Flower Power Soap Colors Rank #1

I will forever be a late 60's and early 70's hippe child. I loved the bright, vibrant colors displayed on all the posters from the 60's (especially when placed under a black light!). Perhaps this is why I favor GoPlanet's new Flower Child soap colors. They are proving to be a #1 top seller with our customers. These liquid gel, dye-free, cosmetic grade colors are made exclusively for us. Purchase them individually or in a BEST BUY 7 pack.

The colors shown were added to our ultimate clear soap base and were poured into Mold Market's new Retro Curved Top mold.

These colors are everything you want in a soap base and more... the more meaning they can be used in CP soaps as well.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: It's Easy as Pie

Mold Market's newest tray mold is topping our list! It's a pie heart. In one pour, you can make 8 pie slice soaps. The PJ injector tool (from our PJ Professional Soap Tool Kit) was used to fill in the white areas. It was a snap and took no time at all.

We used only white soap to fill in the ornate areas, but consider using multiple colors to fill in the ornate areas of each pie slice. Think holidays! How about red & green or royal blue & silver. To package, place each soap slice into a clear "to-go" pie box and serve it up as a holiday hostess gift, secret Santa gift, or stocking stuffer.

Meet our Staff

MEET OUR STAFF

(L) to (R): Marissa, Chelsey, Kaylee, Denise, Kristen, Chelsea and Jen. Missing from photo is Jamie (our customer service advocate), Chris (our marketing guy), and Brie (packaging clerk).

We all had a great time at a local Mexican restaurant. It was our farewell dinner with Kaylee who is leaving us after nearly 5 years of service.

A Sad Farewell to Kaylee

Tonight we are hosting a farewell dinner for Kaylee. She has worked for me since she was a Junior in high school and this is a bitter-sweet parting. She is now in her senior year of college working toward a Respiratory Therapy and Nursing degree. Her upcoming classes have become so demanding that she will have little time for anything apart from her studies.

Losing Kaylee imparts many of the feelings associated with "empty-nest" syndrome. She is like a daughter to me and her loyalty to the company is something I wish my newer employees would embrace. I will miss K's beautiful blue eyes, her laughter, and the security of knowing that when I was away she could hold down the fort. It was such a relief to return from a trip knowing she had taken care of business.

Even though Kaylee is leaving us, she has agreed to fill in from time to time and help train our newest employee. I wish Kaylee the best in life. This gal is paying her own way through college while dealing with some very difficult family circumstances. I have every confidence she will rise above all the obstacles that life has thrown her way and will soon realize all her educational dreams.

Good luck, K. We love you!

The Gang at GoPlanetEarth.com

A Grandkids & Me Weekend... YES!!

My honey man and I had all 3 grandkids for an overnighter this weekend. I have blogged about taking "ME TIME". Well, this was a "me-time" weekend. Above is pictured the Fall leaves that the grandkids picked. We dipped them in melted wax and made placemats.

Our next project was to carve pumpkins. This was quite a feat considering we were working with a 3 and 6 year old. I must admit Poppy was a big help and NeeNee (that would be me) cleaned out most of the pumpkin "innards". I had to Google to be sure "innards" was even a word... it is!

Above is Carson's scary pumpkin and below is Olivia's skull pumpkin. I think the credit really should go to Poppy. Next year it will be foam stick-ons to decorate pumpkins. This whole pumpkin carving thing is waaaay tooo much work.

Finally, Poppy made a couple of pumpkin pies from scratch. Literally, from scratch. He and Olivia cut up a pumpkin, simmered it on the stovetop to make "real" pumpkin pie. We even froze some of the pumpkin pulp to make pumpkin pudding at Thanksgiving.

What a fabulous weekend!! We made a fire in the fireplace Saturday night, watched "All Dogs Go to Heaven" and popped popcorn (with lots of butter!). Life is good. The older I get, I realize more and more that it's the little things in life that bring the greatest joy. So.... if I didn't answer your emails this weekend, you know why. I was having a little "me time". Thanks for understanding.

New Soap Molds Arrive in Time for the Holidays

Our staff is busy today putting away 53 boxes of molds. Included in this shipment are the newest designs from Mold Market. You can check them out here. We hope to have all the "BUY NOW" links online by this afternoon.

Here are some of the newest molds from Mold Market. There are a total of 7 new mold designs including the opposing right flip flop to our Top Selling (Left) flip flop.

Helloooo Evergreen, Colorado!

I'm flying into Denver on Thursday for a family wedding in Evergreen, Colorado. With so many 16 hour days under my belt, this is a well deserved mini vacation. My honey and I are flying with a host of other family members for a weekend of festivities. The fact that so many family members are on the same flight is frightening! But, I love the craziness of big families and this extended weekend will prove to be a blast.

I have left my staff in charge while I'm away. I have complete confidence in their ability to keep the ship afloat. I will have portable devices and laptop at hand, but can't guarantee I will be available for immediate replies. Afterall, this is a family retreat and I want to make the most of it. Certainly, no one will suffer long-term damage if they don't receive an immediate reply to an email.

In addition to all the craziness of preparing for this trip, I'm having new carpet installed, wallpaper stripped and a number of rooms painted. Yes, I am certifiably crazy!!!!! All this while trying to pack, oh, and did I mention the cleaning service is cleaning during all this chaos.

Once I return, I have two new tutorials to share. The Christmas Curl soap (pictured above) and the Agate Soap Spheres previously posted here.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Agate Soap Spheres

Check out the new tutorial on our web site.

A Shout Out to 2VirgosDesigns Esty Shop

These beautiful soaps were made by Esty shop owner 2 Virgo Designs using the Mold Market Holiday Wreath mold. If you're looking to purchase ready-made soap for holiday gifts, I encourage you to pay a visit to this Etsy store. At the time of this post, there were 6 in stock so you'll want to snatch them up before the holiday rush.

Does this soap inspire you to make your own? Then you will want to view the FREE tutorial offered at GoPlanetEarth.com. We provide step-by-step instructions on how to make a holiday wreath soap using the Mold Market soap mold.

There's Nothing Wrong with ME time

A day at the local Apple Orchard which included pony rides.

Since losing my Dad to cancer last year, I have become much more aware of how I need to have more ME time. This means getting away from work on a regular basis. No computers, no emails replies, no blogging, no tweets, limiting week-end work time and phone calls, and spending more time with family, friends and grandkids.

I sometimes find myself getting side-tracked and gravitating back to my old ways. But the past few weeks brought another awakening. I attended 4 funerals within 10 days. This was more than a gentle reminder. I believe it was my Dad shouting down from above, "LIFE IS SHORT. NO ONE IS GOING TO REMEMBER YOU FOR YOUR WORK". So in these past few weeks I have renewed my vow to commit more time to ME.

Apple Cider & Donuts... YUM!

As I watch my grandkids I am painfully aware of how fast they are growing. Before too long they will be at an age when they won't want to spend time with their NeeNee. I don't want to have regrets about missing out on these wonderful, joyful years when they still want to hug my neck, let me kiss them goodnight, and are visibly excited to spend the night.

Having said all that, here are a few photos of the fun things I've been doing with my ME time. I hope this will prompt YOU to commit to more ME time. Don't let yourself get caught up into reading what everyone else is doing, blogging about, making, creating, selling, tweeting, or promoting. If it's only one day out of the week, make it yours and yours alone. Make it your ME time!

Making Halloween cupcakes with my Grandson.

Decorating pumpkins with the grandkids.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: More Halloween Soap Ideas

This weekend was devoted to making fun soaps for my grandkids. I've already shared the bloody, slimy brain soap in a previous post (tutorial is upcoming). Here are 3 more soaps designs that I played with and that the grandkids loved. The bendable skeleton soap is very easy to make and ideal for younger kids ages 4-7 (with adult supervision, of course!). They especially like applying the blood colored soap. It can be done in about 30 minutes which is geat since kid's attention span is so short lived.



The two soaps pictured below are more time consuming due to the multiple colors used in the skull. You can definitely shorten the time involved by pouring the skull in one color. I hope to have the FREE tutorials for these soaps up this week. All of the supplies used can be purchased at GoPlanetEarth.com. You can find countless other soap making tutorials in the PROJECTS section of our web site.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Bloody, Slimy Brain Soap

I made this soap for my six year old grandson who is staying this weekend for an overnighter. We are decorating for Halloween today (yes, I know it's early but the grandkids were begging to get out all the Halloween stuff) and I thought this soap would add to the fun and grab his attention in the shower. Unfortunately, I only made one and my 4 year old granddaughter was quite distraught that she didn't have one too. She may be a princess, but when it comes to things like bloody, slimy brain soap... she's all over it.

Inside the brain soap is a hidden treat: kid-safe slime. The great part about the slime is that it will dissolve in the bath or shower as the soap is used. However, you don't know there is slime buried in the middle of the brain until you start to use the soap. I'll have a project posted this week on how to make this bloody, slim delight. I'm letting my grandson use the soap this weekend so I'll also keep you abreast of his opinion. As you know, if you want an honest opinion, ask a kid!

The mold is available from GoPlanetEarth. It's found here.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Jeweled Loaf Soap Tutorial Now Online

Just as promised GoPlanetEarth's newest tutorial "How to Make a Jewel Tone Soap Loaf" is available for viewing. As with all of our video tutorials... it's FREE.

Hope you enjoy!

 

Fun Halloween Molds... look for projects soon!

Three new Halloween molds have been added to GoPlanetEarth's economy mold line up. Look for soaping projects that show you how to use these molds for fun soaps.

Brains.... what kid wouldn't find this to be a fun soap?

And of course, a few bloody eyeballs are a must!

Melt & Pour: Jewel Tone Loaf Soap

Ooh La La! Look what's coming soon. A new tutorial on making these majestic jeweltone soap slices using the Mold Market sqaure loaf mold. Big chunks of jewel tone colored soap dusted with 24 kt. gold mica and covered with a clear soap base. These make lovely holiday soaps. We've only tapped the tip of the soap making iceburg when it comes to jewel tone color combinations.

The new tutorial will be out soon and gives step-by-step instructions for making these soaps. Think jade, gold, ruby... soaps fit for the magi.

Melt and Pour Soap Making: Autumn Roll-Ups Tutorial

The Autumn Roll-Up soap tutorial is now online. You can purchase the full printed melt and pour tutorial at GoPlanetEarth.com or watch the FREE video tutorial below!

There are countless color and cutout options for this type of soap. Red and green for Christmas, red and pink for Valentines day, or green and white for St. Patrick's day. So get busy, get creative, and have fun while you're doing it.

Closing for the Afternoon: Employee's Father Passed this AM

One of my long-time employees, Missy, lost her Father this morning. He was diagnosed with acute leukemia last week and died early this morning from complications. It was very unexpected and our entire staff is in a state of shock.

For this reason, we are closing up shop early today (12 noon) to be with Missy and to offer help in anyway we can. We will also be closed one day next to allow staff to attend funeral services. Thank you for your understanding as order processing may be delayed by one day.

Next Monday, it will be a year since I lost my Dad to cancer. Just a reminder that life is so short. Follow your dreams as you never know what tomorrow holds.

Denise Marks

A Cool Packaging Option for our Sushi Soap Rolls

Every Sunday my husband and I grocery shop at a local market. It's always been a tradition to purchase freshly made sushi from the deli counter for Sunday brunch. There's nothing better than fresh tuna sushi with a glass of Sake. This week the girls at the deli counter were kind enough to give me a couple of bento boxes so I could display our newest soap... Sushi Soap Log.

As you can see, once the sushi soap slices are wrapped and placed in the container (along with some bento grass), they look incredibly life-like. Almost good enough to eat. I'm not so sure GoPlanetEarth will be offering these Asian style bento boxes, but they are readily available from local markets and Asian restaurants. My guess is that local stores and restaurants would be willing to sell you a few of these trays along with the bento grass. If not, there are plenty of online stores that sell these types of boxes.

Be sure to check out our sushi soap log tutorial here.

Melt & Pour Soaps: Autumn / Halloween Roll-Ups

GoPlanetEarth's newest soaping project will be posted soon: Autumn Roll Up soaps. Just in time for the Halloween and Fall season. We used pumpkin orange and black oxide to colors the roll-ups picutred; but, you can make them in a host of other complementary colors. Consider red and green for Christmas or red and white for Valentine's Day. Get creative by using different cut out shapes. We used round cutters, but there's plenty of other options such as hearts, Christmas trees, candy canes... you get the idea.

Watch for GoPlanet's upcoming tutorial on how to make these soaps. The soaps pictured were scented with Autumn Woods, but other Fall fragrances such as A Roll in the Hay, Harvest Moon, Apple Autumn, Pumpkin and Harvest Spice are sure to be a hit. All of these soap scents can be purchased from GoPlanetEarth.com.

New Tutorial Web Site is Launched

It's been in the works for some time now, but our new soap making tutorial web site launched today. There are still a few projects to upload and many more new projects to be added. However, we wanted to get the site up and running in time for the holiday & Fall craft season.

This new site is where you will find all kinds of melt and pour soap making projects, have your questions answered, and find helpful information and resources about soap making. We welcome your input and soap project submissions. There is a "Submit Project" link where you can send us your soap making successes (and failures).

All of the video learning tutorials are offered free of charge with a minimal charge for printed tutorials.

I hope you will take time to check out the new site and let us know what you think. LearnSoapMaking.com