The Imaginative Arts of Carol Ochs – Soaps, Fantasy Art!

COME FOLLOW US!

They say, plant angel trumpets in your garden if you want to see an angel appear! 

(But don’t always believe “they”!  Angel trumpet sweet-smelling nectar can attract devilish types, too!  Don’t let the wings fool ya!)

I started all my angel trumpet bushes with wee slips of cuttings from my Mom’s gorgeous garden and they are blooming like crazy now!  Wish I could use them in soap somehow…but the datura flower is poisonous as well as a hallucinogen.  The angel you see is a hallucination…..yup.

Anyway…it got me deciding to have a Full Moon Art Sale to celebrate it! Four of our most popular moon art prints on sale TODAY ONLY, only $10 each! These are giclee-quality prints, Folks, printed on Velvet Fine At paper with archival inks. (NOTE: The discounted price will not show up on the shopping cart, we take it off on our end manually. If we forget, you get a print for FREE!) Find these prints at: http://www.carolochs.com/e-gallery-openedition.php

 

 ”Come To The Beltane Fire”

Luv, ~Carol

carolochsarts(at)aol.com

Happy, Beautiful, GREEN March!

(Cup of Gold vine in my backyard garden….)

The garden is bursting with blooms here in San Diego! Spring is here-ish…or trying to stay, in-between bouts of cold weather. Regardless, it’s got me in a Spring state-of-mind! And…… thinking GREEN, very GREEN!

SOAP NEWS:

From today 3/5 through St. Patricks Day 3/17…..every soap we carry that is GREEN, or has green in it, will be 10% off! Yup! Save some GREEN ($) by buying GREEN! That gives you a pretty broad selection to choose from, Folks!

Baja Bar, Mint Mud Cake, Spirit, Blue Cypress, Mountain Meadow, Howlin’ At The Moon Summer Soap, Big Sur, Linden Blossom, Green Tea & Spearmint, Tea Garden, Wylde Faerie – Fern, Moss & Mushroom, Wylde Wytch – Encantado, Midnight Margarita Bar, & Yule, Wylde Mermaid – Beneath The Sea Salt Soap, Rustic Collection – Russian Fir Needle.

Order as usual using our online shopping cart, and we will apply the 10% discount on our end—so don’t worry when your cart total does not reflect the savings. If we neglect to apply the 10% you get a free bar of soap! This sale in-effect 3/5 – 3/17 midnight. Stock up!

Opportunity LOL kindly invited us to submit soap for a review! Here it is:

http://www.opplol.com/reviews/2012/simply_soap.html

They make the great suggestion to fill your spring Easter baskets with SOAP instead of sugar!

As mentioned in a previous blog post/newsletter…we’re discontinuing some soaps from our Regular Lines. All of our specialty line soaps are staying intact though! Some of you have expressed dismay at some of your favorites no longer being available. If there’s something you REALLY REALLY want kept, shoot us an email and we may bring it back via our Treasure Chest Limited Edition Soaps! simplysoap@aol.com :)

ART NEWS:

Decorate your space with GREEN spring magic! And at a savings! The following Wild Oaks Art giclee-quality art prints are available, also through 3/17 for only $10 each! And again, you won’t see the savings in your online shopping cart, we apply it when we run your order through manually! If we accidentally neglect to apply the 10% off and you let us know, you not only get the savings applied, but a free art print as well!

And from our Enchantasies – Bewitching Art Collection: (same $10/per print sale thru 3/17!)

FIBER ARTS:

And, also in the spirit of spring cleaning through 3/17 in our Fiber Arts.…every ready-made item is 10% off! Stock up now on scarves, beanies, etc.! And again, you won’t see the discount in your shopping cart, we apply it manually on our end. If we forget and you have to remind us, you get the discount AND a free bar of soap!

March always has me taking out my favorite Irish movies….Tristan & Isolde, Far & Away, Waking Ned Divine….and a bevy of Celtic CD’s. My St. Patrick’s Day feast is a sight (and scent) to behold! You’d practically think I’m Irish, eh? But alas, I am only an honorary Irishwoman…..::curtsies:: (I’m Polish, German & English) Husband and kids have some Irish in them! I just LOVE Spring and all things green!

Hope you enjoy, and take advantage of our stock up on GREEN SALES!!!

As always, with much appreciation to my terrific customers & friends who allow me to continue doing what I do…make soap, art and wrappings, for YOU!

Sincerely,

~Carol

The Imaginative Arts of Carol Ochs

Simply Soap, Wild Oaks Art & Enchantasies

ALL at: www.carolochs.com

Some recent extra art exposure…..

My mermaid art featured:  http://themermaidlife.com/Mermaid_Art.html

Front cover witch art on the delayed-release: http://www.pagan-mart.com/322-the-witches-hour-magazine-mysteries-of-winter-issue-3.html

~Carol :)

carolochsarts(at)aol.com

Howdy Folks….. Percolatin’ along with new soaps we’re testing! Want to remind everyone that if you’re on a tight budget, but still want to enjoy the goodness of handmade soap, consider our White Elephant Soap Scraps (by the lb./$15)! And my “lbs.” are generally more than a lb.!

I’ve been clearing off soap shelves of odd end pieces, so we’ve got a bunch! We also have a ton of soap trimmings! So if you like the idea of rolling your own soap balls, we’ve got the makin’s! You just place trimmings in a bowl, pour hot water over them, let them soften for about 3-5 minutes (no longer or the soap will dissolve!) and then roll into a soap ball! Voila! Our trimmings are a hodgepodge of all kinds of soap though so it won’t be trimmings all-of-one-kind. But that makes it fun! Calico soap! Specify when you order (in the notes section of the cart) that you want “trimmings” if you want trimmings…otherwise you will get the odd end pieces. And in the process, I’ll get neater soap shelves! :)

TTYL….. simplysoap(at)aol.com ~Carol

Wanted to thank you all who have, and keep sending me email feedback on two previous blogposts!

RE: Comments I made in this post:

Chocolat’ Chicken

I always drool over the movie Chocolat’, when lead character Viene concocts all her sumptuous, chocolate-y deliciosities!  Especially the birthday feast for Armande! Every course served, is dripping in chocolate, and the dinner guests are overcome with culinary choco-exhilaration!  

 

Anyway, it inspired me!  Instead of going out to battle the Valentine crowds for dinner, I decided to create my own deliciosities for that handsome hunk o’ man of mine and I.

 

I call it Chocolat’ Chicken…..

 

 

…..served with brown rice, and because there’s a bit of spice to the sauce, a side of cooling spring greens & mixed berries salad with glazed walnuts and feta cheese.  Hmmm!

 

Chocolate IS an aphrodisiac, you know…..so take multi-helpings at your own risk! *wink*

 

 

• 1 1/2 pound boneless chicken, pork or lamb chops
• 3 tablespoon Mexican chocolate (you can also use powdered, in a can, on baking aisle, Ghiradelli chocolate, or improvise)
• 1 poblano pepper (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 3 sprigs cilantro
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 3 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• Chocolate shavings

• 1 1/2 pound boneless chicken breast, lamb or pork chops,
  Salt and pepper
  Preheat grill over medium-high heat. Season meat with salt and pepper. Place on grill, grill for 2 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
•  
  1 poblano pepper (chopped)
  1 onion (chopped)
  1 clove garlic (minced)
  1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  olive oil
  To saute pan add olive oil, onion, garlic and poblano pepper. Add smoked paprika and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
•  
  3 tablespoon Mexican chocolate
  3 tablespoon sherry vinegar
  Add sherry vinegar and chocolate. Puree with immersion blender until smooth. (Or if you don’t have an immersion blender you can put mixture from pan into a normal blender or food processor.)
•  
  3 sprigs cilantro
  Chocolate shavings
  To serve, place sauce on top of grilled meat. Garnish with chocolate shavings and cilantro. 
   
  ENJOY!
  (I’m going to!) 
  ~Carol
  carolochsarts(at)aol.com