A Forbidden Fruit: Cold Process Soap


I have a hobby that I've been forbidden to partake in for eight months now, and it's been driving me absolutely insane! Back at the beginning of October last fall, I had just gotten a huge box from Diana's Sugar Plum Sundries in the mail - and was looking forward to slaving away on my next day off for hours and hours in my kitchen.

Two days later, I found I was pregnant.

I worried about the lye fumes, so I waited until I could ask the doctor. He agreed, and laid down the law - No Soap. *cries*

Last month, I spotted two silicone 'pans' that would make amazing soap molds - for $2 a piece. Can't beat that, I snagged them up. And they've been staring pointedly at me every time I'm in the kitchen - crying to be put to use.


Activated Charcoal & Titanium Dioxide Swirl;
Scented with Tea Tree Essential Oil

Soooo, last night, I talked Brian into letting me use one - on the sole condition that he handle the lye solution completely to minimize any fume inhalation on my part. He agreed!

And the result? Can I say I still got it?

Though, I found out today that he acquired himself a tiny little lye burn (like a tiny little spot, but still!) - on purpose. This is my boyfriend, and his morbid curiosity. When I asked what the hell he did, even after I told him to be extremely careful - his response?

"I've seen Fight Club..."

Definitely my boyfriend. <3

Spotlight: The Botanist


It's not even the dawn of Spring anymore, but I'm just getting into the swing of things. These lovely finds really captured my spirit this morning, refreshing and crisp.



Beautiful Etsy finds, goodness, how I love thee!

The Ultimate Promo Giveaway: And the winner is....



For the month of May, we ran a super giveaway giving Etsians a chance to claim their favorite products from our shop for FREE!

And today is the sad sad day that giveaway came to end - well, sad for everyone except one lucky person.....

And that lucky person was Comment #2 (oh yes, Random.Org's random number generator chose #2!)

"I love your shop! I am glad it has started to take off for you. I had a hard time coming up with an Ultimate Promo package only because it was hard to pick a few items. I think I could use everything in your shop.

The logo stickets would be very handy (the round ones) and I think the scratch off cards would be a fun thing for customers. Who doesn't like to scratch off things like that. The boutique bags would be handy as well, I am doing my first craft show ever this weekend.

As far as a new product for the shop: Maybe some custom printed price tags. That could have the shop logo on one side/website, etc. and on the back you could handwrite the price of the product."
So congratulations, Ariela (reallybadkitty) of RBK Creations! We'll be contacting you about your new Promo Pack, including logo stickers, scratch off cards, and boutique bags! How exciting!

We want to thank everyone else who entered the Ultimate Promo Giveaway, so.... until May 25th at Midnight CST get a free 60 count 1" logo sticker pack with the purchase of any other item in our shop! Just use the promo code 'UltimatePromo525' when you check out in the Notes to Seller.

Looking forward to more Giveaway fun? Don't miss our upcoming feature, Maker's Mark!

New Blog Feature: Maker's Mark


Maker's Mark Logo

Maker's Mark is a new feature coming to Self Production Design's blog here in June.

What is it?
Everyday, I get the opportunity to work with the skilled artisans and entrepreneurs from all over Etsy land - providing them with the time saving and affordable promotional products we offer our customers. I wish that each and every seller I've gotten to work with the greatest amount of success on Etsy they can imagine, they all deserve it -- and now I'm going to try to help!

Maker's Mark will be featuring crafters and creators that can be found selling on Etsy every week. We'll tell you all about the brilliantly talented people we get to work with, what we've done to help them in their business, and give you the chance to win lovely products from their stores on Etsy.

I want to read about talented Etsy Sellers and get the chance to win cool stuff!
When does this start?!

Maker's Mark debuts on June 28th, 2009 and I'll keep the party rolling every Sunday, so make sure to stay tuned and get your follow on (if you haven't already!) Each Maker's Mark will be active and on display for a week, so make sure to check back every Sunday for the new edition!

I'm Etsy Seller, feature me!
Maker's Mark is a special program put together in conjunction with Self Production Design's products and services. You don't have to buy anything, though! Self Production Design is offering our products for yours, with the understanding that we'll be including you in Maker's Mark. However, this is not a free-for-all! Self Production Design will be choosing sellers to participate very carefully based on various factors - including but not limited to level of professionalism and seriousness, product type and quality, shop/store appearance, and my overall taste.

Take a look at this Etsy Thread if you are interested in becoming apart of Self Production Design's Maker's Mark and leave us a comment if you are interested. We'll contact you if we feel you're the right fit for the Maker's Mark program. :)