Wanting to
participate in my husband’s appreciation for beer, but not wanting to assist
with his “Mr. Wizard beer kit,” with which he brews award-winning homebrew, I
began making beer soaps featuring his beer brewing ingredients. After being urged by a friend to vend soaps
at Blue Dome Arts Festival in May 2011, Okie Crowe was born. Okie Crowe products are handmade by Kelli and
Gary Groblewski in Tulsa, OK.
What do
you create and what do YOU love about your products?
Okie Crowe products
include beer soaps, scented soaps, felted soaps, Doggie Bark n’ Beerscuits dog
treats and Okie Crowe t-shirts. I LOVE
how Okie Crowe products reflect our love of beer, but also our Oklahoma pride,
local-mindedness and eco-conscious attitude through unique ingredients,
craftsmanship, logo by local graphic artist—Kouri Fowler, and recycled
packaging.
Where do you find inspiration?
Getting involved in the Oklahoma beer brewing community, including volunteering for Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers (FOAM) and participating in Beer for Chicks, has been a big influence. My husband and I have always been craft beer drinkers as well, appreciating quality ingredients. Gary’s catalog of beer recipes is often a great reference when developing new beer soap recipes too.
The Alliday Show believes that everyday should be celebrated as a holiday! That being said, which holiday do you wish were everyday and why?
If the financial repercussions of Christmas everyday were not an issue, then definitely Christmas should be every day. Hahaha Christmas is the holiday that represents friends and family most to me. It is a festive time to share with others through gifts, spending time together and with love. The special memories made through Christmas traditions are priceless. The scents of the holiday season are pretty hard to beat as well—delicious home cooked meals, desserts and holiday spices are YUMMY!
If you could create your own holiday, what would it be and why?
“Beer Me! Day”—all non-craft, commercially brewed pee water would be strictly forbidden and exorbitantly fined if consumed on this day. In celebration of this holiday, craft beers would be offered free to drinkers of legal age to prevent the consumption of bad beer. Because of the mass intervention to schwag beer drinkers everywhere, craft beer sales will force bad beer out of the market so no one will ever have to drink bad beer again, let alone want to! Thus, Oklahoma’s archaic beer laws would finally change to reflect modern 2011 attitudes about beer-drinking.
Because of the childhood memories of my Grandma’s cooking, I love the holiday traditions associated with food. My grandmother never had to tell me she loved me because I could always see it and taste it in her food. My grandmother’s hot rolls were such an exciting event that I called my grandfather each holiday morning asking him to pick me up from my home so I could watch my grandmother pull the rolls from the oven. Now, my husband and I pass on the tradition of Grandma’s hot rolls by preparing them for our family.
How would you describe your work in three words?
Beer
Unique
Fun
Beauty Unlimited 918-369-4942
Groggs Green Barn, 918-994-4222
High Gravity, 918-461-2605
Ida Red, 918-949-6950
Natural Farms, 918-583-5354
The Refuge Lifestyle, 918-366-6650
My dog can vouch for the treats she sells. And my husband may have tried one too...
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