I just sent out a Newsletter to those who subscribe to Simply Soap/Wild Oaks Art/Enchantasies. If you would like to view it (includes Soap Sale info!), it's here: http://www.ymlp74.com/pubarchive_show_message.php?CarolOchs+113

Have a great 4th of July weekend, All!
~Carol

"Out Of Her Shell"

This open edition print can be viewed larger and purchased at http://www.wildoaksart.com/OutOfHerShell.htm

Thanks for viewing!

We all clam-up at times, hide from the world, are reluctant to show our true selves...but oh, the buoyant lightness of being when we come out of our shell!

Just finished this piece for the Ocean Fantasies Art Show over at FAE Forum!

http://www.faeforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5269

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I just finished a rather large soap order that had my nose to the grindstone--no nose left!, plus website techie problems that had me pulling my hair out.....I'm way behind on journaling.

But a quick hullo for now and more soon...including that soap sale I promised!

~Carol

Sometimes I amaze myself with my DUH-ness!

I am notorious for multi-tasking.....flitting between stuff I'm in the middle of at any given moment. However multi-tasking is really only a worthy talent when you do it EFFECTIVELY......

I was carrying my load of orders to-go-out to the front porch for my mail carrier guy to pick up and smelled the most wonderful scent on the air---just like roasting pumpkins! And who doesn't LOVE the smell of roasting pumpkins??? :::aaaaahhhh!!!::: Made several trips and got all the packages out. The pumpkin scent continued to grow STRONGER! HMMMM! Delicious! Got me thinking about Halloween already as my mind skipped-ahead past a hot summer in-store to my most favorite season--autumn! Went back to cleaning up the workshop...and still that wonderful pumpkin scent grew STRONGER STILL! Who the heck is roasting pumpkins in June?, I thought.

Well DUH me, I went in the house and it was a pot of peas & carrots I'd put on the stove to boil for lunch and the water had all boiled away! Isn't it when you start doing stuff like that, that your kids put a leash on you and take away stove privileges??? :::gulp::: Honest Folks...I'm not luzenit...yet! Just too many things going on at once. Next time I shall set a timer, I promise!

But FYI...if you ever want to enjoy the heavenly scent of Halloween pumpkins roasting in June or whenever...burn a pot of peas & carrots! LOL! My helpful tidbit for the day.....

New Art!

Gosh....I know I'm dreadfully behind in posting blog updates and I do apologize. I'll do a soap and art update soon, including a sale on summer soaps! Be on the look-out! :)

In the meanwhile, here's a new piece titled "Moon Potion"! I hope you like her! You know how sometimes the moon possesses you and makes you conjure up all kinds of interesting things?!?!?! *wink*

~Carol

Limited Editions Soap Chest...and a New Witch!

NEW! TREASURE CHEST LIMITED EDITION SOAPS!
Here at Simply Soap, we have a favorite phrase...."So many scents, so little time" because there literally are SO MANY scents, and yet logistically we can't possibly carry all that we'd like to, or are tempted to! As you can see from our website, we already have one of the largest handmade-by-one-soapmaker soap collections available on the 'net. Still, we often acquire other quality scents, either via custom soap batches made for customers and there's leftover oil they willingly leave with us, or suppliers send us samples that pile up. We hate to see all these great scents go to waste! And admittedly, as a soapmaker, I like nothing better than to put on my soap wizard hat, don an apron, and experiment with new blends. So we decided to create limited editions of some of these scents in soap that we offer to you to enjoy! A great chance to try our soap in off-beat or different scents than you're used to seeing at our site! C'mon...experiment a little! BUT....when they're gone, they're gone. If we notice extreme interest in any particular scent(s), we "may" add that soap(s) to our regular offerings permanently!


We also have a lovely new open edition witch print available for you - "In My Magic Garden"...she's surrounded by fly agaric 'shrooms, belladonna and a dandy dandelion or two! All ready for the Beltane season and coming of summer....


As always, if you have a question for us, we welcome your e-mail! simplysoap@aol.com or faescribbles@aol.com

Good Day!
~Carol
Simply Soap - www.simplysoap.com
Wild Oaks Art - www.wildoaksart.com
Enchantasies - www.enchantasies.com

When life gives you lemons.....

When life gives you lemons, make...SOAP!

Or that's what *I* do anyway!!! 

This is my lemon tree in my backyard and it's giving us it's
usual bumper crop of  luscious lemons!  I LOVE making our famous
Lemon Aloe Soap,
filled with freshly squeezed juice from this very lemon tree--makes a
wonderfully refreshing, astringent soap that will make your pores pucker for
joy! (It's one of my own favs!)  Enriched with aloe butter and a touch of
tea tree, it's the perfect compliment to thoroughly deep-cleanse, yet thoroughly
replenish moisture to your skin!  What a fantastic way to chase those
winter blues and dry skin away with some bright California lemon sunshine! 
10% off April 1 - 30th!  Stock up now! 
And remember, we take the 10% off on our end of transacting your order, it won't
show up on your online shopping cart receipt....so don't worry!   

This is the lemon tree at night when all the lemon faeries are
busy making new lemons grow! 

 

And...just because we're in such a happy SPRING-like mood and
want to do our part to help jump-start the economy, we're offering our very
popular Wylde
Faerie Soaps at 10% off ALSO April 1 - 30th...it's
what the faeries would want, after all! 

These fragrant, botanical-rich soaps contain all the herbs and
flower petals faeries are most attracted to, so it's a good bet you'll improve
your faerie-sightings upon using these beautiful soaps!  Buy the soap stack
collection (already at a 1 free-bar discount) and try them ALL!  And again,
remember, we take the 10% off on our end of transacting your order, it won't
show up on your online shopping cart receipt....so don't worry!   
Available wholesale AND retail...so all you Renn Faire and Spring Show
vendors...now's a great time to buy your faerie merchandise at a discount! 
This is a WONDERFUL seller!

ART NEWS

We've added some new art pieces at
Enchantasies, come check them out! 
We're also offering 10% off all
Enchantasies art through the month of April! (10% off will be adjusted by us in your
total).

This weekend, a selection of art from both of my art websites
will be appearing at Imagicon
(<-click for location and all info.)...the fantasy art convention in Birmingham,
Alabama!  So if any of you are in the area and attending that convention,
stop by the Art Show and check out all the great fantasy available!  My
pieces in the Art Show are available as matted, hand-embellished prints, each
one unique!  Mermaids with lovely shell embellishments, witches with
feathers and beads....faeries with Swarovski crystals! 

Until next time...wishing you all a productive and
new-beginning kind of Spring!  Remember to take time to enjoy the season,
the magic, and the joyous little perks in life!

~Carol

Simply Soap -
www.simplysoap.com

Wild Oaks Art -
www.wildoaksart.com

Enchantasies -
www.enchantasies.com  

 

Imagicon Reminder!

A new art piece available...... "Out Of The Broom Closet"

A reminder to any of you fantasy art fans who may be attending Imagicon in Birmingham, AL this weekend...my art will be available in the Art Show...check by and see it, buy some :), and visit all the other wonderful fantasy artists there http://imagicon.org/gatekeeper/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=9&Itemid=13 .....then please send me an e-mail and tell me how the convention was! Hehe! faescribbles@aol.com

Till next time.....

~Carol

March news....

Hello Everyone! Happy MARCH!

What crazy weather we're getting...cold one day, 85 degrees (yesterday) the next! I'm itching to plant my spring garden but afraid it'll get cold again and freeze my seedlings! Best to wait another couple weeks at least and start my seeds indoors!

Meanwhile, March always feels like a time of "waiting" to me....waiting for winter to end, spring to begin, the economy to improve, universal conditions to change....resenting that so much hinges on another issue. But I need to remind myself that change lies within. Waiting is one of the great arts! As is written in one of my favorite books "Romancing The Ordinary" by Sarah Breathnach, while waiting, "Distract yourself, as you would a small child. Become self-indulgent. Do the unexpected. Plan on treating yourself to something so wildly extravagant that if the Universe doesn't deliver the goods, you will. This way you can detach yourself from the outcome and feel you have some control. And remember....waiting done at really high speeds, will frequentlylook like something else."

- ART NEWS -

For any of you in the Birmingham, AL area who plan to attend the new fantasy convention Imagicon during March 27-29, I will have art on display there at the Print Shop! Stop on by and support many of your favorite fantasy artists! More info and feature listings at the Imagicon website link below, and I know they are still accepting art, for any of you other fantasy artists reading this! :)

http://www.imagicon.org/gatekeeper/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=9&Itemid=13

A new art piece created for a Fairy Tales Art Show at FAE Forum (http://www.faeforum.com/events/v/fairytales2009/):

"Frog LEGS? Frog PRINCE? Frog FOREVER? "

Come on, admit it...surely you've explored, if only in your mind, the usefulness of frogs! What SHALL I DO with him?!?!?! Ahh...to have the power! Perhaps you *DO*! *wink*

And for anyone interested, I had a feature article in:

Ye Olde Witches Brew Magazine

- SOAP NEWS -

St. Patricks Day is a month-long event at our house...and I'm not even IRISH! But my husband and kids are....and we all have gobs of Irish spirit! So while dragging out my decorations and Irish DVD's this weekend that are sure to be watched over and over: Far & Away, Waking Ned Divine, Tristan & Isolde, etc., I decided to share the Irish spirit! Any and all of our GREEN soaps are 10% off this entire month...our way of helping you save some green! Enjoy and stock up! I'm particularly partial to Emerald Isle myself...a very spring-like blend of heather, lilac and clover! And I can think of 16 of our soaps from our various soap collections! So anything with even a speck of green in it is ON SALE!

Remember, as always on our sale items, it won't show up in the online shopping cart as 10% off; we take care of that as we hand punch in all transactions ourselves, so don't worry if you don't see it on your cart total! If you're worried about that though, feel free to e-mail us at simplysoap@aol.com.

Till next post...wishing you magic and inventive "waiting"! ;) Most people know intuitively that when you fall in love, the world is full of magic. What they often do not know is that when you discover the universe is full of magic, you fall in love with the world!

~Carol

Simply Soap , Wild Oaks Art, Enchantasies

New Art!

Sometimes there are secrets only a sister spirit can relate to or understand....

"Whispers Only Sisters Understand"

Thanks for looking!

~Carol