Bittersweet and the little soap company

Boxes revealed, a birthday and a show

The two large boxes my aunt Vivian sent me were packed with these lovely old apothecary bottles! Aren't they stunning? Most of you know how much I love old bottles. I'm especially fond of bottles with glass droppers. Some of the bottle are adorned with ornate toppers. 

Since my mom passed away 12 years ago both my aunt Vivian and aunt Glenna have shared my moms love through their continuous caring and sharing and thoughtful gestures. I'm very blessed. This is a picture of little girl me with my lovely aunt Vivian. Isn't she beautiful? 

Today is Patrick's birthday! It's hard for me to believe 20 years has passed since I had that baby boy.

I have particularly fond birth memories as I was one of those rare women that did not experience any pain during child birth. No hook ups at the hospital, no pain meds. I took a shower and brushed my teeth right before I had Patrick and put on the pretty white gown my aunt Vivian had sent me and said okay I'm ready! The nurses looked at me as though I was crazy and said, "you can't wear that white gown, you will ruin it!" I replied it will be okay, I will just pull it up. Once again, a bewildered expression appeared on their faces. 2 hours later, a new soul entered my world. A lovely sweet one. The blessings continued throughout his growing up. He always listened to what I told him and I rarely had to discipline him. He was wise baby. Today he is a wise young man. Of all the things that I've experienced in this world, having a child has by far exceeded each and every experience.

Fast motion.

That's what it's been at Bittersweet.

I have decided at the last minute to have a small offering of our new fall soap line at  our annual fall festival.  Julie had invited Bittersweet to sit in front of her shop. I vary rarely do shows, not my cup of tea, but it's always fun to spend the day at Julies. So I'm scrambling to wrap birthday presents, gather soap, and juggle several other in the work projects all at the same time! Whew!!!

Kidding. I like to be busy. I like it fast paced. I also like it slow sometimes. I'm normal. I'm going to take one table and the cloth sign. Wear my Bittersweet apron and kind of just hang out for the day tomorrow. Our weather is marvy and the atmosphere is fall. It will be a "Great Pumpkin" kind of day!
Life is great!

So many things, so little time. 

Don't forget to stop and smell fall. 

Enjoy caring and sharing fall days. 

Jill 00

 

whisper fall

Only a few whispers of fall in the studio. Lavender and burlap fill the shop.

 Once October moves in we quickly move into the gift giving season with holiday soaps, scents and special handmade artisan creations. Customers begin their shopping early and begin picking up Cranberry Spice savon long before the season officially arrives. In fact I would say the season arrives at Bittersweet the day after Halloween. 

See those wide leg pants in the picture? I am seriously thinking about nabbing them! I had hoped to make more by now, but soap production and wrapping, order packing, has taken center stage. The pants patiently sit in the back row, quiet. Except for that lonely pair that sits in the apothecary room!

I shot the pictures with my little camera and was in between closet cleaning so not the best picture. I wanted to show you  one of the natural wreaths that came in. I ordered two from the dried flower wholesaler. I had hoped to get better pictures because these just don't do them justice. Here's a shot of the lavender wreath above the soap rack. 

I also ordered a fall wreath adorned completely in dried flowers. It's hanging on our front door. Pictures coming. 

There are two large boxes sitting in our living room! My sweet aunt Vivian has sent me treasures. I can't wait to open them! Share too!

Enjoy caring and sharing fall days. 

Jill 00

spindle-li-di

What is it about old tables with spindle legs? Maybe my love for the groovy grooved legs stems from my days in woodworking class. I know the time and work involved to strip away the wood on a lathe.  Whomever refinished the old table years ago left the original paint on the spindles and stripped the top to reveal the original oak patina. The table sits on our back porch and I use it for product photo shots. It's one of my favorite antique tables. I love the green! The color may look familiar to some of you vintage market chicks as it was a popular paint color in the 1930 and forty era. I used to see it more often before everyone started painting things white. 

This is another favorite piece in our home. A vintage dresser. Although it's not as old as that table. It sits in our bathroom and is filled with towels and toiletry items. We have a small bathroom so the dresser serves as a functional piece as well as an aesthetic one. I painted the chest a favorite shade of blue a couple of years ago when we remodeled our bathroom. I love the simple look of fluffy white towels stacked upon the dresser. 

I also like to mix modern with old and if you browse our home you will notice I have a particular fondness for unfinished wooden knobs. 

Now you can see how small the room is. The toilet sits behind the door! That's how they built em in 1920!

This time of year I always begin pondering some clear the clutter thoughts. Un-tidy messy closets are kind of a thing with me. Meaning, I have them throughout our home. Every year, most years around this time, I begin to seriously think about clearing out the non-used items that take up precious storage space and then I say to myself always, what the heck! Am I a hoarder? It certainly appears so by the evidence of our closets.

How nice to open those doors and see everyday items over stuff I never use. Just doesn't make logical sense to me to hang onto items you don't use.

So in between work and creating I'm going to jump in and begin the clean the closets fall project. It may take me the entire season to finish, but I mean business when it comes to this venture.

What kind of fall cleansing do you do? Do you clean the closets too?

Enjoy caring and sharing fall days.

Jill 00 

fall reserve

Elle and I walked down to the buckeye tree on Saturday and picked up the ones that had fallen from the large buckeye tree. Before you can get the buckeye you have to remove its sharp pointed nut shelling. Nature has a way of helping you crack the shell a bit after if falls from the tree so that you have an easier time of opening it to get the treasured buckeye. After we returned home I shot that picture. Aren't they pretty? I think so. There is a variety of folklore stories surrounding the strange looking nut. This is a great resource site I found. I've always been fascinated by natures many bouties. We have a large selection of natural plant species to choose from here in the central mid-west. That's one of the reasons I love living here!

It's kind of a low key day today. Mondays always are @ Bittersweet. The weekend seemed short as it usually does and Monday always tags along on Sunday's shirt tails it seems. It's nice to have the luxury and blessing of easing into the work week.

I'm also easing into autumn...

A few of my favorite things... The fennel and orange soap smells oh so nice! Around here it's referred to as the "fall reserve." It makes a brief appearance and does not return until the following year, sometimes. 

On Saturday a customer brought me some of here homemade bread. She grinds the wheat herself and it contains 7 different grains and seeds. My kind of bread! It's dense and tasty and I detect a hint of honey. I happily traded soap for bread, happily! She shared two loaves and I thought one should go in the freezer as we usually don't eat a lot of bread around here. On Sunday I took the extra loaf from the freezer! I made these veggie burgers and served them on a couple of yummy toasted slices. By the way, this is the best veggie burger recipe in the world! I top them with fresh avocado slices like the picture and make the Chipotle mayo to spread on top of the toasty bread.

I have been making the wide leg trousers. Only have a couple of pairs made. I took the second pair by my friend Julie's vintage boutique. She fell in love with them! Now I have only one lonely pair in the shop and I'm seriously pondering thoughts of transporting them to my closet! You may remember the long pants.

I believe they were called "Saturday Pant" then. I love the large wide leg on these pants. They're super comfy. I can see the pair at the shop topped with a cute sweater or cardigan and fall boots below the hem. When you walk, the extra wide legs sway to and fro, very Greta Garbo. You may remember, I was inspired to make the pants after watching the movie "The Color Purple." Do you remember the shop scene?

one size pants from The Color Purple (1985) by Anyclip 

I'm always fascinated by what inspires me. Love this movie!

 Enjoy caring and sharing fall days. 

Jill 00

 

 

 

 

 

fall into lavender

If you read the blog then you already know what my favorite herb is. Yep, that's right, lavender! I just love the lavender sitting in this ------. Do you know what the metal dealy is? I betcha some of you will know. It's kinda funny, when you do know what it was once used for. I'm almost certain they still use them for the same purpose. Ah, yeah, gotcha thinking! I picked the ---- up at a vintage market several years ago along with this. Here's a hint and a picture of the other ----.

The two items were probably, more than likely used together. Kind of like a fork and knife are used at the dinner table. Ha, gotcha again!

With all this talk of lavender, I realized there wasn't a STICK of lavender soap anywhere in the studio! Not sure how that happens but nevertheless it is a fact. So, today I'm making a lavender infused savon. 

New shipments of fat lavender bundles have arrived and new lavender sachets and home keeping essentials are a must have around our home. There's nothing fall  better than opening the dryer and smelling the soft natural remnants of lavender that's been tossed around on linens.  

I made moms old fashioned applesauce cake with caramel icing last night! I'll try and get the recipe posted for you. 

Enjoy caring and sharing almost fall days and crisp nights.

Jill 00

 

 

 

~whirlybird

The guest room upstairs is quiet and untouched while the studio is spinning. I refer to it as the whirlybird effect. Yeah, that best describes the mood. Not in a bad way. It's that time of year when the buzz is all about new designs, new soaps, new thoughts. All those things I just mentioned sometime twirl around, spin and produce a whirlybird aura in the studio. Sometimes I go back...

A single stem. Not lonely at all. A treasured bloom. To have and to hold. 

Since I love graphic design I'm always designing new Bittersweet business cards, soap packaging and what not. More like "what yes" because gd is close runner up no. 2 as an absolute passion next to soap making.

I'm holding a fancy for the golden everlasting bloom of the dried star-flower. The little prairie girl seems to be experiencing that same kind of admiration. She's always been a favorite thing to look at.  You know if you've ordered from Bittersweet more than once, you sometime receive a variety of business cards with your orders. The prairie girl design on that card is an old one but one I always go back to.

If you fail to never grow tired of looking at something more than likely it should have a permanent parking spot.

The little blue bird holds the same sentiments. 

You won't believe the crafting that's going on around here! It's going to take an entire week of posts for show and tell!

Soap making in full whirlybird swing. Holiday soap production has commenced! 

Remember that burlap rug I mentioned? I've been thinking about it the past few days. They are such fun to make! Although it's been many moons since I made one I can still recall that it was a gratifying craft. Low pile, high, designing the rug is an adventure. Promise to share a burlap rug tutorial down the road. 

Pondering new soap flavors. Maybe, Minty Nilla, (Peppermint and Vanilla) or possibly Orange & Cedar. I love the smell of cedar. It's quite exquisite in a soap! In between using the soap in the bath it's equally exquisite scenting your linen drawers. 

Enjoy caring and sharing end of summer days. Only a few more days of summer!

Jill 00

 

warm blossom

I finished another prairie quilt! I tied this one instead of quilting it on my machine. Honestly, I thought the sewing machine quilting was much easier and faster than the tying, but I enjoyed the tying too and I like the look of the ties. It took me most of the day to tie and the tip of my thumb is proof of that.  If you've ever tied a quilt you know what I'm referring to. 

I also had a tip on how to tie a quilt. This technique made it much easier and faster and I really can't see how you would choose to tie any other way. 

I layered the three layered pieces out flat and began hand sewing the running stitch like shown in that video. 

So easy, time consuming but easy. Then I made the trim for the quilt. I learned how to do that by watching this video. By the way, that quilt shop is not far from where I live. They also have the best quick straight to the point tutorials.

Sundays are always low key, slow and peaceful at Bittersweet. It feels good to do nothing!

Enjoy caring and sharing end of summer days.

Jill 00 

 

 

 

 

the color of straw

I took that picture several years during our fall farmers market.  The farmer that staged his pumpkin and gourd display in the old truck caught my eye. 

I've been pondering fall color backdrops for the studio.  The studio goes right into Christmas since we're retail, but a soft touch of fall can be found this time of year along with the new autumn soaps and scents. 

A favorite fall color of mine is the color of straw.

It has a tiny hue of yellow, but not too much. A naked to the eye touch of gray if that makes sense. Soft and warm, toasty and sweet.

I've mentioned how traditional fall colors of orange, red and gold together don't get me too excited.

However...

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

 If you combine hues like the image above you catch my attention quickly.

The air is crisp now and fall has arrived early in my little town.

In sync with our wacky weather we've had all summer.  Officially summer has a couple more weeks on the calender, but as I feel the cool, cold  north wind boldly hit my arms as I sit with my office window open  I beg to differ with the official arrival date.

Second on the fall hue mix up.

Creamy white and orange. Honestly though, the orange should be restricted to bittersweet berries to accommodate my fastidious fall liking.

I tend to prefer simple over fancy and natural over manufactured. 

What are your favorite fall decorating idees?

Ahhh, this cool weather has me thinking about one thing, FALL!

Enjoy caring and sharing end of summer days.

Jill 00

  

 

fall stir

It's difficult to put into words how much I love this time of year.

Could it be the crispy mornings that gradually transform into a warm Indian summer afternoon. Possibly it's the sound of the high-school band preparing for the upcoming home-coming parade practicing down the street from our home as I enjoy a morning walk. Or maybe, just maybe it's the anticipation of Autumn festivals that will soon be arriving . Well on third thought it could be the spicy aroma of pumpkin bread baking in the oven and freshly cut hay that fastidiously picks this time of year to share a grand aroma appearance.

The fall stir continues as I ponder thoughts of traveling to my favorite country roadside to pick bittersweet.

Fennel and orange soap stacked high on the old wood table.  Ah, the sweet smell of autumn is almost too much to handle!

I will vow to slow down and take in her goodness.

Cherish each day and honor the season and curtsy to fall. 

Since it's getting close to bittersweet picking time I am going to post this how-to pick bittersweet.

The berries will soon be popping open and you will be able to identify the plant for picking.

Enjoy caring and sharing end of summer days.

Jill 00 

 

 

  Now you get a feel for why I LUV autumn!

 

BURLAP, making the cut!

Did you know there's a trick to cutting a straight line on burlap? Some of you may already know this handy little technique, but some of you may not. For those of you that do not, I'd like to share the process. It's super easy and will help assist you in making the perfect burlap creations.

You will only need one tool. A sharp pair of scissors. 

First, lay your burlap on a flat surface. Next, decide where you need to cut the burlap to make it the desired size.

At that spot cut into the burlap approximately one quarter inch. 

Now with your fingers pull out a single burlap thread fromt the quarter inch area you cut.

Pull the string out completely. 

Now you have a guide for cutting a straight line! Pretty amazing, isn't it?

Simply cut along the newly formed line and you will have a straight cut.

I love working with burlap! Love it so much that I have burlap curtains, covered ottomans and table runners that I've made throughout our home. 

Years ago I made a really cool yarn rug and used burlap for the backing of the rug. I'm really wanting to make another. I'll share that technique too, later. You will like it! 

Enjoy end of summer days.

Jill 00