I want one of these!!!

I was down at Claire's shop, Landbaby, in the Bluecoat Liverpool and
late afternoon one of the new designers Claire's got in the shop came in.
I can't remember her name but she has set up SewSew as her business and she makes the most amazing things.

She sells them at Claire's shop and online on Etsy, which is a kind of ebay for deisgners and makers to sell their stuff.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5752278

My fave is this guy the Ninja, I am well getting one of these. She has a yeti one, a dinosaur one and a Mr Mushroom one, plus..a Batman one.

Her handmade bags are also amazing. It's made me think about what Little Satsuma does and how maybe we should branch out into selling small local companies/ designers stuff, such as this. It's top quality, it's handmade with care, love and attention. We all share the same ethics and we all have a passion for handmade things that keep skills and trades that many more people had years ago, things we shouldn't lose.

Anyway I am sure there is more to follow on this one. I am going to put a plan together and have a think!

xx

The Candles are finally here

We can now offer palm oil free candles! We have 4 so far:
Grapefruit, Freshly Washed Linen, Coconut & Vanilla.

The come in either tea lights, tumbler jar or metro jar (pictured here).

Also on the way are more varieties in aluminium tins which will be Cranberry, Satsuma(!) and Almond with more to follow.

Some of them are made by us and some are made by another small business that have been really really helpful to us in our quest to perfect the art of candle making (which is noooo way as easy as you'd think it is). It's good for small businesses to stick together and support one another, I am a strong believer in that.

Anyway we are also just sorting out being able to give donations to the Orangutan Foundation from sales of the candles. More to follow...

OrangAid at London's Lyceum Theatre 12th May 08

Monday, May 12, 2008
7:30pm - 10:30pm

OrangAid will be headlined by Bill Bailey again this year, and also featuring Marcus Brigstocke, Russell Howard, Kevin Eldon, Shappi Khorsandi, and hosted by Dave Johns. All proceeds go to the Sumatran Orangutan Society for conservation projects for the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan.
Buy your tickets at www.ticketmaster.co.uk - search for "OrangAid", or call the Box Office on 020 7420 8113. They expect to sell out, so buy your tickets soon!

We are looking forward to it, me and the lovely Miss Vincent, a good mate of mine are volunteering on the night and there will be Little Satsuma soaps on sale. All proceeds will go to the Sumatran Orangutan Society.

Should be good fun, hopefully see you there! xxx

Hills & Peanuts

Sometimes this venture has been like pushing a peanut up a hill with our noses. Tricky, tiring, but there is a great view to be had at the top when you get there.
We have just got an order for soaps for the England Tourism Awards goodie bags for the event on 23rd April which is really fantastic news.
And The Orangutan Foundation have had a new member sign up through us which makes me very very happy.
We will be at the London WorldFair again in December and lots of other eco events.

And the long awaited palm oil free candles are nearly ready. It sounds simple, melt some wax, put in some scent and let it set.......300 candle trials or so later we think we've got the knack of making a candle that actually smells!

They will also be on sale at my friend's shop at the Bluecoat Centre in central Liverpool. see next blog x

Borneo Orangutan Survival

I have been looking for this to post. It is from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and was shown at their Christmas Event & Art Auction which I attended at Flemings.
It really says it all about what is being done to the Orangutans, many other species, local people and their forest home. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation have teams that rescue Orangutans from the Palm oil plantations and during the de-forestation. http://www.savetheorangutan.org.uk/

Happy New Chinese Year Celebrations 10th Feb 08- Year of the Rat

Happy Chinese New Year for 7th Feb! (:

Am hoping to get along to China Town on Sunday for the New Year Celebrations. This is a big event in Liverpool, everywhere is packed and the atmosphere is really lovely.

Liverpool is home to one of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe. Chinese New Year is celebrated at the Chinese Arch on Nelson Street, and 2008 is the Year of the Rat.

There will be dancing dragons, unicorns and lions, firecracker performances and Tai Chi demonstrations. The event is also a great opportunity to enjoy a variety of Chinese food and traditional New Year's delicacies.

Year of the Rat - gave me a smile too - will be a good year for some men I know (:

imagine

whilst at the Anne Frank+ you exhibition at Liverpool Cathedral I also did some other stuff.

I sneaked a look at our Scouse Soap on sale in the shop ( and earwigged into two tourists laughing at the names which made me smile).

I went and had a look at Anthony Brown's portraits from his '100 Heads thinking as one'. There are a few of the 100 on display, and each portrait has pictures and press cuttings about the subject within the piece. I liked this one of John Lennon.

http://www.100heads.co.uk/

As I live just along from Penny Lane, quite often drive past the church in Woolton where Paul and John first met and live down the road from where they grew up (hence the Fab Four taxi tours can always been seen round and about) I often think how even though we don't realise it, somehow the Beatles are woven into the Tapestry of every Scousers life someway or another. maybe that's why we make Scouse Soap!