Soapmaking course

Castille soap, with Calendula.


I'm planning a soapmaking course in Mullingar Educate Together NS, next Saturday May 28th.
Time - 10:00am to 3:00pm. Cost €60.

Participants will learn how to make soap from scratch, in a safe and playful environment. I will demonstrate, and then participants will get some hands on experience.

We will make castille soap, rich in olive oil, scent it with Essentials oils, and add
organic materials like calendula petals, lavendar, poppy seeds and cosmetic clays, to augment the soaps properties.


Participants will go home with recipes and soap that they made, coloured, and scented themselves.

If you're interested, please let me know asap. If you'd like to learn to make soap, and this time doesn't suit, let me know that you're interested and if you'd prefer an evening course or a Sunday - or a different Saturday.

087 2222562 or annambrowne@gmail.com

Paper making

I'm teaching a Summer Camp next week, and thought it would be good to make paper, and embed some saved seeds in it. It's years since I last made paper, so I had a practice run today.

Yesterday I swung by a printers, and got loads of scrap paper. Soaked it in a bucket of hot water overnight. Took the hand blender to it this morning,and we were all set to go.

Kids were initially very uninterested, but when they saw hat there was water and mess involved, they got stuck in, and really understood and enjoyed the process. There are about 20 A3 sheets now hanging from the line, looking forward to when they are dry!

iPhone Cover

So, I succumbed to the tech pressure and bought an iPhone. But, it's so expensive to replace! What if I am my usual klutzy self, and drop it? I got the screen cover, and the skin, but it wasn't enough. So I felted a little cover for it, with a special tie for holding the headphones, and keeping it closed. I think it's very cute, but it will be even cuter when I sew on some eyes. And it's a bit subtle for me, colour wise. I'll have to make another :-(

Anyone want this one when I replace it?

Mullingar Advertiser - wrong phone number

Great to have my Soapmaking and Natural cosmetics course (in Mullingar, May 23rd) featured in the Mullingar Advertiser If you've come here because of that - the phone number there is missing a digit - to book the soapmaking and natural cosmetics course phone or text 087 2222562.

Interesting competition

My swap partner for the Clasheen Spring swap is having an interesting http://feltingfibres.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/competiton-time/ - check it out! A beautiful waterfall jacket is the prize....

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral

 

 

 

 

These are some of the wonderful things you'll see if you visit the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at Trinity Science Gallery.

The show is great on a number of fronts - it's beautiful, you can feel that you are scubadiving, and looking at the corals. It's inspiring from the craft point of view, and from the use of different wools, and recycled materials to make a coral reef.
From a science and ecology point of view, it makes you think about how we could be destroying a beautiful organism. And then there's the whole hyperbolic space thing, and thinking about different surfaces.

I'm wondering how I can incorporate this into my summer camp - there has to be a way..or several...

Antibacterial soap concerns

Interesting post about the possible health effects of triclosan, an antimicrobial chemical.

My favourite part - FDA states: “At this time, the agency does not have evidence that triclosan in antibacterial soaps and body washes provides any benefit over washing with regular soap and water.”


Learn to make your own soap!

Soapmaking and Natural Cosmetics course

Make your own Soap and Natural Cosmetics

Love rich creamy soaps? Love pampering? Adore taking luxurious baths? Love all the beautiful products for creating a home spa experience, but find them a bit pricey? And maybe you’re a little concerned about the additives in the cheaper ones?
Well, now you can learn to create those luxurious products, at a fraction of the price, using ingredients that you can easily find in your supermarket, health food shop, hardware store or pharmacy. Make lots for yourself, and maybe even make a few for your friends for presents. Who knows, maybe you could even build a business selling them?
Following on from the success of this and last year’s courses I'm offering a course in making your own Soapmaking and Natural Cosmetics on Sunday May 23rd in Mullingar Educate together NS from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Cost is €75.
Participants will learn how to make soaps from scratch, using both cold process and rebatching methods. They will also learn to make Body creams, Exfoliants and other natural cosmetics . In addition they will learn to make origami boxes to package them in. The origami boxes have proved to be the hit of previous classes.

All materials will be provided, including a wide variety of essentials oils to scent the products. And they will go home with clear recipes showing how to replicate these at home.

I have been invited to teach this course at The Organic Center in Leitrim later this year. That's almost fully booked, and the last soapmaking course was sold out, so book now!

To book, call/text Anna at 087 222562, or email annambrowne@gmail.com

All quiet here

Great weekend in Belvedere - the bunting was admired - one lady even told me that it could become an addiction - which I well believe.

Photo above shows the undergardener (aka Brian) and I in our stand - it was colourful, we were busy - we had lots of entries for our competition, and oldest son was a tremendous help on Sunday.

Belvedere was beautifully safe for kids to run around, the FAS garden looked great, there was no 'junk' on sale. I think everyone there had a great time.

Now I'm busy with my homework from a train the trainer course, trying to find a school to do my teaching practice (I'm going back to college in September) and publicising my Summer Camp in Mullingar in July.

So not much time to be crafty right now - but I really do want to make some more bunting - reckon it would make a wonderful hostess gift....

Bunting

This is what the bunting looks like - I made my own bias binding to string it all together - a first for me - I'm really happy with how it turned out. It will be in use tomorrow at the Belvedere self sufficiency show. Drop by my booth to admire it, and enter my competition.

Getting ready for Belvedere Self sufficiency show

I have a stand at the Belvedere Self Sufficiency Show, here in Mullingar this weekend. I'm speaking both days - about bread making, but I'll also be promoting my other courses - like natural cosmetics, soapmaking, Christmas crafts, Natural beverages.

I was busy last night making bunting to decorate the stand - I have been wanting to make bunting for some time now to use up some pretty scraps of fabric, and finally I found the motivation! It turned out great - will post a photo later.

I'm trying to think of what will be fun activities for the stand - last year I was baking flatbread - it was great for kids - they could roll out their own, and bake it right there and eat it - but it was a load of work, and hard to keep everything up to scratch hygiene wise. And loads of equipment to bring.

This year I have made lots of soap, so if anyone wants to sign up for my mailing list, I'll be giving them some soap as a taster. But that just shows one part of what I do.

So I'm thinking I can have 2 activities:
Making paper pots, and planting seeds - I have lots of purple pea seeds - to illustrate the garden side of the business.

Making bath bombs - for the crafty , cosmetic side of things.

And I'll bring some seedlings and bread to decorate the stand - bunting only goes so far...

What do you think?

Must try this

Seems like adding peat to your beauty products has great benefits - my father would laugh. Will have to spend a day at the bog, and see what I can find to add to my natural cosmetics....I wonder if someone needs help with footing turf....some good photos here

Soap experiments

 

2 interesting batches of soap - the green one is the seaweed soap - I scented it with rosemary, but you can smell the seaweed more than the rosemary. Can't decide if I like it or not. It's a nice soap to use, though. The green colour is from a little green wax crayon.

 

Second one - see the whale! - is coloured yellow from palm oil. I scented this one with Lavendar and Patchouli, and then added some cinnamon for the brown colour. It's intended to be a shaving soap, so I also added Kaolin to help with a close shave.

What do you think? Would you try either one? I'll be giving away some samples at Belvedere in April.

My soapmaking course is almost full - only one space left!

Scrub up! Soapmaking course in April.

Get yourself in a lather in Mullingar Educate Together N.S.on Sunday April 11th!

Course begins at 13:30, and goes till 16:30.

You will learn to make soap by the cold process method, and you'll get to try your hand at rebatching also.

We'll use essential oils to scent the soaps, and a variety of natural additives like seaweed and clay to complement the soap's properties.

You'll go home with a comprehensive understanding of how soap is made, recipes for making your own soaps at home, and plenty of samples to whet your appetite.

Cost for the course is €40 - all materials included.

Places are limited, so book your place quickly! email annambrowne@gmail.com or phone/text 0872222562

Photo above is a rosemary scented seaweed soap.

Soap making

We were in Galway for an overnight stay on Thursday night. I had a meeting on Friday morning, but when that was over we headed first to Wa Cafe to grab some bento boxes and sushi, and thence to Spiddal to have a picnic.

While gazing out at the rocky beach, and the seascape, it struck me that it would be good to put some seaweed in my soaps. So we took a plastic bag, and grabbed a variety from above the waterline. It was nice to be back scrambling on rocks. One of our first dates back in the late 90s involved some rock scrambling.

Got it home, and did a bit of research - starting here - turns out seaweed is an excellent ingredient for all kinds of cosmetics - it (apparently) fights cellulite, makes your skin more youthful, adds trace elements, you name it.

Anyhow, dried some seaweed in the oven and ground it up once dry. Added it to the soap - and added rosemary as the scent - seemed to be the most marine like Essential Oil I had - and added a little green colouring. It looks pretty good, but it's still curing, so hard to say if it will shave 20 years off my appearance the first time I wash with it. :-)

The rest of the seaweed is drying in a more environmentally friendly manner on the clothes line - and I have ordered some from Kildoney, near Ballyshannon, where my cousins live.

I will be giving out samples of this and other soaps in Belvedere at the self sufficiency show, so find me and sign up for my mailing list, and you'll be able to try it for yourself.

Soaps available to buy

Normally I don't sell any of the things I make - I prefer to use them, or give them away as presents. But I had so much soap that it would take me years to give it all away, so I'm selling it here.

It's available at the farm shop, at my brothers organic farm - I'm very proud of what he does - he sells the most delicious organic beef, at very reasonable prices. So in the summer, when our garden is in full production, it's not hard to have an amazing meal all of which has been grown in a 3 mile radius.

I made his website using WordPress - check it out - I'd be interested to know what you think.

Another Natural Cosmetics course

I'm running another Natural cosmetics class - As before, you can learn to make your own luxurious lotions, exfoliants, bath bombs using natural ingredients. And you'll learn to make beautiful origami boxes to package your products.

The class takes place on March 9th, at Mullingar ETNS 7:30-9:30pm, €35. To book, email me at annambrowne@gmail.com or 087 2222562

Boy Belt giveaway

Great tutorial and Boy Belt giveaway here.


I'm inspired to get one of those snap setter kits - can see a myriad of uses...

Craft related post

Can't avoid the Olympics coverage, and noticed a photo of the US team - all wearing Aran jumpers! Dug round a bit, and found that Ralph Lauren designed the 'All American' look - harking back to a 1932 US team at Lake Placid. Don't know about you, but I didn't think that Aran jumpers (sweaters?) were American in origin? Maybe if you add a bit of cashmere and charge $425...

And the winner is...

Sarah Lynne! Thanks for Dara for folding up all the entries, and being the one to pick out the winner. Sorry that you all couldn't be winners.