Sunday, February 28, 2010

Trading on Etsy

I used to never trade, but recently decided to give it a go. I thought it would be fun to try and trade as much as possible for Christmas gifts this year so that my family members receive something unique and handmade that cannot be found in any store. I can honestly say that I've had a blast. Not only have I received some awesome stuff, I've met some great people along the way. And, I'm well on my way to filling up the gift box that I use to store all the gifts.

So, I decided it would be fun to share some of my trades with my blog readers. After all, why should I have all the fun?

Here is a trade I made with Cris of SugarFlower (http://www.etsy.com/shop/SugarFlower). I thought these hair clips were adorable, but they were even cuter in person. The center of each flower has tiny beads. Just lovely! I think they will be great for my three youngest nieces.


With friendship,
Care'

Saturday, February 27, 2010

I Can't . . .

crochet.

or knit.

or do anything that requires some semblance of coordination requiring only two hands.

After two days of diligently trying to create something - anything - that looked like skilled crochet or knitting, I have decided that this may not be a skill I can master. At least not quickly anyway.

I was attempting to make a scarf. I figured it would be a straight-forward and a relatively small project that would be easy. Wrong. Instead of a beautiful scarf, I've ended up with what appears to be a large intestine. My cat loves it.

Sad. So very sad.

But, because I'm persistent, I'm sure I'll try my hand at it again. I refuse to let yarn get the better of me.

With friendship,

Care'

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Getting Old Stinks

It seems like 40 has been a magical number for me. Okay, maybe not magical . . . more like an expiration date.

Since I've turned 40 it seems like my body has started to rebel. I'll spare you all the gory details, but the last month has been pretty rough, to the point that I sought out a GI doc to determine what the deal is (or isn't). As can be expected, the doc wants to "check things out", "run some tests" and "eliminate the obvious stuff." That means I get to have a colonscopy done tomorrow. Or, as my 11-year-old refers to it, my "alien probe."

So, today is my liquid diet day and the day I drink all that stuff that's supposed to clear out your insides. Maybe I'll count this as my spring cleaning.

To keep my mind off the fact that I cannot eat anything solid, red or purple, I decided to pick up my crochet project again and see if I can give it a go. The thinking here is that the instense concentration will distract me from my current plight while still being easy enough to set aside should the need arise. After struggling with it a bit this morning, I recall now why I set it aside.

I am truly amazed my crocheters and knitters. I do not know how you guys do this with only two hands. I feel like I need at least two more hands to make this work. Maybe I'm just too awkard or something, but if feels like I'm trying to embroider with my feet. Actually, it kind of looks like I did work the project with my feet now that I think about it.

I'll pick it up again later today, but for now I'll just admire the pretty colored yarn wrapped in a ball.

With friendship,

Care'

Monday, February 22, 2010

More Pics

Here is the pic of the soap I promised yesterday. It is scented with Fresh Rain, so I'm thinking of calling it "Purple Rain."



Okay, you busted me . . . I said there were two more setting up . . .

Well, the other one didn't work out so well, so it's now sitting in my shower. It was suposed to be a clear, blue soap with green turtles and frogs embedded inside. Well, that IS what it is, but you cannot see the embeds very well. It looks more like a clear, blue soap with something green floating inside. I thought about selling them as "mystery items" but decided to keep them since they are cucumber mint-scented, which is my all-time favorite.

That concludes my soap adventures for this weekend. I'm off today, so I'm going to work on my CPSIA and FTC labels. Aren't government regulations fun?

With friendship,

Care'

Sunday, February 21, 2010

So, I Did Manage to Get Some Stuff Done . .

Despite being a human couch, I did manage to get some soaps done. I have a few more setting up, but here's pics of what I have ready so far.

Peppermint:

Lemon Chunk (Lemon Verbena Scented):
Pink Grapefruit:


Pink Ballerina (Strawberry Scented):

And my personal favorite this weekend - I Don't Wanna Take a Bath (sweet pea scented):

What do you think?
Care'

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Plans for This Weekend

As I mentioned in my last post, Mikey's surgery was yesterday. All went well and he is mostly resting and wanting to be held by "mommy". That's put a serious damper on my plans for this weekend - LOL!. There's a bead show in town that I really, really, really want to attend, but it looks like that won't happen. Of course, I really, really, really do NOT need to add any more beads to my stash, but that's beside the point, right?

I did get up super early this morning to try and get a few things done before I became a human couch. I managed to make more cucumber mint lotion, plain jane lotion, and made a new scent called sandalwood rose. I have already listed the cucumber mint and plan to list the others in the next few days. The cucumber mint is my personal favorite, so I always make a little extra for me.

If I do have the opportunity to accomplish anything, I hope to get some sewing time in. I managed to make all the eyeballs and attach them to the bodies, so that tedious tasks is done (I hate sewing in circles - LOL!). With any luck I'll get to start bringing them to life today.

Hope you have a great weekend! If I do get anything done, I'll post pictures!

With friendship,

Care'

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Day Before

Well, tomorrow is Mikey's next - and hopefully final - surgery. The day before is always a strange day for me. It's like my brain doesn't work quite right. I should take this day off from work, but my shedule never seems to allow for it. So, I'll muddle through my day trying to ensure the basic stuff gets done. For example, remembering to pick up Jacob from school will be a challenge - LOL!

I am hoping to get some sewing done today. We'll see. My working with sharp objects may not be such a good idea.

If you'd like to know more about Mikey's condition and why we're having surgery, please visit his site at http://thelittlewarrior.com.

With friendship,

Care'

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Newest Critter Revealed!

For those of you paying attention, you may have noticed there was one item I did not complete this past weekend . . . I did not finish making the plushie for Mikey. Well, I buckled down last night and got it done. Here it is! (And yes, the legs are different lengths on purpose - LOL!)


Mikey has named him "Neme." Neme and Mikey are best of buds. Their favorite activitiy is jumping on the couch together.

Looks like this design will be a hit for the kiddos at Children's. Now, off to sew hundreds of eyeballs . . . .
P.S. Oh, and my reason for being tardy on this task is that I was re-designing my website. Check it out at www.peanutbuttermoon.com.
TTYL!

Caré

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Progress Report

Okay, here's the progress report of what I'm doing this weekend:

1. Sew up the bellies of the giant worms for Children's Hospital. DONE - Here are the pics. I made 10 of these total and the fabric varies on each one. There's only 9 in the worm stack because Mikey was running around with one of them. Guess I need to make one for him. . .


2. Cut more giant worms - this time going for a boy's theme. DONE - all cut and ready to go!


3. Buy more fabric. DONE - This is never an issue - LOL! Joann's had fleece on sale so I ended up getting a yard each of about seven different colors.


4. Buy more soap supplies. DONE - Order should be here next week, but I also picked up a new mold at Hobby Lobby. I can't wait for my other supplies to arrive. The ideas are swimming in my head!

5. Design pillow pals for Children's. DONE - I came up with two designs. Both are simple to support my assembly-line process, (I am the assembly line - I just don't have a sewing room anymore since we moved, so I have to do one task at a time and it's easier to do multiples). I also managed to cut the bodies, the arms and the legs. Still need to do the eyes, but I may not do that today since I'm technically ahead of schedule for a change.

6. Make at least one pillow pal for Mikey (the two-year-old) for Valentine's Day.

7. Wrap V-Day gift for Jake (the 11-year-old). DONE. We don't let Jacob eat sugar that much, so I his favorite candy for V-Day. The challenge will be trying to keep him from eating all in one day.

8. Find V-Day card for hubby that isn't too mushy. (He would never believe it - LOL!) DONE!

9. Make soy candles. DONE, but I'm not so happy with the results. While the smell is exactly what I wanted, the appearance is less than desired - the tops are not smooth. I purposely kept them white with the idea they would match any decor, and I made three of each scent: coconut, vanilla buttercream, fresh rain, beach, cilantro and orange cream. Turns out that making candles is not quite as close to making soap as I had thought - LOL! So, these will be keepers for personal use until I figure out where my technique is off.




10. List the Lavendar lotion I made last weekend. DONE! You can see it here: Clean Jellybean's Lavendar Lotion

Current Projects - Weekend of 2/13/2010

Okay, it's the weekend and that means one thing - mad rush to get things done while the two-year-old sleeps. On today's list:

1. Sew up the bellies of the giant worms for Children's Hospital.
2. Cut more giant worms - this time going for a boy's theme.
3. Buy more fabric.
4. Buy more soap supplies.
5. Design pillow pals for Children's.
6. Make at least one pillow pal for Mikey (the two-year-old) for Valentine's Day.
7. Wrap V-Day gift for Jake (the 11-year-old).
8. Find V-Day card for hubby that isn't too mushy. (He would never believe it - LOL!)
9. Make candles.
10. List the Lavendar lotion I made last weekend.

Okay, off to the races!

Welcome to My Blog

Hi. I'm Care and I run three businesses in addition to my full-time job. Part of the reason I have three separate businesses is because they are so different from each other. The first is a scrapbooking & art stamp shop, the second is a jewelry shop and the third is a handmade soap, lotion & candle shop. Kind of weird, huh?

But, the important thing is that I am learning a lot and having a blast. Ultimately I'm hoping one of my three brain childs will afford me a luxurious income that allows me to be a work-at-home-mom. In reality, I'm thrilled when the funds cover the materials. Bottom like, I love to create and will always do so, regardless of the bottom line.

So, welcome to my little corner of the world.
 
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