New Changes for Next Year

Again, thank you to everyone for making 2009 such a wonderful year! I am looking forward to making 2010 an even more wonderful year. That's why I am behind the scenes right now getting my hands a little dirty. SerahsOnline.com will be down for maintenance until January 2, 2010. I hope to reveal a brand new design for the website and add a few new features as well to start off fresh for the new year. You can still subscribe to our newsletter while our site is down for maintenance. I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season so far and that you are looking forward to the New Year as much as I am!

Happy Holidays!

FREE SHIPPING until Dec 20, 2009

Take advantage of FREE SHIPPING at Serah's.

4 days ONLY

Use coupon code: FREESHIP at checkout

This is the perfect opportunity to get those last minute holiday gifts marked off your list. Don't stand in long lines at the post office. Let's Serah's do the shipping for you. You can ship directly to your recipient. You can even include a special message for them on the packaging slip. Just enter your message in the comments section of your order.

Event: December 13th, 2009

Come out to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, this Sunday, December 13th and do your holiday shopping! I will be there selling my famous cupcake soaps!

When:Dec 13, 2009, 9 am - 3:00 pm

Where: 1001 Rose Bowl Dr. Pasadena, CA 91103

Cost: $8.00 per person, children under 12 are admitted free with an adult. We also have an express admission from 8:00am - 9:00am at $10.00 per person, an early admission from 7:00am - 8:00am at $15.00 per person, and a special preview VIP admission from 5:00am - 7:00am at $20.00 per person.

Click HERE for additional detailed information about the Rose Bowl Flea Market including hours of operation, directions, and admission prices.

Cupcake Soap in Télérama Magazine

Télérama Magazine Nov 18, 2009
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Article Translation:

It’s Cake!

Cupcakes have totally conquered Paris. They are even making gadgets and jewelry out of them. Lip gloss, soap... the cupcake attacks! Not only our liver enzymes or our glycemic indexes, this time, the fashionable mini-cake titillates our desire for colorful fantasy, for zero-calorie gadgetry, and for little gifts to pull out instead of bouquets of flowers or bottles of champagne. It is Sylvie, the owner of Zigouzis that we owe this “cupcake-mania” to. In her miniboutique, she has put her heart and soul into the unbridled ideas that American-made pastries have conjured up for a variety of people. As proof of inflicting pain on your budget in order to make yourself happy, here are four examples of 100% artificial cupcakes:

Lip gloss at 4 € (14 € for 4) for that price, we would eat it!
Soap, from 200g (15 €) which make bathrooms swoon!
Earrings (from 15 to 34 €) to attract hungry stares.
To cover up a boo-boo on your finger, cupcake Band-Aids (a steal at 5.50 €) and a deceptively creamy ring! (12.50 €)

Télérama Magazine features Serah's

Télérama Magazine Nov 18, 2009
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Télérama Magazine, one of the best magazines in France, featured Serah's cupcake soap and the Zigouzis boutique where my cupcake soaps are sold! I am ecstatic! The Zigouzis boutique, located in Sevran, France, is owned by Sylvie Donné. She has a boutique with many items around the theme of cupcakes. I was so excited to receive a copy of the article from her.

Thanks to Emily from GCDSpa who is also my Twitter buddy (@GCDSpa) for putting me in contact with her cousin Stewart (@frenchnerd), who translated the article for me! Thank you so much Emily and Stewart!

Click here to read the translated article.

A Chocolate Gift for Chocoholics

Chocolate Cupcake Soap
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Calling all chocoholics! This chocolate fragrance is absolutely divine and has become one of my most popular fragrances. Serah's Chocolate Cupcake Soap is a sweet treat you can indulge in without the guilty pleasure. It's look and scent are just like the real thing but please don't eat it. I know it's tempting! Serah's Chocolate Cupcake Soap is made with extra lather glycerin and shea butter soap. Serah's soaps are vegan and do not contain parabens nor SLS. Zero sugar and no calories too! So this chocolate treat can be enjoyed with no worries!

Choosing gifts for chocoholics is easy...just give chocolate! Serah's Chocolate Cupcake Soap is the perfect extra special gift for the chocoholic in your life!

Vanilla Cupcake Soap

Vanilla Cupcake Soap
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Customers requested it and I have obliged. The Vanilla Cupcake Soap is finally here! Looks just like the real thing! But please don't eat it. Serah's Vanilla Cupcake Soap is made of extra lather glycerin and shea butter soap and scented with a vanilla fragrance. Also available as a mini cupcake soap.

To tell you the truth, I was not a fan of vanilla fragrances but the vanilla fragrance in this cupcake soap is not overpowering to the nose at all so I enjoy the fragrance as I hope you will too.

Buy it now.

Event: Unique Los Angeles 2nd Annual Holiday Show

826LA INVITE...
Originally uploaded by uniquelosangeles

Serah's will be at Unique Los Angeles December 5-6, 2009!
Booth #717
Special deals on cupcake soaps only at Unique!

Event: Dos Pueblos Home Holiday Tours

Come out and support Dos Pueblos PTSA! Come out and visit many local vendors including Serah's! Stop by and check out my yummy cupcake soaps!

Where: Historical Stow House, 304 N. Los Carneros Road, Goleta

When: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Cost: $25 for the home tour; FREE to shop at the boutique

Part of our proceeds go to benefit the Dos Pueblos PTSA.

I won't physically be at the event but my friend Ede will be selling my cupcake soaps. You'll love her!

Event: Monte Vista Winter Boutique

Where: Monte Vista Elementary School, 730 N. Hope Ave, Santa Barbara, CA
When: Saturday, December 5, 2009 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Monte Vista Elementary invites you to its first annual winter boutique. Serah's will have a presence there selling those absolutely yummy cupcake soaps. Our Christmas Reindeer Candy Corn Cupcake Soap will be there!

I won't physically be at the event but my friend Jennifer will be selling my cupcake soaps. Stop by and say hello. You'll love her!

Part of our proceeds go to benefit the Monte Vista Elementary School.

FREE concert at 10 am with kid's rock band and local favorite Hot Lava!

Shop for holiday gifts - Over 30 vendors, including local authors and artisans! Gifts for under $5 - many under $20!

Participate in Crafts for kids - FREE craft tables!

Plus - make your own holiday gifts for a small fee!

Cash and check only!

The Monte Vista Winter Boutique is generously sponsored by Village Properties Realtors.

Download a copy of the Monte Vista Winter Boutique flyer.

Event: Kids Helping Kids Open House

Come out today, December 3rd, to support the Kids Helping Kids organization at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara from 5pm - 8pm. Serah's will be a vendor there selling my yummy cupcake soaps to help out with the fundraiser. Kids Helping Kids is an entirely student run non-profit organization. Their team currently consists of 105 students working together to raise money for the Unity Shoppe. They are working toward a goal of $125,000 by doing fundraisers and seeking donations. Here's a video to show you what Kids Helping Kids is all about.

See you there!

Black Weekend Sale 2009

20% OFF EVERYTHING

Sale starts Friday, November 27 and ends Monday, November 30

What a perfect time to buy gifts just in time for December birthdays and upcoming holidays! Check out our Christmas Reindeer Candy Corn Cupcake Soap scented with the Holiday Candy Fragrance.

Upcoming holidays:
- Hanukkah
- Christmas

Don't miss out! Shop now!

Calla Lily Soap Favor Design

August 8th was the day of the wedding for the bride who needed to make the decision on the calla lily soap favor so now I can reveal her choice. If you don't remember the other options, you can read the previous post and while you are there, check out the results voted on by my readers. My readers especially loved the long stem calla lily soap favor. She chose the small calla lily soap favor with alternating colors to match her wedding colors. Half of the calla lily soaps were packaged in a clear box with green tissue paper and tied with a green stretch bow while the other half were packaged in a clear box with purple tissue paper and tied with a purple stretch bow. She and her mother were very pleased, two of the most important people in the wedding. I would like to send another thank you and congratulations to the new wife and hubby!

Missing in Blogging Action

Oh my gosh! How long has it been? A few weeks or a month since I have done a blog post? Well, let me tell you I was missing all of you! I wasn't missing in action because I was just being lazy. I was busy but good busy and more busy is yet to come but I'm looking forward to still blogging through it all.

So what have I been doing? Filling orders, taking care of administrative tasks, and getting ready for the holiday season. Can you believe it's August already?!

This week I am creating LOTS of mini cupcake soaps for a bat mitzvah on August 30th. In Judaism, a Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish boy, and a Bat Mitzvah a Jewish girl, who has come of age. People love ordering the mini cupcake soaps for all types of events which makes me really happy and honored to be a part of making their event special.

There's so much more I have to tell you but you'll just have to subscribe and/or come back to read the rest! :) I'm so glad to be back!

Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles Recap

I have so many great things to say about being a vendor at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles on July 11th and 12th that I don’t know where to begin! It was a very successful event for me! More successful than any event I’m vended so far!


I SOLD OUT of many of my soaps:
- the Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap (the Pink Jasmine fragrance is always a crowd favorite and the mini cupid corn cupcake soaps were one shy from being sold out)
- the Neapolitan Cupcake Soap (the Summer Fling fragrance is just right for the summer time)
- the Pink Cupcake Soap (the Creamsicle fragrance is the most edible, delectable fragrance)
- the Strawberries & Cream Cupcake Soap (the combination of Strawberry & Peppermint fragrance are sweet and refreshing)
- the Mini Green & Yellow Cupcake Soaps (I only had a few and they were gone in no time. The Creamsicle fragrance is once again a crowd favorite)
- the Mini Bunny Corn Cupcake Soaps (the Apricot Freesia fragrance is again another crowd favorite)

The Red Velvet Cupcake Soaps were being gobbled up too! I guess I’m not the only fan of Red Velvet Cake. So many of my customers told me that they had Red Velvet Cupcakes at their wedding and wished Serah’s existed before they got married to use my cupcake soaps as favors.

As always I loved chatting it up with my customers and seeing the people who stop by my booth from a recommendation. My buddy, Lisa Braithwaite, is one of the sweetest people in the world. She always sends people my way when I’m vending at a show. That’s how I met Shari Bonnin.

So much appreciation runs through my veins when a customer makes a purchase from me and it’s always great when a customer lets me know that they walked around the entire event and returned to make a purchase from me. Another thing I love to see is the innocent confused look on kids faces as their parents try to explain to them that it’s “soap, it’s not a real cupcake.” They catch on rather quickly and none have so far placed a giant cupcake in their mouth to get a big taste.

I had a corner booth this time and put the diorama right at the center peak of my tables and everyone loved it! Being a cupcake lover, a cupcake soap maker, and having friends in other vendors sure has its perks. Heidi and Susie from Rock Scissor Paper gave me a delicious chocolate cupcake!

Thanks to the coordinators of the Renegade Craft Fair for providing us with two tables. You have no idea what a weight you lifted off transporting my own tables with my products in my sports car.

My booth neighbors, Rebecca and Ryan, were the sweetest people too! Truly amazing…salt of the earth! Rebecca makes really amazing jewelry and her company is called Good Friday!

Before the fair ended, I was able to catch some photos of some amazing cupcake items sold at the fair and other photos from the event. Check them out in my Flickr account.

Overall, I had an AMAZING time at the Renegade Craft Fair and look forward to getting back out there again.

Craft Show: Renegade Craft Fair LA 2009

Renegade Craft Fair
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Come check out Serah’s (Booth # 200) at the first ever Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles, CA.
When: July 11 - 12, 1009
Tine: 11 am - 7 pm
Where: California Market Center

We will be on the 13th floor overlooking downtown Los Angeles which will provide the backdrop for this event. This event is FREE. Let me repeat, FREE!

Hope to see you there!

Amazing Soap Bubbles!

It's summer time and bubbles are everywhere...even in what I do! When I saw a photography assignment for capturing spring's green, I decided to capture it in a bubble. So I took this picture!

And I thought that was something but I was truly blown away by the creativity of Keith Michael Johnson at BubbleArtist.com. Keith Johnson is a soap bubble artist who explores how bubbles work and what we can do with them.

Check out Keith's website for more bubble art!

Cupcake Dreaming

Dreams...the mysterious thoughts that drift around in our head as we sleep have been the subject on analysis for years. Well, this one I'm about to share with you is probably far beyond analysis but if you're brave, then give it a shot.

A few nights ago when I drifted off to sleep with nothing but good thoughts in my head, my sweet dream turned into a crazy nightmare.

I was walking down the street at night when I witnessed a crime happening but I don't recall what crime it was. The criminals saw me witness the crime and proceeded to chase me down the street. I got away from them and hid at my friend's house whose oldest daughter was home for the weekend.

The plan was for me to hide out in her dogs' house (which is pretty much a guest house for people, no lie!) until around midnight and sneak out through the woods to go get weapons to go get the bad guys before they got me! I decided I'd sneak out the back so that no one would see me leave her house and so no one would harm her family to get to me.

The back door was jammed so I couldn't get out. I decided to go through the front door since it was pitch black outside. She told me earlier that her daughter's boyfriend would be coming over but I decided I could sneak past all of them and it didn't matter because he didn't know who I was.

Just as I was sneaking out, I heard the boyfriend yelling at his girlfriend, "You were cheating on me with..." as he turned around just in time to see me and say, "her!"

He was one of the men I saw committing the crime earlier. Before I knew it, he pulled a gun on me and I dropped to my knees and while crying uncontrollably I said, "Dear God! No! Please don't kill me! All I do is make cup-cake sooooaps!"

And that's just how crazy my dreams can get at night!

A Cupcake Light Memorial for Michael Jackson

Rest In Peace Michael Jackson
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

June 20th - After watching Harper's Island, I called a friend to discuss the show and I sang Michael Jackson's Who Is It?

June 23rd - A lady was explaining something to me and she was using her hands and I told her that she was moving her hands like she was auditioning for Michael Jackson's Remember the Time video which led to a conversation of us talking about our favorite Michael Jackson songs.

June 24th - A friend told me that he just felt like watching the Thriller video because he hadn't watched it in a while so he watched it that night on his iPod.

June 25th - The unfortunate news broke out across the globe that Michael Jackson is no longer with us.

When my ears heard the news, for a second, I felt that my heart stopped. How could it be that the day two of my friends and I went to get a health check and I celebrated my health, Michael Jackson was taken from us so suddenly.

Despite everything that has happened with Michael in the last 15 years, I will remember and cherish what an amazing performer, inspiration, and icon he was.

My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to the Jackson family. Michael Jackson will ALWAYS and FOREVER be remembered.

A Customer's Perspective

When I prepare for craft shows, I am always trying to think of ways to create an inviting and unique experience for patrons. Therefore, I change things to create a specific atmosphere for them. It's rare that at a craft show I am able to talk in detail with my customers to get feedback on their experience.

However, one of my customers, Reina, who visited my booth at Unique Los Angeles wrote a blog post from her perspective as a patron of craft shows and festivals. Her experience at Unique LA provided me with great insight into the things a customer expects of vendors and it also gave me confirmation that I have been doing right by my customers.

I'd like to share her blog post with other vendors in hopes that if you are interested in vending at craft shows, festivals, or other events, you will also gain invaluable knowledge from a customer's point of view that you can apply to your booth to make an unique experience for your customers.

I'd also like to share her experience with my current and future customers. This will give you a glimpse into the experience you will have when you visit Serah's at our upcoming events with a vendor who creates an atmosphere with you in mind.

Click HERE to read about Reina's experience.

A special thanks to Reina for sharing her opinion and allowing me to share it with others.

Baby Girl Pink & Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soap

Baby Girl Pink & Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soap
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

In anticipation of the April 2009 LA Baby & Tween Celebration that I was supposed to attend, I created the Baby Girl Pink and Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soaps. These soaps were unveiled at Unique Los Angeles in May 2009.

The Baby Girl Pink & Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soaps are mode of the same goodness as my other soaps...glycerin and shea butter. They are scented with the Baby Powder fragrance. The large 7.0 oz cupcakes are shown and they are also available in the mini 2.0 cupcake soaps as well.

They are great for baby showers or birthday parties or as a gift to an expecting mother. You can purchase them at http://www.serahsonline.com or http://serahs.etsy.com.

One of my friends has a sister that is pregnant. Next month, she will find out if she's having a girl or a boy!!! Why do I have three exclamation marks behind that question, you ask? It's because my friend's boyfriend made a bet with my friend that her sister would have a boy and if he wins, my friend has to buy her boyfriend dinner. And the best part...he included ME in the bet and told her out of the blue she'd have to take me to dinner too!

So here's hoping for Baby Boy Blue!

I've Been Plagiarized!

I remember my first experience with plagiarism. When I was in the 5th grade, our class had to write an essay for the D.A.R.E program and as I began writing my first essay, I felt like I couldn’t find the right words to say what I wanted to express. Therefore, I tore up that essay, threw it in the trash, and wrote another one. A week later, the D.A.R.E. coordinator announced the winner of the essay contest and everyone in the class expected to me to be the first place winner but I was actually 2nd place – beat out by one of my closest guy friends.

The D.A.R.E coordinator said that the essay was so good that he wanted my friend to read the essay to the class. My friend was very reluctant to get up in front of the class but eventually there he stood, knees buckling and hands shaking reading the essay in front of everyone. As he began, I felt a peculiar familiarity with his essay like I had heard the words before in my own head before they were on his paper.

A few hours later when my friend should have been extremely happy for winning the contest, he was actually crying uncontrollably. I went to him to comfort him and to ask him what was bothering him. Imagine my shock when he mumbled through all of the crying, “Lisa, I am so sorry! You should’ve won the contest. I went and took your first essay out of the trash can and rewrote it in my own hand writing. I’m so sorry! You can have my movie tickets.”

I was floored but very forgiving especially since my friend had learned his lesson and I was very impressed with his honesty.

Recently, I’ve run into another plagiarism experience. Someone by the name of Rick Amorey has ripped off one of my blog posts titled My First Craft Show http://blog.serahsonline.com/2009/02/my-first-craft-show.html and posted it to several article submission blogs and directories. By doing a Google search on “Rick Amorey cupcake soaps”, you’ll see the multiple sites where he/she has submitted my post as his/her own work.

As I do research to find ways to detect and combat plagiarism, I’ll share my research with you in a series of blog posts in hopes that it will help other bloggers as well.

Calla Lily Soap Favors

One of my friends is getting married in August and she and her mother asked me to come up with some calla lily soap favors.  So I used my imagination to come up with some very unique soap favors for her to choose from.  And now we're enlisting your help to tell us which one you like the best! (You can click on the photos below for larger images.)

Once, Twice, Three Times the Fun!

This past Memorial Day weekend was a very much needed break! A break away from all the hustle and bustle of my life and my business and a chance to do absolutely nothing Serah’s related (well, except writing this blog post). My weekend getaway destination was Pasadena, CA. I’m always in Los Angeles but had yet to check out Pasadena and while I was there, I discovered that the corner of West Union St and North Fair Oaks Ave had three different temptations that put me back in the business mindset but still in a fun way. And I fell for all three temptations and loved it!

My first stop was The Container Store which is now one of my favorite places to buy all things for organization. I’m like a kid in a candy store at The Container Store.

My second stop was at The Soap Kitchen to check out a fellow soaper. I loved the natural look and feel to her packaging.


Last but not least, Dots Cupcakes!


They have large and mini cupcakes just like me! I purchased several different flavors of the mini cupcakes so that I could try all the different kinds before first picking a favorite. And I have to say that the Vanilla cupcake from Dots was my favorite!

And since vanilla has been a most requested fragrance for my soap cupcakes, there will be a vanilla scented cupcake soap coming to Serah’s soon.

I’d love to hear what you did this weekend. Share your Memorial Day adventure or lack there of with me in the comments.

Happy Memorial Day!

Winner: 100th Blog Post Cupcake Soap Giveaway

Bunny Corn Cupcake Soap
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Congratulations to Tamara for winning the 100th Blog Post Cupcake Soap Giveaway!

Thank you to all those who entered the giveaway. Subscribe to our blog or newsletter to stay in the know about future giveaways and promotions.

Unique Los Angeles 2009 Recap

I was extra prepared for Unique Los Angeles. This was my first year at Unique LA and after seeing the booth photos of Rock Scissor Paper from last year, I was inspired to kick it up a notch for my booth display. And wouldn't you believe it, when I arrived at Unique LA, I was right across from Rock Scissor Paper!



The only other thing I wanted to complete my booth was a floor covering but overall I was happy with how it turned out. I even splurged on a few extra things to give my booth those extra touches I wanted to. I bought a cake stand, a bubble machine, and used my banner.


As a very extra special treat, a friend of mine made the most awesome complement to my booth that one can imagine – a diorama!



Isn’t this the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen!?! Other than my cupcake soaps, this was my favorite thing in the whole booth and everyone who visited my booth noticed it as well!

I met a lot of cool people and even had repeat customers! One of my customers wrote a very interesting blog post that I will share with you all in future post. With every show I do, there are always moments that I will never forget. There was a little girl about two years of age who came to visit my booth with her dad and he bought a mini cupcake soap for her. About a hour later, I saw the same mini cupcake soap gliding by my booth in a little hand. Then I noticed that it was the bright-eyed little girl holding the mini cupcake soap in her hand as her mother pushed her past my booth in the stroller. I smiled and giggled because it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. She was the cutest mobile advertising I’ve ever had! Her mother exclaimed, “She just loves her cupcake soap!”

Later, a lady came by with 4 little girls and a baby. As we were talking, she informed me that one of the little girls had $5 to spend at the show because she won the Good Girl of the Week prize. The little girl loved the Mini Mint Chocolate Cupcake Soap but she said that she wanted to visit all of the vendors first before she made her decision. And can you imagine my surprise, when she came back to my booth to spend her $5. We had over 275 vendors so I was SO honored!

I love selling my cupcake soaps and it’s moments like that which makes what I do even more rewarding.

Last but not least, I had to stop by the Oh Snap photo booth!



There are additional photos, in my flickr album.

My 100th Blog Post: Cupcake Soap Giveaway

I made it to my 100th blog post! I can’t believe it! To celebrate, I’m having my first giveaway on my own blog this time and everybody can enter!

Enter for your chance to win a Serah’s cupcake soap of your choice! My cupcake soaps smell just as yummy as they look! They are made with glycerin and shea butter soap and are Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS ) free!

You have three ways to enter for a total of three entries:

(1 entry) You can visit my website at http://www.serahsonline.com and tell me your favorite cupcake soap.

(1 entry) You can tweet about this giveaway on Twitter and submit the link to the tweet. (Only ONE tweet counts but I'd love for you to spread the word more than once.)

(1 entry) You can blog about this giveaway and submit the link to the blog post.

Your name, email address, and answers are private as the information you submit in this form is only accessible by me. So you don’t have to worry about spam-bots stealing your email.

The giveaway runs for three days and ends on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 11:59 pm. The winner is selected at random using Random.org’s integer generator. The winner will be notified on Friday, May 15, 2009 and have one week to accept the prize before a different winner is selected.

If you need to know, this is how you find the link to your tweet on Twitter.
Go to http://twitter.com/{enter your twitter name here} For example, I’m http://twitter.com/serahs.
Then click on the date and time the tweet was sent.
Copy the address out of the address bar of your browser. And that’s your tweet’s link. It should look similar to this, http://twitter.com/serahs/status/1743556477.

Good luck!

Twitter Party with Over $2000 in Prizes

Serah's is a sponsor in a Twitter party with over $2K in prizes! Over $2K in prizes!

Resourceful Mommy is hosting a Twitter Site Warming Party in honor of Mom's Most Wanted on Saturday May 30, 2009 at 9pm EST on Twitter! Hash Tag #mmwanted

They will be giving away over $2,000 worth of prizes at this Twitter Site Warming Party so this is one party you do not want to miss!

RSVP on their site by clicking HERE.

Please follow @resourcefulmom (our host) @momsmostwanted @br8eyes @singlemomclaire and @singledadmat (The Mom's Most Wanted Family of Bloggers!) so that you can follow the #mmwanted Twitter Site Warming Party!

And follow me too (@serahs)! I'll be there!

Unique Los Angeles - Spring 2009

laweekly
Originally uploaded by uniquelosangeles

Serah's Cupcake Soaps

Booth #307

See you there!

Saturday, May 2, 11 am – 7 pm
Sunday, May 3, 11 am – 5 pm
Held at the California Market Center penthouse
(110 East Ninth Street, LA, CA - Map It)
$5 per ticket (children 10 and under are free), with 50% of ticket sales benefit a local charity

Afro Glitz Magazine Interview

I am so happy to share some good news with you. I was interviewed by Afro Glitz Magazine and it has been posted to their website! Afro Glitz Magazine is an online magazine that serves as an outlet for napptural women while also focusing on community issues and giving talented people their well deserved shine! Click the link below to read my interview:

Serah's Interview on Afro Glitz Magazine

While you're there check out the other artists and browse the other links for more great information and online conversation.

Sad News: LA Baby & Tween Celebration

To all those looking forward to seeing Serah's cupcake soaps at the Los Angeles Baby & Tween Celebration, due to unforeseen circumstances, I will not be in attendance this year. However, I look forward to seeing you next weekend at Unique Los Angeles where I will unveil two new cupcake soaps. http://www.uniquelosangeles.com/serahs.html

Hope to see you there!

Los Angeles Baby & Tween Celebration

Baby, baby, bah-bay! And moms and tweens and me at the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend!

Babies and lots of them! Can I just kiss all their cute little cheeks? Probably not but I'll get to see lots of them and say, "Awww!" Thanks to my friend at MommaWear.com, I'll be sharing a booth with her at the Los Angeles Baby and Tween Celebration selling my cupcake soaps and I'm so excited! We're booth #630.

So here's all the info and I hope to see you there!

Come be a part of the premier 'kid-licious' event for babies, toddlers & Tweens, where the hippest moms meet the hottest companies in one of the nation's coolest cities! Baby & Tween Celebration L.A. offers a unique opportunity for new and expectant moms, dads, and "young" grandparents to explore and shop for state-of-the-art gear, fashions, technology, furniture decor and more for babies, toddlers & Tweens!

It's fun, it's friendly, and most of all...it's effective. Join us!
Los Angeles Convention Center, Hall K
1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 741-1151 - www.lacclink.com

Saturday, April 25, 2009 10:00am-6:00pm
Sunday, April 26, 2009 11:00am-5:00pm

Tickets available at the Convention Center Box Office.
Adults: $10.00
Children: 12 years & under free

Produced by: Seascape Productions

Java Cupcake

It's absolutely obvious that I love cupcakes and my Twitter friend Betsy (@javacupcake) from Java Cupcake loves them just as much! She made my day when she featured Serah's cupcake soaps on her fabulously delicious blog.

Cupakes Take 1 Vanilla Vanilla 015
Originally uploaded by JavaCupcake

If you thought I've been making cupcakes like crazy, I'm not alone. Check out her recipes page complete with pictures of her cupcake creations. When I get a break, I'm definitely going to bake real cupcakes following one of her recipes. I hope after she reads this that she keeps me to my promise.

I've Got Snail Mail!

I could kiss the Fedex guy (if he's cute but I wouldn't know because he's always running away from the door)! Luckily, he always has exactly what I'm looking for and last Friday, he bought me a package I've been anxiously awaiting.

Serah's now has a banner!


I've been wanting to add this little edition to my booth for some time now but I wasn't sure how long I'd be participating in craft shows. But seeing as how I've done 6 so far in the last 3 months and have many more planned for the rest of the year, I think adding a banner to my booth is a necessary complement.

And since I was so happy while buying a banner, I decided to get some company t-shirts as well...



and I even went for a personalized pen too!

Wordful Wednesday

Not all of our customers at craft fairs walk around on just two feet.

I usually don't do Wordful Wednesdays but this cutie was at the last craft fair I did which combined my love for the dogs with my soap business and made this a perfect photo for Wordful Wednesday.

If you have another tagline for this photo, I'd love to hear it!  Leave it in the comments!

I’ve Been Accepted into Unique Los Angeles!

I have been keeping my fingers crossed since I applied to Unique Los Angeles and I found out on March 31st that I got accepted! I am one of over 250 fantastic vendors who will be at the Spring Unique Los Angeles event! I have heard so many good things about this event. I am so excited that I screamed when I got the news! I really hope to see you there! I’m telling you a little less than a month in advance so mark your calendars!

Saturday, May 2, 11 am – 7 pm
Sunday, May 3, 11 am – 5 pm
Held at the California Market Center penthouse (110 East Ninth Street, LA, CA - Map It)
$5 per ticket (children 10 and under are free), with 50% of ticket sales benefit a local charity

Craft Show: April 4th, 2009

Come see us at the Silverlake Art/Craft & Vintage show this Saturday, April 4th where you can purchase our oh so sweet cupcake soaps!

What: Silverlake Art/ Craft & Vintage
When: April 4, 2009 10 am – 4 pm
Where: Micheltorena Elementary School

Bunny Corn Cupcake Soap - Easter Gifts

No bunny knows cupcake soaps like Serah's!



This is Serah's Bunny Corn Cupcake Soap just in time for Easter! It's made with glycerin and shea butter soap and scented with the Apricot Freesia fragrance. Spring is here and this soap captures spring's essence with all the wonderful colors of spring - yellow, purple, green, and pink!

With just 10 days until Easter, order them now at http://www.serahsonline.com and get them in time for those Easter baskets on your list to fill.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Since I've been making cupcake soaps, every day has been like April Fool's Day for me because my cupcake soaps have fooled a countless number of people. While I might be imaginative in some things, I don't think I'm able to add prankster to my resume. If I was to pull a legendary prank, I would want it to be like this one from my all-time favorite TV sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Please enjoy.

Recap of Silver Lake on March 29th

Here’s the recap from this week’s craft show in Silver Lake.

Again, I was at the craft show with my jacket on! I can’t wait for the day when I can do an outside craft show without a jacket. I always take my first booth photo without my jacket and then it’s right back on. Come on sunshine with the beautiful California weather! I’m patiently waiting!

My booth was set up right across from my friend Nicole from Honey Child Designs! Honey Child Designs offers eco-friendly adornments and accessories that illuminate your beauty, spirit & oneness with nature.


This week, a USC film major was at the event and she interviewed me on camera as to why I think the arts/crafts industry is still doing so well despite our current economic situation. If I get a clip of that, I’ll post it to my blog in the future.

Craft shows are a labor of love as those of you who do craft shows already know. Since I travel from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles mostly for shows, it starts with me waking up at 5 am and I’m no early bird but my mind shifts right into drive since that’s what I have to do to get there in 1.5 – 2 hours to get to my destination.

As I’m selling my cupcake soaps, I reap all the benefits of my hard work and get to hear some great stories from my customers. Not only are my cupcake soaps great gifts for birthdays or holidays, two customers had different reasons for purchasing my cupcake soaps. One guy purchased the Red Velvet Cupcake Soap because the wedding caterer served Red Velvet Cupcakes at his wedding. A lady bought the Bunny Corn Cupcake Soap to give as a gift to her mother who is in the hospital as a get well soon gift.


The Silver Lake Art/Craft & Vintage Show will be changing location, dates, and time.
New Location: Micheltorena Street Elementary School
1511 Micheltorena St (@Sunset)
Los Angeles, CA 90026
New Date: Saturdays, next show is April 4th
New Time: 10 am – 4 pm

Ghettogloss has created a new website strictly dedicated to the Silver Lake Art/ Craft & Vintage Show. I just checked it out and a picture of my cupcake soaps at the show is on the homepage (in the top left corner)! Thanks Fiora and Jessica! You ladies are awesome!

As always, there are more photos from events in my Flickr album. To stay up to date with the latest Serah’s events, subscribe to our blog or subscribe to our newsletter.

Serah's Soap Giveaway at Jane4Girls

Entries will be taken until Tuesday, March 31st at noon CST. Click HEREfor more details.

While you're there, check out how Erin, a single mother of 3 wonderful girls, ages 10, 11 and 18, not to mention two dogs, blogs about the ability to feed her family of four for under $800 a year. You heard me right!  She does this while primarily buying name brand and not generic. Not only does this include food, but HBA (health and beauty) items also. She teaches people how to get by in these hard times by living frugally.

Craft Show: March 29, 2009

Come see us at the Silverlake Art/Craft & Vintage show this Sunday, March 29th where you can purchase our oh so sweet cupcake soaps!

What: Silverlake Art/ Craft & Vintage
When: March 29, 2009 9 am – 5 pm
Where: 2450 Glendale Blvd LA CA 90039 in the Citi bank parking lot.

Tickled Pink with The Pink Parlour Festival 2009

I had the most AMAZING time at The Pink Parlour Festival this past Sunday! Some of the most amazing women were all gathered under one roof so I was in great company. I started the morning filled with anxiety because as I was leaving Santa Barbara, it was raining so hard, I couldn't see the road. But eventually the rain stopped and I was allowed to arrive safely at the Santa Anita Park.

My booth was positioned at the festival's entrance which was also next to the entrance for seating for the race track so I had a pretty good view. My first visitor during setup was Alison from Whatakaracter Creative Group who came to check out the competition only to find out that I wasn't competition at all because mine were cupcake soaps and not the edible yummy cupcakes she was selling. I got her Super Hero Cupcake Kit which was SUPER delicious and the proceeds are for a good cause.

As the day went on my cupcake soaps continued to deceive the hungry but also became a fan favorite at the festival! Men and women, boys and girls were all impressed with my cupcake soaps! Some even became repeat customers.

The entire day was AMAZING but here are a few moments that made that day so FANTASTIC:

• Getting to share my inspiration behind my cupcake soaps with customers
• Having a good laugh with those who thought they were food
• Seeing my Neapolitan Cupcake Soap make the back of the event program
  
• Hearing who was getting my cupcake soaps as gifts and who wanted to treat themselves
• Seeing the smiles on people's faces
• Having people come to my booth because someone else at the event had bragged about my cupcakes
• Having a customer tell me that she was interviewed on camera inquiring about whether she had made a purchase at the festival and she said that she had not yet but if she did it would be one of my cupcake soaps
• Seeing familiar faces and meeting new people
• And of course, taking pictures with fans!

I couldn't have asked for a better day! I can't wait until next year! Until then, enjoy photos from this year's Pink Parlour Festival and catch me at our next event.

Wake up and smell the cupcakes
Originally uploaded by foodcore

Cupcake Tats
Originally uploaded by foodcore

The Pink Parlour Event Program
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Miss Lisa Love & Ruby Champagne
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

Event: The Pink Parlour March 22, 2009

What: The Pink Parlour Festival
When: March 22, 2009 from 11 am - 6 pm
Where: Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA

Serah's will be there selling cupcake soaps! The Pink Parlour Festival brings together crafty women of the world.  Their objective is to unite women and collaborate talent, bringing together unique hand crafted items and art, at affordable prices. It's girl power at its best with female fronted bands and djs entertaining all day. Goody bags filled with samples, treats and coupons will be given out to the first 100 attendees. Their sponsor, Daisy Guitars, will be raffling off one of their female signature guitars. It will be a fun-filled event for the entire family!  All ages, carnival rides, live music, food and drinks!

You can purchase tickets online.

Santa Anita Park is located at 285 W Huntington Drive, Arcadia, CA 91007.  Click HERE for directions.

Schamp!

Today’s post is outside the scope of soap! Okay maybe that was a corny opening line. I admit it. I did a Google rhyming words search to find a word that rhymes with soap and I choose scope so that’s what happens when using Google goes wrong.

As some of you may already know, I’m an amateur photographer. If you’ve been in my Flickr album then you know nature is one of my favorite subjects for photographs.



I was delighted when the Managing Editor of Schmap contacted me to feature one of my rose photographs from the Exposition Rose Garden in the sixth edition of Schmap Los Angeles Guide! Schmap is a leading publisher of digital travel guides for 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.


Here’s the link to my photo from the Exposition Park Rose Garden (photo is on the top right and credited with my name):
www.schmap.com/losangeles/sights_southcentral/p=8249/i=8249_4.jpg

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link will take you directly to my photo in the iPhone version of the guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how my photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of our guide at:

Exposition Park Rose Garden
www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=losangeles&sid=sights_southcentral&p=8249&i=8249_4

Finally, if you have a blog, you might also like to check out the customizable widgets of the Schmap Los Angeles Guide .
http://www.schmap.com/widgets

Photography is a hobby I plan to continue pursuing because it is another avenue for exercising my creative muscle and features such as this one is just the icing on the cupcake!