Stephanie Gray-Denihan loves her soap disasters almost as much as she loves her successes.

There was the expensive Israeli mud that didn't mix well, becoming a tricolored slab instead of a nice black bar. And the batch of pink sugar soap that turned brown. It still smelled good, she said, but it looked like dirt.

Whether it's determining color or texture or smell, it's all part of the learning process that's become the success of Spoiled Rotten, her skin-care and soap line. It's become so popular, the former elementary-school-teacher-turned-stay-at-home-mom now works on the products full-time.

"I've always been crafty and creative, but I don't call myself an artist," Gray-Denihan said. "As a teacher, you're going to have a little of that creative juice in you."

It all started with a soap-making kit her mother bought her as a present in 1998. She started making soaps for Christmas and birthday gifts; then, friends and family started making requests.

The line now includes coconut and key-lime soaps as well as face masks, bath powders, a beer soap for men (using Yuengling, of course), and an antiaging potion.

Ideas come from nature, customers, and her own almost-40 face, she said.

"I probably spend two to three hours a day making products and then another eight to 10 packaging and researching online, trying to find out about new ingredients or searching for better ingredients," she said.

All of her products are organic and use mostly natural products. Prices range from $3.50 to $4 for a soap to $25 for her antiaging face serum.

Down in her basement, cordoned off from the family craziness, she has set aside a space for her creations - each ingredient, each oil, all organized.

As she mixes - the Cure blaring in the background - she thinks of ways to provide buyers what they want with what's available.

"I talk to people about what they're interested in, and they want something that's natural, but they also want something that smells like a cupcake," she said.

A few years ago, she moved from soaps into skin care, creating an acne-detox soap bar for oily and acne-prone skin that includes charcoal (specifically, steamed activated charcoal, which she says makes a difference).

Her husband, who works for Amtrak, and her two girls help with the packaging sometimes, but this mom is somewhat of a perfectionist.

She sells her products at online craft markets such as Etsy.com and 1000markets.com, and at craft fairs and farmers' markets around the area.

And while she may continue searching for that perfect cupcake scent to suit a particular customer, Denihan-Gray loves that she's finding new ways to explore and avenues to create. Of course, there are consequences to walking down paths unknown.

"I do a lot of experimenting, and now that I know more, I have bigger disasters," she said.

Are you a local artist? Whether you're a potter or a poet, a singer or a hairstylist, tell us about yourself and your work (please include a link to your Web site) in a short e-mail to dfallik@gmail.com, and we'll consider featuring you.