I'm In The Current Issue of Saponifier Mag!

Wee, look at me! lol....I submitted my pics and blurb a few months ago to Saponifier Magazine, and I was selected for this mini spotlight. I am so stoked! Saponifier is like the Sports Illustrated of soap making. If you're new to soap making or even a seasoned pro, I highly recommend subscribing to this periodical. It's completely online, and the issues are published bi-monthly.

That's really it. I just had to share! Stay cool, and have a safe and happy 4th!

A Weekend Full Of Treats

(click me)

My Halloween was very uneventful. I was very disappointed by the lack of quality Halloween programming on the tube this weekend. Not everyone has a party to go to ya know? Where was the Jason marathon? The Freddy Krueger fest? I was actually forced to work yesterday to keep from being totally bored out of my skull...LOL! I guess that was the trick, now on to the treats....

(click me)

I was featured over the weekend on not one, but two lovely blogs, The Copper Cauldron (one of my fave soap makers) and Mikiye Creations (a fellow Etsy Twitter tweep). Check them out, and Happy November! Did I just say that???

I'm A Sudsy Soapmaker Blogger? Yeah, I Am:)

(Click the pic to go to the article)

They also forget sexy and silly, but they don't know me that well, heehee.... Seriously though, I love Twitter for so many reasons, none of which include promoting my business (another day, another post). I like jabbering and meeting people. It allows me to overcome my extreme shyness and be myself. If all these folks were in a room together, I'd have nothing to say, but anonymity (to some degree) allows me to open up...Okay, I digress, so let's get back to the subject at hand. I was selected as an "inspirational" blog for lovers of handmade soap and aspiring soap makers. Well, I feel that I still have much to learn, but I'm enjoying the journey, and I do appreciate that somebody finds worth in what I do (that too is another day, another post.) I'd like to give a shout out to my friend Ms. Yummy for Yummy Suds who also made the list (Now her soaps are the bomb!)

Do You Use Google Analytics?

Well if you don't, you could be missing out-on YOU! I was checking my analytics today, and I found that I was featured on this blog, Follow The Colours. What a lovely surprise! What language is that? Espanol? Francais? All I saw were my pics, and was like, "WHOA!"

I Have Arrived!

Now that I have your attention, I can now reveal the teaser that I blogged about last week. I was approached almost a year ago by soap lover and maker extraordinaire Joanna at The Soap Bar about doing a tutorial for her mucho popular blog. I was all gung-ho about it until the reality hit me that I had to do some work! By that I mean put together a step-by-step tutorial on how I made one of my soaps. I was scared sh*tless. Needless to say, I never followed through with that tutorial, and I assumed my window of opportunity was lost forever.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I get this e-mail out of the blue. It was Joanna asking me again to do a tutorial! I was absolutely floored. I'd honestly thought I had burned that bridge forever. Oh, how I've grown in this last year! I quickly said yeah, and my tutorial was officially conceived! This is truly an honor to be recognized and sought after by someone in your craft field. The Soap Bar is wildly popular soap lover's blog. I still can't believe I've gotten to this point. Let me tell you, I went through about 5 drafts of this tutorial. When you're used to doing something naturally, you don't think about the steps involved, you just do it. I had to actually think about this: what materials were needed, amounts of ingredients, pictures, etc.

Okay, enough blah, blah, blah, click here to check out my tutorial and let me know what you think.

My 1000 Markets Shop Gets Some Love

I don't know about you, but when you're juggling your shops on different venues, you're bound to neglect one (or more.) I'm currently selling on 4 venues: Art Fire, Etsy, 1000 Markets, and Funky Finds. Oh, and let's not forget this blog-my baby, my pride and joy. Anyway, my 1000 Markets shop has been picking up a little steam lately, and I got a nice e-mail from Erika Pitera, Editor, of My Shopping Connection. She told me that I was featured in the spotlight on the Bath and Body Arcade of 1000 Markets. For those of you who aren't familiar with 1000 Markets, there are little mini markets within the venue itself. The markets are then made up of various shops which sell like items such as jewelry, metal crafts, bath and body, you get the picture.

Thanks, Erika, for featuring my Honey Baby soap. I need to make more of it. I'm almost out!

I'm The Featured Blogger!

Holla at your girl! Read my feature here on The Blogfire Guild of Art Fire! Thanks AliciaMae:-)

Oh The Places You Go!!

Ok, I really didn't go anywhere, I've just ben dying to say that! I got a really nice e-mail the other day complimenting me on my Etsy shop (my Etsy shop is really picking up as of late) and asking for a feature. Uh, let me think about it and get back to you. Okay, sure! Lo and behold, the very next day, I'm in the Health and Beauty section of Examiner.com. Thanks Martha for the feature!

My 15 Minutes of Fame Are Here!!!!

Okay, it's more like 72 hours. I am the featured seller on Art Fire til May 8th. Peep me here!

Check Me Out On NY Blaque!

It's hot as hell here, but I always keep things cool! I have the honor of being featured on one of my favorite blogs, NY Blaque. This was the most intense interview I've had so far. Andrea asked some really thought-provoking questions. Get the scoop here.

Orange Chocolate Lip Lush On Moods and Appetites

What a cool name, huh? Moods and Appetites is a beautiful and visually appealing blog dedicated to one blogger's culinary and creative adventures. No sooner than I began to tweak and fine tune my 1000 Markets shop does it begin to get a little recognition (it's still not even half-way filled yet but I'm workin' on it.) Thanks to Katrina for the feature and giving me some cool, new reads! Check me out here!

I'm A Cool Find!

Nothing is more rewarding than someone who finds worth in what you do (okay, I'll take a million dollars, tax free, but let's get real here)! I've been talking about I Heart Handmade forever, and I was fortunate enough to be a "cool find." Okay, I personally wasn't (although I think I'm pretty cool), but my Rhapsody In Fruit was. I love the smell of apples and limes together for some reason, and this is my homage to applimes or do you prefer limepples (yeah, I made that up just now!)

My Balls Are Beloved...LMAO!!!!

First it was my boobs. Now it's my balls! I, too have soap with balls. If you are a reader of soap-related blogs, then you know there's a young man who has a blog called Soap With Balls. I stole it from him-okay I'm borrowing it from him just for this post. My Soap Balls were featured on a great new blog I'm now following called Structured Chaos. If that aint the story of my life.... I also happened to fill a custom order for Soap Balls this week also. I love these little boogers. I have to make more of them now. I think they're too cute!

I Was Featured On I Heart Handmade

What better way to end a horrible visit to the tax man than finding your shop featured on a lovely site? A few posts back, I told ya'll about the I Heart Handmade Spring virtual craft show. Well, I'm one of the participants, and I was featured today in their regular "Get To Know.." where they spotlight one of the vendors. I really love this site. It exposes you to some great artisans, and it's a wonderful way to expose your shop to some new people. I can't tell you how many new viewers of my shop I've received as a result-and yes, I've gotten some sales from it too!

Check it out and maybe you'll consider participating in their next craft show!

Check Me Out On Autonomous Artisans!

I admit it: I had no idea what the word autonomous meant until I was forced to look it up. Autonomous means (according to Webster's) self-governing. Yeah, that pretty much sums up my philosophy. I am the master of my own destiny. I run this! Okay, anyway, I'm featured on the wonderful blog Autonomous Artisans, as Artisan of the Week and I thoroughly enjoyed answering these questions. Thanks to Captain Skulduggery (OMG, that tickles me just typing it) for the wonderful opportunity. I can't stop laughing now...Captain Skulduggery!!!

TSS Is All Over The Place!

On Saturday I made a conscious decision to temporarily close my Etsy shop. I've been debating for the longest time about whether or not to close it permanently. I'm speaking from the heart here when I say I feel so "disenfranchised" there. There are tens of thousands of shops there, and I get so lost in the mix, that I feel that I just have to take a break and re-evaluate whether it's worth the effort anymore. What's funny is, just as I do this, I make a Treasury. Thanks Audrey's Country Crafts for including my Buttercream Cupcake Soap in your treasury.





On to other news, my new friend Heather of Heather's Paints and Prettys featured me on her blog today. Heather is also a licensed esthetician and offers great skincare advice on her blog Skincare by Heather. I can't wait til she answers my skincare question!

Raspberry Vanilla-Part Deux!

My 15 Minutes of Fame?

It's Saturday night, and I'm bored senseless, so I decide to go to Blog Catalog and search for "soap" to see where I fit in the mix. I almost passed out when my blog was listed 1 out of 164 results found! There must be some mistake surely, but I will revel in this small victory while it lasts. Now I'm off to plan next week's posts. This blogging is serious business ya know!

I haven't forgotten the giveaway. Tomorrow I'll announce the winner. Good luck to everyone who entered!

The Soap Seduction Is On Mammalicious Finds!

I love that name Mammalicious! It's so....coolicious! Anyway, Amy and I follow each other's blogs, and I was looking to buy some affordable ads for The Soap Seduction. I found Mammalicous Finds on Tammy's blog Milk and Cookeez. See, it pays to have good friends and follow good blogs because you never know where it may lead you. I can never stay on track, but getting back, I received an e-mail from Amy informing me that my ad spot was featured on Mammalicious. What??? I didn't know that was one of the perks (I never read anything)!!! Check me out here.

On another note: I didn't realize it was Friday the 13th til I got to work and everybody was going, "Oooooh. It's Friday the 13th...." Cool! I wonder if AMC is going to show all the cheesy Friday the 13th movies tonight? I need a good laugh....

The Soap Seduction Is On jinx1764

Okay, "Toot. Toot." If I aint gonna do it, who will? I love being the center of attention if only for a day, or an hour, or a paragraph....

Thanks to Heather at jinx1764 for featuring me as a "great ArtFire shop." She hotlisted my Strawberry Shortcake Sugar Bubbles today too:-D. Nice!

Oh Yeah, I Have a 1000 Markets Account

I have officially dissolved my personal website, The Soap Seduction, and have decided to concentrate my efforts on community venues like Art Fire, Etsy, and...1000 Markets! I posted a few months ago that I was going to do the opposite-focus on my personal website. Well, I changed my mind! I personally found it very challenging to promote a personal website in the dawn of these community venues. Driving traffic to my site was my biggest challenge and my greatest defeat. I did everything-I blogged. I linked. I advertised. In the one year I had my website up and running, I only garnered six, count em six sales! I was spending $7.00 a month for web hosting plus the $10.00 annual fee for my domain. My sales couldn't even pay for my site!

1000 Markets is still relatively unknown. I haven't had any sales in the 4 months I've been there, but I haven't marketed my shop either. That all changed when I received an e-mail today saying my shop was added to Dream Mist Land. I'm a little embarrassed because I hadn't updated my shop since before Christmas. My banner and photos all still had holiday themes on them. So I did a little sprucing up! Check out 1000 Markets. It's free to list, but they do collect a fee of 5.5% + $.50 for every sale made. Kinda steep, aint it?