The next Craftster member to be featured in Bath and Body is ~ the always fabulous
smittenheart!
She has been a member of Craftster since January of 2008, and is a frequent poster on the Bath & Beauty Boards. She posts great projects on the completed projects board and is always one of the first ones to offer help and advice on the discussions and questions board.
These are some of my personal favorite projects of hers:
Paprika Colored Soap
Vanilla Milk Bath
tis the season for layering
Felted sweater owl bag
And, of course, she is the one who brought out the dirty underworld of soaping into the public’s eye:
soap licking!Here’s a little bit about smittenheart, in her own words:
I am a mama to two boys - Ryan 11yo and Shane 5yo.I am originally from Hawaii and currently live in Washington DC.I have been crafting since I was 6yo - tearing up old t-shirts to make handbags or wrist cuffs. I have a studio in my basement that serves as an inspiration point for my jewelry making, knitting and soaping endeavors.
I found craftster.org by chance. My sister in law gave me the link, explained to me what exactly swapping was and I was HOOKED. Craftster has served as an excellent inspirational point for me. I have taken up working with polymer clay and resin because of the AWESOME projects that fellow craftsters have posted—such a talented group of people!
Q: Why (and when) did you begin making Bath and Body items?
A: I started making B&B things when I was pregnant with my oldest son. I was worried about getting stretch marks and I have always had an interest in balms and salves. I went to a bookstore and found a book about soaps, lotions, salves and balms. In the book there was a recipe for making a stretch mark oil. I went to various health food stores for my ingredients went home whipped up a batch and I WAS HOOKED. I WANTED to learn EVERYTHING I could about oil properties and what they could do to my skin.
Q: What is your B&B philosophy (as far as all-natural, animal products, etc)?
A: I don’t think I have a philosophy about WHAT are absolutes to use and NOT use. I do believe that you should use what is as easily accessible to you as possible and to NOT get caught up in using something that is unattainable to you. If you can’ t find that HARD to find oil or butter than use what you can find.
Q: Besides soap, what other B&B items do you make?
A: I also make balms, salves and just recently I have been toying with making body butter.
Q: How did your first soap making project go for you?
A: I cant say that my first of ANYTHING went very well. When I made my first CP soap my hand was trembling so hard I was nervous about any lye getting on me. Even though I had ALL of the precautions I was soo nervous. The soap ended up being usable but I couldn’t imagine the process being ANY fun since I was soo nervous. I made my next batch a few days later and that was it. I had found yet another obsession.
Q: What other crafts do you do besides Bath & Beauty? What's your favorite? What do you consider your best craft?
A: ohh..favorite..that s a hard one..lets see probably knitting..it amazes me how you can take a ball of yarn and turn it into something wearable and something that can tailor to your own style..
Q: What are your favorite (and/or least favorite) techniques (oven processing, hmmmm?)
A: favorite techniques..in soaping CP..overall I like making resin jewelry..and yes..least HAS to be by far CPOP..I havent figured that little booger out
Q: You seem to have a bit of an obsession with vanilla. Should we stage an intervention?
A: YES!I seriously CAN NOT help it. Even scents that I don’t think have vanilla in it- do. I am trying to give other scents a try and to expand my horizons
Q: What is your favorite B&B project on Craftster that you posted?
A: Because I had read and read that adding sugar to soap was a BAD idea since it may make your soap sticky and it would NEVER set. This soap ended up being my favorite. It cured well and it is both a soap and scrub.
Red Current and Thyme Tea Sugar Soap
Q: What is your favorite B&B project on Craftster that someone else has posted?
A: I think that this project has helped soo many people overcome the fear of making soap. It’s detailed and the photos are great for people that are visual learners. Seeing how many people have made soap because of the tutorial makes me soo happy and just reinforces the giving and sharing nature of Craftster.
Soap Making Tutorial by
OhHappyDay
Q: What is your favorite non-B&B project on Craftster that you have posted?
A: It was one of the first projects that I did using resin and photos. This was a present for a friend and she was totally surprised by it. The picture was the inspiration for me to try out using resin and I had soo much fun.
Resin Photo Necklace and Bracelet
Q: What is your favorite non-B&B project on Craftster that someone else has posted? And why (with link to project)
A: NEED I SAY MORE! This bag is amazing. I have been obsessed with this bag since I first came across it and though I make felted items I could NEVER attempt making this bag,its too AWESOME!
Shrimp Sushi Bag by
ax174
Thanks so much for sharing a little about yourself! And thanks for being a wonderful part of the Craftster community!
If you see someone that you would like to see featured on this board, please feel free to send a pm to myself or Nymeria.
