SOLSTICE GARDENS

SOL'STICE GARDENS
a Dripping Springs, Texas Art Gallery, Sculpture Garden and Shopping Destination


Developing wholesale accounts has never been part of my Haiku Soap business plan.   With that said, I DO have a few wholesale accounts (and I can count them on just one hand).   I don't service them because they sell a high volume of product, or because they offer high profile visibility for my beautiful product line, or for any other sound business reason.  I do it because I genuinely LIKE the business owners,  LIKE having the excuse to visit with them regularly and LIKE making a contribution that I hope helps their business' grow.

A sign planted along a garden pathway at Solstice Gardens.

I fell in love with Sol'stice Gardens on my first visit about 45 seconds after getting out of the car.  My sister actually 'discovered' Sol'stice.  She and her husband were visiting from Colorado and we took a very scenic Texas Hill Country drive from my house in Spicewood via Round Mountain to Johnson City (for some shopping and beef jerky) circling back on Hwy 290 toward Dripping Springs eventually planning to make it to my retail store Under One Roof, On the Square in Wimberley Texas.

As we cruised into Dripping Springs 'proper', a moving metal sculpture dancing on the horizon caught my sister's eye.  It reminded her of an artist's work she had seen on a recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. (In a conversation with Sol'stice Gallery Owner, Chris, we learned that the metal sculptures showcased on the grounds are in fact made by that same Santa Fe artist, Mark White.)   Joe (my brother in law) was commanded by Joy (my precious little sister) to slam on the brakes and turn right back around!  

Now you have an idea of some of the reasons why I fell in love with Solstice Gardens.  I hope I've given you a taste of just how delightful this little jewel of a spot is.  I hope you'll put Sol'stice Gardens on your 'must do' list next time your route takes you near Dripping Springs, Texas.

Oh, and after you check out the lovely grounds be sure to go inside to see the local artist gallery showcase.   You'll find an inviting selection of some of the finest locally handcrafted soap available in the Texas Hill Country ... and I do say so myself!

Solstice Gardens in Dripping Springs, Texas  
is where you can find Hill Country Haiku Soap Art in Dripping Springs, Texas.

PicFrame Is My 'App for That'

     I am so excited about the new iPhone app I discovered last week that I want all my friends to know about it and be excited too!   It's a photo app called PicFrame and it allows you to create photo collages using pics saved to your phone.   Now that you know about my discovery, are you getting excited with me too?   No, not yet?  

      My excitement started when PicFrame was so easy to use.   It took me less than 5 minutes to make my first collage (soap pics of course) and I couldn't wait to post it to my Facebook page.   And I didn't have to wait .. the app is set up to make posting directly to Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler and Flickr super easy too!

my very first photo collage made with PicFrame iPhone app

      PicFrame is so very user friendly that anyone that takes a lot of pics with their phone should enjoy giving it a try.      I'm so pleased to see that my friend Donna Maria seems to agree!  What a sweet sentiment behind her "Counting My Blessings" collage that she shared with her Indie Business readers.

     What excites me the most about my PicFrame find is the potential it has for helping myself and lots of other small business owners.  

     Do you know any Etsy store owners or Ebay sellers?  If so, you might mention this app to them.

     Contractors might use to get paid more quickly. 

     Hair stylists could make a portfolio of Before and After shots.

     

     and, I personally know a soap maker that is really trying to start a blogging routine. 

I bet she could use PicFrame to group a few soap pics together to add some visual interest to a blog post!    Instead of just showing a pic of finished bars she could also show a couple of pics as she was actually making it?     Maybe something like this:)

a successful Rainbow Column Swirl soap experiment

   

of course, that very same soapmaker might want use it to email Aunt Gladys
  pics of her precious new kitten, Alfie

        Download PicFrame here 

Feather Drawing on Soap Tops

     A couple of minutes to lightly pull a wooden skewer across the top surface of this soap  saved this test batch from being a total disappointment!  

Here's where we started:

and after just a few minutes we were here:

This short video clip shows you just how easy it is to add a little touch of dimension and visual interest to the top surface of your bars:

   I shot this video of Genie using a wooden skewer to 'draw' a design on the top surface of some freshly poured soap.   It was never intended to be shown to the public.    Don't be expecting to hear anything more than us muttering a word or two in the background.   

   Trying to see if this works will be a valuable lesson after spending almost 30 minutes to upload the 15 second video clip!   Can't tell if it works from the edit or previous blogger screens,  guess I'll have to go ahead and publish to find out....  (and sure hope I can delete it immediately afterwards:)