We've A Lot Going On

It's been a while since we've posted, and we apologize for that. Things have been...interesting to say the least.

First, our internet connection became so unreliable that we had to start going to McDonald's or local restaurants that offered free wi-fi in order to do anything business related or work on our school work. As if that wasn't enough of a pain, we finally got a new internet connection set up and something else happened.

We came home one evening to find all the lights out at our house. Knowing we'd left the front room light on, we realized that the circuit breaker was off. We turned it back on, only to lose power again. The main breaker switch had gone out - but we didn't know that then. We thought it was a power outage (our neighbors' lights were off too), so we called the power company - who then disconnected our power completely!

It took us several days to find an electrician who could come out and check the fuse box - apparently they were all busy - and one of them called the city inspector because we had been out of the house for almost a week with no power - and this guy thought we were living in the house without power. *roll eyes* Then after it was fixed, we were told we couldn't move back in because the house was too messy. Not dirty - but too cluttered. Apparently they figured we were hoarders or at least someone in the house was, and told us we couldn't live there until it was cleared out, and the entire house re-inspected - water lines, power lines, everything.

We got most of the clutter cleaned up, but then decided maybe it wasn't worth it. The house was old - over 50 years old, and in a lot of dis-repair. So we found someone who buys old houses and sold it - and moved to our new place - a single-wide mobile home. It's a newer model (2006) and it's very nice. We like it.

Throw into this mix two (yes TWO) craft shows (Art in the Park & one here at the mobile home park), our school work, and one of us getting a "9-5 job." We've had a lot going on around here.

But - we've also got new items - new washcloths, bath poufs, 3 oz bars of soap, new bath salts. Plus, we'll be introducing some "gift tin" options shortly. Just check out our Etsy shop for more details.

Business is Picking Up

It would seem that business is finally starting to pick up a bit for us. In the past month (5/29 - 6/29) we've had four orders on Etsy and one on eBay. Other than right before Christmas, this is the busiest we have been! It is nice to think that we are finally beginning to take off.

Right now it would seem that our Wild Berry Vanilla scented bath salts are the major player in our shop. That seems to be the scent that most people order. At least four people have ordered that scent on Etsy and we sold a couple of them via eBay as well. People also seem to like the Pomegranate Vanilla as well - that is another scent that has sold three or four times on Etsy.

We have a couple of new items to introduce, but it has been too hot to go out and take photos of the new items, and I take our photos outdoors. However, I plan to have some new items ready to show off as soon as the weather cools down a little bit!

Also, we may soon have a new website. I am using a website for Candlelight Boutique as my final project for my web design class, so we should have that website up and running soon. Of course, the class is going slower than I would like, so I am trying to keep calm and wait for each step to be taken to be able to finally post the site to the internet.

Just wanted to touch base with everyone to let them know what has been going on in our end of the world.

I Must Speak My Mind

Over on Etsy, I was browsing the forums. During this forum browsing I came across a suggestion that Etsy implement a star-rating system for each item listing. Viewers can rate the designs from 0-5 stars based on how original the items are, materials used, etc.

The problem is, the 1 Star rating that was proposed makes anyone who must use materials that come already made - such as jewelry artists who use ready-made beads - be worthy of a 1 Star Rating. Of course, if items are rated 1 Star, you know that no one will ever buy them.

Now I don't know about you, but I can't make Sea Salt. I can't make Dead Sea Salt. I can't make Dendritic Salt. I can't make bath colorants and I sure as heck can't make fragrance oils. So every one of our bath salts, if Etsy were to take this suggestion and make it a reality, would be subject to a 1 Star rating because we use ready-made components and, well, bath salts aren't very original now are they?

I really hope that this is a suggestion that Etsy ignores. This could mean the death of sales for some shops if a rating system like this were to be implemented. Besides, 1 Star ratings could very well discourage people from trying to better themselves at their craft as opposed to encouraging them to improve themselves when it comes to their craft.

Just my two cents.

New Items Posted to eBay & News

If you're looking for a few deals on our bath salts, check out our eBay auctions! You can snag some of our 8 oz bath salts for as little as $2 plus shipping & handling if you're lucky enough to win the bid! :)

8 oz Cotton Candy Bath Salts
8 oz Strawberry Daiquiri Bath Salts
8 oz White Sakura Bath Salts

Those are our current auctions on eBay.

Also, due to the rising costs of materials, shipping of materials to us, and shipping of products to our customers, we are being forced to raise our prices as of June 1st. We really didn't want to do this, because we believe in providing our products to you for the best possible price, but it has unfortunately come to the point where we either raise our prices or we close our doors. We don't want to close our doors, so a price hike is inevitable.

Our bath salt prices will be as follows - maybe you'll see a pattern here:

4 oz - $4
8 oz - $8
16 oz - $16
32 oz - $32

We will also soon be offering a "bulk" option where you can pick three 2 lb bags of bath salts for a discounted price. These salts will not come in the glass jars but will be shipped in quart Ziploc bags with labels affixed. If you've already purchased salts from us, these can be used as refill bags for your current jars, or if you have jars you'd like to use, you can use this option to get 6 lbs of salt for less than you would if they were in the jar!

Our shower gels (although we only have one right now LOL):

8 oz bottles for $8

Our  liquid body lotions:

8 oz bottles for $8

Our body butters and sugar scrubs will remain the same. So just a heads up - if you want to grab some before the prices go up, do it in May!

Don't forget through May 13 you can get 15% off your order using coupon code MOTHERSDAY12

Been So Busy!

Let's see, since I last blogged (about our new Body Butter line) we've been a bit busy. We've had a few sales, both through eBay and Etsy - bringing our total up to seven items sold on Etsy and five items sold on eBay - plus one sold offline. :)

The following scents have been sold:
Peppermint (x2)
Sweet Pea Cucumber Melon (x2)
Sugar Cookie (x2)
Buttercream Cupcake
Wild Berry Vanilla
Cucumber Melon
Vanilla
Pomegranate Vanilla
Lemon Lavender
Lavender

All scents have been sold in the form of bath salts. Which is great, because we love making the bath salts. And we are getting ready to expand our product line! :)

We are working on offering not only bath salts & body butter but body lotion, shower gel, glycerin soap bars, and bath salt bars. As soon as these items are ready, we'll let you know here on the blog! :)

Additionally, we have some new scents, so I will be updating the available scents page! A teaser: Yuletide Vanilla, Jack Frost, Grapefruit Blush, Honey Almond, Coconut, and more! :)

More Treasury Love

We told you about a few treasuries a couple of weeks ago in which we had our products featured. Well tonight we got double treasury love. We were featured twice in the same treasury! :)

Hostess gifts from local artisans features our Sweet Pea-Cucumber Melon bath salts & our Wild Berry-Vanilla sugar scrub.

Speaking of sugar scrubs, I'm planning on making some more tonight - most likely in Lemon and Sugar Cookie scents. I am also considering trying to make a whipped shea body butter, but I haven't decided if I'm up for that task tonight or not. ;)

Another Sold Post

We have sold another item - this time we got our first Etsy sale! Woo Hoo! :) A great lady from Iowa (our home state no less) bought our Sugar Cookie bath salts. That makes our grand total of sold bath salts up to five. :)

The breakdown on our sales so far is:

• 2 Sugar Cookie bath salts
• 1 Buttercream Cupcake bath salts
• 1 Sweet Pea Cucumber Melon bath salts
• 1 Wild Berry Vanilla bath salts.

It would seem so far that our most popular bath salts are Sugar Cookie. :) We're working on a sugar scrub that is sugar cookie scented as well, so be on the lookout for that to show up in the shop soon!

Don't forget today is Black Friday and you can use BLACKFRIDAY11 to get 15% off in the shop! :)