We have a new blog now.  This one is still functioning, but we are not reglarly posting to it.  Our other blog can be found by visiting www.countryscents.net and locating it on the left toolbar.  We will try to post here from time to time though!

Every weekend, we are hoping to run a short special on different items.

It has taken me the entire month of January to really get my creative juices together. I have some new scent blends and am really excited about all of our handmade soap and cream that is coming this year. It took a while to get it all together and that’s ok. Good things come to those who wait and that’s what is coming in soap and cream.

A few new scents to look for are Gardenia (by request), Magnificent, and Daffodils for Spring.  Love it!

I read an article today about how color affects our thinking and what we associate with color. The article was specifically referencing labels. We have changed our label design and think it reflects exactly how we feel and hope others feel about our handmade soap. Green evokes nature and the environment. We heartily agree!

Not to brag, but our liquid soap keeps getting better, or maybe we are bragging!  It is of a better consistency and feel than that first batch.  It is fun and easy to make, just time consuming!

It’s exciting to start the year 2009 - new possibilities, resolutions, fresh beginnings and best of all - new soap!  My list is smaller than a few months ago, but longer than last year!  The great thing about the creative aspect is that there are endless options for soap! I know not everyone understands this, but hopefully will enjoy the use of it as much as I enjoy making it!

Since my life is complicated enough as it is, trying to decide what is natural only makes me frustrated and drained of energy.  Long ago, there were only a few choices when it came to food and it was easy to make a grocery list - just get flour, milk, eggs, sugar and the butcher would cut the meat you needed or else it came from your own animals.  Vegetables were grown on your own land and meals were simple - a cake was a cake, water was what you drank if you were thirsty. 

Natural was taken for granted - it was not an issue.  In fact, asking someone, “is this a natural soap here?” would have been the cause for a great deal of talk and gossip.   

 Now, a person feels like they are not doing their job if they do not question what is actually in this food we are eating, or this soap we are using, or the lotion we are using.  

Speaking of soap then, the soap sold commercially usually has been made with detergent additives.  They lather, they get you squeaky clean, and they strip your skin of protective oils and good bacteria.  They are not true soap, or pure soap, or even natural soap. 

Not everyone has jumped on this bandwagon, but I think that eventually, everyone will be clamoring to know “what is IN this..?”  Reading labels is a time consuming habit that I have formed.  I do not claim to know what everything is either, or what is in those little wheat crackers my children love, but I sure do know what is in the soap that they are using.  I read the labels because I am supposed to, aren’t I?  And since I am a soapmaker, and I know what real soap is, it has become an issue with me simply because it seems that everything has gotten out of hand as far as what is IN ”it”? 

Will things ever go back to a gentler time and slower paced days?  I do not have an answer for that and we are no smarter now than our grandparents and great grandparents were.  At least they knew what was in the food they were eating as well as their soap.  It would not have occured to them to question ingredients because they did not have to.  And natural was not in their vocabulary - “natural - what’s that?

Soap was soap, not natural soap or even handmade, because everything was already natural and handmade.  Splitting hairs, I say, and this does not make us more educated or knowledgeable, only more confused and bogged down by a contradiction in terms. 
 

I realized that I have quite a few soap fragrances that I have never used or some that a bit is left in the bottle, but there is not enough for a full batch.  What better way to use those up than making small batches of soap with them?  So, I decided on the goat head soap molds for this project since they are well..goats.  The current batch is made with red velvet cake fragrance.  Next batch, who knows?  This is so much fun for me because it is a chance to make a small batch of soap and use something new, different, or just know that I am putting my supplies into my product and they are not just sitting unused on a shelf! 

I have a number of soap molds from my early days of soap making, but the goat head is probably the most appropriate one I own.  My kids love the shaped soap - it is not so boring to them as just a rectangular shaped soap.  Grownups do not have to be so amused hopefully, but for kids the shaped soap is great fun.  Kids also like colored soap, but I do not like to put too much color in my soap unless it is natural. 

And I guess the point I am making here is have some fun in whatever you are doing.  Make your own fun, if need be.  It is very healthy and leads to other ideas as well.  The goat head soap may become a best seller and it may not.  If I have to, I’ll just give it away (that is fun too!).  I sometimes forget to have fun and everything becomes such a serious matter.  I am taking small steps and learning to have a bit of fun again.  It’s ok to do that, and everyone profits, especially those around you!