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Showing posts from 2013

So long, farewell

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Hello friends, I have some unexpected news, Sailor Mouth Soaps has now closed on a semi-permanent hiatus while I re-locate interstate for work. Everything has happened very quickly and I understand it's not the ideal time of year for my lovely customers (who are starting to place their Christmas orders) for me to close up and for that I am very sorry for the inconvenience. All pending orders will be processed as per normal lead times and you will receive them shortly. Another special apology is due for my wholesale customers wanting to place Christmas orders, I wish I could assist but am on a very tight time frame right now and cannot give your orders the time and care they deserve. For Brisbane locals, until the end of November you can find a selection of products at Collective Avenue ( https://www.facebook.com/collectiveboutique ) and anything unsold will then be auctioned off on Facebook if I have time before I leave. My Etsy & Big Cartel stores hav

Flavours, GF, Q&A's, new locations & packaging upgrades

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So yesterday, in frantic last minute preparation for the opening of Collective Avenue (a little shop of happiness) I was making a tonne of new lip balms and decided to take this quick picture before they were put into cute little trio gift boxes. I'll have a picture of them soon! I can't decide which I like more, they are all smell so wonderfully yummy . I was hungry just making them. The hygiene sleeves have been updated too, they now have a perforated top so you can leave the rest of the sleeve on the balm so as not to mess up the labels in your bag, yay! This little change makes me very happy, it's far more user friendly now. Also I have mentioned before but it's worth saying again, the formula is now gluten free (GF) as I switched the Vit E (from wheatgerm) to Jojoba Oil. It feels more silky to wear and won't upset gluten intolerant tummy's. I had an interesting question emailed to me today and I thought it was worth sharing here:- Hi  I got a

Shop in Brisbane's Western Suburbs

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I'm very excited to announce that this Christmas you will be able to find Sailor Mouth Soap goodies among other amazing local handmade products at a unique pop-up-shop at the  Mount Ommaney Centre  just off the Centenary Motorway. It's run by the lovely ladies at  Collective Avenue  and is open full trading hours for the shopping centre, plus they have loads of parking! You know how hard parking is at Christmas time huh. As a special treat, a lot of the products available will be totally new to the range! I won't give too much away but suffice to say, my love and obsession with animals features quite a bit. Stay tuned on  Facebook  for sneak peeks of new stock going in and as the shop launches, pictures of the stall too.

New lip balm flavours

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I'm excited to announce a dazzling array of new lip balm flavours ! You've now got 16 flavours to choose from including: Sweet Mint Toasted Coconut Margarita Lime Pina Colada Watermelon Gooey Caramel Passionfruit Rose Vanilla Bean Fairy Floss Mango Peaches Blue Raspberry Lemon Cake Rainbow Sherbert Strawberry Champagne Cinnamon Pudding The ingredients have also seen a slight tweak, the Vitamin E has been replaced with Jojoba Oil making it suitable for gluten intolerant customers and even more nourishing for the lips.

Spoil your Mum

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Mothers Day is fast approaching (Sunday 12th May) so I've put together a handy gift guide to make shopping easier for you. All of these products are available in my Big Cartel store and can be shipped directly to your Mother or to you. Combined shipping is available as well.

Mystery Grab Bags are back!

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Long time followers might remember before Christmas last year I introduced the "Mystery Grab Bag"! Link to original post I'm offering these again for the same great price. For $15 you get: 3x Handmade soaps 1x Soy wax melt 1x Lip balm That's $30 value (at least)! Just pay $6.80 shipping and these babies can be shipped immediately within Australia. For $11.00 shipping you can buy as many as you want. I've been told these are a good way to get a "gift cupboard" going, for when you accidentally forget someones birthday and you have no time to run out and pick up a present, pronto! Simply email me at sailormouthsoaps (at) gmail (dot) com to grab yours. Only available for a short time.

Happy Easter

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Have a wonderful and safe Easter break!

Messing about

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So, admittedly, web design isn't a strong skill of mine. Everything I do on the blog or any online store takes a lot of messing about, trial and error and even then, the effect isn't all that amazing. So instead of worrying about it, I'm going to minimise and streamline my shops and pages online so that I can focus on beating my head against a wall with less pages! Hah! Big Cartel have a new theme available and it's actually pretty awesome and more useful for me that a lot of pre-made themes that cost double or triple the amount of money Big Cartel want. So I am starting to make there move towards selling there permanently. Eventually, down the line (waaaay down the line) I'd love to have my own website with a shopping cart and credit card facilities but since Sailor Mouth Soaps is a small little business, that's a long time away. For now, I'll have to make do! Also worth mentioning, I'm seriously considering getting rid of my Etsy store. Th

Australians for Cruelty Free Cosmetics

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Hello friends, Now for a topic that is close to my heart (and I know a lot of my customers and fellow crafters hearts) ....banning animal testing! http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/australians-for-cruelty-free-cosmetics The petition is a joint venture from three of the (amazing) major groups in Australia, who tirelessly work towards bringing Australia into a more ethical, caring and compassionate present and future. This petition is being sent to the Australian Minister for Health and Ageing See below for more information on each group. I will also point out that I'm a financial member of all of these groups! I strongly encourage you to sign this petition. In my experience, I have found even those that choose to eat meat and animal products, who are not vegetarian or vegan, are still morally outraged by the unnecessary and pointless horror of animal testing in cosmetics. Choose Cruelty Free (CCF) is an independent, non-profit organisation which actively

No market tomorrow (insert sad face)

Hello everyone, I'm very sorry to start the day with bad news. Unfortunatley due to illness I won't be able to attend the Brizvegas Kustom Karnival tomorrow . It's a pretty big bummer and I've had to let a friend down because of it. I haaaaate doing that. I'm working to get my migraines under control so I can re-open my online store and get some Sailor Mouth Soap love back into the hot little hands of my customers. Please bare with me while I try to get my health sorted out. I've been letting it get progressively worse for many years now. It's time to get it sorted! Thanks for understanding. xx

Good soap dish vs bad soap dish

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I was out shopping the other day for, among other things, a new soap dish. I was looking and looking and actually found quite a few. They all looked nice but unfortunately, I knew from experience that they weren't actually suitable for holding a wet cake of soap. Why is that you ask? Well they were all flat, or worse still, bowl shaped! There were no ridges or grates or holes to help get air flow to the soap and prevent it from turning into a jelly-like mess. And then it hit me, soap gets such a bad name by the liquid soap crowd and I think badly designed soap dishes are mostly to blame! No wonder some people can't be convinced to switch to a good quality bar soap (saving a lot of plastic from landfill mind you) when the only experience they've ever had is a soggy bar of soap that barely lasts more than a week. What an absolute tragedy to think so many people miss out on the tactile bliss of bar soap because they've got the wrong soap dish. I sympathise though,

Charitable causes

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You've probably noticed that I have a real soft spot for animals. It's no secret that I'm passionate about protecting animals and because I feel so strongly, I make it a part of my business as well. Last year  Saffron on the Hill Inc  ( Not-for-profit organisation that rescues, rehabilitates and  rehomes dogs, including quite a few Pugs!) used some of my Pug Soaps at a charity auction to fundraise for vet bills and I just received this wonderful email to let me know how it went:- Hi Thank you again, letting you know that your item and contributions enabled Saffron on the Hill to pay for almost a full surgery for Bob, and large contribution to Daisy's surgery. Thank you for your wonderful products. Kindest regards Karen McVeigh Yaaaaaaaaaay! That makes me so happy. I absolutely love to hear back and find out how everything went. There's a few other animal rescue groups I've worked with or donated to, including:- Siberian Husky Rescue Inc.

Market stall for Brisbane locals

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It's been a crazy month so now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, let the blogging begin! First, some exciting news for Brisbane locals,  Moxie Lou  will be stocking a selection of Sailor Mouth Soaps at the upcoming Kustom Karnival on Sunday March 10th 2013 at the Acacia Ridge Hotel. Here's all the details: Date: Sunday March 10 Times: 11am to 6pm Venue: The Acacia Ridge Hotel, 1386 Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge This is a fun-filled afternoon to enjoy all our elements of Kustom Kulture - hot rods, rockabilly music, pin ups, low brow artists, hair stylists and markets. The event is all-ages, families are welcome and kids 15 and under are free. Very special guests for this event launch are: Los Straitjackets (USA) CC Jerome's Jetsetters (Netherlands) Pat Capocci Comb (NSW) Men Into Space (Qld) The Lincolns (SA) DJ Leapin' Lawrie (Qld) Check out more info here:  http://www.kustomkarnival.com/ The BrizVegas Kustom Karnival will feature: - Live Roc

I love being closer to nature

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At risk of boring the pants off all of you, I'm doing another house related post :D Having moved from a main road in a fairly industrial area to a a quiet suburban bush land setting on a huge block, I'm enjoying indulging myself with watching one of my favorite animals, birds! Here are some of the more breathtaking birds we have in our yard each day. Rainbow Lorikeet Little Corella Galah Laughing Kookaburra Sulfur Crested Cockatoo Willie Wagtail We're also visited a lot by Noisy Miners, Crows, Magpies and Doves to name a few. It's bliss. On a funny side note, I just heard some commotion under my window and caught 4 Crows sneaking around the garden and stealing the ripe cherry tomatoes we had (had!) growing, LOL.

House update

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Hi everyone! I'll keep it brief because I'm too excited and manic to focus on any one thing for too long right now....our new house settles today and we can begin to move in! Hurrah! We've been at this for nearly 2 months, it's been the most exhausting and frustrating experience of my life. There were so many times I thought we would lose the house because of some issue with the banks and other people involved. One of my soap making friends went through a similar thing, only her journey into the perfect home took over a year. I would have died. Major props to Kylee Lane. That girl has staying power :D The severe weather warning with flash flooding issues isn't even concerning me right now. After all of the stress, a little water is the least of my worries. I'll keep you all posted on when I should be back and the stores open again. I really want to get into the soap room asap and start making some of the things I've had in the works since June but h