SORRY meditation for tomorrow is cancelled :(

We will be back in the new year for more meditations! But you can do your own meditation tomorrow... It's the WINTER SOLSTICE you made it through the longest nights of the year and from now on the days will be getting longer - more daylight means more vitamin D time and I truly hope you will take advantage and give yourself some daylight.

I am in a rush to get home but I will post tomorrow some additional ideas for a good meditation on the WINTER SOLSTICE!

love - carina

our GIFT to you!

We want to thank all of our terrific customers with this special offer (for a short time only), I really think we have the best customers of all! We have gotten to know each other over the years and aside from sending all of you a loaf of my cardamom bread - I thought this was a more effective way to say THANK YOU! and we LOVE you!

*not included: black crane, Le Feu de Leau candles, Black Sheep Goods (weaving kits), new Lucky Fish + any Makers Market items are not included in this discount. This offer cannot be applied to past orders.

SEe you in January at the Million Woman March!

love - carina

Holiday Makers Market in the shop!

FIRST ANNUAL MAKERS MARKET!
Now that we have a shop space the first thing I wanted to do was bring together all of our talented Rhode Island ARTisans for a shop-bop. We have some talented people showing their wares for you to peruse and shop this HOliday season.

Join us on FRIDAY + SATURDAY (12/9 AND 12/10) from 10am to 6pm
it's a part party, part shop, part art show!

Laura Kramer - glass blower in Pawtucket Rhode Island
Corwin Butterworth - woodworker making beautiful objects in wood including cutting boards, trays and candle lights
Maura - Potter by day and activist all the other time... She makes crazy things with clay, crazy BEAUTIFUL things!
Dennis Melucci - creating gorgeous pieces of jewelry by hand every inch of the way. His metal-smith work is divine in it's simplicity and grace. Bracelets, rings and more!
Karen - making delightful animals with clay that will amaze you. She has made literally thousands of animals, never the same one twice and they are OH so nice
Lucky Fish - Jann Cheifitz our favorite screen printer is here with goodies galore - pillows, ornaments, clutches, coasters -- you name it she's printed it!
Carina Schott - Jewelry with crystals that will bring you back to 'center' - her simple netted gemstones and smooth tumbled quartz crystals and cleared in the ocean and left out in the moonlight to charge and bring you peace and love (and a bit of luck too!).
Robin Mollicone - her fine art beaded pieces are the center of gravity in this crazy world we live in - she has sent some of her most unique pieces (including her sought after 'safety pins'!)

And lot's more....

Join us on FRIDAY + SATURDAY (12/9 AND 12/10) from 10am to 6pm
it's a part party, part shop, part art show!

Candle Dipping

We just made some wonderful candles today in the shop! It was a bit of a Holiday Workshop but really candle-making is for good for any time of year. As a kid we used to make dip candles, it's a big sport around the holidays and in wintertime in general in Sweden. It's been a real long time and I knew my mom was going to be in town so I thought she could help. This is a great craft that can involve the entire family and I hate to say it but it's pretty darn easy.

in this photo you can see I have my beeswax in the double boiler pan right (for dipping), and I am recycling my leftover ikea candles (left pan) that had burned down by pouring into cups.

You will need some tools, I would suggest going to a second hand store and see what you can get a hold of to use. I found everything I needed at my favorite store called 'Mine' in Mystic, CT (run by the most delightful man - if you are in Mystic don't miss a stop into this wonderyard of second hand treasures). I found a pretty large double boiler for $5 and a hot plate too. I got a camping coffee can to use for pouring candles when we were done dipping (it's nice to finish off the wax because you never know when you are going to pull this out again). Luckily the camping coffee can fit inside the double boiler so I could keep it hot.

I've been saving old wax from the bottoms of candles in a box for quite awhile so I was excited to recycle them. I also always clean my used votive candles from Ikea - so I have tons to reuse for this project. Just tie a knot in the bottom of your wick, make the length of the glass votive and use chopsticks to hold the wicks in place.

Here you can see that we got creative and sculpted peace signs and hearts

You will need:
double boiler (or some kind of pot in pot) you want it to be deep enough for the length of your candle we only got 6" - 8" tapers with our pot.
hot plate
wicks (I got wicks for 1" tapers and 3" votive candles)
beeswax (or recycle old wax!)
chopsitcks (if you are going to pour)
clean votives or glasses (you could get cheap glasses from a second hand shop to use for this as well)

It's nice to do this on a good size work surface, We have an old door that we put on two horses, we put this up wherever we need to create a work surface, be it outside or in, it gives you ample room to work and you don't have to worry about anything!

Add water to your double boiler and heat. Add your wax to the top double boiler and melt, as soon as it is finished melting you want to make sure you keep the temperature even and low so you don't burn the beeswax. As soon as all the wax is melted you can start the dipping. After your first dip you can pull your wick taught so that the candles will come out straight (it's okay and not very hot, my kids even did this part). It's important to dip - not to quick and not too slow. Too quickly and you won't get much, too slow and the wax will melt again and you will also go nowhere! They should not get thicker than an inch or the wick will not stay lit (if you are making candle thicker than 3" you need to give different wicks) - you will know when you get it right.

This is not a fast project and you need patience. Want to teach your kids some patience or the value in slow crafting.. make candles!

You can sculpt peace signs or hearts by dipping your wick once and then sculpting your shape then keep dipping like you would a candle.

GOOD LUCK and have some fun! put on some holiday music and go to town....
I got my wax and wick supplies at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, they are terrific and have everything you need.