New stuff I made this week end

Now that I am feeling better I am starting to make things again. I really need to get busy my busiest craft show season starts in 2 months.

This weekend I was in a mood to make some palm candles. I made some that are red clove scented and some that are Heather scented.

I took the heather scented ones and made a gift set with some...
This is a a wonderful gift set filled with pampering goodies. Heather is a lovely fresh,herbal,lightly floral spa type blend.

In this set you'll receive:
1 4oz. bar of oatmeal soap
This is a awesome creamy bar of soap that gently polishes the skin.

1 8 oz dead sea salts in a taffeta bag
These salts a a great way to make a relaxing bath or foot soak after a hard day.

2 palm votive candles.
I love palm candles they are clean burning much like a soy candle. One of the characteristics of palm candles are the crystal like pattern on the candle. I think it makes them very pretty. These will give you many hours of scented burning time.

I listed the gift set in my Artfire shop http://Gingerbells.artfire.com . I am thinking I will offer the clove candles in a set of 6.

The clove candles smell so good I made some for my house so I could enjoy them too. One of the best part of making these kinds of things is I get to keep some for my personal use.

On my worktable ............polymer clay beads and cabochons.

BOGO!!!

Hey Ya'all I just wanted to do a quick post about a great BOGO sale I am having in all of my shops.........BUY 1 ITEM and GET 2nd 1/2 OFF

This is a great way to stretch your dollar and get something nice in return. You can click on any of my shops on the blog sidebar and enjoy browsing my 3 shops. If you find something you like awesome just go through the check out process and I will return the discount on your second item to your pay pal account. I will also combine and adjust shipping costs to further save you money.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!!!

this sale runs through June 20 2009......

Yummy These Smell So Good.

Last week end I had a mini soap making marathon. I made 8 beautiful batches of lovely smelling Olive oil and goats milk soap. Today I cut them all and put them on their racks to cure. I have to say the smell coming from the drying room is awesome.

Soap making is a addicting and useful craft. However it is not for the person who requires immediate gratification. Before this soap is ready to use it needs to cure "dry" for another 3 or so weeks. Sometimes I get lucky and they are ready a little sooner and I get to indulge a little early.

I will probably start listing them in my ArtFire and Etsy shop Mid May. These batches are on the small size so it is sometimes a good idea to reserve a few bars before my regulars scoop them all up. I posted a couple of photos so you can see how pretty they are, I really like the rustic look......

olive oil
________
Downy Fresh
Blushing Pink Hyacinth
Tuscan lace
Green Irish Tweed

Goats Milk
__________
Sage & Lemongrass
Black Vetyver Cafe` with cinnomon coffe scrub
Exotic Amazon Teakwood
Dusky Goddess

My Hubby will be out of town for the next three days so I will be enjoying many hours of guild free craft time. I will be teaching myself some new beadweaving stitches and also making some new beads and cabochons. I need to pour some new candles too and make a few pieces of jewelry. I have a craft show coming up on the 9th. We will be on vacation the week before so prep time is short. Housework will be low on my to do list for the next couple of days.

Grand Opening Sale!!

GRAND OPENING SALE!!!!!!!!!!!
March 21-25,2009
To officially honer the Grand Opening of my new ArtFire shop I am offering awesome BOGO sale in all of my shops.

Buy 1 Item Get 50% off Second Item +

Combined shipping even if you buy from either shop.

Go ahead and check out and I will return discounts to your pay pal account to make it easier for you. Wright BOGO in notes to seller to qualify for awesome discounts.

http://gingerbells.artfire.com
http://Gingerbellsbathshop.etsy.com
http://Gingerbellsgifts.etsy.com

I need a day at the beach...

I am having a little bit of the winter blues; it has been so cold and dreary here for several weeks. I am ready for a little beach therapy it always makes me feel better.

We are planning a trip to Savannah Georgia for April , I can hardly wait. I love beach combing it is one of my favorite things to do. I have a excellent huge collection of shells and rocks so I decided to use a few from my collections to make these 2 pieces.

The frame measures 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 with a 4x6 photo opening it can stand on a table or be hung on a wall.

The candle and holder are would look really cute with the frame I think. I poured a Night Blooming Tuberose candle in the holder.

They are not a trip to the beach but I feel happier after making them. It was a lot of fun going through my collection and remembering all the fun I had collecting them. I hope you enjoy them.

Let the soaping begin!!!

I just love getting new scents it is one of my favorite things about making soaps and candles.
In the mail today I got....
Spiced Orange..OMG this is yummy and will make some awesome soap and bath soak.
Bonsai...A beautiful unisex spa scent.
Pumpkin Brulee....need I say more.
Mandarin Basil Lime.. is another beautiful unisex spa scent that will make some excellent Olive Oil Soap.
Zanzibar Clove.. A rich and beautiful clove that will become a soap and milk bath.
Wild Rose and Oak....Beautiful, rich, woodsy and sexy. I love it.

This is just the start of my Fall and Winter scent line I have 10 more new scents on the way; Yummo.

Today I made some Ginger Milk Olive Oil soap and it smells like heaven. I am keeping some for myself. I also made some Pumpkin spice Honey soap that is very nice. I'll try to list them tomorrow.

I am one happy soaper.

Another long festival over!

The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival is a 10 day county wide craft show held every October.

This is the 4th year I have done it and I really enjoy it. It is one of my favorite shows of the year but 10 days is a long time; by day 7 I am ready for it to be done.

Sales were down this year for everyone but it still was a profitable show. I sold 98% of the necklaces I brought and about 75% of the bracelets as well. I started the show with 89 candles and brought home 8 and sold many bars of soaps and soap sets as well as pillar candles and other misalliance items.

So needless to say my shops are looking kind of sad. I have been ordering a lot of supplies so that I can make new inventory for my shops and the 2 shows I have coming up in December.

The next couple of weeks I will be making new beads for jewelry , soaps and candles. While at the show I crocheted a bunch of pretty new wash cloths ,soap bags and bath puffs to pair with some soaps for nice gift sets. I also demoed polymer clay canes so I have a bunch to use for my new beads and to list in my shop for others to use.

Before I can start all the fun creating I need to clean up this messy house. My loving spouse is a "Spoiled Latino King" who's sweet Mom never made pick up after himself and he still does not. He's a great Hubby but damn he's spoiled of course after 21 years I ought to know better then to expect anything different. ( random rant over).

I am so excited to get the new oils I ordered so I can get started on the 20 lbs. of olive oil soap I am planning on making next week ; my curing racks will be jam packed with beautiful soaps. I ordered a bunch of fall and winter scents like Orange Spice , Zanzabar Clove, and Pumpkin Pound Cake. I'll also have some Shea butter soaps ready for listing next week and maybe a couple of bars of Pumpkin Spice Honey Soaps. I ordered 18 new scents so there will be loads of new wonderful smelling goodies going into my shop over the next few weeks.

I have a bunch of cool Christmas Ornaments in my gift shop and I am offering a 25% discount to my blog buddies. If you order them and put "blog buddy" in the notes to seller I will be happy refund the 25% to your pay pal account.

Well it's time to go mop the floors ............ OH JOY!

New candles

Well I just love the look of the palm wax that I made these candles with. It is the coolest wax it is clean and long burning. The finish looks like the candles are covered with crystal snowflakes. Beautiful finish that the photos just can't show.

I always feel a need to pretty up paraffin wax pillars because they just look plain to me and the finish on them is so slick looking. But with this palm wax the finish is so interesting the simple shapes enhance the pattern so no further embellishment is needed.

I have started listing these in my bath shop today. I will be doing gift sets mostly I think; I haven't really decided. I have 8 different sets ready to list right now in some lovely scents. The photos are just a few of the sets I have finished.

I just love making things that smell good............Hum looks like I was leaning little to much when I took photo # 3. I will have to retake that one.... { Note to self}, Wine and photo taking don't mix

These are to pretty to use

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I love making pretty soaps almost as much as I enjoy using them. I like this new style I made last night. These are a little more labor intensive carving the flowers and applying them on to the soaps for a 3D look but I enjoyed doing it. The drips are a little messier then I like but I can live with that. And to top it off they smell divine.

As much as I love using them I am often told at shows that my soaps are way to pretty to use and often the best sellers are the pretty but less fancy bars. I always tell people as pretty as they look they are even better to use. I am on a mission to get people to pamper them selves and use the pretty soap, tee hee hee.

I have been making some really pretty palm wax candles the last couple of days. Palm wax is a cool wax when it hardens it makes a beautiful crystal like star burst pattern on the surface of the candle. I really like them each one looks different and special. yesterday I made cinnamon scented and today I have been making sweet pea scented. I will post photos in a later post.

Please don't eat the soap!

I love the little pastel cakes at the bakery and since I am on a diet I shouldn't have them. That doesn't mean I can't have them if they are made out of soap.
So I made these big 6 oz. soap cakes they smell awesome. I like the new scents too.....
Almond Pastry Oatmeal Soap
Pink Sugar Shea Butter Soap
Pomegranate Shea Butter Soap
Blue Hyacinth She Butter Soap.
I have several other new scents in my soap shop to check out.

I will be adding Palm Wax Candles to my shop in about 2 weeks. I really like these vegan candles and have enjoyed testing them over the last couple of weeks. I love the testing part of my craft....