Meet Rebecca Haverluk, the mind behind Art Soap Life. Art Soap Life’s soap and skincare is thoughtfully handcrafted with a focus on local and organic ingredients. Rebecca makes versatile and portable products for sensitive skin that the whole family can use. You can find her own artwork on the labels and packaging for a unique design that extends to art prints and cards that are sold alongside the skincare and features the botanical inspiration for both.

How do you take your coffee (or tea!)?

Usually dark roast coffee or an americano black, but I do enjoy honey and milk in there sometimes or a chai latte.

What’s your favourite scent?

This is a tough one as I enjoy blending essential oils and love so many combinations – but probably my favourite would be my Glow facial oil blend with both floral and woodsy notes. I honestly rotate between all my balm scents and enjoy variation – I even reach for unscented a lot of the time and prefer subtlety in my own scents.

What inspires you to create?

I think the biggest inspiration for both the product line and the artwork is the plants themselves and using ingredients that are safe for my little one. I love flowers and herbs and roots, from the beauty of the microscopic structures of their cells to the properties that can help heal and protect our bodies.

How did you get started as a Maker?

I have always loved working with my hands, knowing how things are made, and have been drawn to natural products. I started soapmaking in 2013 as a creative stress release while working in restaurant management and definitely got hooked with all the oil and pigment combinations and how much my eczema prone skin loved natural bar soap.

By 2016 I had taken graphic design courses at Red River and gone back to school at the U of M for fine arts. I started selling my maker line at farmer’s markets that Summer, and at the time it felt more like a side hobby. I had such a great response and wholesale interest in my stuff – it grew pretty organically from there with me learning to grow alongside into a full-time business.

What has your most exciting experience as a Maker been so far?

Putting together a local community market with other makers has been a highlight. My partner, Kevin, played live music, my daughter ran around a played and painted at the craft table, we had a great turn out from our local neighbourhood – this is what I want to be about, local arts & community.

I also love a challenge and learning new skills, which I am lucky enough to get to do all the time with this business!

What are some of the challenges you’ve overcome with your business?

Pricing my products to value my work and time, supply chain issues and shipping times during the pandemic, balancing working at home and being a mom, and learning to ask for help or outsource before getting overwhelmed.

What is one piece of advice would you give to new makers?

The path of a maker is not linear, it is full of peaks and valleys and requires determination and perseverance, so be open to new ways of thinking or doing things and ask for help when you need it so you can enjoy your life!

Check out more of Alex’s work on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Patreon, and her website: aplante.com.

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If you use any of our products, please tag us in photos on Instagram @forkstradingcompany and let us know how you liked it!