....and the winner is

I originally thought I wanted 'Midnight' in the title of this bar, because of the color and because of the nostalgia associated with this scent.  As the entries came in, I couldn't decide and I thought I was in trouble because I liked several of them, but none jumped out at me.  So, I took a break and didn't think about it, then came back with a fresh pair of eyes.  When I did, one jumped out at me this time.  I tend to like plays on words and dual meanings for the same phrase.  One entry satisfied this while also incorporating the scent theme.  Without further ado, the winner is......

'Pipe Dreams' submitted by Allison Burrough.  Congratulations!  You win a bar of this soap :)

mmmmmm..... woooooddsmoooooke....

Okay, Homer Simpson might not drool over woodsmoke, but I do.  I grew up hiking the Franconia Ridge, Mount Washington, and other parts of the White Mountains of New Hampshire every summer.  I look back with fond memories of Greenleaf Hut, Pinkham Notch, Tuckerman's Ravine, Zealand Falls.  As I got older, my practice of week-long backpacking trips settled into what I consider luxury or lazy-man camping.  This is where you drive into the campsite and go on day-hikes.  There's usually a primitive bathroom and sometimes even a shower on site.  This way you can fill up half the car with fire-wood and have a campfire every night.

The smell of woodsmoke is deeply embedded into my sensory memory.  It carries with it the feeling of being deep in the woods, cultivating an intimacy and trust with nature and with my camping partner.  Camping is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite parts of life.  Every autumn, I must have a few nights in the Blue Ridge or Smoky Mountains.

That is the feeling with which I made this soap.  Granted, every batch I make is a labor of love, but this one makes me swoon just a little bit longer every time I catch a whiff of it.  I'm thinking of naming it Midnight in the Woods.  I'd like to know what you'd name it though.  If I choose your title, I will send you a free bar of this soap.  Comments, though moderated, are open to anyone - subscriber or not.  Thanks for your input in advance.

You can enter your submission via comment or you can also see other submissions and enter your own here. 

 

Babies and weddings and boyfriends, oh my!

This has been a good month for Sudstress.  A few weeks ago, I got an email from a woman who was looking for 40 baby shower favors and had been referred to me by the lovely Joanna of The Soap Bar and Product Body.  (Thanks Jo!)  Her shower is this weekend and all has been delivered and signed for.  She was so kind to still work with me even though I couldn't do custom without more time; we figured out a way to make what I had in stock, custom for her.  I hope they're a hit.  We went with exotic berry, stamped 'Baby M' with some pearlescent purple mica.

Then I got an email about a week ago for 60 wedding favors.  All was confirmed a few days ago, and I made them Tuesday morning.  Her wedding is in September.  I've already ordered the gift tags - my best design yet, thanks to istockphoto and their amazing vector artists.  One in particular whose style I LOVE.  A month seems like plenty of time, unless you're talking making soap, cutting it into 60 little pieces, stamping 60 little pieces, assembling 60 boxes, filling them with shred, packing the soap in them, tying a ribbon and gift tag around each one, packing them and shipping them....  whew! 

They will look similar to this:

Today I received confirmation from Allison, who bought a custom order of Gravel Road Grunt - a novelty scented soap with pumice in it that I made for gift bags given away at the Fool's Gold 50/100 mountain bike race a few years ago.  Apparently he really liked it because he kept the label all this time and this is the second custom bulk order for it!  I'll be making the batch this Sunday for local delivery in a handful of weeks.

Sorry for the poor quality on that last picture.  I sort of took it last minute before moving it to the curing shelves.  I wanted a record of it, but who needs it when it looks so poorly lit and on paper towel...  clearly not staged properly, but you get the idea.