Are You Sure I Can't Eat This? - LovelyBubbly by Amanda

As entrepreneurs fairly new on the scene, we think it's a great opportunity to have other great Makers in our area. "LovelyBubbly" by Amanda is based right around the corner from us and makes some absolutely amazing soaps that look good enough to eat - and when I took my 3 year old over to her shop she literally tried to take a bite!

Here is a great opportunity to get to know her and her craft!

How did you get into soap making?
I started off by trying the melt and pour bases first, to get a feel for the mica and fragrances. But in my heart I knew I had to make cold process, there's something about making it from scratch that's so satisfying. And my initial goal was to make a soap cake! So I started with a lot of reading on the internet and you tube watching. Then I stumbled across a lady in Oxford that was taking small classes to show how it was done. Once I did that, I was away, and addicted. Although soap is certainly a 'practice makes perfect...sometimes' kind of activity.

What made you make the decision to turn soap making from a hobby into a business?
When I went on maternity leave with my third child, I took that as the opportunity to try and start turning something I love into something I love, for a job.
It's still a work in progress!

What inspires you in the design process of coming up with each piece?
I usually buy a fragrance that tickles my fancy and then go from there. Something that smells like a cake or cupcake usually turn into that!

What is your personal favourite scent?
That's a hard one! I love coffee scents because I live on coffee. I also love anything with lemon in it, or coconut, it's so hard to have just one!

What is you favourite thing about being in business?
It is really nice being able to chip away at a small business while at home, and while I'm juggling the kids school plus one at home. There is a lot of learning as I'm not from a 'business' background being a Nurse, but with Facebook, you tube and google...anything is possible for a stay at home now!

What do you love about your customers?
I love when they order something and you end up having long one on one conversations about life. One soap can turn into 'how was your day' and away we go. It's really nice that Facebook allows that sort of connection when a customer is buying something 'online'.

Amanda has a local following of fans due to her love for her craft and the creativity into which she puts into making truly original - but also practical - works of art. Every piece is beautiful enough to make an amazing gift, but also has a lot of thought put into which scents will complement eachother and work well. Some of the more elaborate pieces can be cut or broken down into smaller chunks so they aren't all used up at once - or look quite so tempting to small children!

Amanda is stocked in the Post Shop in Darfield, but has also recently opened up a physical shop in a freestanding building next to her home in Coalgate (and YES! it is Eftpos equipped!). She finds a lot of people buy off her directly as she is very accessible via her Facebook page and her shopify page makes purchasing very easy. Each soap is labelled with a guideline of how strong the scent is so people can buy to their tastes easily, even online.

7 Iconic Trees That Inspire Us

Photo credit RNZ

We love wood. We love the look of it, we love working with it, we love what we can learn from it - one of the few things we love more than making beautiful pieces out of wood, is enjoying the trees that are still living - as do all Kiwis!

Here are some of our favourite tree-enjoying spots - and some of our favourite trees!

1) The Kahikatea Grove in Riccarton Bush

We used to have the pleasure of living a short walk from this amazing patch of history! Tucked away behind the iconic Riccarton House is a fenced off and well protected area of bush with a pleasant walk and viewing area. It is the ONLY area of original bush on the Canterbury Plains that has survived both Maori and European colonists, and is home to a grove of 600 year old Kahikatea trees. Kahikatea are NZ's tallest forest tree (growing up to 60m in height!), and are much loved for their red berries by native birds such as kereru and tui. If you stand still in the grove for a few minutes, you might even hear one.

2) The English Heritage Trees of Hagley Park

The light filters through the trees in Hagley Park and creates a truly magical atmosphere.

Established by the European ancestors of Christchurch, Hagley Park is home to a collection of trees that celebrate English heritage including our favourite: the Oaks! They have Beechs, Elms, Chestnuts, and some more exotic varieties for neighbours. Many of these trees date back as far as 1850, and contribute to the iconic greenery of the park. This is where I learned how to ride a bike as an adult, watching the seasons change with the leaves, and truly came to appreciate the beauty in these trees so closely tied into our NZ heritage.

3) Tane Mahuta - New Zealand's Kauri Giant

By Gunjan Pandey - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39736594

Waipoua Forest in Northland is home to Tane Mahuta, the "Lord of the Forest", a fantastic Kauri tree that holds special significance to both Matt and I, as we both visited and marvelled at the size and beauty of this tree as children. Matt was overwhelmed with it's circumference (1544.4cm) and height (45.2m), and how tall a tree could grow if you didn't cut it down. I was amazed by the amount of wildlife that lived in and on that one tree (it's ecosystem contains more different types of life than the entire forest floor of an American Redwood Forest). Tane Mahuta taught us to appreciate the longevity of nature and why it is important to preserve our ecosystems.

4) Windswept macrocarpas

A windswept tree from Orepuki

The windswept Macrocarpas (or "sideways trees" as I like to call them) along the Southern Coast - particularly the exposed landscape of Orepuki - are something that you will never see the equivalent to in New Zealand. Growing battered by the harsh antarctic winds, and devoid of shelter, these trees grow almost horizontally, their limbs stretching northward and freezing that way along the vein of the strongest wind - these trees are a sight worth the travel time. We definitely don't envy the sheep who take shelter under them!

5) Pohutakawa

Photo credit AucklandNZ

Growing up in the North Island, I naturally associate the vibrant red Pohutakawa flowers with Christmas. They always bring back great memories of walking down the beach at Takapuna, ice cream in hand, and relaxing in the sun. Even without their flowers, they maintain their character and unique shape. I've always loved the twisted trunks and branches - to me they embody the NZ spirit, artistically vibrant while remaining strong enough to withstand the sea air and storms.

6) Alpine Beech Forest (honeysuckle)

Kiwiburn Hut, Snowdon Forest

As a young couple pre-marriage, Matt and I hiked through Snowdon Forest, and stayed with some friends at Kiwiburn Hut, a great little tramp through a gorgeous Beech forest, broken up with grassy flats. Sufficit to say we have an attachment to these trees and the beautiful forest floor that their leaves create. Matt's love of these trees goes further back into his childhood though, as he grew up adventuring through the Alpine Beech Forests of the South Island, including near Lake Rotoiti where his family camped during the holidays. He grew to appreciate the subtle differences in the varieties of trees, getting well acquainted with red beech, black beech, silver beech, hard beech and mountain beech.

7) Manuka

Photo credit AgriHQ

Manuka is a much loved tree in New Zealand that has been made famous worldwide for it's fantastic medicinal properties and high quality honey. Personally, I have always loved its juxtaposition of harsh twiggy branches, and gentle delicate flowers. It's natural beauty and complexity is difficult to match.