Gorgeous Vintage Style Gift Ideas

About Rosehip

Rosehip designs are created in my studio and workshop in Cambridgeshire where I design and make seasonal ranges of bags and accessories. I live close to a busy city in a ‘vintage’ house with a large garden, beautiful flowers and trees and a small flock of chickens. Hubby has a studio there where he prints and paints.


This new collection reflects my love of all things French; I married into a French family and this cultural influence inspires my design work.
The ‘Belle Epoque’ is the inspiration for the style and colours of the bags and accessories; the gorgeously rich colours and floral motifs of this era have been translated into practical items with hand printed embellishments.

I have used 100% linen as the main fabric, this is an eco-friendly fabric with a crisp feel and is typically French in origin; my trademark appliqué hearts are found on many items and all the bag designs are my original creations.


Above : Keep your keys safe in style with these beautiful French Vintage keyfobs.

These one of a kind pieces are created with 100% linen in a hand-printed and appliqued design, with fabric from "French General" by Moda and is finished with a vintage button, a ribbon loop and a vintage effect split ring with an antiqued Paris Eiffel Tower charm.


Stylish Purses
Gorgeous, stylish and practical, these lovely little purses are on-trend and handmade in the UK by Rosehip as part of her new "French Vintage" collection with the finest in vintage style fabrics. Fully lined and sturdy, yet gorgeously feminine with the Parisian theme, they make a wonderful and unique gift (or a treat for yourself!)


Useful and Chic Notebooks
Fantastic for your handbag or case, this cute little plain paper notebook is snugly fitted in a French vintage-style handmade case, with elastic strap, ribbon tie and little pocket to slip in your favourite pen or pencil (with pencil included!).



Beautiful Make-Up Bags
These one of a kind pieces are created with a 100% linen outer in a hand-printed and appliqued design, a vintage button and a lace trim. The zipper fastening is sturdy, plus the inside is fully lined with 100% cottom vintage style print lining.

Please click on any of the images above or visit : thehandmadeemporium.com to shop securely online for these exclusive handmade items by Rosehip!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from everyone at The Handmade Emporium!

What a year the last has been! We have:

• Added some amazing new UK artisans to the site, creating so many more wonderful UK Handmade gift ideas.
• Grown the site from just a handful of treats to hundreds!
• Been picked by BBC Dragons' Den Star Theo Paphitis as his 'Small Business Sunday' Pick!
• Had features in loads of magazines and papers across the UK.
• Grown by over 500% sales-wise!

But best of all we've had the most wonderful feedback from our customers. Thank you to everyone who has emailed us or got in contact just to say how much you love your orders from us - it's just fantastic to hear how pleased everyone is.

Here's to an even bigger and better 2012! Let's keep on supporting UK Handmade!

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/

Amazing Offers in our Summer Sale!

We are holding a big Summer Sale of all our favourite Summery things!
(Why not do it now instead of later when Summer is over? Seems silly to us!)

From lovely summery hair ribbons to swishing feather earrings to keep you cool this Summer, we are holding a big event to make sure you get the best deals.




Every day we will be having a VERY special offer, along with all the other sale items on our Summer Sale page!
You can keep track of the special offer either on facebook at : http://www.facebook.com/EmporiumOundle
or follow us on Twitter @emporiumoundle



Todays special is our Natural Bubbles Handmade Soaps!

The vision of Natural Bubbles is to make good quality products using only the finest oils and fragranced with essential oils, not only giving their products wonderful scents but also giving beneficial properties to the skin.



We are pleased to say that not only is every soap made using these very pure ingredients, but they also use no palm oil, as they believe in helping to protect the rain forests of Malaysia and the natural habitats of orangutans.

They totally oppose the use of animal testing. It isn't easy to find cruelty free products, so they have taken this opportunity to produce their very own range of pure soaps.

All soaps are suitable for both vegans and vegetarians!

Don't forget - you can put our handmade candles, soaps and gifts somewhere safe (a nice dark, cool place is best) and save them for Christmas presents, saving yourself a fair few quid!

Click any of the images above to go to The Emporium website and see for yourself, or click this link : http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/categories/Summer-Sale!/ to go directly to the Summer Sale page!

Go Unique and Handmade!

I started my business shortly after getting massively frustrated over birthday presents - I love giving presents and always try to make them a bit different. Of course, if a friend has been kind enough to make a wishlist, that saves me a bit of trouble, but finding something special for those who don't was such a pain.

Of course, you could go for the latest thing - but then you risk duplicate presents. You can try clothes, but if you get them in the wrong size you can cause offense, mass produced smellies contain lots of irritants and colourants that can upset even the hardiest of skin types - even buying a birthday card can be dangerous as you'll find the perfect card which suits the person down to a T, but so will everyone else - the curse of the high street.

So I went online and searched for handmade gifts and to my shock found the sites that sold them either :

1: Sold 'handmade' gifts from abroad, where the only handmade part was someone sewing on a button.

2: Was a massive warehouse style craft-fair esque site where you had to wade through hundreds of listings of similar or poor-quality items just to find something.

This, I thought, isn't right - surely there needs to be a place online where you can easily find a selection of high-quality, completely handmade gifts made by UK people?

So I made one! (http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/)
We have a varied pool of items, but only one or two crafters for each - each of our items are in stock with us, tried and tested for quality and can be gift wrapped or customised. From cards to jewellery made from silver and seaglass, from handmade cold process soaps (made from UK honey and beeswax with absolutely no artificial colours, preservatives or scents) to gorgeous bags.

Everything is made in limited amounts, I can tell you the name of exactly who made each item so you are guaranteed to give something unique and wonderful - our testimonials page is a tribute to that! (http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/pages/Testimonials.html)

Pop over to our website to see for yourself! We offer wishlists, gift wrapping, custom orders and wedding favours - a fully personalised service where we strive for the very best.

If you are a local crafter and make something you think we'd love, please get in touch, too! We are always looking for unique, UK made crafts with something a bit special.

Pamper Mum for Mother's Day

Next Sunday (3rd of April) is Mother's Day! Here at The Emporium we love our Mums, so have collected some amazing UK handmade pamper treats, soaps and gift ideas we know she will love and deserves - here are our top tips for the ones you need to make her feel special! :


1. Chuck out that slimy bar of supermarket soap!

Supermarket soaps can be great value, but they are packed with preservatives, artificial colours, scents and god-knows-what to make it have a long shelf life. (Not to mention some contain palm oil, which is the cause of massive deforestation of the rainforest to plant!)

Instead:




Lovely handmade soaps by Ceri of Oakwood Soaperie are packed full of goodness! All her soaps are handmade at home in small batches using the 'cold process' method and only use 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. The soaps are cured for a minimum of 4 weeks to ensure they are in tip top condition when they are sold.
They use no animal products, so are completely vegetarian and most of them are also vegan, the only guinea pigs they are tested on are human.


2. Make A Splash With a Naturally Indulgent Bath

Most Mums love a long relaxing soak in the bath - but is she getting the best deal for her skin with her bath treats?



Our handmade Cocoa Butter Dream Bath Bombs smell divinely vanilla’y - not an artificial, sweet, melted ice cream sort of vanilla, but rather a smoky, pure Tahitian vanilla bean fragrance. To make it even more delectable, These bath bombs are also packed with cocoa butter (a by product of chocolate making) to give a hint of real chocolaty creaminess and superior moisturisation.



Or, if she prefers a slow melt, try a Vanilla Delight Bath Melt packed full of plant butters and oils to nourish your skin, fragranced with essential oils of Rose Geranium and vanilla. 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.

3. Pick A Handmade Gift Box Packed Full Of Favourites



Can't choose from our gorgeous range by Ceri? (It's hard - from scents like Peppermint and Poppy to Chocolate Truffle, she crafts it!) Why not take a look at our gorgeous gift boxes packed full of treats by Ceri. With bath bombs, melts, soaps, lip balms, scrubs and body butters Mum will be amazed at the scents and treats on offer.



In short, for Mother's Day Gifts that are truly special, visit The Emporium - we also have a gorgeous range of UK handmade jewellery, candles and cards that Mum will love, too.

Some Sparkle for Mum!

Glam up your Mum this Mother's Day with some gorgeous vintage gems by Chain of Daisies. From dazzling dangle earrings to chic vintage bracelets and necklaces, she offers affordable sparkle which Mums will love, all handmade in the UK!



If your Mum isn't the glam type, we also have some gorgeous unique pieces by Fyne Silver, created by pieces of ceramic, sea glass and shells washed up on the shores of Loch Fyne, then carefully enamelled and mounted in sterling silver.



Or, if your Mum prefers something more traditional, Dormouse Designs offers classic pieces in pearls and semi-precious stones in silver.

Christmas Stall

This week we set up our temporary Christmas Stall alongside the Charity Christmas Cards in St Peters' Church, Oundle. This means we are out of the elements - although the church is a little chilly, so if you do pop round don't be too alarmed by the amount of jumpers I've managed to squeeze on!

We are there Thursdays and Saturdays and will have a selection of gift ideas from the website available for purchase - have a good sniff of our scented candles and lovely hand-made soaps.





We also will have items not yet on the website - real one of a kind pieces to snap up while they are still there. These include new designs by Dormouse Designs' Anja Schafer and Chain Of Daisies' Caroline Sale. Come try some on and have a chat every Thursday and Saturday up until Christmas.