You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘handmade’ category.
We were enjoying a pint and relaxing at our favorite local Reynoldsburg restaurant & bar called Prost recently. We are regulars there since it is so close by and offers such an abundant myriad of craft beer selections. Their menu is fantastic as well and offers primarily Panini’s, bruschetta, soups, and salads. This particular night was a busy night for Prost with a Seventh Son Brewery tap takeover in full swing. With it being as crowded and bustling as it was, there was naturally a line for the loo. As I waited in line, I glanced down and saw that the free Columbus magazine, Stock & Barrel, was set out on a table. I have to admit that I normally almost never seem to grab free magazines but for no particular reason, I felt compelled to get one this time. So I returned to my table, magazine in hand, and began chatting with my husband some more. I paged through the magazine a little bit but we soon decided it was so crowded that we would just have one pint and depart for home. The drive home is not long, but during our short travel is when it happened. Probably only 1/2 mile from home, driving down a busy street, I suddenly screamed and grabbed my poor husband’s shoulder who was driving. “EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” I screamed in the shrillest scream imaginable to which he responded, “WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING? STOP SCREAMING! WHAT IS IT?” I gathered myself and exclaimed “WE ARE IN THE MAGAZINE! OUR MUG IS IN THE MAGAZINE!” I was told to please refrain from screaming while in the car, but as soon as we got home I showed him the article and he recognized our mug and shared some of my enthusiasm. I say our mug because I am 90% convinced that I made the body of the mug, one of us trimmed it, and my husband definitely attached the figure eight style handle. Later, we fired it the first time (bisque fire) and then I glazed it with the colors I picked out. So it is really made by both of us, which is fun. Today I wrote a message to Stock & Barrel saying thank you so very much for including our mug. Not only did they include our mug, but they also mentioned Crafty by Nature by name in the article itself. Boline Apothecary is where the writer of the article bought the mug, which is also mentioned in the article. If, by the way, you have never been to Boline Apothecary, it is a really amazing shop if you like natural, healthy goods including plant-based remedies, tinctures, aromatherapy, natural body products, teas, and so many more natural & wholesome items. Thank you again, Stock & Barrel, for the amazing mention in the article. This “Drink Local” article has really put a smile on my face and it feels good to feel we are acknowledged as being part of the local mug making community in Columbus.
To go to PROST! – 7354 E Main St, Reynoldsburg, OH
To go to Boline Apothecary – 15 W Dunedin Rd, Columbus, OH
Thank you for reading my small novel, and now here is the actual article:
Our mug sits at the bottom of the mug-stack.
If you have trouble reading it, the text of the article is here too:
DRINK LOCAL: mugs that reflect belief in our local economy.
I’ve been accused of many things, most I’d rather not share in a public forum. However, the title of Coffee Cup Queen is one that I don’t mind putting out there. Others might say Coffee Cup Hoarder is more appropriate… so I have a lot of coffee cups? So what? The way people collect whole wardrobes of concert t-shirts, or magnets from everywhere they land, is analogous to my little hoarding dalliance.
I have cups that support my various passions – Dear Sugar’s (Wild’s Cheryl Strayed) “Write Like a Motherfucker” is one of my favorites, so is my PaperSource “Do Something Creative Everyday” mug. Then there are the place memories – coffee delivery systems from places like Cape Cod, Mexico, Medieval Times (those knights are hot), New Orleans, New York, Vermont. I even once went through this weird phase where I had to use my Columbus Museum of Art mug every morning, some caffeine-loaded good luck talisman type fixation. Looking at the range of them stacked on the counter is like binge watching my life in one glance.
Lately, I’ve been picking up cups and mugs that reflect my belief in supporting the local economy. If I pick up locally roasted beans, it makes sense that I extend that I enjoy it via a locally crafted mug.
To start your own collection, which not only supports locally-owned retail, but the artisans themselves, start with stores that focus on independent producers – Clintonville’s Wholly Craft and Easton’s Celebrate Local come to my mind quickest. However, there are off-the-beaten path shops as well. The Cultural Arts Center, one of the hidden gems of downtown, not only hosts exhibits and classes, but also features a small gift shop featuring, among its many locally crafted items, drink ware crafted in its vey own ceramic studio. Bonus: Each item is one of a kind. Boline Apothecary, with all its personalized teas and herbal remedies, has a small selection of pottery by Columbus producers Crafty By Nature.
If you don’t want to change up your routine, Starbucks’ “Made in the USA” collection showcases the pride of ceramic workers in New Waterford, Ohio.
I feel no shame expanding my coffee collection, especially when I am putting my money back into the local economy. •
– Written by Kim Leddy & Photograph by Chris Casella – Stock & Barrel magazine
Beer Suds Soap
Beer Suds Soap, made with Great Lakes’ Edmund Fitzgerald Porter and ground up New Zealand Pacific Jade aromatic hops, combines the moisture-rich qualities of our soaps with the wonderful properties of beer. The next time you grab a beer to drink it, you might consider for one minute the possibility of applying it to your face instead. Then, you will likely drink it anyway. I don’t blame you! Well after a bit of research, we learned all about beer on your face. Here we go!
Beer applied to your skin can prevent free radical damage to the skin and assist it to look more youthful. Beer can also clear up your complexion, treat dry flakes, and make the skin smooth and supple thanks to the pantothenic acid and vitamin complex. The brewer’s yeast in beer is instrumental in the prevention of wrinkles and restoring the skin. Brewer’s yeast can also help improve the symptoms of acne by slowing down the sebum production and killing off the bacteria that trigger acne. Much like the antibacterial qualities of beer which fight acne, beer’s astringent component makes it useful for cleaning out pores. But that’s just the beer-ginning (beginning). We also added freshly ground hops into our soap as well! Hops just happen to be a stellar exfolliant and have anti-inflammatory properties which help soothe your skin gently. Hops boosts collagen and elastin levels which both improve skin’s structure and appearance. Humulone in hops can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the skin and decrease surface blood vessels. Overall, beer and hops together make an excellent skincare team!
Our Beer Suds Soap is full of rich, sudsy, creamy lather and since the hops and beer do not scent the soap very well, we have added a little bit of fresh cedarwood oil. Oh how we just adore the scent of cedar with its fresh cedar forest appeal.
So suds up! Beer Suds Soap is available at https://www.etsy.com/listing/183731834/beer-suds-soap-eco-friendly-and-natural?ref=shop_home_active_17
Our shop is always open, at http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftybynaturestudio
So next time you reach for that beer and are about to drink it, just think, “I might want this beer on my face!” And I know when no one is looking, you might just dab some onto your face just for giggles.
Beer Suds Soap
Coming soon is the newly made Charcoal Soap with Patchouli-Vanilla Swirl, made with activated charcoal and a wee bit of plain soap swirled together. The activated charcoal comes from burnt coconut fibers and it helps to draw out impurities and toxins right out of your skin, leaving a clear and clean complexion. We always add extra moisturizing shea butter and aloe vera to each soap so it leaves your skin feeling renewed and lovely. Our soaps will never dry your skin because we cherish happy, moisturized skin! This is the 2nd time we have ever done a hanger swirl and we are quite pleased. We actually use a coat hanger to swirl the soap; imagine that! It works like a charm! It is so exciting to see the soap once it is cut into bars and you can see all the swirls. I’ll have to post more pictures of that soon, now that they are cut. For now, here is the big soap block right before I sliced it into bars.
We are most honored to announce that our plates are now in a sensational restaurant here in the local Columbus, Ohio region called Veritas. Veritas is a newer restaurant, opened up in roughly late 2012, that has already earned quite a reputation as a top notch culinary destination. Crave Magazine recently named Veritas as the number one restaurant in all of Columbus. This is a tremendous honor for Veritas, especially since they are technically located in Delaware, Ohio which is about 20 miles north from Columbus. Despite their location being slightly north, they absolutely deserve the title as number one restaurant of Columbus. We have been to Veritas a number of times and we are always astonished and amazed at their culinary genius. We are beyond excited that Veritas, known for their small plates and highly eclectic cuisine, has chosen us to provide them with their plates. The plates will be used on several occasions including large parties and for serving specific dishes such as their scallops plate. We are convinced that if you go to Veritas and request “Crafty by Nature” plates that they will not disappoint.
We have delivered 26 total plates to Veritas and we encourage you to come to Veritas and explore their inventive, original, and refreshing menu. It is well worth the drive to come to Veritas for the culinary experience. Plus the plates are not too shabby! Visit Veritas at www.veritastavern.com or 15 E Winter St, Delaware, OH 43015. Reservations are always a good idea, so just give them a call at (740) 417-4074. Enjoy the great food and tell them Crafty by Nature sent you!
I did it. I thought it would be impossible but I made a rich, lathering, moisture-rich, sudsy, bubbly, and lovely soap that contains zero palm oil. Palm oil is a very delicate subject. It is both a soapmaker’s dream and their worst nightmare at the same time. Palm oil is ideal for making a very nice bar of soap. It is semi solid at room temperature and it is renowned for producing big, fluffy, wonderful lather. So what’s the problem? Well, if you are like I was up until recently, you might think people were nuts to not embrace palm oil. That was until I read the articles on NPR, Wikipedia, and countless other sources. To sum it up, palm oil harvesting involves chopping down mass quantities of perfectly healthy trees, never replanting them, destroying the land and displacing or killing endangered species like orangutans and Sumatran white tigers, releasing large quantities of carbon into the air, and furthering global warming. I will have no part in this dirty soapmaking now that I am fully aware of the true light of palm oil. Watch out for palm oil in some of your favorite packaged foods, too, as it is used far more widely in the food industry than it ever was in soap or cosmetics. Now we can all be proud to be clean AND green with palm oil free soaps! So it’s official: I have completely rewritten my soap recipe and I now completely exclude any palm oil from any of my products. Time to celebrate! The first soap I made palm free was my Lavender Orange, which is nearly sold out already. Pure Patchouli soap with ground oatmeal for extra soft skin and Lavender Fields soap also with oatmeal are ready on August 1, 2013. I will have to make more soaps this weekend, and practically every weekend for a good long while. Through using other soapmaker’s soaps that were palm-free, I thought it would never be possible to get a wonderfully fluffy lather without palm. I tried some soap from another soapmaker (no names will be mentioned ever) and it only produced slime when I washed my hands with it. SLIME! Absolutely no lather. My hopes were lost at first. But in the end, I tried my hardest to write a wonderful lathery soap recipe and it is really paying off. Goodbye, palm oil and hello big lather! Who knew? I am so very happy.
We are going to have a great month full of craft shows to peddle our wares. We’ll have all our latest pottery as well as all our latest soaps and lotions on hand for these shows. If you will be in the Columbus, Ohio area this month, you should definitely stop on by! We will be one of many vendors at these events so the great news is there will be lots of diversity of all sorts of art and crafty goodness to select from and browse.
Our show schedule is up on our website here at http://www.craftybynaturestudio.com/upcoming-shows
This Saturday will be the wonderful Columbus Craftacular, held at Whetstone Community Center in Clintonville!
Next Saturday, May 11th will be the Migratory Bird Fest, Plant Sale, and Arts/Crafts Day at the Audubon Center!
The following Saturday, May 18th, Will be Green on the Green in Worthington at 161 & High St!
ALL THREE FESTIVALS are ecologically friendly themed. We are right where we want to be!
See you there! Mention this blog post and get 25% off any item in our little shop. Woo hoo!
Exactly 4 weeks ago, I set out to make my very first swirl soap using rose-colored kaolin clay. I was beyond excited and could barely wait until TODAY. Today is the exact day that the soaps became fully cured and ready for use. Today is the day I got to try my new swirl soap. Did it lather? Oh yes it sure did quite a bit! Does it seem moisturizing enough considering the clay content? Again a definite yes! I think by mixing the clay with avocado oil before introducing it into the soap really helps to boost the moisture content. Does the multiple essential oil blend smell great? It’s wonderful, woodsy, uplifting, and bright! In fact, when I tried this new soap today, my husband was home and nearby. I tried the soap, decided it was pretty awesome, and said to my husband, “Here try this” and handed him the soap. About 60 seconds later he was saying, “I like this soap; it’s manly.” I consider that a big compliment.
The swirl part was one area I know I can improve. I ended up with a really wonderful soap full of ridiculous lather and gorgeous essential oil scents, but the swirl was not so very swirly. Next time I will more aggressively blend the swirl of the rose-colored kaolin clay into the plain colored soap.
I should mention the wonderful aromatic of this soap. I made a blend of litsea essential oil, patchouli essential oil, lavender essential oil, and lemon essential oil. The result is a gorgeous, rich, full, woodsy lemon aromatic. It is bright and uplifting. I have made this soap before, just without the swirl. Every time men get to sniff this soap, they tend to really like it. My husband is a big fan of this aromatic.
If you are wondering what litsea is, it is very similar to lemon essential oil but more intense and woodsy. Litsea grows usually as a tree but sometimes a large shrub. It produces small, inedible fruits that contain a lot of the litsea essential oil. I believe they also utilize the leaves to get the essential oil of litsea, too. It holds better in cold process soaps than lemon essential oil does as it has more staying power due to its full, rich, earthy scent.
I love litsea and I really love this soap! Next time, more swirls! Next up on my agenda for new soaps is an interesting new one; sea clay swirled green man soap! I am excited for that one! Here is my swirled lemon chiffon soap available for sale:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/119723426/lemon-chiffon-swirl-soap-eco-friendly
I am working on a bunch more pottery projects right now but here are a few of my recent ones that came out of the kiln.
I am currently working on this Neti Pot as a gift to my man. He requested one since our old one fell off the bathroom sink and broke.
Then there is the plate I fell in love with and almost, just almost, could not bring myself to selling. But alas, I will have to make more of these!
Then I made a special plate for a good friend of mine. I can’t say who because it is a Christmas gift surprise! But here is the plate. I handbuilt it, used a plastic doily to impress the pattern, covered the whole plate with floating blue glaze and wiped it off as to leave it only in the cracks, and clear coated it with a clear glaze.
And finally, I made a buckeye leaf platter for a good friend who is obsessed with football. For those of you who are not local Ohioans, the buckeye leaf and nut are both symbols for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team stationed here in Columbus, Ohio. You may hear people screaming “Go Bucks!” at random times when you are in Ohio. It happened to me one day when I first moved here from the East Coast that a random stranger guy screamed “GO BUCKS” to me and I just kind of stood there totally confused. Sometimes I still am confused, but alas, here is the Ohio State Buckeye platter, made using a real Buckeye Tree leaf.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Winter Solstice and beyond… Each day after December 21st promises to have more and more daylight gradually each day up until the Summer Solstice. Let’s enjoy the increased daylight and the wonderful winter season. May it be bright and full of merriment for everyone. I look forward to creating a ton more pottery this winter in preparation for the craft shows next year. We are planning ahead although we don’t know all the craft show dates just yet, and looking forward to an awesome and auspicious 2013!!!
Here’s our plans for shows so far…
http://www.craftybynaturestudio.com/upcoming-shows
Happy Solstice everyone!
I decided to make a cute little bug out of clay and use high fire wire for its legs and fire it in my kiln. I absolutely love this cute little bug! I really need to make more of these. I added a little notch underneath the bug so that he can be attached to a bamboo kabob skewer and used as a decorative stake in a houseplant or the garden.
LOVE IT!
Everyone needs a cute little bug!!
Crafty by Nature Blog 