Bittersweet and the little soap company

spring events

 

There was a day when Bittersweet hosted fashion shows and special events!

We're happy to announce that we'll be hosting our May Day Celebration this year!

I just ordered postcards for this event and if you frequent our apothecary shop you can pick up a postcard at our shop. 

It feels good to bring back at least one of our events. Between our May Day event and our Porch Sale coming up we'll rolling right along. Hopefully we won't encounter any speed bumps along the way. 

I haven't yet decided on a date for the sale, but it will be coming up sometime soon as well. 

We just got these belt bags in and I absolutely love them! They're made of a soft leather and are going to be a great bag to carry you through spring and summer. 

I ordered some purple iris from the flower supplier this past week. Every time I looked in their direction a smile came to my face. 

 We also received some of our new soap wrapping papers. I'm loving this one! 

Our new soap for next week is Vanilla Rose and it will be wrapped in this pretty paper. Sniff, sniff...

We also launched a pretty paper line for Easter. It will be here briefly and only available for a week or so while inventory lasts. The little Easter Paper Pouches present a great gift!

Our Scent Your Own Department awaits you!

Keep the faith. 

Jill 

weeks end...

I feel like a kid in a candy store when making the everlasting bouquets! We added wood flowers to our posies and the texture and creamy hues offer the perfect touch to completing these unique bouquets.

There are no words to describe the luscious scent of this new soap! If you are madly in love with lavender and chamomile then you will be madly in love with this soap! 

Next weeks new soap is called Wishes do come true... In all honesty the past couple of soap fragrances have blown me away, and that just doesn't happen often!

I've been working on design makeover's on all of the cremes and serums. The general plan is to offer a more cohesive appearance and to make it easier to read our product labels. 

I'm always amazed at how just one little change can completely transform a label. In this case, I was quite happy with our product labeling but felt it needed a stand-out pop of color to distinguish one crème from another. The color band helps to separate each crème in a simple but effective way.

We just received our new glass bottles, and this is a prototype of our new Facial Serum label I am in love with the new bamboo droppers! Anytime that I can incorporate wood into a design I do. Some of my suppliers just began offering the bamboo droppers and when I first saw them I fell madly in love with the aesthetics. 

I'm finally catching up with the after holiday frenzy. Bittersweet sells out of a lot of our inventory during the holidays and it almost feels like starting over as I'm required to start fresh with soap making and product manufacturing. It's also the perfect time to make any changes to the look of a product since the inventory has disappeared. So after saying all that, I'm happy to announce the return of the Shampoo Bar!

We have been mixing up some amazing spring and summer body scents! I've also restocked glass bottles so that you can build your own scent Dry Oil, and Body Spray. 

I'm wanting to bring back the flair jean! This style is flattering on all body types and I love the flair worn with a bit of heel or a platform like the one above. 

The humble little muslin bag... We always keep a stash of these at our store. 

It's time to get excited about shopping in person once again!

We believe our collections are better than they've ever been! We're happy to share our favorite things with you!

Keep the faith.

Jill 

 

a week of wonder...

It's been a week of wonder! Pink tulips graced the shop with their beauty. I love having fresh flowers in the shop. They mingle quite well with artisan soap and such. 

Our dining room table is overflowing with everlasting goodness! Well, actually it's quite the mess as you can plainly see, but it sometimes takes a mess to create a masterpiece!

Introducing the Boho Bouquet!

I'm having so much fun making these bouquets, and because I love flowers so much especially everlasting ones I'm also going to offer a box of dried flower goodness that you can send to a friend so that they can enjoy the flower goodness too! This offering will begin hitting our store shelves next week during our business hours. 

We also received a shipment of this adorable but classic-style jumpsuit. This clothing manufacture is capturing my attention. Their items have a vintage vibe about them that I love!

I'm finally getting around to propagating my jack and the beanstalk fiddle leaves. I have two that reside in the south bay shop window and they are both touching the ceiling. I'm going to offer the cuttings to whoever wants one while they last. They grow extremely fast and require very little attention. I water mine once a week, but barely give them a drink. 

 

The straw hats are here! 

Share and share alike...

I drive by the Mormon visitor center to get to my shop. The other day I happened to notice the bountiful crop of pampas grass that they had growing behind the building. I thought to myself that I should stop and ask them if I could get some cuttings. The next day I drove my and they were cutting it all back. I jumped out of my car and asked if I could have some of it. A man walked around from the big truck or freshly cut pampas grass and handed me a huge bundle. My poor car takes a beating because I will put anything and everything in. The grass was at least six feet tall and a struggled to get the giant grass in my car. One of the attendees offered a huge trash bag to put the grass in so I was able to wrestle the tall grass into the bag. My moral of this story... If a thought comes to mind, act upon it right then and there. All joking aside, I felt the love! The grass will be used to create more Boho Bouquets. 

I shared the story on one of our social media sites.

Last week's new soap was Lavender + Chamomile and this week's soap is going to be the long-awaited Bedtime Bath! I'm going to package the soap differently than our usual white paper. 

I really like the image associated with this soap. 

Our shipments to come are stuffed with accessories that scream spring and summer. 

I mentioned in my last post how this was an exciting time at Bittersweet. I'm in awe of the new arrivals and constant rotation of our inventory. 

I'm excited not just because we're offering amazing new things, but because we're offering items that help you to slow down and enjoy the everyday beauty that this world offers. 

Letter writing and gift-giving lift our souls and spirits and I believe that bringing them back is a wonderful thing. Picking wild violets to create a small bouquet not only puts a smile on your face but fills your heart with simple goodness. 

Both of these pictures were taken at least twenty years ago! I am happy to bring them back and extend their glory!

Keep the faith. 

Jill 

 

 

 

  

 

French Toast & Sunshine...

Who doesn't like French toast smothered in real maple syrup? Who, I ask... Since today was planned as a prepare tax day, I believe French toast was the perfect choice for Sunday brunch at our house. 

Then there's the sunshine and mild temperatures that get you anxious to dig in the dirt. We cleared flower and herb beds from dried pine needles and gingko leaves. Flower pots are dumped and the left over dirt fills my beds for this season. It's a annual practice, both taxes and spring garden cleaning. It feels good!

We're going to grill out tonight and make strawberry shortcake. The next time you make strawberry shortcake try making fresh cream to go on top. It's super easy and fast. Pour a pint of whipping cream into a glass bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium to high. In a matter of a few minutes and after it forms stiff peaks you'll have the freshest and tastiest cream ever! you can add a pinch of sugar is you want, but we like the creamy taste of it without. You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla, but you don't need to. It's great all by itself.

We had our Spring Open House at the shop this week. It was fun to share the new shop layout and all of the new items with some of you. If you didn't have a chance to make it in, we look forward to sharing our new lines with you when you do. 

 I mentioned in my last post that we've brought back this yummy Lip Balm for spring and summer. I'm sort of obsessed with peach! When I was a teenager they made a peach dishwashing soap that I absolutely loved! It's funny how those fragrance memories stick with you. Today, I've brought back those memories by introducing and bringing back Peach! A Peachy soap is curing in the studio! Yesterday a young girl came in and guess what fragrance she chose to scent her own? You guessed it, Peach!

We're also sharing some of our favorite fabrics by offering the treasured linens and cotton in clothing offerings. A new line of aroma therapy jewelry like an Aroma Bracelet and a Silver Locket that holds your favorite essential oils and blends. How fun is that?

These adorable overalls are made from French Terry! No sooner than they arrived on our showroom they disappeared into shopping bags! I did try to order more, but sometimes our suppliers inventory is sold out too. I'll find out soon and post updates on our social media pages. 

NEW!

New Aroma Aid to the rescue! Available in three different essential oil blends, and I'm anticipating an offering of a few more. 

 The picture of the first generation soap maker in my family proudly hangs on the back wall of the shop. I'm reminded of the seeds that have been planted along with a smile on my face.

New Dry Brushes are here! Have you tried this method of shedding dry skin? It makes sense.

Oh my! It just made sense for it to come back! In my head there's an entire spectrum of new ideas centered around this shape of soap. It's new too, and coming down the spring road. 

We started getting fresh flowers back at our store! Each week we will offer a new fresh flower for you to purchase and take home and admire its beauty just like we do at our store.  This old fashioned bloom is one of my favorites. It makes an amazing cut flower in arrangements while proudly carrying old fashioned charm. It comes in a variety of colors. 

The Mini Soap Boxes, well I will just say if they are available, grab them! We're selling out as quickly as I can get them packaged. There will be a limited number available. 

We mentioned that we're bringing back our diffusers. We offered the aromatic reeds about fifteen years ago, and we're excited to share them once again. We're starting the scent lineup with an amazing scent that we're calling SPRING! The eight ounce glass bottle is filled with the scent blend so all that you are required to do is pour it into the diffuser and add the sticks. Turn the sticks to control the intensity of the scent released. 

A New Pink Clay Soap shines! As does the new organic cotton washcloths! 

The Ladybug Necklace. Simple and small, but oh so sweet!

Our new Spring lines are starting to appear live and in person at both our web store and door store. 

It's an exciting time at Bittersweet. 

Keep the faith and share some kindness. 

Jill