Packaging!

In the past four years of running my business, I have noticed that the MOST important thing in selling a product is the packaging.  This was somewhat foreign to me in the beginning because I am not that into how something looks as much as I am with how well it works.  Now it makes complete sense to me though and I thought that I would quickly explain what I have discovered here.

People tend to be very visual in their day to day life.  So if something doesn't catch their eye, then they are not likely to even try it to begin with.  If they do not try it, then how are they going to know how well it works...other than the obvious free samples that you may or may not be passing out.

When I began Chrysler Creek, I wanted as little packaging as possible.  The labels were black and white...to promote the belief of as natural as possible...and I did fairly well that first year.  Primarily because I had a good product that was not common in this area and I knew a fair amount of people that I could peddle it to that didn't need all the fluff and stuff.

The next year was a bit of a challenge...I was trying out different jars for my candles and selling some things wholesale...plus I had changed over to more of a primitive look with the brown kraft labels and a brand new logo.  My business did grow this second year, but only slightly and I was having a difficult time getting things switched over and still wasn't happy with the overall look.

Last year my business had a huge amount of growth.  My products were looking good and the Chrysler Creek name was gaining recognition in the community.  I added a few new product lines and some more wholesale orders.

This past farmers' market season was the best though.  Not so much in sales...I had quite a few health issues this year that affected that aspect...but the packaging and brand new logo design that I worked on over the winter last year were a huge hit!  Everyone was talking about the new packaging and how much they loved it!  I have strayed away from the primitive look and moved on to a clean, natural and pretty look.  It looks very feminine, in the sense that it has soft and pretty colors, but not so feminine that the men are put off with it.

So with all this being said...I really need to get busy packaging up the 60 bath bombs that I made yesterday and the lotion that has been sitting thickening overnight...just two more products that are new to the Chrysler Creek lineup this year!

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Crunch Time

Now that I am three days away from the first craft show of the season...it is crunch time!  So I will posting short posts throughout the week on my progress and the items that I have been hard at work on.

Today I will be working on bath bombs (in assorted scents) and lotions (in assorted scents).  Then if there is time later, I will also be making some hot pepper jelly and maybe pour some candles!

With that being said...now I need to get busy!  Have a great day everyone!

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Introducing...Chrysler Creek Luxurious Body Lotion

Lotion is something that everyone seems to love and I had so many customers ask me when I was going to begin making it.  For the past three years now, I have been responding to this question like this...I will make it when I can make it with a "clean" preservative and make it more naturally of course.  By that I meant that the preservative had to be paraben-free, the fragrances would of course be phthalate free (because ALL of my scents are) and I would have to be able to make it using vegetable based products (no animal byproducts or petroleum based products).

So I am ecstatic to let you know that I have been able to make this lotion and stick to my principals.  See I could have bent my principals and moral values and have been able to supply a "lotion" all of these years...but that is not who I am.  I would never sell any product that I would personally not use on myself or my family.  So let me take this time to talk about one of the newest additions to Chrysler Creek.

You should know that it is a vegan lotion...made with vegetable-based oil and thickeners.  It is also gluten free...this is huge for the market these days as so many people and small children are being diagnosed with Celiac or some other form of gluten intolerance all of the time (my own son included!).  In fact, all of my products are gluten free and most of them are vegan as well.  So you can rest assured that there are no animal or petroleum by-products in this lotion!

The preservative that I use is paraben free!  Why is this important you might ask?  Well parabens are extremely controversial right now.  They can act like estrogen and have been linked to breast cancer (typically from underarm deodorants).  Now there are plenty of opinions out there both for and against using parabens in skin care products, so you can find enough information to back whatever position you should choose to take on this subject.  However, since it is an unnecessary ingredient in skin care products...I would rather leave it out and not take unnecessary risks with my customer's and my family's health!

The other thing that I felt was necessary to prompt me to make lotion had already been taken care of before I began the lotion...phthalate free fragrances.  If you know anything about my business, then you know that I TRY very to keep my products as natural as possible.  I have started making many of my bath and body care products using artificial fragrance oils (at my customer's requests), but I only began doing this after I discovered a vendor that guaranteed me that these scents would be phthalate free.  See phthalates are chemical plasticizers that make the scent stay in products for a huge amount of time (to make them shelf stable for however long it takes to sell them).  However, they are also extremely controversial, possibly even causing cancer and are unnecessary in my products because I don't have products sitting around on the shelf forever.  So, once again, I can make my products without them and not take unnecessary risks with our health.

I will be making lotion regularly for the next few months, since I have a ton of craft shows lined up, and then I will only be making it as the customer orders it.  Since I make the lotion in small batches anyway, this is not an inconvenience to either myself or the customer...once an order is placed, I can make it and deliver it the very next day.  That will ensure that you receive a quality product that has been freshly made and it will also help keep my costs down (less waste) which helps to keep my prices low for you.

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Soap In The Curing Closet

I will be updating this as necessary...which will be often as I am constantly making more soap!

Lavender ~ 10 bars ready by October 23rd

Citrus Splash ~ 13 bars ready by October 23rd

Peppermint Perfection ~ 27 bars ready by October 26th

Bergamot-Grapefruit ~ 27 bars ready by October 26th

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Hello again!

I decided to give this blogging thing one last try...I have kind of missed coming here and blogging SO here goes.

There have been so many new developments going on around the farm here.  Some pretty big business improvements for Chrysler Creek are already in place with some more to come.  I tell you what...with the way things are going for Chrysler Creek...I will probably need to take on some part-time help in the next year!  That is good news both for me and the part-time help!

Some of the new additions to Chrysler Creek include: SLS-Free Body Wash (never thought I would get to enjoy body wash again!), I have expanded the scents line to include Phthalate Free fragrance oils (yeah fun scents!), I have also began making more Soy Wax Breakaways (melts) and really pushing them over and above the soy candles (more to come on that), and I have finally found the right ratio to transform the bath fizzies (square) into bath bombs (round balls)...more to come on that also.

Needless to say...I have been busy this summer!  With so much going on with the business and health issues...there has been plenty to keep me hopping.  But there is so much that I want to share with you this Holiday season and my fingers have been getting pretty anxious for this keyboard...so At The Creek will reemerge and be better than ever!

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