Soapdreamer

Just made a couple of batches of shower steamers. (Bath bombs for your shower) they smell amazing!
These will be for sale at our gift shop - simply Handmade @ the red barn, 237 Thornton Rd, Whakatane. Call in check it out!!!!

Been busy crafting! New teapot cosies, painted pet rocks/paperweights and more soaps. All of these available at our gift shop “Simply handmade @ the Red Barn “. Come on out and view the amazing arts and crafts we have for sale. Showcasing over 40 local artists from the Eastrrn Bay of Plenty. And we have now re-opened the upstairs space!

Well, here I am in lockdown in Sydney, NSW with husband staying with our daughter and family. We came out for a 4 week holiday and here we are still here. We did have a confirmed flight home on 1st August with an allocated room in MIQ. However the week before our booked flight, my husband tripped while out walking and broke his hip! Now we are stuck here, with Delta hitting NZ the MIQ rooms have been used for isolating people at home. I have bought a few new molds and packaging ready for when I get home. I am missing my soap making.
I

Had a pay around with Hanger swirls today -just loving the surprise when these loaves are sliced up to reveal how the swirls worked inside.
Love playing with different colours. These have just been cut so still need tidying up and a cure period.

I'm loving making soap donuts and cupcakes. Here's a few more made recently.

More "foodie" soaps - chocolate gateau -two layers inside. These sell well as a novelty gift.

I have been having fun with the woodgrain technique CP soakmaking with interesting results. My first batch however ended up with small white specks from Titanium dioxide not having been mixed adequately. What to do with these soaps I asked myself! Finally decided to cut some into small cubes and incorporation them in another soap. The results were great with the addition of soap scrolls embedded in the top of the loaf. The resulting soaps are big and chunky and just right for Fathers day gifts maybe?

More soaps to add to my stock. Dog bones are great for shampooing your pooch-nice fresh scents include tea-tree, lemongrass & citronella. The cake will be cut into wedges so people can buy however many slices they would like. And the do-nuts -well all I can say is don't try eating them!! They are scented with Saigon summer and energy fragrances -both citrus based.

I have just finished felting a few soap bars ready for sale when our gift shop opens up again. It's just like adding a woolen overcoat which makes the soap last a long time and you don't need a flannel
Just look at these bright colours. Just love them!!!

Wow, all these weeks of Lockdown have given me heaps of time to create many more handmade soaps. I'm stoked with how my stock is building! Tomorrow I will turn my attention into making some pottles of Kawakawa Balm. I've been drying a bnchof holey leaves that my husband collected for me on his daily walks. I have crushed and ground up the leaves and steeped them in a carrier oil. I also choppedup another bunch of leaves and I have added carrier oils to these and heated them slowly in my microwave. The results are a lovely lot of green tinged oils ready to be turned into balm. Its all in the preparation.

I now have the very best reason for staying at home making soap and more soap!! Covid-19 now has NZ heading to level 4 alert meaning a complete shut down of all non-essential services. So because of this, we have had to shut our arts, craft & gift shop ("Simply Handmade @ the Red Barn)

I have just recently made some novelty kiddy soap to be sold together with lovely novelty kid's toweling mitt. These mitt and soap sets will be available from our shop when we open up again.(picture of soaps below)