all you need is love....

This is a video that I caught a snippet of on Sunrise this morning and then had to go find it to see it in full.

This is the blurb from the Channel 7 website:

"On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played "All You Need is Love" together.
Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song. Join in by lending your own voice to http://StarbucksLoveProject.com.
Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing All You Need is Love yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa."

Check out the YouTube video here. What a beautiful, brilliant idea! Have to admit I got a little teary and goosebumpy!!

Spread the word....

one After Dinner Mint coming right up....!

The winner of my soapy giveaway is............... Deb, from Two Cheeky Monkeys!!!

Congrats Deb! Check out her great Etsy site here (my favourite is her 'Something Blue' - blue rose and filigree headband).

I have to admit I chickened out and did the 'pull a name from a hat' trick - too hard to pick otherswise!!

Thankyou everyone who took part - all really wonderful stories to share.

I hope this has inspired a few others as much as it has me!

Deb, I will be in touch with soon to organise the delivery of your very own After Dinner Mint soap!

Enjoy!

What Inspires YOU?

Maybe I am being inspired by the time of year, or maybe it's the great response to my last post.... I'm not sure. But I have decided to do my very first giveaway!

Up for grabs is one of the very first 'after dinner mint' soaps that I mentioned last time. With a scrummy chocolate outside and a fresh spearmint centre - these 100 gram bars are sure to be a joy to use in the shower!

This is what I am after...

I want to know what has inspired you recently.

For me it has been the new soaping book I bought - lots of new ideas and things to try. You know how you can get stuck in a bit of a rut and the thrill can kind of fade? Well for me, I am excited about soaping again and can't wait to try out new shapes, colours and forms.

So tell me what gets your blood firing and adrenalin pumping? What keeps you awake at night dreaming of 'what could be'?

Pop your story in the comments, be sure to give me a way to contact you and you are in to win!!

After Dinner Mint anyone?

This is my first attempt at a dual layered soap - that is, joining separate pieces of soap into one bar.

I am calling it the 'after dinner mint' bar - it has organic spearmint oil in the light green centre and serioulsy yummy chocolate for the outside.

Smellin' good people....!

This is a full sized bar with a 'bite' taken out that I thought people could use as a guest soap or for a hand basin.

I got the idea from the new soaping book I just bought and there are heaps more I want to try! What fun!!

I think next time I might try a vanilla centre with the chocolate outside or even say a clear, red 'jelly' centre with a light brown cinnamon outside - JELLY DONUT!!!! Woohooo!!

New soap mould - Batik Dome

Just a quick one to let everyone know I'm still kicking..... Christmas.... crazy time.....

Had a great weekend at the Civic Homespun Markets, with really good sales for my last market of the year and even better company in the form of Isis, Raewyn and Gayle.

It's a bit of a fun time for me at the moment as I received a new soap mould and this great soap book called Soapy Love! It has given me some great ideas and I can't wait to start trying some of them out! Check out the authors website here.

The new mould is a batik style pattern in a dome shape, which I think will make it a good bar to hold onto whilst sudsing in the shower. A workmate ordered some of my Vanilla, Pomegranate and Black Currant soaps and so I whipped these up yesterday.I am liking the idea of a solid coloured bar, with perhaps a light dusting of say, gold mica, in the grooves of the pattern for a really rich looking bar of soap. Hmm... so many options..... what fun!

Homespun

Just a quick blog to let everyone know I am doing one last market for the year. I'll be at the Civic Homespun Market this Saturday 12th from 10am till 3pm.

I'll be lucky enough to share a double stall with Isis (with her awesome journals) and a few friends, so we should have an interesting range of goods to offer.

If anyone else is like me and hasn't started on their Christmas shopping, with 2 weeks to go..... This is a great opportunity to pick up some very groovy, very different and very appreciated pressies!
Hope to see you there!
Pilgrim Hall, Paterson Street (opposite Myer Carpark), Launceston.

More from Niche

Too many great stalls to do justice to them all! This is just another snapshot of the weekend.

Apologies to all the amazing stallholders I have left out!

Life as a Bird Florist - I watched these beautiful flowers and arrangements walk out the door every day!

The Ruby Pear stall

Rebecca Roth - beautiful resin jewellery - gorgeous colours and style

Hungry Kitty - scrummy cakes, biscuits and more that kept all us other stallholders alive for the weekend! Contact Naomi here.

Susie of Black Eyed Susie

Isis, with trusty offsider Raewyn, and her brilliant recycled journals - we were side by side for the weekend (awesome company!) - also met her lovely partner Damian.

Find Your Niche

Just a quick post to pop some photos from the weekend's Niche Market. Three days of glorious handmade and design heaven.... sigh....
It was great to see some faces from the previous Niche Market and lots of new goodies as well. To all those who came along, a big thanks! Weather was a bit of a challenge, but heaps of folks braved the elements in order to bag a designer bargain and get a jump start on Christmas Shopping!

My little corner of Niche...

The always lovely Sophie from That Vintage

3 Blind Mice - 'upcycled' candles - just beautiful

Vee (The Purple Finch) and Kate (3 Blind Mice)

Sam & Maya from Hideyo - amazing origami artworks and bamboo clothing - contact them here

More soon......