I’ve expanded my flavors of lip balms to 4 total now. They include Peppermint, Lemongrass Coconut, Sweet Orange and Unscented. All made with pure ingredients and essential oils. Ingredients are few and nourishing- Coconut Oil, Candellila Wax, Sweet Almond oil, Avocado oil. Vegan ingredients and not tested on animals.
Just $3.50 a tube can be found on this site or at one of the fairs left this year.
So I had some great responses to the January newsletter topic of new soap fragrances. The most popular ones from the list I gave as potentials were Lavender/Mint and Lemon Verbena. Someone else mentioned adding more floral scents so I will try Plumeria. There was also a request for more musky, earthy smells so I will add Sandalwood. I will try these online this year and see how they go. Look for these to be up and available in the next month. If they are popular you will see them at my fairs this summer and fall. Thank you for your feedback! I am excited to try these new scents for myself!
I have been madly making enough felted soaps to get me thru my upcoming season of craft fairs. Next weekend, Labor Day, kicks off my very full fair season with the Paul Bunyan Days in Fort Bragg. I have 14 fairs packed between Labor Day and mid-December; this my busiest year yet!
I won’t have time to felt much in between fairs and the rest of my life/farm obligations during the fall so I’ve had to get all my stock ready this summer. I have amassed about 1400 felted soaps that I’m hoping I will sell during this busy holiday season. This will be my last week of felting and I think I will be ready and set to sell, sell, sell.
I am amazed that at this point I’m not sick of the process or of the scents but I guess that is a testament to how much I love this work. Even the bad days creating are really pretty good. Now that does not ring true for fairs exactly. A bad fair can be really bad depending on weather, people, sales, etc and can be pretty discouraging. Even then though, I am living my dream so it is rewarding in a way as well. At least I am living my life the way I want to.
Maybe I won’t have any bad shows this season and all my hard work will be snatched up and taken away by happy customers. Ah, one can hope at least. 🙂 Wish me luck!
From Etsy communications I have learned that some small dogs enjoy burrowing and so have had a number requests to made burrowing beds. They are similar to my cat caves but with tiny canines in mind. I have had dogs that enjoyed burrowing in the sand and the dirt but it had never occurred to me to make a bed with the same characteristics.
I found the following write up interesting:
Dogs With Burrowing Behaviors
by Adrienne Farricelli, Demand Media Google
Deriving from the Latin word “terra,” meaning earth, terrier is also the French word for “burrow.” With a name as such, you’d think that terrier dogs would make a living burrowing their way through all sorts of terrains. Indeed, many of these feisty earth dogs were selectively bred to “go to ground,” taking care of deterring, chasing and killing a variety of ground-dwelling critters as small as rodents and as large as foxes. Turning these dynamo fellows loose in your yard may lead to the construction of underground tunnels or even an entire golf course in one day.
Burrowing in Blankets
The same dogs who love to burrow in the dirt may enjoy burrowing themselves in blankets. Common “burrito style” dogs who love to snuggle and burrow their way through blankets include many small terriers and dachshunds. While dachshunds are not categorized under the terrier group, they share a history as earth dogs, hunting badgers above and below ground. Superb “engineering” has created their funny-looking bodies specifically designed to burrow underground. Even their long, sturdy tail had a purpose: to allow a “handle” for the hunter to retrieve his burrowed dogs.
Now featured on my Etsy shop are dog burrowing beds!
With the change of seasons comes crafters preparing for the Holidays. Many businesses do a majority of their sales during and leading up to the Christmas season. Since I am a late shopper it always amazes me when customers come into my booth at a September fair and load up with holiday gifts. These people are ahead of the game!
To do my part to prepare for the holiday gift giving season I have made a new line of wool ornaments. I needle felted each one with care and because of this each one is unique and slightly different.
They bring comfort and joy to the cold winter ahead and make festive any lit Christmas tree.
You can email me to order one of these creations for $15.00 plus shipping or find them listed individually on my etsy page.
I recently purchased a Simplicity 12 needle felting machine. I was concerned that it wouldn’t work well with batting and roving, being thicker than yarn. But my back was begging me to get some help with the nuno felted scarves. I had progressed from rolling them out on the floor to a high table which did help a lot. Unfortunately, the continuous rolling and pressure was still taking a toll on my body since I had so many scarves to make.
The machine works beautifully and really speeds up production. I am not able to make the lock scarves (learned this the hard way by breaking 3 needles) with it but it handles the processed wool and cotton scrim fine. I do still finish the scarves by wet felting, rolling them. But I probably spend half the time at that stage as I would without the felting machine.
I am so pleased with this investment. It is great for embellishing as well. For flat felting or production work it saves your body from the punishment that wet felting can deal out.
It’s soap season once again here at Plum Blossom Farm. The time of year where I’m making LOTS of felted soaps in preparation for upcoming fairs and this year’s holiday season. I try to create a variety of colors and shapes to suit all personal tastes. I usually offer four different scents: lavender, jasmine, cucumber and coconut. This year I’ve decided to try to give customers more options by offering 6 to 8 fragrances. In addition to my regulars I will offer a different combination of these scents at each fair: pomegranate, oatmeal stout, peppermint/eucalyptus, sandalwood and the gardener’s soap- tangerine/bergamot.
I love to smell the familiar fragrances and get creative with the fiber dye color combinations. There does start to be some monotony though after the 100th soap!
Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated when my fair season is over 6 months away. But I really believe in this product and that’s what keeps me on task. Here are a few of the beneficial traits of my 100% wool dryer balls:
Plum Blossom Farm