330 days left to make a profit...

and we have a long way to go. Yesterday I made a new banner for my store fronts and my website. I really liked the last one, but it is just way too blurry and doesn't look professional. Let me know if you like it!

I thought the paisley background was a nice choice because all the photos of my soaps have paisley and other neat designs in the background.

Now that I have a new domain name I want to print off some more business cards today, and maybe edit my labels and tags. I also would like to add some more items to Artfire.com, even though in the last 11 days, I've only received 18 views. I tell you what, nobody beats Etsy.com as far as traffic goes, I received 22 views just yesterday.

I will be making soap today, but not for my business. Since Alexa has been so interested in my soaps for her birthday the other day I got her a soap making kit. There is no school today, so we're gonna see what we can make. I'll try to get some pictures.

Holly

Superbowl Soap Day

My soap doesn't really have anything to do with the super bowl, except I'll probably be making soap while it's on. I personally am rooting for the Saints mainly because they beat out the Cardinals, and if the Cardinals have to lose to somebody it mine as be the winners of the super bowl. Anywho, enough football talk. I got kind of a late start today on my blog so I apologize for that. I had family here visiting this morning, then I had to take Alexa shopping for her birthday that is coming up this Wednesday.

I did have to recall my spa sets this morning unfortunately. It's a great product and I actually tried the sugar body scrub last night and my skin is super smooth. The only problem is the grape seed seeps through the plastic bags I packaged them in. So until I find or rather am able to afford a better container it will be put on the shelf. However the bath salts store really nicely in the bags so I will probably list them separately.

Yesterday I figured out some cute packaging for my soap squares that are pictured above, they turned out even better in real life. I also made some lemon/green tea body scrub, which doesn't use as much oil as my other scrub and I will be able to list them soon.

My mother in law purchased a set of soap squares from me this morning, so now our budget is up to $15.73. Thank you so much Karen, I hope you enjoy them! Also today is my mother's and Karen's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU TWO!!! Now I am off to do some listing on my shop.

Holly

Day 21

What a busy morning I've had already. I dropped the kids off at school, then yesterday I sold my car (YEAH!!!) and had to pick up the notarized title from my husband today, went to the grocery store, went to the craft store, went to the bank to pay rent, to the post office, and finally back home, whew! Oh yeah, in between somewhere in there I stopped and got an egg mcmuffin with OJ, yummy.
So I've got some good news and some bad news about the craft store. Yesterday when I went my usual craft store was closed because it was Sunday, so I went to another down the street and I had amazing self control. I spent a little over five bucks on lavender fragrance, which I needed to finish my order, and some cute little bags for future packaging. Today however was a different story, I saw the cutest teddy bear molds, then these little pink and blue plastic bears I can put in the soaps, and then of course I needed more soap. I spent $11.54 today, which isn't bad because I printed off another 40% off coupon from the internet, but if you put that with yesterday's 5 bucks it adds up. Then my shipping cost were more than expected at a whopping $6.30, and I paid my etsy bill early because I don't want it sneaking up on me and it was $5.15. So the bad news is my bottom number which is now only $18.10. I am in absolutely in no way allowed to buy anything else for sure until we get that number up at least over 30 dollars. It makes me nervous being so low. I am still confident however, I have quite a bit of raw soap to make more and more inventory. I can't wait to do something with these little bears. Unfortunately my busy day is not over, I still have some English homework, housework, and finish the car transaction so I better get going

Bye,
Holly

Good Morning Everyone!

Today is day number 17 and I've got some stuff to do, but first I want to tell about how great day 16 was, yesterday! First of all we hit the 100 view point, but since then my blog got 37 views. That is incredible for just one day, I guess that recap helped. I was very productive yesterday, I posted four new soaps, mainly mini hearts. I also opened up a shop on zibbet.com. My shop address is www.zibbet.com/soapsandsuch1 , and it's still called Soaps and Such by Holly. I don't know how much I'm liking zibbet.com yet, it's very user friendly and looks professional. The only thing is my items were posted yesterday and they've only had two views, so I'm afraid that there might not be enough traffic. But who knows, it is completely free to use, so only time will tell. I also made some soap, cleaned half of my house, and made the cutest little tags pictured above. I though they would be handy to write what scent the soap is on the back when it's packaged.

Today I'm gonna try and clean the other half of my house, and maybe experiment with my soap making skills. So far I've been playing it safe by using molds, which isn't always as easy as it sounds, but I would like to make more bars of soap that have flowers and hearts and stuff in it. I've tried a couple of times so far, but my soaps bleed together, and I end up with a bunch of swirls. I was reading last night that you have to make sure your soap isn't too hot, but that is tricky because it hardens and cools really fast. Well we'll see how I do, later I will be sure to post some pictures whether they are good or bad, haha. For now I just realized I'm completely out of diapers except for swimmer diapers, and need to get Maddie dressed and run to the store. I almost dread going to the stores now because I have to use so much self control to not buy ice cube trays, or packaging supplies, or other business needs. I promise I'll stay strong!

Wish me luck,
Holly

Day 11

I found the greatest soap tutorial today on this great blog I'm subscribed to. Here is the link http://goplanetearth.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-designer-soap-fun-with-gpe-paper.html. The show how you can use water release paper that has print on it, to transfer onto soaps. I'm definitely going to use this idea, but the transfer paper is so expensive that I'm going to have to wait a little while. I already have a great idea on what I want to print, but it's a surprise so I can't tell you yet.

Today I'm bone dry outta raw soap, so I must go to my craft store again. I will try to stay strong and only by soap, but I was thinking that I might like to get another fragrance. I have enough molds for sure for now, and enough color dyes. I would like to get some more packaging ideas. I saw this vendor on Etsy that puts the cutest little tags on her soaps. Which reminds me I still need to make my business cards. Okay, I better get to work!

Holly

Day 8

Today I'm out of town to Yuma visiting my sister with my mom, and I managed to sneak away to do a little blogging and check on my shop. It look like our most popular item is the Mini heart soaps with a total of 17 views. I have a couples soaps back at home to put on Etsy. I don't know how much they weigh or I could add them while I'm here, so for now I'll give you readers a sneak preview of whats to come.

Facebook is such an amazing site along with Myspace, it has put me in touch with family and friends that I never thought I would be able to connect with or reconnect with. I have a second cousin all the way in Washington who saw that I was starting this project, and she has been helping spread the word. I've never met her face to face, so it is so nice to get this chance to learn a little more about her and the rest of my family, and it's all thanks to the internet.

Tomorrow I should have more of an update when I get home, so until then lets hope for a sale!!!

Holly

One week today!!!

So it's been seven days that I have been working on this project, lets recap and see what been accomplished.

1. We named the company, Soaps and Such by Holly
2. Fully supplied of soap making tools and raw soap
3. Have made and messed up soaps, but have came out with six successful products to sell
4. We have one online venue setup and ready for business. www.soapsandsuch.etsy.com
5. Social networking is in progress

Not bad for just seven days if I do say so myself. We have had no sales yet, but there are a lot of soap makers on etsy, so we need to find a way to stand out. I have a different shop on etsy that has been open for a little over a year, and has sold 16 items. It took a month before my first item sold, and I think I even lost money on that sale. I didn't go wholeheartedly into that shop, or I'm sure it would have been more successful. I still like to keep it around though, because even though I'm obsessed with soap making, I enjoy making all different kinds of things. My point is that we have a chance to make this shop turn a profit, I just gotta stay on top of it, and use every resource available!

Now that we a have a little bit of a foundation laid, what I would like to do in the coming week is:

1. Get some of those business cards printed out
2. Stay on top of the social networking
3. Maybe find another online venue
4. And hopefully sell something

I do however need to quit buying soap molds, they are just sooo hard to resist. Last night at Walmart I bought ten molds for nine dollars, that is such a steal because usually they are $1.99 each. I also found some cute little plastic bags with ties to use in my packaging for two dollars. It's my first week and I've spent over 50% of my budget. From now on till I make a sale, I'm only allowed to buy raw soap!

Happy 1 week,
Holly