The Fabulous Ms. GG

Last week, I had mentioned I would be meeting up with GG, maker of Creampuff by GG to discuss the Creampuff soap line. We'd been corresponding off and on since last year around Christmas but things being what they are, we never did meet up until now. She said she'd be the one wearing a pink flower on her jacket and I said I'd be the one in a white overcoat looking bewildered. I don't remember her flower but I guess my bewildered look gave me away.

As I thought, she was even more wonderful in person than via email. We talked for several hours and could've talked for several more if I didn't have other pressing engagements. We had already agreed that I would make her soaps using her piggy on soluble paper on goat's milk soap. The main point of the discussion then was what scent should the soaps be?

My dear sister suggested two scents I don't have, so we had to make do with what I do have. After sniffing all the fragrances I had brought along with me, GG came up with the idea of combining scents. I know this isn't a new idea but it's something I hadn't done before. Long story short, we've come up with a scent all her own; a combination of watermelon and champagne. The watermelon gives it a light, happy scent while the champagne provides an undertone of fizzy sophistication and the combination just makes you smile. I can't wait to get started working on the soaps.

This coming week I'll be sending the 425 alphabet letters home with Leanne from Little Dreambug.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The good:  I'm finished making the alphabet soaps. Well as soon as I wrap that one last letter I'm finished, then I have to let my client know they're ready.

The bad:  I got rejected from two craft fairs. Hubby's happy though, that's two less shows he'll have to suffer through this year with me.

The ugly:  My nose. You'd think someone opened up a waterfall park in my nose. I can't walk two steps without a tissue and I can't bend from the waist unless I'm ready to mop up after myself.

The really good:  I heard from another potential client who I met up with last year at one of the fairs I participated in. She's still interested in having me make her soaps for her swag bags. Yipeee!!

Update

Remember how a few weeks ago, I had made some alphabet letters for a potential client? She got the package in the mail (I was so nervous the soaps would melt in the sweltering heat) and after a few days she got back to me.

Her subject line? Beautiful soaps! I couldn't have been more excited to read that. She requested a total of 425 letters in bubble gum pink, cerulean blue, dark chocolate brown and black. Thank goodness I had picked up some bubblegum mica from Brambleberry a while back.

The hardest part of this is to wrap each letter individually because she'll be using it to spell out the kids' names, but it will be worth it. It just means I will get better and faster as time goes on right? And with luck this will lead to making soaps for other businesses looking for something extra to complement their main product.

It's a Sign

Remember Steve Martin in "The Man with Two Brains" where he says "Just give me a sign...just any kind of sign". Well that's me, sometimes I need to be hit on the head with a sign.

I think not succeeding in this last position is a sign, a sign that I really should pursue soaping with more fervour and determination. I've slacked off while working full-time and now that I'm not working for the time being, I have more time and reason to work a little harder for myself.

As I mentioned in my last post, I want to try and get my soaps into Science World and the Aquarium, as well as getting the alphabets to Little Dreambug. Little Dreambug have specific colours they're looking for, so I've created these samples for them. I hope they like them.

Also, when I was trying to put together something for the Aquarium, it seemed to me that I didn't have a lot to offer them. So I decided to make some more things that belong in an Aquarium. I still have to make some shells and a tree frog, but this is a start. Which one do you prefer?

My sister also gave me (yet!) another mold I had been wanting to try out, so what better time than now? I haven't quite figured out how to do this correctly which is why these aren't true LEGO colours, but I'm thinking what I should do is pour the entire thing in the main body colour, then give in to my sociopathic side (hee hee) and cut off the hands and head and pour it in yellow. Any ideas if that's the best way to do it?

Now that was the easy part, now to work on my proposal.

Listen to your mother, she's always right

That's a note to my nephews, not to myself. :)

My sister told me to not to get discouraged when I hadn't heard back from a potential client, but rather ask again. Silence isn't necessarily a no, it could be that the person is busy, forgot to write back, or lost the original request. So, having learning from past mistakes, I listened to my sister this time and wrote again to this person. This time, she did respond and said she's still very interested and looking to order 425 letters from me! This won't allow me to quit work and retire right away but it's a good start to hopefully something bigger. She's looking for alphabet letters like the ones below, but in bright colours. Good thing I picked up some hot pink colouring earlier because that's the sort of colours she's looking for.

In the meanwhile, I'm also working on putting together a presentation for the Vancouver Aquarium and  Science World.  With any luck, they'll want to support a little local company that has a good product to offer.