Some more new items...

...Hopefully these guys will make it to the website, then again, if we sell out before that happens (like we did with the last all natural soaps) then I guess we will just have to make more. We take requests (for the most part) and will be adding even more options in the near future. The last two months have been crazy, but it appears that things are slowing down a bit and that we will be able to focus on creating some new designs and scents that are all natural. Stay tuned for further updates.

Black Friday through Cyber Monday Sale

****Discounts****
All bars (except bars in the "soap on a budget" section) are $1 off (reflected in price)
All Bars ship for $.75 (reflected in listing)
Scrubs are $2.50 off (reflected in price)
****Deals (That include above discounts also)****
Buy three of anything get one free (Tell us in comments what the 4th is)
8 Bars ship for $4 (buy 6 and you get two free)
Free lip balm with all orders!
Great Savings! Great gifts for the whole family! Great Fun! Great Rewards!
All prices reflect sale price so no messing around in Paypal. Buy and go.

Click here to shop.

Black Friday Is Coming...

Will you be ready?

Scrubs Are In!

Got rough and dry skin? You need to exfoliate and follow with a lube job. Our scrubs are made out of the finest shea butter and olive oil around. They are all all natural...except the Cafe Latte, but even that one is lip friendly. They come in Almond Poppyseed, Honey Mint, Lavender, and Citrus as well as Cafe Latte. Try a scrub today and notice a difference in your nasty winter hyde.

Fall Travels

Above: Geese in Shawnee Lake, Topeka, KS

I would like to apologize for not posting anything for a while. We are travelling across country on our annual family trip. This year we picked Ohio. Just saying that reminds me of the scene in Wayne's World when Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey are talking about getting magically wisked away to...Delaware. "Oh Yay...We're in... Delaware." But actually Ohio is pretty awesome. I would love to make it to Cleveland, but if it doesn't happen, oh well. Right now we are having fun in Sandusky and more pics will follow.
Oklahoma! What a nice rest area. Can you believe this?
The first Saturday away from home started like this.
But it ended like this.

New Items We Are Working On!

When I started soap making it was because I wanted to get away from synthetic and get back to nature. I have since gotten caught up in all the glamour and glory of fragrance oils, but what I really love is working with essential oils. Recently I got an order from Cecilia's Day Spa in Prescott, AZ. The owner was requesting an all natural, scented only with essential oil, line of soap to carry in her spa. So we have been soap making and soap making and also waiting for a shipment and trying to keep ends from fraying, but currently we have an all natural black tea and spice soap, honey (which we will truly only know the value of once it has cured), and these two wonderful bars, rose geranium (green) and ylang ylang (pink). We are planning a lavender goat milk soap, lavender eucalyptus aloe soap and tea tree hemp soap to add to the line. These bars will also be offered on our Etsy shop toward the end of September and when they sell, we will make more. All in all our goal is to have set items we offer continuously to our customers. We are still in product development, but getting nearer to a bottom line. Feel free to keep letting us know what you want. We have taken into consideraton the comments left since our last giveaway and will be incorporating those ideas in with our new items. Since the architecture industry is currently down, my hubby has been getting his hands into the biz. He is most creative and I just know that what he comes up with will be incredible!!!

New Shop Section "Soap On a Budget"

We have just added a budget section to our shop. This is not a sale section, but rather a section of slightly smaller bars that we can offer at a much more recession friendly price. All our normal bars are available in this new size so if you don't see your favorite, just send us a convo (email Etsy style) and we will make you a post. Happy shopping and er uh, sorry for being lax on posts.

Wholesale Private Label Soap Company

We are so happy to announce the birth of Wholesale Soap! It is a place where party goers, gifters, retail shop owners and everyone can find bulk handmade soap for less. We work with you to create your custom order or you can order from the already exisiting list. If you need something more color or scent specific, convo us (email Etsy style) and we will get back with you.

Weekend Sale 08/05-10/09

♥´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´♥ Weekend sales are as follows
All glycerin bars are 20% off
All cold process bars are 25% off
All Scrubs are 10% off
If you buy 4-8 of anything shipping is only $5. You can mix and match this offer. Discounts given in Paypal.
Only at Desert Soapstone

July Giveaway Winners

1. Salad for Breakfast won our Dragon's Blood bar. We are going to send her our newly designed Dragon's blood bar free.
2. Audrey won our Clean Cotton Bar.
3. cdziuba won our Fresh Water Bar also known as "Clean."

Winners please contact me with your addresses through my etsy shop.
www.desertsoapstone.etsy.com

Thanks to all who participated and please keep us book marked as we will be having another giveaway for the month of August.

This Week's Sale Item

Gardenia Patchouli Soap
$2 off all Gardenia Patchouli Soap Bars. This week only!!!

Make Your Own Sushi

My husband and I love sushi, but the problem is, I could be a vegetarian real easy. I can't stand raw fish, meat or poultry...to handle that is. So when I ended up trying sushi (raw) for the first time and loving it, I knew I had a problem. Who can afford to go out to eat once a week, let alone once a month and further, who can afford sushi? O.k. so I have just informed you that I am not rich, but at least you will see from below that I can still appreciate the finer things in life.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked rice. Cook and set aside.
Nori sheets
cup of water
avocado, sliced
cucumber, cut in 3-4 inch slices
cold smoked salmon
cream chesse sliced into 1/4 inch thick lengths. You want them long and 1/4 inch thick.
lemon sliced paper thin
wasabi
soy sauce

Directionals:

1. Lay 1 sheet of nori flat and spoon about 2-4 TBS of rice onto the sheet. Wet your spoon in the water and smooth the rice onto the nori, gently pressing down and bringing it to the edges. You want to cover about half the sheet of nori leaving a small gap at the top (the side near you).
2. Put a slice of avocado (you may need two) and make sure it covers the length of the nori. You want to repeat this action with the salmon, cucumber and cream cheese.
3. Roll. Gently start rolling by pulling the gap end over the ingredients to meet the nori at the edge of the rice. Wet the nori at the opposite end of the gap and continue rolling until the uncovered nori is completely stuck to the rest of the roll...Am I making any sense?
4. Cover with slices of lemon.
5. Slice into 6 rounds using a sharp knife. Make sure to wet the knife as it will glide through the nori better. Also make sure to cut away from yourself.
6. dip in wasabi and soy and eat.

July Giveaway!!!

Hello soap fans and friends. We have been thinking it over and have decided to make the July giveaway 3 bars, one bar to 3 separate winners. Since our country's flag is a 3 color flag we have decided to go with good old red, white and blue. Kicking off the red we


have dragon's blood. A popular scent made of natural resins that also have been known to have healing properties when digested. Please don't eat the soap if you are a winner! For the white we have chosen clean cotton. Another super popular scent and one of our top sellers. And for the blue we have a fresh water scent that will make your bathroom sparkle with springy clean.

How to enter: You may enter as many times as you see posiible from the below:
Go to our shop by clicking here.
1. Tell us what you would like to see in a comment = 1 entry.
2. Blog about us and post the link here = 2 entries
3. Put a blurb about us on your facebook page and send us the link in a comment = 1 more entry.
4. Twitter us to your Twitter universe and post the link here too. = 1 more entry.
5. If you can think of any other way to promote us and you do, send us that link =3 entries.
You see, there is a possibility of 8 enries.
Remember if your posts generate a $15 dollar purchase from my store you get a free bar, so make sure to tell people you sent them to me. onaroll.etsy.com has already earned herself two free bars for her efforts and there wasn't even a giveaway.
Please don't forget to check back here on July 31 to see who the lucky winners will be.
All entries will be hand written and placed in a fish bowl with your user name and drawn at random.
Until then...happy posting.
Smiles,
Kelli

Sale Item the week of June 29-July 5.

All Cold Process Soap on sale. $1 off all cold process bars. That's 20% to you math whizzes. Take a look at Desert's shop. We just added Oatmeal Lavender Cold Process. Oh man! A scent you are bound to fall in love with and a Desert Soapstone original. Later this week we will be unveiling the giveaway for the month of July!!! Its getting exciting around here.

Interview with Innereye

Desert Soapstone Interviews Innereye: Art and adornment from Arizona.

Q. Is Arizona your place of birth?
A. Arizona is my place of birth and I have lived in many parts of it.

Q. Have you done much travelling and if so where is your favorite destination thus far?
A. We got to go to Italy for our honeymoon which is the highlight of my travels and also the first time I was out of the country besides Mexico.

Q. What inspires you in your work?
A. I am inspired by so many things. Working in both jewelry and visual art I can use my inspirations in various ways. I am very inspired by the Southwest, its history and its people. I am inspired by adornment practices from people all over the world and how ancient the practice of adorning ourselves is. I am also interested in myths and how we can create our own based on what goes on around us...there's more but I'll leave it at that!


Q. Do you find it hard to balance a day job and your Etsy shop?
A. I find it hard to balance my day job just in that I would much rather be at home in the studio. Also there are lots of other things that take precedence in a day like yoga class and fixing dinner..

Q. You have mentioned that the Etsy Storque article series, "Quit Your Day Job" has been motivational. Is there a specific article you remember the most?
A. I think the one I remember the most is a ceramic artist who described her process as "white knuckle determination", unfortunately I can't remember her name, but I've since adopted that sentiment!
Q. What are your business goals?
A. My foremost business goals are to be able to not have another source of income besides my artwork- working artist!! Aslo I would like to have more products available such as printed blank journals, stickers,etc...
Q. We have talked about putting together an Etsy only craft show here in Prescott. Where would you like to see this going?
A. I really believe in the power of a collective because it doesn't feel so overwhelming to have to shoulder everything yourself. Ideally we will be making a profit, but the non-monetary aspects of sharing tips, networking and general support can lead to so much more.
Q. Aside from your Etsy shop, where else can my readers find you online or locally?
A. Locally I sell jewelry at Snap Snap an awesome used clothing store my friend Sadira owns on Montezuma downtown, also I sell jewelry at the Ian Russell Gallery which is located in the old Firehouse Plaza also downtown. If in Jerome you can see my visual art at the Jerome Artists Cooperative Gallery. Also I have a blog (that needs to be updated today) www.innerarizona.blogspot.com

...And the winner is...

Cibaria is the winner of the "Blackberry Amber Soap and Samples Giveaway"! Cibaria, please go to our shop and convo us your shipping information. YAY for her and thanks to everyone who participated. We will be having another giveaway this July. Please keep us on your watch list to find out what it will be. We will also be posting many new soaps to our shop soon so keep checking back and feel free to tell a friend. If you do and they spend $15 or more in my shop before shipping you get a free bar. Onaroll has made a post about our shop on her blog and already earned herself 2 bars of soap. Thank you Onaroll.

Blackberry Amber Glycerin Soap Giveaway

Giveaway:
Look through our shop and then come back here and leave a comment under this giveaway post and tell us what you like the best. Also leave a post on your blog about this giveaway and post your blog on your comment here...that way you can advertise too. :) The lucky winner will receive a free Blackberry Amber Glycerin Soap Bar and random samples. So pass on the word and let's get this party started!
The winner will be selected on Monday, June 22 using random.org

Artisan Look: Uniqueness in Jewelry

Pearl Vision

Recently Desert Soapstone received an order for a Gardenia Patchouli Perfume Stick. I like to check out the buyer's shops (if they have one) and I was very impressed with Artisan Look. I have to say I have not seen jewelry this unique (and rather inexpensive for the quality)in a very long time. In fact this jewelry is so unique you would expect to see it in a Sundance Catalog for 10 times the amount charged. O.k. Artisan's a million times
Because You're Worth It
better....times 2. Shhh, don't let Redford hear that. Their prices, however, are very reasonable and they will even work with you on payments, offering a generous payment plan. Although, with prices like these, you should not need it.

Below is my interview with Ev from Artisan Look.
Q. Who is Artisan Look?
Artisanlook is one of our 4 etsy shops. Artisanimpact is the name of our company and also the name of our first etsy shop artisanimpact.etsy.com
the other 2 shops are silvercrush.etsy.com and artisanfield.etsy.com

Q. Who is your target audience?
Buyers that appreciate unique handmade jewelry.

Q. I noticed from your Etsy shop profile that you travel to Israel a lot. Would you like to tell us about that?
We are 3 Israeli partners, Ilan, Oded and me,Ev. Oded and Ilan, the designers live in Israel, I moved to Montreal 3 years ago. we sell the jewelry from Montreal and divide our time between Israel and Montreal.

After Thought

Q. Where would you like to be in 5 years?
We are working on building our brand and sell in more Galleries across Canada.


Q. What brought you to Etsy and how has it been beneficial?
I heard about Etsy from a friend and decided to open a shop. We love the artists community and the marketplace is great. The buyers love our designs and we have a lot of repeat customers.

Q. What are some other ways you sell your unique jewelry?
We sell also on our own website www.artisanimpact.com and in Galleries.
My Favorite

YART SALE

Yard+Art=Yart Sale. This is turning into an annual Etsy thing.
It takes place June 10-14. We are participating in this great sale.
Go to our "Sale" section to claim some sweet deals!

Also for all you online sellers here are some links you may appreciate for marketing:
http://www.4-every-1.ws/

http://www.searchwiz.com/index.html

http://www.cyngoseek.com/

Sunbather's Companion

Ahhh summer! One of my favorite times of year along with spring, fall and...o.k. I like them all. But summer is a very hot time in Arizona. A time for hanging out at the local pool, or like most Phoenician's: hanging out by your own pool. Time for basking in the sun and getting that all important tan. A time for Desert Soapstone's latest addition to our product line. Available only in the summer months. Sunbather's Companion. A creamy, coconut whip of all the things that your skin needs this time of year available in any of our fragrance options. To grab some of your own click here. To refer a friend click here.

Arizona Camping

The Memorial Day Weekend was a great success in the sense of wilderness training. We set out for the camp experience on Friday, eager to get to the high desert, we packed everything from the coffee pot (we didn't have a percolator) to the umbrella, but we forgot panchos and enough tarps to cover our tents let alone underline them. Hoping for good weather, we set off, only to find a rainstorm looming on the horizon. We forged ahead only to be soaked in the night with monsoon like rain that drenched our tent and all that inhabited it. That was Friday and Friday night, but to our great excitement and surprise that was the beginning of a great weekend. The dry Arizona air quickly dried all our bedding and matress pads as well as our tent. The rain cooled the temps enough to require a nice camp fire each night until we set home Monday afternoon. The rain also enabled us to have a fire in the camp. You can't have s'mores without fire and camping without s'mores is just not complete. Attached are the beautiful flowers my daughter and hubby picked for me by the lake. Hopefully time lends to more camping in the coming months as this was a great start to what looks to be a great summer!

Memorial Weekend Sale

Memorial Day Sale: Friday, May 22-Monday, May 25, 2009

Buy 3 bars for $10- see post under "Sale" section
Spend $20 get 10% off before shipping awarded in Paypal
Spend $40 get 20% off before shipping awarded in Paypal
*all orders come with surprise gift

All Natural All Oceanic

Introducing Oceanic. This soap is best described as clean and fresh with a vacation attitude. It reminds me of something you would find in a pricey beach resort or a cute boutique near Martha's Vineyard. A little east meets west in this fabulously coastal splash of sun, surf and sophistication.

The Batik Collection

Introducing the first of many in the series of our Batik Collection. The above bar is scented with essential oils and has a distinctly lemon ginger aroma. These all natural bars are inspired by batik art and can be found online at Desert Soapstone.

Anne Marie explains color

Hey everyone in cyber world. Desert Soapstone just wanted to share a little about our color preference with our readers and buyers. We prefer the natural (as you see under our profile)colorants in our soap making. We are very concerned about anything that may be harmful to your health as well as our own. In this video you will see a demonstration and a little bit of info on the art of making soap. Thanks Anne Marie! But also we would like to point out that we use oxides, ultramarines and herbs for our colorants and never use FD&C colorants (not that these are entirely bad, but some don't like them)in our soap making. So if you are like us and prefer the natural over the unnatural, but still like to smell good, have a look at the video and see a little bit into our world.

Baby Shower Soap Favors

O.k. so my awesome sister got married a year ago and they are about to have their first baby. A girl, who will have a rock star name...Not going to say it here for the sake of privacy. But anyway, my sis's baby shower is this weekend and unfortunately I have to miss it (loser, I know). So in my stead I am sending down 32 pieces of soap for party favors that I hope her cheerful supporters will be able to relax and enjoy once they return home with a belly full of cake and excitement for the little bundle to arrive.

Anyone having a shower or party and in need of party favors or gifts should visit my Etsy shop and send me a convo (email, Etsy style) and I will be happy to customize to fit your needs.

Attention Wine and Soap Snobs

We have done it! It was a first attempt at something we have been wanting to do for a long time, but could never find the time to just play. Yes, we have taken the cheapest Trader Joe's wine we could find, Two Buck Chuck(Charles Shaw to you non Trader Joe's people) and made it into soap! We had a leftover bottle that turned to vinegar so we decided why cook with it when you can make something that lasts 50 times longer and smells great? Rustic was the goal and I think we achieved it. It was a simple process really. We let the fizz go flat, added a little this to that, and when we were all said and done we had a big bowl of phat. O.k. so I'm not as cool as I think, but at least I have great smelling soap and even better, a lodged cork waiting for freedom.

Pitseel: For the best veggie food ever!

BBQ Ribs

Recently I encountered Pitseel. Another Etsy shop of course. I found her one night while having a bout with insomnia. She had made a forum post and I commented and she bought some soap and I in turn checked out her shop. Wow! I found a plethora of exciting and mouth watering foods that at first glance would appeal to even the hardest of die-hard meat eaters. But at second glance I see that her shop is a vegan's haven for everything from BBQ "ribs" to Hot Wings.
Hot Wings->

Where was this girl when I was in highschool? I admit, I am a full meat eater, but yet, not die hard. I still have my tofu fu moments.
Yes, that's tofu fu. Vegans and carnivores alike, give Pitseel a shot. You won't regret it.


Pitseel, an etsy shop dedicated to vegan culinary delights and showing major signs that she's going to be around for a while.


After all, she took a chance on me and ordered the 8 bar variety pack before even trying a single soap sample.
8 Bar Variety Pack

Arizona: Mingus Mountain

Above: Watson Lake, Prescott, Arizona
For those of you who haven't been to my etsy shop and read my profile, my husband and I love to go out and be in nature and hike and drag the whole family with us, that is, if they will go.
Most of my readers have no idea what kind of exciting things there are to see in Arizona. Once I was visiting with a friend from out of town and she asked me, "So what's in Arizona besides mobile homes and dirt?" Her question only indicated to me that she had obviously never been here. Unlike the popular Hollywood images, Arizona is anything but mobile homes and dirt. Its rivers and streams, canyoneering dreams and monsoon frenzies, verdant (green for you simpletons), yes, verdant, blooming and beautiful. Actually, if you want to get technical, Arizona consists of at least 5 of the 6 major earth biomes. In fact out of the freshwater, marine, desert, forest, grassland and tundra, the only one Arizona doesn't have is the marine biome. Since Arizona doesn't have ocean front property (yet) I'll have to just write some entries on our other biome trekking. The pictures in this entry don't do Arizona justice, but stay tuned and in between the soap entries I will include some of our latest journeys.
Today we went hiking on Mingus Mountain in the middle of Arizona. Near Prescott, Mingus Mountain is home to the famous Jerome, Arizona and a number of hiking, biking and camping trails. Since this mountain is practically in our back yard we decided to trek it and go where, many have gone before, but where we have never gone before. O.k. so maybe once or twice before. Like earlier in the year when we went up on Mingus to throw snow balls at each other and see who could come the closest to a Sonny Bono on the pine trees. We've lived here the majority of our lives and had no idea there was a lake, er uh, pond up on top of this mountain. We found some interesting botanical features like the cacti growing out of the rock and the moon coming up over the trees at dusk. I have also included (for the skeptical) a picture of our weekend hike at Watson Lake. Yes, there is water in Arizona!


Above: Moonlight on Mingus Mountain

Above: Cactus growing out of rocks, or so it seems.