And the Winners Are....

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Springtime Soap Contest, we had only dreamed that it would be as successful as it was. We have picked 3 lucky winners:

First place goes to Karen Pettinger with her soap Vicki's Daydream. Karen says "This is my favourite springtime soap this year. I call it "Vicki's Daydream" in memory of my sister-in-law, who passed away on March 7th from a malignant brain tumor. During her illness, she wore a beret and scarf set, knitted by my mom, in the colours I used in this soap. I mixed my micas with the skein of yarn beside me. I think the colours speak of new grass, spring flowers, and blue skies, and it is meant to be a cheery,happy soap.". What a wonderful sentiment! Vicki's Daydream is fragranced with a blend of florals, teas, and rain, refreshing and fresh. Karen swirled the soap in the slab using 4 colours. Thank you so much Karen, for your wonderful interpretation of springtime! Visit Karen's Facebook page, Plum Creek Soapworks, for more soap and information.

The second place winner is Heather Brubacher with her Oats & Lemongrass soap! "I wanted a new

flavour of CP soap that smelled crisp and vibrant, to go with all the new blossoms and open-windows weather we were having! I also wanted it to be a mild exfoliant, but kind to dry hands that have been playing in the garden." Heather used crushed oats as an exfoliant scented with lemongrass essential oil, adding nourishing calendula oil, shea butter, and jojoba oil to moisturize and protect. Its colouring is strikingly similar to real lemongrass, way to go Heather! We all thought her soaps embody the crispness of spring. Visit Heather on Facebook at
BeetleBitz.

Our third place winner is Sheila Ritter for her lovely melt and pour creation. Embedded in it is a slice of loofah to exfoliate and lovely dried pansies as decoration. This particular bar is longing for summer with a tropical fragrance. Sheila sells her hand-made soaps at her local summer markets and winter fairs. Congratulations, Sheila, on your creative technique!

To celebrate the success of our first soap contest we are giving all our contestants 10% off their next order! This is just a small thank you for your hard work and for taking the time to send your picture in. We now know there will be many contests to come!

To all those who didn't rank in the top three, your soaps were still appreciated around here. Take a look at all the amazing entries:

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It's Almost That Time Again....

Summer is coming. Fast. For parents this means the end of school, report cards, and teachers gifts. We would like to suggest a few great gift ideas that are both cost efficient and easy to make so your children can help as well.

Bath salts are always a well-received gift. We recommend mixing one part Epsom salts to one part Sea salt. The Epsom salts penetrate the skin to soothe sore, achy muscles and joints while the Sea salt softens skin for a luxurious bathing experience.

Another simple gift idea is a milk bath. Simply mix together 1 1/2 cups Whole Milk Powder with a cup of Epsom salts and 2 tablespoons of refined Shea Butter. You can add fragrance or essential oils, dried florals, or substitute the Shea Butter for another butter, such as cocoa or mango. Milk baths are designed to moisturize the skin and soothe the soul. We enhanced the skin care benefits of the homemade milk bath by including shea butter as an emollient, and Epsom salts to mimic the therapeutic effects of the renowned European mineral baths and spas.

If your child's teacher isn't keen on bath products, try making them a lotion or cream with our Cream Starter Base. Easily customizable, this base has already been emulsified so it needs no heating. You can add in whatever additives you'd like and all you have to do is stir. For a light Green Tea Face Lotion try the following ingredients:

50 g (¼ cup) Cream Starter Base

50 g (¼ cup) Floral Water

15 g (1 tablespoon) Aloe Vera Extract

3 g (½ teaspoon) Panthenol Vitamin B5

3 g (½ teaspoon) Silk Amino Acids

2 g (½ teaspoon) Preservative of choice

0.5 g (1/8 teaspoon) Green Tea Extract

All you have to do is mix the ingredients together in the cream base. So simple!

Other ideas would be our Sweet Sugar Scrub recipe or our dreamy Mineral Muscle Soak.

Keep in mind that all of these gift ideas would make fantastic last minute Mother's Day presents too!!

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Spring Inspired Soap Contest!

Spring is in full bloom! Enlived by the sunny afternoons and bright greenery we felt motivated to hold a contest; we want to see your spring-inspired soaps!

Our Spring Soap contest is open to any Voyageur customer who receives our newsletters, reads our blog, or is a fan of our Facebook page. We want to see your BEST spring-inspired soap, be it cold process, melt and pour, rebatch, hot process, any kind of soap that YOU made with your hands. The requirements are:

• The soap must have been made by you
• It must represent an aspect of springtime (it could be the scent, colour, special additive etc)

Please take a picture of your springtime soap bar and email it to service@voyageursoapandcandle.com along with any information you would like to include, such as a special technique used, what you used as a colourant or fragrance, or information about your company and where your products can be found. Please include your full name and telephone number in the email. The soap pictures will be judged by our wise and expert soap panel on their creativity, technique, and overall look of the soap.

I'm sure by now you must be wondering what the prizes are! The first place winner of the Springtime Soap Contest will win a $75 gift certificate to Voyageur, the second place winner will receive a $50 gift certificate, and the third place winner a $25 gift certificate. The winning soapers will also gain exposure by mention on our Facebook page, Blog, and newsletter. This contest is a great opportunity to get your name out there and connect with other businesses, or just to win some cash to use on your next Voyageur purchase!! Feel free to call or email if you have any questions, our toll-free number is 1-800-758-7773.

The deadline for the contest in is in exactly two weeks, Monday May the 16th, so be sure to email the photo of your soap by then! Good luck to everyone!

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