Clearing Spaces - Herbal Bath Teas

Our Herbal Bath Tea Sachets contained different blends of the following ingredients, dried lavender, hops, oats, rose petal, camomile, lemongrass, calendula petals, dried ginger.

we added different combinations of 

the following essential oils peppermint, 

rosemary, eucalyptus, lemon, lime 

and lavender

Kate was with us again to mix up Bath salts

Once the Bath Tea blends were mixed

we filled out hand stamped bags

to use the bath soaks, add them, closed tightly, to a hot bath or allow to steep and add the liquid to the bath

Everyone had lovely herbal goody bags

to take home

Clearing Spaces - Herbal Bath Salts and Lip Balm

Kate Dyer lead us through the process of making a variety of bath salts, as we have quite  a lot of gardeners we looked for recipes that would soothe aching muscles! We decided that we should do one session during the Tuesday Volunteer Day and one on the normal Thursday session so that everyone could either make or receive a bath treat!

Here is kate's step by step guide

Step 1 :- Place half a cup of salt or salts to a glass bowl.

Step 2 :- Mix in 2 tablespoons of carrier oil like jojoba or sweet almond oil.

Step 3:- Add 7 to 8 drops of desired essential oils to the bowl.

Step 4:- Mix all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon.

Step 5:- Add dried herbs, flower petals as you desire. Transfer to an airtight jar. Add to bath as required.

Sore Muscle Bath Soak - Soothes aches and pains

• 1/2 cup of Epsom Salt
• 2 tablespoons jojoba oil
• 4 drops frankinsence
• 3 drops roman camomile

Simple Lavender Bath Salt - Healing and moisturising

1/2 cup of Epsom Salt

2 tablespoons jojoba oil

8 drops lavender essential oil

Energising Bath Salt - refreshing morning blend

• 1/4 cup Dead Sea Salt
• 1/4 cup of Pink Himalayan Salt
• 2 tablespoonssweet almond oil
• 3 drops grapefruit essential oil
• 2 drops  peppermint essential oil
• 2 dropslavender  essential oil

Eucalyptus Lavender Bath Salt - Soothes sinus and respiratory issues

• 1/4 cup of Pink Himalayan Salt
• 1/4 cup of Epsom Salt 
• 2 tablespoons sweet almond oil
• 4 drops lavender essential oil
• 3 drops eucalyptus essential oil

Sleepy Time Bath Salt - relaxing

1/4 cup of Pink Himalayan Salt

1/4 cup of Epsom Salt

2 tablespoons sweet almond oil

4 drops cedarwood essential oil

3 drops orange essential oil

Blissful Bath Salt - Transform your Mind and Body with this relaxing blend

1/4 cup Dead Sea Salt

2 tablespoons jojoba oil

3 drops frankinsence essential oil

2 drops sandalwood essential oil

2 drops bergamot essential oil

Those who wished to added dried 

lavender, camomile, calendula, rose petals

We added a Green Patch Label and a fabric topper

Kate also showed us how to make a lip balm

We had teatree, grapefruit or peppermint

Kate is a wonderful cook, keen gardener and was inspired to try out some of these remedies when she developed a skin condition and found bath salts really helped. She then started making them as presents, which is how Carole knew she was the right person to help with this project.

Parks, Gardens, Woods, Crafts - Waddesdon Manor Gardens - Painting with Autumn Light - Kate Dyer

Surrounded by views of Oxfordshire, the Chilterns Hills, the Vale of Aylesbury Waddesdon Manor, provided our group with an ideal place to photograph and explore.  We gathered by the rococo style Aviary  in the heart of the gardens filled with rare and exotic birds. 

Photographer Kate Dyer set up an impromptu studio near the Aviary and explained to the group about how make a cyanotype or sun print, we were fortunate that Autumn was kind to us and the light was still strong enough for our purpose.

Kate hope the cyanotypes would be inspired by the walk to the Aviary 

 

and would be made with found or natural objects plus 

a selection of preprepared architectural line drawings. 

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. The process uses two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.

Our chosen objects were lad on top of the cyanotype paper and a sheet of acetate was clipped on top, the image was them left to create a positive image produced by exposing the paper it to a source of ultraviolet light (such as sunlight). The extent of colour change depends on the amount of UV light, but good results were obtained after 10–20 minute exposures.

String made a good drying line

After exposure the paper was washed in water

and hung to both dry and develop

the results were beautiful and mysterious.

The history of the Cyanotype

The cyanotype processwas first introduced by John Herschel (1792 – 1871) in 1842. Sir John was an astronomer, trying to find a way of copying his notes. One of the first people to put the cyanotype process to use was Anna Atkins (1799-1871), who in October 1843 became the first person to produce and photographically illustrated a book using cyanotypes

Three dimensional carpet bedding

Download Walks map

After they had finished their cyanotype the group were invited to step back in time in the Victorian style gardens, gaze at flamboyant colours on the parterre amid the ornate fountains and statuary and to explore the gardens and building at their own pace, walking their own paths. In 2012, it was announced that Waddesdon Manor would be one of the sites for Jubilee Woodlands, designated by the Woodland Trust to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

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Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild between 1874 and 1885 to display his collection of arts and to entertain the fashionable world. Opened to the public in 1959, Waddesdon Manor is managed by the Rothschild Foundation, a family charitable trust, on behalf of the National Trust, who took over ownership in 1957. It’s home to the Rothschild Collections of paintings, sculpture and decorative arts.

Some of the group decided to tour the inside the 

house, and found treasure trove of collections.

In the Stable Gallery they were able to Witness nature re-imagined in an exhibition that sees an amalgamation of fashion, digital art and animal specimens on show. In collaboration with the Natural History Museum at Tring, Walter Rothschild’s spectacular collection of natural history provides the inspiration for colourful virtual collages by Platon H and couture dresses by Mary Katrantzou. 

Our time at Waddesdon raced by

This is the face of happiness and wellbeing and lies at the heart of this project - to bring people who lack access to parks, gardens, woods, water, crafts and industry to places they might not ordinarily visit. For many of the group it was the first time they had been to such a grand garden, so full of richness and inspiration. It was a memorable day and one to treasure.