Annual Christmas Sale

If you missed the annual Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale, don't feel bad. There are still some great deals to be found in my annual Christmas sale.

Set up for the open house Friday.

Yes, the discounts might not be as high on some items, but everything in the store is still anywhere from 10-75% off now through December 12. I always end the sale on that date to ensure everyone who orders receives their packages before the holiday.

Fall Show Review

These past couple of weeks have been busy ones. The last two-thirds of our fall show season happened back-to-back, so there wasn't time really to comment on each of them in turn.

First we had Rocket City NerdCon in Huntsville on October 24-25. It was a first year event, so we weren't sure what exactly to expect. However, we thought chances were good it might be a fairly laid back affair, so we decided it would be a good convention to be the girls' first.

The girls were proud of their homemade costumes.

Both girls wanted to cosplay, especially since it was the week before Halloween. I, of course, waited far too long to get started on their costumes. I'd never made a full costume before, let alone two, so I was probably procrastinating out of subconscious fear. Anyway, with two full days of intensive sewing, their Batgirl and Supergirl costumes got done about 9:30 Thursday night.

Friday was eventful and interesting because neither Hubby nor I were able to get the day off work, and the convention started just half an hour after I usually get off work. Thankfully, the Huntsville City Library is just a block or so from the station and basically across the road from where Hubby works. We got set up just in time to catch our breath before attendees started coming in.

Saturday was also a learning experience. As I said before, we'd never carried our girls to a convention before, so we ended up overestimating how engaged they would be by it all. Although they liked seeing the costumes and looking at everything, they got bored fairly quickly. It probably didn't help that between the excitement of spending the night at Granny D's and knowing they were going to get to go somewhere special the next day, neither girl slept much the night before. So, we had two sleepy girls on our hands well before lunch.

Still, we all enjoyed the show overall, and it went well for a first year event.

This past weekend was our third year at Hilltop Arts Festival.

A cold front came through the night before, so it was bitterly cold and windy early Saturday morning when we were setting up. Still, the girls had gotten a good night's sleep, or so I thought, and I'd gotten everyone hats and gloves the night before. So, we thought nothing of taking the girls with us.

We got there and began setting up. The girls ran up and down a small hill behind where we were setting up our tent to keep warm and busy. Hubby and I got the tent up with a lot less fuss than the year before, which considering we only use the thing once a year, is pretty good. We probably should have taken it as a sign to just take it back down when it tried to blow away three times in the process of trying to get it weighted down.

Anyway, we got the tent set up, and I was setting up the tables when the girls really started complaining about being cold. So Hubby took them home to get some blankets while I finished setting up the tables. I was done and had made a partial round to see the other venders when they returned. They got cuddled up under their blankets, and things seemed fine for a bit until the wind started picking up as the air warmed a few degrees. It was strong enough that Hubby and I were still obliged to hold onto the tent, even with center blocks weighting the tent down. This frightened Boo Bear so badly, she began crying in a panic.

Eventually we ended up calling Granny D to come get the girls, and then Hubby and I took the tent down once the wind died down enough for us to attempt it. That made things feel a tad warmer with access to direct sun, and we didn't have to sprint to grab the tent every few minutes.

Like NerdCon the week before, business was slow but steady throughout the day. We heard some great music, ate some good food, and met some very nice people.

I'm not entirely sure if we will be vending at Hilltop again next year, but I'm sure we'll go. It has nothing to do with the show itself. It's a wonderful event. But, the weather seems to be getting colder earlier each year these past three or four years, and other festivals in the area make moving the event date impractical.

I discovered Saturday night and in through Sunday evening, that I can't handle being in the cold for that long. A soak in hot water and some "Ow, My Aching Everything," relieved much of the aches and pains from the day, but the bones themselves in my hips, legs, and feet ached throughout the night. And those are areas I usually don't feel RA related pain!

Of course, this may change with continued treatment. It's possible my rheumatoid disease isn't as in remission as I thought, and it's just going to take longer adhering to the anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, and judicious use of medicines when needed to heal. I don't want to make any firm decisions until I know more.

Fall Season Kickoff: The Geek Gathering

Our fall event season got started this past weekend with The Geek Gathering in Sheffield, Alabama.

All in all, it was a good convention. Turnout was high, and the costumes were amazing. They had some good guests, especially considering they are a young convention. Oh, and Hubby finally got his picture taken with the TARDIS. There were so many other photos we wanted to take, but idiot me forgot to pack the camera.

Hubby posed with the TARDIS and baby Adipose.

Upcoming Interview - The Will Anderson Show

I will be joining local talk show host, Will Anderson on air during his show on Wednesday, July 23. The show airs on WTKI and WEKI weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. central standard time.

We will be discussing my debut novel, Right of Succession.

Working Behind the Scenes

I know it looks like nothing has been going on since Con Kasterborous the last weekend in June, but there has been a lot happening "behind the scenes" so to speak.

Hubby and I both came down with con crud, and both girls had a bad case of hay fever that weekend. So the whole first week of July, we were all miserable. I'm thankful Hubby and the girls are back to feeling at 100%. I've had a cough and sinus issues that refuse to go away, and I woke up on July 4th almost completely deaf in one ear. Because of this, I have avoided any and all crafting, but that doesn't mean I've been idle.

My booth at last year's Homespun.

Right of Succession is Available!

Long time readers will know I've spent more than half my life working on my first full novel. I've written other things in the past nineteen and a half years, but I kept going back to Right of Succession.

Well, it's finally been finished and published!

It is available on Kindle and in paperback form. In fact, you can snag an electronic copy free from Amazon if you head over and download a copy by Tuesday, June 24.

For local folks, I'll be at Con Kasterborous this weekend, and I should have about twelve paperback copies available for purchase at my booth. (If they arrive when my publisher says they will, that is.)

Personalized, signed copies will be available through contentedcomfort.com along with all bath and body, knit, and crocheted items come mid to late July when I finish integrating my storefront with the main website. My Etsy store will stay up as a means to accept inquiries from existing customers and to direct returning customers to the main website.

If you read and enjoy, please help a new novelist out and leave a review. And as always, thanks for your support!

Frustration and Injury

I know the blog has been a bit soap heavy lately. I've been more than a little obsessed these past few weeks, to be honest. Introducing the year's new lines at Con Kasterborous has become a tradition for me, and it starts three weeks from today. I've spent virtually all of my waking time at home either designing, manufacturing, or packaging soaps.

My booth at Con Kasterborous last year.

I finally finished yesterday. Well, I finished the manufacturing the soaps at least. I still have perfumes and lotions to go for most of the fragrances, new and old.

Hilltop Arts Festival is this weekend!

I've been busy these last couple of weeks between my day job and getting ready for my upcoming holiday shows. The first one is this weekend in Elkmont, Alabama.

I participated in the first Hilltop Arts Festival last year, and it was a great day. I'm looking forward to it this year.

My booth at Hilltop Arts Festival 2012.

There will be live music, good food, and lots of beautiful items made by local artists available throughout the day 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Then after the free festival, a benefit concert for the Elkmont High School Library will be held at the Red Caboose. The Pyles will be playing, and Gin House Barbeque will cater. 

If you're in the area, come out and get started on your holiday shopping while supporting local artists.

I hope to see you there!

Con*Stellation Recap

This recap is a little later than usual, but Con*Stellation is a bit different than the other shows I usually do. Specifically, it's a three day show. So, by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I got my booth broken down, got back home, unloaded all my items, and I crashed.  It was a good weekend though.

My booth for Con*Stellation this year.

Con*Stellation is a well established convention. It's mostly a literary science fiction and fantasy convention, so the attendees are a bit different than you see at some other shows. As usual, most, not all, but most of the men there walked quickly by, studiously avoiding eye contact. I get it, but it's still just a little funny, especially considering I added so many feminine fragrances this year because I was becoming overloaded with masculine fragrances.

Yet another whacked out summer.

I only just realized how long it's been since I've looked at this blog. It's been months since I've posted or even checked comments. I'm a bad, bad blogger.

However, I've had a bunch of other things on my mind lately. First off, I was rather obsessed with finishing off the rewrites and edits on Right of Succession. Then, as it became clear I needed to start applying for an on-site job, that became all consuming. So, here I am two weeks away from the start of the fall show season with a list of items to restock as long as my arm, three and a half chapters left to finish rewriting, and getting ready to start a new part-time job come Monday.

Autumn Breeze Soaps. Leaves are available in red, orange, and yellow.

On the plus side, I finished stocking the limited edition Autumn Breeze soaps. They are available through the store front now through December 1, and I'll have them with me at Hilltop Arts Festival and NA Crafters Expo the first two weeks in November.

Although I will be going to work for a couple of local radio stations, Contented Comfort will stay up and running. Most of the time, I was manufacturing all the products, handling the marketing, and selling at an average of 10-15 hours a week. The rest of the time, I was homeschooling the girls and doing housework. Circumstances have changed for our family, and now Hubby has the opportunity to really teach the way he's wanted to do through homeschooling our daughters and possibly as an online social sciences tutor. This means I have mornings free, and if you know me, you know I can't stand sitting around doing nothing. So, hence my first regular, on-site job in almost seven years.

So now, I'll be working mornings using skills I developed at Cumulus Broadcasting back when Hubby and I first married, and I'll do what I need to do for Contented Comfort in the evenings and on weekends.

This week, I'm working hard to remake the items that are low or out-of-stock. In some cases, I'm experimenting with possible new products or making items I didn't get to make earlier, like Byronic Doctor guest soaps. So, watch here or on the store front for new or returning items.

Writer Fail, Lion's Club BBQ Recount, and a Rebirth

Yes, I know. I promised I'd have Right of Succession published at the end of last week. Sorry folks, I wasn't expecting the events of last week.

First, I threw my hip out of socket somehow on Wednesday morning. I couldn't sit at the desk, and it's next to impossible to type while lying flat.

I recovered from that just in time to set up for the Lion's Club BBQ Cook Off. I normally don't work events this late in the year. But it was a free booth, and I thought a tent would be enough to keep myself and the soaps from damage. I was wrong. I lost about thirty to forty sample soaps, even in the shade, and I wound up with heat stroke.

New policy: no outdoor events between mid-May and the very end of September. It's just too hot and humid here in the Tennessee Valley for items that start melting at 90 degrees.

Con Kasterborous Recap

Sorry this took so long folks. I posted the video and then forgot to make it a post here. The video is below.

New Fragrances for the Ladies!

Instead of spacing these out into four different posts, I thought I'd just put up a video that introduces them all at once since I'd promised to do so on my YouTube channel anyway.

If you like my videos and want to make sure you don't miss any of them, make sure to subscribe to my channel. While I do post a few of them here, I don't with all of them.

New Fragrance: Doctor Who Inspired Byronic Doctor

Today I have the last of the classic Doctor Who inspired fragrances in the 2013 line: Byronic Doctor. It's inspired by Paul McGann's Doctor from the 1996 movie.

Byronic Doctor Glycerin Soaps

It came out similar in fragrance and design to Oncoming Storm, which was inspired by Christopher Eccleston's version of The Doctor from the first season of the reboot, though there are some major differences in both. I'm happy about this because upon watching the movie this past fall, Hubby and I agreed, it seemed like to get the 9th Doctor, take the 8th, subtract amnesia, and add post traumatic stress disorder.

New Fragrance: Doctor Who Inspired Professor Who

I'm back with another new original fragrance inspired by Doctor Who I'll be debuting at Con Kasterborous next month. This one was inspired by Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor.

Professor Who Goat Milk and Glycerin Soaps

New Fragrance: Doctor Who Inspired Rainbow Hex

It's that time of year again. Con Kasterborous is coming up in just four and a half weeks, so I'm hard at work designing and producing new original fragrance lines. Today I have a look at the first of this year's three new Doctor Who inspired fragrances scheduled to debut at the convention.

Rainbow Hex Glycerin and Goat Milk Soaps

Just like the regeneration it's inspired by, Rainbow Hex is an interesting and slightly eccentric blend of marine, ozone, patchouli, lime, fresh greens, basil, and fresh cut grass. The design itself is modeled after the colorful patchwork coat worn by the 6th Doctor as portrayed by Colin Baker and is done mostly in glycerin soap with a bit of goat milk thrown in.

Homespun Recap

Hey, I'm back!

Sorry guys, I seem to get a bit forgetful when I'm super busy making stuff, and I've spent the past couple of weeks building inventory for the two shows I have scheduled this spring that didn't get canceled for one reason or another. Since I have fewer shows, I really wanted to make the most of them. Also, it's that time of year where I'm adding new fragrances in addition to adding candles and solid perfume to my inventory.

Homespun is one show I've wanted to do since before I actually opened the store. I didn't have the stock or money that first year. I missed the deadline to request an application by about three weeks last year, but I managed to get in this year. I was super excited these past few weeks and as Mom and I got there to set up at 7 a.m. Friday morning.

I LOVE my new sign! Thanks so much Aardvark Screenprinting.

You have to keep in mind, Homespun is one of those local shows everyone who has any sort of crafting hobby knows about. It's been around for years and years. It has a reputation of being a busy show with lots of sales and only handmade items.

Here I am with seventeen different fragrances, eleven of which are originals, brand new solid perfumes, and a whole rack of brand new candles. I felt like I had a bit of a home field advantage considering I was born and raised in the town and my little brother graduated from the hosting school. So, I was pumped and ready for this to be a bustling show, so long as the weather didn't get too horrible.

Seriously, there was a table dedicated to candles and sample size soaps.

There were a few hiccups during setup.

Despite sending out information packets specifying setup started at 7 a.m., the school organizers didn't show up until just before 8. Six of the booths, mine being one of course, were labeled incorrectly. This resulted in three of us initially setting up in the aisle, but those things happen. Whatever, it was easy enough to shift six feet.

The first real clue the show might not go so well came when some of the other venders started noticing direct sales booths setting up. The next was when the folks at the Scentsy booth fired up not one but at least three wax warmers and started burning wax tarts at their booth.

Okay, I get the fact that my items carry fragrance too. However, there's a huge difference between having wrapped items sitting out and actively using items designed to fragrance a small home at an indoor event. First off, there are a lot of people who have sensitivities to certain fragrances. It's not cool to fire up something that may cause a health hazard for someone to the point of making it impossible to avoid. I mean seriously, you'd get smacked in the face with a wall of Scentsy fragrances the moment you stepped foot in the gym. Secondly, it's just rude to the other perfumers to overlay your products fragrances over theirs to the point where absolutely everything smells like your stuff, and there were three other independent, handmade bath and body booths there not counting my own. Needless to say, if this is typical brand strategy for them, I will be pulling out of any shows where Sentsy booths will be in attendance from now on. 

There will video shortly to prove this was typical of traffic throughout.

Additionally, attendance was pitiful. For an event as long established and with  as good of a reputation, I was sorely disappointed. I went expecting the cram packed event I'd heard about and saw maybe twenty people walking through at a time at best all weekend.

As it turns out, most of my information was a few years out of date. I'd mostly heard from people who went, vended, or helped organize it several years ago. After talking to other venders who have participated for many years, it seems the school's new administration just doesn't want to bother with the show anymore. They ran off a lot of their best venders via policy changes, drastically cut advertising, loosened their vender requirements, and took up lax, unprofessional event coordinating practices out of apathy and ruined a formerly great event in the process.

My impression was the show's become a waste of time and booth fees. I won't be returning.

Upcoming Appearance: The NACrafters Expo

Pomegranate Apple Soap

Yes, I know the blog's gotten to be a bit craft heavy lately, and it's most likely going to be for a while more heading into the holidays. However, this weekend's NACrafter's Expo in Huntsville, AL is going to be my last show of the year. From this point on, craft posts in the remainder of 2012 will be either craft fails, new items for the store, or one of the tutorials I have planned, and I will try to keep it to two posts a week.

If you're in the Tennessee Valley, you might have seen two of the organizers talking about the show on WHNT's noon coverage yesterday. The link is to the video and write up if you missed it.

Hilltop Arts Festival Recap

Due to a cold a couple of weeks back, the three festivals I planned to attend this autumn became two. However, the Hilltop Arts Festival in Elkmont, AL on Saturday turned out to be much bigger than anyone could have anticipated for a first year event. Organizer Preston Pylant did a great job advertising the event. The weather was near perfect, and there were lots of great food and musical acts, leading to an impressive turn out and much fun had by all.

My booth at the Hilltop Arts Festival. Photo courtesy of Preston Pylant.

Con Kasterborous Recap

I went to Con Kasterborous in Huntsville, Alabama this past weekend. It's one of only three dedicated Doctor Who conventions in the U.S., and it was in it's first year.

Thanks to Emma McCauley for the photo!

It was great, especially considering it was the convention's first year. The turn out was way higher than expected. The costumes looked great, and both the guests and convention goers were delightful. I think everyone had a blast. Want proof? Lady Soliloque made a video of the goings on.

I'll say, I did stick out a bit like a sore thumb in the dealer's room. Bath and Body products aren't something you'd expect to find on sale at a science fiction convention. I mean, how many folks carry science fiction and fantasy themed fragrances and soaps? I got a few odd looks as people walked right past on their way to the FYE and Zero Gravity booths.