Friday, June 29, 2018

Soapy Friday: "Beach, Please!"

Happy Friday everyone! This week I made another batch of my triple butter, cold-processed soap and have decided to name it "Beach, Please!" because, seriously...hot CUTE are these bars?!!!

"Beach, Please!"
Scented with "Coco Cabana" fragrance oil from Wholesale Supplies Plus and made with cocoa butter, mango butter, and shea butter...it's heaven at the beach! Even the "sea shells" are little, custom made soaps. Plus, some sprinkling of pink, white, and black sea salt on top gives it that extra beachy touch.

She sells sea shell soap by the seashore
I've made this before and thought my design would be better for the "water portion" but not really. Guess I'll have to try again. I LOVE the way they smell...like coconuts and Coppertone suntan lotion.

Adorbs
I'm pretty "solid" on my cold-process recipe, so I most likely will stick to making my larger loaves unless I'm trying a new design or fragrance. Gotta order some more supplies!

Monday, June 25, 2018

Gratuitous Kitteh Monday

We're still settling in. Chaz has gotten over his spookiness of seeing cars and people pass by outside the front of the house. Now it's a constant source of entertainment. I guess moving from the country to the suburbs has been a big change for all of us.

Watching the world go by
We are really loving having more free time in suburbia. Although, all last week I was in Oklahoma City for work. I had the most AMAZING steak at Cattleman's Steakhouse. This steak will haunt me...

The best steak I've ever had
I told hubby, "As god as my witness, I WILL take you there someday." I might be back around that area again next year, so maybe that will happen. Next month is Burlington, MA.

It's amazing the things you find when you are unpacking. :-) These glasses are an endless source of entertainment.

Who dat?

Friday, June 15, 2018

Soapy Friday: New Soap Studio

We still have about 1/2 dozen random boxes to unpack and we're finally at the point where we can start hanging some art on the wall. But more importantly, I MADE SOAP!

Oh, you have NO idea how I've missed this. The last time I made soap was in March...maybe late April. Anyway, here's my new soaping studio!

New "Soap Lounge" ...LOL!
It looks more like a "soap lounge" though, doesn't it? It's all cool... I can hang out there while I'm waiting for my oils to cool or heat up. But I love that it's finished, clean and bright!

I even have company! Bucky looks like he's ready to party, but he's in a rocking chair, so maybe not?

Chillin' like a villain 
It's a little messy now, as I'm still trying to find my rhythm down here, plus I made soap! I made a big log of my "Super Scrub" as I've really, really, really liked how the last batch turned out. It's funny...the first time I made this soap, I also made pickles that week. I made this soap and pickles this week too!

"Super Scrub" Soap
I thought I had enough of my fragrance oil blend to make such a large batch, but I didn't so it smells just a bit different. Kinda bummed about that, but it turned out gorgeous and it works wonders on dirty hands or bodies.

"Super Scrub" topped with Dried Calendula Petals

Friday, June 08, 2018

Soapy Friday: Bath Bomb Success!

Whenever I share or mention to someone that I now make high-quality, handcrafted body and skin care products, I’m almost always asked, “Do you have a website? Do you sell? How can I get some?”

Finally....bath bomb success!
You would think that with this foresight, I would immediately run home, build a website, put my stuff up on Etsy, and start selling, but no.

When I first started this journey, I remember reading somewhere that a person doesn’t just decide one day they are going to make and sell bath and body products and start doing it. It takes lots, and lots, and lots of time, practice, experimentation, persistence, mini-wins along the way, and failure.

Naming a dream is easy. What’s far less popular is the disciplined practice of a craft – the thousands of thankless hours it takes to become good – even great – at something before sharing it with the world.

I believe there’s no such thing as talent, only practice.

So, after almost 2 years of making bath bombs – at some point every single day – I’ve finally gotten a particular part of my bath bomb recipe down pat and they do exactly what I want them to do every time. This goes back to asking yourself, "What do I want my bath bomb to do?" If I just wanted a rock hard bath bomb that fizzed like mad, but sunk like a rock, I would have been done a long time ago.

But no, I also wanted the "fun stuff," and that meant my bath bombs had to align with what I call "The Four Fs for Bath Bomb Success":

  • Form - They dry rock hard, are not crumbly, soft, or fall apart
  • Fizz - They fizz and spin without "marshmallowing" out 
  • Float - They float!
  • Foam - They provide "bath art" with a surfactant

At some point in the future, I'll make a video of one of these in action!

Monday, June 04, 2018

Gratuitous Kitteh Monday

Ugh. Monday.

It's been interesting watching this neighborhood's routines outside my new office window. Lots of animals come-and-go, cats, dogs, people walking dogs, kids going to or coming from the bus stop, neighbors checking mail, garbage trucks, the mail carrier. Ah, suburbia!

The kittehs have adjusted amazingly well, although they are not used to looking out the window and seeing so much activity. It still spooks them.

We've "officially" been in this house 3 weeks now and have only just been able to start upacking the upstairs due to oh....so....many...issues...with...this...house. I can't even begin to start.

I will say that simply maintaining a home and keeping it safe and clean are two entirely different things - both of which the current owners were not very good at.

ANYWHO...

I'm keeping this box here as a reminder that I have a package to send out to my sister. But the kittehs have claimed it a their new, favorite perch. Now what do I do?

Rainy day observation perch

 

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