Last weekend Hello Craft took a our very first Field Trip to visit the studio and warehouse of Biggs and Featherbelle located in Baltimore, MD.

Owned by sisters Kasey and Kelly, the day consisted of two tours, one in the morning and the other in the evening of their warehouse and work space.

The sisters gave a thorough overview of their business, walking participants through their space, section by section.

It was wonderful to hear how their product line developed and how their whole family pitches in and lends a hand. Their space is very neatly organized and more than once each of them claimed it was because of their mother. And many of the shelves, and storage units, found throughout their space was made by their father.

Getting to a point in your business, where your product output must be scaled up is something that Biggs and Featherbelle has had to figure out and was what prompted the move from out of their parent’s basement and into their warehouse space.

We toured their office area, where orders are received and general accounting is done, their shipping area, which consisted of two large tables where orders are packaged for shipment. We also saw where their product is stored, along with a small closed off area, which holds the only a/c unit to keep some of their products from melting in the hot summer heat. This area was also created by their father.

We learned about how they hand stamp their packaging and the long strips of cardboard that make up their soap packaging was hung throughout the warehouse for drying.

We then saw how they make their soaps from start to finish. It is a very delicate process with many factors and chemical reactions to be considered. We learned the basics of soap making and that soap consists of solid and liquid fats and essential oils.

Kasey and Kelly were very excited to have been able to recently purchase new heavy-duty immersion blenders for their kitchen. They found that immersion blenders really made the soaps come out perfectly.

Making the soap and lip balm are extensive processes, where cleanliness and precision is key to success. The recipes for all of their products have been painstakingly perfected over the years and they are still learning and perfecting as they grow their distribution.

The sisters shared their small library of well loved soap making books while on our tour. It was great to flip through the worn pages and see sections highlighted from use.

Careful consideration and great care is taken in the selection and use of natural materials in Biggs and Featherbelle’s products. We learned that bath and body care is something that is not regulated by the FDA, but that the sisters still care about the ingredients and what is going into their soaps at every step of the process.

We then got to try our hand at soap making and made our very own body scrub. The scrub we made consisted of two different types of salt, walnut powder, seeds and essential oils. We learned about which oils are best for which skin type and that the essential oils all smelled good in combination with each other. We then packaged our scrubs and added a custom label that the sisters created just for the day.

Everyone left happy and with a greater understanding of the time, effort and energy needed to run a handmade business.

To view more pictures of our tour of Biggs and Featherbelle visit Hello Craft’s Flickr photo stream.