'Blood On The Moon' - the new Humbug!

A close up - Blood on the Moon handmade soap!


'Blood on the Moon' - sitting schweeetly on a Dylan Bowen slipware plate


'Blood on the Moon' logs.

Humbug has been re-vamped!
I made a dud batch a little while ago. I had used a red clay around the 'moons', which when wet made a bit of a mess...but it came off the soap like blood, which was pretty cool.
I had the new name for Humbug...but knew the red clay was a no no really...just a bit too messy for my liking.
So....back to the drawing board.
I have added a few more balls to the equation and the scent has been tweaked.
Instead of adding Marjoram (which was great for strengthening the mint) I have chosen Lavender. I no longer add Madagascan Vanilla...as I found it too sweet.
This needs to be spicy but with an air about it.
So...we have aloof Peppermint, spicy Spearmint and airy Lavender (officinalis - not angustifolia).
It has the scent I wanted originally!
I also added more white than black...well equal amounts, rather than 3/4's black, 1/4 white.
I think the contrast is great.
And...the soap on the Dylan Bowen plate looks awesome!

...walk with me

...come this way


....take a sneaky peek


....do you see the King's men?

....there's a lot of them. You can never ever count them...ever. It's impossible.

....the backside view...with the Oxfordshire countryside in the distance

....The Whispering Knights

....look into the centre...you will see everybody's wishes cast with a penny

....The King

....blow this up and have a read...it will save me telling you!

....blow this up too...there are wishes tied onto this tree

The Rollright Stones.....just a 20 mile drive from our house.

Matt and I took a trip up the other day for a bit of a 'get away'.

We're not having the easiest time of it at the moment, so we needed some kind of release.

I took a pocket full of coins, and drove up to this stone circle.

We made our wishes and had a really lovely stroll around.

This place is surrounded with myth and folklore. It has a very special feeling surrounding it. It feels warm, homely, safe and calm. People come to the king's men stones to sit and ponder, to cast spells or to make a wish. Around the 'whispering knights' are many people's wishes and spells cast into the centre with all manner of divination paraphernalia.

Across the road is the King Stone.

He stands alone looking over the other side of the valley towards the Vale of Evesham.

At Samhain you will not usually be allowed to enter. There are secret ceremonies almost annually....I shan't tell you what I've seen in the past. Some of it isn't very nice, but it sure is interesting and intriguing to say the least.

On 'our' day, the sky was blue with whispy clouds, a cool breeze with a hot sun.

It was a perfect day.

For those who wish to learn more about The Rollright Stones, click here to see the website.

Indian Summer Collection

White Witch bathing grains - a sumptuous blend of Bourbon Geranium & black Indonesian Patchouli. The perfect balance between light and dark.
Use alongside our White Witch soap for maximum benefits.


Elijah's Comfort bathing grains - Sweet Orange & Sicilian Lemon blended with Bourbon Geranium & Ylang Ylang - with fine rose petals


Cadfael's Garden - a fragrant blend of sweet dewy grass with freshly cut flowers - inspired by Cadfael - the fictional medieval sleuth and herbalist.


Festival bathing grains - a smokey blend of Nag Champa incense & black Patchouli. OMG! Amaze! - To go with our new 'Festival' soap, which is also now available to buy from our website or from Etsy.


I have been ultra busy.
Now available in our Etsy shop and our website is the new collection of bathing grains.
I've been working on these and tweaking the results for the past 2 months and have finally got the mix and the fragrant blends how they should be.
They form part of the Indian Summer collection, which is our new late summer bathing range.
The salts were made to compliment the soap, and will be followed by sugar scrubs and body butters.
Enjoy!

The Cut & The Dream

A row of lovlies.


deep funnelling


Lines & Whisps

Peaks of goodness on my No.11 Signature soap

Freshly cut No. 11

corn rows

expansive sky

a spooky eeriness in here - which i love

wasted

the new home of FuturePrimitive Soap (notice the blog post title!)

nothin' a lick o' paint can't solve

bit shallow but it'll be good for dipping our toes into

making its way to the wheel

which incidentally must've stopped years ago. look at the moss, isn't it wonderful

These pics sum up our weekend.

Cut pics of yesterday's Lancaster soap.

A very long walk into a very pretty place.

I have dreams for this place....anybody got a spare £2million?

Matt wants a pottery - but he'll have to make do with the big 'ol empty barn (s'got lectric!)

I want a soap workshop and a little open store for passers by - the waft of soap up the old path will be enough to entice them in for a cuppa and a bar or two of my finest!

Oh....and I also want a goat or 3. I don't know why but they seem to like me...and I them.

I don't want much more, honest.

'Lancaster' - a sneaky peak

I have a Vintage Fair to attend, which is hosted by the WAVEteam - a bunch of fashionista's from Worcester (Worcester Arts & Vintage Events).

It's not easy to 'get into' these events so imagine how thrilled I was at being accepted.

I had written to the girls to apply and had given some ideas I had rolling around my head for some 40's inspired soaps for the days event. The fair is a tribute to the 1940's and will include tunes from the war years, along with homemade lemonade and cupcakes as well as vintage clothing stands.

So anyway, about 2 weeks later I got an email saying my application was successful.

Today I set to work on my first creation.

I already had the name and the stylin' of the soap all sorted.

It came together in a flash.

I wanted the styling of a Lancaster bomber with a deep but fresh scent - one a little like the smell of old army & navy (and I guess RAF) clothes!

I have used Sweet Orange, Spike Lavender with black Patchouli.

It smells exactly as I wanted it to.

As you can see I have used the funnel technique....something I've not done for about 3 years.

I get scared! You know how thin a trace you need to achieve this right?

Well...I chose oils I know don't accelerate and reached a thin trace and started the pour.

Happy...yes I am! Though..it does look a little like the rings of Saturn!

Cut picks shall be coming up tomorrow.

Pre Orders

Hello

Crazy as it is, I am now taking pre-orders in my Etsy for Festival Soap.
I have been inundated with emails from folks asking me to save one for them, so I thought 'Ah, what the hell...let's stick 'em on Etsy and let 'em at 'em'.

So, if you want to secure your incense soap, go for it here

Love me x