xTrishaxLynnx Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Wow, you have a beautiful range of scents and flavours! And products too! Lavender vanilla sounds heavenly :) How long does each (perfume sticks, lip balm and vapor rub) take to make? Oh, and also wanted to ask - when did you first start making these? It sounds so much fun, and I don't often come across people who make their own lip balm, vapor rub, soap and shampoo! Thank you! I had a lot of fun making them, especially choosing the designs. I ended up making three packs (one with 10 cards, 2 with 5). I have made cards in the past, but not as gifts in themselves, and so I tried to get a range of styles and occasions in each pack. I love the damask pattern too! Probably my favourite one. Thankfully I still have a bit left so can keep being crafty with it :) I love the lavender vanilla; it's so relaxing. :) And of course I had to do some peppermint batches for Christmas. The orange vanilla was just an experiment and the vanilla extract ended up separating in some of the tubes, but it smells like a Creamsicle. Yummy. It actually takes surprisingly little time to make each batch. It only took me about an hour to get everything I needed set up and get my first batch of sugar scrubs (which I think I forgot to mention) from raw ingredients to poured into the jars. While each batch of balm, perfume, etc. was melting in the double boiler I started getting the ingredients together for the next batch. This translates to getting 2-3 batches done per hour once everything gets going. The wait times once they're out of the boiler vary - if pouring into jars they can be poured after just a few minutes, but with the tubes I made a big mess by pouring too soon. I ended up with grainy lip balm and the twist-up mechanism in the tubes warped which causes the balms to leak, so I had to toss some. I just started making these a few weeks ago and I haven't had much time to really experiment with them due to my work schedule and other responsibilities. Sigh... :P My family and friends get to be my "testers," as they're getting little kits of these for Christmas. Once I have their feedback, I can tweak any recipes that need it and hopefully perfect them enough to offer them for sale at some point. I started making them for precisely that reason (that I don't know many people, especially nearby, who do this.) I had a very hard time finding reasonably priced natural products, so I thought "If I'm looking for these things, there must be others like me who could use them, too." While I probably won't have an online shop set up for a while, it's going to be high on my list of priorities once the new year rolls around. So you plan on giving these packs themselves as gifts? What a neat idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyAnn Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 (edited) Those look amazing Trisha! I'm fascinated by making natural products - I have eczema that has been SO much better since I started using more and more natural products. At the moment I buy mine because I don't have the time/resources to get into making them but I'd love to start in the future. I'm waiting eagerly for Christmas now because I took a goldwork embroidery class last month and asked for some gold metal threads for Christmas. They are SO shiny and wonderful to work with. Edited December 15, 2013 by EmilyAnn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xTrishaxLynnx Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Those look amazing Trisha! I'm fascinated by making natural products - I have eczema that has been SO much better since I started using more and more natural products. At the moment I buy mine because I don't have the time/resources to get into making them but I'd love to start in the future. I'm waiting eagerly for Christmas now because I took a goldwork embroidery class last month and asked for some gold metal threads for Christmas. They are SO shiny and wonderful to work with. That sounds interesting! Do you have any pieces completed (from the class, maybe) that we could see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyAnn Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 The first picture gives you a better sense of the colours, the second was in rubbish artificial light so my cell phone didn't really pick up the colours that well. In the first picture I'm still working on it (hence the tape!) but the second is the finished piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 That is really awesome - making 2-3 batches per hour! I assumed it would take longer. Well, for someone new to the craft you seem to do brilliantly! It's good you have test subjects :P Would probably help when it comes to gifting as well, as they'd be able to tell you what they like best. Thank you - I do! The cards I have made aren't especially seasonal - most of them have a design on the front and are blank inside (apart from a small, fairly general quote), but I have included a birthday, thank you and Christmas-ish card in each pack. I've not given cards as gifts before, but I really enjoy it! The first picture gives you a better sense of the colours, the second was in rubbish artificial light so my cell phone didn't really pick up the colours that well. In the first picture I'm still working on it (hence the tape!) but the second is the finished piece. Oh my goodness, that is just beautiful!! Gorgeous colours and design. Is it at all difficult to embroider with gold metal thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyAnn Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 That is really amesome - making 2-3 batches per hour! I assumed it would take longer. Well, for someone new to the craft you seem to do brilliantly! It's good you have test subjects :P Would probably help when it comes to gifting as well, as they'd be able to tell you what they like best. Thank you - I do! The cards I have made aren't especially seasonal - most of them have a design on the front and are blank inside (apart from a small, fairly general quote), but I have included a birthday, thank you and Christmas-ish card in each pack. I've not given cards as gifts before, but I really enjoy it! Oh my goodness, that is just beautiful!! Gorgeous colours and design. Is it at all difficult to embroider with gold metal thread? It's not hugely difficult if you already embroider. It's a very different technique, but I love the effect. Plunging the ends of the threads is probably the trickiest thing - in the first photo you can see the ends held down by tape so they don't get in the way and then I later had to go through and take them all to the back. The first ones I plunged are terrible :hehe: Metal threads are much bendier than you expect them to be and SO light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xTrishaxLynnx Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 That's a gorgeous piece, Emily! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Beautiful. I'm trying to get a set of mittens done for my future brother in law. However I had to take a break as my hands were hurting from all the typing and writing I was doing for finals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholicterp7 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Currently working on this for my niece for Christmas. Almost done!!!! http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/babys-buddy-inchworm-pillow I decided that I like knitting toys way better than anything else so I'm hopefully going to get a big bunch made to start selling online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) Awww, that is so cute!!! :) Selling them online would be great! Is this your first time making one? Edited December 20, 2013 by Spem in alium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholicterp7 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 yeah, but it's super easy actually. It's just lots and lots of garter stitch so it's hard not to become board with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholicterp7 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 just found this... AH!!!! http://www.entropyhouse.com/penwiper/who/knittardis.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Ok update one mitten is done for future brother in law. I'm now taking a break and working on a set of thumbless mittens for my mom's daycare kids. They are very simple and very quick! I also used the sewing machine to embroider a placemat for my friend/goddaughter. She was saying that she can never get the traditional blessing before meals right so I told her I would make her a placemat with it on it. Its made of blue felt with gold lettering/embroidery. I love this sewing machine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 The only thing I have to do for my quilt is tie the top and put on the binding. I should probably do that this week sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I finished the quilt for the little girl. I will try to upload some photos soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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