E commerce

I am racing as fast as I am able to keep up with the e commerce race. There are sooooo many advantages to belonging to the Artfire community. Every day they come up with new "gifts" to us to enable our small businesses to survive. As one who had only one semester of any kind of computer schooling, and, that was over 30 years ago, it is a struggle for me. I am self taught by observations, by asking questions and by reading. Having a computer and high speed internet service is almost as bad as having a microwave. You know there was life before they came along, but, you sure wonder how the world survived without them. When we lose electrical power, it seems to "cripple" me. I have to stop and think, "What did I do before?"

Sometimes, it becomes overwhelming, but, I will persist.

Just uploaded some more items from my camera to be placed on Artfire. They are not soaps or lotions, but, are items from my antiques business, Old Pavilion Antiques. They are fabric pieces listed under my supplies category. Keep watching the photos at left and you will eventually see them. It has been too humid to do much soap making and my husband hasn't been driving for car dealerships, lately, so I haven't been making lotions or creams, either.

All in Good Time!

Harvest time

Made my first batch of Bread & Butter pickles today. Only put up 6 pints. Hopefully, the cukes will produce more. I have to make them using Splenda, as my husband is diabetic. This is the third year that I have made them this way. They taste just as good as those with sugar.

Waiting for some more free time to begin formulating. I need to make more things for the upcoming indoor craft season. Have been adding a few more things to Artfire. Now to just find a good spot to photograph my goodies.....sigh!!!! Too much stuff, too little house!

Need to get more creative with my soap designing. I don't want to copycat, but, by the same token, there are just so many ways that you can portray your product. Colors, scents, swirls; these are all possibilities, along with shapes and formulations. I have to decide whether there are enough soap buyers who don't mind having animal fats in their soaps. Personally, I like the hard bar that tallows and other animal fats give. But, in this day and age, many people are put off by this. I do offer vegan bars, but in order for them to be hard, you have to incorporate cocoa butter or stearic acid in them. Perhaps this is why most of my soaps are not selling on Artfire, because they have animal fats in them.

More musings at a later date.

The garden is starting to come in, the continual cleanup of the area is ongoing, I still need to concentrate on the upstairs room, family reunion time, coping with the federal government actions, and, of course, money are all on my mind at this point in my life. And, then you ask, why am I not creating? Hrmmmph! I need to push my daughter's motivation button one more time. She gets locked into the computer world and there she stays.............I have to agree. They can be very addictive. But, she needs to get the concept in her mind that there is a world out there and she needs to be a part of it.


Bought some silver gift bags today. They are used when I do special shows, like the one this fall that is a hospital auxiliary show. I like to make things a little more special for inside shows. It is very hard to do that when it is raining or gloomy outside. I seem to focus more on what that humidity level is doing to my products even though it is all under a pop-up. I guess my creative juices are beginning to flow as many ideas are popping into my mind. Now, to be able to write them down so I don't misplace them.

I have a great deal of Melt & Pour base to experiment with. Also, many unique rescued items for molds. I do like to do imbeds by using tiny ice cube trays. I have marshmallow, jelly beans, fruit slices, and two sizes of Christmas trees. If you notice my Blueberry Marshmallow Gell-o soap, I used the marshmallow mold in light blue colored opaque base and a blue colored clear base with some silver mica swirled into it. I do like using micas with M&P soap. Such a neat effect.

Keep watching my Artfire site. I will be loading some more soap soon.

business

Alrighty, then. Because this is supposed to be a blog about my business, I had better mention it once in a while.

The problem occurs when I have to do anything with it. Right now, I seem to be in a creative slump. Too many other issues seem to be coming at me, none of them relating to selling bath and beauty products. As with all endeavors, life seems to get in the way......That, in its self, is an eerie statement.

I haven't done any craft shows since the first of July. Fortunately, it was a good one. Because of other issues, I am not scheduled for another until almost the last of October. Maybe that is the reason that I seem to be in a business slump. I tend to be a "last minute" type of person. Not for everything, but, it does seem to rear its' ugly head every once in a while.

I have special plans to introduce a line of products, maybe three or four items, all with the same scent. I have yet to get started on this, as I am always intrigued with a new fragrance or new soap recipe.....Sheesh. Do I need help or what?