The Joy of Soap

Feature Friday - Organic Handmade Home Textiles

Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity ~ Bo Bennett

In my search for new pot holders and oven mitts I found these beautiful handmade organic cotton home textiles at katherine j lee's Etsy shop. Aren't these gorgeous? Katherine J. Lee is an artist based in San Francisco and her current home accessories line (including bed and table linens) is inspired by Katherine’s original illustrations. The designs are intended to be both funny and beautiful—a means of encouraging engagement and pleasure with objects found in the home every day. I just love that all items are hand-sewn, hand-stenciled, and hand-printed by Katherine on 100% natural cotton, linen, and flax.

Check out more of her designs in her shop. Here are a few more of my favorite items.

Katherine uses water-based inks and reminds us that all of her items are handmade and that "because these patterns are made through a hand-printed process, please don't be concerned by slight irregularities. Each difference is a beautiful reminder that a *human* made these, not a machine." Nice.

                   

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

   
 

Feature Friday - Contemporary Handmade Throw Pillow Covers

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes homes and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow ~ Lyn Yutang

Recently I have been looking at our old and tired pillows in the living room thinking that it may finally be time to recover them. We use these pillows daily, and frankly we can't hide the stains very well at this point. So, yes, it is time to look for updated decorative throw pillow covers.

Of course I am looking for handmade covers and found this great shop on Etsy - Lynne's This and That. Lynne hand makes beautiful (and reasonably priced) throw pillow covers using quality fabrics. You will find great funky and retro patterns. Take a look around her gallery.

Here are some of the fabrics that caught my eye.

      

Please let me know if you have other suggestions of where I should look for handmade pillow covers.

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

   
 

Whimsical Wednesdays

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats ~ English Proverb   

I am always impressed and inspired by people designing, developing and making wonderful handmade items beyond the bath and body world, and I'd like to show off some of my favorite things starting with the Couch Bumper Cat Scratcher. This is a cat scratcher that will save your couch!

Some people are lucky, and their cats use scratching posts and cardboard boxes without any issues. For those other cat guardians who have tried towers, standing scratching posts, double sided tape, negative aromas, aluminum foil, and both positive and negative reinforcement with no luck this may be the solution for both you and your cat/s.
The Couch Bumper is hand constructed with much care and attention to detail and the highest quality materials are used. Look for these details:

* Staples used to attach scratching material - no glue in order to allow the piece to last longer.

* Heavy-duty 4mm braided, hand-wrapped sisal rope.

* High quality Baltic Birch wood, no particle board, so it will withstand your kitties abuses while being attractive to you.

* Sturdy base that sits under your couch leg making the bumper stable and secure.

* Attractive and neutrally stained to fit any room décor.

* Catnip infused sisal to attract kitty right away.

The Couch Bumper is available in two heights: 18” and 22”.

You can find all of the details on couchbumper's Etsy page.

If you have other cat scratching remedies please share them.

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

   
 

Whimsical Wednesdays

Anyone's life truly lived consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit.  ~Lillie Langtry

As a fan of glass and handmade home goods I would like to introduce you to BPR Designs and their unique handmade fused glass creations. They make some beautiful soap dishes, both large and small sizes, in addition to dishes, platters and other home decor pieces.

Here are some of my favorite soap dishes:

Blue and White Streaky Glass Soap Dish by BPR Designs

Clean and White Glass Soap Dish by BPR Designs

Photos of your favorite funky bath and beauty items are welcome. Please share them with us.

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

   
 

Shower Together with Two in the Shower Tea Tree Handmade Soap

Everyone who has taken a shower has an idea. It's the person gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference. ~Nolan Bushnell

Several times over the past week I had conversations with many people about a recurring topic - people with an idea or ideas who do something with them, and people who have ideas who do nothing with them. Why do some people act on their ideas, and other people choose to just dream?   

There are numerous answers to this question: fear, not knowing how to move from idea to production, resources (human and financial), knowledge, lack of dedication, laziness, and simply being content with having an idea. 

 What works best for me in moving from idea to reality? I think best, vet ideas and piece together action plans when cleaning or gardening. I won't go into detail about why this works for me (if you really want to know just ask), and I am curious about what works for other people. My husband has always worked through ideas and projects while showering so after last week I decided that perhaps I could partner my love of cleaning with showering, commingling my best thinking process (cleaning) with my husband's best thinking process (showering). ... 

What better soap to use than Two in the Shower Tea Tree. This vegan handmade soap begins with a base of organic oils and uses therapeutic grade lavender and tea tree essential oils. Lavender essential oil is soothing and healing, and is also known to relieve tension. Tea tree essential oil also provides healing and anti-bacterial properties. The added green tea powder provides a fun design to the soap while bringing anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial properties as well. Good clean fun.

 

Enjoy and remember,

Pamper Your Skin

Indulge Your Senses

Tell us what inspires you to dream.

 

Whimsical Wednesdays

There's no half-singing in the shower, you're either a rock star or an opera diva. ~Josh Groban

Here at The Joy of Soap we are always looking for ways to recycle and reuse products and packaging and love this folding soap dish handmade from recycled chopsticks:

You can find this handmade dish at Uncommon Goods. The artist  lived in China for several years and decided to do something about the huge numbers of wooden chopsticks that are thrown away. Before becoming soap dishes, the chopsticks are boiled in black tea to give them a medium brown color. 

Photos of your favorite funky bath and beauty items are welcome. Please share them with us at joyofsoap@gmail.com

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

   
 

Feeling Frisky Handmade Soap

All women are flirts, but some are restrained by shyness, and others by sense. ~Anonymous

The first soap we created at The Joy of Soap, and our most popular, is Feeling Frisky. The most common words used to describe this soap are 'fresh scent', 'mild', 'refreshing' and 'soothing'.
We agree.

The combination of citrus essential oils is pleasing, light and mildly stimulating. No overpowering scents with this soap.

The calendula flowers petals provide some color and a gentle, soothing exfoliant.  

 


*We only use therapeutic grade essential oils

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

 

Whimsical Wednesdays

There's no half-singing in the shower, you're either a rock star or an opera diva. ~Josh Groban

I love vintage home goods, and found this adorable soap dish by PrairieCoastArt on Etsy:

I just love the floral design and handmade look. 

Photos of your favorite funky bath and beauty items are welcome. Please share them with us at joyofsoap@gmail.com Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

Manly Man Soap

Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor. ~Benjamin Disraeli

When many men find out that I make soap they look at me funny, and try to think of something to reply besides "oh" or "huh, interesting". I am used to this response so now I make sure to provide them with a sample so they can try handmade soap and experience for themselves just how much better it is than commercially made soaps.

Manly Man was made specifically with our male customers in mind. It has a very mild 'clean' scent, and the added finely ground pumice provides mild exfoliation. The sweet orange essential oil adds a faint citrus scent along with anti-bacterial properties, and the tea tree essential oil adds an additional anti-bacterial property to this handmade soap.

And, yes ladies, this soap is gentle enough for
you too.


*All of our soaps are made using therapeutic grade essential oils

Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses

Whimsical Wednesdays

There's no half-singing in the shower, you're either a rock star or an opera diva. ~Josh Groban

I love this idea for a soap dish. It's nice to look at and self-draining which is important to help your handmade soaps last longer.   If you're handy directions for making this can be found here: http://www.hgtv.com/crafting/funky-soap-dish/pictures/index.html Photos of your favorite funky bath and beauty items are welcome. Please share them with us at joyofsoap@gmail.com Pamper your skin   Indulge your senses