the feto soap blog

Shopoholics Daily blogged out my Chocolate Bar Soap on their Wednesday’s Bath Goodies list. Thanks Guys!

Hello Lucky is restocked with my handmade soaps and dry oil perfume sprays.  Check them out during White Linen Nights this weekend!

Hello Lucky
1025 Studewood Street
Houston, Texas 77008
713-86hello - 713-864-3556
http://www.hello-lucky.com

Hello Lucky will be part of White Linen in The Heights
Saturday August 2, 4 - 10pm
We will be open from 11 am - 10 pm
serving up some cool libations after 4

# 47 on the White Linen map
shuttle stop- # 10 on the shuttle stop index
So if you live close by, you may just want to walk to Hello Lucky
or park nearby us and catch a free shuttle from the shop to take you around The Heights

more about White Linen at: http://www.whitelinennightheights.com/

Road Trip on view now
Artists:
Jim Denk, Rachel Hewlett, Jillsbadcar, Melissa Lonchambon,
Mike Lonchambon, Whitney Riley,
Brooke Summers-Perry, Vagrca, David Waddell, Joanne Witt

Ongoing
work by Ryan Geiger, Woody Golden, JoAnn Park, Christine West
and a collaborative video by Elaine Bradford, Teresa O’Connor and David Waddell

July/August Monthly Challenge
Throughout the months of July and August
we will be a drop spot for plastic shopping/grocery bags as well as fabric remnants.
Itscool2care will use these items to create reusable shopping bags. http://www.itscool2care.org

This quarter Hello Lucky is happy to be working with Glasstire. A portion of in-store sells will be donated to the non-profit http://www.glasstire.com

Road Trip on view in store now!

Hello Lucky
http://www.hello-lucky.com

New Shop Hours
Thursday 11 - 5
Friday and Saturday 11 - 6
*Sunday Noon - 5*
We will happily stay later,
just call us before 5pm
xox

or by appt, just call

you are amazing, you are

One of our members is out of a certain fragrance oil that’s not being manufactured at the moment. She sent out an email to our member list asking if any of us had some to spare. I happened to have a pound of it that I’m not using, so I’m shipping it out to her tomorrow. Instead of cash I wanted  the glass topped tins in a case she happens to carry in her store, so we’re going to barter for them! They are perfect for transporting samples. Everyone wins! It’s a great group of supportive soapmakers!

To become a member of the Texas Soapmakers Association (TSA), you must:
• manufacture handcrafted soap in a business or hobby capacity and/or sell soapmaking supplies.
• live or have a principal place of business in the State of Texas.

Benefits of Membership

• info and advice from experienced soapmakers
• New 3 month mentorship program available - limited spots available
• friendship
• use of the TSA logo
• discounts from member suppliers
• access to the members-only section of our website, with recipes, co-op listings, etc.
• quarterly TSA newsletter
• reduced admission to our annual conventions
• participation in our mailing list discussions

Membership Dues TSA Membership dues are $25 per fiscal year.

If you have questions about TSA membership, please contact the TSA Membership Chair at membership@txsoapmakers.org.  http://txsoapmakers.org

After I teach my soapmaking class the students fill out a feedback form with their comments. These comments are from the latest soapmaking class held on Sunday.

“Thank you for sharing your info and knowledge. This is so cool!”
“Really enjoyed it. It was very laid-back & comfortable.”
“Enjoyed it! Very informative and educational!”
“Good Class - very informative.” “Great Class!”

If you have taken one of my classes and have not filled out a feedback form, feel free to respond to this blog post or email me - lisa at feto soap dot com. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

If you missed this class and would like to attend a basic soapmaking class in Houston, TX, here’s the signup link! Private classes are also available.

My next soapmaking class is coming up this Sunday, July 27th

Soapmaking 101 with Lisa Chouinard of Feto Soap

In this class I will cover the basics on how to create your own soap from scratch with lye, water and soapmaking oils. It is a hands on class and everyone will have an opportunity to participate. I will provide the protective gear (gloves and goggles).

Class Number: R1020D Sun 2-5pm July 27th
Location: Houston JCC 5601 S. Braeswood

To register, go to Leisure Learning Unlimited’s Website:
http://llu.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=42614

or call them at 713.529.4414 with the class number R1020D.

fragrance oils from the txsoapers convention garage sale

I attended the Texas Soapmakers Association Annual Convention in Austin, TX over the weekend. It was jam packed full of great speakers, activities and soaping camaraderie. There aren’t many places I can geek out about soapmaking in person, so I’m always excited to gather with other like-minded individuals. I attended this convention last year, but didn’t meet nearly as many people as I did this year. This year I helped out with registration, so I got to ask EVERYONE their name so I could check them in and help them find their name badge. I also got to know the other soapmakers that were at the registration desk.  Sarah Bongle from Dallas specializes in making soap wedding favors with her company In the Soap Dish. She’s also signed up to be our new secretary. There were two soapmakers from Houston at the registration desk that I hadn’t met yet - Marcia Cunningham and Melanie Brown. Evelyn Martin from Lathers Del Corazon was at the other end of the registration table. She made an awesome smelling (and looking)  mp flip flop soap with a bead in it and leopard print embeds for the swap. 40 of us participated in the swap, so I took home a very large and heavy bag full of soap, candles, lotion, lip balm and bath salts. I’ll be sharing some of my swap goodies with my soapmaking class students this weekend.

During the Saturday night social there were raffles - (I won a Soap Hutch no line test mold!) & a soapers garage sale where I spent way too much money! The picture to the left is the stash I got compliments of Margie Lemons of Hill Country Haiku - I bought a few of those items, but the rest she just gave to me at the end of the garage sale. Her thank you note is in the mail. There was a Texas Natural Supply hosted a Make Your Own Bath Tea table (that’s where I get my base oils for my soap) and an essential oil smelling contest - if you guess the right essential oils, you got a prize!

In my goodie bag I got a sample of smokey patchouli from Bramble Berry. I was curious as to what it smelled like after hearing about it on the Bramble Berry blog and can’t wait to make a bar of soap with it.

My favorite speakers were Kelly Bloom from Southern Soapers - she spoke about Big Batch soapmaking, Mary Berry from Texas Beauty Labs - she shared her version of how she got wholesale accounts with her company B Pure, and four of our members shared their success stories/business models with us: Mama Says Wash!, A Wild Soap Bar, Roundtop Natural Soap and Shambhala Body Gallery.  They all have very different approaches to running their businesses.

A term that came up more than once during speakers talks was about creating a Life Plan before you write your business plan.  From Startup Nation:

“As we always say, plan your life, then plan your business. Some of the most successful and happy people we know are entrepreneurs who created a business that’s in perfect synchronicity with what they want out of life. If you do what you love, you’ll work harder, better and more happily.”

I can’t wait until next year’s convention.

Last year I was talking to a fellow microbusiness about google and she didn’t think that feto soap would come up in a search for handmade soap in houston. I had never googled those terms before and a computer happened to be nearby, so I punched in handmade soap in houston. Guess what? Feto Soap was the first result. Daisy Soap was the second result. I clicked on their link and they had the Texas Soapmakers Association logo prominently displayed. I hadn’t heard of it until then. They were showing that their annual convention was the following weekend, in Houston! On Monday I signed up for the convention. I participated in the bath & body products swap - and I came home with a canvas bag FULL of 40 handmade bath & body goods from my fellow Texas soapmakers. I’m glad that I had a conversation about google searches or I wouldn’t have learned about the Texas Soapmakers Association!

This year I am bringing one of my most popular soaps to the swap - Blackberry Sage. I packaged them in chinese take-out boxes. I can’t wait to see what my fellow soapmakers have created for the swap. If you click on the picture you’ll get to see more pictures (like what’s inside!)

Feto Soap will be vending at the Midtown Farmers Market Local Crafts Spree on Saturday, June 14th from 8am - Noon. The Midtown Farmers Market is located in the front of Monica Pope’s T’afia. 3701 Travis Street @ W. Alabama directions here.

SECOND SATURDAY SHOPPING SPREE!! Lots of local craft vendors on the patio such as Houston Craft Mafia Members Mandorla Designs and Eutectic Handcrafted Jewelry will be there! Shop Local and Shop Handmade!

Cheers!
Lisa Chouinard, Feto Soap

bike, originally uploaded by fetosoap.

I started locking my bike outside in our locked & gated parking lot like my neighbors were doing (hauling a bike up and down the stairs is no fun) and it was going well until last week when someone cut the lock off it in the middle of the night. I found out thmy neighbor’s bike had also been stolen.

I might invest in a folding bike at some point so I can store it in my trunk or apartment easily.