Monday, March 29, 2010

Nemes are Done!

HORRAY! Here is the pic. I think they turned out great. The biggest challenge was keeping Mikey from adopting them all

Now I need to decide if I'm ready to do another round . . .

With friendship,

Care'

Sunday, March 28, 2010

New Soaps & Lotions

I was a busy little bee this weekend. I created 5 new soaps and 2 new lotions. Here are pics of two of the soaps. The first is Happy Karma and the second is Lavender Lemongrass which is made with lemongrass essential oil. Very yummy.

The other three soaps are french milled, so they are curing right now. When they are done I'll post pics of those.

The two new lotion flavors are Strawberry Champagne and Cocount Cake. These were special requests from one of the sales managers at the boutique where I cosign. I think they were excellent suggestions and am very pleased with the results.

Despite spending all the time in the kitchen this weekend, the fridge left me alone. Maybe it knew I needed to get some serious stuff done . . .

With friendship,
Care'


Saturday, March 27, 2010

My Refrigerator is Evil

Yes, it really is.

After a string of accidents ranging from a severely bruised toe to a dozen eggs crashing to the floor in only a few brief weeks, I've deicided it's the refrigerator's fault. You see, all of these "accidents" occur while I'm either taking stuff out, putting stuff in, or passing by the fridge.

Don't believe me? I present the evidence. . .

01/01/2010 at 0500 hours - went to get morning juice for the kiddo and found the left over champage from the night before had popped its cork. Entire contents of fridge now alcholoic.

02/14/2010 at 1200 hours - removed pre-made casserole from fridge with the intention of placing in oven to cook. Casserole dropped breaking dish and sending food flying. Some even hit the ceiling.

02/15/2010 at 1800 hours - re-attempt at cooking pre-made casserole foiled again. This time the concents overflowed the container while cooking causing the oven to catch on fire. The fridge did nothing to intervene.

3/18/2010 at 0800 hours - after removing item from fridge went to take a shower. Slipped in shower and sustained multiple bruises and a huge sense of embarassment.

3/20/2010 at 1700 hours - opened left door of fridge to place newly-made gallon of ice tea inside. Upper shelf "grabbed" the top of the jug causing me to lose my grip. Tea came crashing down on my left foot resulting in a severaly black and blue big toe.

3/27/2010 at 0900 hours - went to place new carton of eggs in the fridge. Right door swung back and smacked me in the back causing me to drop the eggs. All eggs broken.

Daily - Each day the ice in the ice maker flies out. Mikey thinks it's a game and picks up the ice and throws it in the sink.

Weekly - I usually sustain a new bruise from the door whacking me in the arm while I'm trying to remove or add contents.

Note: none of the above has happened with a credible witness around. My two-year-old has seen a few things, but he's not talking. I think he knows the fridge keeps his juice cold.

You may think I'm crazy . . . "a fridge can't target a specific person," you may say. Consider this . . no one else in the house has been injured.

And no, I don't think it's just me . . .

With friendship and fridge fear,

Care'

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

More Worms! More Soap!

The black & white worms are finally finished! WOO HOO! I'm doing the happy dance. And yes, these things ARE taking over my house.


I also created four new soaps a few weeks back. I've been so busy listing lotions lately I forgot to share.
Green Tea, Cucumber & Honey. These were fun to make and the scent is wonderful.

Sweetened Honey Goat's Milk. This one is fragrance and color free and has a great lather.


Spa Tonic. My newest men's scent. It smells very good and I love it when hubby uses it. I also like the nice, cool blue stripe down the middle.

Granola Bar. Yep, it's soap. This was my first attempt at french milled soap and I am very pleased with the results. I've used a bar for the past couple of weeks and it has a nice lather and great exfoliating properties. I included real oats and almonds in a castile base. It feels great on the skin.


More later! Today is my last day of vacation and I'm trying to get as much done as possible. I have my first show coming up in two weeks and I am so behind!
With friendship,
Care'

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Rain Rain Go Away

Snow is predicted for us this weekend. What the heck? It's the first day of spring for crying out loud! We actually managed to get started on the yard work yesterday, but really needed a full weekend to get it all done. (Don't you just hate that very first weekend of yard work every year?)

I also have 9 million earrands to run today and really don't want to go out. It's rainy and cold right now. I really would prefer to just cuddle up on the couch and watch TV all day.

Wah.

Okay, enough whining . . . time to get my butt in gear and get stuff done. After all, 9 milliion errands do take a while . . .

With friendship,

Care'

Monday, March 15, 2010

Blue Worms & Nums Done!

As an update on the Children's project, I am happy to report that the Blue Worms and the Nums are done. Here are the pics:

Blue Worms - I made 9 of these in total.



Nums - 10 of these. Mikey names these "Nums." I think it works out nicely since he named the skinnier version "Nemes." Better names than I could have come up with, that's for sure!



I have 9 more black & white worms to stuff and stitch, and 14 Nemes to sew, turn, stuff and stitch. I ran out of batting so I had to stop, but hopefully I can knock those out next week. In total, I'll have 52 stuffed toys to donate when I'm done.

Whew . . no wonder I'm tired!

Oh, and while taking pics of all this yesterday, some general silliness broke out. Enjoy the pics:




With friendship,

Care'

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Vacation

WOO HOO! Vacation is HERE!

It has been a very long time since I've actually taken two fulls weeks in a row. I tell you, it feels a little indulgent. While we don't have any travel plans this year, just knowing that I get two weeks to de-stress and concentrate on my sewing and soaping thrills me. I even stayed up last night past 10:00 p.m. for the first time in a very long time. HE HE!

Now, what am I going to do today? Oh, that's right, there's a ton of little critters waiting for me to finish them. Guess I'll try and tackle that first.

Now, for those of you that are actually going somewhere for your vacation, tell me where you are going. I'll live vicariously through you . . .

With friendship,

Care'

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Clean House = Crazy Person

Several years back I entered a very messy house. It wasn't gross - just dusty with stuff strewn about. I recall there being a framed sign upon entry with something along the lines of "A clean house is a sign of a confused mind." I remember thinking that was strange.

I grew up in a very clean house - almost sterile. I can remember Dad making me dust the table multiple times until I got it "right." Every Saturday we woke early. Mom, my sister and I worked the inside of the house while Dad worked on the lawn. By noon it was done and our house looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens. As we all got older and our schedules got crazier my parents hired a maid. We still did the cleaning ritual before she came.

I continued the tradition when I moved out on my own. I remember I even vacuumed the floors daily in my apartment because I liked the tracks in my carpet. There was always a sense of pride and comfort with having a good, clean home that was always, ALWAYS ready to receive friends.

I wonder what happened?

I'm now 40, married with two boys and I can't keep the house clean to save my life. Heck, my 2 year old stripped down naked the other day and painted himself with my fabric paints. This was on the heals of getting into the 11 year old's trombone slide oil and "fixing" his hair. It seems like it's a daily battle just to get everyone where they are supposed to be and ensure there is food in the house (I did say I have an 11 year old). When the heck am I supposed to clean?

To top it off, I seem to have lost my desire to clean. Yeah, I appreciate it when it's done and I always think, "Man, I need to keep this up" once I get it back to that fresh-smelling state. But something always gets in the way of my cleaning schedule. And yes, I've tried Fly Lady.

I may be at the point where I need to pay someone to take care of things, but it just seems like a waste of money when I am perfectly capable.

I now understand the point of that sign I read all those years ago. When the house is messy, I'm not worried or confused . . . maybe just a little disgusted. But when the house is clean I worry about how I'm going to keep it that way.

With friendship,

Care'

Friday, March 5, 2010

Another Trade

Since I'm brain dead today - most likely a result of trying to get over this freaking illess that has grabbed me by the throat and pinned me to the wall - I thought I'd share another trade.

When I saw these little pink ballerinas from BloomingVintage, I knew I had to use them in some of my soaps:





Kennly is a sweetheart and great to work with.
Back to bed for me. Now, where did my male nurse go????
With friendship,
Care'

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Meh . . .

Ever have one of those days where you feel . . . well . . . MEH?

That's me this morning. It's kind of like yada yada yada but without the energy.

Meh, I need to get ready.
Meh, there's no more coffee.
Meh, I have to take Jake to school.
Meh, I have to go to the eye doctor.
Meh, I need to run to the post office.
Meh, I need to work today.
Meh, I have two meetings I have to lead today.
Meh, meh, meh, meh.

Meh.

Monday, March 1, 2010

I'm Stuffed

Or rather 100+ little arms and legs are . . .

I spent the majority of the day yesterday sitting on the couch watching the hockey game. In order to have some semblance of productivity, I decided I'd stuff the little arms and legs for my Nemes and Nums. Good grief, I wished I had made those things about a half inch wider. My fingers hurt today!

I also managed to get the worms labeled, eye-balled and sewn, so good progress there as well. I don't know why I feel I'm so behind. It's not like I have a deadline to meet. I guess I thought I'd be done with all of them by now. Just like the last batch they are turning out really cute.

I wish I could stay home and sew today, but alas, duty calls. Have an awesome, creative day!

With friendship,

Care'
 
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