The Bottles & Jars have arrived!

Finally I have the jars and bottles needed to begin packaging up some of the other natural products I make here on our little homestead.  First off will be the Beeswax Furniture Polish and Creme products together with some 1 litre bottles of natural laundry wash for those of you who don't have time to make it yourselves.  I'm just waiting now on the labelling before they will be ready to go into the shops or purchase here on line.

Don't forget you can now find Hazelmere Cottage on Facebook.  Please come and join up

There is Always Hope..................

I felt so dejected after finding out how much it would cost for product liability insurance and was ready to just put everything away, just continuing to make the products for our family, friends, and a few VERY insistent customers.  Over the past few months since my last post, I've had alot of support from people who had used my soaps, encouraging me to find a way to get this insurance thing so I could begin selling again. So I want to say Thank You - I'm exploring some options that have come about............. there is, it seems, always hope!  So if you are one of those supporters who have been encouraging me, then please continue to pray, as there a few needs that will need to be met in order for me to be able to really get going.  In the meantime, enjoy the "new look" and  if you have facebook, then please find me there and press 'like'.

No Longer a Business......

This is a sad thing, but unfortunately due to the ridiculously high costs for product liability for soap makers here in Australia, together with the new "thing" coming in with respect to having to register with the govt agency (at a lovely fee of course), it just is not viable for me to be able to sell my soaps to the shops any longer.  They need to add a mark up naturally, however this would take the price up to a crazy price that I would never buy a bar of soap for........... therefore I would not expect anyone else to!  I'm not going to be doing markets and I have closed my business - before it was even able to really begin................ and returned to "Hobby Status".  I will have soaps available for my blogging friends, and family but that is all.   Thankyou to all who have supported me as I tried to get going on this.

Yarrawonga Christmas Market

So what proved to be very popular at our first market stall???....................

Rose and Musk Melts were a great hit.................. and it was a tie for these 3 varieties of soap........

Spearmint Honey

Choc Mint (below)      and  Orange & Cinnamon (below right)

 

What's New ?

Where to begin?  At first I thought I would just use the blog as my webpage - well, I am doing that at this point, however I believe it's a benefit for all of us if I keep up a blog of the cottage letting you all know what's happening here. I've made a page specifically to tell you about us and about our products - so now, lets make a start with blogging........ As many of you know, I work as a nurse and my little business is slowly coming into being, even though I've been making soaps & many other items for a number of years now.  I'm now up to 15 varieties of soaps available for you to purchase.

Now the next exciting news is that we have another new stockist to join with us:
Welcome to "The Material Girls"

 Joy has a great range of fabrics and quilting supplies and now also stocks our lovely natural handmade soaps.  She will also be stocking our candle melts once the new packaging arrives to house them.  The Material Girls are situated in Yarrawonga.

Welcome to Hazelmere Cottage



Welcome to Hazelmere Cottage - grab yourself a cuppa & come take a look around at our  natural handmade soaps, candles, and other products.

Where are we?
Hazelmere Cottage is located in Bundalong, North East Victoria (Australia), right near the juntion of the Murray River & Ovens River.   Where possible, ingredients are sourced locally- Olive Oil from Rich Glens Olive Grove, Yarrawonga, Honey & Bees Wax from  Chiltern Apiarists, and the majority of herbs & flowers that are grown in our gardens here at the cottage.   
Our current products include soaps and candle melts,  with lip balms, candles, and furniture polish, coming on sale in early 2012. All of these are handmade in individual batches on our little homestead. No artificial colours are added to our products, and essential oils are used instead of fragrances, making them more beneficial to your health and well being.

Our Products...
Soaps:

Vanilla and Coffee Bean Soap

  Olive Oil forms the main ingredient to our soaps, although other oils, including essential oils are used in various proportions depending on the variety of soap.  Colours sometimes alter slightly due to natural colouring from herbs & other ingredients being harvested at various times of the year  Please visit our soaps page for more details on varieties available & list of ingredients.

Liquid Soap:  Hoping to be available early 2012

Candles and Candle Melts:
 Made from local beeswax (Chiltern Honey) with essential oils added to deliver a lovely natural smell to your home. 
Candle Melts are currently available in Rose, Lavender, Orange.  Also available due to popular request is Musk (our only fragrance).
Candles are currently out of stock.

Furniture Polish: A blend of beeswax, linseed & olive oils with essential oil added.  Varieties available :   Rose, Lavender, Orange and Lemon Myrtle. 
Will be available in early 2012

Lip Balms coming in 2012 - stay tuned for more details
Ordering:
Orders can be made by either visiting one of our stockists listed on our stockists page, or by sending an email with your order & details sharmshere@yahoo.com   whilst we are waiting for our internet shop to be set up.

A little about me:
I'm Sharmayne, I'm a registered nurse and mother of 3 grown children.  I began making our own soaps a number of years ago when alergeric reactions to many chemically based items began in our family.  I love the idea of tradional, handmade items that come about with time & patience - as well as being free from harmful chemicals.