The Brown Rice Family

I love finding out about new soapmakers especially the ones that have an exciting story that accompanies their work so I would like to also introduce you to The Brown Rice Family.

The Etsy video team has invited experimental and documentary filmmakers to contribute to their original video series, Handmade Portraits, Process and There’s No Place Like Here. The multi-talented photographer Pascal Perich produced this first guest filmmaker episode on soap and music makers, Brown Rice Family.

The Brown Rice Family is a multi-ethnic group that makes soap from Japanese brown rice in Brooklyn, NY. They also create music together!

Click here to watch the full video and read the article on Etsy's Storque blog.

Etsy Treasury Cupcake Dreams

Etsy Treasury Cupcake Dreams
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

My Mini Purple Cupcake Soap has been featured in an Etsy Treasury called Cupcake Dreams! I told you everybody loves cupcakes! Check out other cute cupcake creations from the other artists such as the cupcake washclothes, cupcake tags, cupcake necklaces, and those absolutely cute felt cupcake favors!

The mini cupcake soaps make great favors for birthday parties. Serah's Mini Purple Cupcake Soap is available in my Etsy shop and at SerahsOnline.com for the low price of $3.50.

The Craft Revolution Continues at the Pink Parlour Festival

The Pink Parlour Festival was my first event of the year and I knew since last year that I was submitting my application again to participate in 2010. As I expected, I had a great time at the Pink Parlour Festival this year! It was held at the beautiful Santa Anita Park on the same day as a race which is an added bonus (especially for the hubbies and horse lovers). It was such a beautiful day and the traffic was not at all bad on my drive down to Arcadia. When I arrived, I set up my table as usual and was lucky enough to find an electrical outlet because I have started using a more technological approach to taking sales at shows.



At 11 am, the patrons started arriving and I was immediately back into the fun loving activity of being a vendor at a craft show. The people at Pink Parlour, the vendors and the audience, just seem to exude this amazing energy that is so contagious that you can't help but to catch it yourself. I must say that I was definitely feeling the love as vendors and customers stopped by and said to me, "I saw you here last year and I thought your soaps were so cute and unique!" or "I saw you here last year and I bought a soap from you and loved it!" It was great to catch up with other vendors that I haven't seen in a while and meet new vendors...all with some amazing products themselves.

Other than good people, there's nothing better than having good music and good food at an event. Since the Pink Parlour Festival is held on the same day as a race, the food court is open which has some delicious food. I had the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and it was delish! The DJ is definitely rocking and I must admit, had me rocking too! She played Michael Jackson and James Brown back to back and I've got to love her for that!



There was a fashion show that was held at the event and unfortunately, I missed it but I'm hoping to catch some pictures of it on the internet. The day ended at 7 pm and I was in my car by 7:20. That's one other good thing I love about the Pink Parlour, move in and move out is just as easy as blinking.

There are always a few moments that I remember from Pink Parlour that will hopefully stick with me forever. Well, they're going to now because I'm writing them on the blog.

The first one was "Miss Pink." "Miss Pink" was this little girl around 7-8 years old with one of the cutest, sassiest, charming personality of a little girl could have. She came over to my table and said, "Oh those are cupcakes?" And I said, "They're soap cupcakes." And she said, "They smell really good." And I said, "Thank you." And she said, "I think I want one of the pink ones. Which one has some pink?" I then pointed out the Neapolitan Cupcake Soap to her and she said, "Ok, it has a little bit of pink. Pink's my color, you know?" I said, "I see," as I admired her cute little outfit in pink and black. Then she said, "Can't you tell? Look at my eyes." As I leaned in closer to notice her pink eyeshadow, she batted her little eyelashes.

The second one was Anna from Dulce De Tamarindo who reads my blog! She's the second person who has approached me at a show and told me that she reads my blog. I was so happy. I kept saying to myself as she left my booth, "She reads my blog! She reads my blog!"

The third one was when I did the interview for Indiespot.tv. I will be adding that to the blog in the next few weeks.

Well, that's my recap of the Pink Parlour Festival that was held this year. You can take a look at the rest of my photos in my Flickr album.

Cupcake Soaps for Haiti

My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to the people in Haiti and their family members around the world. I have been watching the coverage on CNN daily. Today, I personally donated to the American Red Cross.
	Serah's will be donating 10% of sales from our Red Velvet Cupcake Soaps
	from January 17th to January 31st to the American Red Cross for Haiti relief.
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith To find ways to donate directly to specific charities, please visit CNN - Impact Your World.

Serah's New Look for the New Year

As Serah's marches forward, several changes have been made most notably my brand new design for my online boutique. I am proud to say that these enhancements will benefit existing and future customers. Please check out my new design at SerahsOnline.com and let me know what you think!

Last year, Serah’s cupcake line became the focal point of the company being featured on several websites, publications, and at local events. Being pleased with their reception, Serah’s cupcakes will remain in the foreground this year as I look forward to creating new cupcake design and fragrance combinations based upon customer comments.

Serah’s is also planning to bring our cupcake soap product line to stores near you.

As always, as James Brown said “on the good foot” is where Serah’s is starting this new year. I couldn’t have gotten this far without the loyalty and support of my customers and the encouragement of my fans and other business owners.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Featured in the EAOC Talent Treasury

This Sunday has been filled with great news for me!  My Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap was featured in the Etsy Artist of Color Talent Treasury by Scentful Indulgence.  This news was the cherry of top of my Sunday!

I have said it before and I'll say it again, if you haven't checked out Etsy, you should!  Scentful Indulgence has Melt My Heart Tubtime Melts - Homemade with Cocoa Butter!  Her Tubtime Melts are a wonderful way to pamper winter dry skin and are the perfect gift for that person who wants to give something different and unique.  These would go perfect with my Cupid Corn Cupcake soap for Valentine's Day!

I am in good company among the many members of Etsy Artist of Color (EAOC).  EAOC is a global collective of minority artisans who sell on Etsy.  Check out Etsy Artist of Color's blog and Ning  group for more information or if you are interested in being a member.

Ghettogloss Silverlake Art/Craft Vintage Show

What: Silverlake Art/ Craft & Vintage
When: February 8, 2009 9 am – 5 pm
Where: 2450 Glendale Blvd LA CA 90039 in the Citi bank parking lot.

I was invited by Jessica & Fiora of Ghettogloss™ to take part of the Silverlake Art/Craft & Vintage show this Sunday, February 8th from 9 am – 5 pm located at 2450 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039 in the Citi bank parking lot and across from Bank of America on the corner of Silverlake Blvd and Glendale Blvd.

I am extremely excited and nervous at the same time! Excited because this is my first craft show and I’m so eager to showcase 8 of the 12 cupcake soap designs that Serah’s has to offer and meet a lot of other crafty vendors. Nervous because it’s my first craft show and I’m trying to design my booth and make a checklist to ensure everything goes smoothly.

The eight cupcake designs you’ll find at the show are:
- Pink, Purple, Yellow, & Green Cupcake Soaps
- Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap
- Strawberries & Cream Cupcake Soap
- Mint Chocolate Cupcake Soap
- Neapolitan Cupcake Soap

I will take lots of pictures and add them to my Flickr account to share with all of you. If you live in the southern California area and want to cross Valentine’s Day shopping off your list, stop by Serah’s booth at the Silverlake Art/Craft & Vintage show.

Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap

Thinking about my past Valentine’s day gifts, I remembered getting roses. I’ve gotten mysterious chocolates and I’ve gotten some of the cutest cards but I have yet to get my all-time favorite…cupcakes! And my favorite cupcakes are the perfect color for the season…red velvet cupcakes…with the red cake and white frosting!

So while I will be out scouring southern California for the perfect red velvet cupcake, Cupid will be at Serah’s mixing up his own cupcake lovin’. Cupid has shot candy corn with that special arrow of love and given us all the love bug.



Serah’s pink, red and white Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap puts a twist on an all-time favorite for Valentine's Day! Our Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap is made with extra lather glycerin and shea butter soap and scented with the Pink Jasmine Musk fragrance.

The Cupid Corn Cupcake Soap is featured in 1HappyCorner.com Gift Blog's Valentine's Day Gift Guide. Check it out here.

Who doesn’t love a cupcake? Nothing says you love ‘em like some cupcake lovin!

A Gift For Mrs. Claus

Santa gets millions of letters every year, including one from me
Asking that he leave that special gift under the tree.

Therefore, you can imagine my surprise
And I couldn't believe my eyes
Because Santa wrote me here at Serah's
Asking for the perfect handmade gift for Mrs. Claus.

"Not to worry, Santa," I wrote.
"A request from you...I'm happy to oblige."

I created for her a Night Light Cupcake Soap.
A special gift she'll like I like.

So I left out the soap and some cookies for him
And kept on the light so the room would be dim.

On a pretty piece of paper, I left him a note.
It wasn't very long and this is what I wrote.

Santa, her's your gift for sweet Mrs. Claus
Personally handcrafted from me at Serah's
And before you leave to get back on the scene
You've been down a chimney so use the other soap to get clean
Merry Christmas to you and have a good night
Enjoy the cupcake soap with the night light

Happy Holidays everyone!

The floral arrangement in the photograph is from Elizabeth's Garden.

My Best Friend's Soap

While watching the Phoenix Suns play the Los Angeles Lakers, I learned that Steve Nash (my favorite basketball player) lost one of his best friends, Raja Bell, because Raja got traded to another team. I took that as a sign that I had to write this post.

I’m losing one of my best friends to another state…all the way across the country! I am deeply saddened that she’s leaving but will always have the crazy, fun memories of us hanging out and her two-year old daughter. Not only is she my best friend, she’s also one of my funniest customers because she is my most interesting living advertisement and the person who the Almond Lover's soap was created for.
Comment Buddy

MySpace Comments

One day she called me and said, “Lisa, I’ve given your business cards to everybody on the train and the bus today so I need you to send me some more business cards when you get a chance.”

I asked if she knew these people and she said, “No, I was just talking to all of them.” That didn’t surprise me because she and I are a lot alike in this way. We talk to everybody! That’s actually how we met. We both just started talking to each other.

Another time she called me and said, “Lisa, everyone has smelled your soap and now Destiny [her daughter] is copying me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I keep taking it out of my bathroom for everyone to smell it. Every time someone comes over to my place, I let them smell it and now Destiny does the same thing. It’s so cute.”

While visiting with her a week later at her apartment, her daughter disappeared into another room for a minute and then returned with the Almond Lover’s soap to her nose, walked over to me, took a big sniff, put it to my nose and said, “Smell.”

Then this weekend when I was helping her pack would have been the perfect opportunity for me to get a commercial for my cupcake soaps. Her daughter yelled “CUPCAKE!” while jumping up and down almost every five minutes. Unfortunately, she wasn’t talking about my soaps…she just wanted me to watch Strawberry Shortcake with her and sing the friendship club song. I think I know that DVD by heart now.

Before she left, she bought enough soap from me to last her at least a year and I told her that I’m going to have to put her on a subscription plan. Haha

I know she’s going to smile when she reads this. She’s been a truly great friend to me and I wish her all the best in her new state. If she changes her mind, she knows she can come back to California (although I’m not pressuring her too much, yet).

Please share a memory of you and your best friend in the comments.

How NOT to Get Clean During the Holidays

Yesterday, I was brainstorming ideas for a blog post relevant to the holidays. Tossing around the words holidays, Christmas, clean, and soaps in the ole noggin recalled a childhood event I thought would be great to share.  My company's tag line is Getting Clean Never Looked So Good but I am going to explain how one day getting clean never looked so BAD.

One year, my parents decided to have Christmas dinner at our house and Christmas fell on my week to wash the dishes. Not a good thing at all since I have a really big family. I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me use the dishwasher which we NEVER used ever. In our house, the children were the dishwashers and the appliance itself was purely for decoration. Although they said no several times at first, they finally gave in after our family left that evening leaving dirty dishes in the sink, the family room, and the dining room.

I was as thrilled as I could be until I realized, I didn't know how to use the dishwasher! Upon figuring out what buttons to press, I loaded the dishwasher with all the dirty dishes that would fit, poured Joy dishwashing liquid into the dispenser, closed the dishwasher door, and turned it on.

I skipped away to my bedroom when all of a sudden I heard, "Lisa!" in only the tone of voice you knew meant trouble.  I ran back to the kitchen with my sisters following to find my father standing in the kitchen with soap suds pouring out of the dishwasher all across the kitchen floor.



That day I learned there IS a difference between dishwashing liquid for the sink and dishwashing detergent for the dishwasher. My work load TRIPLED. Since we could not figure out how to stop the dishwasher, the entire time it was running, I had to stay in the kitchen with a mop to soak up the suds and water to keep the water and suds from reaching the carpeted rooms surrounding the kitchen. Basically, the kitchen floor ended up being mopped for about 3-4 hours until I got it completely dry.

And that ladies and gentleman is how NOT to get clean during the holidays.

Do you have a funny holiday story?  We'd love to hear it.  Please share in the comments.  Thanks!