What's in a Southern Caracal soap box?
A little more than a year ago, in June 2021, when Southern Caracal was just being born and I was making the very first boxes for the first batch of aromatherapy soaps, we were called "Caracal Soap" because I thought that soap is going to be the only product I'll be selling. Well, well... Very quickly, it became apparent that there's going to be more.
First of all, it turned out that there is already a company called "Caracal Soap", so I had to think of a different name and decided to run with Southern Caracal because we're in Kentucky, and Kentucky is in the South!
Older products also had my personal website https://catcorelli.us/ on the labels and boxes because there was no Southern Caracal website back then. The 1" x 3" little tags which I was putting into the boxes and onto lotion bottles also had the older info with my own website.
What changed?
For months, even after we launched https://southerncaracal.com, people were coming to my https://catcorelli.us/ website for soap and lotions. I still have a disclaimer hanging on my homepage just in case because I know that old labels, and old packaging could be still arriving to our clients.
Nowadays, the only place where you can get our products — while earning bonus points which will amount to discounts later — is on this website.
If you purchased some of our products as a gift for someone else, and they want to come to get more but somehow missed the little 1" x 3" tag in the box, the address of this website can be also found on the back of a soap or shampoo box and on a lotion label. Tell them to just explore the box for all relevant information: it's all there, in plain sight.
If they somehow wind up on my website, all they have to do is click the link on the disclaimer on the Home page, and it will bring them right here, where all the juicy stuff is!
What's new?
This summer, I started to put additional little tags into the Southern Caracal boxes so don't be surprised to find a neat little photo card with a strange cat and some text when you open your soap, shampoo, or bath bomb box. Yes! I'm talking about the caracal.
See, so many people are still asking us what is a caracal and how you even pronounce this word that I felt I had to do something about it.
So I've decided to eliminate the confusion and do some explaining. This same cat (the caracal) is our mascot and is featured in our Souther Caracal logo, as well as in my personal Catherine Corelli logo. What can I say? I love caracals!
These are small 2" x 3" cards with various photos of this wonderful cat, the correct pronunciation of the word, and some basic info about it.
By the way, the name of the caracal on our Southern Caracal logo is Rita.
But that's not all!
As of late, I started to get back into drawing and painting. This is something that I consider to be my second profession along with design and crafts. After all, prior to deep-diving into music, I went to art school and thought I was going to pursue graphic arts or traditional animation later in life. Well, that didn't quite come to pass but over the years, I've done some occasional crafts and graphic works.
These are some of my older works. A coffee mug embellished with acrylic ornaments; a handcrafted caracal pendant, and a raccoon head made of polymeric clay; a line art illustration for an article about gourmet coffee in a magazine; a craft mirror decorated with acrylic colors and various elements.
100 Facts about Kentucky
I am also an immigrant who takes pleasure and pride in learning more about the rich history of the United States, and about my beautiful state, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It's a wonderful and beautiful place, and I feel blessed to live here!
First, I've made a compilation of interesting facts about Kentucky that encompasses many topics: history, culture, Native American history, fun facts, famous people born in Kentucky, wildlife, industry, etc. As I was working on this collection of facts, I thought it might be an interesting idea to illustrate every fact.
I decided to combine my history studies with recovering my line art technique skills, so I picked up a black ball pen and started drawing.
Every fact will have a corresponding illustration attached to it and a little bit of text, usually, a short note consisting of 2-3 sentences.
I won't wait for the entire hundred of facts to be done, instead, I'll start putting these fact cards into soap and shampoo boxes right away for you to collect.
Why?
Well, first of all, isn't it always fun to learn something new? Secondly, I'm currently working on developing a discount system for those who collect a certain amount of these facts.
Don't miss what's in the box!
As I continue drawing and covering more and more Kentucky facts, I'll continue to put these little cards into the soap boxes. Collect them! Those who have a certain amount of these photo cards will get discounts, or perhaps, even free products!
Of course, I will develop a discount system, and it's going to be neat and easy to understand. So, no worries there.
Every sheet will feature a 5" x 5" illustration (which is the original size of each drawing), and a longer, more detailed description of a given fact with sources listed below.
Once the first 100 Kentucky Facts are done, I will print them all out in the form of an art book which will be distributed to local Kentucky stores and gift shops, and made available through this website and my personal website.
If I manage to pull off a project as ambitious as this, I will definitely go for another 100 Kentucky facts. After all, my state is an amazing place, and there's always a new story to be told about it.
Meanwhile, when you open your soap, shampoo, or bath bomb box, pay attention to what's inside! And of course, enjoy your Southern Caracal products. Remember, every single bit of it: the product itself and all of the packaging are painstakingly handcrafted and infused with the unbridled spirit of Kentucky and the love from our southern hearts.