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AzSoapers Showcase Display Baskets Are On Display!

You know we are always looking for opportunities to *showcase* the handiwork of the members of AzSoapers Yahoo Group, well we recently found a sweet one! A few months ago while attending a meeting where Kathy Cano- Murillo (The Crafty Chica) and several of her associates shared how they turned their hobbies into businesses - a Magical *O* (opportunity) presented itself! Wooooohooooo!!!

A Magical Opportunity for
AzSoaper Members!

Kathy shared how she uses Kamikaze promotion strategies to market her products - and oh my the bells and whistles in my head started chiming! The Crafty Chica also shared that as a craft reporter it is easier to envision craft projects that are submitted to her for review if they are submitted with pictures or better yet small samples of the final project. (Oh be still my heart ~ we can do this!!! ~ is what raced through my mind!!!) "Kamikaze" promotion - yes!!! Love it! Love it! Love it! AzSoapers can do it too!!!

Az Soapers use Kamikaze promotion strategies!

We thought that while *showcasing* the handiwork of the members of AzSoapers Yahoo Group we could also help Kathy ~ The Crafty Chica with projects for her Arizona Republic Craft Column and her blog too ~ here was a perfect way to do it! We knew that our *Showcase Display* baskets would contain a number of different projects that could easily be showcased! Woooooohoooo!!!!

Well we needed to act fast! Sooooooooo - we announced an exciting opportunity to all who wanted to participate - all you needed to do was send us an item that you created that was fully wrapped and labeled with ingredients and your contact information and we'd create a *Showcase Display* basket and deliver it (did not want to box it up and ship it - smushed bows and disheveled products don't make for a good first impression ya know!) to a mystery recipient. We did not know if Kathy's schedule would permit a meeting, so we thought it best to keep it a *surprise* until after we knew we could actually hand deliver it. We also did not know how quickly we'd need to have everything in place so there was a "rush" on getting the items together.

BRAVO to AzSoapers!!!!

You all out did yourselves by submitting beautiful items - there were soaps, candles, lotion, lip balm, healing salve, lotion bar and a hand beaded bracelet too! An interesting thing happened - all of our items fit nicely into two distinct groups, so, Wendy and I created 2 different *Showcase Display* baskets for Kathy to review and after several emails (and weeks) we were on our way to hand deliver the *Showcase Display* baskets to The Crafty Chica! Wooooooohoooo - we were excited!!! You should have seen Kathy's face when she received the baskets! (Kathy was doing a craft fair with other crafters when I delivered our baskets and all around were in awe of our baskets!) We kept our fingers crossed that she'd be impressed with the items in the *Showcase Display* baskets that she'd either want to know more information about our group or at least want more information on one of you!

The Crafty Chica was impressed with our Showcase Display baskets!!!
Kathy says AzSoapers "ROCK"!!!

Kathy was impressed and said tha AzSoapers "ROCK"! Way to go AzSoapers!!!! After several more emails (and weeks) Kathy sent me a list of interview questions which I brought with me to one of our Eastside Show n Tell meetings and together we answered them. I complied our thoughts and answers to her questions and sent them to her via email. Kathy replied that she also needed a project to go with the interview questions and needed it by the end of the night! Oh my - we had to act fast so we submitted the Cupcake Bath Fizzies project (Click HERE for directions) that we were going to demonstrate at the 10th Annual Arizona Gathering! (I had the instruction sheet ready and pictures too - we were ready for this Magical *O*!) Woooohoo - she loved it and submitted both the article to the Arizona Republic (click HERE to see the article) and the Cupcake Bath Fizzie project too! (Click HERE to see the project directions) Both appeared in print and online too! What a thrill and honor!

THANK YOU Kathy!!!

But wait - we're not finished!!! Kathy emailed and said that she had not yet opened either *Showcase Display* basket because as a reporter she could not accept *gifts* - BUT - what she could do was donate them to the newspaper's Charity Raffle! Wooooohooo!!!