Second Saturday Giveaway: Win a Lotion & Soap Gift Basket from Dieshawn Holmes of Angelic Soaps and Gifts

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

For our June Second Saturday giveaway, we are featuring Dieshawn Holmes of Angelic Soaps and Gifts!

This is Dieshawn in her craftroom/office.  Can you tell she loves the color purple in all its various shades?  :)

Dieshawn also has a "lab" in her basement where she creates and designs her products, but we focused on her lovingly decorated upstairs craftroom/office.  She said:

"As of right now I have just enough space for the amount of soaps that I'm crafting. Eventually I plan on opening up a gift shop. And I will locate my soap workshop within my gift shop."

If anyone is going to open a gift shop, it will be Dieshawn!  

She is very aware of the importance of having a well-organized creative business, so she is taking at class at the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center at Kettering University and working through The Right Brain Business Plan by Jennifer Lee.

Dieshawn also has great signage in her craftroom/office.  I asked her how she came up with her company name:

"I always knew that I wanted to operate my own business someday. I wanted my business to some how up lift and give a sort of 'happy' vibe. "Angelic" to me evokes this type of feeling, so Angelic Soaps and Gifts was perfect to name my business."

Dieshawn's craftroom/office really does radiate a professional and happy atmosphere.  Her desk is just gorgeous!

Dieshawn also has a large aloe vera plant that she uses in some of her formulations.  She keeps family photos around to keep her grounded and focused on the important aspects of life.

One of Dieshawn's favorite photos is of her grandmother that she keeps right underneath a framed Flint Journal article about her being "Soap Savvy" from 2005. 

Dieshawn's grandmother came up from the South and worked very hard in an auto factory to provide a better life for her family.  She is Dieshawn's major inspiration to be an independent business woman.

I wondered if her grandmother was particularly creative, so I asked Dieshawn how she got into crafting:

"Actually, I'm an only child, so crafting helped to keep me busy as a kid. Crafting and making neat things has been with me ever since I was little.

As an adult, I started attending enrichment classes that were offered by The Flint Community Schools. In one of the classes, we crafted a herbal Mother's Day gift basket with herbal bath soaps and bath gifts.

This class is what sparked my interest in soap making and eventually opening up my business in 2002."

Yes, that gift basket that Dieshawn is holding in the above photo, in fact, the very one she made in her first class!  She has kept it for 10 years as a reminder of where she started and how far she has already come.

Dieshawn is constantly working to learn more and develop her creativity and business acumen, so she takes as many classes as she possibly can.  She has framed certificates all over one wall in her craftroom.  This one is for an "Introduction to Jewelry Making" course.

She already does so much, but I asked Dieshawn what projects she wanted to work on in the future:

"I would like to start making Shower Gel crafted with herbs and skin loving ingredients.

I also would love to learn how to quilt and I already have a new machine for when I am ready to start sewing.  I love the pink designs."

Dieshawn crafts in all mediums, not just soap making.  Walking from her craftroom/office to her kitchen, she has a rolled paper wall hanging in her hallway that she made in another class she took!

In the kitchen, Dieshawn started working on her next batch of lotions and potions.  I asked her watch she likes to listen to/think about/watch while working:

"Usually while I'm making my products I like to be in silence, so that I'm able to focus on what I'm making. Soap is made with lye, which can burn the skin, so I have to really pay attention to what I'm doing.

Sometimes, I'll brainstorm the next cool product or soap that I can create."

I truly enjoyed interviewing and photographing Dieshawn and even took pictures on my way out the door!  This is an herb planter on her front porch and she has just started growing more herbs in her backyard.

I said my good-byes...and then noticed that even the flowers by her mailbox were purple, so I had to stop for one more picture before I left.  :)

For the Second Saturday Giveaway, Dieshawn has graciously donated a gift basket with a Lavender & Lemon Shea Butter Lotion and a Patchouli Bath Soap.

For YOUR chance to win the Lotion & Soap Gift Basket (valued at $20) by Dieshawn Holmes of Angelic Soaps and Gifts, just complete steps A and B: 

A) Follow Flint Handmade via the blog, Twitter, Google Reader or whatever newfangled "following application" tickles your fancy. Or, if you don't do the whole following thing, email us at flinthandmade@hotmail.com and we will add you to our email list.

B) Leave us a comment in response to this blog post by 5pm on Saturday, Apirl 21, 2012 answering the following 2 questions:

1) How do you follow Flint Handmade?

2) What other herb combinations could Dieshawn use in her products?

Please be sure to answer BOTH questions to qualify for the drawing. 

The winner will be selected at random and posted on the blog within one week after the deadline. The winner will have 30 days to claim the prize. You must check back with the blog to see if you won!

We hope to hear from YOU and we hope you enjoyed our June Second Saturday Giveaway!

FIND ANGELIC SOAPS AND GIFTS ONLINE!
Web: http://www.angelicsoapsandgifts.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Angelic-soaps-and-Gifts/100947708399
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/angelicsoaps
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Angelic
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dieshawn-holmes/15/ab6/718

NOTE: As usual, we will be taking July off from the Second Saturday Giveaway, but we will be back in August with another great giveaway featuring a local crafter!