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Tuesday 7 August 2012

Icing Colour Chart

I came across this 'Icing Colour Chart' on Pinterest and had to share it with you. 
The original chart was posted on Anne and Blue Paperie blog.

The colours are amazing and i am dying to try out some of these colours.  The colours are made up of standard yellow, red, blue and green food colourings. 

Has anyone tried this chart?


Monday 16 July 2012

Breakfast at the Blue Legume

One of my favourite places to have breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning is at the 'Blue Legume' on Stoke Newington Church Street, London.  When I'm in one of my more healthier moods i like to go for the fruit platter with 3 waffle biscuits, greek yogurt and maple syrup....YUM !!




Wednesday 4 July 2012

My Custom Stamp

This is the stamp that i am using to print onto my muslin bags.
The stamp was custom made by  Love to Create Stamps on Etsy



Saturday 30 June 2012

Soap Samples

I have started to make little bundles of soap samples, each bundle contains 6 soaps and are tied with white/red bakers twine



Thursday 28 June 2012

Pink Salt Soap

I have tonnes of pink himalayan salt in stock and thought i would make a floral soap topped with it.

This is a cocoa butter based recipe, pink clay has been swirled through the soap to give it a feminine appearance.  Essential oils of ylang ylang, bergamot and grapefruit were added.  The essential oil combination made the mixture seize slightly so i had to quickly pour the mixture into the mould. Lastly the soap was sprinkles with a genourous amount of pink hymalyan salt.



Goats Milk, Oat & Lavender Soap

One of my favourites 'Goats Milk, Oat & Lavender'
Goats milk is super nourishing for skin and creamy.....i just cant seem to get enough of it :)






Sunday 24 June 2012

Cinnamon & Vanilla Soap

On one of those days where i was fantasising about cinnamon pretzels from Brent Cross shopping centre, I decided to make Cinnamon & Vanilla Soap. 
I am addicted to anything sweet with cinnamon.....cinnamon pretzels, cinnamon whirls, cinnamon caramelised apples....so this soap was going to have that sweet sugary touch to it.

Cinnamon & Vanilla Soap is made using a cocoa butter recipe,  fine ground cinnamon is added which gives a nice warm brown colour, cinnamon and vanilla essential oils are added to give that warm cinnamon pretzel scent i love so much. I sprinkled raw brown sugar on top....a bit too much i think, some of it caramelised but most of it is still nice and whole.

Cinnamon & vanilla soap is fully cured and is listed in my Folksy shop.






Spice Soap

During Christmas i made my first batch of soap with bay leaf essential oil and it smelt divine, really spicy, aromatic and festive.

Since it was such a good seller i decided to make a similar soap, i was also trying to go for the 'old spice' scent and try to cater for the male market.

This is a cocoa butter based recipe and the red wine colour is from water infused with madder room. The essential oils added were bay leaf, cinnamon, clove and orange.

Spice soap is fully cured and is listed in my Folksy shop





Saturday 16 June 2012

Lemon Soap

I LOVE LEMON SOAP....it's scented with lemon, may chang and citronella essential oils.  I have added lemon peel as a natural exfoliant and it gives a lovely golden speckled look....rather homely :)

Lemon Soap has finished curing and is listed for sale in my Folksy shop.








Saturday 9 June 2012

Lavender Soap

Lavender Soap has been coloured using olive oil infused with alkanet root.

This soap has finshed curing and is listed for sale in my Folksy shop




Gardener's Soap with Poppy Seeds


My Gardener's Soap has been a big hit at fairs but i felt  it needed a change.  The original soap was scented with lavender, rosemary, tea tree and lemongrass essential oils and i added calendula leaves for its soothing properties and yellow strandy appearance.  I had also added pumice to my last few batches but the gritty sandy texture i wasn't keen on.

My new 'Gardener's Soap' is scented with lavender & rosemary essential oils, its a real refreshing scent which I'm loving.  I was unsure on the colour...light brown or green, so i went with green since its more of a garden colour, and it was achieved using green clay.  Poppy seeds were added for a nice gentle scrub, its one of my favourite natural exfoliators that i love using in soaps, and i have had lots of positive feedback on the poppy exfoliating soaps.

During curing the tops were slightly white with soda ash so i immersed the tops into a bowl of boiling water to dissolve any whiteness and this also gave them their shiny appearance.

Gardeners soap has fully cured and is listed in my Folksy shop






Sunday 27 May 2012

Masala Zone

One of my favourite Indian restaurants is Masala Zone. The traditional Indian 'Thalis' are super tasty and taste almost as good as mums food. I have only been to 'Masala Zone' in Angel and Covent Garden' and the decor in both are mesmerising, quirky and colourful just like a bollywood scene.
I came across these photos which were taken last year and thought i would put them up.
Ceiling of Masala Zone Covent Garden
Ceiling of Masala Zone at Covent Garden
Ceiling of Masala Zone at Covent Garden
My 'Thali'

Rose Soap

I have recently made a batch of rose soap with lashings of shea butter coloured with pink clay and scented with rose and geranium essential oils.
This is the first time that i have layered the colours, i usually just go for the whole block of pink then top with rose petals, but this time i wanted to do something a little different.

Rose soap has finished curing and is listed for sale in my Folksy shop.
 


 This soap is fully cured and is available to buy from my folksy shop
Bobbins & Balms Folksy Shop

Friday 11 May 2012

May 2012 - Soaps

Just a few quick photos of soaps i have been making recently

Left to Right, Rose Soap, Goats Milk & Honey Soap, Goats Milk, Oat & Lavender Soap

Spice Soap- coloured with Madder root and scented with bay leaf, cinnamon & clove essential oils

Soap Samples - Pink Salt Soap & Gardeners Soap

Pink Salt Soap

Freshly Cut Soap - Pink Salt Soap, Spice Soap, Gardeners Soap