by Marie | Feb 27, 2017 | Pets, Salves & Natural Healing, Very Crunchy
These days it’s not hard to identify me as a new puppy owner—my scratch and bite covered hands and forearms give me away pretty quickly (well, I’ve either got a puppy or a passion for naked arm wresting with rose bushes). I’ve heard puppy teeth described as staples, and I’m inclined to agree. Not standard staples for paper, though—no, no. We’re talking those heavy duty woodworking staples coming from a compressed air powered staple gun. OW. Lottie is getting better with biting (or not biting, as it were) as the days go by, but according to the interwebs, she won’t lose her puppy teeth until May or June, which means when she misses a toy and lands a bite on my hands instead, I’m going to be squealing (and bleeding) for a while. Hence, this salve.
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by Marie | Feb 13, 2017 | Projects with Videos, Salves & Natural Healing, Very Crunchy
I am not sure I can adequately describe how utterly incredible this silky smooth, soft intoxicating rose salve smells, but I will try. It’s rose-like, yes, but it’s more than that. Deep and sweet, but not cloying… more of a rich sweetness. There’s also something really complex and warm going on; something a bit bewitching that will have you going for whiffs of your hands whenever you can. I’ve been finding I’ll get distracted by it—I’ll catch a whiff of it while I’m working on something else, and the scent will completely pull me out of whatever I’m doing for a sort of “what is that… oh yeahhh…” kind of moment. It’s awesome, and you should make some.
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by Marie | Jan 12, 2017 | Salves & Natural Healing, Very Crunchy
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I love dogs. I am that person who will always ask if I can pet a puppy I see at the park, and I’ve fallen in love with many the puppy in an instant. I also do a bit of dog walking here in Calgary, and if a pooch has longer fur that comes out between the pads of their paws, I’ll usually have to give them a bit of a pedicure when we get home. Ice balls tend to clump up on the fur and accumulate between the pads on their feet, and that can’t be comfortable. Add to that the salt and sand we use for traction, and the general coldness of winter, and being a bare-pawed dog on a winter walk can be uncomfortable. That’s where this Protective Pooch Paw Wax comes in.
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by Marie | Dec 19, 2016 | Salves & Natural Healing, Very Crunchy
Back in 2014, Bill wrote to me with a recipe request for a lavender salve he’d been really enjoying using. He described it as “terrific stuff, with a texture just slightly lighter than Vaseline, a quite pungent lavender aroma, and yellow in colour (like lemongrass soaps).” Oooh. And I just happened to have a vintage “Hendonia Ye Olde English Lavender Brilliantine” tin begging to be re-filled, and some brand new cera bellina burning a hole in my pantry. And roughly seven different kinds of lavender essential oil. All that is to say that this salve really needed to be made, and here we are with Bill’s Lavender Salve.
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by Marie | Jan 4, 2016 | Projects with Videos, Salves & Natural Healing, Very Crunchy
Another year, more babies. The wife of one of my co-workers is due to have their first baby in the first quarter of 2016, so I thought I’d make her an herb infused belly bar to ward of itchy belly and stretch marks. It’s wonderfully easy to make and just the thing for any expectant mothers in your life 🙂
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by Marie | Nov 16, 2015 | Salves & Natural Healing, Very Crunchy
First I made Air Conditioning in a Bottle, and then Air Conditioning in a Tin, and now I’m making Fireplace in a Tin. Frankly, I can’t believe it’s taken so long as I am far more likely to require heating than cooling up here in Canada. Let’s not delay things any longer!
The heat in this deep red, spicy balm comes from warming essential oils—chilli seed, cassia, and black pepper, primarily. These essential oils are blended into a glassy balm thickened with candelilla wax so you can easily glide a thin layer of the balm across your skin.
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