Raindrops on Roses

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T20:31:00.000Z

After a very busy Christmas we are now looking at Valentines.

I am thinking bath melts with red rose and red hearts.

Vintage Cake Stand

2011-12-05T21:08:00.001Z

Christmas Bath Melts

2011-12-05T17:23:00.002Z

Have been really busy with Christmas orders so have not had time to post but things a little quieter so thought I would post a photo of the Christmas bath melts. Had lots of different style but never seem to have them in stock long enough for me to get organised to take a photo.

Presents

2011-08-07T01:25:00.000+01:00

I was given one of these as a present by Nazareths Gifts to try.

Not only does this candle look good it smells good too

If only

2011-08-04T06:49:00.003+01:00

I wish I had a small waist

like this.

Vintage Labels

2011-08-02T01:25:00.006+01:00

Here are a few of the vintage labels I have. I have a few hundred labels so only showing a few. I can't remember where I bought them from but I am guessing eBay. Since I have quite a few of the same type I was pondering selling off some of them or perhaps putting together so some of craft kits but not sure if they would sell.

Bath Melts

2011-07-31T08:46:00.002+01:00

Lavender Wands

2011-07-13T15:17:00.003+01:00

Its that time of year to start thinking of making your lavender wands if not already. I have some that must be around 8 years old and they still look and smell good.

Vintage Elegance

2011-06-27T22:47:00.004+01:00

A pure silk organza sachet filled with fragrant English Lavender.

Each sachet is decorated with a genuine vintage 1950's milliners

flower and a Swarovski cabochon costume pearl.

Sweet Peas

2011-06-21T22:36:00.013+01:00

Back in 2007 I named a this sweet peas after

my dad John Gray. And every year I grow

these in his memory.

Not long after my dad passed away a good

friend of mine lost her mum to cancer and in

her memory she named a sweet pea after her.

These are called Naomi Nazareth. I grow

these as well with my dads.

Fathers Day Gifts

2011-06-10T11:28:00.010+01:00

One of my longest customers is offering a 15% discount until

the 19th June. Just type in the code fathersday for the discount.

So if you are looking for a fathers day gift pop along to

Nazareth Gifts at www.nazarethgifts.co.uk

See above for a few of the gifts on offer.

Dead Sea Mud

2011-06-08T04:33:00.004+01:00

Dead Sea Mud with Lime, May Chang, Grapefruit and Patchouli essential oils. Great unisex soap.

Soap Mines

2011-06-03T04:45:00.001+01:00

I have to go down the soap mines lots of soap needed for orders so may not post for awhile. Hopefully I will have time to make some new soaps.

Co-ordinate

2011-05-26T14:02:00.002+01:00

Citrus

2011-05-20T01:57:00.004+01:00

Lavender & Sliver

2011-05-19T12:58:00.004+01:00

Handmade Soaps

2011-05-16T05:27:00.006+01:00

These pictures are quite old now I think around 8 - 9 years but I still like the way they are wrapped

Pink & Silver

2011-05-11T05:33:00.004+01:00

Allotment

2011-05-06T05:32:00.003+01:00

I have done quite a few of my seeds now so soon be time for me and under gardener to get to the allotment and get it ready to plant them out

Black & Pink

2011-05-01T00:51:00.003+01:00

Another nice combination

Black & Red

2011-04-30T04:06:00.005+01:00

Black and red always a nice combination I think.

Guest Soap

2011-04-28T00:30:00.002+01:00

Guest Soap with Wash Cloth

More Glycerine Soap

2011-04-27T04:59:00.002+01:00

Lily of the Valley Glycerine soap

Glycerine Soaps

2011-04-26T04:21:00.002+01:00

Red Poppy and Ginger Glycerine Soap

Happy Easter

2011-04-23T04:30:00.004+01:00

Hope you are all having a relaxed and enjoyable Easter weekend.

Lavender

2011-04-22T01:01:00.031+01:00

Do you love lavender or hate it? Me I love lavender.

New Chairs

2011-04-21T02:02:00.009+01:00

Love these chairs. They are Charles Rennie Mackintosh reproduction ingram chairs. I bought two. Still have not decided there final place but think one is going in my bedroom.

I bought them from http://www.peppermillantiques.com/

Bath Bombs

2011-04-20T04:08:00.005+01:00

I can't decide if bath bombs are in fashion or out of fashion at the moment.

Rose & Violet Creams

2011-04-19T03:20:00.003+01:00

My all time favourite chocolates are Rose & Violet creams. I think I have tried most makes of these over the years and I have to say these are in my opinion the best.

Vintage Labels

2011-04-18T03:53:00.006+01:00

I have been recently looking at getting some labels printed. I think I am going to go with an embossed one but can't make my mind up. I think half my problem is not being able to sit down and give myself time to think about what I really want with regards look, style, colour etc.

Why do vintage labels look so much nicer than the ones we see today?

Easter Gifts

2011-04-17T01:25:00.011+01:00

A customer sent me some pictures of the Easter Gifts she has put together. Lovely.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these go to the link for Nazareth gifts on 'Go Shopping'.

Rosebuds in Soap

2011-04-16T00:19:00.005+01:00

I was sorting out some paperwork and realised I have been decorating soap with rosebuds now for over 10 years. Where does the time go.

Bath Melts

2011-04-14T18:54:00.003+01:00

I love bath melts. Very good if you have dry skin. These ones have a foaming agent added to them so you don't end up with an oil slick in the bath but so high in oils you still feel the bentfit on your skin.

Not a lot happening

2009-04-24T14:41:00.003+01:00

No pictures to post as our camera is not working and we need to buy a new one (will have to see what we have on the computer to see if there are any interesting pictures on there). Have not posted on the blog of late as quite frankly have not had anything really to write about. Have been very busy work wise and also have been sorting out the allotments and sowing my seeds. So far have only planted potatoes, garlic, broad beans, and borlotti beans at the allotment but hopefully in a weeks time I will have some time to do more at the allotment as I do have loads of other things to be planted up and I will ask a friend to take a few photos of it so that you can see how it has progressed.

The summer house at the bottom of the garden is coming along nicely and will try and post pictures very soon.

Have also been working on some new soaps and bath products plus a few new gift sets. Will have to see if I can get pictures of these as the web site is sadly way out of date and I must update that very soon

New Fruit Allotment

2009-04-03T16:07:00.002+01:00

We have taken on another allotment this year which is 95% fruit the rest is herbs and Christmas trees. We are sharing this with our friend Andrew. Have to confess all the work so far has been done by under gardener and Andrew. As you can see they have worked very hard and it is looking good.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T17:03:00.001Z

The Allotments

2009-02-08T15:23:00.002Z

Taken by Andrew Smith

TOP DRAWER

2009-01-21T14:00:00.005Z

I visited Top Drawer at Earls Court. For those that don't know this is a trade fair in London. Lots of lovely items and it seems like there where a lot more smaller companies this year. I also visited 'Snapdragons Garden' stand and met Jane. The goods and the stand looked lovely although the show was a lot quieter than I have seen before the feedback from the stall holders that I know who had a stand was very good. I suspect that only those looking to buy attended and there where a lot less lookers at this one. So there is hope for us all in the current climate. As for me I found a couple of companies I had not seen before.

If you want to see Snapdragons blog and goodies there is a link at the side. I suggest you go have a look if you are looking for a gift for anyone. Picture above are some of Snapdragons products I purchase awhile back for gifts.

Promises Promises

2009-01-07T15:19:00.001Z

I promised myself I would blog more and I didn't for various reasons. The garden building took far more of my time that I anticipated where to put light switches where did I want sockets, what sort of lighting did I want, what sort of flooring did I want, tiles to pick, toilet to pick and the list went on. I know I should have given this more thought than I did before we started but stupidly I didn't.

On top of all that Christmas orders to do and then worst of all my computer went and I spent weeks without one and had to keep going to a friends to borrow there's. Thankfully my nephew has been able to retrieve lots of stuff from my old one and is currently sorting out and revamping my new one. That and some help from some very good friends I am on my way to being sorted on the computer side.

I am now hopefully back to blog once more. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New year. May 2009 be all you want it to be.

Courgette's

2008-08-24T14:34:00.002+01:00

We had a little bit of a glut on the courgette's so I have been making various things with them including this courgette cake. It is based on Nigella's courgette cake. Since I have never seen the original recipe from the book I could not say how close it is to this as I got this recipe off the internet. But I can say this one was delicious and I recommend you give a courgette cake a go if you have any spare. This one is actually double the recipe as I needed to feed a few people with this one. It was so quick to make I even made a few more for the freezer.

My Garden

2008-08-15T02:49:00.002+01:00

I am sure the few people who did read the blog have given up popping in now. Well the reason for my long overdue post (apart from being down the soap mines) is because my computer has not been playing nice with me and is still not being on its best behaviour. Also the picture above shows my back garden. As you can see we have been building. Also we have had the builders in the house so basically I have dust all over the house and my garden is now a builders yard and will be like this all over the summer holiday which means unhappy children so have to try and entertain them also. I have also been pondering my wholesale soaps and I have decided to change the look of some of the current ones and take a few old ones out and add a few new ones. I current have a few curing so will post pictures when they are cut into log. If they turn out nice that is its all very well having an idea in your head but sometimes it does no look quite how you want it to when you do these things.

Back from the soap mines

2008-06-26T17:22:00.003+01:00

Have been down the soap mines for weeks and I have finally finished, packed and sent off my order. Still have others to do but I am envisaging some free time in order to take product photos, work on the web site, make stock and best of all if the weather is good go to the allotment. We shall see if all goes to plan.

I keep thinking I need to take someone on part time but can't decide to do what. I know that sounds stupid but I need someone who can do bits in differnt areas, make up gift sets, help packing orders, update the web site, help set up for photos, filing invoices, tidy up the shop, chasing me to do things. Think I need to think on this some more in order to clarify what I want them to do.

Hello to all

2008-05-26T15:24:00.004+01:00

Sorry I have not got any pictures as yet to show on the allotment. After my last post I did go to the allotment and get some work done and even managed to put some plants in then I came down with some rotten virus that took a few weeks to go. Unfortunately anyone who runs a business will know you don't pencil in any 'ill time' in your diary so my work got behind so then spent the next few weeks catching up on orders and re arranging things in my diary. Luckily under gardener is a god send at helping me with everything so even though it was busy it turned out to be not so bad just very hard work to do catch up. After all that I decided I needed a break so went away for the weekend with a friend to Marlow in Buckinghamshire and had lots of treatments here http://www.karoma.co.uk/ If anyone lives near or in Marlow I recommend a visit Kathryn is lovely and the treatments were just the boost I needed. So all in all had a great weekend with good company, lovely food and just what I needed pampering.

Hope you are all having a lovely bank holiday weekend

Work Work Work

2008-04-24T13:54:00.002+01:00

Have had a bit of a block of late as to what to post about as all I seem to be doing is work work work. At the moment we are making bath salts for a customer.

Tomorrow the weather forecast is good so I am planning on going to the allotment to give myself some time off. One thing I have been doing apart from work is planting up some seeds. So finger crossed they will work out ok. I am a tad late in putting some of them in but the weather being so confusing I did not want to lose my precious seedling. This will be our first full year on the allotment and I did remember that last year we did not plant enough so this year I am hoping to put more in. Hopefully lovely picture of the allotment will following soon.

Just Chatting

2008-03-27T01:26:00.003Z

Hope you all had a lovely Easter break with your families.

Have not posted much as I have been busy with work and I never think to post about the products I am making so my blog goes a tad quiet. However I have decided to post a little more on my business side when this happens.
I am currently working on some new projects some work some none work related. One of the things currently occupying my time is the retail web site. Which is taking forever to complete with all the photos etc. Also we have decided not to just sell our soap and toiletries but other items as well some of which I have been able to have made by some wonderful bloggers I have found. So far the items we have received have been wonderful and I am very pleased with it all. What an amazing lot of talent there is in blogland. Once I get my act together I will post more about them. I am also working on redoing some of our gift sets and some new products.

This week I am making bath muffins (see picture) I am so looking at adding a few more to the ones we currently offer.

Hope you all have a wonderful productive week and may the weather be kind to us all.

Crochet

2008-03-15T01:36:00.003Z

My sister gave me some wool quite a while back and I have been slowly (very slowly in fact) crocheting this. Not quite sure what I will use it for. I was thinking it would be nice on the bench in the garden or perhaps a little throw for those cooler summer night (I have great expectations for this summer as you will know if you have read my previous posts). As with the knitting I am not the best at crochet but I like to sit and do a bit now and again. What do you think. I rather like the colours.

The Winner is

2008-02-26T16:46:00.001Z

Emma - Sew Recycled

And because I had intended to do this a few days ago so apologies for the lateness I am also doing 4 small ones of a bar of soap and a bath product and the winner of these are....

Pipany - Pipany

Blossom - Blossom Creates

Melissa - the inspired room

Andrea - Andrea Fay's

If the winners can contact me with there details I will send off the goodies. And thank you to everyone for leaving a comment on the blog. Hope you all have a good week.
Tricia

My first Givaway

2008-02-12T13:15:00.000Z

I have now passed my 50th post (how I missed it I don't know as I knew it was close!) since it took me a long time to get there I thought I would do a giveaway Not sure what I will give it will be some handmade soap and toiletries but the winner will help decide what is sent also. All you have to do is leave a comment and say if you have tried handmade soap before and also tell me if you like floral or citrus or if you like things like Strawberry or Pineapple, do you like essential oils or don't mind fragrance oils etc. That way it will help me choose what to send. And tell me if you are crafty or not crafty (that way I will know if you would like some craft items as well).
I will leave it for a week to give people time to comment I don't mind if you have never left a comment before everyone is welcome. And the winner will be picked at random next week.

Lottie Update

2008-02-11T15:05:00.000Z

Have not really got a lot to say about the allotment. In January we only went a few times as the weather never seemed to be on our side when we had time. However February seems to be looking better so I hope to get there this month a lot more and start to get things started. In the meantime I will sow some seeds at home in anticipation of good weather to come. At the moment there are only a few of us on the allotment site and it is quite open so it gets quite windy at times so I need to put some sort of wind breaks up so I have bought a few shrubs to see if that will help, also the picture above is something I am working on for this purpose. I am knitting up plastic bags in long strips to tie to the wire fence we have to help as a wind break. This is the second one I have done and I estimate I have knitted around 200 bags. How this will work etc I have no idea but if it does work out ok it will be a good way I think to use up plastic bags. I also knitted up with carrier bags the plastic bread bags and various other plastic bags etc.
I know the idea is to do away with plastic bags all together but the fact is I do end up with plastic bags and so do many people I know.

Lovely Goodies & Award

2008-02-04T14:22:00.001Z

A while back I came across a lovely blog called 'Pink petal-designs'. Sarah makes some beautiful things and has an interesting blog of all the items she makes so well worth a visit. So I thought would share some pictures of some lovely items I bought from Sarah. The quality and finish is excellent. I bought some knitting needle rolls, note books with covers, and needle cases. Some I shall be keeping for myself and some I shall give as gifts.

I am not sure how you do links but if you go to http://www.pink-petal-designs.blogspot.com you can pop along for yourself and see some of the lovely goodies she makes.

Also she kindly nominated me the amazing blogger award. Which was a lovely compliment but I think she was being too kind. I am not sure how many etc you are meant to nominate for this and since I am not sure how many of you have already had this award I will ask if you read this blog consider yourself nominated since only amazing bloggers read my blog :-)))

Valentines Day

2008-02-01T15:26:00.000Z

I have been working on taking the photos for some of the valentines gifts althougth we sell them they are not yet on the web site so I thought I had better do them. Late I know as it should have been done a lot sooner. I cannot believe we are now into February. It feels like it rained for the whole of January.

Knitting

2008-01-31T17:29:00.001Z

Last year I bought a lovely oil cloth for the garden table. I had visions of lazy days in the sun eating, drink etc outside with friends. So I thought I would knit a runner to put hot bowls of food on in case it damaged the oil cloth and here it is (the oil cloth is in the background). Going on the out door look I knitted it with garden string. It is the first time I have knitted with string (not that I am an expert knitter or anything so keep that in mind when you look at it) and I am quite surprised with how soft it it. If feels like a nice quality cotton. I also did a little bit of crochet around the edge (again I am not an expert in this either). However given the summer we had last year (rain rain and more rain) my vision of a long hot lazy summer did not happen but I have high hopes for this year.

Photography

2008-01-29T15:28:00.000Z

We have been trying to take some photos of products which have not yet made it to the web site. Fifty photos later we got this. I find taking product photos rather depressing as it seems to take forever. Keith takes the photos and I annoy him by swapping and changing it and then around 50 photos later (and a few hours) we end up with one I am vaguely happy with. We have decided we would like to have some product photos taken professionally. How much this costs I have not got a clue or even what to look for in a photographer. So any help or guidance on this would be helpful. I assume there are photographers who specialise in this sort of photography?

This is one of the 'After Gardening' Gift Sets

Is it or isn't it

2008-01-28T15:32:00.000Z

I thought I would post a few little thing from our house. Here is a wreath I made last year (more put together really than made) and I was looking at it thinking it looks rather Christmassy. Although it hangs all year round in our bedroom. I do have another one done along the same lines in burgundy and gold with a sort of swag which goes along the mantle now these I do put out every now and again at Christmas time. Actually I originally made the Christmas one for my sister but then realised the feathers with irritate her asthma so ended up keeping it for myself. So is it or isn't it Christmassy?

Mystical Months

2008-01-27T15:38:00.000Z

Back in December Jane from snapdragon did a post on mystical January of a month free of things to do and where we can do all the things we have been meaning to do. When I read it I thought yes I have many a month like that. January being no exception. Business wise January is usually the quietest month of year and I do my accounts have a sort out of all the stock, make stock, had plans to tidy the shop, stock check, work on the retail web site update the wholesale web site etc etc and low and behold January was very busy so apart from the accounts (which I had to do regardless of how busy I am) not much else was achieved. Which from a business view point is good but is also means I am not as organised as I want to be to start the year off so I am trying to fit in things around orders and seem to be working long hours just like December. What I really could do with is someone coming in and organising my papers (and me) and helping me sort out the shop etc Is that going to happen - not unless I can pay with soap. So here we are already nearing the end of January and half the things I wanted to do are not done and February is already booked up with orders to do. And I am trying to fit in a pamper weekend away with a friend as we are both in need of a little pampering after the hectic Christmas season.

I had also meant to post some things I have bought for presents but never got round to it so here are a few items. These I bought from Jane at Snapdragon (don't know how to do links but if you look on the side bar you will find Jane's web site and blog) they are lovely. So if you are looking for a little gift for someone or if you are like me and have place where you put gifts ready for when you need them well I suggest a visit to Snapdragon.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T17:17:00.000Z

I hope 2008 will be all you want it to be.

Stocking fillers

2007-11-15T23:48:00.000Z

Have been doing a little more shopping on line. One of the things I have been looking for are stocking fillers. Now I think stocking fillers should be under £5 and if you can find something nice under £3 even better. And I was lucky enough to find some (will post about them when they arrive) and I do a good range of stocking fillers for under £3 and under £5 so why is it I find it difficult to find these for my children. Boys I find are harder to find stocking fillers for. Women, girls older boys even men no worries but younger boys seem to elude me. Either that or I have already been there done that so many times already. So anyone know of a good place to buy stocking fillers? I would prefer to buy them from a small company like myself but either I am missing them or no one does them. This seems to be a gap in the market for nice little stocking fillers for boys and ever year I think I will give it some thought and produce a few items but so far have not done it due to lack of time more than anything. Also it would not solve my current problem unless I find some time to whip up a few things in the next couple of weeks.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2007-11-13T13:47:00.000Z

Gosh long time since I posted. Have been very busy with Christmas order and still have loads to do but thought I would do a quick post. I am trying at the moment to do some of my own shopping on line to save me some time plus I am making up some gift sets to give. I am always a bit funny about giving my own things for presents I am never sure if people will think I am being a tad mean giving things I have made. So I tend to buy stuff and give my own stuff. Does anyone else feel like this or am I being a tad daft in this way of thinking?

Update

2007-10-09T14:34:00.000+01:00

Thank you for all the nice comments about my back but I don't really deserve it as it was my own stupid fault. I do suffer with my back and I got a tad enthusiastic weeding the allotment and my back went. Which meant I was out of action for over a week then I had to do catch up on my work and now the Christmas season has started and I am very busy. I am so tired I am falling into bed exhausted from working very long hours. One thing about having a blog makes me realise just how quick my times goes. I have not even had time to read all the lovely blogs out there let along post on my own. Life is short it really is time is just flying by. I am forever wishing I am where I am now last week Do other people do that.
Picture on the right is of our green beans from the lottie. Did not really grow enough of these (just about enough for one meal a week) so will have to plant more next year as I was hoping for a glut to do some pickling or chutney. Actually with the exception of lettuce we did not grow enough of anything. Hopefully I will remember this next year.

THANK YOU

2007-09-02T23:41:00.000+01:00

I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has posted a comment to the blog. I love to get comments and read them. However I have been remiss in saying thank you or responding to people because I have stupidly hurt my back and I cannot sit at the computer for too long. Will be back blogging very soon.

Sweet Peas

2007-08-10T13:24:00.000+01:00

To me this is the most beautiful sweet pea in the world. The grower is lovely man called Roger Parsons http://www.rpsweetpeas.co.uk/ it was granted and Award of Merit at the 2007 Sweet Pea Trials held at RHS Garden Wisley. Here is what Roger Parsons said about it to me.

'The colour is not novel in sweet peas but it won its awards for the proliferation of flowers and length of flower stems, superior to existing varieties of this colour'.

And the reason it is so special to me is because it is called 'John Gray' and it is named after my Dad who we sadly lost in December 2006.

It is not currently available commercially until next year but I have a packet of seeds (bit nervous of growing them in case I kill the plants off) but as soon as it is available I will get more seeds.
I am going a away for a few days to see my family so will take a packet of seeds there for my sister to grow. Hope the sun is shining for you at the moment and continues to do so.

First Tomatoes

2007-08-09T18:40:00.000+01:00

Here are our first tomatoes to be picked. I have put a 10p piece in to show there size. Unfortunately the names all got messed up so I am hoping these are

from the cherry tomato plant given the size of them.

All the rest are still green so fingers crossed I will be picking more very soon.

New Desk

2007-08-09T05:51:00.000+01:00

This is my new writing desk in my bedroom (ok more bill paying desk these days with emails). Isn't it just lovely. This was left in the shed at our allotment. The lovely couple who had it before us said we could have it. It was so nice I could not leave it there. Sadly I did not take a before picture as we have giving it a bit of TLC etc. But I am so pleased with it. I even made my own beeswax polish for it. I made a natural one and I made some with lavender essential oil. Mind you I made that much I don't think I will need to make anymore for quite a while. The decoupage desk items where made by a lovely lady who I use to see at shows.

On a Mission

2007-08-07T02:10:00.000+01:00

I have been sadly lacking in blog posts and reading my favourite blogs first it was due to the weather then I had problems logging into blogger and now I am a woman with a mission. I have mentioned before that I am list person and I have a list of things I would like to do i.e. things around the house garden, filing etc etc. Well since the summer holidays are upon us we have decided to tackle some of the jobs on that particular list. So we have been busy doing just that. We have two lofts in our house which means two place to dump stuff so we have sorted one of them out and given various things away on freecycle. And I had aspirations to decorate a few rooms and we have started on our bedroom. Well the truth is Keith (aka under gardener) has done most of it. But I have not been idle as I still have orders to do and work at the shop etc. Plus I have a pile of paperwork to sort out so I am feeling pretty good that we have done these few jobs so fingers crossed it will continue. Also there are a host of things I want to do on the business but I was feeling guilty starting new stuff with so many unfinished projects on the house so much so it was distracting me from new business projects. So I might not be posting much during the summer holiday as I also want to spend some time with the kids. I am sure you are all far too busy having a wonderful time or going on exotic holidays to notice this anyway but thought I would mention it just in case anyone wonders where I have gone.

Have not finished our bedroom but will post corners of it as I go. Here is a picture of our bed (thought I would post that since a few other blogs posted there beds LOL). And it has all the new bedding I had stored away in one of the lofts. I intend to add some pink in there.

The Shop

2007-07-19T12:14:00.000+01:00

Went to the shop and took a few more photo's. Since it has changed slightly due to stuff selling which is good but it means the shop changes slightly all the time. I have also put one of my vintage dress on display and a couple of people expressed an interest in seeing the odd one so thought I would post a photo of it. Don't think the picture does it justice as I think it is far more beautiful than shown. It is a 1950s evening dress by Frank Usher. I have a few dress by him as I think he made beautiful clothes. This is one of my particular favourites.

And this is a wash stand that I have just put my Bijou range on. I would have liked to have one of these in my bathroom but sadly no space. It would also work very well in a bedroom I think all dressed up. I will ponder that one. I have aspirations to decorate our bedroom over the holidays. If I do I might just show a photo of our house. You never know:-) However don't expect a nice pink girly room. It is not going to happen apart from the dog (who happens to have a couple of pink diamante collars) I am the only female so pink does not get too far in our house with 5 males. One of these days I will have a nice pretty room all to myself.

I also thought I would post a picture of some shells. Since we don't just sell toiletries. These are so tactile I love them. So much so I find it hard to sell them at times but sell them I must. I am sure I am not alone on this.

Still have not got the retail web site up. Hopefully soon. However a few people have contact me regarding buying the products. So if the web site does not go up soon I will post a few things for sale on the blog or if anyone sees anything on the wholesale web site then contact me and I will let you know the prices or if you have seen anything already on the blog you are interested in let me know. And thank you for the interest in my products I am very flattered.

Down the Lottie

2007-07-14T14:26:00.000+01:00

Though it was time I did an update on the Allotment. I do like to read other allotment blogs and most of them call it The Lottie and I rather like this name so from now on I am going to call the Allotment the Lottie. Far less formal I think. Anyway back to the Lottie. We did manage to get down there for a few hours mainly to do some weeding (all we seem to do at the moment I know) but we have also got more wood so under gardener is going to do a couple more raised beds for me. As we have not got the lottie sorted as yet and it will take time I am going to put some potatoes in tubs at the house. The tomatoes at the house seem to be doing well apart from one which has very few flowers.

The picture above shows our lettuce and sweetcorn which so far are doing well. We picked our first lettuce yesterday which we had for tea all very exciting for us.

This is the bed with the squashes and some beetroot around the edge. The middle 2 squashes died so I have now planted 2 more in the middle to see how they go. Forgot to take a picture of the peas but they are not doing so well going to give them a feed see if I can perk them up. The celery is doing really well so far. And again the beans are not doing so good so again will give them a feed see if I can perk them up. I did not take a picute of the leeks as they are so small I don't think you would see them but they seem to be holding there own for the moment.

I was reading on another blog that having an allotment is a roller coaster and it certainly is that one minute you are all excited because something is doing well the next deflated that the peas are not doing so good. And high excitement on picking the first lettuce!!! I really must get out more.

I Got Tagged

2007-07-12T21:02:00.000+01:00

I got tagged by Andrea at Country Elegance so I am meant to give 8 random things about myself so here goes. Not so sure it will be that interesting.

1. I love BW movies and can watch any and all of them time and time again.
2. Agatha Christie is my favourite author and I have read all the books at least twice
3. I like books written in the 1940/50s. I just prefer the style of writing no other reason
3. Although I have lived in London for 20+ years I am originally from the North. And I still have a northern accent much to the amusement of my kids.
4. I am descended from Captain James Cook. Not direct as he does not have any direct descendants but from his sister.
5. I met my lovely husband on holiday in Greece. and we kept in touch for a year or so after that and before I moved to London and then we met up again as friends and the rest as they say is history.
6. I have collection of Hats and Dress from the 1940/50s. Don't wear any of them just love to look at them etc and occasionally use them for display for business. Also have a very large collection of vintage soap, toiletry, and perfumery labels.
7 I am a Aunty to 27 Nephews & Nieces and a Great Aunty to 12.
8. I think Steven Segal is lovely.

For some reason I did not find that very easy LOL now I have to find 8 other people to tag. Not sure I know 8 others too tag. mmmm

For the Love of Lavender

2007-07-10T16:13:00.000+01:00

I love lavender but sadly I can't seem to grow it. I have killed many a plant over the years. So what am I doing wrong those that grow it tell me it is easy. Yet I know I am not alone I know others who seem to kill the plant all the time. I have even bought them and kept them in the pot and still managed to kill it off . So all you lavender growers out there can you tell me the secret.

Not only do I love the plant I also make lavender wands. There are great and they keep for years. Look lovely IMO. You can sell them, Give them as gifts or just put them in your linen cupboard and drawers. Or you can put a hanging loop on them to hang from doors handles. And now is the time of year to start making them. You can buy the fresh lavender from the lavender farms which is what I am about to go do. But I would also like to grow my own.

If you want to have a go at making them do a search on Lavender wands or Lavender bottles (as they are sometimes called) and you should get the instructions on how to do it. Or if all else fails email me.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that Marie at Wild Rose has wrote a post called First Aid part 1 and it covers the use of Lavender essential oil

The order of the Bath

2007-07-06T11:33:00.000+01:00

I bought this. I thougth it was rather cute. Reminds me of no 3 and no 4 son who always have to take a load of toys in the bath with them.

Rain Rain go away

2007-07-01T18:37:00.000+01:00

Went to the allotment yesterday. It rained on and off more on than off. Bet you are all surprised at that given the weather we are having at the moment LOL . But we did managed to do some more weeding (never ending weeds with the rain) and plant out the leeks. Still have other things to plant out but with this weather it is slow going. We took No 3 and No 4 son with us. No 4 son had grown a bean at school so he planted that. He is in yellow on the photo planting his bean.

Picked more raspberries for under gardener to make jam. So far we have picked about 5kg would have picked at least 4 times that amount but the slugs, birds etc have been at them plus I am not really doing much to look after them as we are concentrating on getting veg in at the moment but next year I plan/hope to put up some sort of fruit cage and nurture them a bit. Also picked a couple of kilos of blackberries for apple and blackberry jam. yum. Given all the rain it did not look too bad. Lost a couple of squashes but I was really expecting that so I had already put a couple seeds in pots and they have come up I will put them in and see how they do. The dreaded slugs have eaten a few things mainly the lettuce but again that is fine as I have put quite a few in and eating the lettuce keeps them off the other plants. The only thing I wish I had put in are courgettes. But I guess it is too late now? So fingers crossed the weather will improve.

Soap Stacks

2007-06-29T12:28:00.000+01:00

Here is a picture of one of the things I have been doing. Soap stacks. These are basically our off cuts or bars of soap that are underweight. They are good value if you don't care what the soap looks like as these are a generous 300g and I am going to sell for just over the price or one of our normal bars of soap. It took a bit longer to do as I had to do all new labels for them and the labelling laws for the EU are quite long. Apart from the ingredients listing (not in English in the industry standard format - makes it look like a load of chemicals in there but what can you do) and the batch number and the allergens information, name of manufacturer and the weight (which even has a rule about the size you do this in depending on the weight) and you have to fit that all on a label that fits on the product. So next time you see handmade soap and toiletries think about the time it take to do the labels and the product. Anyway back to the soap. I think they look quite nice considering it is the off cuts of soap I think I would be happy even to give this as a gift for someone. Rustic looking I suppose rather than too pretty pretty. Have to say it was my friend in Ireland who is also a soapmaker who gave me the idea so I can't take the credit for this. But I am pleased with the end result.

Teeth, Rant, Dentist

2007-06-28T22:28:00.000+01:00

Today my temporary filling fell out so had to go back to the dentist. Luckily my composite inlay had arrived so had that fitted. So £340 later I have had half of my teeth problems sorted out. Now for my little moan/rant call it what you will. The dentist told me I needed to visit the hygienist a couple of times for a scale and polish (and also told my husband the same) now having just paid for my 14 year old to visit the hygienist a couple of time I know this to cost £39 a visit which in total would be another £156 minimum. Now my dentist is a Private and NHS dentist. Now under the NHS rules I can have a scale and polish done by the dentist (and it would not cost me anything further) and after some discussion with the dentist he has agreed to do our scale and polish and save me £156. Now you might be thinking I have paid this out why not pay the hygienist. Well I think it is a LOT of money to pay out for something the dentist can do at no extra cost AND if the dentist does not offer a particular service under the NHS then he is obliged to refer you to another NHS dentist who does (checked that with the British Dental Health Foundation help line) I am not saying the hygienist (who does not come under the NHS) would not do a good job or possible even a better job but given (I still have to spend a further few hundred pounds to fix my other broken tooth) I was not a happy bunny. And I am not saying later on I won't pay for the hygienist. BUT most of all my biggest moan is about the snotty receptionist who was most affronted when I booked the appointment with the dentist for mine and DH scale and polish WITH the dentist and smugly told me the dentist no longer did scale and polish but I should be going to the hygienist. Until I told her no I was going to the dentist because I did not have to pay since I had already covered my payment for a scale and polish WITH the dentist. I have to say the appointment was booked much to her disgust (and dirty looks she gave me - snotty little madam) AND my other moan is my husband had a root canal done (£150) which I found out can be done on the NHS ( (£43.60 and this would have included the scale & polish x-rays, diagnoses etc etc) so I asked the dentist what was the difference between a private root canal and a NHS one. The answer I used better technology. When I spoke to the British Dental Health Foundation (now I have become a dog with a bones can you tell) they said it was load of rubbish. So I was not please. SO my advise if you have to have work done by the dentist who is also a NHS dentist check first what you can have done under the NHS. oh and my tooth could have been fixed with a crown on the NHS (£194). Now I wont be caught out a second time but I hope this helps anyone who has dentist appointments due. Ok rant over and I feel better for it.

What I've been up to

2007-06-28T01:25:00.000+01:00

Can't believe it is a week since I last did a post. Have not felt in the mood really as I cracked two of my teeth so have been going to the dentist. Still not finished and one of them is giving me a bit of pain. And have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. NOTE TO SINGLES: Marry a dentist not only will you have beautiful teeth but it will save you a fortune.

Although I have not been posting I have been reading a few blogs and I have found a few really nice ones which I have put on the side bar. Wild Rose aka Marie Chantal who also makes toiletries. She also has a retail web site if you fancy popping over and giving yourselves a treat. And there is Pink Purl, Sophie Honeysuckle's English Decor, Tea Time and Roses, The Nostalgia Fairy, and not forgetting The Flour Loft. All lovely blogs worth a visit IMO.

I have also been working. Will post pictures later of the things I have been up too but have not been to the shop much due to my teeth giving me jip. I did go to the Church fate on Sunday with the kids and I did buy one of two things I am pretty pleased with. The Vase I bought for 50p and the glass container with lid cost me £1 (thought that might be nice in the shop with some bath bombs or something in) and the teapot £1 not a very inspiring tea pot I suppose but I needed a bigger one and I quite like this simple patterned one. And I bought various pieces of lace, dollies and embroidered tray cloths so all in all it was not a bad day for me (even if it did rain again!!!)

Have not posted an update on the allotment as the rain has basically stopped lots of work there and it is not looking particularly alive at the moment. But I have planted some sweetcorn, Broccoli, Peas, Rocket and some more lettuce. I still have other things I want to put in. But the weather is slowing it down. I even did some weeding in the rain the other day to try and keep on top of the ever increasing weeds. If the rain stops long enough I will get a picture of the allotment. Oops forgot to mention under gardener has been making Jam with the raspberries off the allotment. First time was not so good set a bit too much but after that it has been all good. The more he makes the better he is getting. Will make a victoria sponge and scones I think for the lovley Jam he has been making.

Lists, Photo's, Blonde Hair Days

2007-06-20T22:18:00.000+01:00

ok I admit it I am a list person. I do lists for thing to do with business home the allotment the lot. I am sure I am not the only person who does 'To Do' list. If I did not have my list of things that needs doing I would be lost which is why I am annoyed I did something so stupid. I forgot to add a order I had received. So I ended up doing late nights to get the order ready not that I am alien to late nights but it usually happens on the run up to Christmas not in June and as luck would have it I was out of stock of the bath muffins. So had to make the stock up. However the Bath Muffins where on my Stock to make up list ;-) Anyone else completely forgot an order? I am actually feeling quite miffed with myself for doing this as I have done a few stupid things this week. Think I will put it down to a blond hair week or a senior moment (or two).

I have posted a picture of the Bath muffins. Keith took this in the new light box we bought. Still not happy with the picture as it looks quite plain but I need to do some picture of various products for the wholesale web site. I am not sure if I should just do simple pictures just to show the product or do a more lifestyle/image picture. So delema simple product OR lifestyle/image photo. I am thinking simple product for wholesale web site more lifestyle/image for retail web site (which is currently being worked on). Any feed back on the picture dilemma would be appreciated as I am currently torn as to what to do for the best.

Corners of the Shop

2007-06-15T14:12:00.000+01:00

I have finally take some picture of the shop. A sort of show and tell Friday. The pictures where taken a couple of days ago but I kept forgetting to bring the camera back home with me. Now the shop is currently not yet open so it is all work in progress. It was a bit of dump when we got it so had loads to do in it before we could open plus as we wholesale our toiletries and pamper products as our main business we had to give priority to doing the wholesale side so could not really give it our full attention. Please let me know what you think good or bad but be gentle with me now. I have had a stressful week trying to track down where my plug plants where for the allotment. Which I am pleased to say arrived today. Will update on the allotment next week when I have all my lovely plants in . I will also post few more pictures if anyone is interested.

Vintage Buys

2007-06-13T12:13:00.001+01:00

Here is my latest buy a selection of vintage lace. I think they had been stored for quite a while as the smelt quite musty so they have been washed and are now smelling of lavender and are nice and bright compared to this photo. Although I use the word vintage I am not sure how old they are the word vintage seems to be the in word for anything over 5 years old it is a bit like the word natural which I find gets used quite a lot these days. So question when does something become vintage?

Crafty Swap

2007-06-08T17:09:00.000+01:00

Here is a picture of another lovely crafty swap with Alison at Foxgloves. There was also another heart and a jam pot cover but I had the cover on the Jam and a heart in the bedroom and I forgot to include them. Thank you Alison.

New Compost Bin

2007-06-07T13:30:00.000+01:00

Look what under gardener built . A nice big compost bin out of various bits of wood. Think it might be off some pallets. Managed to get some of the plants in the allotment. Squash, lettuce, beetroot, green beans and celery. Some of them are looking a little sad so keeping fingers crossed they will be ok. All the plug plants I ordered have still not arrived have spent the week trying to contact the company to see where they are. Still have not got an answer so not too happy with the situation as I want to be sure I am still getting them. Will be very peeved if I do not get them.

Allotment Update

2007-06-05T23:31:00.000+01:00

Thought I would give a quick update on the allotment. Under gardener has been getting beds ready for us to plant out some of our plug plants and seeds and I think he has done rather a good job. Think he has aspirations to be head gardener as he is so keen. Much keener than doing the garden at home. Hopefully we will be planting in the next few days and I will post further updates.

Happy Birthday

2007-06-03T00:45:00.001+01:00

Another birthday in the house. This is no 1 son Callum who is 14 today (actually yesterday since it is after midnight i.e. Saturday) We have had all the family round today to celebrate both boys birthdays so I am late posting this for him. He is so much more cute than this pictures shows. (ok I am biased over my sons I admit it LOL). But he is a lovely boy very caring and thoughtful. Basically a Lovely young man IMO who is also my little cherub. Happy Birthday Callum

Happy Birthday

2007-05-31T12:53:00.000+01:00

This is Caleb No 3 Son who is so cute. He is 9 years old today. Now I am not being the slightest bit biased when I say he is cute and adorable and will grow up to be sooooo handsome LOL. Ok maybe a tad biased ;-) He looks like butter would not melt in his mouth. But he has mischief in his heart this one LOL I call him my little monkey as he climbs everything. He goes into a room and you can see he is thinking what can I touch, climb, jump on prod, poke etc. But he is still my little cherub and I love him to bits. He is kind, generous, thoughtful, loving and cute. Happy Birthday Caleb my little monkey.

Chelsea Flower Show

2007-05-27T14:03:00.000+01:00

I forgot to post that I was going to the Chelsea Flower Show on Friday with my friend Yvonne . I would recommend to anyone who gets the chance to go to this. The flowers where just beautiful and the gardens well what can I say. A lovely day out. There where a few people exhibiting there we knew so that is always nice to see people you have not seen in awhile. This was my first visit to the show but it won't be my last. Next time I would go on the last day so that I can buy some plants. I did buy some solar powered lights and I also bough a bright pink trugtub ( flexible tub) to do my weeding in the garden as I end up will little piles of weeds along the path. But not anymore now I have my tub. Sadly Yvonne did not bring her Camera to take our photo there so that was a shame but we have lovely memories of the day.

Time or lack of

2007-05-24T01:07:00.000+01:00

You know when you have one of those days when you wish there was 48 hours in a day and not 24? Well I am having a few days like that time seems to be running away from me. No matter how much I do it is not enough for me to do catch up. My to do list is getting bigger an my done list smaller. I have managed to make up some stock today and do some work at the shop. I was going to post a pictures (well corners really) of the shop as it is being finished but after taking the camera we ran out of time to take photos as we had to get back home. Will do some soon and post pictures. Tomorrow weather being as good as today we will go to the allotment (mind you given my to do list under gardener will be going to allotment and I will be making up stock). We shall see. Also I have been having problems posting to the blog today just to add to my frustration.

Picture of Lavender products to calm me.

More Storage Finds

2007-05-19T22:50:00.000+01:00

After sorting out more boxes at the shop look what I found. These are lovely tins that say 'God Bless The Gardener' a few years ago we did gardeners gifts in them. Then we where told the tins would be discontinued and I thought we only had a few left so we stopped doing them wholesale. But that was wrong as I have unearthed a nice supply of two of them so I will now look at doing them again until the stocks are truly depleted. The tins themselves apart from being rather attractive IMO are also very useful for storing seeds and bits and bobs. I have a couple that got a little dented that I use. Not sure what to do with the one we don't have many of. Make up things for the shop or try to sell them off on eBay? Does anyone sell stuff on eBay? I buy a lot (too much LOL) but selling I have never gotten into but I do think about selling off leftover packaging we have. Any comments on selling on eBay good or bad?

Baking Update

2007-05-19T20:36:00.000+01:00

1 dozen plain scones 1 dozen chocolate chip scones 11/2 dozen ginger nut biscuits and 1 Victoria sponge later No 2 son said I could finish baking and do my own thing washing, Ironing, housework etc OR make a pizza and watch Dr Who with No 2 Son and No 4 Son. I opted for pizza and Dr Who. Cleaning did not have the same appeal to me.

Allotment update (and what I am doing now)

2007-05-19T17:26:00.000+01:00

Have as yet to take a decent photo of the allotment for you to see the weeds in all there glory. But under gardener (aka Keith) has built me a raised bed (see picture). I need to top the soil up so I am planning on doing this with some of the compost we have in our compost bin at home and some top soil. By all means anyone comment and let me know if this is not a good idea and also if they have a better suggestion. My seeds arrived and I made loads of the seed pots out of newspaper and they are all now planted up and some little seedlings are starting to appear (can't tell you how exciting that is for me). Under gardener has gone to the allotment today to build me a compost bin and another raised bed. I am delegated to entertaining No 2 son with baking. So far we have done plain scones (for Jam & cream later) and chocolate chip scones (by special request of No 1 son who is currently out with family watching the football with No 3 son). And No 4 son is hovering wanting to eat said baking. I am currently on an official break from baking whilst No 2 son is deciding what we will bake next. Might post again on next official break (if No 2 son gives me one). Got to go I am being called to get back to baking.

Crafty Swap

2007-05-19T16:32:00.000+01:00

Aren't these just beautiful. My pictures does not do them justice. I received this wonderful array of crafty swaps from Rachel at 'Oh the glamour' which you can also buy from her web site http://www.rachelsimons.co.uk/ .
A box will be winging it way to Rachel next week. So a big thank you for these lovely items. I just hope she is as pleased with my items as I am with hers.
These wonderful items should have been posted on the blog yesterday but Friday is always a busy day with the kids after school stuff.

Look what else I made

2007-05-15T00:09:00.000+01:00

Gosh I have been busy. I had some of the little bags from the baby lavender bags and some of the strawberry bath bombs left so I did these. I was planning on just putting the bath bomb in but then I thought I would add some lavender as well. That way after the bath bomb is used they have a little lavender bag. You could also take out the lavender and put a few valuables in these and hid it in your wardrobe as well. You can't see it on the picture but they have a ribbon to hang them with.

It look like I have done a load of stuff with strawberry but in fact I have not done loads of any one thing. Will see how they sell first before I go all out and make more but I have done enough to make a good display of them. Plus they are all at different price points.

Great Aunty again

2007-05-15T00:01:00.000+01:00

I became a great aunty again (twice) in the last six months so I have made these for the new additions to our family. There is nothing like being a great aunty to make you feel old especially when one of them was 18 in January. What can I say I was very young when I first because a great aunty. These have little Teddy charms on them and I have filled them with lavender.

I am still mastering how to blog otherwise I would have posted this picture with the last post. Could not work out how you put more than one picture on the same post. And still have not worked out how to do links.

That's Better

2007-05-14T23:57:00.000+01:00

I have now added a red ribbon to the little strawberry gift bags and I am much happier with them. I think it makes them look a little brighter. I have also added the little strawberry charm to the double bars I wrapped.

All in all I think they look better.

Allotment Day

2007-05-09T19:11:00.000+01:00

Had a nice relaxing day today. Went to the allotment and met Jim and his lovely wife (whose name I forget which is very bad of me). They are both 90+ years young and have had an allotment for over 50 years. But now they are finding it a bit hard going so have given up the allotment which we have taken on. I have invited them to come anytime they want and we will have a special chair for them as they will be the Head Gardeners. Dictating to the under gardeners on what needs doing. I have to say they would be doing us a favour by doing this since I have to keep reading up on what to do next. I have ordered my seeds and I cheated and found some plug plants for sale so I have ordered some of them as well. They will arrive at the end of this month. I also like the idea of the plug plants as I figured it will help to keep the kids interested in the allotment by planting and looking after them. At the moment all our time is spent weeding the plot. We shall see. We are also very lucky to have this plot as there are lots of fruit bushes planted (Gooseberry, Redcurrants Blackcurrants Raspberries etc) and there is rhubarb and strawberries althougth Jim tells me next year we should get new strawberry plants as these have been in a couple of years now. Or was it we need to move them next year? After that we went and bought a few things for the allotment. A few tomatoes plants, Coriander, some garden fleece and tomatoes feed not very exciting really oh and a garden fork, the one we have Keith uses and it is a big heavy thing. Althougth I have seen him eyeing my new fork. I did see one of those garden claws in the sale for a few pounds and I was tempted to buy one. Wonder how good they are?

And if anyone is looking for an allotment Hounslow has quite a few spare at the moment. And throwing caution to the wind if anyone reads this blog and gets an allotment near me I will give you a couple of hours weeding to help out but that offer is not open if say 20 of you get one ;-) First come first served and all that :-))))

I keep meaning to post picture of the allotment but really not much to see at the moment just lots and lots of weeds.

The picture I have posted is of our dog Pippin who is lovely.

Have a nice evening

Not Sure

2007-05-06T02:40:00.000+01:00

Whilst sorting out all the boxes I found some organza bags. Since I only had a few of them I thought I would use them for retail in the shop. Now my first love where soap is concerned will always be Cold Processed soap but sometimes I like to have a 'fun' bath and there are days I want bubbles (so no natural products there) and sometimes I want a 'fruity' bath. I had already done some strawberry bath bombs so I also did to match some glycerin strawberry soap as well. (It took a bit longer to do them than I expected as many of the fragrance oils smelt like bubble gum which I don't like but this one I liked.) I had also bought some ribbon with strawberries on and some strawberry charms. And this is what I came up. The soap I like as I like the ribbon (this is two standard bars together) but the bags I am not sure about. Do you think they are a bit wedding looking? I originally did them a small gift for children to buy or parents to buy for children without being too expensive (OK I know I like strawberry baths as well I admit it) as the soap bar is only small (around 40g I think) the bath bomb is a standard sort of size I do. So I was costing them at around the £2.25 - £2.50 mark which I did not think was bad as a kiddies sort of gift. But now I can't get out of my head that the bags have that sort of wedding look. Perhaps it would have been better in a nice strawberry red bag. Do you think it looks a bit wedding favour looking?

Sorry if the picture is a bit dark.

Long time no blog post

2007-05-05T18:19:00.000+01:00

I have been very busy of late doing the allotment, the shop, my garden, kids and life in general has been all go.
One thing I have been doing is sorting out a mountain of boxes that have been in storage for a long time and then dumped at the shop for me to sort out. This is now nearly complete but I have just realised some very good friends of our have been storing some things for us and they are about to sell up and move to New Zealand so I have to sort that out in the next few weeks. They have been very good in letting us store stuff with them without even the slightest moan to us. I did actually forget they had our things. So a word of warning to anyone who has stock in storage. KEEP A LIST now that sounds and easy thing to do I know but not for me it seems. Or even where we have stored the stuff!!!. In my defence our storage has been a bit erratic for the last 2 years moving stuff around not to mention trying to find stuff. And you always have those boxes at the back of the storage that you never seem to quite check out what is in there. Like a load of silk petals. So what to do with it all. At the moment I am undecided but eBay is looking like a good option at the moment.

I have posted a picture of them just in case anyone has a good idea on what I can do with them all.

Cute Charms

2007-04-24T23:32:00.000+01:00

Since it was the first time I had attempted to load a picture to the blog I was not sure if I had done it ok so I only loaded one.

Here is a picture of some cute garden charms that I bought. I have not finalised in my head how I will use these in the gardeners range but I am sure I will. Charms are currently another thing I am working with. At some point I will post more picture for you to see how I am using these and other charms.

Gardeners Range ... thinking again

2007-04-24T19:47:00.000+01:00

Well in the end I did not go to the shop today as I wanted to think about the gardeners range so I want to the allotment to pull up some weeds.

Will go tomorrow as there are couple of things I wanted to take a photo of that I was going to post about. Not to mention the work I need to do there.

The picture I have posted (if I have done it right) is of some material I bought a couple of years ago (must look the invoice up to find the company I bought it off) . I use to wrap the gardeners soap in it. But for the moment I have withdrawn it from wholesale (the wrapped bar not the soap) as I am redoing the whole gardener thing. But I love this material and I wondered if I could get some note books covered in it as I thought it would look nice in a gift sets. Also think I can think of other ways to use it. The thing with many materials I find is the print is too big when you use a small amount of it and you lose what is on there but not this one the print is a ideal size as the print is small.

The other thing that I have been thinking about is the soap bar size. I am wondering if I should do a big bar of soap as well as the standard bar we do. Our standard bars are around 100g - 120g (the nature of handmade soap means I dries as it get older so can lose some weight hence the reason it various) and I am wondering if I should do a double bar size.

The other thing is do I do a scrubby soap or not. The current gardeners soap has green clay in it (clay draws out toxins from the skin) and now I am thinking of doing ones with ground pumice. About 5 years ago we did do a scrubby soap but then stopped for no real reason other than a change. Now I am thinking of doing the two types scrubby and none scrubby.
Then there is the lady Gardeners soap? I am thinking pink swirled with pink clay and possible a double swirled with pumice in it?

So any comments welcome? Scrubby or none scrubby? Girly 'Lady Gardener' soap or not? Will a pretty pretty garden range appeal?

The Allotment - plant shortage

2007-04-24T01:57:00.000+01:00

I mentioned in a previous post that we have just got an allotment. Well as we have only just got it and it is slow clearing away the weeds. It seems I am also late to buy in some plug plants for it I had wanted to plant some nice French beans etc but all I have got to plant are some potatoes and some onions. I have tried to look on other blogs to see if anyone was selling or happy to swap some plug plants but I could not find anyone. So if anyone out there is interested in doing a swap for some handmade soap (gardeners or otherwise) or perhaps some muscle & joint foaming muscle soak or perhaps you want a gift set for someone? Let me know as I am in need of vegetable plants.

Sorry have not posted pictures of the tissue paper but I forgot to take the camera to the shop with me today. Will also post picture of the allotment when I go (if I remember the camera that is;-))

What's on my mind

2007-04-22T00:26:00.000+01:00

The thing that is currently occupying my mind is the gardeners range. The products side is fine and sorted so that is not why it is on my mind but the look. Should I go for the brown bottle it must be good for you therapeutic look or should I stick with the clear pet bottle with aluminium cap look and try and do it a bit smarter. I am swinging towards the brown bottle look but then I like that look. But at the back of mine I can't help but wonder if that look is a little.......predictable for gardeners products/gifts. I also think I will do a new gardeners soap a bit more on the pretty side and call it 'Lady Gardener' where as the other things I was going to call simply 'After Gardening' .

Once I have that sorted in my head I can sort out the look for the boxes etc. I was thinking green boxes but then again we are back to is it a bit to predictable?. Or should I go with the cream boxes and green ribbon? I am also thinking of having a ribbon printed with the words 'After Gardening' on. I think that can be a nice flexible ribbon not just for the boxes but a variety of things. I have already bought the tissue paper. Which I will take a photo of and post to the blog in the next day or two. Just in case anyone reads the blog and decides to comment on what they think of it.

The other thing on my mind is how the heck do you add links to the blog? I wanted to put a few blogs up that I read that I find of interest but have not worked out how to do that as yet so if anyone does read this and there are no links up can you let me know. Will have to look at that in a day or two when I have time see if I can work it out.

Well it is late so I am off to bed

2007-04-20T18:25:00.000+01:00

Well here I am doing my very first post to the blog. I feel I should have some wonderful inspirational words of wisdom to say but sadly no. Perhaps I should have read the first post on all the blogs I read to see how they started.

Well a little about me I am married (to the lovely Keith) with 4 wonderful (all be it boisterous) boys. We live in London in a Victorian house which I feel will never be as wonderful as all those glossy picture you see in magazines. It is a permanent on going project I fear for us to get it finished to how we would like it. So don't expect any picture of the house unless I feel one of my rooms looks particularly nice that day.

I make soap & various pamper products. The main side of our little business is wholesale. This is basically because I have 4 children. Doing retail shows was a military operation organising child care. We also have a shop but more about that perhaps in another post. And we have just got an allotment again I will post more about that later.

As I am writing this I am wondering if anyone will read my blog. And Why.

The very first blog I read was Snapdragon's Garden and it is still the first one I go to read when I am having a break this blog lead me to Primrose Hill. Not sure mine will be as interesting as those.

bye for now
Have a nice evening