Discontinuing the Sugar Scrub Cubes

After 2 years of making the Sugar Scrub Cubes I think it's time to put them to rest.  I get a lot of great reviews on them at craft shows but they're just not selling well online.  I need to focus my time and money on something that's more popular, so as of today they've all been marked down 25% to clear them out of my shop.  Once they're gone, they're gone.  (Unless I get a wholesale request that I just can't refuse)

This brings up a question though.  I was using these in my gift sets along with a bar of soap, perfume, and lotion stick.  What would you like to see take their place?  I was thinking maybe a candle.  Any thoughts?

Fotofuze is My New Best Friend!

Somebody in the Etsy forum yesterday was raving about a new photo editing website.  It makes all those grayish white background a nice, crisp white.  I just had to give it a try.

Here's my pic before Fotofuze:

And here's the after:

What a difference!  Now I'm hooked and I'm editing all my photos.  It's so simple.  You just highlight the image and Fotofuze does the rest.  Just make sure you turn off the autocropping option if your pics are already cropped.  That part gets a bit annoying because I keep forgetting and have to go back and redo each pic.  Other than that, I love it!

The Great Perfume Debate

As most of you know, I currently make solid perfumes in little pots:

I started making these because they're easy to carry around in a bag since they're small and they don't spill.  Well, I started wondering if maybe I should sell other types of perfume as well.  I was going through some options and here's what I came up with:

Solid Perfume in a Pot
I like these because, as I said, they're small and spill proof.  The bad thing about them is having to rub your finger into it to apply it.

Solid Perfume in a Stick
These are also nice and portable.  With this option you can rub it directly onto your skin.

Roll-On
These are one of my favorites although I'm afraid to carry it in my purse for fear of spilling.

Spray
Also not one that I would carry around, just in case it spilled. 

Cost Issue:
Then there's the price factor on each.  The solid ones aren't as costly to make.  The plastic pots/tubes are inexpensive.  The roll-ons and sprays cost a bit more.  I'd prefer to use glass for those which off course makes the bottle more expensive.  From what I've been researching, the glass containers cost almost 4-5 times as much as the tubes/pots.  This would, of course, mean that 1/3oz of liquid perfume would cost a lot more than 1/3oz of solid perfume.  Is it worth it?

I would love to hear opinions on this!  Please comment below and take the poll to the right to help me decide what to do!

Spring Soaps are Back in Stock!

I know it's still winter but I'm so ready for the warm weather that I decided to get a head start on some spring soaps. The Taffy Soaps are my favorite!  They remind me of warm, sunny days on the beach.

For Easter, I have the Jelly Beans ready! These adorable soaps come in a set of 20 and are perfect for little hands.

Book Review: Departures by Robin Jones Gunn

Departures is a book containing two separate stories.  Both are about teenage girls on summer vacation.  They talk about friendships, love and feelings.

The book was a quick and easy read.  I'd recommend it for a teenage girl but it wasn't really for me.  It held my interest enough to get through it quickly but I didn't find it very captivating.

An excerpt from the book can be found HERE.

As a reminder, I was given this book for free from the WaterBrook Multnomah "Blogging for Books" program. All opinions are my own.

Craft Show Display

I didn't realize I have so many more products than last year!  It took me about two hours to figure out how to display everything on one 6-foot table but I finally did it.  Here are a few pics:

Let me know what you think!

Craft Show Addition

One more show for this year's list:

November 19 10am-4pm
TC Williams High School
Alexandria, VA

Book Review: The Crossing by Serita Jakes

"On the way home from a football game a decade earlier, a masked gunman opened fire on a Texas school bus. Cheerleading coach B.J. Remington was killed but he murderer was never found. Claudia, who had a close friendship with the young, spirited teacher constantly relives the anguish of that day, caught in one moment in time. When her assistant district attorney husband becomes determined to uncover the mystery of that tragedy, the secrets buried over the years threaten to tear their family apart.
Officer Casio Hightower will never forget the day his dreams were destroyed. A star quarterback with a promising future, Casio was on top of the world-until one bullet changed everything. He is eager to help Victor Campbell find B.J.'s killer, the man who shot him. Maybe solving the case will help silence the demons driving Casio to hurt the woman he loves"

This book was very easy to get into. Each chapter begins with the thoughts of Ms. Remington as she lay dying on the floor of the bus. More secrets and clues become revealed with each chapter but the killer still came as a surprise to me.

This book held my attention and I was able to finish it in only 3 days. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a mystery.

An excerpt from the book can be found HERE.

As a reminder, I was given this book for free from the WaterBrook Multnomah "Blogging for Books" program. All opinions are my own.

2011 Show Schedule

Here is my list of shows so far for this year:

October 22 9am-3pm
Forest Park High School
Woodbridge, VA

November 12 9am-3pm
Centreville United Methodist Church
Centreville, VA

December 10 9am-3pm
Gar-Field High School
Woodbridge, VA

I'm working on a few more so I'll keep you posted. I hope to see you there!

Christmas Ornaments

The holidays are quickly approaching! It's time to work on some ornaments for my other Etsy shop. Here's what they look like so far:

Each ornament has between 85-90 origami stars that I patiently folded, taking over 1 hour per ornament.  The stars were then placed into the plastic ornament and the sides were glued so it stays together.
Eventually they'll have a ribbon like this one I made last year:

If you have any color suggestions I'd love to hear them!