2008 Annual Gathering - SWAP!

Ladies!

The theme for this year's UMSG gathering in LaCrosse -- located on the Mississippi river -- is "Rolling Down the River" -- great choice, isn't it?

Rolling right along with that theme (sorry, couldn't resist!), we're announcing our 2008 River swap.

Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing for your swap items: water themed FO's and ingredients (seaweed, dead sea mud...), water-hued / shoreline colors, water / river graphics and packaging. Think Mark Twain, riverboat gamblers, 1800's ladies with parasols, the Mississippi Queen, Delta Queen etc. Have fun with this!

Any and all products are eligible for the swap as it's always fun to see and sample what our fellow UMSG members are making. The only requirement is that your product, or combination of products, be approximately $5 to $7 retail value. Please label all products as you would label them for retail sale.

Previous swap participants have never been disappointed in the swap goodies, and many who did not participate moaned and groaned because they wished they'd been in the swap! So don't hesitate and don't delay--contact Pat Norby at pater@frontiernet.net to sign up. Please sign up no later than April 10th to give everyone enough time to create their goodies.

Once we know how many people are participating, we'll let everyone know how many products are needed.

Thank you,
Pat and Karen
Swap and Garage Sale Committee

M&P Soap Contest

Sponsored by: PJ Soaps
Judged by: Paula Kates of PJ Soaps
Contest Prize: http://www.pjsoaps.com/1GrandPrize.html

Judging Criteria:
Creativity
Ingredients
Level of difficulty
Look of the soap
Scent

Rules:
• Please submit 2 copies of each soap entered.
• Each contestant can enter up to 3 designs (2 copies of each).
• Each soap must have a list of ingredients but NO identification of the soapmaker.
• The soap can be wrapped or unwrapped.
• No need to enter ahead of time, just bring your entry along with you to the gathering.

Fragrance Blending Contest

Sponsored by: Simple Soothings
Judged by: 3 judges to be picked from gathering attendees not participating in contest
Contest Prize: (12) 4 oz Simple Soothings fragrance oils

Judging Criteria:
Uniqueness
Must use 2 or more fragrance/essential oils

Rules:
• Please submit a minimum of 1/4 oz of blend
• Each contestant can enter up to 3 blends
• Each blend must have a listing of what was used but not the sources or amounts. For example: Lavender Essential Oil, Peach Fragrance Oil and Magnolia Fragrance Oil. No need to list in predominance of order or list suppliers.
• Please no identification of the person entering.
• No need to enter ahead of time, please just bring your blend with you to the gathering.

Soap Contest - Non M&P or Liquid

Judged by: 3 judges to be picked from gathering attendees not participating in contest
Contest Prize: Complete set of (7) Number Cruncher Program (TM) Spreadsheet Programs - Value $75.00
Supplied by Soapies Supplies

Judging Criteria:
Creativity
Ingredients
Level of difficulty
Look of the soap
Scent

Rules:
• Please submit 2 copies of each soap entered.
• Each contestant can enter up to 3 designs (2 copies of each).
• Each soap must have a list of ingredients but NO identification of the soapmaker.
• The soap can be wrapped or unwrapped.
• Please, no liquid soap entries. We may possibly have a category for this next year.