Saturday, June 11, 2011

To Market, To Market.....

I had fun on Sunday being a vendor at the lovely Poppyseed Markets.  The next one in our area will be held on 20th November and I am excited about it being held so close to Christmas!  Just imagine all the lovely Christmas themed soapies I can create for it *smile*


Poppyseed Markets are a showcase for handmade artisan goods and I was so pleased to be accepted for this one.  I got focused on setting up my table and forgot to take pics at the start.  Luckily there was enough time during a lull later in the day for me to grab my camera and snap a few ~ so here is my table (the pics are clickable to bring up a larger view)....














Friday, June 3, 2011

Bottle o'Suds.....

"All I ask is three beers apiece for each of my co-workers...I think a man workin' outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds. That's only my opinion." ~ quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption.


Beer anyone? 

I have been moved to jump on the beer soap bandwagon.  Why?  
Well, I'll tell you.....

My father makes a good home-brewed beer and occasionally a batch will develop a taste that isn't to his liking.  Early on, when he was still fairly new to brewing, he put a batch aside in the hope it would develop a nicer flavour with age.  Now he just pours it away.  

One day I mentioned to him that several of my soaper friends were using beer as their soaping liquid and I was thinking of trying it, especially as one of my favourite suppliers had just started stocking some of Bramble Berry's beer soaping fragrances.  He got a faraway look in his eyes and disappeared into his brewing den aka garage.  When he reappeared he was holding several bottles of pale ale with the date April 02 on the cap.  Gasp!  Vintage (tainted) beer....lol.  I grabbed them and of course had to taste test before using in my soap because they may have aged well, right?  Wrong ~ blechh!!!


Anyway it is perfect for beer soap and I have made several batches of cold process as well as a batch of beer shaving cream soap.  Using flat beer in soap seems to boost the fluffiness of the lather ... always a good thing in my opinion:~




Definitely aged well ;)


Honey Ale scented


Pumpkin Lager scented


Beer Shaving Cream Soap


I have also made a Lime Fusion beer cold process soap using Sandalwood fragrance oil blended with Lime essential oil as the scent.  Pics of this one will be coming soon!  These soaps will be ready for purchase after 18th June and you will find them on my Facebook page.

Have a wonderful day *smile*