Reporting live from the curing racks… and this is just part one.  There are indeed more to follow, and I’ll describe them in my next post in a few days.

• Oats & Honey:  Always popular, bringing it back for early winter 2012.   Local Ohio honey, oat flour, and a silky rich soy milk/apricot kernel oil base.  Vegetarian but not vegan.
• Honey Spice:  Like Oats & Honey, but… spicier!  Warm, soothing, comforting.  Additionally, Honey Spice is palm oil-free, something I’m working toward for all of my formulations, and something I’ll say more about in a future post.  Vegetarian but not vegan.
• Lavender Rosemary:  A perennial customer favorite, back by request… sold out very quickly at Christmas.  Just the right blend of lavender and rosemary, and a soothing, bubbly formula rich with shea butter and avocado oil.   Palm oil-free, vegan.
• Kitchen Witch:  Some of you will probably remember this one.  Made with a special degreasing formula that really works.  Contains finely ground organic coffee and special essential oils to help scrub away kitchen grime and odors.  Mechanics and gardeners love it too. (I even use it to wash my dishes!)  Palm oil-free, vegan.
• A wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Shampoo Soap that I’m still working on naming.  More info to come!  But… in case I didn’t mention it… it’s wonderful.

And check out what’s already available at the Etsy store:

• Peppermint Twist: Brought back by request for all the peppermint fans who loved it at holiday season. Palm oil-free, vegan.
• Purity:  My all-time best seller, 95% grade A olive oil, unscented… rich, gentle, creamy… yum.  Palm oil-free, vegan.
• Suds Beer Soap:  I’m honored to be the “official soapmaker” (well, they don’t really call me that…) for Great Lakes Brewing Company, and you can buy Suds in their gift shop, or you can purchase it from me.   Palm oil-free, vegan.
• Ritual: Another huge hit.  Woodsy, citrusy, mint–you know, I can’t describe it that simply.  It’s simply amazing, if your feedback is any indication, and you just have to experience it for yourself.   Ritual fans nearly wax poetic about this special soap.  Palm oil-free, vegan.
• Alchemy: Quite possibly the ultimate eco-friendly soap, made from trimmings of all of my other soaps.   Bubbly, long-lasting, very mildly scented, perfect for every day, and at an perfect everyday price.

Soap takes about a month to make.  It’s an old-fashioned art form that has remained largely unchanged over time.  This is one of its charms to me, really.    Want to learn more about how soap is made and why it takes so long?  Read “Fatty acids and lye… oh my!” for a description of the soapmaking process.  In our crazy, hurried society, I’m proud to offer something special that requires time, care, and skill.  We need more of that.

So, stick around for part 2 in a few days!  In the meantime, let me know – what are your favorite Sarva Soaps?  

I’ll be continuing on a part-time basis from here on out, and I’m very grateful for your business!  I am pleased to announce that I very nearly had a complete sellout after being open for just 1 1/2 weeks.  Thank you, truly.   I hope everyone enjoys the soaps, be they gifts for others or for yourself!

I’m entering a weeklong meditation retreat, and will begin restocking the Etsy store in January… thus, Sarva will be closed until the new year.

Sending much peace and joy your way!  See you next year!

It’s holiday season!  Time for warm, cozy beverages by the fire.  Here’s one of my favorites.  And now that I actually have a fireplace, I’ve been eager to make it.  I first had this at the amazing Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York.  I was hooked. When I got home, I recreated it to the best of my memory. This isn’t exactly the Moosewood recipe, but it sure is delicious.

I shared this recipe in my interview with Emily over at GCDSpa (the place to go for personalized gifts), but I thought I’d post it here in more detail.  Enjoy!

Ginger-Orange Tea

From The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health Cookbook
adapted by Michelle Gilbert
Serves 3-4

Be sure to use fresh ginger, not powdered, for this amazingly comforting wintertime treat.  Also great for sniffles, upset tummies, post-driveway-shoveling warming up, or post-holiday-shopping frazzles.

Ingredients

1-2 heaping tablespoons fresh ginger (about 2-3 inches of a piece of ginger)
2 cups water
1-2 cups fresh orange juice, to taste (I use 2-3 drops of high-quality steam-distilled orange essential oil instead, increasing water appropriately)
1 fresh orange, scrubbed clean
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
1-2 tablespoons honey, to taste

Directions

Peel ginger. Grate on a box grater, or do what I do: place the ginger chunk in a blender with some of the water and create a slurry (be sure your blender is strong enough). Place water, grated ginger, orange juice or orange essential oil, lemon juice, and honey in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Strain if desired (I don’t strain it because I love ginger). Serve in big, cozy mugs, each topped with half an orange slice. Be sure to breathe in and savor the steam.

Can be served cold, if desired, by those of you in warmer climes, but trust me… it’s best served piping hot, accompanied by falling snow and holiday music.

The solution: Alchemy

Alchemy (n.): a power or process of transforming something common into something special (thanks to Merriam-Webster).

Here’s my definition: Trimmings from all your favorite Sarva soaps, transformed into one uniquely great bar. Long-lasting and mild.

If you combined everything you love about every Sarva soap into one bar, you’d have Alchemy.  At the same time, every bar is completely different, a   mosaic of your favorite soaps.   If you prefer unscented or very mildly scented soaps, Alchemy is perfect for you. I thought about adding a special essential oil blend, but I decided to keep the price low. Alchemy is available for… are you ready… only $4.00 for a full-sized, 4.5-ounce bar!

Alchemy is a wonderful everyday soap.  It’s a soap you can feel good about using for yourself and for holiday gift-giving. It’s eco-friendly (upcycling is as green as it gets!) and it’s the same great all-natural Sarva soap you already love… just rearranged a bit.

Besides, it looks so interesting. Kind of Wabi Sabi, in fact… which was almost the name of this soap! I’m rather fond of the feel and meaning of Wabi Sabi. (Now you can impress your friends with great soap AND your knowledge of Japanese aesthetics.)

The best news?  There’s a fresh batch in stock for you now! Buy Alchemy now at the Sarva Soap shop on Etsy.

As we began inching toward the holidays, I wanted a way to thank you for being so loyal and patient.  I decided the best “thank you” would be to offer you a sampling of Sarva Soap’s greatest hits, just in time for holiday gift giving.

Confession:  I agonized for months about how to reopen.  Really, I agonized about whether I should reopen given our fragile economy, pending legislation looming over businesses like mine, and the changes I needed to make in my own life.

So… I decided to give Etsy a try – pretty good compromise, don’t you think?

Therefore:  (*clears throat*)

Sarva Soaps will officially be available on Etsy through the holiday season.  (Squee!)    

NOTE:  LIMITED QUANTITIES ARE AVAILABLE!!  (pardon shouting for emphasis)  

Translated:  If you want Sarva Soap for the holidays…
Buy.  Sarva.  Soap.  Early.   

…making changes…

I’m not offering 30 varieties of soap and 78 configurations of gift sets anymore, and the soaps I offer will be the same awesome formulas (or better), but will have a more rustic, simple look.  The Etsy page looks a little lonely.   I’ll get there.  I’m still adding things…  and still getting my bearings.  Right now, Etsy feels like landing in a foreign airport.  Pardon the dust, and bear with me while I learn how to do this!

I decided to give Sarva a little makeover, too.   I wanted to share more of me and what I care about.  And I like old things.  I like unique things.  I like natural, handcrafted things.   You know, artisanal and quirky… but uncompromising.

This year we bought a home built in 1921, full of character and history.  Artisanal and quirky, as a matter of fact (68 casement windows! terra cotta floors!).  A radio/vaudeville star was its first inhabitant, and I can almost feel her presence here… I can’t get enough ’20s jazz music lately.

The basement has a finished room – a vintage “club room” and wet bar with much of the original wood paneling still  intact (and full of dart holes… hmm). Yep, built during Prohibition… can you imagine?   Clearly, this had to be my workshop.  It’s perfect for a new, smaller Sarva.

We love our home, and I wanted its unique style reflected in my products. So I redesigned my packaging, and I’m redoing the blog at my leisure.  (Remember to have fun and take your time in life!)

I hope you like the changes.  Sarva now feels so much more like… me.  Does that seem selfish?   I mean, I’m supposed to make you happy.  But I figure I can best do that by offering what matters most to me.

…and catching up. 

How have you been since we last chatted?

For me, the last several months have been a time of lots of personal growth, medical silliness, and acceptance (harder than it looks, I can assure you).  The medical silliness will not be going away anytime soon, so I have to adjust my life.   I have learned that it is of utmost importance that I always, always get proper rest and not push myself too hard.  While I’d love to keep going 24/7/365, doing shows and lots of wholesaling, being Super Soapmaker, it’s just not in the cards.

Then again, we live in a nutty culture that makes us think we need to be amazingpants and brilliant and monstrously productive and omnipresent on social media and… oh, I’m sure I’m leaving some things out.  I’m here to tell you that’s not true.

Doesn’t mean I can’t make a little soap for my favorite people, though… and moving forward, I’ll ask for your patience in return for trust that I’ll always create for you (well, ok, and for me too) when I’m able.

I love nature, and I love soap.

Nature has always been my ally, helping me where medical treatments do not, soothing me when I’m in need, helping me feel whole where I’d otherwise feel broken.

While natural doesn’t equal safe, an intelligent approach to natural, simple living can create real change.  I am here to vouch for that.   Sarva, a Sanskrit word meaning “whole”, reflects this philosophy.  I honor my pledge to bring you natural products created from the heart.  

My greatest challenge, living daily with an incurable neurological disorder, helps me discover the gifts that lie within our biggest struggles. Aromatherapy has been a saving grace for me, bringing me peace, joy, and harmony. I want to share this through the soaps I create for you.   While it’s necessary for me to create on a smaller scale than before, it also means that’s how I can offer my very best to you.

My life is about wellness… creating my own, helping others achieve theirs. Sarva Soaps are an extension of my core beliefs and passions.  I want you to have beautiful soap that makes you feel good inside and out!