Gathering (long!)

[Guest guest]

Ok, I'm finally getting a chance to sit down at the computer and get an

email out. It will most likely be a long one so forgive me. The

gathering this year was wonderful, as usual! Thanks to Shaye for

everything that she does. It's really appreciated. Kirstie, your home

and gardens are beautiful. Thank you and your family for inviting us in

for the day.

Beth, the shrinkwrap demo was very cool. I really struggle with

packaging gift baskets and you made it look so easy! One question - did

you use the glue dots under every item in the basket to keep them from

moving?

Deb - I really, really enjoyed your herb talk. You reminded me of the

reason I started making soap in the first place (my interest and love of

herbs and essential oils) so I came home that night and dragged all of

my herb books off the bookshelf and they are stacked on my nightstand

for reading every night. Thank you, Cheryl, for the great document you

sent us the other day. I loved reading about the history of the herbs.

That was the first I had read about Calendula predicting rain for the

day by whether or not the flower was closed or open in the morning. So

cool! I'll be watching mine now. :-) I am still on a search for St.

's Wort in and around my house. We have 60 acres here. You'd think I

could find it somewhere! In the meantime, I have Deb's SJW Oil to play with!

The Yankee Swap was fun, as usual. I liked every box that passed through

my hands. ;-) Kim, the label maker is wonderful. I've been playing with

it by labeling my soap and herb books with my name but I'm going to find

a lot of uses for it. The Sink Scents are the neatest thing! I've never

heard of it before!

The Product Swap is always amazing. We have so many talented people on

this list and I love trying everyones goodies. Kirstie - Your Oatmeal,

Milk & Honey soap smells so much better than mine. I use goat milk in

mine so I'm wondering if that changes the fragrance a little. Yours is

beautiful and the bath salts are packaged so pretty, I hate to use them!

They are gracing the sink in my bathroom. - I've been using

your lip balm and it's great. I've heard of coffee butter but never

tried it. Very nice! The body butter just sinks right in. Does that have

coffee butter in it too? Terri W. - your Peppermint Foot Scrubbie is

incredible!! Used that the night after I got home. Love it! Also love

the 'vacation in a bottle' spray. Just what I needed! Terri S - It took

me a while to figure out who made the shower gelee (process of

elimination). Mine is scented with " Cabana Boy " and I think I will need

to hide it from my daughter when she comes by. Love your packaging too!

Jeanine - I always love your bath fizzies and the milk tab was no

exception. Needless to say, it's gone already. :-) And your rash

ointment has been fine. Not too soft. I like the consistency. Kim - I

got the Dead Sea Mud Mask in my bag (not the scrub that I've heard

everyone talk about) and this is great stuff as well! Love the packaging

too! Beth - I haven't opened yours yet to try it because it's so pretty!

It is gracing the sink in my other bathroom. The little watering can is

so cute. - Your braille soap was so interesting. That was the first

one that I made my husband sit down and look at. :-) I also work for

Boces in the Genesee Valley region but I install and troubleshoot

computer networks. We do work at the NYS School for the Blind in

Batavia. Have you ever visited there? That is one school that leaves me

with a smile on my face. The people that work there are always smiling

and pleasant and look like they thoroughly enjoy their jobs and the

students. KBear - What a cute little bear soap! My grandson is going to

get a kick out of that the next time he comes to visit. And thank you

for the cuticle butter! That is something I always need. Just used up

one from Jeanine (last year's swap maybe?). Cheryl - I absolutely love

your Honey soap!! My hubby is a beekeeper and we both really liked the

scent of it. It is in my kitchen sink soap dish and we've been using it

all week. I love the soft feel of my hands after washing with it. You

have a winner there! I hope my attempt at soap with Deer Tallow turns

out as well! Colleen - I just love the way you packaged your soap! I

have it on the window sill over my kitchen sink and it just looks so

pretty. I love the size of them. Did you use a special mold to cut that

size or did you cut bigger ones down? How did you get them so perfect? I

have the B & B soap mold from For Crafts Sake and they are popular but I

think I like the cut and size of yours better. Last but not least, Shaye

- You outdid yourself with the liquid soap. It is fantastic! Was it

really hard to make? I have the book on making liquid soap. Even bought

the ingredients once but then never had the time to try it. Mine is the

Tropical Fruit scent and my dh and I are both loving it. I have it at my

bathroom sink and we've been using that instead of my old, boring stuff.

:-) It foams beautifully, the amber color is gorgeous and it leaves my

hands really soft. You did a wonderful job!

Thank you to all of the suppliers on this list that donated to our

gathering. It is so appreciated! I love how I can order from Symphony

Scents (used to be The Scent Shack) and have my box in 1- 2 days! I

needed to make Citrus Splash soap this weekend and discovered that I was

out of the fragrance. Ordered from them and my box just arrived. Woohoo!

Looking forward to next year! See everyone then!

Katy

[Guest guest]

Forgot to mention one thing! Cheryl - I burned your candle today and the

throw of the scent is great! Very nice!

Katy

[Guest guest]

Katy, I don't usually find it necessary to use glue dots on everything. I

just use them if the product won't stay where it belongs. The shrinking

usually keeps things in their place, otherwise.

Thanks, I had a good evening painting those watering cans, and thought

they'd make a good teacher/hostess/whatever little gift.

Beth

_http://www.soapandgarden.com_ (http://www.soapandgarden.com/)

Be good to your skin!

www.saponifier.com

In a message dated 8/1/2008 5:40:05 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

katyr64@... writes:

Beth, the shrinkwrap demo was very cool. I really struggle with

packaging gift baskets and you made it look so easy! One question - did

you use the glue dots under every item in the basket to keep them from

moving?

Beth - I haven't opened yours yet to try it because it's so pretty!

It is gracing the sink in my other bathroom. The little watering can is

so cute. - Your braille soap was so interesting. That was the first

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[Guest guest]

Thanks a bunch Katy! I struggled with how to package it and still

feel I need to tweak it because the soaps slide around too much.

Anyway! I use Upland slab molds with the silicone liner that has the

cut lines because I'm awful at cutting straight. I then just cut

those bars in half & I honestly didn't think they were very straight

either. LOL!

Thanks for the compliments!!!

Colleen

http://www.countrymeadowcreations.com

> Colleen - I just love the way you packaged your soap! I

> have it on the window sill over my kitchen sink and it just looks so

> pretty. I love the size of them. Did you use a special mold to cut

> that size or did you cut bigger ones down? How did you get them so

> perfect? I have the B & B soap mold from For Crafts Sake and they are

> popular but I think I like the cut and size of yours better.