Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Hi all...I just realised that I havent introduced myself really, and just jumped right in. Please excuse my rudeness. I am returning to the UK in November after 5 years in Sydney, Oz and am hoping to continue my (micro) business over there. I have been making soap for a number of years and as a business for about the last 8 months. I also make soy candles, mineral makeup, lip balms, lotion bars, solid shampoos/conditioners, natural hair colours (henna), all sorts really. I also am a big compact fan, its a shame they seem to be out of fashion, they are great for mineral foundation! I recondition vintage compacts and sell them as a way to take MMU on the go.  I dabble in beading and PMC clay to take a break from the bath and body, and am now teaching myself to knit. Lots of loooonng scarves in my house as it took me a while to learn to cast off  ::)
I am planning on working on my sewing soon too,  as I am going to have to wait a few months for all my ingredients to be shipped over  :-[
It is going to be fun going through an entirely new set of regulations and insurance, but I am hoping the lovely Scott will be able to make me legal soon enough.

I am moving to Kent/South London border, and hoping to meet lots of crafty people from there, as well as all over the UK. There doesnt seem to be many markets/fairs around that area, so I will maybe look into organising some in 2010, as this is my main source of income. I hope to share any knowledge I have, as well as learn some new things that maybe are done differently in UK.

Nice to meet you all!!

M

Hi Kikidee
Welcome, and wow, aren't you creative!!! How lovely to have so much variety too, I am a bit like that too, love all sorts.  I have also been to Sydney, though only for a holiday, but love down under! 

Hope to see you around on the boards
Deborah :)

Hello and welcome!  :buttrf:
Great to hear about all your adventures in the various crafts.
And if you by chance have missed it - we love pics.  ;D

Welcome! I am now completely exhausted, reading all the things you do - do you have extra long days in Oz? :mwaha: :mwaha:

Hello and thank you for the wonderful intro! I was born and bred in Sydney, moved to the Gold Coast for 5 years in my early twenties before coming to the UK. I've been here 12 years now  ;D

Those scarves will come in handy here, probably not much use for them atm in Sydney  ::)

Looking forward to getting to know you and hearing all about how things are done there v here!  :buttrf:

hehe, welcome kiki, i thought i noticed that you were young but thought you were an oldie who had returned to the forum. i think there might be a lot of markets/fairs in the end you just have to come first. i have done a couple this year at that end of town.

Thank you for the welcome! I don't know how crafty I am, I only said I did these things, not that I am any good at them lol.
I am going to attempt some pics...bear with me I am a techno dumbass...

Welcome Kikidee!  lovely to see you here  :)

And more

And my mad computer skillz have come to a crashing halt lol

Hello there,

Good way of explaining what you do - nice pics.

(you can make them a bit bigger you know - show up a bit better)

Thank you Elaine...Iwas scared of making them bigger, as it told me off twice..I then erred on the side of caution and made them teeny weeny...lol

Sorry Did II hear you say you only made em didnt mean you were good at em.

Kiki they are gorgeous. I love those soft colours and the combinations.

Take yer modesty hat off!! And beam  :buttrf:

Hi Kiki,

Very nice to meet you!

That's some mighty nice items you've got there :D. Do you have a safety assessment procedure in Australia like we have over here? I am always fascinated to learn about the rules of other countries :D

Kevin x

Welcome.

They all look great.

Hello Kiki, I thought I had said hi already, so sorry.
Wow your soaps etc are wonderful  :buttrf: looking forward to seeing many more  ;)
When are you coming back?

Welcome!! I love your pics, your work is amazing!!

If you need any help on the knitting at all, give me a shout .. I used to do it professionally at one time before I got RSI due to it.  

Hi Kiki and welcome. I'm a newbie too. Your products are absolutely gorgeous. You are very talented. I love MMU too and hopefully will venture into it soon, I'll only start with eye shadow though (cluck). Would love bigger pics too  ;). Looking forward to seeing more of your creative masterpieces.
Eire

My goodness you are a busssssy lady and those products....  beautiful.  I'd say you were pretty darn good at them  :buttrf:

Welcome Kiki and I know we'll be chatting more around the boards  ;)  Keep posting them lovely pics pleeeeeeeease  ;D

We don't have a safety assessment as such, which means there are a lot more soapers here, and some not so great ones lol. We do have to have public and product liability, as well as be registered with NICNAS, which is the closest thing to an assessment. I quite like the fact that it is more stringent in UK, I figure it will put off anyone that isnt serious about it, and cut down on the amount of people hobby crafting and selling on E**y for 99p. (I have nothing against hobby crafters, just that it can drive perceived value down when people don't need or want a reasonable price for their creations!) I am going to have to look at a lot of my practises to see if they are ok over there, for instance I have a few tallow and lard soaps which I believe may be a problem in the UK. I do have a veggie formula I use regularly, but I love a lard soap now and then  :(

I am aiming for the first week in November. Eire, if you want any help with MMU, please feel free to shout. I do a big shipment every so often from the US, so have many things not available in UK if you need stuff to play with!
I am just getting used to seeing all the stuff there is in the UK vs Oz. Fresholi has some lovely, lovely stuff I am looking forward to getting my hands on! First is going to be that dark cocoa butter..it looks heavenly!

And smells amazing too! Hub thought it was chocolate  :mwaha:

Hi Kiki!   :)