so this is how it begins...

Here's the link to the new online shop http://www.etsy/shop/GracefulRoseSoapCo
     I never thought of myself as the start a business kind of gal. I'm a stay at home mom and I've been homeschooling my two beautiful girls for the last three years. They enjoyed public school and although there were many reasons for the life altering decision to teach them at home, a very special benefit of that decision has been the time to indulge our creative passions. Both of my girls, Madeline 13, and Claire 11, have always been very creative, although in different ways. Both of them play the piano and Maddy Rose loves to oil paint. Claire Grace loves creating things with her hands using whatever is around: clay, paper, cardboard. She's very resourceful in her crafts. What I didn't expect was that there was such a suppressed desire with in myself to create. As with many moms, we tend to put those needs aside while our children are small in order to meet their ever changing needs. As my children grow and their needs are less labor intensive what I realized was that while I was fostering their artistic development, I was stoking the fires of my own.
     Confused about how all this turned into a business venture? Me, too. But here's the rundown. My oldest daughter Madeline has always loved baking, something that she got from her Grandma Margie not me, I assure you, but when some severe allergies became even more complicated with sensitivity to sugars, the baking and cake decorating was just too hard to justify. Decorating all those cakes that we can't eat can be somewhat depressing, especially for a teenage girl. Then I remembered something that I had enjoyed when the kids were little (although it had just become too hard with toddlers to really explore), soapmaking. It was the perfect compromise. It was basically cooking, creating your own recipes, finding just the right balance of herbs and additives, and then instead of eating the final product you get to take a long, hot bubble bath with it. Our kitchen suddenly came back to life. One of my best friends, who had been along for the ride through out this journey, had suggested that I sell some of our product at her mother's local boutique. Although it was somewhat of a rush to create packaging as well as a product line in time for Christmas, we did it and sold almost 30 bars in the first 4 shopping days. We were a hit!
     So now it has become time to expand to internet sales. Follow along with us as we experiment with new recipes, expand our product line, build a shop on etsy, and establish a web presense. I mean for heaven's sake, I'm blogging! If I can do this, you can. But seriously, I hope to inspire other wives and mom's out there to turn one of your passions into a way to stay home with the kids and build their confidence by including them in your endeavors, all while bringing in a little extra income for your family.