A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you All!

A very Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful customers and friends of The Handmade Emporium and a healthy and Happy New Year!

We are looking forward to another fab year of fantastic UK handmade treats and hope you all will join us, too!

Can't thank everyone enough for all their support this year and for choosing to buy your gifts for your loved ones with us. It's a real pleasure to think our handmade crafts are making their way to homes across the UK.

Just a quick blog post, as I can hear the family wrestling with the turkey in the kitchen accompanied by bursts of horrified laughter - I am fearing the worst!

All the best,
Rebecca, Millie the Cat and Family
xxx

Last Order Dates Reminder

Just a quick reminder that our last UK order dates are as follows!

Royal Mail First Class : Sunday 18th December
MyHermes Courier : Thursday 15th December

Orders received after this date can not be guaranteed for Christmas, so please don't leave it too late!

Cold Process Soaps? What Does it Mean?

A selection of 'cold process' soaps by Ceri before they are wrapped and labelled.

One of the most popular questions we get asked about our soaps is what exactly 'cold process' means! It's a funny name for a method of natural, traditional soap-making which actually isn't cold - the soap mixture is heated at one point!

‘Cold Process’ means that the oils are kept at a low a temp as possible to preserve their nutrients and so that the Essential Oils do not react in the mix or evaporate too much. This preserves the qualities of each individual oil so the gorgeous scents comes through in the final product.

Vanilla Bean Latte Scrub Soap by Ceri - The perfect pick me up in the mornings, this bar is packed full of vanilla coffee fragrance, with real coffee grounds and a pinch of ground pumice for a cleansing, scrub effect.

Cold process can also refer to the curing time of the soaps, the 'cool down' as it fully cures. This takes from 4 to 6 weeks! Commercial soaps are usually poured, cut and dried in a matter of days, even hours in a factory environment, but to do so they put a wide range of additives, preservatives and firmers which is the reason than many commercial soaps upset the skin.

The setting period is essential for cold process soaps to achieve it's lovely firm yet soft texture, without the use of any of those nasty unnatural ingredients!

Hadrians Wall Honey soap by Ceri, created with real British honey and beeswax.

The ingredients Ceri of Oakwood Soaperie (our hand-made cold process soap creator for The Handmade Emporium) are as natural as can be and she uses some amazing (and quite surprising) traditional methods and colours - for example in her Hadrians Wall Honey soap she uses Northumbrian Beeswax and Honey (often from her fathers hives) plus achieves the gorgeous colour of the soap using natural tumeric and orris root powder.

This creates a soap at is high in vitamins A&E and as gentle as can be.
It also smells absolutely divine!

The cold-process method allows for a bit of fun - the swirls on this festive candy cane themed soaps is created by whipping and folding the soap as it sets.

Ceri does not use palm oils in her soaps (a cause of deforestation) - they are created with pure vegetable oils and plant butters, plus a range of natural botanicals.

Each batch of cold-process soap by Ceri is unique and created with the utmost care and attention, with many of her pieces limited editions or one offs using rare or unique ingredients in-season from the garden. We are very proud to have Ceri with us in The Handmade Emporium and hope you will take a look at our website and try a piece of her natural cold-process soaps for yourself (or someone special) today.

To see our range of handmade cold process soaps, or other UK handmade treats and gift ideas, please visit our website by clicking any of the images or links, or go to : http://www.thehandmadeemporium.com/

Seasonal Sparkle with Vintage Jewellery by Chain of Daisies

Sparkling for the season or treating someone special with a piece of gorgeous UK handmade jewellery need not break the bank this year - Caroline of Chain of Daisies creates gorgeous vintage style pieces without the high-street prices.


Simple and chic, from her home in the East of England Caroline creates simple, light and elegant pieces of jewellery.

Her theme is 'Vintage meets modern simplicity with a twist'.


All earrings are mounted on sterling silver ear-hooks (great for those with sensitive ears or a sensitivitiy to some metals) and come in a simple gift box. Gift bags and gift wrapping is available.


Glam up for the season with some dazzling vintage gems - visit The Emporium website today to order online safely and securely for delivery to your door. Click any of the images to visit us, or go to : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/

Autumn Treats and Cosy Handmade Gift Ideas

As the leaves turn and the nights draw in it's time to pick up a few handmade treats to warm up your home and spoil someone special and here at The Emporium we have a new range of UK handmade crafts made especially for the season!

All Natural Bath Melts

Packed with sleep inducing oils of lavender, sweet orange and tangerine. These gorgeous cocoa and shea butter melts are guaranteed to have you pushing zzz's in no time.

Luxury Candles in Glass

Warming and lightly spiced, this candle is created with a blend of Autumnal scents - from crisp apple to mulled cinnamon.

The perfect candle to add a little bit of spice and warmth.

Gorgeous Unique Jewellery

Lynne of Fyne Silver creates unique and stunning pieces from the treasures that wash up along the shores of Loch Fyne, Argyll. All are created with sterling silver settings and each piece is different from the last.

Cold-Process Natural Soaps

These soaps are handmade by Ceri of Oakwood Soaperie in the UK using the cold-process method and the most natural ingredients, the finest oils, butters, Northumbrian honey & beeswax (provided by her Dad, a bee keeper for over 25 years), natural clays, botanicals, essential oils and blended fragrances.

Beautiful Hand-Sewn Bags

A special, one of a kind bag in Japanese linen, hand-embellished with embroidery and finished with a black and red felt flower.

All these unique gifts are available delivered to your door to order

at theemporiumoundle.com website -

please click any of the images or this link to visit us today.

Add Some Festive Warmth With Our Handmade Luxury Candles

Here at The Emporium we love scents - from the varied scents of our unique candles to the luxury blends of essential oils found in the creations of Ceri of Oakwood Soaperie.



We believe every home should smell great, without using artificial plastic-ey air fresheners, so we've created a new range of highly scented candles in quality stylish glassware.



Above is our fresh and clean "Sunwashed Linen" candle. Floral and crisp, it smells of washing straight from the line on a sunny day. With the lid off, or when lit, it will lightly scent your room. But all our candles in glass also come with a solid lid, so you can control the scent when unlit, too.



The containers for these candles can be washed out and used again as lovely modern storage jars - they look great in the kitchen.



Finally, they also come completely gift boxed as shown - making them a lovely little gift.



We completely handmake these candles to order so you get the freshest scent possible.
Find them at The Emporium website at : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/
Or click any of the images to go directly to the Emporium Candles page.

Swordweaver Armoury - Stunning Titanium Jewellery

We pride ourselves at finding the very best in stunning, unique jewellery and gift ideas - with the amazing titanium jewellery by Jane and Julian of Swordweaver Armoury a fantastic example of this.

Above is "Little Blue", a unique titanium collar that makes a bold and beautiful statement.



And here we have a striking bangle in a mix of gorgeous colours.

But what is Titanium and why use it in jewellery? Well, it's a light-weight, incredibly strong metal with some amazing properties. Very tricky to work with, but with a little persuasion it can be persuaded to take on many colours of the rainbow, which is how these amazing coloured pieces are created.



Jane and Julian have a passion for creating colour with titanium when the titanium is anodised. There are two ways of doing this, either with heat or by placing the item in a slightly alkaline bath and passing a current through the water. Either way, an oxide layer is formed on the surface of the metal and this acts like a prism. Different voltages – or temperatures- create different thicknesses of oxide, so different prisms. Light passes through the oxide layer, is split, bounces back and you see colour. Different colours, according to the thickness of the layer.

Because the titanium is polished and the oxide layer is itself reflective, sometimes you can get a sort of double bounce. The effect of that is that you’ll see two or even three different colours, depending on the angle from which you view the item of jewellery. (The bi-phasic or tri-phasic effect).
The real skill is in controlling this, knowing how to create different shades and different bi-phasic and tri-phasic effects.



Titanium jewellery by Swordweaver Armoury is truly unique and one of a kind and we offer a range of beautiful contempory jewellery options on our website, in whichever set of gorgeous colours you desire.

Titanium is non-reactive, light, resists all corrosion and will not react to the oils from our skin (perfect if like me your skin stains if you wear certain metals). 45% lighter than steel but just as strong, titanium jewellery is sturdy and light as well as absolutely stunning - why not see for yourself on the website by clicking any of the pictures or visiting : The Emporium at http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/

The Adoorable Ark - Handcrafted Animals Made With Love

Denise crafts these gorgeous fabric animals with love and care from her home in Lincolnshire.



Each friendly little creature is unique - handstitched and designed individually to make the perfect one-of-a-kind gift for someone special.



From cuddly sock creatures suitable for anyone over three to plush animals with motivational poems, she creates sturdy and soft new friends.



You can even name some of them, for that truly bespoke touch.
Visit her shop page on the Emporium to see more of her lovely creations by clicking on any of the images or by visiting : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/adoorableark
Free postage and packing to the UK is included in the price of all her creations, too.

Or, see more of our gorgeous UK handmade gift ideas and treats at The Emporium main site at : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/

Melt away your woes with a moisturising bath melt!

Phew, that's better!
Needed to give myself a little bit of a treat this morning, so plopped one of these in my bath. Feel all soft, smooth and gorgeously smelling, now.



Packed full of plant butters and oils to nourish your skin, fragranced with essential oils of Jasmine and Ylang ylang, these bath melts by Ceri of Oakwood Soaperie are perfect for a little pick me up and a pamper. Drop into a running bath, climb in and let the nutritious oils feed your skin with vitamins and minerals.



No need for a moisturiser after one of these luxury melts as the oils sink in to your warm skin and provide all the moisture it could need. In fact, you can even split them in two for two baths - they're that packed full of gorgeous scent and moisturising oils.



Our customers love our bath melts, too - see the website for glowing 5 star reviews, such as "it melts really well, smells GORGEOUS and is a little bit of well deserved yummy heaven for anyone in need of a bit of TLC!"



Treat yourself or someone special today with a bath melt (or two!) from The Emporium. At just £2 each, they are a affordable way to really give yourself a proper pamper! Click on any of the images to go to Ceris page featuring the bath melts, or go to The Emporium Oundle website at : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/ to see our entire range of gorgeous handmade goodies!

Bespoke Baby Books to Treasure

Design graduate Amy Lewin (aka 'LewinLoves') creates gorgeous baby books that will last and be treasured.


Each book created completely to order - you can choose the name on the front, the colours and even the bow on the presentation box that it arrives in.


Perfect as a Christening, new baby of babys first birthday present, these books can store all of babys photos, trinkets and mementos safely and with style.


Each book arrives in a lovely presentation box, ready to be given.


Make an impression and show you really care with a fully customised handmade baby book today from LewinLoves at the Emporium.


Simply click on any of the images to go directly to the LewinLoves webpage, or visit the Emporium at: http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/ for lots more amazing handmade gift ideas.

Rebecca gets boost from Dragon Theo!

We are featured in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph - click the link or the image above to go to the site and read the whole story: Rebecca gets boost from Dragon Theo!

Extract:

DRAGONS’ Den star Theo Paphitis has given an Oundle craft business the seal of approval on social networking site Twitter.

The well-known businessman chose The Emporium Oundle as part of his Small Business Sunday initiative which uses the hashtag #sbs (Small Business Sunday).

Theo invites small businesses across Twitter to contact him and then handpicks six winners each week, retweeting them to his 152,000 followers.

Rebecca Holder (25), owner of The Emporium Oundle – an online business which sells quality, ethically sourced handmade craft –

was delighted when the business guru picked her business from among hundreds of entries and then announced the news to his worldwide Twitter audience.

“This is fantastic news for us. To be recommended by Theo is a real joy and we will be working very hard to live up to this honour,” said Rebecca.

She added: “I have worked really hard to create a professional, ethical business selling the very highest quality craft. It’s great to know that Theo was as impressed by our gorgeous,

hand-picked range of British crafts as we are. It’s a credit to the talent and creativity of our UK artisans who feature on www.theemporiumoundle.com

and I have no doubt this will spur us on to go from strength to strength.”

Natural Gift Bags for Eco-Friendly and Cost Effective Gift Sets

Here at The Emporium we care about the environment and our impact, so feel that using traditional card or paper gift boxes can be a bit of a waste and if we do use them they're always recycled card.

As a result we primarily offer gift options in gorgeous, eco-friendly Jute bags.

These bags are fantastic for the environment, they look lovely and they

can be used again and again as a bag, too.

Jute bags are made from a completely natural fibre, woven to create this lovely, rustic look.

This fibre is completely bio-degradable, making them very environmentally friendly

Our jute gift bags offer a eco-friendly, natural alternative to synthetic bags -

they really are a "bag for life!"

Take a look at some of our gift bags today on the Gift Sets section of the website - just click any of the images on this post to go there.

Our gift sets start at just £10 each, so are an affordable way of treating someone special.

Natural Beeswax Candles for a Clean Eco-Friendly Home

Helen, aka 'Cottage Candles', creates beautiful handmade beeswax candles from her home in Ketton near Rutland Water in the UK.

Thoroughly luxurious, these candles are clean and natural.



Available in sets of pairs or three, or individually priced (just use the options on the page and the prices will adjust accordingly), the candles make a lovely addition to any eco-friendly, natural home. They give off a slightly honey-like aroma as they burn, plus burn cleanly without any sooty residue or chemicals.



Characteristics of Beeswax

• 100% beeswax candles burn longer than ordinary paraffin candles
  
  

• Beeswax candles burn with a brighter light than normal wax candles
  
  
• Beeswax does not give off a sooty residue or release chemicals as it burns
  
  
• As a beeswax candle burns, negative ions are emitted which clean the air by latching onto the positive ions which cling to airborne particles of dust, mould and odours, thereby purifying the air
  
  
• Beeswax gives off a wonderful mild aroma of honey
  
  
• Beeswax candles are thoroughly luxurious!

All these gorgeous candles and plenty more natural, handmade and eco-friendly gift ideas can be found on The Emporium Oundle website - just click any of the images to go directly to the Cottage Candles page, or go to : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/