Handmade Promenade
What a great weekend! Yesterday was the very first Handmade Promenade, organized by Sunday Afternoon Housewife, Martha Latta, who is AWESOME! The Handmade Promenade was set up outside of Luna Music Midtown in Broad Ripple, and coincided with Luna’s Record Store Day celebration. There was free food and free live music all day, and the weather was fantastic. A little windy at times, but nothing *too* serious. Lucas and I set up GEEKSOAP along with five other local artists on the sidewalk and we had a blast. It was great being neighbors with My Wire Empire’s Melissa Bryant, and we made a lot of new friends and met tons of people stopping by to check out the festivities. What a great day all around!
I uploaded some photos we took on the Handmade Promenade Facebook Fan Page as well as to Lucas and I’s family Flickr account. Below are photos of the other fantastic local artists that GEEKSOAP shared a sidewalk with – you simply MUST check out their handmade work. From beautiful prints to creative creatures, crayons, jewelry, and gorgeous sewn accessories… Handmade Promenade ROCKED the handmade goods, and these ladies are AMAZING.
My Wire Empire – Melissa Bryant
EleanorMac – Jen Wyrick
Sunday Afternoon Housewife – Martha Latta
Mother Tucker Sews – Ariane N. Tucker
And me… GEEKSOAP – Lesley Karpiuk
What a fun event – thanks for the free food, free music, and fun for Records Store Day, and thanks to all of you that came out. It was great meeting all of you! <3
Geeky GEEKSOAP News & Updates!
Oh man, it’s been a busy busy week around here! This past week was my Spring Break and with the Bloomington Handmade Market coming up, I spent most of the week slaving away over making as much fun, fantastic geeky soap as I could to be ready in time for the show. The good news is that the BHM was a HUGE success and Lucas and I sold loads of soap and met lots of great people :) The bad news is… well there was no bad news! :D
Around Wednesday of last week my D20 Soap On A Rope was featured on CRAFTzine and the orders started pouring in. Then it was featured on GEEKOLOGIE. Then it was even featured on the Wizards of the Coast website… THE official DnD website! As you can imagine, orders started increasing exponentially. It’s  full of so much awesome and win! I’m finally caught up, got a system down, and we’re making D20 Soap On A Rope like crazy around here and loving every minute of it. Lots of other GEEKSOAP began getting featured around the Interwebs after that, and needless to say, we’re busy. It’s great! Welcome to all of the new fans and customers. We’re looking forward to providing you with fabulous geeky soap :)
With the huge increase in orders it occurred to me that Etsy just isn’t going to work anymore. The fees are getting out of control with fees every time I list any quantity of GEEKSOAP products, plus the fees taken out from each sale… I needed a better solution. My good geeky soapmaking girlie friend, @KyleeLane, suggested BigCartel as a better site, as did several others. (P.S. KyleeLane is AMAZING, by the way… go check her out NAO!) GEEKSOAP is in the process of getting all set up over there and within the week I’ll make the switch entirely. Never fear, though… as long as you’re using http://www.geeksoap.net as your go-to address for all things GEEKSOAP, you’ll be redirected automatically to the new storefront without skipping a beat. I’ll continue to keep my pinktoque Etsy store open for my knit & crochet accessories and patterns… and to send people the message about where to find their beloved geeky soap. So just remember… geeksoap.net will get you there! I’ll be updating links and widgets here on The Pink Toque to help. Thankfully all of the features either sent people here to my portfolio or used geeksoap.net so I think it’s all good :) I believe that BigCartel will be a much better solution in the long run for the volume we’re working with here.
Ooooh, and there’s some new soap coming soon plus a new “flavor” of the Binary Bar coming out, too. I’m going to hold on and wait to release those after the site has moved to the new storefront, so look for the new stuff coming soon! Plus in celebration of GEEKSOAP’s success and new Facebook Fans and customers (and all of the new products coming out), I’ll be doing a special promo code for FB fans to say thank you :) THANK YOU! <3 Not a fan yet? Head on over and become a fan of The Pink Toque and GEEKSOAP on Facebook!
You also may have noticed that the front page now has two new widgets – one that showcases upcoming events where you can find GEEKSOAP in person, and one that allows you to sign up for the mailing list. I promise your email address is safe with me and won’t be used for anything but to send out occasional messages to let you know about new geeky soap products and other fun things like sales or promos that you can only get by signing up. When you sign up, you’ll get a confirmation email to opt in, and you’ll be able to remove yourself completely at any time :) No pressure! Â Just good, clean geeky updates.
Upcoming events for GEEKSOAP include the Handmade Promenade on April 17 in downtown Indy, and … GenCon Indy in August! More details on GenCon as the date get closer, but you won’t want to miss it! The Handmade Promenade will be loads of fun and is being held at Luna Music Midtown for their anniversary. There will be lots of live music and food, plus Upland Brewery will be there. And of course… several fantastic local artists and vendors like GEEKSOAP :) Come on down and check us out on April 17!
Whew! That’s all for now… back soon to show off the new storefront, new products, and loads of other goodies… stay tuned! <3 Remember… geeksoap.net!
Computer Geek Soap
Happy Friday (TGIF!) I have been busy slaving away over soap, soap, and more soap – working on turning the ideas rolling around in my head into new designs every evening this week, and I finally think I’m ready to start promoting my Etsy shop more. I’m focusing the most on “manufacturing” (aka producing in large quantities in my kitchen) and selling my own designs mostly, though the examples of FANSOAPâ„¢ I’ve made are good to show what I can do in case other companies or small businesses are interested.
So what are the newest designs of mine in the GEEKSOAPâ„¢ line? Computer geek soap! Inspired by the geekiness in our household, I’ve created soap that features the universal power (on or off) button, USB icon, RSS feed, and the @ symbol. Perfect for the geek in your life (or yourself), these are a symbol of true computer nerdiness that you can be proud to wash yourself with.
I’ve also got a hilarious series of GEEKSOAPâ„¢ coming out later this weekend or early next week – I’m waiting for my new order of soap supplies to arrive. But trust me, you’ll love it :)
Today is the deadline for applying for space at the Bloomington Handmade Market in April. I’m nervous and excited because I can’t wait to hear whether or not I’ve been accepted so I can share a table with my cousin’s girlfriend Christine. I’ll keep you posted!