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

Granville Island Soap Gallery 2013

Good day happy soapers and soap lovers!
January sees a new year with new and exciting things happening at the Gallery.
We have suspended our soap making classes for the time being as the Soap master Darren Monette is and has been so busy with the frenetic Christmas season including our attendance at the Circle Craft Christmas Market.......which was fantastic for us!
As per usual the holiday season was a matter of making product as fast as we can. The good news (and partially sad) is that we sold Woofles and Meowz to a wonderful couple, Stuart and Tracey who are continuing with the excellence that is that store. This gives us more time to concentrate on the Soap Gallery and making more products.
On that note we were pleasantly surprised to see three of our newest products sell like gangbusters at the craft fair as well as at Christmas. Those were the Lavender (repair) eye gel...the Cucumber/seaweed (help me!) eye gel and our amazing Night moisturizer with Co-enzyme Q10 and natural amber extract.....a stellar firming and hydrating treatment.
We are poised to create our online sales this spring and we will be offering other retail establishments an edited menu of our products.........great news!
Also......and finally!! our own line of natural shampoos, conditioners, leave in hair hydrators, bath bubbles and body wash is coming in February.
We are very excited!
There is also a few questions about our address as it seems that both google and a couple of other online sites have it wrong. I can assume they shared the info.......that happens.

The actual address of The Granville Island Soap Gallery is:

#104-1535 Johnston St
Vancouver BC
v6h 3r9
604-669-3649

more news coming.........see you at the gallery!

Summ..sum.SUMMERTIME!!!

Eh mag GAWD!!!  busy busy at the Granville Island Soap Gallery this summer to say the least.
Hi everybody...hope you are having a nice summer. I have been pretty bad as usual in doing my blog entries but that is the nature of summer time I guess.
More soaps have been made as well as a few more products.........the lastest:

Peppermint-Talc Foot Gel
a soothing and cooling foot gel to soften and refresh even the tiredest of feet.
sounds yummy doesn't it?!
it is.
mah tired feets can attest to it.
How can ones feet get so crispy and gross by working in a store and manufacturing area??

perhaps if we were running on rocks and sand the dry areas would slough off?
regardless I do love making products that work for me and people come back touting the virtues of such...........maybe it makes me feel slightly empowered heehee.

People have as always, been asking about SOAP MAKING CLASSES..........well they are on hold until January 2013. Then we will be going great guns in that department.
This summer we will be running around being the busiest soap shop in Vancouver and then we are doing the Circle craft Christmas Fair   http://www.circlecraft.net/Christmas-Market/
upcoming in November which should be a blast!!
It always makes me feel a wee bit nostalgic and Christmassy by kicking off the season with this show.

ok more later
Cheers and bubbles!
Darren

oh!! PS  thanks to Gayle Wallace from Australia  (a fellow soaper who watches my youtube videos) for stopping by and simply being delighful and charming!  we took a pic to send to our pal Karen in Cumbria England.

Hi everybody!
well it has been an interesting week this past one!
We have been doing some of our new products this week and they are finally out! yay!
along with out famous "Moisture Mousse",  Peppermint Foot Balm, Massage Beans, and of course 520 different soaps, salts and bath bombs we now have our Natural lip balms, 6 different Room and linen sprays,6 different Natural body sprays, Mint foot gel, " Get Naked" bath foam, "Get Naked" shampoo/body wash.
.and we are just getting started.
I'll check in next week if I am still standing to let you know about our new website.
cheers and bubbles,
Darren

Moisture Mousse at Granville Island Soap Gallery

Hi everybody!
I must admit I have been remiss in doing the blog
entries especially since our YouTube videos are taking
off and people are checking the blog.
We will be launching our retail oriented website this summer
as it IS time to do so. Usually we do our orders over the phone
when people call the Soap Gallery but a new site will
make things a wee bit easier.
The only problem may be that we do sell a lot of product by weight so I'll
have to figure out that process.
New soaps are being made every day and I sometimes can't keep up with the
making of it. Nice problem right!?!?
Our store on Granville Island is busy as ever so come on by!
You will see us making our most popular Moisture Mousse... A super
hydrating cream for the entire body that is not greasy rather it is
like putting a light layer of moisture right into the skin along with
our "Summer Garden" natural oil fragrance blend which is orange and pomegranate
mostly as well as our French Lavender....divine!! And of course
the Creamy organic Vanilla. We also do a scent free one called "Naked"
today I will be heading in early just to make more!!! Yay.
See you at the store!!!
All the best.
Darren Monette

Me and Dianna Agron

So recently we had the nicest young lady with her friend Sebastian in the store shopping here at the Granville Island Soap Gallery.
Now, we get a lot of celebs shopping here at both The Soap Gallery and our other store Woofles and Meowz recently, such as the likes of Russell Crow............likes beeswax candles......Cloris Leachman......cute as anything......Jennifer Beals......woman just does not age.......and lots more!
So being a super fan of the GLEE show it was nice to see Dianna Agron in the store.
She is every bit as nice as you would think she is and having been cast as the "pretty girl" in the show I believe the casting director did their job.......she is GOR-GEE-OUS!!!
I did not want to stand next to her super handsome shopping date, Sebastian as he has that typical actors physique that renders anyone in close proximity to look like an ogre. "Standing next to you we would look like the number ten" I said feeling a bit Rhubenesque (thats chunky for y'all) so he was nice enough to take our pic ............"quick!! I can only hold in my gut for so long haha"
Look for Sebastian on an upcoming episode of "Once Upon a Time" which is filmed here in Steveston which doubles as Storybrooke, Maine.

Truth is Advertising takes Ivory soap to task

So! recently I have noticed that Ivory Soap or more accurately the people at Proctor and Gamble have decided quite shrewdly to advertise on Youtube on the channels that show handmade, natural or organic soap. Natural soapmakers being a particular lot that for the most part, put a lot of effort into making soap and cosmetics with natural ingredients and/or list any bio-synthetics that are present.
The "rub" is that Ivory seems to be touting its product as a "pure" soap.............and it may just be............but Pure WHAT???????????
99 +44/100s pure soap made with beef fat is lovely but misleading to say....a vegan person. Lets have a more concise labeling structure in our products shall we?!?!?
...oh and by the way........our PURE soap is made with Olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, water and sodium hydroxide (lye)..........so that makes it.........what...100% pure?

...........jus' sayin!!!