Amo Italia! (translation “I love Italy”)

For some reason ever since I was a little girl I have been in love with Italy.  I had always wanted to go even though I don’t have a drop of Italian blood in me.  I use to plan imaginary trips and dream of going there some day.  Well eventually I grew up and turned those dreams into reality. 

A lot of my soaps are inspired by Italian food, landscapes and even architecture.  For instance take a look at my Cedarwood Lavender Handmade Soap pictured below.

and now take a look at this photo I took in Venice, IT

When I took that photo in Venice I never thought it would inspire a soap, but when I arrived home and looked through my photos this photo grabbed me every time and became one of my favorites.  Over time I wanted a soap that had the same complexity as this picture with the aged walls and the natural texture that jumps out at you.  I wanted the soap to have the warmth of the soft natural light in this photo and voila!  That is when I made my Cedarwood Lavender Soap.

Another one of my Italian inspired soaps is the Limoncello Soap which is created after the famous Italian liqueur Limoncello.  I had never heard of  it until one day I was sitting in a beautiful cafe in Positano, IT and they served me a complimentary Limoncello as an after dinner drink.  At first it was kind of tart, but then it grew on me and I fell in love with it.

Here is a photo of my Limoncello Soap

and here is a photo of the famous Limoncello Liqueur

I love all things Italian and I’m sure you’ll see more of my Italian inspired soaps and themes in the future, but thought I would take the time today to show you a few of my favorite Italian inspired soaps I make.

Ci vediamo presto!! (see you soon)

Back in town!

Well I've been away for a week in sunny Florida visiting my dad and have now returned to snowy Boston :) With nothing to do on this cold snowy day I've decided to have a sale. So I've made a new listing at my Etsy store for all of you who have been waiting for me to bring this sale back here it is 6 bars for $25 and free shipping in USA

Also please vote for my sale on CheapTweet here Vote on CheapTweet for me

While I'm at it I'd like to share a couple of shots from my trip with my dad. Here is one in the harbor.

and this is one out the back door, not bad huh?

With it looking like this out my window right now I think I'll pretend I'm still in Florida for a few days LOL.

Hope you all are having a pleasant and hopefully warm Sunday in your part of the world. I'll be back to my routine tomorrow, making soap YAY!

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

.....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.

The Perfect Valentine Soap

With Valentine's just around the corner, I thought I might suggest which one of my soaps I feel best fits Valentine's Day. I have always felt the Lilac Rose soap is the most romantic and precious of my soaps. So if you're looking for something sweet to give your sweetie this Valentine's look no further, you've found the perfect soap.



Follow this link to my Etsy store to purchase the Lilac Rose soap.
I'll also have plenty in stock at the Boston Handmade Be Mine Valentine show if you are in the area drop by. Information on that event is below.

Be Mine Valentine Show

Just wanted to inform anybody in the Boston area about this show I'll be involved in next Friday. So mark your calender and stop by and get your sweetie something SWEET for Valentine's!

The 2nd Annual Boston Handmade Valentine Show

Friday, February 6 ~ 5pm to 9pm
450 Harrison Avenue ~ Gallery #31 ~ 31 Thayer Street

South End, Boston, MA - Boston Handmade announces the 2nd Annual Be Mine Valentine Show featuring hand crafted Valentines and gifts for friends, family, and lovers, to be held on Friday, February 6th, from 5-9pm at 450 Harrison Avenue. Sponsored in part by GTI Properties and the individual members of Boston Handmade, this one-night-only event coincides with the First Friday open studios and gallery receptions in the SoWa arts district of Boston's South End.

Twenty local artists, artisans and craftspeople will be exhibiting their one-of-a-kind and 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!

In a Dreamy State of Mind.

Today I can't seem to keep my mind here in the apartment. Maybe it's the cold weather that is making me dream of far away places. Every time I start to cut soap, package it, etc. I find myself drifting to memories of a trip I took a little over a year ago. Alot of the herbs, flowers, etc. that I stand here making soaps with today were gathered from that trip. So I thought I would share a few photos and memories from that trip. Next time you have one of my soaps in your hands you can think ahhh I have lemons from Italy in here or Lavender from France in here. I spent 4 months gathering inspiration and ingredients in France, Switzerland and Italy to create my new soaps that I recently designed.

Sometimes it is just something simple that inspires me. Like this picture I took of a dandelion in a park outside of Paris.



Even my breakfast can inspire me to think of something new. Like this plate of pastries and croissants in Paris.



Hiking in the Italian and Swiss Alps was an unbelievable experience and I found much inspiration there. Here is a photo in which I am standing in Switzerland looking into Italy.


Although this flower is not a rose or a lilac it is what inspired me to make my Lilac Rose soap.

If you look at the Lilac Rose soap which is pictured below I'm sure you can see how that flower inspired me to create it.



These delicate little purple flowers inspired me to create my Lavender Rosemary soap which has delicate purple flowers on it.



Here is a photo of my Lavender Rosemary soap so you can see how those little flowers gave me the visual of this soap.



I thought I'd share this little photo journal of how I come up with ideas, inspiration and the moments it happens. Next entry I'll explain how I think of the ingredients to get the look in the soap I want to create. Well back to soap making...hopefully I can get my mind to stay here now :)

Boston Handmade

Hello, I wanted to introduce everybody to a group in which I have recently been accepted.



I'm very happy to say

I'M A PROUD MEMBER OF BOSTON HANDMADE:
Boston Handmade, is a gathering of colleagues who support one another in the pursuit of creativity made by hand. All members of Boston Handmade are registered sellers on Etsy.com and are all based in Massachusetts. Our members create a wide variety of handcrafted art including: jewelry, photography, paper goods, collage art, ceramics, clothing, accessories, dolls, bath & beauty products and home décor.

You may find items from myself and all Boston Handmade members at this link Boston Handmade Etsy You may also find out more about us at Boston Handmade Blog or Boston Handmade

Featured on Etsy and more!!

Today Boston and Boston Handmade were featured on Etsy. Here is a link to the feature Boston Handmade Etsy. Check it out if you have a chance. I've got a small blurb and photo on there. Etsy is really great at promoting all of us.

It has certainly been another eventful week, we've scrambled like crazy putting together the Boston Handmade Downtown store and it's been a smashing success so far. Here is a link to the blog to update you on the happenings there Boston Handmade and if you want to know shopping information here is a link for that Boston Handmade Downtown Store. Ok now that should keep you up to date on all of my soap and holiday happenings at the moment :) Until next time.

Boston Handmade Downtown

Well I've been without a computer for a few weeks so sorry for the delay in posting this. Just got my computer back from HP a couple of days ago and been catching up with everything ever since. I've had quite a bit going on in the last couple of weeks including my latest news about Boston Handmade Downtown. This is a storefront in Downtown Boston located at 505 Washington St. near Downtown Crossing T station and a short walk from the Commons. It is a gathering of 30 local Boston Artists filling a storefront for the holiday season, all items are handmade by the artists. You can find all kinds of wonderfully unique items there. Here is a link to the main site for more informationBoston Handmade Downtown. If you are looking for all of the artists involved here is a link to the artists and their Etsy stores Boston Handmade Downtown Exhibitors. Hope if you are in the area you drop by to see all of this wonderful work in person.