Supporting local causes

I really like to support "local". To this end, and for our health, we're trying to eat food that is grown locally and even bought a deep freeze to make this easier to do year 'round. I'll be freezing our fav summer foods over the next few weeks, especially berries!!

Other local things we're supporting:
The Kirkland Canine Festival
Please stop by the Pepo Park / Anandi's Laboratory booth & say "Hi". We'll have treats for the pups and for the peeps.

And, a cause not local to me, but perhaps local to you or to your interests.
The Crosby Mint Farm in St. Johns, Michigan is the oldest mint farm in the US. They're facing foreclosure in 23 days and are trying to sell drams of peppermint and spearmint to raise funds.
I'm a lover of essential oil so their predicament struck a chord with me. Check out their site and if you like what they have to say, buy a dram or 2 of their essential oil.

I know, you want to know how I helped the farm. I got 2 candles, some mint eo (the kit of 7 drams so that I can share the goodness) and some toffee. I can already smell the deliciousness in my mind's eye.

I hope to see you at the Juanita Farmer's Market or at the Kirkland Canine Festival! :)

Handcrafted Soapmaker's Guild Conference sneak peak

In May, I attended the Handcrafted Soapmaker's Guild Conference in Palm Springs, CA.

Next year, the conference will be held April 30-May 2 in Denver, CO.
Here's a preview of what you can expect.

I'm still blown away by the great stuff I learned and how nice everyone was. In a year where you're counting every penny, I was glad that I spent a few going to the conference.

Get local!

On July 3, I was at the Juanita Friday Night Market selling my soapy wares.

It was a great day to be at the market. The sun was out, it was hot.

It really felt like summer. And, great summer foods were plentiful.

Dog days. Dogs enjoy cool water that flows from QuilBay Oyster's coolers.

The Pepo Park booth was flanked by emilkman and Burton Brother Homemade Ice Cream.

It was very hard for me to be next to that delicious ice cream and I gave in early. After I tasted the flavors I hadn't tried yet, I chose cherry with choc chip.

I was visited by several friends. Neighbor Lynne who gave me a 1/2 pint of raspberries, Personal Trainer Evelyn and "Long Haired" Jen (I know a lot of people named Jen so they each have a nickname). Jen kept me company for most of the market and helped me pack up. She earned a free bar of ginger spice soap and a 1/2 flat of raspberries from Hayton Farms. I took another 1/2 flat home. Delicious!

Berries from Hayton Farms:

Other plentiful items: Cherries, apricots, squash, beans, peas, lettuce, flowers and more.

A gorgeous bouquet designed by Moua Gardens just for Independence Day.

Fruits and squash from Family Pepper:

And, don't forget the crafts. Soap (of course!), jewelry, carved stones, Bottlecrap, glass, clothing and the kids' booths.

Bottlecrap:

The market is weekly through October. Come visit!

Pepo Park visits Australia

I've been off line for a few weeks. Shawn and I went on a long overdue vacation to Australia. We haven't been on a real vacation for a while and I haven't been to Australia for 25 years. So, overdue in a few ways.

Anyway, on to the most important topic: Soap!!

I was very pleased to meet two soap makers. Kary of Blossoms In Cream and Shirley of A Slice of Soap.

Kary makes beautiful cold process cake & cupcake soaps as well as regular bar soaps. They all smell great and the cake & cupcake soaps are beautiful. She sells at the Windsor Craft Market on the 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month. I bought a cupcake (mouthwatering lime), a slice (looks like a latte but smells like Peru balsam), and 3 regular bars. Kary uses essential oils to scent her soaps like I do. For information, contact Kary at blossoms.cream (at) bigpond.com.

The cupcake and slice I bought: Kary's display of cake and cupcake soaps:Shirley from A Slice of Soap makes beautiful dessert soaps out of melt and pour. My personal favorite was her licorice allsort, despite my strong dislike for the real food. :) They are beautiful and colorful. Shirley has a store in Cremorne and also sells at The Rocks Weekend Market.

Cake. Admit it, you'd like to eat that!
Chocky cupcakes:Licorice allsorts:I don't know what you call these, but if you could eat them, I would. Note the layered hearts on the left. I can taste the strawberries! Pie, jello & cupcakes:
It was a great trip. And, as you can see, great soap!

Juanita Friday Market recap

It was gorgeous on the shores of Lake Washington on Friday. Sunny, the perfect temperature...
People were happy to be out and about on such a lovely day.

We offered special pricing on some items to celebrate opening day of the market. And, everyone who purchased something got a free lip balm. We were really pushing the new flavor (chocolate orange truffle from Brambleberry) because it smells so great!

The Pepo Park booth:
Left side:
Right side:
Soap:
Salve:

Some of the other items for sale: flowers, herbs, baked goods, veggies, jewelry, batik, glass, honey, dips, soup (can't wait for the Thai Pumpkin in the fall), and seafood. And, ready to eat: kettle corn, gyros, crepes, and hot dogs. During the course of the afternoon & evening, I had 2 gyros, kettle corn and a lemonade.

Beautiful herbs from Mt. Vernon Herbs:
Poppies. I swear, they are real:

First of the season garlic. Delicious!

We'll be there next week! I'm looking forward to getting more people hooked on handcrafted soap and seeing what else the farmer's will be bringing in!

Juanita Friday Market opens today!!

We're introducing two new products today. And, we'll have special opening day offers including free lip balm for the first 50 purchasers.

The new products are Mozz Off and the chocolate orange truffle lip balm. The Mozz Off is looking pretty darn good in our new packaging.

My engineer Dad

Dad is labeling lip balm. He had a great idea - a line on the tubes to help you line up the labels so they go on straight.

Thanks, engineer Dad!

He's labeling my newest lip balm - chocolate orange truffle. Got it at Brambleberry. It's smells so good, it's sick!

Dad putting shrink bands onto the lip balm