Central Soapers

Watson and Gracie – They aren’t sleeping, they are growing! 3 month old Golden Retriever mixes.

WHEW! I’m home. I had a fantastic time at the Central Soapers Workshop in Overland Park, KS. Toto, I’ve never been to Kansas before, but I am definitely going back!

People who live near the mountains have a terrible time navigating prairies. We just keep looking for mountains so we know which direction we are going. Had it not been for great directions from the rental car personnel I would have landed in North Dakota. On the way back to the airport I took Crystal Decker on the scenic route, which means a 28 minute trip actually took over an hour because I got lost took a right when I should have gone left. Thanks for putting up with me Crystal!

Do you know what impressed me the most about this trip to Kansas? Everyone was willing to learn. Kenna put up on the CentralSoapers.com site what to bring to a conference. If you have not read her post and the link to Little Miss Mocha’s blog about conferences, you MUST! Not only is Kenna’s blog and the Central Soapers site a great intro to this group, it is also really inspirational. When I arrived I wasn’t sure what to expect, I just knew I was going in my regular work shirts and my newly chewed shoe that I didn’t have time to replace before leaving (Thanks, Watson).

When I arrived I found people working hard, greeting with smiles, being beyond friendly, sharing their knowledge and being open to learning new techniques. The people there are brilliant! I learned about things I have never tried, never seen, and never used. WOW! This group was really ready to try anything to make awesome and unique soap. I was impressed beyond words. After I spoke about water replacement in soap making I put away my tutu, tiara and magic wand (my wand was correctly identified as a nostepinne – yarn ball winder – by Crystal Decker) and started a list of things I wanted to try when I got home. Colorful soaps like Amy Warden made at the workshop topped my list. Most of the time I am a utilitarian soap user. I figure it is for my own use so it doesn’t need to be colorful. Well, I decided to change my shower collection to be more colorful. These soaps were down right fun!

I brought home some Bath Fizzies made by Holly Port during the conference and they were a hit with the crew at MMS. I heard “my skin felt so good after that bath!” more than once. We even had a mistake. We have people on staff who English is not their primary spoken language. One staff member thought it was a room fragrance bomb and should be put in the toilet. After our good laugh we learned her bathroom did indeed smell nice after being bombed.

Column Swirling was demonstrated by Tanya Rasley. Ah! Gorgeous soaps! They really don’t take much more time than my basic soaps and the colors are incredible. Really incredible!

Cupcake Soaps done by Amanda Griffin were darling! I even saw the pair of cupcakes that looked more Dolly Parton-esque than cupcake-like. We giggled more and more!

By the time I got home I had laughed myself silly. I had a great time and it was worth every minute of lost sleep.

I WILL be there next year. I hope anyone that wants to learn more about soap will also attend. If you will check out the CentralSoapers.com site you can subscribe to the information feed so you can be sure to sign up and be there next year. I’ll be looking for a room mate and navigator. I know how to get lost, I’ll need someone to make sure my 28 minute trip is really 28 minutes. 😉

See you next year in Kansas!