Getting ready for the new website!

ok, we all know that there is a certain amount of procrastinating behaviour in everyone and for the most part I am pretty good at getting things done...otherwise I will forget! bill paying is easy because I have maintained  STRICT habit of paying as soon as the paper or notice crosses my desk. This also has the benefit of never having bills to pay.....yay!  Its not because I organized but rather I feel unorganized so I make my own concessions. It works, I guess.
the alternative of this is and has been....our website. Yes I have used the fair but increasingly thin excuse of being just so busy with the store, the farmers markets and Christmas markets that I have been...well......busy!
This is a lovely, wonderful problem to have in so far as the result is not so much a negative but a lack of the positive. We have customers clamouring for a website so they can order more product once they are home and each time we say "its coming"...is both truthful and misleading. The site is actually built by a great guy named Rob who works for Rocky Coast Creative and design here in Vancouver (New Westminster he's in actually) and the lag is ME....I'M the one who is to put in the content of pictures and professional knowledge hints, twists and information on our fantastic products. So as of today...the start of March we will be seeing just how well that goes in the upcoming weeks and hopefully there will be a great link to each site asap.
www.granvilleislandsoapgallery.com      is the site address to date.
Ok enough personal admonishment.......what's new at the Granville Island Soap Gallery???
Well after a stellar year of sales and marketing it has become clear that our focus is changing a wee bit by bringing in a few more lines of wonderful locally made products, trying to create a bigger space with the potential of expanding the store to double its size and creating a "Soap and Cosmetic Co-op" of sorts for both our dedicated clientele and the vast number of visitors to Granville Island.
Being the busiest soap store in the lower mainland has its pros and cons..... PRO...its fantastic to be this busy....CON...its a lot of work to be this busy.  " oh boo-hoo huh!" 
Without giving away any trade secrets it is increasingly clear that people are wanting locally made, high quality, Canadian designed and sourced where possible products and this is where we have always focussed ourselves in the market. What I have noticed though is that there are several truly great and innovative small companies who have started up in the past five years who are creating products you just cannot GET at the local drugstore. For a variety of reasons the quality of handmade products are just far and away superior to anything one can get at the department store (without paying the exorbitant prices) or at the drugstores (because of inferior quality). Now this is not to say that you cant get good and some great products at the drugstore...you can! Its that....and this is just a secret......so ssshhhhh.... locally made products by soap makers are using the utmost in quality products, using super fine ingredients like pure carrier oils and essential oils that big manufacturers are NOT doing because the bottom line is higher profit margins while small hand crafters are focussed on higher quality.....and often much to the detriment of THEIR profit margins.
Most hand crafters never even think to add in their wages for time in the product so get 'em while you can and before people catch on!!
We make our bulk square soaps in 500lb batches so when I sell one at a farmers market for 4 bucks...yeah Ill make something..... "Suzy Soaper" who does the same in 5-25lb batches??  she's not making a thing and its probably a fantastic, rich, creamy product!  oh well...good for the buyer.
So to that end we are bringing in several lines of soaps and other products like deodorants and body butters, shaving products and others to help out those who cannot create a brick and mortar store but want a knowledgeable and caring sales approach attached to their products.
Stay tuned and come by the store to see what's new as it changes almost daily.

Springing into the Farmers markets with Granville Island Soap Gallery.

Highdee ho good neighbors!
Spring has sprung here on Granville Island and we are getting ready....already...for the Farmers Markets upcoming around Vancouver and surrounding areas.
We are super pleased to be attending  three markets for the months of May-October.
Coming to a market near you will be all our handmade natural and organic products like our soaps, skin care items, natural wool dryer balls and more!

Check us out at the Lonsdale farmers market as well as the Burnaby Farmers Market...

http://www.artisanmarkets.ca/?_year=2013&_month=5&_cday=1&loc=&date=

Lonsdale especially is really easy to get to from its close proximity to the seabus stop.
We will be leapfrogging our dates with the two staring in May

We will also be at the Langley Farmers market on wednesdays....

http://www.langleycommunityfarmersmarket.com/

this is a really good market and one of the only ones (that I know of) on Wednesdays.

Come see us at Whiterock Farmers market on Sundays
http://www.whiterockfarmersmarket.ca/

this market is well attended and of course...is in sunny Whiterock so go for a stroll...have some fish'n chips and come see us!

we will put up dates at a later time otherwise call the store here on Granville Island at 604-669-3649

cheers and bubbles!
Darren Monette

Soaping on Granville Island

Wow!!!
its been sooo long since we put together a blog entry that it is embarrassing!! The only thing I can say is that we have been super busy with Christmas and its aftermath that life gets in the way.
Update on soap classes:
Soap classes are booked solid up until March and that one is possibly booked by a large group....nice problem to have right?!
We HAVE also been working on the new products in our line and added to our already super Moisture Mousse(s) we have our Peppermint Foot Balm which has turned out to be a best seller.......yay! its super emollient and the oils really help with cracking feet.
"ladies and gentlemen!.......save your sheets and socks!!!!! get the Peppermint foot balm.....those of you who KNOW about crispy heels and how it wreaks havoc on nice sheets know what I'm talking about......forget even satin sheets!!   SHRED!!!!

Also in our new lineup is the Moroccan Spice Massage Beans.....an amazing little bean about 1.5 inches by 1 inch that when warmed to the skin provides the perfect amount of  "slip and drag" which, if you have ever worked as a massage therapist is really important. The cool thing about these beans is that you do NOT have to shower or even sponge bath afterwards as the skin really accepts the oils readily to moisturize beautifully!
We decided to make these in a small size to fit the palm of your hand nicely and you can get several uses out of one bean without a half used massage bar just hanging around looking forlorn and gross. We infused these little beans with a gorgeous spice mix including Vanilla, Frankincense, Sandalwood so it is warm and sensual and not overpowering to the person getting or giving the massage. I use them on my hands when they get dry too.
We have rounded out our natural bath bombs to include, Spicy Orange, Summer Garden (our signature scent) Peachy Peach, Amber-Rose, Fresh Cucumber, Lavender blend, Sandalwood, Buttercream, and Cherry Bombs for the kids (with a toy inside).
Come on by the store here on Granville Island located right under the Sandbar Restaurant at the Creekhouse.
see you then!

Glycerine soap vs traditional soaps at The Granville Island Soap Gallery

Hey all!
I was asked as I often am about what the difference is between regular soap like a traditionally made soap and glycerin soaps is.
Well, as best as I can explain it and with the help of stealing some text from Wikipedia...
Traditional soaps are a chemical reaction between an acid (oil) and a base or caustic material (lye) whereby the materials combine to create something completely different and without any of the original (well mostly) materials left over. The reaction is called Saponification and soap is created.
When we make soap one of the byproducts is glycerine and.....

Glycerin soaps are soaps that contain glycerin, a component of fat or oil. The soap is recognizably different from other soaps because it is translucent. The clarity of the soap is due to the particular alignment of the soap molecules in this type of soap, which can be induced through the addition of alcohol and sugar. This is usually done for homemade glycerin soaps which are not remeltable.
The process for making glycerin soaps was well known as of 1857 in the Western world. In modern industrial soap-making, the glycerin is then usually separated from the soap to be resold and used in a wide variety of areas such as for personal care products, pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediates, and food processing.....mostly food processing.
Glycerin soap is made by melting and continuously heating soap that has been partially dissolved in a high percentage alcohol solution until the mixture reaches a clear, jelly-like consistency. The alcohol is added to a slow cooked hot-processed soap and then simmered with a sugar solution until the soap is clear or translucent, and then the simmered soap is chilled in a freezer. With home- and hand-made soaps that still contain glycerin left over from saponification the grating, melting and cooking can proceed without the addition of anything into the mixture, though sugar or more glycerin is sometimes added. Glycerin soap can also be produced without remelting soap through directly cooking raw home-made soap.
Modern clear glycerin soaps bases are produced by combining various glycerol and polyols with soap and other surfactants in a manner similar to traditional glycerin soap making methods. These modern clear soaps have the benefit of being easily re-meltable and are often sold in bulk to customers for melt-and-pour soap crafting.

For my store I have made up for me a pure vegan glycerine soap to my standards and formula. This soap is a very gentle, purely cleansing products that holds the essential oils cleanly and clearly......a super nice product.

Intermediate soap class!

Our Intermediate soap class is upcoming tomorrow on Saturday.
We are looking forward to the class as we are doing up some fun "cake" style soaps with gorgeous decorating techniques.
Check back with us if you miss this one by calling the store at 604-669-3649 to see when the next one is happening.

New artist at the Granville Island Soap Gallery

We are super happy to have Marlyn Macdonald join us in the gallery with her gorgeous paintings

Marlyn was born in England and moved to Eastern Canada where she studied at the Ontario College of Art before moving to the coast. Strongly influenced by Nolde, Van Gogh and Matisse, Marlyn creates works which are both contemporary and abstract. Lush surfaces invite the viewer to approach her painting; layers are built up and removed using a palette knife.

Marlyn’s love of flowers enhances her interpretation. Using strong colour coupled with expression and movement, Marlyn’s paintings of floral still life typically elicit a joyous response from the viewer & are collected throughout Canada. 

 

Marlyn and I used to work together at a Jewelry store where I was designing and selling sparkly things as was she and she had a few paintings up in the store there that were often admired.

We will be doing a revolving stock of her work as it will go fast with the tourist season fast approaching. Please stop by to see her work and I will put up a few examples of it here on the blog.

Cheerio!

Darren

Born this way

Recently I was chatting a few customers who were very interested in the designs of our soaps and they commented on the artistic nature of our items. The conversation turned very flattering to me as they asked "how did you cone up with all these cool designs?"
to which I replied "to quote Lady Gaga I guess I was just born this way"
I couldn't help but have some fun quoting one of my favourite artists as it is a compliment that I can't take any credit for really... I like what I make and use all the products. I try to have a sense of humour about the designs and styles and that is something that yes, I research, but more to the fact I guess we really ate born with whatever sense of whimsy and humour we have. Blame my groovy parents... They're a bit wacky too.
Come on by the store to see what new and exciting things we have upcoming. These days we are working towards all our wedding and bridal favours for the upcoming season. The new and hot trend is takeaway soaps for your guests instead of the stale almonds or cake... Although... Mmmmmmm caaaaaaake!!! I like that too!
See.... Just born that way.

Vancouver's best Soap shop!!!

Recently we had the good fortune to have a wonderful guy named Andre do a short documentary on the shop and publish it on youtube.
Thanks for that Andre, you are a superstar and it looks great!
If you are interested in seeing what Andre has put together just click on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg3RU_dQjJs

cheerio!
Darren

Being "Koi" about soap making.

Finding organic essential oils for our "Rustic" soap line can be trying at best with such a variety of suppliers available. Spain and France are huge exporters of wonderful materials but recently I have found some superior local suppliers of oils. Who knew that there was and is so many varieties of essential oils that are sourced from BC farms?!
Lately one of those ordered locally is peach which goes into one of our most popular soap items the Koi fish soaps. These are gorgeous transluscent decorative fish with artfully placed yellow, red and blue colouring.
As a perfect segue.... It is also one of the soaps we teach you how to make in our soap classes! Our first class(es) start January 22 which is a Saturday.
Call the store at 604-669-3649 for more info. See you there!

Soap Making classes at the Granville Island Soap Gallery

The soap classes are starting this upcoming week for the beginner classes and we have had to put on another class because it has been so popular! I underestimated the interest in both crafting and soap making. I guess people really want to get back to luxury items with a local and natural component.
I also wonder if people are interested in crafting items and thereby knowing exactly what goes into them. With labeling info getting increasingly more complicated albeit more informative it begs the consumer to really look closely to listing and actual ingredients.
In any which way we are proud to be a place to go for great information and a really fun time making some wonderful items!
For soap classes just scroll down for info on them and call the store for times and classes available.
Darren