January's Contest Winners!

Wow, what a learning experience! I now understand why people randomly choose their winners. Coordinating with three judges, and getting a consensus wasn't easy!
Thank you all for your great ideas. We've implemented many of them, and were very pleased with the number of entries we received. Before I announce the winners, I'd like to also extend a special offer to everyone who posted a suggestion to help us increase traffic. Until Feb 14th, we will include a free heart shaped sample bar with any order (only for those who participated in Jan's contest.)

Also, you can visit http://www.4babyandmom.com/ and find us featured on day 5 of her February Fiesta which includes new giveaways daily. Don't wait - she's choosing a winner for the $20 gift certificate this weekend!

Our judges had their work cut out for them with all the great suggestions. I let them each vote separately, and then compared notes. I am very pleased to announce that RoguePuppet is the winner of our Sampler Gift Set. Call it the Law of Attraction, Good Karma, or fill in the blank, but I thought it was very apropos that Nan won this. She was one of our first visitors, first purchasers, AND she made the suggestion early on that we offer a Sample Set. How cool is that!

For our random winner I used Random.org First I verified all the entries were valid, typed them out in notepad (giving extra entries for orders placed as promised) and used the list generator. The #1 slot was my default winner. Like I said - quite a learning experience! I am going to reach out to other vetran bloggers and find a simpler way to do this. I suppose part of my issue is my need to ensure fairness. I also quickly realized why other contests require separate posts when you qualify for multiple entries.

Just so I can increase my learning curve a little more (and can dedicate more time to improving the appearance of the site) I have decided to have other more established bloggers host our giveaways. So, look for links to other sites for this month's freebies. I'll post them in the header so they'll be easy to find. I guess, you'd like to know who our Spa winner is, huh? Should I end the suspense, or drag it out a little more.

I could tell you about our new scents, or ask you to brainstorm with us as we develop a soap of the month club. We've had lots of requests for different scents, some of them a little on the strange side. One of my concerns with new scents is that *I* have to smell them while they cure. Imagine my horror when I had someone ask me for 'manure' - seriously! I am not joking!! We did order an 'earth' scent awhile back, and I assured him that it would fit his criteria of being an offensive smell. I agreed to make a small batch for him, but promply delivered it so it could cure in the coziness of his own home. I still haven't been able to comprehend his motivation, but whatever. It put money in Hannah's pocket, and he promises to be a regular customer.

I have never been very fond of the fruity or foodie aromas that are so popluar. I have tried to avoid including them in our line, but I also want to make our customers happy. We've had a lot of requests for peppermint and vanilla. These are two smells that I actually like, so those are now available. Buttons will be updated over the weekend.

Okay, alright already. I know you are really here to find out who the winner is, not to listen to me ramble. So, without further adieu, I'd like to congratulate hollistersuttonfamily. Again, I think it was a great random roll of the dice, since one of our judges picked her suggestion as her second choice.
I have emailed both winners and their packages will arrive well before lovey-dovey cupid day.