Tweaked

Spring Sherbert Gets a Facelift

The recent (and briefly) sunny weather has put me in the mood to make a favourite: Spring Sherbert.  Containing the usual cocoa butter, apricot kernel oil, meadowfoam seed oil and vitamin E-rich rice bran oil, I tweaked this recipe to use annatto colouring for the yellow swirl.  The mica colour I had previously used seemed to disappear, so I was keen to amp up the depth of colour for this batch.  

I am very happy with the results.  A perfect pale yellow, just right for spring.  The wonderful fizzing floral scent of lemongrass and lavender complements the colour well.  And it nearly will be spring when it's ready!

Picture Diary

Where Have I Been?

During the week, I went for a lovely drive in the hills with a friend and we stopped by this beautiful creek just outside of Ashton.  The area was heady with the smell of dirt, aniseed and water - an evocative wintery smell.

 

This weekend I had breakfast by the sea at Largs Bay.  It was bracing and sunny.  Here are some snaps of the beach; the Largs Pier Hotel, St Albans Church and Queenies Store.

Tulip Mania

Nature's Whimsy

A surprise in a bunch of otherwise pure white tulips.

New Packaging

Look at THIS

I have been flat out this weekend boxing up soap ready for sale.  A lot of fiddly work, but a lot of fun too.  I'm very happy with the results.  Take a peek in my drawers (...I bet that's a line from a Carry On film...):

 

The labelling and the ribbons have been designed by my good pal Karena at magicjelly.com.au.  She has done a remarkable job and I am so happy that she devoted the time away from her own commitments to work on these wonderful labels.  Like all of Karena's work, these have a modern, fresh appeal but still pay homage to the past, a thoughtful nostalgia.  I recommend anyone check out her site for further beautiful work! 

Fresh Cut

Even the Palms Are Swaying

The weekend's batch of South Pacific soap has now been cut and has been squirreled away for its four week curing time.  It will nearly be spring when it's ready!  Dust off the deck chair, polish the mai tai jug and get ready to swoon!

South Pacific

Soaping on a Sunday Afternoon

I am hoping to have the Shanghai Lil & The Scarlet Fez shop open in about two weeks, so I have quite a few things to do, like make soap.  

So, I made a block of South Pacific soap today.  This is the one scented with ylang ylang and may chang essential oils - a mix which makes a super-uplifting and dreamily tropical scent. 

But that's not all; this soap is packed with olive oil, and olive pomace (when olive oil just isn't olivey enough for you!), coconut oil, luscious cocoa butter and gentle apricot kernel oil.  This mix of oils makes this soap a fantastic conditioning soap, gentle and creamy. 

Flea Market Find

Paul Jones Watercolour Menus

A perfect wintery day to be poking around a flea market stall and I have come up trumps!  A batch of menus from the early 1950s for the Orient Line.  The cover of each menu features a flower in honour of one of the destinations frequented by the cruise liner.  The artist is the highly regarded botanical watercolourist, Paul Jones (1921 - 1997).