Rained Out...

For the first time in *four* years vending at Cornish Christmas, we were rained out. Bummer. I hate missing a show. We actually did set up our booth. It was exciting getting the lighting plugged in and up while pools of water were collecting in the roof of our awning. I count it a blessing that no one got electrocuted. I put out my shelf displays and noticed that everything had a fine mist on it already. I looked up, my two faithful and non-complaining helpers were drenched, as was I, and I knew it was time to call the game on account of rain.

I hope no one was disappointed and looking for my soap. I'm hoping that next Friday, our last night vending, will be much more pleasant. If anyone needs soap before Christmas, please call 530-274-3711. I can get it to you if you are in or around town.

The photo posted is from Cornish Christmas 2007.

Signs of the Season

Winding down now to our last two shows of the year. December 11th and December 18th are the last two nights of Cornish Christmas. Join us in historic downtown Grass Valley for some holiday cheer the old fashioned way...roasted chestnuts, carolers and more.

A fine selection of local crafts are being sold, a few of my favorites; bags of handmade toffee, yummy baked goods, reindeers made from twigs, and faux fur head warmers with matching scarves. In the food department, it's hard to beat our neighbors to the left of our booth, they sell the most amazing tacos. Down on Main Street, look for the deep fried pretzels. Sinfully good, I ate two of them last Friday night.

So see, there is plenty of old time holiday fun to be found in the heart of the gold country.

I forgot to mention, we got our first nice snow of the season. You might catch a glimpse of the white stuff on the way up, but rest assured, the roads are clear and safe to travel.

Limited Edition Holiday Soap!

I have to confess up front, I originally had four limited edition soaps planned for the holidays, but it's been quite busy and I only got two done in time. That's ok, because I'll save the other two flavors for a treat sometime next year.

What I do have is two new holiday soaps to offer:
1) 'Magi', REAL frankincense and myrrh with a bit of "gold on top, and,
2) 'Darling Clementine', sweet clementine orange and clove, the orange color comes from organic carrot juice.

As a special treat, these two soaps have had their shea butter content boosted to approximately 20%! This is an awesome soap for cold weather. Pared with our whipped shea butter, you're sure to beat old man winter and keep your skin nicely conditioned.

Our last sale of the year is approaching...it starts the day after Thanksgiving (aka "Black Friday") and runs through "Cyber Monday". The dates are November 27th through November 30th. Don't miss out on a 10% discount AND free shipping for any order over $25.00. As a internet shopper myself, I adore sales that offer free shipping. So it's my treat to you.

Happy Holidays!!

First Annual Holiday Open House!

We held our open house this past Saturday, it was a total and complete success!! Thank you to Frontier Angel loyal customers, friends, and family, for your continued patronage. We are already talking about doing another show in the spring so stay tuned.

Busy in the Workshop!

It's that time of year, the last of my restocking before the holiday rush. I'm almost ready to reveal my newest holiday soap, but not quite yet (I'm still working on packaging).

In the meantime, feast your eyes on the newest batch of 'Queen Bee'. This soap is fairly new, I launched it this past summer. It's an essential oil blend of ylang-ylang, spearmint, orange and lavender, and a bit of local honey (that's the "bee" part).

I can't wait to cut into this one!

Demos done!

We're back from the Fall Home & Garden show out at the fairgrounds. Great crowd and lots of people interested in how soap is made, standing room only! Here I am in the middle of my demo. The theme of this demo was "How to make soap with grocery store ingredients". Since the theme of the Back to Basics portion of the show was sustainable living and self sufficiency, I thought a simple soap formula was in order.

For this demo, the soap I made was vegetable shortening, olive oil and coconut oil with oatmeal and honey. I chose those oils specifically; olive oil is great for your skin, coconut I prefer to boost the lather and the vegetable shortening was chosen as a base filler, helps with the firmness of the soap. Oatmeal is soothing and honey is a humectant, so those are good choices for additives.

The only thing is, lye still needs to be mail ordered. I remember a time when it could be bought at the grocery store. It stopped being available that way a few years back, unfortunately. Anyway, the demos were fun and I love meeting everyone and answering questions. It always thrills me a bit to dispel the bad rap that real soap has gotten in the past and put to rest some untruths.

Next up is our First Annual Open House! If you live in Nevada County and wish to attend, there is a registration form available on the front page of my website. I will have my full line of soap and gift boxes for sale. And, as a special treat, I have invited a few crafting friends who do real quality work. Hope you can come!

Back 2 Basics: Soap Making Demo

Here's a chance for local folks to watch me making soap and to learn how to make it themselves! This is all part of the "Back 2 Basics" part of the Nevada County Home and Garden show. Follow this link to 'The Union' website for more information.

We will be there Saturday and Sunday, doing demos both days and also selling at our booth. New holiday soap will be available, so come by and see whats new.

More details to come!