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Meet Denise Washburn 

Our first person profiled in this regular column is "Denise in PA", our newest list moderator.

Not only is Denise a fantastic moderator and soaper extraordinaire, she has other talents too.   Did you know that she runs another business as a childbirth educator?   She somehow finds the time to baby sit kids during the day, take care of husband Bill and son Billy, plus  every now and then bake & decorate a cake masterpiece.    

What got you started as a soapmaker?
I always get rather bored and restless during February and March.  I saw a class for soapmaking and decided that would give me something to do in those months.  It was also pretty cool that the class was in February!  It was put on and held in a school of country living that is about 40 miles from my home.  Someplace that I never even knew existed.  Now, I had no idea about soapmaking processes so we (I conned a friend into going with me) were fortunate that it was a class on the cold process soaping method.  From there, I found the internet and was off and running.  At first I bought my oils from the school that I took the class at, then they shared their suppliers (Columbus Foods and Camden Gray) and I went internet shopping.

What is your favorite thing about making soap?
You never quite know what you are going to get, visually, until you cut it.  You never quite know how the soap is going to be until you cure it and use it.  Sure, you know what to expect from the properties of the oils, and you should have a vague idea how the colorants morph, but those fragrance oils - man do some of them ever change!  My most favorite thing is using the Celini blue mica and watching it go through its metamorphosis of color changes!

Funniest soaping moment:
Only one?  OK, the funniest was the time I measured out all the oils into a pan, had them melted and then dropped the pan (all 85 ounces of oil) onto the basement floor.  I stood there looking at the mess.  The pan went straight down and the oils volcanoed up and hit me in the face and all over the washing machine, the dryer, the steps, the pump and sink.  I was covered in oils, as was the floor and everything near by.  I stood there in total disbelief and then I started laughing and couldn't quit.  When Bill came in he couldn't believe I was laughing!  Well, it was either clean it up and laugh or sit down in the mess and cry!  Oh, I also broke my glasses while cleaning up that mess!  And, there are still oil stains on the cement floor! LOL

Any sage words of advice for us all
If you are using a herbal tea as your liquid, make sure it is room temperature and is NOT warm before you start adding your lye to the tea!   Lye volcanoes are NOT fun!  Oh, and keep your brand new scale away from your lye solution.  This will be very important if you do have a lye volcano!  :)  

Is there a really great recipe you would like to share with us, soap or otherwise??
Sure...always have a good recipe or two lying around.  :)  Here's one of the ones I did for my sister's hubby for Christmas...his hands are raw from the new antibacterial soap they got where he works (he works in a cardiac group doing stress tests).  I ordered some Multibase E1 from Michelle who is on the Soapnuts list.  So, I tried some quick lotion for him using this emulsifier base.

Brandon's Healing Lotion
4 ounces of goat's milk Multibase E1
1 ounce of emu oil
1 ounce of shea butter
16 ounces of water

Blend the Multibase with the emu and shea.  Add two ounces of water and blend well...continue adding small amounts of water until you add it all or until you get to the consistency that you prefer.  I used the entire 16 ounces and had a fairly thick but pourable lotion. 

I scented this with a scent blend I made up just for him. 
    70 drops lavender essential oil
    70 drops sandalwood essential oil
    10 drops patchouli essential oil

He loves this (and anything with patchouli) and it's really good for his hands...although he hasn't been working over the holidays, but they are all healed up.  I guess the real test begins on Monday when he goes back to work.  LOL

Any outside interests and activities other than (gulp) soaping?
Does shopping for soaping supplies count?  Nah, I didn't think so...  Well, I love kids and have a wonderful time with the five that I baby-sit.  So, I have interests in child development and learning styles.  But, I don't think that is the kind of answer you all are looking for.  ;) 

I love cooking, and making new recipes...not only trying a new recipe, but actually coming up with a new one.  I love putting on a four or five course meal for company. Ummm, maybe I should mention that I use to work in a restaurant as a cook? LOL  I like doing leather work, carving and making things like wallets, belts, gun cases, etc.   Like this stuff:  www.tandyleather.com.  My goal for this year is to make myself a purse; one that has all the "right" pockets and hidey-holes in it.  I usually start with a kit, but end up adapting it to suit my own purposes.  I'm afraid that for the purse that is in my mind, it's gonna be a lot more than just adapting a kit.  I'm gonna have to make a pattern and go at it from scratch!  Ummm, I love gardening and landscaping; more on the flower and perennial end of the gardening spectrum.  I like gourds and pumpkins and ornamentals too, but vegetable gardening...well, to me it's boring, and besides, I don't eat them!  LOL Well, I do eat string beans, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Could you please add some info about the childbirth teachings you do?
I'm an internationally certified childbirth educator (www.icea.org) and a nationally certified doula (www.alace.org).  My official business name is Family Oriented Childbirth Information Support Services (otherwise known as FOCISS).  We do various classes for the pregnant women; such as a traditional childbirth education class series (which runs 6 evenings), a all-in-one-day childbirth education class (which runs 6 hours on one Saturday), a breastfeeding class, parenting classes (for infants), refresher classes (for those who have already have children), cesarean option class (for those who know they are having surgery), and VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) classes (for those who have already given birth by Cesarean and want to try for a vaginal birth with this pregnancy).  FOCISS also offers professional labor support by certified doulas (my assistant and myself).

The whole focus of our classes and support embodies the ICEA's mission statement...freedom of choice based on knowledge of alternatives.  Our goal is to educate the couples on all of their choices and formulate their goals for their birth experience and communication skills to help them achieve their goals.  It is truly a consumer-oriented class.  This is something I love doing...I've taught the classes for almost 14 years and have been a doula for 11 years.
 
And your cake decorating, too.
Oh lord...my cake decorating skills or my dislike of cake decorating?  LOL I do this, but it is something I don't really enjoy doing.  My sister started this when she was in high school.  She taught herself out of books and sheer determination.  When she went away to college, she got tired of coming home to make cakes for everyone's birthdays, so she taught mom and me how do to it.  Usually I make them only for family and a few friends (I so much prefer baking or gourmet cooking to cake decorating or pastry/candy making).  I have done two wedding cakes and two 50th anniversary cakes. I have posted pictures of those two anniversary cakes on the Soapnuts list, so those are the two you all have seen.  If you are looking for hints or tips...  Well, I use only Duncan Hines cake mixes, as they tend to hold up much better than any of the other brands.  White cakes are easier to ice, decorate and stack.  Different flavors have different textures and white holds together the best.  Also, if you try to ice a chocolate cake with white frosting...well, you get the idea...crumbs in the frosting aren't very appealing!  If you are layering several cakes or using pillars, use BIG dowel rods, like the size of your index finger...and use lots of them!

What else would you like to learn or master?
In soaping, well, I would like to learn liquid and cream soap making.  I haven't even experimented with either of those; nor have I ever tried hot process.  Now, if you are talking about something outside of soapmaking - that is a toughie.  Web page design, knitting or crocheting, and computers - I know just enough about a computer to be really dangerous to one!  LOL

How did you meet your husband?  Any kids?
Oh, boy is this ever a loaded question!  Can I refuse to answer on grounds of self-incrimination?  LOL  Oh well...  I met Bill in a bar...your classic “one night stand” that we are still debating WHO was trying to pick up whom. :)  But, neither of us saw it coming.  We *met* in late August, he asked me out on a *real* date the first weekend in October, I got a pre-engagement ring for Christmas and an engagement ring for Valentines Day.  We set a wedding date for September 28th, which was one week shy of our very first date!  How's that for a story?  LOL 

Oh, it gets better too.  I was 18 and in a bar drinking (legal drinking age is 21), so he assumed I was at least over 21.  He was 30 and was hoping the age difference wasn't as big as it is.  But, you know what?  That 12-year age difference hasn't made any difference in the 18 years that we've been together.  :) 

Kids?  Well, you all know about Billy!  He's 14 and is really into music and Scouting.  He's played guitar for 7 years and drums for 3.  He's put together his own band (they practice in my basement!) and he's in three of his school's bands (marching, concert, and jazz band).  He goes virtually everywhere with his Scout troop.  At the Scouts’ Christmas party they awarded mileage hiked badges, and he received his 100+ mile patch as he's hiked 125 miles in his scouting career.  We've tried to have more kids.  Actually I wanted three or four, but it just wasn't in the cards for us.  The infertility clinic basically told me they had no idea how I got pregnant in the first place.  I guess someone in a higher place decided that I needed one child and a career in daycare!  :)

Do you have any pets?
Yes, but not like you guys all do!  We have two cats, AC (no, it doesn't stand for Alice Cooper!  LOL  Actually, it's for Adventure Cat and Billy named her, silly kitten fell through the suspended ceiling in the garage; we have no idea how she even got up in there) and CallieCat (yes, she's a calico and is AC's mom).  The cats are more or less mine, as I'm the cat lover in the family, but they live in Bill's garage.  Ten years ago, CallieCat found us and moved herself and her very pregnant belly into the old garage. Many litters later we had her spayed and moved her into the real garage.  :) We let Billy pick out one kitten of her last litter, so this is how AC came to stay.  Billy has a dog that we got at the SPCA.  She's a terrier and lab mix and is totally spastic!  :)  She was named when we got her, Honey, but we added Mutt to her name, so she's Honey-Mutt.  She lives outside, near Bill's garage in her very own doggie condo.

If you could visit one place in the world, where would that be and why?
Another toughie.   So many places and I have to choose just one!  Well, I'm pretty confident that I will get on my dream cruise up the Alaska coastline (got Bill about talked into that one, just not soon), so I would choose New Zealand.  I have a friend who met a wonderful man on the internet.  Her only problem was that he was on the other side of the world - New Zealand!  So, she packed up and went over...four years ago!  I would love to go visit and take suitcases filled with American food (that she just craves and can't get there) to her.  They've got a 2 year old little girl whom I've never met...heck, I haven't even met her husband!  And besides, it's supposed to be beautiful over there!   And it's summer right now!  
 
Do you remember how you found the Soapnuts list?  
Sure do.   I was internet shopping for supplies and stumbled (totally by accident) onto the Soapnuts site and joined immediately.  I can't remember exactly when that was, summer of 2000 or so.  I've had to rejoin a few times since due to ISP problems.  But it was joining this list that really kicked off the creativity, even if I did lurk for months and months!  I had made three batches on my own, following the “rules” that I got from that class, and then I had one batch where I had an oil slick on top of the soap.  So I got really brave and asked about it on this list.  Would you believe I can't remember who answered me?  But that's what got me to start to veer away from that first list of “rules” I had and start using my own brain and creativity.  From there it was an easy jump into toiletries; lip balm was my first attempt at those.  Then, things got real interesting!  I started using different oils and experimenting.  Thing haven't been the same since!

What do you value most about the Soapnuts list?
The friendships I've formed with other 'Nuts...the camaraderie that is on this list is great!

~ Denise Washburn