And the Winner is...

Congrats to Amie Philpot for winning the free products giveaway here sponsored by Shea Bath and Smells Good

Enjoy and Merry Christmas...

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FREE PRODUCTS - End of the Year Giveaway

Please click here to enter the Indie Artisan End of the Year Giveaway sponsored by Shea Bath and Smells Good 98. You will have the opportunity to win Tropical Breeze Natural Soap and Bath Salts made by yours truly. Retail value is $25

Here are the items you will win from Itiel founder of Smells Good 98:

• The Basics Gift Set- Organic Love Body Wash, Lush Body Butter, Scrub A Dub Sea Salt Polish, Signature Fragrance Oil. Retail value, $35.
• Stay Sweet Sugar Whip. Retail value, $18. This product is for girls and young ladies. In addition, a custom designed bracelet from Bits Baubles & Buttons by Bridget will come with the Whip. Three bracelets were designed specifically for Smell Goods' Stay Sweet Collection. I am excited about including one of them in this giveaway!
• Patriarch Black Lava Soak and Patriarch Oil-for him. Retail value$24

That's well over $100 worth of products for your body, a little something something for the man in your lift and a custom bracelet from Bits Baubles & Buttons by Bridget to keep you looking cute this holiday season.

So hurry the Giveaway ends Friday December 11th @ 9pm EST. Go here and sign up for your chance to win. Good Luck and Merry Christmas


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Quote of the Week

Don't overthink. Let passion override your fears - Ten Thoughts for Whole Living, Body and Soul Magazine Jan/Feb 2009

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In the Shea Bath Studios

Finally in stock are the long awaited, Purple Dreams/ Lavendar soap that my friend Juanita has so graciously and patiently waited for. We have four left for sale so inquire via email (sheabath@gmail.com) so I can send yours to you. :)







This gorgeous soap is Tropical Breeze. Trust me if you had smell o vison you would say the same thing. :) This one exhibits all the natural ingredients of Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil and Palm Kernel, Sweet Almond Oil and Shea Butter. The scent of Brambleberry Plumeria and Sweet Orange Oil makes you think of the tropics and the margaritas. Or maybe that is just me. This one will be available in couple of weeks for sale and for an upcoming giveaway in November. Look out for details to come.


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What's Cooking in the Kitchen?

Lavendar Soap is being made tonight in the Shea Bath Studios courtesy of my friend Juanita. She has been waiting patiently for these. It will be revealed in a couple of days. :)

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Peppermint Soap Revealed

Here is the Peppermint Soap made with spirulina and green tea










The Soap was tested by yours truly and it is an eye opener. It will be ready for sale in about a couple of weeks.





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What is Cooking in the Kitchen?

Peppermint is cooking in the kitchen today. I made a test batch of Peppermint soap containing of course, peppermint essential oil. It will also have spirulina for color and green tea for antioxidants. A pick me up that is good for your skin. :)

I will have pictures available after it is taken out of the mold.


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Indie Business Breakfast Atlanta GA

On July 18th 2009, I had the opportunity to attend the Indie Business Breakfast Meeting in Atlanta Ga hosted by Donna Maria Johnson Coles of Indie Business. The speakers of this event were Jo Ann Hines known as the Packaging Diva and Jim DeBetta of DeBetta Enterprises.

Jo Ann's gave us the low down on what the trends are in packaging from a retail standpoint and how that affects the small business owner. As well as making us aware that what drives your product into the consumer’s hands is the way it looks. Your product could be the best thing since sliced bread but if it is not presented in a way that would make someone want to buy, it will be passed by for the next great thing.

The key points I came away with:
- Will your product be able to go from point A to B in the same condition it left - is it protected.
- Think about the consumer - what do they want.
- Think about the unknown or unexpected situation that your product could be faced with - will it be ready to handle it.
- Look at what you have and use what you have - Great point here. I know I became overwhelmed hearing all the new packaging innovations from Eco, to Green to Carbonfoot prints etc. :) But the small business owner can only afford to deal with the tools and materials they already have available. This was encouraging and a reminder to continue to use what you have and the if the rest are needed are necessary, they will be made available.
- Think about repurposing your packaging - this lends to our rapid push for everything "Green, Organic and Biodegradable"; again do what you can with what you have.
- The last point that still sticks with me and makes sense - If a consumer looks at your product from 10 feet away and doesn't pick it up in 3 seconds, they will move on to the next thing. Marketing executives are paid top dollar for you to buy a product that they packaged with an attractiveness that would make you want to pick it up and buy it. This fact holds true for anyone in any business not just bath and body products. We know what is in the package is great; we created it and believe in what is “in” the package. Now we have to make the package attractive to the consumer to want to buy our fabulous product.

Jim also gave us points on presenting your product and its sale ability. His background and expertise come from the inventor/patent arena. But I came away with several key points that would help any business owner:

-Remove the emotional attachment from your invention or idea. Once you can do that you are able to move ahead whether you receive 100 no's or that ultimate yes that someone wants what you have to offer.
-Find out what the consumer wants by doing the following:
- Online consumer surveys
- Focus Groups
- Get objective opinions about your product - family does not count because they are going to
tell you that your product is the bomb. Strangers work better than family.
- Do a patent search on uspto.gov - to ensure there are no infringement lawsuits down the line.
- Get with a designer or design engineer so you have the right materials needed for your
product.

So to wrap up:

Who did I help/inspire today? I met a young lady by the name of Sevella Lary who is just starting out in the business such as myself. But I did give some encouragement and information such as a referral for a logo design (look out Marr) that would help in moving her to her next step. When I encourage people like Sevella, it encourages me to continue to dream. Even though, I feel like I am far away from my dream and where I want to be, I know and remember the excitement when I could not sleep all night because I had this new blend I wanted to try. Or the new strategy I wanted to use the next day. Encouraging someone else, encourages me.

I also met Kisha Solomon of Sage Small Business Solutions, who spoke with me after the meeting. We discussed her love for shea butter and the fact that I make everything with shea butter. Talk about an instant connect and a future customer for me. :)

What am I going to next? The motto this year is NO MORE EXCUSES. I am going to use what I have already available to me and I am going to put myself I out there. I am going to carve out the time, get in the creative studio (for me it would be my kitchen) and get busy. Then I am going to get that standalone website launched that has been sitting idle for way too long. Last but not least, I am going to put myself out there and do something I would not dream about doing and keep going from there. Whether it flops or is a success, I can only learn from what I have experienced.

With that being said, I want to thank Donna Maria again for hosting the event. She knows that the people in Atlanta, heck Georgia have an entrepeneurial mentality and are ready to hear about ways they can be prosperous working for themselves. I look forward to Donna Maria having more Indie events here in the ATL.

Shout outs to the following business owners I either spoke with or received business cards from. It was a pleasure meeting all of you and I look forward to patronizing your business on networking on the social circuit.

Ishmael Holmes of Booth Outfitters who created his business in a week. Inspirational hear about it here

Kisha Solomon of AtlantaBusinessAdvisor

Shermaine Davis Founder and CEO of The Body Patisserie and her support system Darrell :)

Angela Harris President and CEO of Jahyah's Beauty and her support system, Mr. Harris :)

Arleen Harkness President and Director of R & D of Alysamari, LLC TM

Robert Schmidt - whose company Brand Builders specializes in helping you find your brand and funneling that into your products and business.

Inspired by the next 2 business owners because they live in Georgia and have their own brick and mortar.

Kenya Calloway Owner of Jai's

Jane Benjamin Bonner Owner of Taylor's Corner L.L.C.

Become friends with me on facebook here and you can view the pictures here

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Happy Birthday

July 13, 2009 embarks another year of life for me as I celebrate my 37th birthday today. Yes I did reveal my age and I am proud of it. I want to say first thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who continues to show me his mercy and grace by keeping this body going and charging it up everyday despite how I feel. :) I am blessed to still have my brother and both of my parents in my life and early Birthday wishes to my Dad who will be 65 yrs young on 7/22/09. I am blessed to have been married to my soulmate for 11 years, Michael Cyrill (9/17) and to be blessed with 3 beautiful children from that union. I am blessed to have 2 best friends, one I know since we were in diapers and the other for over 20 years. May we continue to be there for one another as we grow gracefully.

Thank you to all the friends and acquaintances I have met through the years, who have further my knowledge, taught me something, encouraged and whom I have encouraged. You are all a blessing in my life.

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Gone But Not Forgotten

I am not using this opportunity for you to read my blog, but
just to show remembrance for a great man, father, son, brother,
uncle and genius to the music industry. Michael Jackson is gone
but not forgotten. Despite how the media and tabloids will use this moment
as a golden opportunity, may your soul rest in peace.


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New in the Shea Bath Studio

I am currently playing with my new Photo Box to improve my pictures for my Etsy site.
This little manmade box :












Produced this photo:














I am so stoked that the picture came out so well on the 100th try. :)

If you want to make your own photo go here and here
Have Fun.

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New Products Are Blooming

Hard work and concentration led to the following new products hot off the shelf from Sunday:
The new soaps are called Green Is My Garden because they are green of course and have the most delicious floral smell to die for. Sorry no computer screen smell-o-vison here. You will have to buy your own in two months when they are ready.

The newest addition to the Shea Bath product line are Bath Bombs - the one below is Lilac Dreams - They smell like lavendar but with a sweet twist. I went with the color purple for a friend who wants me to decorate her bathroom with my exquisite toiletries. I better put these on my website before she buys them all. Bath Bomb creation is courtesy of Teachsoap.com a great resource and inspiration for us kitchen chemist. ;0



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Back in The Lab

I have been on a bit of a forced hiatus. But I look forward to getting back into my soap lab. There will be some new products coming so look out for them soon. Thank you to all my friends who have encouraged me to keep my head up and to continue to do what I love to do. Make Bubbles with Soap :)

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The Winner IS ...

Thank you to all 16 entries that we received for the contest.
But there can only be 1 winner. And so the winner is ...

True Random Number Generator Min:

Max:

Result: 5 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

I have Audrey M. Sheppard as number 5 on my list. Congratulations to my Facebook Soap Buddy. Email me at sheabath@gmail.com with your addy.

Waves is the new name for my first soap dedicated to Ms. Sheppard.

Thank you to all that participated and look out for more surprises coming real soon.

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Name That Soap

It's time to put my first soaps up for sale on my website. But I do not have a name for my soap and I want it to be special.

I thought it would be nice to get my friends involved in helping me name my soaps. To do that all you have to do it leave a comment on this blog with the name you think I should give the soaps pictured below. Be sure to enter your email address so I can let you know if you won. To make this interesting, the name will be chosen at random and the winner will receive a free bar of soap. Let's keep the name clean pun intended ;)

The soap is made of the following ingredients:
Goat's Milk, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil and Shea Butter. There is no scent to the soaps and one has a blue colorant and the other does not, so that makes this a bit of a challenge. :)

The contest ends. Saturday May 16, 2009 @ 12:00 am. Please post once and Good Luck.

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New Soaps Revealed

So after months of not making soaps, I just unmolded 2 soaps I made this weekend. They are both made with all natural coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, palm kernel flakes and shea butter. The secret ingredient is Goats Milk Powder. Yes Goats Milk. Any soap made with milk has the fatty acids to soften you skin after using them. My preference is Goat's Milk because after using this soap, you will not need lotion after toweling off.

Despite the white soda ash on the soap from my not making sure the mold was fully closed, the soaps came out really well.


The soap with the blue swirls, I call Blue Goats. The other soap was supposed to have orange swirls, but it blended. I call that one Brown Goats.

These soaps should be available for use and sale after 4 to 6 weeks. Be on the look out on my etsy site to see when they go on sale.
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New Products Available

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade sheabath.etsy.com

The Whipped Shea Body Butter is hot now. The Handmade Soaps are forthcoming.

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The Woman Behind LMCreations

I had the opportunity to purchase my current purse from Lisa the creator behind LMCreation. You can read the review here. I wanted everyone to get to know a little more about Lisa and her wonderful creations. ;p Here interview is below, enjoy:


Your Name,Company Name & What you Do

My name is Lisa, my company is LMcreation and I make handmade handbags, purses, business card holders ... basically anything that I can sew.

How did you get started or what motivated you to start your own business?

I've been sewing since I was a little girl. I enjoyed crafts and learned to sew making dolls clothes! I've always enjoyed sewing as a hobby and even made some of my own clothes when I was a teenager. I didn't try to sell anything because I didn't really know what to do or have a way to find customers, or even think that people would buy my things.

I think that discovering Etsy motivated me to start LMcreation. Finding a site just for handmade goods and that was friendlier than ebay meant I could set up an online business in a few hours, which was just fantastic. I thought about it for two or three months then started my store in January 2008. I really didn’t know anything about running a business, but luckily that didn’t stop me. I’m still learning a lot and hopefully getting better each month. My husband has been a great help here, and helps out with a lot of the “boring but important” bits like keeping track of the finances when I'm short on time.

What were you doing before the business?

I was, and still am, a working mom with a full time day job. I would love to make LMcreation my full time job one day.

What do you do for fun?

LMcreation definitely counts as fun!! Plus time with family, movies, reading a few books, the usual kind of things.

Where can we find you? Website, Social Media etc?

www.LMcreation.etsy.com
http://twitter.com/LMcreation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_lisa/

If money were no object, what would you do and why?

Quit my day job !!!! Then travel :)



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First Snow of 2009

Look what fell on March 1, 2009



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First Etsy Purchase of the Year - LMCreations

I was in desperate need of a new wallet. I had been wishing for a Coach wristlet for a long time, but did not have the money to treat myself. So I decided to explore the next best thing, Etsy.
If you don't already know, you can buy any item you want and everything is handmade. Meaning someone took time, care, effort and love into making each and every product. I am partial to Etsy because I have an online shop on there. But I digress.

and purses by Lisa In my search for a new wallet, I saw these beautiful fabric wristletsMurdin aka LMCreation. You can find Lisa's store here . I have been conversing with Lisa since last year on etsy.com and watching her product updates on twitter.com. A week ago, I decided to custom order a wristlet from Lisa. The pictures do not do it justice girls. I thought I was getting a standard size wallet wristlet. Instead I received the equivalent of a mini purse. Next to my beat up knock off Louis Vutton change purse, I could put my keys, cell, cards, receipts, comb brush, lip gloss, candy, just about everything in that purse. But what amazed me the most, was the care and detail Lisa takes with her products. The is the wrist latch that can be used to hold keys. Her custom label is found on the inside and outside. There was a cute moo.com tag with Lisa's company information. As well as two generous areas for storage in this wristlet. For the asking price of $22.00, this product is well worth that and then some.

My interview with Lisa is coming next so, stay tuned for learning more about the Lady behind these fabulous bags.

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I Want it All Soap Sampler - Soap Review

When you go to a soap shop on etsy and you do not know what to chose from, Anderson Soaps has your cure.

Dennis and Brandy Anderson are the founders of Anderson Soaps. They have come up with a neat way for you to sample their natural soaps. It's called the "I Want it All Soap Sampler". I am so glad that they did this. When you look at the soaps on their site you definitely want all of them without ever smelling or touching them. Now that I have these samples in my possession, I do not know which one to try first. This of course, defeats the purpose of testing out the soaps. LOL. Here are the soaps that I received:
- Pomengrate
- Rosebud Romance
- Tangerine Bergamot
- Hawaiian Lei
- China Rain
- Caramel Apple

I loved them all but my favorite would be Pomengrate

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Don't Wait for January 1, 2009 to do something new.

Do not make another New Year's resolution for you to forget about it on February 1st.
Habakkuk 2:2 states: "Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by."

Write your goals today and make small steps to achieving them. Whether you want to lose weight, improve your health, earn more money, start a business, travel the globe, the time is now. Keep a journal of your successes and losses. I am sure the successes will out way the failures. :)

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