October’s Bath Bomb of the Month is Perfect Pumpkin! It smells like a Sweet Autumn pumpkin topped with the perfect touch of cinnamon and clove. Sweet sugary maple adds the finishing touch to this fabulous fall fragrance.
Sign up here or click on the picture to get this bomb in time for Halloween! I ship them all out mid-month, so you have a few weeks!
I’m also offering mini versions of these here in my Etsy store and they look like this:
Do you have plans this weekend? If you want a fun, family friendly event to go to, check out the Austin Maker Faire this weekend. Get your tickets here! It’s all day on Saturday and Sunday, and on Sunday there will be free chair massages for moms!
I’ll have my Make Your Own Soap and Make Your Own Nail Polish stations there! I’m the red X on the map below! You’ll be able to make custom soaps and nail polishes right on the spot.
I’m back at this wonderful 4-week long shopping event, held at The Linc Shopping Center, in the Marchesa Hall and Theater 6226 Middle Fiskville Road. It’s open 7 days a week, 10am to 10pm through Dec 24th and I keep my booth chock full of all of your feto soap favorites!
Vanessa has an Equity Endeavor going on to raise funds for her new art studio expenses. She started out as a traveling art business as the only teacher (I can relate… I’m a traveling educator as well!) and believes that anyone can create art (I want to enable anyone to create bath & body products.) so I think her dream of having a brick and mortar where people can go to learn the skills of creating art is worthy of your support. Please give what you can give.
Here’s a short video about her mission:
She invited me to take part at her open house/grand opening this week by bringing a hands-on project. I brought my make your own nail polish setup and invited my friends to join in on the fun.
We both were in the workstudy program at Bikram Yogagroove when it was still open. Her new art studio is next door to Bikram Yoga East Austin. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from the Bikram community in support of her studio opening. There were awesome raffle prizes, like a gift card to Kome Sushi, Business Coaching, 2K in website design, a month of Bikram classes & more! I won a painting class at Art & Soul, and my friend Joyce from Huckleberry won the website design raffle prize!
My next walk-up nail polish making workshop is at the SXSW Renegade Craft Fair Thursday – Sunday, March 13, 14 + 15th Noon – 8pm open to the public at the Palmer Events Center. 
I attended a talk during SXSW Interactive last year where the illustrator reminded us how we need to practice drawing every day, because it enables us to communicate our ideas visually. In the same spirit, I think anyone can learn how to draw/make. Here’s a free book that will teach you how to draw, including some pictures and guides from the easy and cool things to draw collection I found online. She even goes over color theory!
A review of the book resonated with me, because I love to empower my students to make their own products:
“She takes even the most non-artistic reader and empowers them to think brilliantly using visual language.” -Sunni Brown
She’s sharing her book with the world at no cost until March 5th: ” Discovery Doodles: The Complete Series” today at: http://doodleinstitute.com/#section3.
Last Sunday, I went to @nailsyall‘s Advanced Nail Art Class. I signed up for it by mistake! I meant to sign up for the Beginning Class, but as it turned out, I was the only beginner to sign up, so Meghann invited me to the Advanced class. She caught me up to speed by reviewing how to do an ombre, tiger stripes and leopard spots. I chose a tan and deep blue for my first ombre.
We had the option of practicing on our nails or on a nail wheel. Most of the people I know who do nail art use a plastic yogurt container top as their palette, but Meghann uses small pieces of foil. She had us tear off little pieces of a makeup sponge to use for our ombre. My favorite designs were the ikat (southwest diamond weave pattern that’s made it’s way back into current fashions) and the lady eye. The most difficult design for me was the tribal nail design (stripes, dots and triangles!) and the leopard (think in terms of three when you outline!). My wheel is the one that’s front and center: 
I painted over the leopard with my favorite citron green color. She also taught us how to make a shattered glass look and how to make turquoise with plastic wrap. She may have covered more, but the tribal nail took me FOREVER, so I may have been still working on that one! Meghan said that it sometimes takes up to three hours for her to finish a tribal nails pattern on a client! Wowzers! Since I didn’t get to attend the beginning class, she gave me a copy of the zine she illustrated for the first class (she’s also a talented cartoonist) along with other goodies + tips on how to use them. I promptly lost my black striper brush as soon as I got home, so I ordered a whole set of 25. You might be thinking “You ordered nail polish? But you make nail polish!” Yes! I ordered nail polish! Striper polishes are those nail polish bottles that have a super thin brush like an eyeliner brush. I did some research online and couldn’t find any at a reasonable price. It actually cost less for me to buy a set of 25 stripers ($20 shipped) than to buy 25 empty striper brush bottles! I may not have looked hard or long enough, and didn’t go to any local stores, so I might be able to find some there! And you know after I find some, I will totally be making my own striper nail polishes!
Another thing you might be thinking is “Why did you go to a nail art class?” so I’ll answer it just in case: I am a formulator, designer & teacher. I make & teach others how to make their own nail polish (any color I desire whether it be a creme, shimmer or glitter bomb) but that doesn’t make me an nail technician (like the talented Meghann) or expert on nail art. (not yet anyway! I have a lot of practicing to do!) Nail art is something that takes practice, like any other skill, amirite?
Meghan’s next nail art demonstration is at The Thinkery, March 6th, 7-9pm.
and I’ll be teaching my next walk-up nail polish making workshops at SXSW Create on Friday, Saturday & Sunday March 7-9, 11am- 6pm at the Austin Mini Maker Faire booth. It’s at the Long Center 701 W. Riverside
and at SXSW Renegade Craft Fair March 13, 14 + 15th Noon – 8pm at the Palmer Events Center.Â
Both of these events are FREE and open to the public.Â
A SXSW Guest Pass is required to attend this and many other free SXSW events. Get yours on site at Renegade or in advance at multiple Austin locations. More information here.
I had fun making these and spreading the love for Valentine’s Day. I met with Mazzi Peled of Latika Soap for happy hour early this week and was able to give her one. Â I accidentally spilled some of my pink sugar perfume on it, and she was asking me “What is that smell coming out of your purse!” so I ended up giving her a scented valentine! What a happy accident since she loves the smell. We have similar philosophies about formulating & designing, so I love getting to chat with her.
Another way I choose to spread love is through teaching. Each fall I take on an adult intern at feto soap. They usually are on their way to starting their own bath & body business, but want some help learning techniques and production from an established business.
Last year, Kelly Darby of Lucy Kat Soaps was my fall intern. I taught her how to make soap & bath bombs, and she helped me package my products during the fall of 2013. We worked out an arrangement of both in-studio and take-home tasks (like entering emails into a spreadsheet & some packaging duties) because she lives in N. Round Rock and has two young children at home. She was super-organized about her babysitting schedule, so would let me know a week ahead when her studio or take-home task availability was. She also helped me at shows when she was available!
Unbeknownst to us, we had a couple of interests and people in common, like Taylor from Nothing But a Pigeon, a love for yoga and NPR. When she’s not busy chasing after her little ones, she’s working at a yoga studio part-time (like I did!) while she makes her fabulous party favors.
I had the pleasure of having both of them over for a pre-Valentine’s Day
lunch complete with chocolates and champagne! Since I didn’t want us all getting tipsy, I made a variation of Profanity Salmon for us while we snacked on the goat cheese and noshes Kelly brought over. I was too busy eating them to get a picture!
Find great gifts for him + luxurious pampering treats for her this Saturday at Opal Divine’s Penn Field! If your not sure which brand of beard products to get him then check out these two brands Beard Czar vs Beardilizer. It’s my first market of the year, so let’s start if off with a BANG! I can’t wait to see you all at the The Austin Flea.
Here’s the full vendor list where you are sure to find your little sweet somethings. AfterWhileCrocodile | All With Love | *annemarie* |AustinShrooms | Babybolt | The Burlap Bag | byLillian |Chaos Card Co. | ChetArt | chia hats | Confituras |Coterie Market |Crafts by Casaverde |Crayonblood Studio |Custom Cozies | Dan’s Bird Feeders |Dish It Out Jewelry | elizarosedesigns | Fat Cat Studio | feto soap | Fleegal Farms | Hidden Dragon Art | inviting: letterpress boutique | jenheartsart | JLLM (Judge Less Love More) |Kayci Wheatley | Kelly D Tees |Lena Damvar Art | Lip Glosserie | Liz Potter Photography | Meow Kapow! |Metalsgirl |Monica L. Knighton,Illustration |Monster Dance Designs |Nothing but a Pigeon |Pigsey Art |Rich Girl Vintage |Robo Roku|Sew Kors |sibbotery|Solid Earth Design |Stitch Happy Boutique |Tasty Jewerly |Victrola Design |Willow Tree Works
I got my first custom vinyl car decal order from a friend of mine, Manue of Pretty Kiku last week. (even before I had announced that I was starting custom sign business. It was like she knew!) She wasn’t sure what size she wanted, so I sent her some mockups to give her an idea, and had her measure to see how big she would like the decal to be.
I had to make a tiny thank you card to go with it, of course!
This is a great video that shows you how to apply a decal to your car:
We decided to trade for a pair of earrings I had started eyeing at the Blue Genie Art Bazaar. She’s sending me these: Style #4. I love black and gold right now, so they are perfect! I had a hard time choosing between styles #2 and #4 because I’m really into floral motifs, but it’s the one with most gold, so I went for it. My hair is black, so I usually like to wear lighter earrings for some contrast if my hair is not up.
We made lots of soap at the Formula 1 US Grand Prix in the Kiddie Zone Tent. They requested all the toys we had to be racing themed, so some of our soaps ended up looking like this:
On the last day of the races, Pitbull put on a concert right next to my tent!
Create your own nail polishes! Create your own nail polishes! Make one or make as many as you’d like at the ATX Hackerspace located at 9701 Dessau Rd, Suite 304, Austin, Texas 78754 on Saturday, July 27th from Noon – 5pm. It’s a walk-up event, so no RSVP required! $6 to make a mini polish or $10 to make two!
I have 80+ micas & 30+ glitters to choose from to combine custom nail lacquers on the spot. Make sheer, opaque or glitter-bomb polishes!
You can also bring your existing polishes to make new blends with them!
Plan on spending just minutes creating and mixing your polishes under the guidance of Lisa Chouinard, owner of feto soap!
If you have any questions, please call 512.850.5472 or email lisa@fetosoap.com.
Don’t wait! Schedule your nail polish party for yourself or a loved one today. Great for birthday parties, bridal showers & batchlorette paries! Call 512.850.5472 or email me at lisa@fetosoap.com.
What people are saying about our Nail Polish Parties!
“I went to one of Lisa’s parties and had an absolute BLAST! There were so many colors and glitters to choose from; I had fun picking out my own colors while seeing what others chose. Lisa was warm and inviting, as well as instructional and informative. I felt like she really cared about my experience and I look forward to going to another one of her parties!” – Miranda B.
Look at the beautiful soap my student made in my soap making class today! She scented her soap with Bergamot Essential Oil and English Tea Rose, and topped it off with rosebuds! In our Soapmaking 101 Class we make a batch of cold-process soap from start to finish and cover how to scent, color, mold your soaps as well as where to purchase soapmaking supplies.
Janet’s daughter made a pretty purple soap scented with blackberry sage. She added some oatmeal for gentle exfoliation!
Today I taught another hands-on class, this one about making body butters: a solid one (also called massage bars or lotion bars), whipped body butter and emulsified sugar scrubs. Here’s a shot of my student pouring the massage bars into the molds:
Couzue drove from Houston, TX to learn how to make body butters & sugar scrubs with me. She had made a couple of things before on her own buying things from the grocery store, but wanted to get some hands-on instruction and to learn more about bath & body ingredients & where to source them. Every class I teach comes with a Resource List where I share my favorite suppliers. We made oval-shaped Massage Bars in Honey Almond, Whipped Shea Butter in Coconut scent and Emulsified Sugar Scrubs in Creme Brule, all completely from scratch. Couzue wanted to keep things as natural as possible, so we didn’t didn’t use any dyes to color the products we made. We added Yellow Brazillian Clay to our sugar scrub which gave it a nice golden hue & packed it into amber jars with black lids.
Plan a memorable birthday party with us! For Kait’s 12th birthday, she invited 13 of her closest friends and they made bath salts, lip balm & nail polishes all in custom scents and their favorite colors at their home in Round Rock, TX! 
Email me to book a memorable party for your child! lisa@fetosoap.com or call me at 512.850.5472
I have been teaching a lot this year! Just last week I taught a couple from Temple, TX how to color, scent & make designs in soap. We practiced swirling soap, making a “pencil line” in soap & made soap cakes with our leftover soap.
If there’s a soapmaking technique you want to try, but would like some instruction / hand holding, don’t hesitate to contact me for help. I’ve been making handmade soap for 10 years now & can help you troubleshoot the issues you might be facing as a new soapmaker.
Soapmaking lessons are taught at my studio located at 360/2222 in Austin, TX.
lisa@fetosoap.com â— Â 512.850.5472
None of these are sponsored links. I only write about what I love! I love to eat!
This week’s haul from Cedar Park Farms to Market included fresh veggies from Johnson’s Backyard Garden, Balsamic Vinegar from Texas Hill Country Olive Co., coffee beans roasted in my former hometown Houston, TX from Katz Coffee and bread & pastries from Sweetish Hill Bakery. While I was at the market Sierra and I ate tamales from the Tamale Place. I eat their tamales for lunch on most Saturdays! This week I tried their nopales (cactus) tamales and they were so delicious!
I had never made french toast with success until today! P.J. showed me how easy it was with Sweetish Hill Bakery’s sliced baguette. Here is how they turned out! Other goodies I picked up at their booth were the Coconut Macaroons, which I took to a birthday party, the Ginger Snaps & Chocolate Chip cookies with nuts! Also picked up a Wheat Bread loaf and Sunflower & Flaxseed for sammiches later this week!
Today’s juice from Johnson’s Backyard Garden: Organic Beet, Carrot, Kale, Mung Beans I sprouted and Apple and Ginger from the store.
Crackers I made yesterday from my juicing pulp. I followed AM’s recipe loosely to make them. I made them on a silicone baking mat in my oven & have since eaten them all! I love how there’s no waste when you make crackers with your juice pulp! What do you do with your juice pulp? I have made vegetable broth with my juicing pulp and might start composting it on my patio so we can start a garden. Microbial Earth is also at the market, so I might pick up some of their bran to get my compost on. or make LOTS of crackers. Either way, I need something to do with all the pulpy leftovers from my daily juice.
One reason I picked up the Balsamic Vinegar this week is because we eat the crusty baguettes from Sweetish Hill almost every week, and I wanted something to dip it in!
We are going to drink the coffee we bought from Katz Coffee’s table and I might use a little of it in my Kitchen Coffee Soap.
What did you get from the farmers market this week? and what are you going to do with it?
Guess who is a the newest vendor at Cedar Park Farms to Market? This gal!
I’ll be there on Saturday morning from 9am – 1pm with my lotion bars, sugar scrubs, soaps & market specials!
Cedar Park Farms to Market is located at Lakeline Mall behind Sears & Dillard’s and has around 40 vendors at this time of year, including these!
If you would like something you have seen online and would like me to bring it to the market on Saturday, place your order and use code CPF2M for free delivery to the market.
I can’t wait to see your smiling happy faces on Saturday! Is there anything you want to see at the market? Please let me know in your comments below!
These soaps start out green & transparent. I scented them with green tea. Then I paint each one by hand with bronze mica. They are here just in time for the Chinese New Year and will look great on your soap dish! Â Chinese New Year is on January 23rd.
Separately each soap will cost $4, but if you buy a set of two – $6 and set of 4 will be $12. The sets are packaged in real Chinese take-out containers!
If you need them for your asian-themed event or your store, let me know how many you would like & I will get you bulk pricing information! lisa@fetosoap.com or 512.850.5472.