All things garden'ey

Happy Easter Peeps!!

I hope you've all had a lovely time out and about during this gorgeous little spell of sunshine.
Unfortunately I've been battling a horrid cough the last couple of weeks so have had less 'studio time' than I'd like, but it has given me the chance to do a spot of much needed gardening at home.

I found out today that it's 'National Gardening Week' so I thought it quite apt to do a wee post about my gardens. I'm lucky enough to have some outdoor space at home, and a lovely plot in the walled garden at the National Trust's Gibside Estate, where my studio is based.

My lovely Botanical Plot at Gibside Estate

My home garden has seen lots of weeding and clearing happening this week, in between bouts of coughing!! I'm planning to make up a couple of raised beds to grow veggies this year, making space by expanding my meagre herb bed and getting rid of some gravel and (sadly) a tree...but it's blocking all my veggie growing light, and the lovely evening light that dances in the sun catchers hanging in my window. I've always grown herbs, spuds (in re-claimed tea chests), and the odd crop of chard, carrots and salad greens but nothing substantial. Hopefully this year will prove more fruitfull (veggiefull!!). The spuds are in, spinach, shallots and sweet pea seeds are in the propagator, and the tree felling should hopefully happen next week, then I'm good to get really cracking. Watch this space.

Do you Pinterest? I love to gather inspiration for things here, take a peek at my gardening board if you like...it's a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Follow Oakwood Soaperie's board Garden gubbins on Pinterest.

Meanwhile in my botanical plot at Gibside, the ground is being cleared ready for the lovely ripe seeds of blue and red cornflowers, marigolds, chamomile, poppies and lots of lovely lavender plants going in over the next few weeks. They are all organically grown without the use of any pesticides or artificial fertilisers specifically for me to use in my soaps, bath salts, bath bombs, truffles and bathing bubbles..

Natural and handmade bath bombs.

Gibside Gardener's soap with my beautiful botanicals lashings of fresh honey from our bees, clays and pumice.

Soap making in action...freshly poured and decortated batches setting overnight.

The real heroes (apart from the beautiful blooms) are the National Trust gardening volunteers who do all the hard work tending and tidying the plot and generally looking after them for me. I'd love to be able to do more in there, but running my little soapmaking business takes over. I do however help with the weeding, watering and do all the harvesting and drying later in the year.

Frosty spring morning looking towards the Chapel

Garden Cottage at Gibside in the morning sun

Here's a little shot of the plot earlier in the year, and then once it was in full bloom last summer, fingers crossed for lots of sunny summer days ahead.

Flowers flowers everywhere

Cornflowers and Calendula

The studio, festooned in drying blooms

Continuing on the garden theme of this post...a date for your diaries...I'll be holding a stall at the beautiful Blagdon Estate just north of Newcastle on Sunday 17th May as part of their National Garden Scheme, garden's open for Charity. The event runs from 1 - 4pm. I'll have lots of flower related soaps, bathing goodies and more on my stall, pop along if you fancy a day out, hopefully the weather will be kind.

Well, that's all for now, I'm off to make candles...Enjoy your garden time folks...I'd love to hear what you're planning in your gardens this year.

TTFN

Ceri
x

Time for a spot of indulgence...

         Well, it's full steam ahead here at Oakwood Soaperie. I have been developing some all new recipies and re-vamping some not so new ones. As you may know I was revising the recipie for 'Buttered Rose soap' recently. I must say, I am delighted with the results so far.

Buttered rose - before...pale and interestingly floral

and now - Kapow!!  - in a new guise...

 

        
        I have been experimenting with a new ingredient for me...Madder root. this is traditionally used in dyeing fabric and wool but works very well in soaps too. Instead of infusing in the base oils, it goes straight in with the lye solution and turns it a vivid berry red...

Dried and ground madder root in lye solution.

          Once this has cooled, it gets filtered and mixed into the oils as normal. I had initially intended to make the red only as a swirl through the soap but loved the colour so much went for the whole bar.
I have also added a silkening ingredient in the form of Hydrolised Oats, a vegan alternative to tussah silk fibres, this should give the soap a gloriously soft feel and silky lather - I hope.
          I have also tweaked the essential oils too making them a slightly stronger and more exotic blend of Rose Geranium, Benzoin, Cardamom and black pepper, this mix is wonderfully aromatic, floral and spicey and a bit turkish delighty...my workshop smells divine. The change was such a big one I've also had to think up a new name...so, here we have, introducing her on her debut...

Turkish Rose Madder...I think I'm in love.

           After the success of this one, I also had a think about some new bath melts now that autumn is just around the corner. I have 2 new ones specially made for when the night start to draw in...Beddy Byes and Aahhh....
            Beddy Byes bath melt is specifically designed to pack in as many pampering and sleep inducing ingredients as possible, as well as being an indulgent treatment. It is crammed with cocoa and shea butter to moisturise and lock in the goodness (also one less step before you can collapse into bed), fragranced with calming and relaxing oils of Lavender, Sweet Orange and Tangerine to comfort and soothe. There is also a scoop of tapioca starch in there as this helps soften the water and give a silky feel to it and you. These just go straight into the bath where they melt and realease their magic.

Beddy Byes Bath Melt

   
        Aahhhh..... bath melt is named after the noise we all make on climbing into a well deserved bath. It is a little nugget of pure pampering wonder. The main ingredients again are cocoa and shea butter with a touch of bicarb for a gentle fizz and to help disperse the butters as well as a water softener. The essential oils are the same blend I have included in my Ylang, Sweet Orange and Patchouli Sugar Shower Scrubs. I love this combination and the fragrance lingers on your skin really well. I'm undecided as to whether I should paint the tops with gold mica for extra luxury...what do you think?

Aahhh...bath melt

Once you're in the bath you will have trouble getting back out - I speak from experience, this one is a keeper, I'm loving it.

Well, I have a tonne of soap to get wrapped, I'd better be off, I couldn't resist sharing these little lovelies with you...TTFN xx

Today's Makes

Well today I've been taking the opportunity to catch up on making for a bit. I have a string of regular craft fairs coming up and some things needed a top up. I thought you might like to see what I've been up to...

So, today I have made...

Orange Blossom Bubble bars.

 

 

 

Honey Buns soap with real Northumbrian Honey, coloured with tumeric.

Peppermint & Poppyseed, freshly poured and glossy.

Lavender & Clary Sage, coloured with Alkanet Root

Spiced Cinnamon Fig, coloured with cinnamon and cocoa powder, with poppy seeds for texture.

The soaps should all be fully cured and ready by the end of August, when they will be wrapped and labelled up ready for re-homing.

TTFN,

Phew what a busy day making goodies...

Well for some of us anyway. My 'helper' was good for nowt today, I had to everything myself! Todays makes include a new batches of specially requested 'St Clement's Bath Bombs', a huge loaf of 'Jasmine & Ylang ylang' soap, some Lavender & Chamomile' Cocoa Butter Bath melts and two variations of two new products...

'Lemon & Lime' & 'Jasmine, sweet orange and patchouli' solid sugar scrubs...
and 'Orange Blossom' and 'Sweet Pea' bubble bars. I can't decide if these will go in my Folksy shop or into my new 'WowThankyou' shop which has some exclusives...hmm what to do? Well I think I'd better get tea sorted as the cat is sitting on my keyboard making typing very tricky, I think this is a protest at not having any where near enough attention today.

Keep your eyes peeled as to where these goodies end up, don't worry, I'll let you know where and when, ta ta for now x