We are opening a retail shop!
SwampFires products will be available at our new retail shop starting November 12, 2016!
This is a "soft opening" of our new location with limited retail hours and weekend classes. Please see our Retail Location & Classes page for updated store hours. Why are we opening a shop? Well, a little background will help.
We are a family studio making handcrafted products, including pottery, soaps, and candles. We began in 2010 by selling our high quality products at Renaissance Fairs and Arts & Crafts shows. Over the past six years we have added a variety of additional shows including Celtic events, Highland Games, Indie Craft shows, and local community farm events, and sold our products online through Etsy. This summer we added our own online store through SwampFires.com.
Our portfolio has grown along with our show participation, and we now have the option of over 15 glaze combinations, 70 different pottery products, 18 candle scents, and over a dozen soap scents. All of this is possible because of the support of both patrons and fellow vendors. We are thankful to participate in gallery showings, sell wholesale to shops and restaurants, and have our products collected throughout the Country.
With all our products, and all our artists, the one thing we’ve been missing is a full-time retail outlet. That's all about to change! We have found an amazing location here in Jupiter, Florida. Not only does the space have room for retail sales, but also plumbing for a professional sink, space for soap and cosmetics production, community classes, and an air conditioned warehouse storage space.
SwampFires will continue to be the overarching company, and our pottery products and many of our soaps will remain under the SwampFires branding, including all our Celtic themed items.
The Charming Orange brand will bring modern classic styling together with the retro-kitsch of old Florida. The decision to expand our brand came to us with visions of retro Florida, family car trips, and old style tourist traps. The additional brand will expand our marketing opportunities and bring a more modern and hip vibe to the storefront. Of course, the new store will carry the full line of SwampFires pottery. Our expanding line of home and body care products will have high quality ingredients that are locally sourced whenever possible and acquired in the most environmentally sound manner. The materials used in our classes will be the same.
Classes
Part of our business mission is to bring the customer into the craft of making our functional art, so that they can better understand the process and skills needed to create our products. To accomplish this, we provide kick-wheel pottery making demonstrations to as many of our shows as possible. There we speak about the history of pottery making, and show our audiences how the pieces are made.
The question that always gets asked, is: Do you teach?
Our new retail space will finally let us say- yes, we do!
The Twelve Soaps are 12 separate projects that will be taught Saturdays and Sundays starting November 12th and going through December 18th. The soaps are Melt & Pour molded soaps, so no lye will be handled and the classes are open to any level of experience, 13 years old and above. We are having special "Soap Cookie" classes on Thanksgiving weekend that are open to everyone 5 years old and above. See our Calendar or Classes pages for more details and to sign up!- Melt & Pour 101, 102 & 103 - Learning the basics through advanced M&P techniques
- Lion's Den Men's - M&P Shaving Soap
- Natural Body Butter
- Rosewater Lotion
- Bath Fizzies aka Bath Bombs
- M&P Loofah Soap
To find more information and sign up for classes, check out our Class Calendar page.
Stock up on Suds!
Handcrafted soaps make great holiday gifts! We are accepting bulk and special orders for soap. You can pick from fancy desert soaps (yes - soap that looks like desert!), molded forms, or long loaves that you can cut yourself or we can cut for you. We can help you pick a scent profile using either essential or fragrance oils, and can use natural plant based colorants or more vibrant micas and oxides.
The last day for Christmas orders is November 23rd - so contact Lillian soon to get pricing and place your order! LillianClair@SwampFires.com
We are thrilled for the chance to share our craft with you and hope to see you soon - online, at a show, or at The Charming Orange!
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