My New Favorite Thing

This past weekend I had a booth at the Ballard Seafood Fest.  I had the good luck to be placed next to an artist named Augusta, who makes woven pewter thread and reindeer leather bracelets in the Indigenous Scandinavian Sami tradition.  Her company is called Nomadic Artistry and she has some lovely photos of the many varieties of bracelets that she creates.  I had to have one. You can see why.

Augusta is originally from Petersburg, Alaska.  This town on Mitkoff Island in the Southeastern part of the state is known by most as "Little Norway".  It's full of fishing folks and beautiful scenery, judging from the photos I saw. Someday I'd like to visit.

To make the bracelets, Augusta weaves or braids fine pewter threads and attaches them to strips of tanned reindeer leather.  She uses reindeer antler or pewter buttons as a clasp.  The leather softens and molds to your wrist over time and is extremely comfortable to wear.  

Judging from the condition of the one Augusta has worn on her own wrist for many years, they are extremely durable as well as looking delicately refined. I would have taken a picture of one on my own wrist to show you the scale, but then you'd all see my blue veins, scars and freckles...and no one really needs that, right?  Just take my word for it.  My Sami bracelet holds its own against the David Yurman torque that I've worn for the past 20 years.  Now it has a friend on my wrist to keep it company.  :-)

The Skruben Anniversary Winners Are...

#2 Katie who wrote: "I really enjoyed the post about how you use hemp oil + green tea as a facial moisturizer."


#9 CS who wrote: "I laughed out loud when I read your Mountain Beaver Saga. He even has the same nickname as my husband! Good luck with your raspberries and keep blogging. I enjoy reading all your topics!"


Email me (asbloom [at] seattlesundries.com) with your mailing address and choices of products (one soap, one lotion bar & one Smooch Stick), and I'll get those out in the mail to you pronto!!


Thanks to EVERYONE for the feedback and interest in Skruben!

Blog Anniversary...& Giveaway!

Image courtesy of Tack-o-Rama

Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of Skruben, and my entry into the blogging world.  It's hard to believe that much time has passed.  It's been a pretty colorful two years with a collection of posts that are moderately random, but hopefully informative.  My goal is quality content, not quantity (clearly).  I hope you all enjoy what I come up with!

In celebration, let's do a giveaway!!  Two winners will receive their choice of one Seattle Sundries soap (in a tin), one Smooch Stick and one lotion bar.  Winners will be chosen by RNG on Monday, so you only have the weekend to get your entry in.  Do it now so you don't forget!

To enter, leave a comment telling me what your favorite Skruben post has been so far and/or what kinds of topics you are most interested in reading in the future.  Now...GO!!!

Seattle Bride's Best of 2011

We had a great time last night attending Seattle Bride Magazine's "Best of 2011" party.  When we arrived, we learned that (for the second year in a row) we were nominated in the category Most Creative Favors.  

We were in great company as nominees with local businesses Marrylicious  and Paper Fling.  The winner ended up being Marrylicious, but the funny thing is...in the magazine photograph showing a Marrylicious gift basket, you can see a lovely tin of our Lavender Lover Soap nestled among the other local products they use.  Tee hee.  Love it!  

Thanks to the folks at Seattle Bride Magazine, the readers, and the other wedding industry folks for nominating us and recognizing the creativity in what we do.

The Mountain Beaver Saga

Since it's the weekend and some gardening is going to happen, I thought I'd do an update on my ongoing Mountain Beaver battle.  Here's a brief summary:  a Mountain Beaver (named Butt Head) lives in the bushes on the edge of our yard.  Every year he waits until our new raspberry shoots have grown long and lush, then he chops them off with his sharp little teeth and carries them off to his evil lair.  We had a total harvest of about 10 berries last year. It makes me so mad I could spit (as my Grandma always said).  After several years of trying an electric fence solution, I finally gave up on it.  I just never felt confident that it was working, either because my kids had turned it off when they played in the yard or because the power supply would fail.  I was constantly preoccupied with checking to see if it was functioning properly.  I was living a life of paranoia and obsession... a shell of a woman.

So this year I just put up a chicken wire fence.  I like it because I can actually see that it's working.  It may not look great, but it's totally serving its purpose.  I just used lengths of rebar every two or three feet, which I wove through the wire and hammered into the ground.  I tacked down the bottom edge of the chicken wire with tree stakes to make sure BH couldn't push his way under.  True story...on the day that I went to Home Depot to buy the tree stakes my husband was out in the yard and saw BH walk around the edge of the fence and try to nose his way under it.  What a little s#@t!  

Happily, he was not successful.  See how nicely everything's growing in!  I'm feeling very hopeful.

The Saga continues...Part 4

Real Soap, Drugs & Rock and Roll

This is incredible...hilarious and very informative.  I had no idea that I was producing such an illicit substance!

Thanks to the folks at Dr. Bronner's for putting this video together.

Solid Lotions

I started making some new products a couple of months ago that my customers and I are really enjoying.  The new items are solid lotion bars and sticks for moisturizing the skin.  At a recent craft fair, the responses from people who saw them were about evenly divided between folks who knew what they were and were elated to see that I now carry them, and people who I needed to explain the whole concept to in great detail.  Since so many people have never heard of solid lotion bars, or understand their advantages, I thought I'd do a little educating...

image courtesy of Tack-o-Rama

The solid lotion bars and sticks are simply a mixture of nourishing oils, beeswax, moisturizing butters, and sometimes essential oils for scent.  There are no artificial or synthetic ingredients in them.  Compared to liquid lotions, they are very concentrated and compact (most liquid lotions are 70%-80% water).  The warmth from your skin softens the bar just enough to make it glide easily over your skin and layer everything with the moisturizing ingredients, which soak in within a few seconds.  The effect is not greasy because I have chosen oils that absorb quickly and are light, but very high in nutrients.  A little goes along way and a small lotion bar can last for months with regular use.  I make two different types right now: scented bars, and unscented sticks. 

The round Happy Hand Lotion Bars come in a small tin.  To use them, you just pop the little cake of lotion out of the tin and rub it on your hands, legs, elbows, or wherever your skin needs some extra TLC.  These bars all are scented with natural essential oils and smell great.  They're also really great for slipping into a purse or desk at work because they don't take up much space and won't accidentally get spilled like a liquid lotion might.  The lids on tins I use are screw-on, so that they won't pop off in your purse either.  Handy.

The Super Smooth Lotion Stick is unscented and made with a higher percentage of moisturizing butters, as well as oils that are known to have a low comedogenic rating.  The lotion sticks could be used on the face or for people with very sensitive skin.  I recommend these for eczema, stretch marks, or when the skin under your nose gets really raw and chapped from wiping it during cold or allergy season.  It comes in a small roll-up stick like a lip balm tube so that it's easy to apply on problem spots.

And I'm so pleased with how I was able to slyly slip in my Flying S logo on the label again!  Aren't you impressed?