x

Veda Fall/Winter 2010

Hello lovesss :)
How are you all doing, I can't believe it's december tomorrow! :) My birthday is super soon aaaaaaah

 I've had lots of pretty stuff for the postal world tour, it's so exciting! but we still haven't got outside of the UK, so if you are a reader from everywhere else in the world it would be super amazing if you could write :) (but if you're from england please don't be discouraged, every piece is truly treasured)

I've been doing some pretty paper art today with my P.A & Mumah :) maybe I'll do extra next year and sell them for charity , I also did a few lines of knitting , I'm so pleased with how it's coming out :)

I've also been drinking, ten million cups of green tea, so so so yummy , tea makes everything better

I'll try and get the artyness up on etsy soon, I have way too much going on right now , but if you do want  a specific piece, just message me :) as atm thats way easier health wise , but I will will will get them up asap
Anyways, I shall stop rambling and go settle down with scrubs & friends and all those programs I've watched so many times that I don't need to be well enough to follow a story line/have my eyes open

All your comments mean so much to me, they really really do, I can't express how much gratitude I have for you all , your support is incredible <3

Love to all of you
Chlay x

Goodness Me !

Hello my darlings:)

I'm thrilled to feature this wonderful woman & company, she knows what she's talking about :) and has so much passion, enthusiasm and drive for what she does, using home grown, local british ingredients,and her products are made in small batches to make sure the quality of the brand stays as high as possible  I had a hard time choosing what questions to post! Goodness Me.

What values did you want your company to have when you first started out (eco friendly, fair trade, no animal testing etc)?


The most fundamental value is that everything is natural - not ‘nature-identical’ but actually part of or derived from a real plant. But that’s nothing new!
The other main mission is to try and localise my suppliers as much as possible. When I was first experimenting I used to just order bog-standard beeswax pellets, the same generic base oils that everyone uses, and imported essential oils and herbs. Then one day I just realised ‘this is crazy, I can get almost everything from the UK, and some in Durham, and even my garden.’ I say almost - there are some essential oil crops that are clearly ungrowable except in their own country, but I order via the UK growers. If I can’t do that, I don’t do it at all. And obviously the shea and cocoa butters aren’t UK, they come from a Ghanaian women’s fair-trade cooperative.
If I can get organic, I do. A lot of the ingredients are grown organically (without pesticides, weedkillers or artificial fertilisers) but are not actually certified. One day I would love to have every ingredient certified but at the moment they simply don’t exist.



This is a beautifully 'orangey' chocolate orange, very zesty, just like perfect for christmas really;)


What do you think sets your work & company apart from others?


I think the drive for local and UK produce. There’s so many people making natural balms and butters, and it’s incredibly easy when all you do is buy the ingredients from a big website, and they’re really cheap. It makes it a lot more difficult when you’re desperately trying to find the few other mad people in the UK who farm herbs that most consider to be weeds, cleaning and grating your own beeswax, trying to grow herbs in horrendously claggy soil, adapting recipes to the limited range available to you from the UK, finding more space in the house to dry herbs, checking up on suppliers’ ethics, researching traditional native herbs, the list is endless - so there’s probably not many who do it this way. I sometimes think I’m mad to bother and of course, it pushes the price up. But I just wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it any other way. Even now I live in an illogical state of guilt and hypocrisy because I feel like I should distil all my own essential oils and hand-deliver my items and make the labels out of newspaper pulp. I find it hard to compromise :)


 What part of the process do you enjoy the most? ( as in, coming up with the ideas, physically making the item, testing things out, packaging and image, promotion and so on)


There’s always a thrill when you’ve been trying out a new recipe and you finally get the texture or something just right, and when other people test it for me and report that it works - I’m always scared it’s just me! The biggest satisfaction for me is when people really understand the ethos of what I’m trying to do with local ingredients - sadly there’s a lot of people who would rather just buy the cheaper version at the cost of our own hard-working producers.
I love the craft fair scene too - the other stallholders are always so lovely and so generous with their advice. I love folksy too because it keeps that energy, whilst tapping into a different market. I sometimes find etsy very commercial somehow - there doesn’t seem to be the comradery because it gets lost amongst the self-promotion.

 This is such a rich and almost musky hand butter, smell lingers for ages :) texture is amazing

but do not be fooled by the word 'marshmallow' it means the plant, not the sweet, so this product is not candy cane flavoured, I thought having a look at  the ingredients would give a better picture
Unrefined Cocoa Butter smoothes and protects dry, rough skin.



I melt this with Hemp Seed and Borage Oil (for dry, cracked skin and eczema) that I previously infuse with Marsh Mallow to help heal, with Comfrey and Hyssop. Calendula, Roman Chamomile and Parsley soothe irritated skin.



Chamomiles and Mints, Hemp, and Rose calm and hydrate flaky skin. Lavender, Caraway, Dill, Yarrow and Eucalyptus speed healing, while Geranium, Patchouli and Sandalwood minimise scarring. Lemon softens hard skin.


What inspires you , creatively & as a person, and do you think 
you see the world in a slightly different way to your peers & if yes, how so?


I think the one thing that infiltrates every corner of my life is nature - I’m a hippy at heart and I find it a bit of a guilt struggle living how we do. Like I said, I find it hard to compromise - I feel like if I’m not going to give up all my possessions and live in a hut in a forest then I shouldn’t bother at all. But obviously I’m not going to do that - I’m human and I’m selfish. But I think I possibly live a much more nature-connected life than some other people do. I’m always happiest outdoors.
What is your favourite thing that you have ever created (a photo would be wonderful)
It’s not one of my products, but I knitted a lovely loose scarf out of autumny-coloured wool - it’s really wispy and fades in and out of orange, burnt red and foresty green. It’s a really loose knit and it’s just like a little cloud of autumn tree round your neck. And it’s surprisingly warm! If I ever snag it I think I will genuinely cry.

 This lipbalm is amazing, it has help oil in it and is so moisturising and green smelling and lovely


 This idea = love

 This it's refill, which personally I think is rad because it saves you money, but it also helps the environment and supports recycling :)

What are you dreams for your company?

Well at the moment I’m finishing off the final year of my degree, so I’m quite happy for it to just chug along with a sale here or there - I’m still at the stage where I can’t believe other people want to buy my products! I suppose in a way, I’d love it to get as successful as possible without having to go into mass production - as obviously that would be the end of its whole point of existence. But up to there, that would be nice! Imagine how many less people that might be buying synthetic commercial products.


 Goodness Me.

Got to be good looking cause he's so hard to see....

Hello lovesss, Oh I have so much excitingness in my head to show you, wish it would come along a million times faster, but ah well...

Random update of information;

Dreamy pinkypurple photos, yes please<3



I thought I'd picked up after hospy but it seems I've come back down again, everythings back, eeeeep, but it's not the end ehh? ;') that's becoming like this blogs catchphrase isn't it .



Oh black and white ,how I love youu

I'm super excited about christmas, but I refuse to post anything christmassy before the first of december because christmas is way too drawn out and is becoming ever more long, christmas stuff in july is just wrong. wrong wrong wrong, but yesssss, I have so many christmas ideas for posts/inspiration/gifts/decoration that my head may just explode but yes, expect lots of photos/tutorials if I am well enough, making your own gifts is way more special :)



 I used to have stairs like these in the first house I remember when I was little , memories muchh


I'm knitting my first thing that isn't just a long rectangle with no direction ever , wrist warmers, they are super pretty so far :) think loganberry, but I want them to be a vague surprise so I shall shhh now




 Love this <3


Anyways my darlingsss, don't forget to enter the competitions,you can also enter by liking the
facebook page competition status  :)

Also, anyone who's interested in buying my artyness, how much were you thinking of paying? Formspring/Email me :) The best thing is that it will help an amazing charity :)  (& maybe you'll become mega rich when/if I get mega famous, oh how I hope that happens, like, alot. Aha ;) )


Lots of loveee x

Anastasiya Podroyko

Craig Lawrence

The model is a bit stiff for my liking but the dresses are pretty & the background is stunning
love you all
Chlay x

Guess what... (& a competition!)

I'm ...

Yayyyyyyy!

 

home home homeeeeee

Thankyouu for all the lovelyness while I was in hospital, and the PO Box peopleee :) lets hope there are some more on the wayyy ;) it would be really rad to do all the continents ...*dreams*

Anyways, yes, I am homeeee, mega yay, I'm not fixed, but things are slightly better, an outside person wouldn't notice, but I'm in a hell of a lot less pain which is lovely, as I was always in either an 8 or 9 out of ten on the pain scale before I went in, and living like that for like, forever, really drains on you, in a million different ways

People who I miss since my email broke & who should come say hi again - My 2 gaybestfriends , lily(boom) , the 2 or 3 girls with names like this fepkgvusiao9p';gpopjiho but shorter ;)

New email - Up there^ if it doesn't work I will cry, as I've had emails from it, so idk ;)

Competition time!

& as I'm so happy to be home, I'm gonna do a little competition, I'm gonna give away a few signed EPs & A few Doodles/'art' as some of you call it ;)
I know it's not much, but  I'm hoping that the people that win them will like them :)

How you can enter:

1 - So, if you follow me (on here) you're automatically entered, but if you follow now I'll enter you too
http://www.blogger.com/follow-blog.g?blogID=3361840984688936565

2 - You can email my email address with your name or your email address that you'd like to be contacted on chlay@mobileemail.vodafone.net
 

3 - Formspring me your email address & I promise not to answer it so no one can get hold of your details   http://www.formspring.me/chlay

4 - Snailmail me to le P.O box, including your email address or normal address
Chlay
PO Box 173
Tiverton
EX16 0ES


5 - Like/Add my Facebook Music http://www.facebook.com/pages/CHLAY/345747710404
Share it on your wall and post me the link for proof

6 - Make a spotify playlist with one of my songs in it and send it to me :) just search chlay and I come up

So effectively you can enter up to 6 times, and this gives you more chance of winning :) , if you email me twice it still only counts as one vote and so on

Love you all :)

Chlay x

Ann He

Hello all :)
I've had telemetry and eeg which went well,they put 23 electrodes on my head and glued it with like super glueee and put ones on my heart too ;)
tilt test was a bit of a fail as I had a bit of a seizureycollapseyness that broke the special bloodpressure monitor ,so after 20 mins of strapping me onto le table and wiring me up, and putting heart monitors on me, it was a total waste ;)
Hopefully coming out tomorrow or the next dayy ,but they have extended my stay like 4 times hehehe ;) but yes I have missed you all and I would love to come home to some postal world tour postyyy, but I shall have to wait and seeeee
Thankyou for the formspringsss its really nice having positive vibess when its like , I'm in this place ;)
Loveeeeloveeee x

As posted by Jazzy

Everything turns out okay in the end ,if its not okay,it's not the end

  I passed quote on a piece of paper to the girl next to me in here when she was crying, and she stopped :) yay! 

I can't upload photos ,but I'll show you the note when I'm home/rosie does it for me

(this is the note, added by Rosie)

Its not easy in here, especially when everyone in here, is getting better day on day ,whereas the I'm deteriorating if anything ,and I have the two most exhausting tests to come,but it will be okay in the end :)

For people asking why I'm in hospital - because I can't stand without blacking out, my severe m.e is worsening and I'm having seizurey things,and they need to do tests which I'm not strong enough to do as outpatients and they also wanted to sort out my pain and get some other things in place

So yes,please keep in touch post/messages are the thing getting me through :)

I love you all, lots of photos to come x

~artartfairyart

Rosie agaaaain ;) Chlay did an epic update for me to put on, cause she still doesn't have internet access.. Her hospi stay has been made even longerrrrrr, so she'll be in a bit (maybe a lot) longer as her seizures are baddd.  So here goes ;) 

 Hey lovess :)
Thankyou for all the fornsprings, please keep in touch, its almost like having outside worldness again
Chlay, PO BOX 173, tiverton , EX16 0ES 




I've hung up all my postyness on my wall as its so dull in here , I also made a banner which you can kindof see in the photo
ideas to brighten up this placee , pleasee :)


I've been doing some drawingg as I don't think they'd be too happy with me painting in here ;)

Also as I've had quite a few 'you should sell them / I want one' comments from some of you ,I've decided that even though I don't think that they are worth that....

I will sell them and give the majority of the money to charity, obviously if I'm doing them on canvas or framing them, there will be more of a materials cost than if you frame them yourself,so yes,
                                       
the options for selling them are;

Ebay
Email me something you've seen and I'll send a paypal request
etsy 
Folksy
Bigcartel


So , opinions needed via formspring/new email address


Hospital so far has been hard, I had a bit of an episode yesterday, don't really know what happened but I ended up coming round with an oxygen mask on me,and like 10 people round me and I've been pretty dead ever since

I've had a few lovely visits though :) wishing for more, why do all my friends live far away

I have an 24h ECG on me atm
B/P is low, lots of injections and bloodtests and other tests which all fucked up today
Keep going unconscious and spazzing and then waking up being like 'oh I must have blacked out' and then people are like no...





Anyways that's my big update love you all x 

Oodles of doodles and an update tooo

Hey everyonee :) It's Rosie, i have updates from Chlay who's quite a poorly bear in hospi at the moment. She's emailed me photos and a little message so i'll copy that to you all, hope you're all okayyyyy :)) Keep the formsprings and post coming, you have no idea how much a simple thing can mean to a poorly person, it can honestly make the days seem a million times brighter.  She misses you lotsysss x

"These are just some doodless I've been doing"

  the green swirls have ivy and hears hidden in and around the yellow I've written love a million times in yellow pen so in real life its way more detailed

Patch [painkiller] photo because yay I'm being vaguely listened to! 

I'm having lots of tests and consultations and they keep injecting my tummy ;) and they upped my meds lots too

tell my bloggy peoples i love themmmm

Chlay x

I'm going into hospital now

Please email & write to me , I need you guys

Love you all , features are unfortunately going to be delayed , I'm sorry!

So much love
Chlay x

A WHOLE ONE MILLION !

Basically , this is just a huge thankyou to every single one of you that got me to 1 million at least 2 months before my birthday, possibly more (that was my goal) 

I never knew when I started blogging that I would come across such wonderfully kind, caring , beautifully spirited, passionate souls , I thought all I would get was rejection & criticism as I've seen it happen to a lot of people I know, but you have all been so wonderful....

 yesyesyes

You have no idea how much a little email makes all the pain a little bit better, I never knew that having a blog could lift my spirits so much by the reactions I get from you all

 It's also amazing to have somewhere to share my dreams/ideas/thoughts/inspirations with like minded people, I swear if we could get all of you in a room it would be the best tea party ever known to the universe

 I've actually just had some really important, exciting, and scary news this afternoon

 I'm actually going into proper hospital, not a little unit, a big one, and then once I'm strong enough , I'm hopefully being moved to a specialist place 5 hours away from my house

All the plans aren't worked out, but I will finally be getting some help & all your positive vibes and all the times I have tried to attract help using positivity and the law of attraction finally seem to be coming together ,and all of your get well wishes have added energy to that force I am sure of it

As you all make my days much more lovely, I thought maybe this would help some of you to have lovely days too!

Also, if anyone is interested, I really need a photo with my p.o box address on it for over at the side > I'd link to your blog/site 

just email/formspring me them

the address is

Chlay

PO BOX 173

Tiverton

Ex16 0ES

& I'd be super grateful :) 

They've admitted to me that hospital is going to be 'hellish' but I can do it, I know I can, I'll need help, and I'll need support and I know it's not going to be easy, and I am pretty apprehensive but I will get there, I must.

this was my massive bruise two weeks after  they stabbed my hand on my last addmission to hospitally (useless 12 year old dr ;) )

but I also had this ;

 C for meeeeeee ;)

love you all

Chlay

x

PS - I have a Facebook fan page for my blog & music and would really appreciate it if you all 'liked' or added it or whatever it is nowadays *feels out of touch * ;) so yes <3 



 

Cosyness :)


PPS - I'm so buying these to keep my hands warm this winter :)  
& it's pretty and red and a bit christmassy but not too christmassy to use when it is not christmas , snuggly snuggly warm

Loveeee !