October 2011 Soaps (part 1)

Orange & Frankincense Soap

I wanted to create a 'Marmalade' type soap, sweet, citrusy and bright.

This is a cocoa butter based soap with sweet orange, Mandarin, petuli and frankincense essential oils. I added 1 tsp carrot powder for colour but i think next time i would definitely add a lot more for a more vibrant colour.  I have also added a little orange peel for exfoliation and dried orange slices purely for decorative effect.  

I had an intention of adding brown sugar to the recipe which would probably give a caramelyness to the colour but i forgot to prepare the syrup and when i realised i had already poured (gutted!!!!)

Goats Milk, Lemongrass & Calendula

Goats milk soaps really are super for skin and  i love using them especially for my face in the winter months. During winter i find it somewhat more difficult to wake up at 5.30am so i thought i would scent it with lemongrass and litsea cuba, a real zingy fragrance which will hopefully help me wake up.  I have added calendula petals throughout the mixture and also topped the soap with it.

Thames Festival : My Best Seller 'Lavender Soap'

One of my Best sellers at the Thames Festival was my new 'Lavender Soap'.  

Before i started making soap, i hated the scent of lavender, for me it was an out of date scent which my gran may have used. Only when i started making soap and researching all the benefits and properties of lavender did i realise that it was a SUPER PLANT and i soon fell in love with it.

Usually i go for 'Lavender, Goats milk & Oats Soap' or 'Lavender & Maychang Soap' but this time i thought i would just like to keep it nice and simple.  

Most of the time i sprinkle botanics on top of the soap bar but recently i am finding that although the soap bar looks nice and pretty, it really is a waste of botanics and for a full exfoliating effect it is better in the bar then on-top of the bar!!!...just a personal preference. 

So this bar has lavender buds scattered throughout for gentle exfoliation which i think looks so much nicer :)

The bar has been crinkle cut using my new cutter which i purchased on Ebay a few months back.

I truly love this soap and the few bars i have left should be available in my Folksy shop today.

I LOVE 'The Blue Lagume'

I have been visiting 'The Blue Lagume' on Stoke Newington Church Street for over 10 years and they serve the best breakfasts around.  I have visited other cafes around the area but non compare to it. Eggs florentine, omelette's, french toast, veggie fry-ups, fruit platters......uuuuummmmmhhhh they all taste Divine.

Portions are lovely and big (none of the little posh portions!!) , there is hardly any grease to be seen and the vegetarian range is larger than most cafes.

Myself and my best friend Fuzzworks are both obsessed with the Bonofee pie and she sometimes has terrible cravings for it.  

Birthday coffees, lunches or breakfast are mostly spent here and so are some of our deep thinking chats. 

We both truly recommend this cafe even if it just for a coffee and some lovely banofee pie :)

http://www.thebluelegume.co.uk

Cravadlax - scrambled egg with marinated samon

Fruit platter with waffles, maple syrup and yogurt

Getting Ready for the Thames Festival

For the past month or so i have been super busy getting ready for the 'Thames Festival'.  The event will be held over two days (10th & 11th September) along the Thames with various events taking place.  I will only be participating on the 11th but i am still mega excited since this is my first really big fair, the location is right next to the 'Tate' and it's an incredible opportunity for me to show my products to the wider audience.

I started my preparations over a month ago, but with so much going on in my little world that i hardly took any pictures along the way.  
I started off making my soap batches since i know that once they are made i can just leave them to cure for a month while i work on my other products.  

A few of my soaps curing

Next....i decided to get my logo done by the lovely Bonita from 'It's all about the Graphics'.
I had an idea of what i wanted, something simple with a vintage look, and nothing too flowery.  so i was really pleased with the final outcome.  She also designed my avatar and banner for my folksy shop which i was really pleased with. http://www.folksy.com/shops/BobbinsandBalms

Pauline from 3 Little Finches, designed labels for my Lavender & Bergamot Balm, Vanilla & Vetiver Balm, Gardeners Balm, Lime Lip Balm and Vanilla Lip Balm.  The labels came out superb and they make my products look a million times more professional. 
( i just discovered the colour accent function on my camera so some of the pics are not colour )
 

One of the products which sells really well at fairs are my bath fizzies with Epsom salt.  I decided to make a batch of 'Rose & Geranium' and a batch of 'Lavender' bath fizzies.  I usually package them in a brown kraft box with some ribbon tied around, and honestly they look really cute.

My favourite soy wax candles in Lavender & Bergamot, Ylang ylang & Grapefruit and Clove & Orange have also been made for the fair.

Excitement in the Garden

The garden is full of exciting veg, herbs and flowers, and each day something new and wonderful is appearing.  

Our 1st chillie pepper plant is growing nicely. We have a dozen or so blossoms so I'm happy that we will get a good few chillies for my mums spicy curries.

you can see the chillie pepper growing

lots of chillies blossoming, i think we will have a dozen or so chillie peppers

A few 'not so good' tomatoes were thrown on an empty patch in the garden....and before  we knew it, we were swamped with a gigantic tomato bush.  The tomatoes have just started to grow and i am not sure what type they are, so far there seems to be a few plum and a few cherry, i will just have to wait and see.

Tomatoes

Yellow petals before the tomatoes emerge

Also another first for us is pumpkin, we were given the seeds by a kind neighbour. No pumpkin as yet but the leaves are getting bigger..fingers crossed.

Pumpkin

Lastly, our fig tree.  A small plant was given to my father by his Cypriot friend over 10 years ago and since it has grown nicely giving delicious figs each year.  For some unknown reason we don't have as many this year, but each day new little figs are appearing.

Lavender Sachet

I love vintage pharmacy/apothecary and soap labels and decided that i shall try printing some on linen for my lavender sachets.  The sachets are small enough to hide away in your drawers and I have added a small piece of lace or binding so the sachets can he hung on hangers.

Lavender Weekend

Whist searching online for dried lavender suppliers I came across ‘The Hop Shop’ at Castle Farm. The farm were organising ‘A Lavender weekend’ for the 1st two weekends of July which looked rather interesting so I decided that this would be my next day trip…….

From the main road the lavender fields are breath-taking, I had to stop traffic just to take a photo of this view, I have never seen fields upon fields of lavender and boy did it take my breath away and give me tickles in my tummy.

These are just a few of the pictures i took

Castle Farm from the main road

'The Hop Shop'

Lavender for sale

Apple juice made from 'Norfolk Royals' Apples

The lavender cutting machine

Fields of lavender

Production of lavender oil / year

Pretty view at the farm

Lavender ice-cream