Welcome to Little Sparrow Soaps!

I made a cake!

2010-11-23T01:09:00.000-06:00

So it was Travis our Awesome roommates birthday on Sunday so I decided to make him a super cake. It was confetti and red velvet with strawberry and cream cheese frosting.... three cans of frosting total!! Well anyhoo here are the pics!!! So you can see it is 4 round cakes put together, so I give it 3 days until it is gone! =)
Next mission: Thanksgiving dinner for 2.... any ideas?
xox LS

I need to take more pictures!!!

2010-11-12T18:53:00.001-06:00

So here is some of the new stuff I am working on!
I wanted this star soap to look like a snowglobe. It kinda does :)

Here is some of the art of Justin Van Genderen. He did a whole set of minimalist Star Wars vintage planet posters. They are amazing! Plus there are planets from the old and new star wars movies!

Here are a couple of horror movie drawings I have also done dracula and king kong! Yay!

The Crafty Fair

2010-10-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

Little Sparrow and GETBENTpress are super excited and proud to be apart of the first Crafty Fair at the Goodman Community Center on November 14th! Such little time to get ready right? But I am super excited and trying to come up with a few new designs for some soap, and a few new t-shirt designs as well! We will of course have our pac-man friends in tow, and our Little Sparrow shirts and bags, and a few new designs for some pillow cases and whatnot from GETBENTpress. We are pretty excited to be apart of this show, and I hope to see you all out there for some awesome times! And if you would be so nice as to bring me a coffee with soy and 3 sugars, I know I am going to need it!
Love you all and talk at ya soon, Libby

The Fall Blahs

2010-10-05T00:48:00.000-05:00

Now, Don't get me wrong, I love fall... it is my favorite season. Hoodies, scarves, and my fingerless gloves have been calling to me all summer... but like every year, I get sick when fall hits. My lungs hate me, and I have missed a whole week of work (sad face) and I am eager to get back to the hustle and bustle of cooking again, and in the mean time I have been finishing up a mustache order for Oscar, which hopefully will be completed tomorrow, and shipped out before the weekend! I also have gotten my first order from my Etsy Store!!! A bar of mustache soap going to California! Super stoked on that for sure!
So besides being a bit under the weather, and trying to save up some money to fly to Cali myself to visit a certain Leah, it looks like a bit more sewing will be in my future for my winter wardrobe! I have a few ideas that I would like to try out, including a hoodie and a few skirts! Yes, I am moving the way of the skirt I believe!
So the holiday Craftacular is in December, and I got my fingers crossed that I was accepted into it, and I am extremely excited to try out a few new ideas! Not too many christmas themed ones, but I did steal a cool idea for tiny ice - cube sized snow globes... but that is all I am saying!!!
Well it is late, and I want to wake up early tomorrow to hit up this cafe I saw, called Marigolds. Looks Yummy! I love you all, and please, email me some ideas of things you would like to see done, because I am always looking for some inspiration! XOXO Little Sparrow!

Why does fall tend to be so busy???

2010-09-23T14:16:00.001-05:00

I think it is because it is finally cool enough outside to do all those things we put off over the hot hot summer!!! I am in the middle of cleaning and rearranging the soap room and the craft room ans super excited for the mustache soaps that are almost done to send out to Oscar, and getting ready for craft fairs and holidays... wow this girl has a lot on her plate! But I am loving every minute of it!!! I know I haven't written in almost a month, and you all missed me a bit, but now that things are almost back in full swing, you can look forward to some amazing fall inspired soaps and bags! Well I have to get ready for a show at the studio tonight, but first I have to go to work... geeze... love you all! Little Sparrow!!!

Getting up early!

2010-08-26T11:11:00.000-05:00

So Stan has been on a kick lately where he wants to wake up earlier than 4 in the afternoon, which I am loving! We have been waking up around 10 (which is early for us) and getting things done before I have to go to work. It has been pretty awesome getting to eat breakfast and then take care of shopping and whatnot before hand, and I think the kitties like it that we are up early too!
So I have a few projects in the works now... from sewing organizers and bags, to refinishing a table, to knitting a scarf, and of course making lots of soap! And now that our garden is almost finished giving us lots of ripe tomatos and zuchs, I will get to add canning to my ever growing list of stuff to do. I am extremely excited to get some of these projects done, and when I am finished, I will post all the lovely pictures for you! Well, Stan is making breakfast, then we are off to get new shoes... Have a wonderful day my lovelies, and keep crafting on... Little Sparrow

Trying My Hand at Other Crafts...

2010-08-24T02:32:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend, after searching craigslist for months, I found a wonderful sewing machine. It is a very simple and easy to use Kenmore, not a fancy schmancy one, but perfect for what I want it for.... sewing!!! HaHa! I just wanted one to fix clothes, and make simple crafts like bags, and whatnot... and tonight was the night I decided to teach myself how to use this wonderful machine! (see how cute it is!) And I totally lucked out by only having to pay $25.00 for it! (Sorry, I haven't named her yet, but I am sure she will have a sweet name!) So onto my first project... Since Stan is a painter, and he has boxes of paint brushes all over the studio, I decided to make him a holder for his brushes. I have one for my brushes, and I love it, but it is too small for all my brushes, and I only have a fraction of what he
has... so this one was for him. I started it out with an old canvas bag we had, and I opened it up and picked out a rad fabric (well Stan picked it out, and I dig the animals on it!) and began... after stitching the inside I folded it up, and sewed the pockets for all the brushes... The handles on the bag worked really good for ties on the brush holder, and to finish it off, I added a GETBENTpress patch for the side. Pretty awesome! And when it is all rolled up it ties up for easy storage and it just looks pretty awesome. Well I am sure I will make more of these, so if you want one, let me know!
Well I have a few more ideas of things I would like to make, and I will be sure to post them as they roll off the sewing machine! Let me know if you want something, and I am sure that either me, or my sister Roxanne would be more than happy to make it for you! Good times I say, good times! And now I must go to sleep, but I love you all, and I hope you stay crafty! Little Sparrow

Already Planning....

2010-08-23T14:20:00.000-05:00

So I am already planning for the next craft show that I want to be in... (Fingers Crossed the Craftacular on Dec. 11th) and after a fun rag mag sesh with Roxanne, We have decided to do it together! My sister is one of the most creative people I know. She can turn a crappy old sweater into something so lovely that you wanna hug it until you can't stand it anymore... She runs her own blog which is about living green and thrifty, which we all need to do! We will start getting together on Sundays and designing and making bags, soap, shirts and designing some awesome crafts to share with you all at the holiday craftacular! Well I have a Skype date with Ms. Leah in 20, so I gotta run, but I will let you all know how everything is going with our awesome plans! Tah Tah for Now, Little Sparrow

Yay! We Survived!

2010-08-16T04:54:00.000-05:00

How fun was my first Craftacular? How does super dooper triple sundae fun sound? I had such a blast meeting so many new crafters, and everyone seemed to love the soap I had made, and it totally made it worth not sleeping before the event, and drinking not one but TWO 5 hour energy drinks and a red bull just to stay awake! Dani and I were so exhausted we had the super giggles for half of the show! Ha But it was great to see old friends that had come, and to meet lots of new ones as well!
So the day started off with packing up and unloading, which seemed to go off without a hitch, and as everything fell into place, I was so nervous, but super excited! Directly behind me was Beth Eaton from Eaton Pottery who had fantastic pottery glasses and bowls that she designs. (I think that all you soap lovers out there should know that her little dishes would make awesome soap dishes!) And Beth herself was super awesome, so make sure you check out her site!
I also made pals with Kelli from greenie bean recycle who makes the most wonderful bags! She is starting a crafting community in Chicago which I am hoping to become a part of and spread the good word of awesome soap all over the Midwest! (ps check out how awesome my display was, thank you Stan!)
I wish I could tell you all about every single vendor there, there were so many fantastic ones, but finally, before the end of the show, I got to wonder around and check out some other vendors, and upstairs is where I met Leah and Matt from Rustbelt Fiberwerks who told me all about the Arts V Craft show in December, which I am totally stoked about, and I hope I can get in... This show is in Milwaukee and from what I hear is just amazing! Hopefully this will be this show that I can work full time at making soap... well a girl can dream big right? haha! Okay, so I am finding I could write about this all day, so I am going to go and post some pics on etsy now, but I will leave you with this picture... it is Dani and I towards the end of the show, super exhausted yet still so excited! Thank you to everyone who came out to see us, and a super thanks to Stan from GETBENTpress and Dani for all her amazing help! I am going to take a few days off for a well deserved break, and clean and organize my studio which has been badly beaten up over the last few weeks... but I will be back in full force as soon as possible. Love you all, Good day, Little Sparrow!

This Weekend Everybody!!!

2010-08-13T02:28:00.000-05:00

Hiyo everybody! So this weekend is coming up super fast huh? I know you are all as stoked as I am for the Craftacular, and I hope to see all your lovely faces at the East Side Club! I posted some sneak peeks on my face book, but I am posting some for here for you! Tonight I made some awesome smelling Bubble Bath Bombs tonight in some awesome scents: blueberry, banana, and strawberry! I know you guys can't wait to take a bath in these awesome bombs!!! Of course I took some of my inspirations from some books and websites, but I am pretty proud of some of my own creations. I will admit that I stole my checkered soap from soapylove, but I loved it so much I couldn't help it! I am totally in love with our Calvin and Hobbes cameo soaps. They have pretty much made me super stoked for you guys to have them in your bathroom for shower time! I am also pretty happy about my pac-man soap! Of course is not a totally original design, but I am proud to say that when we put googly eyes in the ghosts, it made them sorta come to life. Just wait til you guys get your hands on these, you will spend so much time shaking them, that your hot water will go cold! I am pretty excited for you, let me just tell you now! Well after making a million button magnets and tons of wonderful soaps, I think that I am going to try to get a decent meal and a good nights sleep! There is lots more to do that is for sure, but I think now that everything is coming together, that this craft show will be amazing! Tomorrow will be the finishing touches on bath bombs, bubble bombs, and extra special soap for the show! Okay for real now, off to bed! I hope again to see you all this weekend! Have a wonderful night my lovelies! Little Sparrow

Free Weekends... how I miss you!

2010-08-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

So this weekend I worked my little tail off, making 9 new types of soap, including this beaut, my new pac-man ghost designs! I have put in Googly eyes so they wiggle around when you shake the bar, and they smell like lime and mint (or mojitos if you prefer!) I also made a wonderful chocolate and vanilla layered bar, some spicy vanilla cookie bars all the other pac man characters! With only days left until the craftacular, I know I have a lot more work infront of me, but I am still excited!!! So I hope to see you all this Sunday at the East Side Club in Monona starting at 10 am!!! And make sure you bring me some iced coffee with soy in it! I am gonna need it! xoxo Libby

Hello Lovelies!

2010-07-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

I am sorry my darlings, that I haven't written in a while, but I have been super duper busy these last few weeks! I have made a bunch of new soaps, in lovely scents and am hoping to unveil them all at the craftacular in August! Stan and I have also been trying to get our apartment set up so it feels like a real home, and after camping last weekend, we got a new kitty, Dorothy, and we have been busy playing with her because she is so darn cute!
Well I have been looking forward to sharing all the new products we have, including some big-ass bath bombs, and hopefully starting in September, Bubble Bombs! My good friend Cassie told me these are so wonderful, and I am hoping to have some ready before her wedding, I think they will make some great gifts!!!
So tonight I am off to make the molds for our pac-man soap and making bath bombs, so I hope to write to you all soon, because I know you missed me as much as I missed you! Have a wonderful week everyone! Love you all, Libby

Busy Bee

2010-07-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I have been super busy with the new job, and crafting my behind off! I am super excited for the craft show, and I have tons of ideas for the show, I just have to try to get them all done! So thankful that Dani came over to help me cut out circles for the magnets this weekend, and Friday will be super get a bunch of stuff done day, because Stan and I are going camping for my brother's 26th Birthday! Yay Bryon! I am hoping to get the mechanics soap and some more of the honey and oatmeal bars done, and hopefully if my molds are done, I will have pac-man soap and owl soap and my Little Sparrow soap done too! So excited! Well I should get some work done, but I just missed you guys so I thought I would say hello! Hope all is well in your world, and stop by our etsy store and get some soap, since I have yet to make a sale :( Talk to you later my lovlies! Libby

Today's Conquest

2010-07-08T02:08:00.000-05:00

Today was our good friend Nate's Birthday! (Happy B-Day You old fart!) So Nate and his brother Dave stopped by to say hello and invite us over for dinner at Nate and Carrie's tonight... Dave's girlfriend is a fan of owls, and since I happen to love those birdies myself, I had made some owls to be put into soap for Dave. I had him pick one out (he chose the blue one obviously) and I made him a bar before we went to Nate's for dinner. This little guy turned out sooo good! He was a little design of my own, that took me more than a few tries to perfect, but he turned out so cute I just had to share him with you all. I will be making more for my Etsy store, and Leah will be getting a bar or two as well, I will have plenty at the Craftacular in August, hopefully in many different and cute colors, and along with my other cute little creatures, we will have so many great items for you guys! I am super stoked, and trying to keep myself busy. Right now I am working on the final touches for my Ninja on Vacation buttons, making more sets of fabric buttons and magnets, and doing the final layouts for our screen printed shirts and bags for the show! It seems like now matter what I get to take off the list of things to do, the more things I have to add on to it! The stress it definitely helping me create though, and I couldn't be more happy about it! Between crafting and the new job cooking, I definitely have my hands full! I really couldn't be more happy though, and lucky you my darlings, you get to reap the rewards!!! Much love to you all, and have a wonderfully creative day!

New double layered Retro Soap!

2010-07-05T15:18:00.000-05:00

So after some contemplation, and lots of brainstorming, I came up with a way to make some awesome soap using my favorite colors (red and black) and my favorite scents (birthday cake and strawberries) It is soo awesome! I am so excited for you guys to try this out, it smells sooo good! And with the Goatmilk in it, it is great for your skin too! Well I just wanted to share this with you before I posted it on Etsy!
I hope you all had a great 4th of July, I unfortunately missed all the fireworks, but we found the greatest restaurant that has all you can eat entrees, and I now have enough meatloaf to last me 2 more days! I also start my new job today at the Greenbush Bar! I will be cooking in a hot hot kitchen, but I am hoping that it will be a lot like making soap mixing all great things together to make something awesome! Wish me well! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Awesome People in Etsy Land

2010-07-01T21:24:00.000-05:00

So in the last 24 hours I had 2 awesome people from Etsy-Land like my shop enough to help a girl out and do a little blogging and advertising! One was http://juliesbits.blogspot.com/ who I bought the most awesome sparrow mold from. I can't wait to put some Sparrows in my soap!!! I <3 her shop too, so many cute things!!!
We also had another rad lady from Etsy post our store as one of the undiscovered Shops to look at! You can check out the page at http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c2bf75111e88eef56e73d64/undiscovered-shops-2
She found my bath bombs and posted them on here and I am just stoked! I hope that you all take a look at this and check out the other vendors who haven't had a sale on Etsy yet too!
Also today I finally got to get together with Andrea from Space Oddities and got to ask her 800 questions that I had about the craft show in August! I have some great ideas for my booth now, and so many ideas for more things to bring to my show! I have so many soaps to make and so many ideas that my head hurts a bit! :) I gotta draw up a few of those ideas now, so I will talk to you all soon!
Oh and I got a new job today, cooking at an Italian restaurant! Perfect for this gal! yayay!!!

All the help I get

2010-06-30T19:43:00.000-05:00

Making soap is kind of a project that unless you are making it in mass quantities, you can pretty much do it yourself at your own pace. I am lucky enough to have 4 or sometimes 5 helpers! One of course being my fella, Stanley, and the others being our 4 cats, Boba, Oscar, Squee and Sparkplug. It is so nice to settle down in front of the computer and try to get some graphic work done, or even just laze about at watch kitchen nightmares and it always seems like I get a little help from one of the cats... usually Squee. So today I just wanted to do a little post about him, and all the help he gives me... see just look at how helpful he is... Enjoy this beautiful day! Libby

Octopus's Garden

2010-06-29T23:16:00.000-05:00

Okay so no garden, but these little guys are sooo cute! I spent all day yesterday coming up with the perfect design for an octopus soap, and I think this one is sooooo awesome! Just a little blue octopus hanging out, and looking around! I scented him with a freshly cut grass smell with a bit of tea tree essential oil so they smell so fresh and so clean!
Today I also went to Barnes and Noble (which is my favorite place for inspiration and alone time) and was completely inspired about the upcoming Craftacular! I know how I am going to make my table, how to decorate my craft area, and how to make my banner. I also learned about all of the things I need to bring to make sure that I am fully prepared for the show... This being my first show I am very very nervous that I am going to forget something, or things are going to go horribly wrong... but I have enough faith in myself and all the fun stuff that I am bringing so I feel like this is going to go A-OK! Plus with help from my dear friend Dani, I know that I got a great gal helping me out! I am so excited and I can't wait to post some pictures as I am building some of the awesomeness for the show! Well I will post my awesome cute octopus soap up on Etsy now, and I hope that they will get snatched up quick! Have a wonderful night everyone!

Ahh Mondays...

2010-06-28T19:49:00.000-05:00

So after an exciting weekend filled with friends coming from out of town and doing very little work, I am excited to get started on some new ideas I have. With the delivery of new colors, and a bit of help with some mold making from Stanley, I am ready to get out on that limb and try a few of my own things. I am in super duper love with retro fabrics and designs, and they will probably end up being my inspiration with most of my soaps. I am excited to try out some crazy ideas that I have never seen done before and I am excited to show them to you when I am done! Can't wait to see what I come up with...
I am also excited for dinner tonight... Cheeseburgers and homemade sweet potato fries with cranberry wasabi... yum!

Wish you well!

2010-06-25T21:26:00.000-05:00

So tonight is Leah's last night in Madtown, and we are sending her off with some beers and hugs and kisses! I spent a good part of the day helping her get packed up, and she took me and Blake (her fella) out to eat at Brothers Three (which is awesome!!!) Then we parted to get ready for tonight.
I have known Leah for a long long time and I will miss the crap out of her face until christmas time... all in all just wanted to write a non-soap related blog for Leah. Love you lots and lots and have fun in Cali!!! (oh and I made her some rad cloud soap too. It is so happy!)
I thought I was gonna be good all night until we left the bar, but dammit Leah, I love you.
I will see you very very soon. xoxo Libby

Retro Soap!

2010-06-22T23:05:00.001-05:00

So today in the mail I was inspired by a book I had ordered (that finally came!) called Soapylove. The woman who wrote this is a soaping genius, and I have decided to make my own versions of her ideas! Starting with her "Mod Soap." I had to use the only mica colors I have available to me until my new order comes, so we have yellow, purple, and blue circles all cut out so nicely and placed in my awesome mold! I added some glitter to the background to make the colors pop a bit more, and because glitter is awesome... I made this soap smell like Hot Mall Chick again because it is such a fav around the studio, and I just love how it smells fresh and fun, not too wintery, just perfect for summer! After a bit of a delay when Lily came over, I finally got all the pieces cut out and put in a nice not-so-orderly fashion and got the rest of the colors poured over top. After an awesome dinner that Stan made tonight, he decided that he wanted to be the one who cut them and I couldn't deny him that :) Well I hope you all enjoy this soap, and you can get it on our etsy store sometime later tonight! Have a wonderful day!

PAC MAN!

2010-06-20T18:14:00.000-05:00

So I was over excited yesterday when I got that wild hair to make some fun Pac Man inspired soaps. I drew out my design and got it lamenated at Kinko's, then went to work trying to make the right colors of our 4 little ghosty friends- Inky Pinky Blinky and Clyde. They are amazing looking for sure! I was more then excited after returning from Leah's going away party (insert sad face here) to free these little guys from their molds... and after a little help from Stanley because they were stuck, we got them free. They look amazing! The green guy should be a little more baby blue in color but I still like him a bunch! Our friend Dan came over and snatched them up right away! (He says they smell like a hot mall chick, so that is what the scent will be called!) So I will have to make more for you guys! I also got some Star Wars soaps I am going to test out today and I will post some pictures of them tonight when I get them done! I will also be making some Bath Bombs tonight too! I am super excited to test out these tonight! Well I wish you the best today, and I am off to work so I will talk to you all soon! XOXO

Making Button Magnets

2010-06-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

So since getting back from my mini Vacation in La Crosse, I have been hard at work making magnets... Yep awesome magnets! Most of them are fabric covered buttons that are just cute as a bugs ear! I made a few out of the buttons I had previously for sale at GETBENTpress's Etsy store (see below) and I made some glass magnets with pictures out of some old NatGeo mags I had laying around. With the Craftacular coming up, I feel like I have to experiment more now, so I have tons of awesome stuff to offer when I am there! I promise pictures soon, and I will have them for sale at my etsy store!
Happy Crafting! haha

Setting Up

2010-06-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! So first post = random stuff to be said about what I am up to.
Well, so far I have made 3 different types of soap. One I am calling Buck Naked, and it looks like a sunset (kinda). It was my first bar- so just one that I felt since I have had the itch to make soap, that I needed to make.
The second bar I made is an incredible Goat's Milk-Honey-Oatmeal-Shea Butter-Buttermilk soap. I used a rice flower and shea scent that makes this soap smell So Damn Yummy you could eat it! Stan says that it makes his skin feel softer, which to me is a HUGE awesome deal. He has such dry skin being a printer, so this made me very happy!
With my third bar I tried to do some embedding. I made little red hearts and put them in some clear soap with a bit of blue coloring in it, and finished it off with a blue pearl mica background. I will just say that since I am still learning on what to do, that I see now why when embedding you need non-bleeding colors, but it actually looks pretty cool so I can't complain about it.
I will probably post them all on my etsy store so you can check them out! I am so excited about all of this!

In other news we got a new kitty we are calling Sparkplug. He is just adoreable as anything, and of course the other cats hate him. Squee just hisses as him and Oscar beats him up, and since Boba is now at the Apartment with us, he doesn't even know who Sparky is yet... but hopefully they will all get along here soon... (I hope!)

So I have also been preparing for the Craftacular coming up this August at the East Side Club in Madison. It will be the first crafting show that I will be in. (oh goodness, so nervous) I am working on a banner and logo, and hit up the fabric store today to get stuff to make button magnets. Dani said she will help me craft some stuff up all nice and man the booth while we are there, so that is super awesome! I will be there with GETBENTpress items as well, even though I am sure Stan won't come because it starts at 10am or so, but we will have some shirts and bags to show off our screen printing and vinyl skills and buttons, along with other things I am sure... so soap and clothing, I guess I got you covered when your naked and then when you want to get dressed again... pretty awesome!

Well Adam and Stan just made me some awesome food, and Leah is on her way over for our late Sundate so I will wrap this up, but I am sure there will be many more talks for us... I do so enjoy our talks :) Have a good night! xox Libby