The Yellow Belly Frog Company

Birthday Club Application

2008-04-13T02:22:00.000-07:00

Birthday Club Application

We thought you'd like to know about our latest way to save with us. Join our Birthday Club and when you place an order on your birthday, we'll take 25% off your order. It's our gift to you. Happy Birthday! Simple and easy - like our soaps.

If you're interested, just fill out our simple form, (take you less than 1 minute) using the link below and our shopping cart will take care of the rest!

http://www.yellowbellyfrog.com/birthday/email.html

Hope this newsletter reaches all of you in good health.

John Lein
The Yellow Belly Frog Company

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-01T09:19:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year 2008!

Kim and I want to wish you and your family a fabulous welcome into 2008. Like many of you last night, we made some personal new year resolutions as well as some business ones. Although to be honest, we didn't think of the business resolutions last night! We were blessed with a prosperous 2007 and wish to continue and grow that success into 2008.

Personally, we both thank you. We know you have a choice when it comes to your bath and body needs. We're truly glad that you continue to use ours - personally and as gifts. We STILL get a thrill when we open our email and find that there is yet another sale. We have not lost touch with the spirit of why we started this in the first place - because we knew it would be fun!

What's New!

We signed up another two great retailers. If you're in the area check out:

The Chocolate Penguin
519-628-5384
130 Duncan Street
Wallaceburg, Ontario
N8A 4E2

and

Jana's House of Plants & Gifts
512-734-0945
3889 Highway 281 North
Lampasas, Texas
76550

16 retail companies now carry our product line. Don't be surprised if you come across our soaps when on holidays or visiting family in other cities!

Now for some more cool news... We have placed our application with the

CGTA - Canadian Gift and Tableware Association

What does that mean? The Yellow Belly Frog Company will be going global once approved. It's a bit of a process, since they (the organization) do not approve every application... So keep watch over the next few months as we're sure our application will be approved!

Once approved, we'll be selling globally so, we expect rapid growth. This means even more selection and new products for you to enjoy!

New Products

Our newest approved products are marketed as Body Tubes™. Their specially designed soap with soft edges and an ergonomically calculated size. These soaps fit perfectly in your hand and provide a personal massage at the same time. You'll smell great and now Kim and John, you'll even feel better when you use our Body Tubes™! What else can a soap do for you? Plus, they'll look cool in your bath or shower environment,

Grab some today - no pun intended! Just click here to see what we're talking about.

You'll also notice that our testimonials are now displayed at the bottom of many of our web pages. What's interesting about these quotes is they are displayed RANDOMLY from our datebase of testimonials that many of you write in. Visitors have already written in to tell us they enjoy reading personal comments. For the record, it was a struggle getting the code to work properly...

Live Help (review)

Kim and I are really excited about a new feature we purchased and installed on our web site. It's a live help chat program. If you find us online you can click the live help button and "bam" we're there for you!

You'll get an instant response in a pop up chat window. We implemented this feature since so many new customers have questions about our product and our shipping terms etc. This should help getting questions answered very quickly. (I can't think of anything faster than "live response time")... Of course, as a newsletter reader, you're already familiar with our product but, if you see us online - click on the live help button and say hi!

This program is a professional way to keep in touch - live!

I guess we're all getting better at the computer and much more comfortable purchasing online so, I thought it worthwhile to post a picture of what it might be like to buy from us in a few years...

As always, I hope this newsletter reaches all of you in good health!

John Lein
The Yellow Belly Frog Company

Christmas Soaps Ready To Order

2007-10-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

October 13, 2007

Hi,

If you've been visiting the site over the last few weeks you surely noticed our logo has gone through some changes. It's a work in progress so I'm still not sure it's "RIGHT ON" just yet. I'll just keep uploading a new one until it's how I like it. Please be patient...

Also, we redesigned our navigation links and created 8 additional shortcut links. Now you should be able to click and find what you're looking for even easier.

Our Christmas and Holiday Soaps are NOW AVAILABLE for purchase. Kim has been really busy getting these ready for the holiday season. Get yours as soon as you can. When their gone, their gone! This is always a special time of year for us. We know it's only October but, we have turned our minds into Holiday Mode for your benefit! (Not to worry - we have not hung our Christmas lights out just yet)...

We've added another 4 new rubber ducks to our ever growing and extensive list of rubber ducks. Currently we have 59 different rubber duck styles. Hope you can appreciate what a head ache it is for me, to keep the inventory organized on these specialty soaps!

In recognition of our Holiday Soap line now being available I decided to write about one of our most popular Holiday Fragrances... Namely the one we use in Jonathan's Christmas...

It is a decadently sweet fragrance. Just right for the holidays! Our fragrant combination includes a wonderful abundance of festive fruits mixed with the warmth of cinnamon. It's know to have top notes of sweet cherry, strawberry and apple. A swirl of cinnamon and peach for mid notes. The fragrance is completed with violet, powder and vanilla base notes.

Almost sounds like I'm describing some type of award winning wine!

Kingsville Migration Festival (Migration Hall next to Kingsville High School) - Saturday October 20th and Sunday October 21st. Then the following week you can find us at PumpkinFest (Western Secondary School) - Saturday October 27th and Sunday October 28th. You know where to find us - just look for our purple and yellow tent. Don't forget about our sky flags, if you're having trouble finding us...

Many of you have been asking about our hostess party... If you're still not sure read more here (http://www.yellowbellyfrog.com/hostess/index.php) and sign up to start making your own money!

Hope this newsletter reaches all of you in good health!

John Lein
The Yellow Belly Frog Company

4 New Soaps

2007-09-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2007

Wow, it's been a busy month and we have a lot of new information to share with you. New retailers, new shows, new soaps... read on...

We just came back from our first show on Toronto. Never been to a show this big before. Never had to set up our entire tent, display unit, soaps, lighting etc in only 2 hours. That's the time the organizers gave everyone to pull in, and set up. Thanks Serena and Curtis for helping us with this show!

We signed up another two great retailers in the area. When you're in St. Clair Beach check out a really wonderful gift store called "Thornbury Collection Ltd." Plus if you can make your way to "Julie's Beauty" in Waterloo well you can get a new look and shop for our products. We personally met both owners and they are friendly and very knowledgeable about our product line.

If you're in the area check out:

Thornbury Collection Ltd.
519-735-7099
25 Amy Croft, Unit 30B
Lakeshore, Ontario
N9K 1C7

and

Julie's Beauty
519-496-4420
292 Dearborn Blvd.
Waterloo, Ontario
N2J 4Y8

14 retail companies now carry our product line. Don't be surprised if you come across our soaps when on holidays or visiting family in other cities!

Kim has finally had a chance to design some new bars based on what we're hearing from you. We've always had a great mint facial whip but never had a successful bar soap with mint - until now. Kim added menthol crystals to increase the wow factor of this bar. Check out our Icy Mint bar here. Not to forget about summer Kim designed our latest garden fresh scented bar. You'll come to love our new Gardenia soap. Designed completely in white - this simple bar will bring the outside garden into your home. Check out our Gardenia bar here. Our next bar was a bit of a challenge since cinnamon is hard to work with. Sometimes it's too much scent and sometimes not enough. Kim got it right and started to produce her new vanilla and cinnamon bar called Vanilla Spice. You can check it our here. Finally, a new bergamot bar in our traditional citrus line of soaps. This one is fun and smells great. Another wake me up and get me to my job type bar. Check it our here.

It's all about menthol crystals today...

Menthol crystals are cooling, refreshing, and have a pleasantly strong minty aroma. They are often used in cosmetics, salves, balms, medicated creams, throat lozenges, toothpaste, mouthwash, gum, foot sprays, pain relief or cooling body products, shampoos, conditioners, liniments, shaving creams, oral or throat sprays, compresses, medicated oils, and cooling gels. Menthol crystals are excellent for use in these products to help relieve muscular aches and pains, coughing, congestion, the flu, and upper respiratory problems. Since Menthol crystals are so concentrated, only a very small amount is needed within products. (Yea, we know - we only use a "pinch" of this stuff). When purchasing Menthol crystals remember that a good quality menthol crystal usually contains not less than 99.4% menthol. (Our supplier rates it at 99.8%!)

Menthol crystals are naturally produced through Mint (Mentha arvensis) essential oil extraction. Menthol is the solid constituent of oil of mint, to which its characteristic odor is due, and was formerly known as peppermint camphor. Menthol is obtained by subjecting the distilled oil of Mentha arvensis oil to a temperature of -22° C, (-7.6° F.) by the aid of a freezing mixture, the menthol crystallizes out in satiny crystals and the mother liquor is removed while the low temperature is maintained. They dissolve readily into alcohol or essential oils, and they can also be dissolved into water or oil at their melting point of 111.2 deg. F

Come on out and help Joe with his now famous Ruthven Apple Festival at Colasanti Tropical Gardens. Saturday September 29th and Sunday September 30th...You know where to find us - just look for our purple and yellow tent. Don't forget about our sky flags, if you're having trouble finding us...

In closing, keep in mind that you can order from us and not pay for shipping if you select "Hold - Do Not Ship"... This can save a few bucks and all you'll have to do is drive down to Leamington and we'll have the order ready! Plus, visit our retail stores, they may be closer than you think. Tell em' we sent you!

Hope this newsletter reaches all of you in good health!

John Lein
The Yellow Belly Frog Company

New Bubble Bath Soaps

2007-08-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

August 23, 2007

Hi,

We're back from another successful weekend at the Leamington Tomato Festival - or should I say, a successful day - since last Sunday was a washout - literally! It feels like it never stopped raining since.

Kim and I started a new line of bubble bath soaps. We hope this line compliments are growing line of bath and body soap. Read more under our "What's New" area...

We also bit the bullet and purchased a Honda "Super Quite" Generator. We found that on cloudy days our purple tent is dark, so you'll now see lights on even if we're in the middle of a field! This new generation of Honda Generators are "Earth Friendly" approved since they run at 1/4 power until something needs juice! Plus, they are rated at 48 decibels (talking loud is around 70 decibels)... I guess if you folks visit and don't notice or hear the generator - then it was the right choice.

Our bath products have been expanded to include a new bubble bath line that will compliment our existing soaps and facial whips. They are a unique and superior designer bubble bath, high concentrated yet we formulated it to be exceptionally mild on your skin! This coconut-based formula is rich in moisturizers and biodegradable. It can be used in the tub for mountains of bubbles or in the shower as a cleaning gel. Plus, when we add our cool line of fragrances, it's aromatherapy for your senses...

If you'd like to take a closer look just click this link:

http://www.yellowbellyfrog.com/store.php?crn=93

All of our soaps are made from a base of glycerin, so we thought a brief lesson into why are soaps are soft on your skin would be valuable...

What is glycerin, really?

Glycerin is a neutral, sweet-tasting, colorless, thick liquid which freezes to a gummy paste and which has a high boiling point. Glycerin can be dissolved into water or alcohol, but not oils. On the other hand, many things will dissolve into glycerin easier than they do into water or alcohol. So it is a good solvent.

Glycerin is also highly "hygroscopic" which means that it absorbs water from the air. Example: if you left a bottle of pure glycerin exposed to air in your kitchen, it would take moisture from the air and eventually, it would become 80 per glycerin and 20 percent water. Folks, that's why we keep telling you to put the soap on a wooded slotted soap dish - so as to NOT absorb moisture from the air...

Because of this hygroscopic quality, when diluted with water, our soaps will soften your skin.

Where does glycerin come from?

Up until 1889, people didn't know how to recover glycerin from the soapmaking process, so commercially produced glycerin mostly came from the candlemaking industry (remember, back then candles were made from animal fats).

In 1889, a viable way to separate the glycerin out of the soap was finally implemented. Since the number one use of glycerin was to make nitroglycerin, which was used to make dynamite, making soap suddenly became a lot more profitable!

The process of removing the glycerin from the soap is fairly complicated. In the most simplest terms: you make soap out of fats and lye. The fats already contain glycerin as part of their chemical makeup (both animal and vegetable fats contain from 7% - 13% glycerin). When the fats and lye interact, soap is formed, and the glycerin is left out as a "byproduct". But, while it's chemically separate, it's still blended into the soap mix.

While a cold process soapmaker would simply pour into the molds at this stage, a commercial soapmaker will add salt. The salt causes the soap to curdle and float to the top. After skimming off the soap, they are left with glycerin (and lots of "impurities" like partially dissolved soap, extra salt, etc.). They then separate the glycerin out by distilling it. Finally, they de-colorize the glycerin by filtering it through charcoal, or by using some other bleaching method.

Glycerin has lots of uses besides being used to make nitroglycerin (note: glycerin is not an explosive substance by itself. It has to be turned into nitroglycerin before it becomes explosive, so it's safe to use our soaps!). Some uses for glycerin include: conserving preserved fruit, as a base for lotions, to prevent freezing in hydraulic jacks, to lubricate molds, in some printing inks, in cake and candy making, and (because it has an antiseptic quality) sometimes to preserve scientific specimens in jars in your high school biology lab.

Glycerin is also used to make clear soaps. Highly glycerinated clear soaps contain about 15% - 20% pure glycerin. Because of their high glycerin content, the soaps are very moisturizing to the skin.

You'll find us in Amherstburg this coming Saturday and Sunday at Art By The River. Hope to see you there. This is always a fun show for us.

Did you know we do custom work? We just finished creating a "Canadian Flag" type soap for a customer that is visiting friends overseas. They thought it a great idea to include handmade gifts from Canada. We were asked to create the flag and of course, used Maple Syrup as the scent. It went over so well, the design might become a permanent part of our family of soaps.

If you ever need custom work - talk to Kim... I can't think of anything that is out of reach for her when it comes to designing soap!

Hope this newsletter reaches all of you in good health!

John Lein
The Yellow Belly Frog Company

Tomato Festival

2007-08-15T04:17:00.001-07:00

August 15, 2007

Hope you like the new look of our newsletter! We redesigned it to make it easier for you to find the information you're looking for. Our new look displays the information we want to share with you in specific easy to read categories. Please let us know if you like the new organized look. We've also added a new area called "Back To School" which contains information about the soap making industry and / or information about the ingredients we use when making our soap. Kim and I hope you find the newsletter useful and informative.

We just came back from our show at the Blueberry Festival at the John R. Park Homestead in Harrow. I've never been before and it was a fun experience. We met many of our existing customers there, as well as, made many new friends. We keep hearing from you how great our soaps are on your skin.

Kim and I are in the process of creating and registering a new coffee scented soap. It should be available by early September. This one has been on our "To Do" list for awhile but, we've had trouble finding a good fresh coffee scent. We think you'll like this one (once it's available)...

We also redesigned our "Jonnie Girl" Soap Bar and should have an image up soon. Same great smell, just a new updated look.

What a great thrill we get when other companies want our product! Two more retailers are now carrying our product line. Although these retailers are a few miles away from us, it still a great sign our soaps are getting' around.

If you're in the area check out:

Dick and June's, Inc.
978-828-0111
30 Home Street
Beverly, Massachusetts
01915

and

The Vanilla Scoop
415-740-4268
936 Hogwarts Circle
Petaluma, California
94954

12 retail companies now carry our product line. Don't be surprised if you come across our soaps when on holidays or visiting family in other cities!

We have a new facial whip added to our increasingly popular line called "Coconut Cream". The name really describes the product best. If you've never used our facial whips before, we think you're missing out on a real good facial product. The sugar and jojoba beads work together as a gentle exfoliant and the special soap formula we use will keep your skin soft and fresh.

Since, we were at the Blueberry Festival, Kim thought it a good idea to make a new soap just for the occasion. So if you like blueberries, check out our new Blueberry Soap.

Although, the idea of adding essential oils into soap is not new, since we introduced them a few months back, they have quickly sold out numerous times. If you haven't tried them, make sure to include a bar when you order from us.

All of our facial whips have jojoba beads in them, so we thought it a good idea to share with you what exactly jojoba beads are made from and why we use them.

Jojoba (pronounced ho-ho'ba), is a botanical extract that is not chemically altered, not genetically modified and not tested on animals. Evergreen Jojoba trees are native only to the Sonora Desert of Mexico, Arizona and California. They can grow up to 15 feet in height and have a very long lifespan of 100 to 200 years.

Jojoba is structurally and functionally much different than any other botanical product. Its unique array of pure monounsaturated liquid wax esters, consisting of long chains of fatty acids and alcohols is very unlike the large branched triglyceride molecules of all other seed oils. The extraordinary oxidative stability and non-occlusive moisture control of Jojoba esters provides a highly safe and effective ingredient for skin and hair products.

These gentle exfoliating beads are the perfect alternative to polyethylene beads or ground shell exfoliants which can scratch or irritate the skin.

Come on out to the Leamington Tomato Festival in our hometown - Leamington, Ontario. The show runs from Saturday August 18 and Sunday August 19. We will be there somewhere between 10:00 and 6:00 (I think). You know where to find us - just look for our purple and yellow tent. Don't forget about our sky flags, if you're having trouble finding us...

In closing, keep in mind that you can order from us and not pay for shipping if you select "Hold - Do Not Ship"... This can save a few bucks and all you'll have to do is drive down to Leamington and we'll have the order ready!

Hope this newsletter reaches all of you in good health!

John Lein
The Yellow Belly Frog Company

Sky Flags Are Here!

2007-06-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Holly Crap - we just got our sky flags from Caravan Canada and their huge. I guess when I ordered them I didn't really understand what 25' in the air looked like. I custom designed the image on the flags so that it matches our custom tent. They are exactly what I designed using Adobe Illustrator. Of course, to make it all worth the effort, please let us know what you think.

Just for the record - our good neighbour from 2 blocks away said they look great!

Now you won't have to look any further than the sky to find our business...

New Soaps - Again!

2007-06-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, we've been busy listening to you - our customers. All of the new bars are because of customer requests. You told us what you wanted and we listened! We figure if one of you asks then hundreds of you will love them as well. No sense in making a soap that no one wants to use.

So here you go... May I introduce...

Orange Spice - Clove Essential Oil

Some uses and benefits of clove essential oil are for arthritis, aphrodisiac, bronchitis, dental infections (although we don't recommend eating our soap), fatigue, headache, hiccups, infections, insect bites, mentally stimulating, mouth ulcers and sore gums, nausea, relaxing and sleep-inducing, sinus congestion, stimulates dreams, toothache, viral hepatitis, viruses, and warts...

Sounds like the wonder oil! (6.5 oz. bar)

Purple Haze - Patchouli Essential Oil

Some uses and benefits of patchouli essential oil are relief from anxiety, cellulite (even though we don't want to admit it), chapped / cracked skin, depression, eczema, increase libido, (you might as well buy two right away!), PMS Symptoms, scar tissue, and water retention.

Or forget all that really important stuff - and just go back to the 60's man and help yourself to some great purple haze - Jimmy Hendrix style (6.5 oz. bar)

Black Licorice - Our Black Licorice just like at the candy store! You'll love this translucent bar with bands of dark licorice. Eye Candy and Aromatherapy for your mind!
Candy Store here we come. (6.5 oz. bar)

Essential Oils

2007-06-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

We wanted to let you know since so many of you have been asking that we start to include essential oils in our soap - we've designed three special blends of Essential Oils in three great bars to satisfy your aromatherapy needs! Yes, we know it's taken a bit of time to figure all this out and to register the soaps with Health Canada, but, we're real sure these will be a hit!

If you're not sure, Essential Oils are often very powerful. However, we've discovered if the Essential Oils we use are carefully blended, their individual properties can be greatly enhanced. The "synergy" between the oils becomes much more powerful than the individual oils. We like to refer to these special blends as Synergy Blends.

At The Yellow Belly Frog Company, our Essential Oil Synergy Blends are 100% Natural and Pure. Each of the oils is reputed to have distinct properties that work on specific emotional states. However, it is important to note that synergy blends are not medicine in the commonly accepted sense, but, if you find yourself drifting off, or relaxing your mind, or you just feel yourself travelling to another place - you can thank us later!

Currently we have three great bars and we think your going to love what they can do for you. We named them "Aphrodisiac", "Relaxation" and of course no aromatherapy essensial oil combo would be complete without our "Sensuality" bar! The choice is yours, but, just like in the movie Indiana Jones, Part 3 - choose wisely, we're not responsible for what happens after you use our essential oil aromatherapy soaps!

Just click the following link to go directly to the shopping cart or to read more about our new line of essenstial oil soap bars...

http://www.yellowbellyfrog.com/store.php?crn=87

Hope this newsletter reaches all you in good health! Thanks for all your patronage through the years. We're looking forward to seeing you here at our studio or under our purple tent at the end of this month in Leamington at Art By The Marina...

New Clothing Line

2007-05-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

We have some very exciting news and offers from The Yellow Belly Frog Company. We have now including a small clothing line consisting of quality silkscreened t-shirts and embroidered hats.
Each has our corporate logo and also includes our famous YBFrog asking "Have you been Yellow Belly Frogged today?" We hope this new phrase is a hit with you as much as it is with us.

John has returned from a 10 day stay in New Orleans, Louisiana working with Habitat for Humanity in partnership with St. Clair College - Architecture Department. We have been so moved by what this organization is doing to help with the tragedy down there that we have decided to donate $2.00 from every t-shirt or hat sold toward this good cause.

Our goal is to go down once a year and present a cheque from our sales to one of the Habitat for Humanity families.
If you wish to see one of the lucky folks from the New Orleans trip follow the link below...
http://www.yellowbellyfrog.com/about_us/index.php

If you're interested in purchasing one of our hats or t-shirts follow the link below...

http://www.yellowbellyfrog.com/store.php?crn=86

We also have our first outdoor show of the season fast approaching - so if you're available and down in Windsor on June 2 and 3 - stop by our booth at Art In The Park!
We have added another wonderful facial whip which we call "Papaya's Passion". It's a combo of papaya and passion fruit. This one is sure to be a hit.

Spring is Here

2007-04-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and so are some new soaps from The Yellow Belly Frog Company. I know sweet and juicy is popular this time of year and that's what you'll find in our new soap line!

How about some Georgia Peach to get you going in the morning? Wanna try our new cool Cotton Candy scents? These soaps have just been cut and packaged for you. Be one of the first to try these new soaps.

I know Easter is just around the corner and if you didn't see our themed Rubber Duckies yet make sure to visit our website.

Hope this newsletter reaches all you in good health! Thanks for all your patronage through the years. We're looking forward to seeing you here at our studio or under our purple tent in the next few months...

Hostess Party - Make Money

2007-03-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

If you've been thinking of a way to make some money and have fun at the same time - why not be a part of our ever popular Hostess Party? We'll set you up with everything you need to "Get The Party Started"...

Interested? Download our hostess form here. Get started today!

We'll provide you with the following:

sample soaps to try out

sample facial whips to try out

product to sell that day

order forms for additional product

we'll even include the first bottle of wine
Here's how it works:

You'll organize a private party or evening get together with your family and friends. You'll take some time during a part of your special evening and promote and sell our soap product line. Every sale you make puts money back in your pocket. We have a very small minimum order of $200.00 so you have nothing to loose! In fact, we don't even want any money upfront... We just want your commitment to have fun! (and sell at least $200.00 worth of product)

The more you sell, the more you make.

To learn more just click here.

4 Pack Sample

2007-03-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

We just added a new way to try our soaps! We now carry each of our Famous Designer Body Candy soaps in a sample size. Then when you find that perfect fragrance - feel free to order our bigger bath bars!
Our sample soaps do not have the same design nor all the colours used in our large bath bars but, the fragrance is the same as you have come to expect from our professional line of soaps.

Each soap measures about 2-1/2" x 2" x 1" thick.

This sample pack also makes a great gift package when you're not sure what fragrance to purchase!

You'll find the link in our store marked "4 Pack Soap Sample" using our navigational links found on the left hand side of the page.

Soap of the Month

2007-03-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

Our success at Yellow Belly Frog is due solely to you - our buying customers. We are returning the tables around and now offer a small gift as a token of our appreciation. We hope you come to enjoy our feature of the month - as it is a discounted item for you.

There are no hidden options - we're just going to sell it cheaper! It's our gift to you - for your continued support. Get them while they last - once their gone, their gone at our feature price.

As always, Let us know what you think!