CONTEST! WIN Hand Made Soap

Featuring Hand Made Soap by Soap Deli (also known as Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen)

Soooo have I mentioned my addiction to hand made soap? If not, let me just tell you that I no longer buy commercially made soap if at all possible and will save up my pennies to make sure that I don't run out. I have super dry skin all winter long and I am here to tell you that hand made has cut my need for lotion in half. I can even skip a day (of lotion) and still not look like an alligator in 24 hours or less, and the smell oohh the smell of hand made soap is to die for. Seriously! So... to help spread the word on hand made soap I am having a contest give away.

SoapDeli has been kind enough to offer THREE bars of soap (1 of each) in these luscious flavors to one lucky winner. Too bad I can't enter my own contest lol!

SOUTHERN SWEET TEA SOAP
This soap is reminiscent of tea with lemon that is sweetened with a touch of honey. The scent is a blend of tea leaves, honey nectar, wild flowers, and lemongrass. The bar is naturally colored a light yellow from the addition of real lemongrass essential oil. Real tea leaves are dotted throughout the bar for visual interest and exfoliation. This soap rinses cleanly away and is all natural except for the fragrance. Vegan. Each bar weighs 4oz. - 4.5oz.

Yum!

LAVENDER AND BASIL SOAP
My Lavender and Basil Shea Butter soap has a clean, fresh scent that combines the summery aromas of lavender and basil. This soap is strongly scented so you are left with a light fragrance on your skin afterward. The soap rinses cleanly away and is all natural except for the fragrance. Each bar weighs 4oz. - 4.5oz.
I really want to try this one!

YUZU GOAT MILK SOAP
This yellow and orange colored soap is a cleanly scented blend of refreshing spring flowers highlighted by touches of Japanese Yuzu, tangy mandarin and sweet orange. Goat milk and shea butter make it feel especially nice on your skin. It is strongly scented so you are left with a light fragrance on your skin afterward. The soap rinses cleanly away and is all natural except for the fragrance. Each bar weighs 4oz. - 4.5oz.



HOW TO ENTER!
The important part lol! Go to SoapDeli's shop and take a look around. (be careful you may break down and buy some while looking lol). Come back here and leave a comment on which one of her soaps you like the best. Also leave a comment as to why you love hand made soap or why you would like to try hand made soap. I will randomly choose a winner on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 and SoapDeli will ship your soap to you. Please make sure that you leave me a contact email so I can notify you if you win and make shipping arrangements.

GOOD LUCK!

Another Edition of Etsy Artists

Well I am a bit behind this week due to the puppies being born. I am quite tired so I haven't got as much done as I would have liked. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the two artists I have picked this week.

FLAMEWORKS
I purchased a bar of her vegan soap in a scent called Goddess.
I also purchased a jar of the sugar scrub in the same scents. Can I
tell you how pleased I was!?! It came packaged in a beautiful green box and she sent a sample of another fragrance with the order. The soap is very creamy, smells divine and left my skin feeling super soft. The sugar scrub was also a big hit and I think I am going to have to hide it from my fourteen year old daughter. (or buy her her own lol). Smelled great and between the soap and the scrub I did not have to use any lotion or perfume. Needless to say I will be a repeat customer as finances permit and look forward to trying some more of the scents and goodies in her shop. Pamper someone you love with a gift of hand made soap.


MORGANSILK



This artists work is on my wish list! She hand paints all of her scarves with watercolors and they are truly wearable works of art. She does go into some detail in her profile as to materials (silk charmeuse) and how she makes these lovely scarves. She also is dedicated to making her scarves affordable for every day people so her prices for this kind of item are quite low. Here's a hint from her profile about washing this type of art! Wash in lukewarm water with shampoo and rinse with creme rinse. She states that silk is an animal fiber and this works the best. I didn't you could wash silk with shampoo and creme rinse and I bet you didn't either! Check out her shop for some really elegant Christmas gifts for that special someone.

More of My Favorite Etsy Artists

More Etsy Artists!

HellloCrafty

I ordered a bar of doggy soap from HelloCraftya couple of weeks ago and

LOVED it! Not only was the soap really easy to apply (way better than the liquid shampoo) it smelled great, was really easyto rinse out (I have dogs that have a heavy undercoat so this is a real plus!), but our oldest has skin issues and after using this on him he didn't scratch for a couple of days. (miracles DO happen lol). It also left their coats super soft. I was really pleased with this product and will most definitely purchase more. I will also be purchasing some soap for myself!

SimplicityInteriors

I found this shop while I was in the forums (I actually find a lot of really cool shops and people in the forums). I just loved the color and pattern choices that Christie chooses for her pillow covers. Particularly the one on the left. I really like the idea of pillow covers. They are washable and easy to change if you decide to switch color schemes or if you change things out for the holidays.

Begurple

Lauren makes the most beautiful, elegant and fun hairpieces that I have seen in a long time. Anyone have a wedding coming up? Talk to Lauren, I bet you'll have the most beautiful hair pieces in town. Mardi Gras or Halloween or maybe just a fancy piece for going to the opera or out on the town this is the shop to check out.

YadaYadaYada

Hilary and her husband Asher make the cutest embroidered

t-shirts and onesies for little ones. I believe Asher is responsible for the original artwork and Hilary is responsible for converting the design into the finished, embroidered piece.They have a large selection to choose from and every time I check out their shop I wish mine were still little enough to let me dress them lol! I guess I will just have to wait for grandkids although I have them marked if I need a baby shower gift.

My Favorite Etsy Artists

I will be writing some short notes on some of my favorite artists on etsy.com once a week. Etsy is an online marketplace for handrafted items. It is NOT and auction site and everything except for the supplies and vintage section are hand made. They have some fabulous artists on this site and I will writing about some of them regularly. I have added four to my list of links today.

CassaroCreations.

She makes some truly awesome lamp work beads.As you
can see from this example the detail work on her beads make them trueworks of art. I am looking forward to making some purchases from her shop soon!


GlitterCritter


Please check out her awesome wire work at her other shop on http://www.wireworks.etsy.com/


I know her best thru her glittercritter shop (see below) but I am totally blown away by the the creativity and the amount of time it must have taken to perfect this kind of technique. I do a little bit of wire wrapping myself but am just a beginner. Examples like this inspire me to work harder an keep practicing so that some day I too will have work that is this awesome.

She has some beautiful supplies and sells some really cool do-it-yourself tutorials for the beginning wire worker. These can be found in her glittercritter shop. I highly recommend that any one who is thinking about learning to wrap wire or just wants to see what it is like to make something with this technique, to purchase one of her tutorials. Also, she has always been very willing to help out all of the newbies on site with their questions for which I, for one, am grateful. Her prices are great on her supplies and I am hoping to snag the one in the picture when my self imposed "you can't buy any more supplies til you use some of what you have" is done.

Jadelaine Designs

Beautiful photographs and prints. She also has some outstanding

original artwork. Definately worth taking the time to check out! I look forward to seeing more from her in the future.






StonesInMotion

Ed makes the most beautiful cabachons from raw rock. This is something that I am also learning to do so I know how many hours of sawing and shaping and grinding and polishing this really takes! Each stone is unique and whether it is a subtle pattern or a bold explosion of color, it always amazes me that something as common as a rock can be turned into something so beautiful.


Well that is my list of favorites this week. Look for a new list once a week from now until whenever I run out of great artists to feature. (Don't count on that happening any time soon, last time I checked there were over 80,000 sellers on etsy, most of whom do lovely work)