Handmade Spark - Country Soaps by Marlene

Handmade Spark - Country Soaps by Marlene

Something new I'm trying out. I'm excited to see how this works.

How does your garden grow? part 2

With plenty of rain and lots of heat the garden is thriving.  These pictures were taken by my daughter, Angie 14.  All of this lead to lots of canning for me. 

Country Soaps Challenge

     I need your help.  I want to be able to put my soap in a consignment shop BUT I can't have any of my contact information listed.  My labels have taken me over 3 years to develop.   I'm not a computer wiz and am self taught with what I do know.  Here's my challenge....You, my customers, are going to help me.  I need a creative way to cover up my contact info.

     According to the FDA since I make no claims on my soap it doesn't fall into the drug category.  So with that being said, the ingredients could be covered up and don't need to be listed.  I've always listed the ingredients out of kindness to my customers.  Because we don't know how many soaps were talking about at this time I need an idea to hide the information on the soaps that go to the consignment shop.  This will make it easier for me to just pull from my existing inventory. 
     This time of year I'm busy making soaps for the upcoming holiday season, so this is where YOU come in.  You'll need a box from my soap and come up with a creative way to cover my info.  I have fabric around here, scrapbook paper, ribbon and other various crafting items.  Please try not to make it complicated or me needing to buy outrageous supplies.  :)  The winner will receive $20.00 worth of product from me, your choice.  (you'll pay the shipping)  When you get your entry ready, please send me a picture so I can post it here on my blog and the voting will be done by fellow customers.  The winner will also have to reveal to me how or what they did. 
     So get cracking you have until July 20th to submit your entries!!! Keep in mind...would you buy this soap looking like this?

Waupun Farmer's Market

     If you are ever wondering where to find me check out the Waupun Farmer's Market on Thursdays from 4-7.  Only in it's second year this little market set along the Rock River has a vast array of things to offer.  Everything from honey, buffalo, grass fed meats, woodworking, glass art, candles, jewelry, seasonal produce, flowers (fresh cut and potted), antler art, knitted items and my soap.
     With ample parking and a play ground for the kids to play, this market offers enjoyment for the whole family.  So if you are looking for the freshest produce...you need to go to a farmers market.  Maybe you might be looking for that special gift you won't find anywhere else...you need to get to a farmers market.

This is our son Ethan (8) who I take with me as my helper.  On this day I took lotions, so that made my display a little bigger.  Usually I just have my soaps with me.

This is looking down one way through the market.  Right now you can find 25-30 vendors there selling their wares.

These are the vendors next to me.  After seeing the pictures I forgot to take some across from me.

So if you are ever in the Waupun area on Thursdays between 4-7 stop by and smell the newest soaps or try some lotion.  This is the display you need to look for...Ethan will sell you anything, trust me.  He sold his first bar of soap yesterday and was so proud of himself.    I'm usually chasing Preston our almost 16 month old or talking to vendors.  :) 

How does your garden grow?

After selling produce for 14 years we are finally growing a garden just for us.  This is small in our opinion because we're use to having over 4 acres in garden.  So we don't know how much "we" need.  So sit back and enjoy while I give you a tour of our garden...

This first picture is the old strawberry bed.  Mark took the cultivator and put rows back in for easier picking and weeding. 

This next picture shows the new strawberry bed.  

 To the right of the new strawberry bed we have our cucumbers and sunflowers. 

On the ends of the new strawberry bed we put our onions, broccoli, beans and zucchini. 

Then running the other way is our popcorn patch.  Our younger kids don't even remember us growing popcorn before.

Now I'm looking back at what I just showed you.  

This is where we had our spinach and peas...now we have kohlrabi, cabbage and cauliflower.

The tomato patch where we are hoping lots of tomatoes grow.  We make all our own ketchup, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, juice and salsa. 

This is where our pumpkins, squash and gourds are growing.  Somewhere in there is my peanut pumpkins!!!  I first saw a picture of a peanut pumpkin from a good friend on Etsy.  Be sure to check out her shops  Vintage Station and Busy Beading and Runs with Scissors

The potatoes...in full bloom!!!

This is the sweet corn with a new row of beans and lettuce planted in front.  We have 16 rows of sweet corn the length of the garden.  

This concludes the tour of my garden.