S: I make bath bombs – sometimes called bath fizzies.  They are a relatively new bath and beauty product that fizz on contact with the water, releasing fragrance, color and skin-nourishing oils and salts into your bath.  Depending on whether you’re a kid or an adult, or what you’re in the mood for, they make any bath more fun, relaxing or indulgent!

My company is called Bombe de Bain (French for Bath Bomb), and my bath bombs are designed – in both my selection of ingredients and in the designs themselves – to transport bath lovers to beautiful and exotic ‘Bathing Destinations’ around the world.

S: I picked up a couple of bath bombs from a store a few years ago and LOVED using them.  A few months later I decided they would make great gifts and learned how to make them, and creating the business grew out of that.

S: Building a business is a totally new experience for me.  I’m constantly learning and stretching beyond my comfort zone, and how successful I feel at any given moment depends upon whether I’m looking forward at all that still needs to be done, or backward at how far I’ve already come!

S: I hate to say not really, but . . . not really!  I’ve always been musical and have dabbled in the arts, but I also tend to be pretty practical and analytical, and lack that spontaneous artistic spirit that I admire in very artistic people.  Before kids I followed the expected path – college, work, marriage.  I’ve been a full-time mom now for nine years, and during that time I’ve had time to think about what I’d really like to do – what really inspires me.

For me, creativity is most fulfilling when something that begins as a personal passion ends up inspiring other people.  Creating my company has been a wonderful experience because it’s allowed me to create something by combining different talents I have and things that inspire me personally.  For example, I love the beauty and diversity of our world and would love to be traveling constantly – exploring new places and meeting new people – and I’ve been able to indulge this interest in a creative way by making it an element of my business – having each product connected to a different destination, and donating proceeds from certain bath bombs to charities associated with that particular destination.

I also love to write, and have found an outlet for that in shaping my product narratives and my website.  Designing and crafting the bath bombs themselves has truly become an art for me.  I make each bath bomb by hand, and each has a basic design that has been inspired by the destination, but every bath bomb is created to be its own small work of art.  So, I feel really blessed to have created something that draws on so many things that I love, and to see it being appreciated and enjoyed by other people.  It’s been very rewarding.

S: I’ve now entered what I like to call the ‘second tri-mester of parenting’ - my kids are old enough to do many things independently, yet young enough to still want to be with me and accept my help and direction.  It’s a pretty comfortable place to be!  My youngest started school last year, so I now have that time to devote to my business.

S: If by ‘creative spirit’ you mean watching television and playing video games . . . Just Kidding!  My kids do indulge in some of that, of course, but each of my kids are creative in their own ways in their use of free time and in who they are as people.  My daughter plays the violin, is a talented actor and has a very bold, creative personality (that spontaneous spirt I admire).  My oldest son is more quietly creative – very imaginative in his art and in his play.  My youngest son has a very creative sense of humor.  I think it’s been very healthy for them to observe me in my creative process.

H: What have you learned after having kids (in relation to your art)?

S: That my children are most likely to develop their own talents when they see me doing the same, and that having a creative outlet makes me a better mom.  My children are extremely supportive of me and remain unwaveringly optimistic regarding my goals.

S: You don’t have to be born an artist to have an art!

My website:  www.bombedebain.com

My email:  stacie@bombedebain.com