more glass of good wine.

Here I am making sure none of the wine goes to waste :)


I took many photos in Paris and collected lots of herbs at the markets there for the soap. When I'm feeling a little dull I just take my photos out and the life pumps right back into me as if I were there and my creative juices start flowing again.

My rolled soaps were inspired by pastries. I get some of the kookiest ideas some times LOL. OH PARIS I WILL BE BACK!!

Thanks for letting me share this with you, I hope you enjoyed the photos. Be sure to continue signing up for the contest for the free bar of soap on the post below this one.

If you are reading this in a reader, on a facebook note or some where other than my blog then go to DeShawn Marie Handcrafted Soap to sign up for the contest.

FREE SOAP, a Valentine from me to you!

That's right I'm giving away one of my soaps this Valentines to spread the LOVE! You've all been voting on your favorite scents on my blog poll and with just a few hours left for voting it looks like Orange is in the lead and Lavender is second. That means I'll be giving away one of my Lavender Orange soaps. Which is pictured above. Here is a link to it in my Etsy shop
Lavender Orange Handmade Soap

Now you're wondering what do I have to do to get my hands on that yummy soap? Well not much. Here's the contest requirements:

Go to any of my online shops
My Artfire
My Etsy
My Website
My DaWanda
My 1000markets
My Made it Myself

Bet you didn't know you could find me in so many places did you? For a chance to win the Lavender Orange bar of soap just visit one of my sites listed above and make a comment on this blog post about which site you went to. Then give your opinion, some advice or tell me which soap you like the best in your comment. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in your comment so when the contest is over I can award you your winnings (email, phone, blog or something.) This contest will run through February 22nd. When all of the comments are in I will then print them, put them in a hat and draw a winner!! Winner will be announced on Feb. 23rd. At that time I will need an shipping address to send you your free soap :)

HAPPY VALENTINES!

If you are reading this in a reader, facebook note or some other format than my blog just click this link to go to my blog and participate
DeShawn Marie Handcrafted Soap Blog

2 more days to vote on your favorite scent

Stay tuned for contest rules later today! There are 2 more days to vote for your favorite scents. Currently Lavender and Orange are in the lead. Be sure to cast your vote as that is how I'll be choosing which soap to give away in the contest. Follow my blog by becoming a follower for a chance to win soap and other prizes that I will give away. If you are unfamiliar with my soaps you can see them at my Etsy store or my website, links are below.

DeShawn Marie's Etsy Store
DeShawn Marie Handmade Soap Website


If you are reading this in an rss reader or as a note on my facebook page, you can go to my blog to participate at DeShawn Marie Handcrafted Soap

Ahhhh the candles I promised

So like I said it's been a while since I've made candles, but at the same time it's like riding a bike.

I really enjoyed coming back to my old craft after a year and a half break from it. Stepping away from doing soap for a few days is doing me some good.

I'm rejuvenating my creative juices, there are certain colors you can get in candle making that are impossible to achieve in soap making and vice versa. These are some of my favorite colors at the moment, but that changes from week to week ;-)

I really enjoy working with different arts and crafts, it seems to give me ideas and new energy. I tend to always come back to what fulfills me most and that is the soap making. I thought it would be fun to share my candles with those of you who have never seen any of them. I hope you've enjoyed my break away from soap with this candle making day. Back to soap tomorrow Yay!!

DON'T FORGET*****
Keep sharing your favorite scents by filling out the poll at the top right of this blog. I'll be scheduling a soap giveaway later this week and the poll will help me choose which soap to give away :)

Today is a Happy Day :)

Don't know why, but for some reason today I woke up in a happy mood. I've felt very creative the last few days and full of thought. Some of that came out this morning in the form of collages. The picture above was a small collage I made for an empty picture frame I had on my dresser.

I also made some candles in the last few days. For those of you who don't know that candles were my focus for many years I will post some photos of them soon. I hadn't made candles in about a year and then yesterday I busted the old wax melter out and started creating. Maybe it's the slightly warmer weather we've had the last few days or the fact that it is clear beautiful skies here today. The sun really boosted my spirits. Needless to say I'm glad that boost arrived. Some of that trapped energy is coming out to create again. I'll have lots of photos of projects posted soon.

Also stop back by this week as I'll be posting a free soap give away! Be sure to vote on your favorite scent in the poll on the right as that is going to help me choose which soap to give :)

How do I get that soap to be the same size?

SOAP CUTTING DEMONSTRATION
Well Spring is getting closer, but while it's cold and snowy out I'm stocking up the shelves and getting ready for Spring festivals. I thought I'd give a little online demonstration of my production line today.

I make all of my soaps from scratch in small batches and put them in small loaf molds until they are ready to be released and cured. When they are ready to cut I put the small loaves on my soap cutter which looks like this.

I then line the soap up with the lines on the soap cutter for the size that I would like the soap to be. Here is what that looks like.

After that I cut the soap straight down with a blade as shown in the picture below.

Then they are ready to be boxed and prepared for being adopted into some one's home :) Below is a picture of my assembly line of packaging.

I then close them, label them and voila the perfect GIFT! As everyone says "they look like expensive European chocolates."

So not a bad thing to be doing in this snowy, cold weather. Well atleast I enjoy it and I hope you all have enjoyed this brief peek into my soapy world.

The Perfect Rose Soap

Another perfect choice for Valentine's. If you're looking for something a little special for Valentine's evening nothing represents love more than a bouquet of Roses. Well how about a soap full of a bouquet of roses?? This soap is super soft, romantic with the intoxicating aroma of roses. A few candles and a bath tub is all you need to complete this Valentine's when you have this soap for the tub.

Here's a link to my Etsy store if you would like to purchase this soap

Reminder for this Friday!

JOIN US THIS FRIDAY!
The 2nd Annual Be Mine Valentine Show
features hand crafted Valentines & gifts
for friends, family, & lovers

Friday, February 6th, 5 - 9pm
450 Harrison Avenue, #31

Twenty Massachusetts artists, artisans & craftspeople
will be exhibiting their one-of-a-kind
& limited edition works at Be Mine
This special Valentine event includes
live acoustic music by Peter Paulousky
and new exhibitor designs
created especially for the winter season and Valentine’s Day.

Sponsored in part by GTI Properties
& the individual members of Boston Handmade,
this one-night-only event coincides with the First Fridays
open studios & gallery receptions in the SoWa arts district
of Boston’s South End.

.....and yet another cool venue for artists and crafters!!

For those of you who haven't stumbled upon Artfire I must say "you should probably check it out!!" It is a great handmade/artists/crafters venue. I've just started my shop on there at My Artfire Shop. It has lots of cool features that Etsy, MIM, Shop Handmade, DaWanda, etc don't have. So whether you are a shopper, a seller, a supporter this site has some cool things for everyone.