Welcome to the Studio

Welcome to the Studio!

Few people have seen where I actually work - because for as long as I’ve made Soap, I’ve been working in small spaces that weren’t conducive to company, tours, or hosting classes. 

Few soap makers have the luxury of a dedicated work space - and I have been happy to take what I can get because ANY SPACE means that I’m not working in my kitchen (and I’ve been fortunate not to use my kitchen for a lot of years and I’ve been thankful every step of the way). Thankful to my family for the days we had soap curing in closets. For the days the kitchen table was my office. For the days we rearranged and moved my business to make room for children.  For the days I had ingredients taking up half the closets. For all of it. It's been a great ride and lesson in minimalism.

The plan this past year since we moved, has always been to expand and to expand into THE STUDIO. THE STUDIO is phase 3. It's the dream. It’s endgame. It’s #goals. It’s still under construction and it’ll be some more time until we can transfer everything over. I’m thankful for both of my parents having the foresight to build THE STUDIO years ago, and so the bones are in place but right now it’s a storage hub which still needs insulation, ventilation, water, paint, and floors. One thing at a time. As with anything in life, growth takes time and my projected timeline for moving to THE STUDIO is a year or so away. 

Yesterday was a hot day. The littles and I went to the river to cool off, which has been our summer afternoon’s routine thus far. We are so blessed to live close to cool running water. During that heat wave man, we were down at the river first thing in the morning and didn't come home until supper time.

After a refreshing swim, I went into my current Studio thinking I would start restocking body scrubs and finish some custom orders so they can ship Monday. I have to do inventory, I have to label some products, I have to restock scrubs, I have to fill some wholesale orders, and maybe I'll tidy up the packaging drawers.

My current Studio is phase two of the big move. It’s located in an addition on the house which originally was going to be the master bedroom but it has some walls to come out and some minor work to be done. I chose to work in the "kitchen" of the suite, which is approximately 40 square feet and was the only usable space for what I do, attached to the suite. 

I’ve become an expert at small spaces - utilizing every square inch to maximize functionality. 

And you know what? I walked in with my Spotify Playlist under my thumb, ready to work and Josh had taken the walls down, moved a bunch of my things around, and essentially gave me a whole new work space Studio. And it’s HUGE. It’s the biggest Studio I’ve ever worked in - I’m not even sure what to do with all this space! 

Confession: my first studio 10 years ago was 30 square feet - also in the addition of our first house together. It had a makeshift sink which drained into buckets. My first original soap-making table was heavy AF and solid wood - I still have it - it's well-loved. It has character. 

So why am I telling you this?

Because Studio 36 is growing, it's expanding, and I CANNOT WAIT.