Give us a household, any household and one thing they have in common is SOAP!
a good old fashioned hand milled cold process soap (just like our grandmothers use to make) is hard to come by these days, que in Summer and her lovely skills of soap making using plant based oils and natural essences that will envelope you into pure zen and transform you into your true happy place xo
My name is Summer Reese. I am the founder and soap artist at Sum Inspiration Soap Co. I grew up in Las Vegas, but I currently reside in New Westminster with my husband Mark and our fur baby Wyatt.
I initially got into soap making when I moved to Canada in 2012. As a girl who grew up in the desert, I soon found myself feeling a bit out of my element during the rainy winter days, and not quite sure what to do with all my indoor time. Trying to keep myself occupied with what felt like endless hours of internet trolling, I stumbled across a class for cold process soap making. Never in my life had I even given a thought to how soap was made, nor did I care, but for some reason, or maybe out of complete boredom, I decided to sign up for the class. I spent 2 hours in the class learning the most basic lesson on how to make cold process soap and when I left, I found myself unable to think about anything else than making soap! I couldn’t get my hands on enough information to hone in on this craft. I spent months and months researching and trying and failing and crying, but eventually it started to get easier and my batches got better and better.
living in Canada and making soap was never the plan, but it has become something better than I ever could have imagined. I am passionate about creating artisan soap and I truly believe that passion is reflected in my work.
what is the number one thing you inject in your brand that gives us the true reflection of who you are?
Inspiration. I find inspiration from many things, scents, colours, cake decorating, nature .. the list goes on and on. I have to be inspired by something to create my best work. Hence, Sum Inspiration Soap Co.
lets go back, what was your very first creative something you made?
I’ve always had a crafty side, but one of the first things that stands out for me was when I was about 9, my teacher gave an assignment to build a small house with a real working light. I created a little dollhouse out of cardboard and in some of the rooms were the small light bulbs connected to wires. When I would touch the wire to a battery, the light bulb would light up. It was my first experience combining science and creativity.
share with us that appetite in a typical day of stepping into your studio for creating what you love
soap making is exciting for me, but I absolutely have to be in the right state of emotion. If I’m not feeling it or I’m distracted by something else, I might as well not even attempt making soap or something will go wrong, it always does. So, I always have to find that higher vibration to work from, some days that means playing music and having a dance party for one while I create, some days it means I prop up my iPad and stream Netflix movies.
success comes with failures; give us an example that honed your craft from a mistake
cold process soap making is where chemistry meets art. I barely passed chemistry in school, so I had a lot to learn about how temperatures and other variables such as fragrances and colours impact my batch. There were a few times when my soap batter would accelerate and harden up so quickly, I couldn’t even get it into the mold. I definitely had my moments of feeling like a failure and wanting to give up, but after a few moments of feeling sorry for myself, I would get over it and get back at it. Giving up is the only sure way to fail.
what or who may have stirred the inspiration towards your ultimate dream to create what you do?
my husband Mark has been so supportive from the beginning and still is. He comes to almost every market and helps me “sell, sell, sell!”. He’s always been there to pick me up when I got knocked down or got down on myself, and no matter how ugly some soaps have come out, he’s always told me they are great. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without him.
if you were to describe yourself as a car, which one would it be?
I think I’m something like a Honda. Not too fancy, but quite reliable and will get you where you want to be.
shout out of love – Spread the love for some of your favourite creators:
there are so many! Ugh, how to choose? OK, because Dan makes the most delicious dessert of life, The Lemon Square is definitely one of my favorites.
my second choice is Devi Arts Collective. I love that Bayoush Mengesha works with artisans who are mostly women in remote areas of the world, showcasing and selling their art in the North American market.
you can meet Summer along with 40+ local artisans in our Portobello fall market on september 17 & 18 at the Creekside Community Centre (located 1 athletes way, vancouver) 11-5
find more of Summer over here:
W: website
FB: facebook
IG: instagram