Sasha Selby certainly fits the vintage vibe as a vendor at the upcoming Déjà Vu market at Shipbuilders’ Square.
The owner of Jack and Audrey’s Natural Products lives electronics-free on an old classic boat at Mosquito Creek Marina, where she spends her nights needle felting.
During the day, Selby heads to her family’s expansive 10-acre property on a mountain in Chilliwack, to craft handmade soap in a studio her father built her. Here, Selby immerses herself in nature and unleashes her creativity.
“I kind of found my creative outlet with soaping,” she says, excitedly. “You can have a lot of fun with it. I dye soap with juiced organic vegetables and clays and botanicals.”
Selby did some beta carotene testing with carrots and found it turned the soap a “really awesome” orange colour. Beets are another story. The dye from the vibrant-hued veggie went brown during the saponification process.
Kale is a good choice for natural soap making, Selby has learned.
“It goes this really rich green colour,” she says.
Selby recently made a pumpkin spice soap for fall from pureed pumpkin with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. She took a big sniff after the pumpkin soap came off the curing rack, and was seduced by the smell of the spices.
Selby’s soap making process is a labour of love that starts with sourcing beef fat from her local butcher, so she can render her own tallow.
“It’s one of the first things soap was ever made from,” says Selby of her old-fashioned method.
She also grows some of the fruits and veggies she uses for dyeing soap, and sources local Canadian wool for her hand-felted soaps.
The colourful wool shrinks with the soap as you lather and acts as a washcloth. Selby says it’s a great soap for kids, since it’s not slippery and doesn’t create the dreaded soap scum.
Some of Selby’s handmade soap is wrapped in butcher paper and looks like a tiny vintage parcel topped with a vintage stamp from around the world.
The final touch is the old- fashioned hand stamp. For this part, Selby is helped by her kids, Jack, 5, and Audrey, 4, who is company is inspired by.
Living on the boat, the family embraces the simple life. There’s a record player aboard that bellows Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.
Selby describes the 1949 Chris-Craft as the “Cadillac of boats” with a mahogany wood interior and drawers cut out with little anchors.
The kids especially get a kick out of the nautical lifestyle.
“They legitimately think that we’re pirates,” says Selby with a laugh. “They tell everyone we live on a boat. Little Audrey thinks that there’s ‘merpups’ that live in the water, mermaid dogs, so she talks to them every night.”
Selby will be selling her soap along with her unique needle felt creations – wall hangings set on driftwood and little cacti in vintage pots – at the Déjà Vu Vintage Market this Saturday, Oct. 15 at Shipbuilders’ Square.
Over 30 vintage vendors will fill The Pipe Shop with furniture, home and garden decor, antiques, collectibles, jewelry and plenty of other handmade, old-fashioned inspired gifts.
More information about the event is available at dejavuvintagemarket.com.
