Back from Gotham!

Last night I got back from my first trip to New York City since I was 13. Earlier this year I started consulting for a company in New York so I went there to do some work. Even though my family is originally from New York (Yonkers, to be exact), we moved to San Diego when I was only 2, so I'm really a California girl.

Since I'm working on a retail project, a lot of the trip was spent discussing and finding inspiration in successful retail stores. Although I was only there for 1 1/2 days (the rest was flight time), I visited Sabon, Dylan's Candy Bar, Max Brenner, Toys 'R Us, Crumbs, and ate at impressive restaurants such as David Burke Townhouse and Serendipity. Melody (the other consultant working on the project) and I were staying at the Dream Hotel in midtown so the major landmarks such as Rockefeller Center and Times Square were very close by. I got really lucky and met up with a friend who was on a fun NY trip, too.

What did I learn on my trip? LOTS. But mainly I learned that the sky is the limit in New York. To be "over the top" is hard to do among so many incredible shops! But having a very strong point of view and running with it is key to standing out.

I also learned that I am not a big city girl! I was so excited to get back to my quiet suburban house and relax with my family.

I will be going back a couple more times until the project is launched and I really look forward to it. There's nothing like Manhattan!

New Tutorial Tomorrow at the Soap Queen!

Get ready for a brand new Soapylove tutorial over at the Soap Queen! Tomorrow afternoon you will learn how to make these cute and easy Lucky Star Soaps. Check it out then! :)

Flavor of the Month: Candy Cane!

November is here (I can't believe a whole week has already passed!) and holiday decorations are already starting to show up in stores. The best sales usually happen after Thanksgiving, but at Soapylove we are starting our sale early!

Today we are kicking off our Flavor of the Month promotion. Whether it's inspired by the season, an upcoming holiday, or just a great way to celebrate a new style, you'll find one special Soapy Pop that is marked down all month.

For November we have chosen the classic Candy Cane. It's a perfect stocking stuffer or affordable gift in itself! The sweet yet snappy scent is realistic and refreshing. Regularly $8.00 each, you can now get them for $7.50!

The New Soapylove Website and Winter eZine Have Arrived!

I am beyond excited to announce that my new, super fabulous* website is now live! You can now find everything in Soapyland under one roof, including all Let's Get Soapy eZines!

If you have a minute, please head over and check it out. It looks completely different! New features are:

• Entire collection of Soapy Pops, including the brand new Mint Chip and 2 holiday styles.
• An exclusive area for wholesalers so shop owners can now place orders online anytime.
• A registration option so you can save your payment option and make future orders super quick.
• All eZines can be purchased right on my site instead of at a secondary site.
• Entire area dedicated to soapmakers where you can find Soapylove class schedule, links to Soapylove supplies, and sites where you can buy the book.
• Finally, a whole page dedicated to all the social media where Soapylove appears.

It's all designed to make it easier and more fun for you to find just what you need! And right now I have TWO great specials to celebrate!

1. Get free shipping on all Soapy Pops through November 6. Just enter SOAPYLAUNCH during checkout to get the discount!
2. The new Winter issue of Let's Get Soapy is on Early Bird special for only $12 through this Friday, too. Don't miss it!

I would love to hear what you all think. Please comment here and let me know! Otherwise, I'll see you there! :)

*The super fabulousness is completely due to my sister, Cheryl Jackson, who took the amazing new photos for the site and the super talented website design team at Aeolidia. I could not have asked for a better experience from design concept to site implementation.

Skulls Lurking Underground a la MirandaRanda!

I am always really excited to see soap makers use the tutorials that I post, and recently Miranda of Alt-Soap/Miranda Randa contacted me to make sure it was okay to sell the projects she made from the "Bubbles from the Crypt" tutorial on the Soap Queen blog. Of course it's okay - it's strongly encouraged!

When I went to check out her soaps, I was really impressed! She not only made the full skeleton like I did, but she also has this cool skull version (pictured above). I spotted the soapy eyeballs, too, but with added red veins - super creepy and awesome!

Thank you so much Miranda for contacting me, and thanks for doing such an amazing job with the projects!

I love hearing from all of you when you try out a project from my book, my blog, or the Soap Queen. Please keep me posted!

Soapylove Spotted on Martha Stewart - sort of :)

I just got a call from my friend, Alison, who DVR's the Martha Stewart Show. She said, "Debbie! I just saw your soaps on Martha Stewart!!" I was like, OH MY GOD (channeling my inner valley girl, in true Soapylove fashion)!

So it turns out that Robert Mahar of Mahar Drygoods was recently a guest on Martha, showing how to make awesome Sock Skeletons (episode is available to view online, where I got the above image).

Interestingly, Robert was my first ever wholesale customer. He found me on Etsy, and I had to come up with wholesale pricing FAST because I had never given it any thought before! He was a customer for a couple of years and has now sold out of most of my soaps. But luckily Martha got a screenshot of his site, with my soaps included, before that time! :)

If you'd like to read about his awesome experience as a guest on her show, click here. Either way, you should definitely know about his awesome store for your next truly special gift for the little person in your life!

Very Exciting! New Soap Frosting Recipe!

Honestly, I haven't been this excited about a soap tutorial since the texture sheets. I've always been attracted to soap cupcakes but didn't want to get all sorts of special ingredients I would only use for one project. So I decided to tackle soap frosting myself.

First I tried mixing melt and pour with coconut oil, loads of glycerin, and I don't even remember what else. What I got was a ball of soap so rubbery I could have bounced it on my kitchen floor. Soap rubber would be a really fun project but since I added so much oil it had no lather. Bummer.

So I started over and tried just glycerin soap base and liquid soap (which is also very handy for the Soap Slime project!). To my delight it was the perfect marriage! Not only is it a super fast and simple process (click here for the full tutorial on the Soap Queen), but it's very forgiving since you can remelt it if it's overwhipped or starting to harden before you're ready.

I really hope you'll give it a try and let me know what you think. This project just goes to show that the potential of melt and pour soap base is so vast and that there's still an endless supply of fun things that we can do with it! Let's keep pushing the soapy envelope! :)