Brewing up a storm!

Pouring the malt into the kettle

 This weekend Dylan and I took a trip up to Nashua, NH and met my parents at IncrediBREW for Abe's Brewfest. IncrediBREW is a brewery and winery where customers can go to make their own beer, wine, and soda. There were 6 groups of people at the brewfest and we all made a different type of beer. In two weeks, we will go back to the brewery, bottle the beer, and all six groups will share what they made so that we can try an assortment of recipes. The equipment is more high-tech than what a home brewer would have access to, but it was a great way to learn about what goes into the beer brewing process. My parents (along with a number of my friends) have gotten the beer brewing bug recently and so they convinced Dylan and I to try it out.  Overall, it was an interesting experience but there was a lot of down time where we had to wait (luckily they gave us some snacks and a selection of beers to sample). I would recommend taking along a book or some good company to keep you entertained. We may be heading back in March for the St. Patty's Day brewfest.

The bottle filler

Subjective Reality Photography

Here is a teaser photo...pretty nice huh?

Dylan has opened an Etsy store featuring his photos from our travels. If you have enjoyed looking at the pictures of my soap, then you will love what you find in Dylan's store. Go check it out and let us know what you think!

Cubes of sugary goodness...

I have a bunch of melt and pour soap that has been sitting in my soap lab for quite a while. I had grand plans to make some pretty detailed soap, but alas I much prefer to make cold-process soap.  So this soap has just been waiting for me to get some motivation and make something with it. Finally, today was the day! I was browsing some of the Soap Queen's old blog posts and came across the sugar scrub cube tutorial from Naiad soap arts.  Since I have a ton of fragrance oils that are not used in my soap line, but I just NEEDED to have, I put some of them to use.

The pink cubes are watermelon scented, the yellow is coconut lemongrass, and the green is succulent pear. Dylan came into my soap lab after I was done and wanted to eat them...they do smell and look pretty tasty!


These cubes are quite easy to make. For each color I simply melted 2 oz of clear melt and pour soap. I then added 2 oz of jojoba oil and mixed well. Next I added between 2-4 drops of liquid colorant and about 20 drops of fragrance. The final step is to add 6 oz of regular refined sugar and mix really well and then pour into a mold. I used the square silicone mold from Brambleberry and it worked great. For more detailed instructions check out the blog post I mentioned above.

Cosmetic Supplies "Garage" Sale

I am trying to reduce my stock of supplies that I have decided not to use.  You can get some great discounts this way.  Please check out what I have for sale and send me an email at contact@ladybugsoapworks.net if you would like to purchase anything.  I will only take paypal, but feel free to make me an offer if you want multiple items.

Cheers~

Sarah 

Melt & Pour Bases

Melt & Pour Vegan Lip Balm 14.5 fl oz Essential Wholesale $20

Melt & Pour Deodorant  14.5 fl oz Essential Wholesale $20

Fragrance oils

Caramel Apple 14 oz From Nature with Love  $20

Succulent Pear ~6 oz The Soap Goat Soap Shop $6.00

Cinnamon Cider (candle only) ~15 oz Tennessee Candle Supplies $10.00

China Rain 0.5 oz Bramble berry $1

Sakura Blossom  1oz Southern Soapers  $2

Fresh Watermelon  4 oz  Wholesale Supplies Plus $7.00

Cantaloupe Lily 1 oz Southern Soapers $2

Cucumber melon 16 oz coop $16

Pumpkin Souffle (Candle Only) ~12 oz Candlescience  $10

Christmas Memories  ~6 oz Simple Soothings  $5

Pink Lemonade ~3 oz The Soap Goat Soap Shop $3.00

Fixed Oils

Rose Hip Oil 16 oz Majestic Mountain Sage $14

Borage Oil 16 oz Majestic Mountain Sage $24

Red Raspberry Seed Oil 16 oz Majestic Mountain Sage $45

Additives

LiquiPar Optima 1 oz Southern Soapers

Germall Plus Liquid 1 oz Southern Soapers

Sepigel 305 1 oz Southern Soapers

White Aluminum Oxide crystals 1 oz Southern Soapers

Pre Neutralized Carbomer 1 oz Southern Soapers

Whit Synscrub Spheres 1 oz Southern Soapers

Herbs prices $1 per oz
Lemon Peel powder 8oz
Mint Leaf cut 6oz
Raspberry Leaf 8oz

Closeout Sale!

I am trying to clear out some inventory before the end of the year.  This is a great opportunity to get some holiday gifts or just stock up on soap for yourself.  I have 8 different types of soap listed in my closeout sale for $3.00 and will be adding more soon.  Check it out here.

One of the many soaps on closeout. Vanilla Chai Tea Soap 

Pumpkin Pie Treasury

Check out this new pumpkin pie themed treasury that my pumpkin pie soap has been featured in.

Featured in an Etsy Treasury!

A yummie chocolate coffee cake themed treasury, go check it out an leave a comment.  Maybe it will make the homepage with your help! My chocolate espresso shea soap and the coffee kitchen scrub soap are included as party of this treasury.