WELCOME TO... ROSE COTTAGE SKINCARE & SOAPS

Back again........

2010-03-01T11:22:00.000Z

Hello!
Its been a long few months since I was here, and much has happened (as it does)
Due to difficulties with being self employed, I have had to stop and go back on the dreaded benefits :(
However it wont stop my love of making nice smelly things!!
I will write more soon, the piccy is my oldest snowboarding outside our home!

Does ANYBODY ever read any of this?.

2009-12-12T18:59:00.001Z

If you do, PLEASE say something, anything !! I would so appreciate a hi or gidday !

Photo shop help....

2009-12-12T18:00:00.002Z

Does any one know how to do a white background on PSE..? with out manually painting it out , and getting wobbly lines like this? please let me know how..have googled and cant find an answer that does not require money, or a registration.

Photo Shop Elements is very good and I need to buy it and learn to use it, to produce photos for my web site.

2009-12-11T17:37:00.001Z

Hemp & Calendula

2009-12-11T17:32:00.001Z

Wow!! I have been making slow steady progress, and its such a fascinating journey, your own business.
A lady at my boys school recieved her order today from me, she was so pleased! I gave her , her bag of goodies and her face lit up ! so nice and lovely to see!
I made her a cream, the Hemp & Calendula, still warm in the jar, as I had made it an hour ago..you cant get much fresher than that! thats one of my unique selling points or USP..freshly made for each order.
The Hemp & Calendula is an olive green, as that is the colour of the Hemp oil, and yes its from the same herb that some smoke...but the oil is cold pressed from the seeds.
The balm works amazingly well on dry, chapped skin. I cant say that it also helps psoriasis and eczema, as thats not allowed, no claims ,so I have not said that its brilliant for those conditions. I also wont tell you how often I have used it on nappy rash, and the rash is gone the next day! I cant say that.
The worlds not allowing me to tell you how it calms and gets rid of bad dry skin, in case you sue me, or some such lunacy....

Social Networking

2009-11-28T09:24:00.000Z

Saturday morning ! Dell have changed the Motherboard on this laptop twice this week & problem still not fixed! Now I have to reinstall everything Oh No!
I have lernt a lot this week , about what people like to see/not see ,in a website! I have dont it wrong, and I have to try and look at things from the buyers eye. However, I have lernt that people dont want to read a lot of text , yet you must update your Blog or people will loose interest ?. Well Blogs are text, so maybe I need to say less?

Sunday in Suburbia...(whats wrong with the world)

2009-11-22T14:43:00.073Z

Hello friends! Its Sunday arvo & there is a big piece of pork slowly cooking in the oven, I like to cook it slowly so that it melts in the mouth.
We like apple sauce with it, yum. My neighbour is also anticipating the weekly feast, as hes single, we shair our bounty with him, and in return he often pops up at my door with an offering of his own, usually a curry or a scottish dish, as hes scottish and likes scottish tucker! as hes alone he often cooks too much, so it works out very well for both of us, as he has a knack of offering plates of food at times when I've had a hectic day, and my boys have returned from school ravenous,as always!, (and I am in no mood to be anchored in the kitchen,) and so my gastro-knight in shining armour arrives!

Its a usual sort of Sunday, eldest son is on his PS3 and regularly offers verbal updates as to the status of the current game hes involved in.
Younest is watching The Grinch on TV, he does sit still in small spurts, in between these -oh to brief moments,he is rearranging the couch and doing kamakazi jumps onto the floor or torturing my beloved PC (pussy Cat,we call her PC)
If hes not doing that,or guiltily writng on the wall,he is asking for drinks and/or food.
Hes a high maintainence lad, I pity his future significant other !

Its wet and damp in Brighton today, so the park is no option for us.

I am in lounge watching over young Windmill boy (yes hes often seen waving his arms like his namesake).who is having a brief quiet moment with Mr Grinch..
I am (as usual) on the Lappy (lap top )..doing Blogs,Web Site, Email,Forum posts,Labels, Business Plan (on going forever) and talking to loved ones in New Zealand, Australia,Canada and Switzerland, and all I have here is my Mum, all the rest of us are scattered (sadly) globally.
When I am not glued to lappy I have my nose in a book(God bless Amazon), or I am making nice smelly things.
Or I am doing HOUSEWORK UUUghhh! some (all) would say not enough..lol!

I wonder if I could tie dusters onto Windmill Boys hands and feet...hmmm...no better not, its against human rights!
What about Parents in need (of Peace) and save the parents fund..and stop parental misuse..no one EVER thinks we might need protecting from the verbal and physical assaults that toddlers dish out to us every day (bless them!)..aww hes a sweetie..Instead of protection we are made to feel guilty at every step of our childrearing adventure.

Its true! We are made to feel guilt at every stage of the game, from their birth until they retire!
We have to live in this Nanny State, where the Govt. tells us how to rear our little ones, (because we are to stupid to do it ourselves,& thats exactly the tone of it).It feels awful being a parent, from this aspect, you constantly live in fear that someones going to take them away because I give them full cream milk instead of skim! I realise I could be being very slightly extreme in my portrayal of this, but the crux of it is all to frighteingly true ,to us parents in this so called modern society.

Parents are isolated from the rest of the community, and we are treated as guilty until proven innocent, guilty of what? everything! The world has gone truely mad,as the Govt lurches towards total control of its sheep.
The worst thing is that people are not even noticing this pernicious ,nasty process.George Orwell would be amazed ,at how its even worse than he imagined.

Children are not allowed to play conkers any more, they are not allowed any freedom, they are wrapped in cotton wool to produce the perfect little obedient clones of the future, social engeneering at its worst, and NO ONE IS NOTICING!!
Our society is cultivating fear and apathy .People are afraid to be free .

The only thing that the Govt can't really control is the internet, as freedom of speech is no more, you can be arrested now for saying something innocent but against human rights..theres no freedom of speach left!
Mention any thing about foreigners or immigration and your in big trouble!Trouble is ,Govts never learn from experience or common sense, if you suppress something you in fact actually increase rebellion! Duh!!...Its gone mad..!

Porks nearly done...

2009-11-22T10:21:00.001Z

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rose-Cottage-Natural-Skincare/183777632082#

arghhh! so frustrating...

2009-11-22T10:10:00.000Z

I cant get my FaceBook button to link to my Face book fan page!! its go's to my personal page...or no page found....tried numerous combo's..grr! maybe it's because my page is new...

2009-11-21T10:36:00.001Z

Get Twitter buttons

QUACK ! DO YOU LIKE THIS ? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!

2009-11-19T14:29:00.001Z

I MADE DUCK SOAPS!

2009-11-19T14:27:00.000Z

I have been wanting to try this for a while, but being a complete beginner, they are far from perfect, but its ok for a first try I spose.!. They are opaque M&P soap for base,with a drop of blue & coconut fragrance, then a layer of lighter blue, and the top is a mix of foaming bath butter and opaque M&P soap, whipped until thick and creamy and then spooned on top. I dont know how hard the topping will go, but we shall see! I am guessing thats how to make whipped/creamy but hopefully hard soap topping.I used sillicon muffin moulds ,as they are so easy to remove soap from.
My 4 yr old loves these and is a fantastic eager guinea pig!

2009-11-19T11:13:00.001Z

HERE IS THE CULPRIT....

ONE LUMP OR TWO?

He he , you know I always used to think that people who go silly about animals were silly, now I understand! Heres Isis, and I love her completely! If shes not on my bed at night it feels wrong...she is 1 yr old, and shes getting a fat bum! I am very grateful to the lady who gave her to me!!

Wheres The Customers?

2009-11-19T10:45:00.000Z

So wheres the Customers? ..none yet, and actually that is ok, because it would be rather stressful if I suddenly got hundreds,a gradual build up is better, I know.
I know, but I want a customer...(tantrums on floor!)....All my wise and experienced friends tell me that it does not happen that way, it is gradual...and then theres search engine optomisation, how do you do that? ...I have google analytics, thanks to a computer savvy very kind friend, bless him (u know who you are !)
Oh I wont bore you all by humming along about all this....zzzzz.....sorry! but I am having trouble putting code on home page for web master tools.....zzz sorry, I will go now....

2009-11-19T10:24:00.000Z

PS I did warn said Other Half that that was to funny not to record for future generations, and so I have....luckily hes not here, he was not very impressed at the time....wonder if he still wants kids....

2009-11-19T10:22:00.000Z

WOULD YOU LIKE ONE LUMP OR TWO?
Living with young children is so much fun!
One day when I was feeling crabby and stressesd and 4 yr old asked what was for dinner I snapped CAT POO! which must have impressed him, as the next day I heard a Screech, and I raced to kitchen to see what was happening....Other Half was gibbering incomprehensably and holding out his coffee at me.....Yup...you guessed it, 4 yr old had gone to cats litter box and very kindly given other half two lumps......
And that is absolutely true!
Once I had recovered from going helpless with laughter...
I told 4 yr old that we dont mean 2 lumps of cat poo....
Needless to say the then Other Half now gets his coffee elsewhere....

2009-11-19T10:11:00.000Z

Some more views of my delicious

Oatmeal & Honey Soap.

Well , the web site is up and running, been up for 2 days (lol) I feel like I have as well!.

No one told me that you have to speend HOURS stuck to the laptop, blogging,updating web site,and talking! Hey, my son would say But Mum, you have been glued to a PC since the day I was born.....Hmm I do have a photo of him at 3 yrs old ,surfing the web, pot calling kettle.....now hes addicted to PS3 and X box, not so keen on helping me with web design, but VERY quick to mention the increasing pile of dust bunnys in the corner!

At least my dust bunnies smell nice, consisting of mostly rose petals and bath bomb crumbs,in lovely fragrances.

I have quality dirt, you know!

Unlike his, consisting of old crusty socks & fossilised under pants going stiff under his bed..

Even more alarming is the 4 yr old, who hijacks the lap top the moment i move away (which isnt often)

He then gos to Google and gets his Cbeebies web site up....but he is to young to be able to read.....

He cant read but hes an expert at surfing the web, closing windows,finding the pages he wants....HUH??!!!

Hes in reception class, and as soon as he gets to school hes straight onto the class PC....its the reason he likes school, they have good paint software...what happened to A B C....oh yeah, silly me, its a Michael Jackson song.....

He always gives himself away when he hijacks lappy, as the room is filled with the music to Big & Small....

The bigger son expresses utter astonishment every time I show him how to do an app on his mobile phone...Mum!! how did you know how to do that???????

How do you know about technology? your old and silly! Perhaps old, but not so silly Buster...!

2009-11-18T14:22:00.002Z

2009-11-18T14:20:00.000Z

On the left is Hemp & Shea Soap, & next row is Shea Butter Soap, unscented & pure, and it makes the most amazing Lather I have ever seen,& is a favourite!

2009-11-18T14:17:00.000Z

My Pride & Joy...Coffee Body Butter, made with real Fair Trade Coffee, Shea Butter (Fair Trade from Ghana) Cocoa butter & sweet Almond oil...smells like freshly perculated coffee & sinks into the skin, leaving a velvety sheen, I love this one!....

2009-11-18T14:14:00.000Z

More Strawberry soap, do you think the colour would put you of? would you buy it? Hmmm, I would love to have some opinions please...ta x..oh , and it does smell very fruity and strawberry, like a strawberry milkshake! Yummy!

2009-11-18T14:11:00.000Z

This is a CP soap made with freeze dried Strawberrys, sadly the strawberry powder goes a brown colour

which is not so attractive as the powder ,which is bright red powdered strawberrys, but I have lernt a lesson here! It smells delicious & Lathers beautifully....oh well......

2009-11-18T14:07:00.002Z

Lavender & Ylang Ylang Bath Bombs...mmmm.....

2009-11-18T14:06:00.002Z

You Can See Lavender CP Soap Here...

2009-11-18T14:04:00.002Z

Another View Of The Basket

2009-11-18T14:03:00.000Z

This is my Shea Butter & Lavender CP Soap....does it look ok? smells wonderful!

2009-11-18T13:50:00.000Z

Hello!

Here is a little gift basket I made. It has Lavender CP Soap, Strawberry whipped shea butter, a lavender bath bomb ,a geranium bath bomb, a scrubby thing, and a real starfish......and of course a dear wee rubber duckey......

2009-11-18T08:21:00.001Z

Todays the day....

2009-11-16T15:45:00.000Z

just a quick post as I need to do school run....TODAY I AM SELF EMPLOYED!! its scarry and frightening and exciting all at once!
I have been snapping pictures and posting onto my web site...all in a few hours...I have many more hours to go ...wow.....

2009-11-14T11:31:00.001Z

Soap Queen TV: Holiday Stamp Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

2009-11-14T11:16:00.002Z

Is There A Mentor Out There Please??

2009-11-14T11:06:00.000Z

I am asking the universe to bring me a mentor...someone very experienced in business practice..someone who is experienced in taking baby ventures and turning them into something big and wonderful and life changing.
I also want this person to care about people and the environment..and care about helping others less fortunate to improve their lives.
So....I want someone to come and help me out...I am not looking for finance as such, although it would be nice!!
I realise that I cant do it all myself...and my weaknesses need complimenting with someone strong and experienced...I Need A Dragon!!.....Peter where are you??
Seriously tho....I know your out there and I am waiting for you.....

young un has started school.....

2009-11-14T10:48:00.000Z

Yipee....my youngest has started school and he LOVES it! I am so happy I managed to get him into the school that big brother goes to, its a very good church school, and small, they teach morals and love and they are fantastic.Its by far the best school in my area, and I am so thankful they are both there.My next move, when Rose Cottage is sucessful,is to get a house out of our area with a garden and some room for us all.
I plan to still keep them in their school, and will drive them in every morning, its well worth the effort.I have only positive pictures in my mind of what is going to happen for us, in the near future. I am feeling very happy !!!! more soon...xx

I am Back now

2009-11-14T10:34:00.000Z

Hello, Since Shaun moved out, He took the internet with him, and so I have had to get new services, which is never a fast process in the uk!
Had to wait weeks to get landline, and more weeks to get internet...why they are so slow I dont know! Then the laptop decided to stop recognising its power adaptor, so after a replecement came from Dell, laptop decided it would not recognise the new one either...eeek....laptop threw A tantrum when I put a One Terrabite external hard drive onto it...maybe it was jellous?! The offending external hard drive came as a birthday present, and of course it feels very smug,sleek,black and shiny...and boasting a huge Terrabite of strorage, which is a thousand gigabite.
Laptop took offence at this smugness and threw a wobbly!!Anyway lappy will work of power cord now...

Me ? what am I up to? wow, lots...I am going to a meeting on monday about running an internet business, which i am looking forward to very much.
I have all products ready to go...I need to take photos and put on web site now...waiting for a nice day as I want to take piccys of products on the beach, which is a 10 min walk from my home...but the weather has turned into a windy hurricane today...so plan B....
On Monday I am going officially self employed, so have paper work galore, luckily the job centre lady is helping me....bless her

hi

2009-11-14T10:17:00.001Z

Hello, and hello Kelly!! the abrupt halt was due to lack of internet...resolved now xx

2009-09-23T20:11:00.001+01:00

2009-09-23T15:59:00.001+01:00

The Olive Branch,with fruit.The soapers friend!

soap

2009-09-23T15:57:00.000+01:00

I have made 3 1kilo loaves of soap today.
2 are unscented Shea Butter, made with the very wonderful Nilotica Shea Butter, from Ghana, Organic and unrefined, its beautiful and creamy yellow and so soft.The soap looked just like custard going into the mold. I also superfatted it with Shea for even more goodness, and I will sell this as un -scented and vegan friendly,and extremely conditioning & moisturising.
The last loaf is Hemp&Olive, scented with natural coconut and lime fragrance, superfatted with Shea butter. I hope this will emerge from its mold a pale green,as Hemp oil is very green.
The worst part now is waiting...no peeking...while the soap saponifies in the mold.
Tomorrow I will show you pictures of the soaps as I can demold & slice them (yipee!)
As you have probably guessed ,I have recieved my goodies from Helen,and have many wonderful oils,but I now need colourants and additives,which will be in the next order! I only use natural colours and frangrance,as I like to keep chemical free as much as possible.
The next soaps will be christmas specials,and more!!....I love making the soap so much!!

2009-09-21T19:17:00.000+01:00

rosecottagebalmsandsoap.co.uk.........Opening Mid October...Theres a free gift with every order in October!! See you there!

2009-09-19T16:26:00.003+01:00

Goodie...an order..!!!

2009-09-18T21:22:00.000+01:00

I have gone onto my favourite web site and ordered all the wonderful oils and butters and essential oils...heaven!! and I am getting my soap safety assessment done now ,for the christmas soap yipeee! I am so excited ! I have wonderful friends,Scott,my assessor,and Kev who has helped me get the web site organised...thats Kev from Taonga Jewellery and Homescents, and Scott who does brilliant assessments for small crafters like me,and offers back up support and help after hes issued your assessment.
If any reader wishes to contact either of these two fabulous people for help, then go to my web site (theres a link to the right of my blog page)...and contact me via email from my web site rosecottagebalmsandsoap.co.uk...please feel free to ask any questions, and you can also leave a comment on this blog,leave your email addy and I will contact you and direct you to either Kev or Scott.
Now I have to be patient...arghh...patient is soo hard !
Monday is the day I will recieve my order from H @ Fresholi. Another very good web site for you to visit!
OOh I cant wait....!

Jobcentre help...

2009-09-17T22:28:00.000+01:00

What a good week its been so far, well mostly anyway,if you dont count the fact that my 4 yr old has only been in school 3 days and was sent home in disgrace for not behaving very well, and thats putting it politely.
Never mind, I like to focus on the good! I had an interview with a really lovely lone parent advisor,and she has given me a small grant to help me get started with Rose Cottage!! amazing (nothing short of)..I came to her armed with recipes,stock needed lists,armloads of information on essential oils,butters etc..and a burning desire to get started with this dream of a life time of mine..tons of enthusiasm ,eyes aglow with zest and energy,a new web-site, numerous quotes for insurance,(for me,as in public liability.in the impossible event that someones face drops off after using my cream, etc,,)...yes I had all the information and knowledge to answer any difficult questions the job centre may ask me, such as testing my knowledge, or making sure I am genuine,and that I wont trot off to the bookies and put it all on a horse,or buy 500 pints of beer,or rush to the nearest crack house ,or take a trip to spain and leave my children with social services...you know, all the sorts of things they expect their customers to do.Not saying single mums are stereotyped or anything...of course there not...that would be against human rights would it not?
Ops, sorry, went of track a bit...Yes, the lady was lovely and very helpfull,and I honestly did not expect any financial help...but then they are keen to loose customers...the only business I know that is....
I am very happy to say that they have restored my faith in government departments,but they have a long long way to go before they could ever make me believe a word that comes out of the prime ministers mouth...does not matter which prime minister it is....
Anyway..err...where was I ? oh yeah..Thankyou Jobcentre !!!!

Keep it simple, stupid (KISS)

2009-09-13T12:38:00.000+01:00

My product range consists of six basic formulations with a large variety of essential oil blends to choose from, or you can have it unperfumed.
They are: Whipped Shea Butter
                 Body Butter
                Dry Skin Balm
               Bath Truffles
                 Bath Melts
                Melting Massage Bars
I also have massage oils in a bottle, and will be bringing in handmade soaps, I have yet to
buy the soap safety assessment.
What do you think?
opinions gratefully accepted.

Web Site Woes...

2009-09-13T12:29:00.000+01:00

I have been muddling my way through the Zen cart admin pages. working out how to work my web site! I have made some limited progress ,and have managed to put words on my home page! how ever I made an error that I cant see how to fix yet, if you order my dry skin balm you will recieve a 50 pound drum of it...what a bargain!! its ment to be 50g.!
I have not got my range up yet,because I dont have any money to buy the ingredients yet, which is VERY frustrating, I have to find some funding/start up help, so I am seeing jobcentre and business link soon.

My business plan is nearly done, gosh its a big job and takes ages to do. I have no idea how to do financial forecasts?!
I am confident theres something out there for solo mums looking for some help to become self sufficient, but if not,I am also hunting for a day job, as annoyingly the bills keep coming.grrr!!
I think housing/food and water are basic human rights and they should be free. If our world was not controlled by a greedy few,we could indeed have a world where basic needs are provided as a basic right.
We could end misery and poverty in the twinkling of an eye.

2009-09-13T11:55:00.001+01:00

This is a Shea Nut tree, the source of lovely Shea Butter

2009-09-13T09:46:00.002+01:00

2009-09-13T09:43:00.000+01:00

2009-09-11T08:35:00.000+01:00

Hello! sorry I did not manage to get back yesterday to finish what I was saying.By the time little un was bathed ,fed, had a story, I was tired, and then my cousin came on line from switzerland, and before I knew it.it was 2 .30 am!!
Now its just before school run, and theres the usual bickering, mostly instigated by the youngest.
The Web site ,well, I got my domain name, web space, and started to play with the web builder,and gosh, what I came up with was a bit like a psychadelic picture from the 70 s!
I like bright colours, pinks, blues,purples. I realised this was fun ,but it looked far from professional, and I had no idea how to link pages,make columns,mand do anything at all useful.
The web builder software is good, but for a beginner its really too difficult.
So I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to take a lot of time and a lot of reading tutorials.
Along came a knight in shining armour, yes they do exist!, in the form of a very nice member of a forum I frequent. I asked him for some tips..and in a matter of 2 hours or so, he presented me with a beautiful website,nothing ... at all like my psychadelic chunky creation. More after the dreaded school run....right school run done now...and theres a lovely peace upon the flat!..this blogging is a work in progress for me as I work it all out so please be patient folks!!

Anyway, my dear friend did my website for me, with zen cart, and its wonderful, I am so pleased with it! hes looking for more clients...let me know if your interested, I may yet work out how this is all done and post a link to his blog...eventually! I cant wait to get my lovely soaps and balms and butters up onto the web site, but I have to be patient...oh I dont do patience very well...

buisy and exciting times

2009-09-10T17:51:00.000+01:00

Wow ! I have been busy! Where do I start? It seems strange to be writing a public diary, but I will get used to it,I am sure.
In the weekend I took the plunge,and bought web hosting,on a friends recommendation. I was shocked at how in- expensive it has become now, and I got a very good deal, domain name and one years hosting for ten pound,amazing.
I have never tried to make a web site,but as a lover of bits and bytes, I felt I could probably work out how to do it,eventually.
Well, I was a little wrong! I had chosen a template that looked ok, provided by host,but all in Danish. This is where I became a little stuck,I used the web creator software, and found it to be a bit like a word processing prog,and it seemed a bit limited with very vague instructions, however I pressed on full of enthusiasm and dreams of making lots of money making websites for folk!..got to go...4 yr old is climbing on my head...he needs a bath but I want to save this in case its wiped...so I will be back....

My first soap!!

2009-09-06T17:35:00.000+01:00

Hello! I am brand new to blogging so please be patient with me!