Soap

Wedding season and happily ever after

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So the wedding season is upon us with many a couple making the final preparations of the dress, shoes and those all important wedding party gifts. In recent years has been a growing trend of giving personalised soap and candles to your friends and family instead of the little voile bags containing sugared almonds which has been a long standing tradition.

The Anniversary Gift

So the honeymoon is over and the happy couple settle into life and all to quickly it is the first anniversary. My husband and I have been married a long time but as we approached our 1st anniversary we decided to choose gifts of a traditional nature. So with the first being a gift of Paper I received a book, the second year for Cotton it was a tea towel not so romantic but practical!

Collections of Soap, Wood & Wool

As the years have passed by we have exchanged many gifts and with little expense and a lot of thought these items have become treasured memories. So here are a few suggestions for you if you are looking for new ideas that will be sure to delight and remain traditional.

4th Year – how about some handmade soap? Rose & Vanilla with rose petals is a delight.

5th Year – how about a personalised pyrography plaque with a favourite quote or time and place   – handmade makes it extra special.

7th Year – A little needle felted wool heart – this could be on a brooch or a keying?

we would love to help you find the perfect gift but whatever you choose and however you celebrate your anniversary we offer our congratulations and best wishes.

 

 

When to jump from a hobby into a business

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Honed at the kitchen table

I have always had a passion for crafting and making things. Am I any good, could I take my hobbies and turn my talents and hobby into a business, well this is something I have been thinking about for a while.

I get a lot of satisfaction when I create something, I like the excitement of the design and planning stage, I like the execution and making the product, be it handmade soap, an apron, a needle felted toy or a bit of pyrography on a locally sourced piece of wood.  I like sharing my knowledge with other people and hope they get a spark of my enthusiasm to switch of from everyday stresses and physically make something instead of clicking the order now button on Amazon Prime.

I have spent many years in project management roles in retail and the NHS, and given the current retirement age I could be working for as many years into the future – but is this the life I want?

I have been reading a few books of late that are making me question what do I want to do and the question is When  To Jump. – This is a great read – I even bought a real book!

Talent into Turnover

So I know that I will not earn as much in the crafting world and in the beginning I would be making a loss but the question is can I begin to earn enough to live on and would the experience still be an enjoyable one and not turn my love of crafting into a chore will it still be a hobby and not just a business?

The boring administration

Turning a hobby into a business also requires a lot of initial administration , setting up a company, building a website (my sister led me through this torture and I drank a lot of wine – thank you), all the social media required, finding time to make products and then sell them. At one point last year I thought ‘ you are crazy’ and then I thought you would be crazy not to try.

Planning The Jump

So having had some time to reflect, I have devised a cunning plan with sisters and brothers in tow. I have set myself a goal for turning my hobbies into a full time business over the next few years so the question is not will I jump but when.

So have you turned your hobbies into a business – drop me line and let me know. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milky Tales – Goat Style

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Goats Milk Soap

The benefits of drinking goats milk are very widely publicised but have you tried it in soap? As I mentioned in my January post I wanted to experiment with some new products this year and an opportunity arose to try Goats milk soap again.

A lot of people love goats milk soaps and have had success when using it to relieve symptoms of problematic and sensitive skin.

Goats milk is a beautiful creamy shade of white – sounds like something on a paint chart!

What shall we make?

So the next part of the journey was to decide which base oils to use, everybody has favourites and preferences when it comes to the choice of hard and soft oils. Should I go Palm oil free?. Should I include extra butter to give the soap a creamy moisturizing finish? So after a lot of deliberation the base recipe would be made up of Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, and Shea butter.

Which scents to choose – fragrance or essential oils?

Not a difficult choice here – I went for essential oils, the difficult part was the selection and combinations. Weeks later and I came up with my choice, my husband has never smelt so good as he had all the oils on his socks!

A few favourites, Lavender, Lime and Patchouli but also a few different touches with Vanilla, Vettiver and Fennel. I also tried some different combinations of additives settling on turmeric for it healing properties and activated charcoal for its cleansing power.

Into the Workshop

So once I had settled on my new recipes I sent these off to be checked by a chartered chemist and get the legal cosmetic safety assessment which is required to sell soap in the EU.

So with certificate in hand it was down to the workshop and a week later I had produced the first batch of each soap.

The soaps are now having their obligatory 6 week cure so watch this space for a picture when they wake up.