Thinking Forward

Even though the temps are standing at around 100 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit in my neck of the woods, and summer is still kicking everyone's sweaty butts, I'm thinking of Autumn. In particular, I'm thinking of what to start putting together for the annual Intermountain Nursery's Harvest Arts and Peace Festival this October.

Last year I went quietly. One table, two chairs, one canopy. Half the table was lined with perfect, exactly-the-same shape/size/colors of soap, the other half filled with perfume bottles, sample vials, scent strips and brochures. Very uniform display, no frills, no chills, no excitement.

This year, I think I'll go artisan. I'm going to pull out the old wooden box molds and make some rich, dark, spiced coffee soap with little stamps impressed upon them. Some of my formerly famous organic yellow tomato and basil soaps, carrot cream soaps, spiced patchouli lavender soaps, lusciously creamy Himalayan cedarwood 'n rose floral wax soaps, lemongrass soaps made with organic cocoa butter ~ ah, just thinking about them makes me happy, happy, happy! I'm also going to make a black colored soap using mass amounts of alkanet root infusion oil -- help with scenting? Please? I had thought anise, but that's so predictable. Something else is in order. Patchoulis (dark and iron free?), jasmine floral wax, jasmine amber resin? And, of course, no mountain festival is complete without my widely sought PoppyMint soap. Yeah, I'm braggin'. Ha-ha!