Hi Ho Hi Ho.. it's off to Niche we go.....

With a last minute scramble to get stocked for Niche, I have found these great Bath Bombs through my work (we are a clinic and a beauty supplies wholesaler).

I was kind of looking for anything to help me bulk out the table and I use these myself and really like them.

I know that my usual MO is to have made everything myself, but desperate times and all that. Plus having sussed out their ingredients, it's nothing I wouldn't have put in myself. So I am happy with that.

I will have four 'flavours' to sell: Tropical Guava, Hawaiian Lei, Green Tea and Lemon Verbena.

They are all YUM! and last for ages if you break them up.

So now I am as set as I'm going to be and I am trying to just relax and look forward to meeting heaps of new people and getting to hang with ridiculously talented and clever folks for 3 days!

10 till 4, Inveresk Art Space..... see you there!

Holy Stock Levels Batman!!!

It's two days till Niche and I find myself the only remaining half of a duo. Natalie, who was sharing the stall with me, can no longer join me for the 3 day market and I am now frantically trying to create enough stock for the other half of the stall!
No fault of her own, poor girl has had a multitude of problems hit her all at once. Such is life....
So here I was coasting into the market thinking I had everything set and done a week in advance, but I was up a 6 this morning making more candles and a few batches of soap.
I won't have a huge range of soap to offer this time around (no ingredients) but have done up three of my fav's instead: Vanilla, Pomegranate & Black Currant; Spearmint & Rosemary and Moroccan Rhassoul.
I figure whatever I have will just have to be enough and if I sell out I will just take orders!
Wish me luck!

The Great Soap Giveaway....

Just a quick entry to let everyone know about a great giveaway that Erin from Inner Earth Soaps is currently doing.
If you are anything like me, a gorgeous handmade bar of soap is one of life's true pleasures and Erin is giving away a surprise package of soap once a month for 3 months to one lucky person!

Just click here for more info and best of luck!

ONLINE Baby!!

I am so stoked right now!

The very lovely (and very kind) Tameeka of Civic Homespun Market fame has let me join the online shop she runs through the market website.

I only sent her the information and pictures last night and she has already put the pages up for me!

I even have my own little "candles and soaps" section! How cool is that?!

At this stage I will make any orders as they come in. I'm still small enough to not really have the space (or moola) to have lots of stock on shelves.

Plus I have no idea what people might look at buying, so it works out better for me this way for now.

Check out red bamboo's first online store here!

Thanks Tameeka!!

reasonable absences......

Ok... so I haven't blogged for awhile....

This is the reason why!

These are some of the candles, melts, tea lights and lip balms I've been furiously making over the past few weeks for Niche, with more curing as I am taking this picture.

This 3 day designer market hits Launceston from the 27th - 29th November (10 till 4) and looks to be a huge event. Lots of familiar faces from the last Niche market, near Mothers Day, earlier this year, but some very tempting new folks as well!

After such a great response to my candles at the last market and in the time between, I decided very early on to concentrate on that side of things this time around and bring aboard Natalie from Gypsy Hill (more info soon), to fill the other half of the stall with her beautiful soaps.

That way it has saved me both the cost on ingredients and some serious production time! Plus we can spot each other for loo breaks over the weekend!

These are some new mosaic containers that I managed to get from my suppliers at a good price as they are a discontinued line - but I thought they would make a great 'Yuletide Collection' being red and green. I picture them in the centre pieces of folks Christmas dinners and so have filled them with fragrances such as: Tangerine, Applejack (red apple and cinnamon), Vanilla and Rhubarb. Hope folks like them.

Tell one...tell all... come along and see what great talented and craftie people we have down in Tassie!

Nifty New Niceties for Niche....

Am finally getting around to working through my production list for the upcoming Niche markets at the end of the month (eek!).

These are the new lip balm tins I mentioned a while back - I am really loving the little vintage tins and had fun making up new blends for lip 'shmackin' goodness too!

They all contain ingredients like Coconut Oil, Beeswax and Vitamin E, plus I add Organic Honey for extra softness and just a hint of sweetness!

I've done up four blends for the market:

Mandarin Mimosa (with gold Mica)

Spearmint & Lime

Vanilla & Red Grape Extract

Rose (with gold Mica)

This is one of my soy tea lights that I am testing for burn time and fragrance throw - this one's Cinnamon Sugar - yum!
The aroma is filling my kitchen and making me hungry......
Today I've made up Vanilla, White Tea & Ginger, Vintage Rose and Jasmine tealights - they are setting as we speak.

More touring...

This is becoming a bit of a tradition with anyone coming to visit with us down here - a trip to Penguin on the north coast and a photo with the big penguin (complete with halloween pumpkin on his head!?).

Aren't my folks cute?

Today we hit the Deloraine Craft Fair - it's HUGE! A bit tricky for us to get around to everything but we managed to see maybe half of what was on offer. Looking forward to next year - may even organise a stall for red bamboo.... hmmm.

I got to chat to Maya from Hideyo and she said the four days had been very busy and successful - they sold out of their beautiful origami flowers each day and spent the night and next day making more! Wé'll see them again at Niche in November.

We also managed to stumble apon the Pearns Steam World annual 'Steam Up' weekend. A rather (surprisingly for me) interesting family business centered around the preservation and restoration of old engines and machinery.

As you can see, plenty of rides for the 'kiddies'.....

Back to work tomorrow for hubby and me, then we'll be plotting the next trip....

It's been a little while....

It's been a little while since I blogged....

The folks are here for a holiday (their first to Tassie) and so our time has been well spent playing proud tour guide.

We have managed to cover some miles since they arrived and with the beautiful weather we have been having down here, it's been nice to get to know all of these wonderful places again and see it through their fresh eyes as well.

Unfortunately my Dad cannot walk as far as he used to, but fortunately, there are plenty of great places to drive to.

One of the places we've been to is Beaconsfield. Most will know of this town because of the Anzac Day 2006 Beaconsfield Mine Disaster. We went through the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre and were really impressed with both the size of the place and the effort that has gone into it all. Worth a look if you are in the area. What the two men went through is documented really well and I definitely have more of a sense of their survival in extreme circumstances. Scary stuff...

The Centre is also on the sight of the original mine in the area and so you get to walk through ruins of the old pump house - I think it contrasts nicely with the current operating mine.

This abandoned shed lies just back from the main street in the town. Hubby and I had seen it on a previous visit and were pleased to get back again so we could photograph it.
These Californian Poppies are in the garden at a Lavender Farm in Rowella - what brilliant colour! Tassie is putting on her best face for my folks visit - I am totally grateful!
Another driving trip today through the North West of Tassie and tomorrow we are hitting the Deloraine Craft Fair - apparently the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere! Yay!