Jennifer (a.k.a KraftyChick)Long post alert: There is so much to share! I’ve got a new project that I’ve been working on – which has added to my quilting UFO pile but nonetheless has made me very happy ‘cuz it’s cute. I’ve also been testing out some new soap, and spoiler alert: it’s foamy! And a new tea endeavour has got me feeling more Fall vibes… Want to hear more? Keep reading!
The Cutest Wall Hanging
I love YouTube. For me it has almost replaced “tv”. It is where I actually learned how to quilt. I was watching a maker one day and she made a baby quilt, and I was like: I want to do that! And so I did. I started searching for more quilt makers on YouTube to follow – remember that jellyroll quilt I recently finished? – that was inspired by Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. She was one of the first quilters I learned from on YouTube. I still find new quilters follow and try to regularly watch them. I learn new things and I get so inspired by their creativity.
One of my newer additions to my “watch list” is Coriander Quilts. I just adore her. She is very talented, and has a wonderful way of sharing her work. You are left feeling like you know her – or at least wanting to get to know her better.
My latest project is (surprise surprise) from Coriander Quilts: Wooly Wall Hanging. It was one of her shop’s $5 quilt patterns awhile back, and I jumped on it. When you go to her ETSY shop you can purchase the digital pattern, which is what I do because I need instant gratification, and I don’t want to pay for postage when I don’t have to. Or you can buy the paper version and have it shipped.
I don’t usually make wall hangings, as they rarely get put up on a wall in my house but I just couldn’t resist this one. I also thought it would be a good project to do in between all the quilting UFO project completions that I am trying to do since it isn’t a very big project.
Turns out, it didn’t take too long to complete. Quilt top only of course. I haven’t done the quilting yet, so it has actually added to my UFO pile instead of reducing it. BUT (here’s my defense LOL) I will be able to use material leftover from another project for the backing, AND I did use some of my fabric stash. OK, justification rant over.
There are small pieces to work with in this quilt, and I’m not overly fond of small pieces, but again, since the project is small, the number of those small pieces isn’t too overwhelming. I did all of the cutting out first, and then the piecing. The instructions are so clearly written I want to chef’s kiss them. In no time I had sections of the quilt sewn, and then those sections were sewn together and I could see the sheep! A bit of time later I had the borders made and sewn on.
Ah-Dorable! I love it. Now, since it isn’t so big, I really should try to do some free motion quilting. We’ll see. The original pattern colourway is more Christmassy, and I didn’t want to do a Christmas quilt, so I altered the colours a bit. When I completed the quilt top, I realized that with the orange, green, and yellow it fits right into the Fall vibes that I’ve been feeling lately! Funny how that works out.
Foaming Hand Soap – off my “never have I ever” list
On my “never have I ever” list sits foaming hand soap. Customers often ask if I make liquid or foaming soap, and unfortunately my answer was no. My curiosity was peaked though. I just had to see how to do it! So I went down a bit of a rabbit hole to see what I could find.
I found makers’ videos (my favourite YouTube again) who make foaming hand soap dry tablets. The customer would purchase the tablets and then dilute them in their own water and container. That looked really cool and would be easy to sell online in my shop with lower shipping costs as compared to a heavy liquid in a bottle. The ingredient list however had many items on it that I do not have in my stock. I would have to purchase a bunch of things. Not that I wouldn’t purchase – but something for me to consider. Do I want to have all of these ingredients? Would I use them in other products? Not sure, so I kept researching.
I then found videos on making a soap paste, and using that paste to make other soapy things including liquid soap and foaming soap. This really peaked my interest, AND I would only need to purchase one item: potassium hydroxide for the lye water solution. I was in. For some reason, this method of making liquid and foaming soap resonated with me over the other method. Nothing wrong with the other method, it just didn’t get me as excited to make it as this one. So, make it, I did!
I did the hot process method and used a small crock pot. I heated and melted the oils and butters. Then added the lye solution, and blended it up until I had my soap paste. It looks a bit like thick Vaseline and doesn’t really have an odour.
Next, I measured out a portion of the paste and diluted it x6, and added some fragrance oil. You need very little fragrance oil for it to have enough “kick”. This is different from the cold process soap bars that I usually make. I put the soapy solution into the foaming pump containers, gave it a pump and woo-hoo! Foaming soap!! I was so excited! I made up several bottles to give to my friends, and mom, for testing and it looks like we have a winner! I’m looking forward to adding this product to my soap shop soon.
At this point I only have small 50ml bottles, but I’m sourcing some bigger bottles of around 250ml. In the meantime, the small bottles are great for trying it out, or as a travel item, or as part of a gift set with some other items, like a bath truffle or lip balm. I’ll have to get creative on how I present them in my shop.
Breakwater Edge Tea is at the Norfolk County Fair!
My business partner and I are always on the lookout for places and opportunities to sell our tea. We love them so much we just want to share them with everyone! A few months ago, I came across an ad for a fair in our area. And get this: they do a market where you don’t have to be there the whole time! We were intrigued, so we applied, and lucky us, we were accepted into the market!
How it works: you set up your table, which is supplied by the market, and then on the market days, people come and shop. The market supplies shopping baskets for customers to browse and do their shopping, and then when the customers are ready, they take their purchases to the checkout. Every item on the vendors’ tables is labelled with the price of the item and the vendor number. The market staff tally up the purchases and keep track of the dollar amount owing to each vendor from that purchase. At the end of the market sale, each vendor is sent the money they made! Isn’t that cool? The entry cost of the market is negligible (a small administration fee), and the market charges a commission off the sale of your items. So, really, as a vendor we only pay a fee on what we sell!
We are stoked, ‘cuz we set up our table, our tea is on sale at the fair until October 14th (Thanksgiving Monday)! The market staff will call us if we need to restock anything during the week. Wouldn’t it be awesome to get that phone call? We were giddy the whole drive home just thinking about it. LOL.
When we arrived at the fairgrounds, they were busy putting in the midway rides and all the fun food stands. With the drive in through the countryside and all the pretty fall colours, the whole thing just screamed Fall. I could just taste the candy apples. Alas, nothing was for sale yet, so I went without. Just as well. I don’t need to be eating candy apples. I’ll try and stick with tea. We have a lovely apple cinnamon one at that just might do the trick. I think it is a perfect fit for all the Fall vibes I’ve been feeling!
Cheers, and stay Krafty my friends!
Jennifer (a.k.a KraftyChick)