Two Hands In The fire

Carrie — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:37:00 +0000

Thank you to everyone who participated in my little giveaway. I hope you all liked the scent. It’s name is now known as Freshly Mowed Lawn and has become quite a hit. So much so, that I’m sold out. I’ll be listing more at my etsy shop real soon though along with other solid scents such as Boheme, Lilly’s Walk, Sweet Tart and Lotus Bloom.

I’m a little slow on listing right now and way too slow on responding to emails and convos for which I humbly apologize for. We have had quite the life change here in the past two weeks. Nathan finally got out of the Navy which means until his new job starts money is very slim. As you know too – downtown business is slow as ever and I am determined to not have to close.So, I’ve started waiting tables at night and working at the shop during the day. That we can make ends meet without having to shut down the store and live under a bridge. The only snag is that, I’m very very tired these days and I’m afraid of missing important details like – orders from all you wonderful folks who like what I make.

If I fail to answer you as quickly as you need – remember my business phone is always on me and you are welcome to call and remind me to get my head out of the clouds and attend to business.

Now, I have to go find some coffee somewhere and a wall to beat my head against.

With Soapy Love,

Carrie

Try Me. Name Me. a.k.a.My First Giveaway!

Carrie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:29:39 +0000

I made a new solid perfume scent See?

It’s very sweet with notes of green grass, cherries and citrus – vanilla and patchouli are in the middle and back notes but you won’t notice until it warms up to your body heat.

Does this sound like something you want?

How about I send one for you and one for a friend. All you have to do is help me come up with a name. If I pick your name – I send you a surprise package of goodies.

It’s a tough job I know but – someone’s got to do it right? Might as well be you. I’m covering the costs so you don’t even have to worry about shipping. Booyah.

What’s the catch? Not much.

Just leave a comment with your email along with what your favorite scent in the whole universe is.

The first six folks get the freebies.

Thanks for playing!

With Soapy Love,
Carrie

Sweet Muse

Carrie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:39:27 +0000

I don’t know what has gotten into me today.

Maybe it’s because Spring is in the air or that I finally got to see Alice In Wonderland (love!) or because I’m on a major organization spree.

What I do know is that I am in the mood to blend some scents and get some new perfumes on the shelves. Most importantly, I’m in the mood to play!

To get myself started on the right comfortably shooed foot -I packed a rather different kind of bento this morning.

Yes, that is a Zinger – I love their color and texture. Also, I don’t eat that kind of thing often but omgtheyaresogood. Next up is two of my favorites. The two taste contrast sreally brought out the sweet of the cake – Vinegar and Sea Salt Alomonds with a piece of dark chocolate – which makes a very unusual tasty combo and are paired in my lunch box regularly.

I’m thinking something with a whiff sea salt and a high fruit note with something maybe warm at the end. I’ll make them using soy so, they’ll be vegan friendly. The little tin they come in makes tossing it in your purse or pocket a breeze.

I’m still trying to decide on today’s soundtrack – maybe some 80′s love ballads?

I hope you are all having a great day. Talk to you soon!

With Soapy Love,
Carrie

Give The Girl A Cookie

Carrie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:28:38 +0000

Last weekend is a true woozy blur. I’d like to say it was all the fun Miss V and I had out at the Whistle Stop but – no.

I hadn’t been feeling to great Friday but just brushed it off. Woke up Saturday morning and something definitely didn’t feel right. That’s when a seemingly endless wave of praying to the gods of porcelain began. By the time it was all over late Sunday, I felt like I’d been wrung and hung out to dry. So marks Food Poisoning Pukefest 2010.

I’ve never been so happy to have Mondays off as I was this week. I slept, slept and slept some more. Anything to calm the storm in my belly which finally came to a halt.

Tuesday and Wednesday have been brought their own ailments in the form of tax preparation – dun dun dun dun!

It feels like I’m at the end of one of those shows where you have to walk over glass, jump through fire and eat an eel. Ack!

I’ll have mine with plum sauce please.

Buttered Up

Carrie — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:47:20 +0000

I would like to take just a moment to mention my sadness in hearing of the passing of one of St.Marys’ most creative advocates, Paula Amari. I had the great fortune of working with her on a few local projects and the delight of shopping with her when she owned Old Towne Crafts – which was housed in the same building where the cigar shop came to be as well as where my store is currently at now. I am honored to have a business in the same place where so many came to love her and her larger than life personality. Paula always had a smile and her laugh was infectious. She will be greatly missed.

Loss always seems to make me notice the weather as a negative. It’s either been raining ice here or cold with the sun playing peek a boo by glaring from behind the clouds instead of beaming down it’s much needed warmth. I feel restless and dark spirited. My bones ache for no reason other than sheer stubbornness causing my brow to wrinkle and my patience to run thin. Spring is desperately requested. It’s time to watch the earth awake and renew itself – way past time.

I made the first new batch of body butter yesterday – Lilly’s Walk is the scent. It’s been requested but I was out of shea. I’ll be making two more batches this week. One will be a lavender and vanilla while the other will be unscented. I mix the shea butter with grape seed and almond oil. Its great for the skin and hair and has been a customer favorite every time I have it in stock. I’ll be posting some at Etsy and of course you can always order it in store or via phone order with all major credit cards excepted.

To keep from feeling completely unproductive today – I’m going to keep working on the catalog (sorry it’s taking so long) and finally get my blog roll up so that I can share with you all the great sites I can’t live without.

Hug each other tight and remember life is too short to hold a grudge for long.

With Soapy Love,

Carrie

Fireflies & Lullabies

Carrie — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:43:37 +0000

I’m feeling very mellow and reminiscent today. It’s been warming up and the sun has that early Spring glint which makes me yearn for sundresses and cook outs where kids run barefoot with sticky faces.

So, I’ve got Spring Fever or it’s all the dang lavender I used today while making soaps and bath salts. Either way it feels good to feel good.

The shop is getting quite a bit more walk in traffic and I love it when guests tell me they’ve either read about me here or in places such as St.Marys Magazine. Just getting good feedback and being able to put at least a sample in someone’s hand makes all the hard work so worth it.

Well, Nate’s here and I’ve missed him a lot today. Going to get me some hugs n’ kisses and maybe talk him into buying me dinner.

I’ll be updating the Etsy store tonight and adding PayPal buttons to my catalog too. Let me know what you think – thanks for looking!

With Soapy Love,
Carrie

Of Kings & Cake

Carrie — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:08:10 +0000

So, about that big Mardi Gras soap plan…
The results were actually nice. The process and first round complete failure were the exact opposite of nice. In fact, round one was a pure mess that would be best left undocumented. Yes’ it was that ugly. Round two though – cute and exactly the way I had envisioned. All in all my King Cake Soap came out pretty sweet – in the end. Was it worth doing more often? I say no, no, no.
Here’s a few pics of the results of the lovely final batch. When I can stand the humiliation – I’ll show ya just how gawd awful it got.

It came out surprisingly like it’s namesake with scents of real cinnamon, vanilla, pastry and a tad bit of anise. Customers really seemed to like it so – who knows, maybe we make more next year.

With Soap Love,
Carrie

Flame On

Carrie — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:27:17 +0000

It’s been a quite a nice day. I started it by stopping in at the girl’s school to see my littlest have her Valentine’s Day fun. My schedule never allows for spending much time at doing class mom stuff and I really miss out on a lot. I’m so glad to have been fortunate enough to attend.
After that it was off to open shop and what a beautiful day to be downtown. The air is crisp and the sun is shining clear and bright. That’s made for a nice amount of foot traffic in the store and brought in some great guests. I hope today is an indication of how this weekend is going to be with our local Mardi Gras festival this coming Saturday.

The week is almost over and the kids have time off school to boot. I’ll be making some special soaps tomorrow but I’m keeping them secret until I workout the details.
Know the best thing about making ugly candles? Getting to keep them all to yourself to burn and enjoy.

Prettied up with a couple of votives and some vintage tea-ware.
Come see us soon -all body washes are buy one get one ( a 7.50 value) and every visitor gets a nifty free sample of our latest creations.
With Soapy Love,
Carrie

Put Your Records On

Carrie — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:27:58 +0000

We’ve had a nifty little day here at the shop.

I love Saturdays so much because Nate comes to work with me. He could make being stuck on an ice burg seem fun.

Today, we brought in the portable record player that he scored a few weeks ago from Heavenly Treasures. We have been spinning everything from Glenn Miller to Johnny Mathis with the sound track to My Fair Lady thrown in just because we can. The sun has been shining so warm and bright that we couldn’t resist leaving the door wide open and letting the fresh breeze in. A great way to end our second real week of being open.

I’ve been testing all the new candle I made and the shop not only smells extra lovely but it’s extra romanical looking. Perfect mood lighting for this time of year and completely matches the cheesy red and white hearts that I’ve used to decorate with this month.

I had the pleasure of seeing my dear friend Diane. She’s looking great and I hope she enjoys the new goodies she got. I can’t wait to see her again.

Also got to see the lovely Ms. Gloria from Southeast Publications. She introduced me to one of our local photographers, Evelyn Hill. It was great to see you ladies – I’ll have your lotion ready real soon.

It’s days like these that I cherish more than I could ever describe.

Well, Nate says it’s time to go have cuddles and cocktails.

See y’all Tuesday!

With Soapy Love,
Carrie

P.S. Geaux Saints!!!!!!

Updates! Updates! Updates!

Carrie — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:09:26 +0000

Okay, even my titles have ADD. Blame it on the double chip peanut butter cookie I had for breakfast but really – it’s because I’m so excited to share all the good things that are happening here at Dirty Monkey Soap Co.

After many mess-ups I finally settled on a nice clean and uniform design for my product labels. If you saw the sadness that they were before – you’d totally understand.

A few pics of the new look of the goods:

Getting all that straight finally let me really set up my Etsy shop too. You can find me there at dirtymonkeysoapco.etsy.com

Store hours havve finally been solidified too!

We are closed Sundays & Mondays
We are open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m to 5 p.m with the earliest closing time (for super slow days) being 3 p.m.
Of course you can always order online or by phone at anytime. Just check my contact info and I’ll be glad to be of service.

We now have shampoo! It’s been requested but I had to find a formula that was gentle but effective and as eco-friendly as possible. Our current shampoo scents are Cherie-Almonde and Lotus Bloom. They are 8.00 for a 9 oz. bottle and as always come with a free pump. Sample sizes will be available soon.

Next up – Candles. Awesome smelling, clean burning straight up soy candles. I’ve just about got the burn and scent throw to my level of satisfaction and will be offering them by next week in a range of sizes including tea lights.

Mardi Gras is upon us and downtown will be celebrating with it’s annual parade. We’ll be in the shop all day with some fun specials. Please stop in and don’t forget to catch out ad at Kbay radio with the lovely Carol’s voice telling you all about us.

Preview for March _ think green, think party, think make-up.

To my wonderful ladies who stopped in today to make a special purchase – thank you so much. You were great fun and really made my day!

Enough of my chatter for now. Talk to you all soon.

With Soapy Love,
Carrie