June 14th Gets You 14% Off

Tomorrow, June 14 is Flag Day-so to celebrate Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps is having a 14% off on the 14th sale. Be sure to stop by our online store to pick up some goodies!

A Stroll Down Main Street

Automated horse-Yeehaw!

Ironwork and vines

Brightly colored bottle trees

Candylicious- fun bench outside the "Lonestar Candy Bar"

Beautiful doors

The old hospital is now open for wine tasting

A  happy pink mail box outside the "Garden of Beaden" bead store

Vintage bicycle

Wind chimes

 

A kitchy dancing duo of garlic and hot sauce makes me smile! :)) 

(the garlic was a little photo shy :D)

 Pink flamingo

Downtown Fredericksburg, Texas - charming,historical,beautiful and kitchy all rolled into one fun touristy experience. I have to say that I have a delightful fascination with kitchy touristy stuff. I mean who doesn't love to walk down the street and spy through the store window dancing garlic and hot sauce? Or an automated horse ride that takes you back in time, to being 6 years old outside of the Piggly Wiggly? I love that the assault of color and the complete unexpected randomness of what awaits you at the next quaint little shop.

Another Tasty Morsel From Our Trip

Pink Water Lily at Wildseed Farms

I just couldn't resist!

The Adventures of The Great Shampoo Bar Experiment Take 2

This is my hair after over a month using a shampoo bar -

but prior to using the latest shampoo bar without palm. 

(I am not very photogenic, so I try to avoid any situations where photographs might be involved-thus the hair only shot.)

This is just a little bar end I took on our trip to wash my hair with

Check out the prolific lather with the use of soft water

During our whirlwind trip to the hill country, we were excited to note that the water was soft(as opposed to the hard mineral laden water we have at home.) The funny thing was that even though the water was soft-the daily shower was like being sandblasted. (Yes, there is such a thing as too much water pressure.)Yikes! Anyway, despite having to strategically direct the forceful water where it would make the least discomfort-it was interesting to note how the soap reacted to the difference in water. Not only were the bubbles quite a bit more prolific than at home, the sf was also more pronounced-leaving our skin nice and conditioned for the day.

Beautiful Thing Friday

Monarch butterfly on Hollyhock

The second in the butterfly release series.

It Was A Long Drive Home

After our mad dash to the hill country(and back) and the multitudes of prickly pear we saw- I think maybe it's beautiful blossoms should be our state flower...

We took a mad dash trip to the hill country, and it was a looong drive home. Thought I would leave you with something pretty - until tomorrow.

Business Tip Tuesday-Seven Tips to Make Your Customers Love You

These days when every customer counts, what are some steps you can take to keep your customers in your corner ? Week Two-Dependability

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
William James

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.
Og Mandino 


No.2-Be Dependable

To keep customers happy you need to deliver time after time. If a problem arises notify your customer as soon as possible. Explain how you are going to rectify the situation and then follow through to ensure positive results. This also includes being timely with invoices and correspondence. You might consider creating a system to ensure that each task is performed in a correct manner consistently.

Earthly Delight Monday-Featuring Ingredients That Make Handmade Soap Special-Patchouli

Patchouli – (Pogostemon cablin) a bushy herb in the mint family. Patchouli grows well in warm tropical climates and originates from the tropical regions of Asia.

The heavy, earthy scent of Patchouli has been used in perfumes for centuries and it is now commonly used in incense, insect repellent and alternative medicine.

Patchouli is an excellent base note and fixative (a fixative slows the evaporation of other more volatile oils.) It is interesting to note that Patchouli improves with age, and that the aged product is what is preferred over freshly harvested. A little patchouli can be used to give other oils a mysterious earthy note. Patchouli blends well with almost any essential oil making it a must have for the blending of interesting fragrant essential oil blends.

• Patchouli is considered an important oil for bringing about the balance of relaxation and stimulation.

• Patchouli is said to bring the three forces of the body creativity, heart center and intellect into sync.

• It is also said that patchouli may bring about prosperity and abundance. Hmmm- really?

A Little Linky Love=A Yummy Recipe

I would just like to say that I highly recommend these Mini Ginger Chicken Meatball Subs with Masala Sauce they are delicious and perfect with your beer of choice. Just Sayin! The best part is the chicken meatballs are baked so they are easy to make - this can all be thrown together very quickly on a Friday night or whatever. It's all good stuff too, I guess the bread is the most sinister contribution to the whole meal - I can live with that!

Beautiful Thing Friday

Monarch Butterfly just after release - "Free to Be"

Last year, just about this time;my family and I attended a butterfly release. Hundreds of butterflies were released into the local municipal gardens. This is a photo that my then 10 year old daughter took. Notice how you can almost see the little scales on the butterfly's wings. So cool! I have a small series of photos from that day so over the next few weeks I will be sharing a few.

The Great Shampoo Bar Experiment -Take 2

A  tower of shampoo bar just out of the mold - 
those are my finger prints on the very cold tower o' soap

the surface is actually very pristine and beautiful... Woot!

So, my first try at shampoo bars about a month back was a complete bust. I used a microbrew craft beer and for some reason it resulted in a phunky lye heavyish outcome. I have used this particular beer in regular soap many times without incident, so I am not really sure what happened, but it was just wrong(believe me when I tell you this..)I finally decided to give the ol shampoo bar another try and this time-the results seem to be spot on.(oh! btw no beer in this one.)To be continued....

For Your Viewing Pleasure

The latest in felty goodness...

 

 Inspired by lichens, moss, vines and the trees they grown on

 Happy Colors

Colors I love to see together

Business Tip Tuesday - Seven Tips to Make Your Customers Love You

These days when every customer counts, what are some steps you can take to keep your customers in your corner ? Over the next 7 weeks I will post 7 ways to make your customers love you.

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."  ~Mark Twain

"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."  ~Author Unknown

 No. 1- Say " Thank You"

Say "Thank You" - this seems like such an obvious and natural thing to do,but when is the last time you received a "Thank You" note from someone you've done business with? Or any correspondence, other than an invoice? This simple touch can make a huge impact because it speaks volumes about how important your customer is to you.

Earthly Delights Monday -Featuring Ingredients That Make Handmade Soap Special- Oats + Easy Oatmeal/Yogurt Facial Recipe

Externally – 

Oatmeal contains complex carbohydrates that when mixed with water form the colloidal part of oatmeal that softens, soothes and nourishes your skin.

Oats contain healthy fats that stay behind to repair and add moisture to your skin.

Oats help strengthen your skin’s defense against pollutants.

Oats contain Saponins (a natural foaming agent found in many plants.) that help remove dirt from pores.

Oats are a great exfoliator due to their slightly rough texture. Exfoliation= removal of dead skin cells from the skin’s outer surface.

Oatmeal/Yogurt Facial Mask

½ cup ground oatmeal – I grind mine up in a clean spice mill/coffee grinder

¼ plain yogurt or buttermilk

2 Tbs. of honey

Combine yogurt and honey with ground oatmeal to form a smooth paste. Gently pat mixture onto face and neck(leaving areas around eyes free of mixture) – let sit for 15 or so minutes and then rinse gently with warm water.

Remember and Honor Our Veterans

Old Glory waves proudly against a beautiful blue background of  West Texas sky

"Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" 

Francis Scott Key 1814

"Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace." - Martin Luther King

Meet "Lavender Rustica"

 Lavender Rustica 4.5 oz

Romantically rustic; encrusted with lavender buds (with a few sprinkled throughout) this soap is for the person who is romantic at heart. Immerse yourself in the calming, soothing warmth of lavender and vanilla while restoring soulful balance to the end of a long day.

This soap was just cut-it should darken just a bit more and be just beautiful. It will be ready June 24th-you can go ahead and reserve one if you like. 

 

Beautiful Thing Friday

A sample pack I made some time back to send to some friends-beautiful in it's simplicity~

Artist Profile+Inspiration for Your Thursday

Inspiration- 1. stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity

I know that inspiration is a very personal thing. Inspiration for me is when I am touched deeply within, something resonates causing a reaction. Sometimes the feeling is fleeting and over in an instant, and sometimes aching and persistent. 

I've tried for several days(since I knew I was going to make this post)to put into words what the following words mean to me,and I've repeatedly come up with HOPE. I feel a crescendo of  my dreams. My confidence is beginning to form into a reaction - a boldness to move forward. I think many indie businesses are born from this very same place;some have moved boldly forth and some of us are still testing the waters - but wherever you are in the process I think these words will resonate.


This is for all the "quiet rebels." 

With a Gypsy Heart…

With a gypsy heart,

she was a strong but quiet rebel          

living only internal dreams

in her corporate cardboard world.

With a gypsy heart,

she was enslaved in a cubicle

with the hold button on her dreams

and her passions in a file folder.

With a gypsy heart,

she began to dance with dreams

of new possibilities and knock on

the doors of bold adventure.

With a gypsy heart,

time began to ripen her confidence

until “invisible” was no longer an option.

The rebel was ready to blossom.

With a gypsy heart,

She set sail on a new course

to navigate life with her soul by

listening to her wisdom and to her lust.

With a gypsy heart,

she blazed amazing flaming trails

with the moon over her head

and the twinkle of stars in her eyes.

With a gypsy heart,

she knew she would never be the same

or bring this romantic life to a halt

for where destiny called, she would go.

by Donniece Smith

posted with permission  

Original poems and writing by Donniece Smith – copyrighted

With a Gypsy Heart is a poem I wrote in hindsight of the experience

of leaving the corporate job structure.  It was a few years into the

transition to entrepreneur/artist that I could look back and articulate

my desperate desire to fly. I believe we all have some  "wild heart"

of the gypsy deep inside seeking to be free.

 

Donniece Smith is a multi-faceted artist and writer. She creates original fiber stitchery, bead embroidery, mixed media jewelry, along with paintings,stories and poems. All are vibrantly colorful and textured. Her “real life” skills derive from over twenty-five years of industry experience in graphic design.  She inadvertently became a computer geek in the process but prefers to call herself an “information architect.” Donniece’s blog Thirteen Threads from the Wild Heart is a project launched in January 2011 to celebrate living her creative life much bigger and bolder upon her fiftieth birthday.  You can join Donniece, and her muse Lulu Red, explore the creative ties that bind our hearts and lives together through the metaphor of thread at  http://www.thirteenthreadsfromthewildheart.com

Donniece Smith is an amazingly talented local artist-really she is too modest. I have known of her for about 3 years now and did not know the scope of her talent until just recently, when I began to take a closer look. If you enjoy fiber art; her is a link to some of her beautiful work. Do yourself a favor and take a look around-it will make your day. :D

Camera Practice-Test Post

Warm Cedar 3.75 oz. 

Lavender  Shave Round-3.75 oz

Getting tired of the old look, so I'm dabbling with a new look. Just checking it out. What do you think?
Also, a test to see if posts are being published to twitter.

Business Tip Tuesday-How to Publish Your Blog Automatically to Twitter Via Feedburner

Okay, so admittedly I am not a "techie." I don't own a blackberry, an iPad, or even a smart phone-so I tend to be a little behind on the latest tech movements.Quite by accident, I discovered that I could link Feedburner to Twitter so that it will automatically update Twitter each time I blog saving me a step (and I am all about saving time.) So, I thought I would share this with you too in case you're like me, and didn't know you could do this. (These directions are given under assumption that you have Feedburner already activated for your blog.)

1) Sign in on  your Google Account
2) Go to My Account
3) Under the My Products heading select Feedburner
4) When Feedburner opens up you will see your Google accounts listed under the red line that says "Feed Title" and  "Subscribers"
5) Select the account associated with the blog you want to activate
6) This will take you to a page with 5 tabs at the top - select the Publicize tab.
7) Under the Services heading to the left of the page select Socialize
8) After you click on Socialize - a Select Account box will appear on the right - click on the Add Twitter Account button.
9) You will then be taken to a page that says "Authorize Google to Use Your Account" enter your Username or e-mail and Password for the Twitter Account you would like associated with your blog - and viola! your done.

Oops!my blog post didn't feed - although I show my account to be successfully set up. I will look into it and let you all know where the hitch is in case you run into the same problem. Or if you have an idea what might be up with this - pop on down to the comments and let me know. :D

Okay, so I think the problem is solved - I had two blogs and a website with Feedburner - it appears that initially the incorrect blog was selected, and after getting rid of the obsolete blog and website and reactivating the Twitter account -  all is well. It also seems that it takes a bit for Feedburner to publish a post initially.