Springtime in the mountains

I am a bad blogger. I am a bad blogger. I am a bad .... oh well, you get the point!

I've actually been pretty busy lately, making soap and candles in preparation for the first festival of the season. Yesterday we were selling our wares at the Appalachian Growers Fair, in beautiful Dillsboro, NC. This was a first time event, to raise funds for the Monteith Homestead. The day started out raining, but by the time we got set up and the fair opened, the sun was indeed shining. It was a beautiful day, and we did pretty well in sales. I've been making and selling jewelry for about 5 years now, but during the last 2 years I've been converting over to soapmaking. There are way too many jewelry folks in my neck of the woods! (Franklin is the Gem Capital!) So, this at this event, I had soap, candles and jewelry! I heard from several customers that I had the best booth there!

Soapmaking is fun, and we love using my homemade soap. It's mild and makes your skin feel good! And all the different scents are heavenly. I make my soap from scratch, starting with lye and water, and adding that to my selected oils. I use the hot process, where you cook the soap in the oven for a while. Makes a nice soap, kind of rustic looking. I have also done cold process and liked that too. The cold process lets you have more time to make swirls and such with your colors, or to do layering. Either way produces a good product. There is just nothing like a nice handmade soap!

My soap company is called Lily and the King Handmade Soap. I can hear you - "Where in the world did you get that name?" Ok - Susan (my real name) means lily, and the King is my husband - King Louis! Hey, we like it. Louie has set up a website for me. It's in the early stages, and we have LOTS to add to it, but you can check it out at www.lilyandtheking.com We took lots of soap pics yesterday, so hopefully we'll get it all updated soon!

Now I'm gonna be looking for some more fairs and festivals to sell my goodies. There are farmers markets and flea markets available as the weather gets warmer, so I've gotta get out there!

Hope to see you out enjoying our wonderful mountains!