12.19.08
Holiday Update!
Our treasure chest full of holiday goodies for this year.
I’m sorry to have been slow to update this blog. My dear friend nudged me…said she had checked the blog for a Christmas update…so on this very gray, rainy day, I’m putting everything aside, mostly to wish friends, readers and fellow soapers a warm, sudsy holiday.
It’s actually been slow here. I had one fantastic holiday show, caught a memorable head cold that kept me in bed for days, had to cancel (or risk infecting half of Frankfort) another show I was looking forward to, and have been only now regathering strength. I’m way behind on soap production. This has been an excellent end-of-year for Anna’s EsSCENTials Bodycare, and I should also thank all those people who made special efforts to put our good olive oil soaps in Christmas stockings all over Kentucky. I’ve had a steady stream of people up here in the studio, and I tried to do more “gift-y” things this year, although that is definitely not my forte!
Finally this week I got back in production. I’m completely out of a few favorite kinds, and I try never to let that happen. I also have a couple new ones I want to get into serious production. The Rose Clay Cleanser (an olive oil bar with rose clay and shea butter) was warmly received when I did a trial run this fall. My next target date is Feb. 19-22 in Louisville, where I will attend the Kentucky Crafted trade show. Given that soap cures for a month before going out to shows and shelves, that means by mid-January I have to be all caught up with production.
With the bad economic news everywhere, next year may be a true challenge. I’d like to hear from other soapers about their plans. Right now I’ve not made any changes beyond watching sales carefully and considering cutting the number of kinds of soaps I make.
But for now, let’s just kick back and enjoy what we have, including wonderful friends who keep our spirits up by prodding us to update blogs. Happy holidays, everyone!
Sharon