If you’re like many of us here at the Office of Sustainability, then you’ve spent the last few weeks enjoying all of the great summer sports we can finally dive into. Myself, I love playing soccer. There’s nothing better than chasing a ball around a green, grassy field in the sunshine with some good friends.
Of course, I’m always looking for new ways to make my lifestyle more sustainable too.
I love honey for many reasons! We grew up with bees on our acreage in eastern Ontario and enjoyed having fresh honey on hand for eating and baking. My favourite kind was probably clover honey.
As you might have guessed, I grew up eating a lot of honey and as I got older I learned more about its unique properties, beyond being delicious, that were beneficial for healthy skin. It is excellent for skin care and could be aded to facials, soaps, creams, etc. it has been used for centuries as a wound treatment and is gaining a resurgence in interest from the medical community. Starting almost from the beginning, I began adding it to my soaps and facial scrubs. One of my most popular soaps is “cool mint, honey & oats soap”. Pictured here as a felted soap.
OnSunday I took a workshop through Shovel & Fork about beekeeping. It was such a fun afternoon hanging out in lovely backyard with fruit trees blooming, the sun shining, fresh pizzas being made in a nearby cob oven while learning about bees and seeing. Sounds pretty amazing, right?
Thanks to Tracey of Beanstalk Honey for teaching a great class! The world of bees is so fascinating. At the end of the class Tracey made our day when she got out several jars of honey to try including a few of her own that she sells at farmers markers such as: clover, dandelion, wildflower & alfalfa honeys. Each one had distinct and beautiful flavours and textures!
I feel excited about the prospect of having bees someday! Thanks to Tracey of Beanstalk Honey for teaching such a great class and thanks to Shovel & Fork for hosting a great workshop! The world of bees is so fascinating and I’m excited to learn as much as I can!
mountain ash wood soap dish (letter A pattern)
apple wood soap dishes (unfinished)
I have finally finished my wooden soap dishes and they are ready to bring to the Royal Bison this weekend!
Why a wooden soapdish?
These dishes are made from tree trimmings taken from trees grown in Edmonton.
So far, I’ve made soap dishes from mountain ash and apple wood. I’ve sealed them with a no VOC linseed oil finish which is water resistant and protects the wood from water damage. Not to worry though, apple and mountain ash are both hardwoods and can withstand a bit of water getting on them.
Each dish is unique and carved with either a tree pattern, letter A, or has drainage holes throughout the dish. Definitely a compliment to any sink countertop!
Welcome sign
Custom Woolen Mills working museum
Storage barn for unprocessed wool
Yesterday I took a road trip to rural Alberta to check out the Custom Woolen Mills near Carstairs Alberta, which is a working museum and store. I order my wool from there for my felted soaps and wool dryer balls and wanted to take a day to go and check it out and see how wool is made and learn more about the materials behind my products.
Well, it was well worth the trip!
When you get there it’s like a step back in time. All the machines date back to 1886 and Custom Woolen Mills started operation in 1975 as a family run business. They have grown from processing 40,000 pounds of wool a year when they first started to over 100,000 pounds a year now! The mill has a self-guided tour of their working museum which is where they process the wool and you can watch the machines and staff working away. There is also an elevated working area that you can climb up to to get a top-down view of the processing area.
When I walked in there, it was noisy and a little dark, and my glasses immediately steamed up. I thought for sure I had walked into a place where I shouldn’t be. ie. only for workers. A nice lady came out and introduced herself and welcomed me to the mill. After defogging my glasses, I could then see all the machines in front of me and was in total awe. I hadn’t really thought about the processing of wool being a warm & humid experience, but it makes sense! To wash & clean the wool, you need very hot water, which makes for a steamy workplace. It’s also a little bit stinky as you can imagine with the amount of wet wool in there. It’s really not very strong though and your nose adjusts pretty quickly.
I got a chance to have a quick tour and learn a bit more about the wools they process and where they get their wool from. They get wool from farmers in: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, BC, and some from northern US states. They process wool form the following breeds: and even do some alpaca wool processing. All the wool is what is called “new wool” meaning it’s fresh from the sheep and hasn’t been processed before it reaches their mill. Fact of the day for me was: There is no need to be envious of New Zealand wool or Uk wool, Canadian wool is often of a higher quality, loftier in texture than imported wools because our sheep live in more extreme temperatures. Our Canadian climate helps makes their wool more fluffy and bulky and higher quality! That’s something I can support and be produce of despite all the snow we seem to get getting this year!
The staff are very nice and take pride in what they do. Their little wool shoppe is adorable. It’s where you can buy wool, roving, sweaters, socks, etc. all made from their wool that is carded, spun, and dyed on site. They even make wool pillows, blankets, comforters, and wool insulation for your house. How neat is that?! If you want some of these awesome products but can’t make it to their store in person, check out their online shoppe.
Why I love wool! Wool is:
Wool has insulating properties keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer. Wool can absorb 30% of it’s weight in water without feeling damp. One of the reasons they are great in wool dryer balls and felted soaps!
Before I left, I picked out a car full of roving wool in a variety of colours to bring back to Edmonton with me to get working on my dryer balls in prep for the Royal Bison, May 3-5 and a few more shows coming up after that! Check out my events page to find out where I’m at for upcoming shows and my products page to see which stores are carrying some of my products.
I can’t believe it’s almost time for the bison! This spring has been a bit of a blur with the Make It Show and Flock & Gather! But, save the best for last, right?! I’m really excited to get to comeback to the Bison this spring. Last winter was my first time at the Bison, and it’s now my most favourite craft show to be at! Thanks edmonton for making this such an awesome event for artists, artisans, crafters, bakers, and more!
Some new products you will se at the Bison for the first time in Edmonton include: my new reclaimed apple wood & mountain ash soap dishes. Pretty neat, heh? Why wooden soapdishes? Keeping your soap dry keeps it lasting longer, and a reclaimed wood soap dish speaks to what I do, using local ingredients as much as possible. I’ve been asked for soap dishes in the past and hadn’t gotten around to making them or coming up with a plan to ensure I sourced the wood locally, but I figured out a plan, and hope you like them! All the dishes either have holes for drainage or groove patterns that have been hand cut. EAch dish is sealed with a special linseed oil coating to protect from moisture, which means you can take your dish in the shower if you like!
Also look out for my “uncomplicatedly awesome deodorant” in:
Felted soaps (Soap & gentle loofah in one!), artisan castille soap bars, whipped beeswax creams, beeswax lip butters,
Spring cleaning favourites:
It is the law that when you are a Nerd like me, you instantly know how to fix PC's, tablets and all sorts of general household electronics. The fact that I can indeed fix them is irrelevant! This blog starts just a week before this blog post, I was going round a neighbours house to fix their laptop and in the front room they had a chandelier!
It’s feeling like spring cleaning time! I was featured on Global TV this morning bright and early at the Carbon Boutique where I got to share a simple DIY cleaning recipe and talk about some of my products that are now available in Carbon’s store: Soapnuts Laundry Detergent & Wool Dryer Balls.
In the news feature I shared a simple DIY recipe which I make at home which I call: Citrus Peel Surface Cleaner. It’s excellent for many surfaces such as: glass, mirrors, windows, countertops, stainless steel fridge doors, sinks, your car dash & windows. Why citrus peel vinegar & not straight white vinegar? You are welcome to use straight vinegar blended with water for cleaning surfaces and it works great. I started making this citrus cleaner because I found it gave a pleasant, lasting clean smell in the house that wasn’t as harsh to the nose at straight vinegar. Also, many citrus essential oils come from the peel of the fruit and they are great for cleaning and disinfecting. By soaking the orange peels in vinegar, it draws out the essential oils and creates a citrus infused vinegar that smells amazing & works great! Neat eh?!
Recipe & Instructions:
1) Get some oranges. Organic oranges are best as you are using the peels in this recipe. I am using oranges in this recipe, but you could also use lemons, grapefruit and even limes!
2) Place orange peels in a mason jar as shown in the photo and add vinegar to the jar to keep peels covered. Keep adding peels and vinegar until you get to a full jar.
3) Place jar in a sunny window and let the peels infuse the vinegar with their oils for 2-4 weeks.
4) After 2-4 weeks has passed, strain the vinegar into a clean jar or bottle and put peels in the compost. Your orange peel vinegar is now ready for making into a surface cleaner! It will have a beautiful orange colour as shown in the tall bottle in right side of the photo. You will also notice it doesn’t have as pungent of a smell as the plain white vinegar that you started with!
5) Find a spray bottle and mix the vinegar with tap water in a ratio of 1 part to 2 parts (1:2) or 1 to 3 parts (1:3) of vinegar to water. For example, mix 1/2 cup vinegar to 1 cup water (1:2 ratio), or 1/2 cup vinegar to 1-1/2 cups water (1:3) ratio. Add 1 tbsp. castille soap or liquid soapnuts detergent to your bottle. Add essential oils such as: rosemary, eucalyptus, or tea tree to add some extra disinfecting power to your spray. For a bottle of 250mL size add 10-12 drops of essential oils in total. Shake your bottle to thoroughly mix the ingredients.
6) Spray on mirrors, windows, countertops, stainless steel fridges, etc. and wipe with a clean, lint-free cloth. Your vinegar concentrate will last for 1-2 years. I tend to buy my oranges at the market when they are in season and make a big batch of orange peel vinegar and save it to use throughout the year.
Happy spring cleaning!
If you have any questions about this recipe, feel free to post on my blog or send me an email to: info@ameyastudio.com
This weekend I will be in Saskatoon for the Flock & Gather Craft Fair!! Road trip=fun!
I’m very excited to return to a city I once lived in and still have a soft spot for. There are some great vendors at this show that I can’t wait to check out and am humbled to be in such awesome company! I’m looking forward to seeing Kyle Chow of Plant Terrariums (awesome, awesome terrariums!), Rebecca King clothing (who designed my bridesmaid dresses, which I loved!), Hidden Stitch (reupholstered, up-cycled furniture), Carole Cooper (pottery), & more! Plus, several artists are travelling from Edmonton such as: Sabrina Butterfly Designs (beautiful, handmade clothing), Blow in the Dark Glassworks, (eye catching beautiful vessels, glasses, and more!) & Salgado Fenwick (hand drawn silkscreened apparel featuring wild animals). Check out the flock& gather blog this week for feature artists that will be at the show. warning: your jaws may drop when you see the photos of artist goods posted here!
Thanks to Flock & Gather for featuring me this week on their blog! See you soon Saskatoon soon!
Wow, day 1 of make it was a fabulous success! Thank you to everyone who came out yesterday! I can’t wait to see what happens at day 2 & 3 of the event! It’s happening at the enjoy centre and the hours are: 11am-6pm today & 11am-5pm on Sunday! See you there & have a great weekend!
It’s shaping up to be an exciting spring! And a busy one in the studio!
I’ll be doing 2 spring shows in Edmonton and my first spring show in Saskatoon. I used to live in Saskatoon a few years ago, and I have a soft spot for it, so I’m happy to go back for a visit! It’s such a great river city too! I’ll be bringing lots of great creations to these events that showcase my handmade, unique, sustainable skincare and cleaning products that you love! Watch my social media for sneak peeks over the coming weeks!
In lead up to my first big spring event, I am having a draw for my fans!!
FACEBOOK FAN DRAW PRIZE for MAKE IT EDMONTON – Be sure to enter by April 11th! If you haven’t become a fan of my facebook page, well now’s the time! I will be doing a draw for a prize a gift bag of my items containing $20 of products at Make It Edmonton for someone who is coming to make it AND who is a fan of my facebook page!! Pretty sweet or what?! How do you win this lovely prize? To enter, say you are coming on the Make It Facebook event page and become a fan of my page. I’ll do the random draw on Friday April 12 after the show starts and will announce the winner on my facebook fan page!
Have a great weekend!!
