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Charley’s World with Cynthia Young Jennings of Sweet Harvest Farms

Mariel Hemingway
(featured on ShopOpenSky.com)
-Award winning actress and author

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Gina Harney (Featured on ShopOpenSky.com)

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A Unique Handmade Body Soap

by Debra Lynn Dadd | Jan 7, 2015 | Toxic Free Talk Radio

Radio interview with Cynthia A. Young-Jennings
of
Sweet Harvest Farms

Listen to radio interview here:

http://www.debralynndadd.com/toxicfreetalkradio/a-unique-handmade-body-soap/

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Posted by Leslie Joy Ickowitz

Thousands of miles away, an Indian man painstakingly places 26 individual tiny pebbles in soft cloth and ties each one off before dyeing the fabric to form a print. It becomes a lovely scarf, fashioned by hand from the “Alamwar” brand. It journeys all the way to America and lands like a feather at Cozette’s Boutique in St. Pete.

Worldly treasures dominate the space: one-of-a-kind pieces from France, “Skunkfunk” from Spain, fair trade from a Himalayan village and spiritual beads crafted by an artisan from South Beach. On the side (quite literally on the wall), Cozette showcases two massive mixed-media installations created by her beau, celebrated local artist Ron Francis. She and I take a whirl around, and every collection has a story that sounds like a romance novel.

“I really want to be able to represent artists or local or international designers that just don’t have a platform,” Cozette Roche says of her philosophy for the store. In so doing, she has created a destination — a place you want to be (anchoring the Crislip Arcade at 645 Central Avenue).

A tour of textures begins at the entrance, with silk and cotton linens from Alamwar collectively made by a multigenerational family. French music fills the air, mixing with the fragrance of natural handmade bath products sourced locally. For the last two years she’s been carrying these soaps and lotions “religiously.”

Born in Long Beach, California but raised in Tampa, Cozette says, “At 18 I took off to Europe and stayed for 21 years.” She modeled in the fashion industry there for 13 years, lived in Paris, London, Milan and Hamburg, and took a quick jaunt to Tokyo before returning here to raise her daughter.

Local rock star Geri X brought her to St. Petersburg, where she opened Cozette’s Boutique. “The reason I’m on Central Avenue is because of Geri. She’s amazing as an artist and she’s amazing as a human being.”

Cozette points to a collection of delicate white dresses by Lim’s. “This is the story of a family that escaped the spread of Communism and Nazi occupation before World War II with storage containers of tablecloths saved from their successful home goods business. This generation took those tablecloths and made these one-of-a-kind pieces. Touch it,” she insists. “You can feel what it was before.”

In your travels to Cozette’s Boutique, you may be lucky enough to find dresses by sought-after local fashion designer k.hendrix and jewelry from Albisia’s (based in Hyde Park Village).

Kambodia, a local designer from Safety Harbor, fits right in with her brand, Aspara. Cozette says that Kambodia goes to India for six months at a time to source fabrics and design her dresses, but that she is also an international business and women’s studies student at USF with aspirations to one day create a fair trade facility in an area of India she loves.

It is fulfilling to discover wondrous new things and to share them with others. It is uplifting to provide a platform for artists without one. Cozette’s Boutique is built on these principles, and therefore the energy inside is always positive.

From the most beautiful yoga mat bags to locally fringed ponchos, each piece at Cozette’s is primed for spinning your own new stories. Happy twirling.

Sweet Harvest Farms Puts Handcrafted Soaps & Scents In Hands
of Eco-Conscious Celebs for Earth Day
Tampa-based Sweet Harvest Farms will have its all natural, handmade Amore soap bar and Amore Belle Parfume included in an exclusive The Artisan Group® Earth Day 2014 Gift Bag, to be delivered in time for the holiday to 25 of Hollywood’s most eco-conscious celebrities...... Read More

Sweet Harvest Farms featured on KTLA:
Keep America
http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Gk_gNkBC8A

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South Tampa woman finds success in soap
By Laura Byrne, Channel 10, Tampa, Fl

Tampa, Florida -- On any given day, you'll find Cynthia Jennings tucked away in her garage, blending, molding, and slicing her way to success.

"It just took on a life of its own," Jennings said of her natural soap company, Sweet Harvest Farms.

She's been making soaps from scratch for about ten years. The military wife has packed up and moved all of the pots, essential oils and packaging every few years or so, and now the persistence is paying off. Jennings says her business just got picked up by a national distributor, which means her soaps, candles, lotions, balms and fragrances will soon be found in spas and boutiques across the country. This means she'll be mixing up enough of her formulas to produce 2,000 bars of soap each month, in addition to the soaps she already produces for current clients. You can find a bar of Sweet Harvest Farms soaps in boutiques throughout the east coast.

It's not just about earning a paycheck though. It's solving ailments like her granddaughter's eczema or a client's allergies to soaps.

"The thing about succeeding in business is to fulfill a need, so if you see the need and know how to fill it …then fill it!" she explained.

Growth didn't happen overnight for her and it took some time to find the right mix for her recipes which she says are all her own.

"The old cliché is finding something you love and then finding a way to make money at it," she said.

As she expands her small business, she's hoping to encourage other people out there to take that great idea and go for it.

"Take the bull by the horn and run with it. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it, you've got to have a strong belief in what you're doing," she advised.

Her business is a family business with a strong support system that she says any successful business owner needs to have in place.

Cynthia "C.J" Jennings remembers the first time she picked up a paintbrush as a child. She didn't put her brush to canvas or even paper. Instead, a pair of her father's old Army boots — souvenirs from Korea — caught her eye. Jennings painted a landscape on the boots, inadvertently foreshadowing a major decorating trend decades later.

"I was doing primitive and shabby years before anyone had ever heard of it," she recalls. "I was painting on old things before it was the thing to do."

These days, Jennings puts her artistic talents to use in her small family business, Sweet Harvest Farms, https://sweetharvestfarms.com. The farm is quasi-fictional, just a cute, two-story yellow house off Interbay Boulevard that she leases with her husband, Duane, a training director at MacDill Air Force Base Central Command.

Her Web site, filled with old photos and uplifting quotes, looks much like the inside of her home, which is layered with antiques, quilts, estate-sale finds and Jennings' own handmade primitive dolls and folk art. The best part of the house is the way it smells: A blend of botanicals, herbs and spices permeates every room. The good smells are the result of her latest venture: luxurious goat's milk soap that she makes by hand in her kitchen.

"This is true soap," says Jennings, who also adds things like olive oil, shea butter and avocado oil.

Her clients rave about soft skin and sweet-smelling houses.

"I have people who use my soap and won't use anything but," says Jennings, a regular vendor at the Saturday Morning Market in St. Petersburg, at the Base Exchange at MacDill Air Force Base, and at the Blue Moon Trading Co. in South Tampa, where she works part time.

"She's amazingly talented," raves Blue Moon owner Katie Gagnon. "Her products have a vintage look and feel so they fit in very well in here. I like to arrange them in vignettes around the store, which is kind of fun."

Jennings also makes a richly scented potpourri that she stirs and "melds" over several weeks to create a scent that lasts longer than usual. One summer variety smells like the ocean and contains bits of sea glass and shells. A winter version delivers the heady fragrance of Christmas trees and comes with real jingle bells tucked inside the package.

"I've had people tell me that it still makes their homes smell good months later," she says.

The beautiful chunks of handmade soap are cured on Jennings' dining room table. When finished, the soaps wear the earthy Sweet Harvest Farms paper labels.

A style all her own The Sweet Harvest brand extends to Jennings' personal decorating style, something she developed living in far-flung places as an Air Force wife. The couple, who will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in a few weeks, have moved 15 times. Jennings manages to make every home beautiful. The proof is in the pictures she whips out of the neglected plantation house in Camden, S.C., that she transformed with a collection of antique furniture and flea market treasures.

"It has to have character, old or new. I only surround myself with things that make me smile," Jennings says.

She's a fan of antique tarnished silver, old wooden wardrobe cabinets, even an 1800s French dressmaker's mannequin that stands in a hall bathroom. The wooden swan atop the fireplace mantel rests on an antique ammunition box; the primitive wooden cabinet next to the TV is actually an authentic grain bin, probably a century old. The secret to her uncluttered look?

"It's really funny," she says. "I'll pick up things because I like them. Then I'll live with them for a while and then rotate them out of my collection."

Jennings, who once owned her own boutique in Destin (customers included Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Jim Carrey) explains that another secret to keeping a house looking put together and uncluttered is investing only in furnishings that have a double use. The antique pine chest in front of her gorgeous, pale-blue sofa doubles as storage for games and magazines. (The sofa, a secondhand find, was purchased for $350 on Craigslist.)

Antique picture frames dress up her bathroom mirrors, and vintage mirrors hang in an artful cluster off the front hallway for fast primping. A cabinet in the front hall serves as a display case for family heirlooms. Atop the cabinet and in an antique child's rocker are handmade primitive angel dolls that Jennings makes from muslin. The dolls, which retail for around $200, have soulful, decidedly noncute faces and often wear the antique christening gowns Jennings collects. And true to her childhood passion, her folk art paintings adorn all sorts of utilitarian objects, including New England sap buckets.

Sweet tea, anyone? Jennings, friendly and down to earth, still speaks with a hint of her native San Antonio, Texas, accent. She greets guests with Handmade sweet tea and a plate of hummus and pita. She has raised four kids and has six grandchildren. The two-story yellow house that is Sweet Harvest Farms is usually filled with friends and kids and the Jenningses' dogs, a goldendoodle named Teddy and a rescued bichon frise, Collette.

The couple plan to have their family gather around them when they renew their vows at Blue Moon in a few weeks. Jennings said she picked the store for the same reason she picks her own houses and furniture.

"We could have rented a fancy hall," she said, "or had the same event in a place where I can be surrounded by things that have a history and a story behind them."

FOLK Magazine Article
Shared Story

C.J., “soap aficionado” of Sweet Harvest Farms, actually started out as a Folk Artist! Having trained at The McNay Art Institute and under such noted artists as Robert Huntsinger and Patricia Sapp, she was selling her art at shows and special events. As luck would have it, she eventually opened a boutique featuring her own work and that of Deb Strain and Carol Endres while offering other items such as clothing, primitive antiques and Handmade soaps.

Having a medical background and knowing what is nurturing and vital for healthy skin, she came to realize that not all “Handmade soaps” are created equal. She found that many left you itchy, dry and with taunt skin. Always up to a challenge, CJ decided she would find the secret to creating a cleansing soap that is luxurious and nurturing as well.

After years of research and suggestions from other soap makers, CJ formulated her own patented cold-processed soap recipe that leaves your skin clean, soft and hydrated.

Using only the highest quality organic oils such as Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil (and others), CJ also offers soaps for Eczema, sensitive skin, Acne/blemishes and even an all natural dog soap for…well, your dog! No chemicals or harsh detergents of any kind are ever used.

Sweet Harvest Farms is a cottage industry which is growing by leaps and bounds! A family business, CJ’s husband, daughter and son help with the everyday logistics of wrapping and packing each bar for shipment. CJ remains hands on and creates 40-50 pounds of soap each day.

All of Sweet Harvest Farms products are exclusive family recipes and can be purchased online, in Spas, Boutiques and Specialty Stores around the country.

It is estimated that there are less than 100 true soap makers left in the US today. CJ, of Sweet Harvest Farms is proud to be one of them!

“We are making skin happy one bar at a time!”

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“Amore soap bars are natural, organic and nurture and pamper the skin; they're the perfect gift for eco-conscious friends and loved ones!”

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