Shellybobbins - Competition by www.nyan-nyan.co.uk Competition closes this Sunday 27th feb 2011

                                                  
Thanks Lucy for for your lovely competition on my blog, I love the way you've explained everything, in making your none chemical candles. This is how they are made

All our candles start with 100% Ecosoya wax. It arrives in our workshop in beautiful white flakes. It is weighed and melted in a double boiler until it reaches the perfect temperature. 

For pillar candles I also use this time to line the molds with beautiful dried flowers, this is a process that took a long time to perfect and has taken a lot of practice! Here are some molds lined with rose petals ready for the wax to be poured into them.
Once the wax has melted to the right temperature pure essential oils are mixed into the wax. All our blends have been created with the help of a good friend of mine who is a qualified aromatherapist. The wax is poured into the molds and left to harden for 24 hours. The temperature in the workshop has to be perfect for the wax to harden without cracks or gaps. I check on the candles every so often to see how they are getting on... they recieve a lot of TLC!

It is finally time to get the candle out of the mold. Fingers crossed it comes out smoothly .. The wick is trimmed top and bottom and it is time for labelling and finishing touches. This is done at my kitchen table by hand, I love the fact our candles may have subtle differences, no candle is ever the same. My customers appriciate this and it is one of the lovely things about buying an artisan made product. Finally after a 48 hour process your candle is ready to be lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and shipped to its new destination for you to enjoy. 

COMPETITION

I am passionate about growing Nyan Nyan to become a leading provider of NO CHEMICALS candles!!
 A) not made in the UK

 B) Factory made and

C) contain fragrance oils! and people are prepared to pay £20 a candle just for a "name" ridiculous!

Please leave your answers on the blog and a random number generator will be used to pick the winner on sunday night at 8pm

WINNER WILL RECEIVE

This *Love Bomb* Candle (candle holder will not be provided)

Permission has been given by http://www.nyan-nyan.co.uk/ for me to use these pictures & information, Lucys on twitter too http://www.twitter.com/nyannyansoy go and say hello xx

© nyan-nyan.co.uk

I look forward to spending many a night on your website looking for lovely gifts so nice to be able to buy none chemical candles thank you lucy I just love them xxx

Love Shellybobbins xxx

Shellybobbins invites @childcareisfun_ are there chemicals in your little one's life

Our lovely crafting lady Shellybobbins was talking to me about how she’d been made aware of chemicals found in baby shampoo after she was researching in preparation for launching her own range of skincare and soap products.

She was horrified but even more so when I promised her a list of chemicals and toxins found in lots of baby products!
Now I’m not a new-age, earth-mother or anything, but I am aware of what’s out there. This awareness helps me buy certain products over others and avoid certain things. I’m hoping this list will help you too.
So as promised (and with apologies to any parent I scare) here is the list of rather disturbing chemicals and toxins found in products and environments for littliesChemical Chaos 1) Bisphenol A         
More commonly known as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups.
It is used to make polycarbonate plastic often used in baby bottles and baby food storage containers! According to the Daily mail, scientists said ‘there have been clear links to cancer, birth defects and heart disease!

Yesterday, scientists in the Uk Called for the UK to follow other countries and put a ban on this chemical.

*Yoomi bottles and baby born free bottles are already BPA free

1) Many baby shampoos and lotions contain carcinahons!            In a recent finding by ‘campaign for safe cosmetics’  48 baby bath products contained two known carcinogens, 1,4 dioxane and formaldehyde!

Among the big-name products containing the carcinogens were Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo and Baby Magic lotion.

*I’d like to stress here that neither chemical is deliberately added to any of the products or listed among their ingredients, both can be produced as byproducts of the manufacturing or aging process.
Formaldehyde is a byproduct of the normal decay of some cosmetics ingredients over time, while 1,4-dioxane is produced from the reaction of foaming agents with certain petrochemicals!

The amounts found were very small but they’re there!

3) ASeattle Children's Hospital Research Institute study reported that babies recently treatedd with baby lotion, shampoo, and powder, were more likely to have phthalates in their urine than other babies.
Phthalate exposure in early childhood has been associated with altered hormones as well as increased allergies, runny nose, and eczema!
4) Chemicals can also migrate into a baby through their nursery .
New parents, with good intentions, buy new baby furniture, install new synthetic carpeting, and paint or wallpaper the room — all the while creating a toxic environment from airborne chemicals released from these products.
4) There are also toxic chemicals in the poorly-labeled bottles of kitchen and bathroom cleansers, and in insect sprays and air fresheners and plug in fresheners used thoughout the home.

5) Food
I wont write a long list of foods here as most people are aware of additives and chemicals used in everyday food. If you look here you'll see what im talking about http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

6) Baby formula (mainly USA)
Some babies get this at every meal:
Potassium hydroxide; also used topically to prevent the growth of horns in calves
Calcium carbonate; the common name is chalk
Calcium hydroxide; the common name is lye.
Calcium chloride
*If you formula feed your baby Check your formula’s ingredients!

7) Clothing
There are chemicals found in new clothes used in the treatment/dyeing process.
*Ensure you always wash new clothes for your littlies before using them.

Walking, driving, playing in parks, our children are surrounded by chemicals and toxins from cars and fertilisers! Even dog and cat faeces contain harmful ingredients for littlies and pregnant women if touched!
* Pregnant women should avoid changing cat litter trays
* Homes with dogs/cats should ensure the garden is poop free before letting littlies in the garden.
I hope I’ve not scared you all into an OCD state of cleaning, changing beds and checking every label! I do hope however, that I’ve made you a little more aware of how many chemicals there really are in our little ones everyday lives.


Thank you to childcareisfun for letting me use the article & I hope you find it interesting I did xxx

© Shellybobbins has full permission of www.childcareisfun.co.uk to duplicate this blog post.

©Childcareisfun

This is what Shellybobbins thinks ...........Toys - By Shellybobbins standards !!!!!!

Fabric & homemade toys or fabric toys to sell Baby blankets, taggie blankets ??? Mmmm well, the fabric im using for my Shellybobbins, Minibobbins, Bobbobbins, Pawbobbins rag dolls, I have a Certificate of Quality that the fabrics I use for these fabric homemade toys for children have already passed all the relevant tests, all fabrics (prints,woven,jersey,velour..) are certified with Oko-Tex-Standard 100 label.

The following items describe the fabrics quality

1. chlorine free bleach
2. reactive dye
3. reactive print and vat dyening
4. no azoic dye
5. no formaldehyde
6. no optical brightener
7. pH-value sympathetic to the skin
8. mechanical finish (calender)
9. „Öko-Tex Standard 100“
10. heavy metall free
11. no residual shrinkage
12. fastness to abrasion
13. fastness to perspiration + wash fastness
14. fastness to water

When I first started doing my fabric research I was shocked to see on a cardboard bolt "Do not use to make childrens nightwear"  the lovely lady in shop was kind enough to give me the number I rang this fabric company and asked why I couldnt make nightwear clothes she said it was because of the dye ???? and yet its a craft fabric to make things with that I want to sell ??? or give as a gift so the toxicity levels havent been tested and its just brought into the UK to sell to us crafters / people want to be able to set up a craft business make lovely things to sell without knowing any of this information ? - thats not right !!

So I didnt stop their & started sending emails to fabric companys asking does your fabric comply with the British EN71 - one part of this testing is toxic levels in fabric, & this very large company didnt have a clue was I was talking about the lovely lady that I emailed at Moda then asked me If I knew would I let her know ? bless all these fabric companys as lovely as they are are just there to sell the fabric, Should we already know this information ? before buying it ?

This really to me made no sence surely every fabrics been tested ? do you check what it says on the cardboard bolt before buying your material ? Do you send it off to be tested before you sell your lovely items ?

To make something for a child /baby / little one homemade is lovely Taggie banket with ribbons, cloths, bibs, blankets, dolls, what ever it is

You must get it tested !!! babys put things in there mouths & love to cuddle up to a toy, snuggle with a blanket, or suck a taggie blanket

Hope you enjoy the read 

Love Shellybobbins xxx  

Shellybobbins invites - Michael Brown / Chauffeur to Theo Paphitis to the *Spot Light*

                                    

 Hello, and Bless You for looking at our Red Nose Day Giving Page. My fellow Sisters at Ryman and I are going around with the Comic Relief Collection Plate again! Some of you may recall the events of two years ago, when three middle-aged men, dressed as nuns, pulled a 3 ton Maybach for a distance of a mile, to raise funds for Red Nose Day.

This year we're back!!!! And this year's event is called PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES. (I wonder if you can guess what it's about?) Yes. On a single day, Sunday March 6th, a group of multi-faith and multi-sex Sisters will pull a Boeing 757 Aircraft, a Type 20 Diesel Locomotive and a number of Cars. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

 Please click on the link if you would like to donate to Nuns On the Pull !!  http://my.rednoseday.com/NunsOnThePull

 If you havent got your red nose pen click on this link to buy for just £1.00 !!

http://www.ryman.co.uk/3700010425/Ryman-Red-Nose-Day-Pen-Honkus-2011/Product






Thank you so much michael I think its brilliant what your doing Good luck for the 6th March ! & keep practising with hoover x

If you would like to follow Michael or Theo's tweets then click these links please x

http://www.twitter.com/KatoChauffeur

http://www.twitter.com/TheoPaphitis

With Love Shellybobbins xxx

Shellybobbins Nominated for "Business Mum Award 2010"

How amazin is this Someone has nominated me for Business Mum Award 2010 ! I received an email on monday 14th feb, so excited to get such an email first of all never mind to actually be nominated ? Ive put the button on my blog top left so anyone can click it and that takes you to the site but this ones for the voting xx


To Vote Please Click This Link x
http://www.businessmumawards.com/html/start_up.html

So for the next 2 weeks it's down to you to vote for each other and for your fellow mums in business to vote for you.

The results of this vote is not directly linked to who will be put through to the final, it is just one criteria that will count and the judges have the final decision...not me!

  

We need 3 finalists in each category who will be invited as our guests to the ceremony on the 8th March.

Id really love your support in this - can I count on your vote please xxx

Love Shellybobbins xxx

Shellybobbins Giveaway !! Who will you give your heart too ??

Competition starts today and ends sunday 13th feb 2011, all you have to do is nominate someone (not yourself) who you thinks deserves a Shellybobbins heart, a winner will be picked a random next sunday, the heart will then be carefully wrapped & sent I will contact you for the nominee's address

Sometimes its nice just to give.

Make someones day

Let people know you care

I think its really nice to just give something away no matter how small it is, its lovely just to make someone day & make them smile

THIS COMPETITION WILL BE RUN EVERY MONTH FOR THE NEXT YEAR SPREAD ABIT OF LOVE - EVERY SINGLE MONTH !


With Love Shellybobbins xxx