Oh my. The last several weeks have been a roller coaster.

1. Mom’s cancer is back.
2. Transmission issues with our car led us to acquire a new suv (ahem, I will Not mentioning locking the keys in the new car!)
3. Mom in and out and back in the hospital.
4. Several get together’s including English high tea, Knottie Ladies knitting (read eating and chatting, love!), monthly book club, friend’s birthday, and Apple Hill trip with my girlfriends.
5. My sick cat….that was nasty. I threatened her with a trip to the vet and I think it worked because she seems fine now….I was bluffing…mostly.
6. Prepping for what has become a traditional themed Halloween party at our place. This year we chose Harry Potter. This means costumes to fit the theme and lots of themed food.
7. I’m going as Fleur and hubby is going as Bill. My hat isn’t finished.
8. The holiday shopping season has picked up and I’m working on a steady stream of orders and items for donations.
9. I’m posting a blog instead of sleeping but can’t seem to drag myself to bed yet.
10. There are only 45 days till my Christmas gifting deadline with little to show yet.
11. Next month is NaNoWriMo where I’m supposed to write 50,000 words….not sure how to fit this in with all the knitting….it’s causing a little stress….and I still want to do both.

Let see…this would be more interesting with a few photos….

Wet felting is a labor intensive process but usually worth the effort and a lot faster than knitting something and Then felting. This is just the first three layers with a sudsy foam all over. Likely it will also need some starching to help hold the shape.

It seems I missed posting about Lambtown 2011 from the beginning of October. As always it was a lot of fun taking classes and spending time browsing the vendor booths.

Since I am getting tired I’ll write up a full post about it later but here is a picture of the mittens I started at a class about using home spun yarns.

and spinning in class on my new wheel.

One last photo. It’s a yummy sort of homemade whoopie pie. I baked pre-made cookie dough from a co-worker’s kid’s fundraiser along with some Noah’s Bagel whipped cream cheese, about 2 tables spoons plus a teaspoon of powdered sugar mixed together for the frosting.

French Clay with Tea Tree Oil and Goats Milk.

Transitioning from summer’s damaged skin with lightly exfoliating and nourishing facial soap into relaxation.

Greens and browns for Autumn with massage bars.

Mint Chocolate chip for cool winter evenings with a fun Christmas stamp.

And the promise of love throughout the year.

These will all be available in my shop soon.

Coffee Bean

Americana Bean

The tray when combined with a pre-mixed solution making for lip balm in minutes without dirtying half the kitchen. Although the tray isn’t the easiest thing to clean.

1 jar of Lip Solution

Pipette

3-5ml of lip safe flavor oil

50-55 Lip Balm Tubes

1 matching Tray

1 Scraper

Wax Paper (optional)

After removing the jar lid place the jar in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until the solution is melted. I’d recommend gently stirring or swirling the jar when the solution gets to be almost all liquid. You REALLY don’t want to burn the wax in the solution cause that won’t make very nice smelling lip balm. And be careful not to burn yourself on the hot jar!

While that’s heating start preping your tray. I always put down a layer of wax paper to protect my work surface and it makes clean up a ton easier. Pop the lip balm tubes into the bottom of the tray and you’re ready. I hope you pre-washed your tray and scraper! You’re ready.

Measure out 3 to 5ml’s of flavor oil of your choice using the pipette. I used Mint Julep. Using the pippette I stirred in the oil and then slowly!! poured the solution over the the tray. Some splashed over the edge and I needed to use the scraper to help move the liquid into all the tubes. There was enough left in the jar to make a few more tubes but I’ll leave it there until I need more lip balm.

Once cooled scrape the over filled tray. Start pulling out the tubes and scraping the over filled tubes so the balm is level. If there isn’t enough balm over fill there will be a hole in the middle. Pop the lids on and you’re done. No messy tube clean up! I love how easy this was to make. I might start mixing up my own jar solutions. This was a brilliant easy project.

Today I came across this little gem over at Craft Cult. It does a custom slide show over on my side bar with showing my products that are for sale. It also has tabs to check my shop info, sales, hearts, and feedback without over loading my website.

After seeing different eco lip tubes I started wondering how well they work and if I could find something similar or better. After a week of testing out eco lip tubes from two different sellers I like the idea but I’m not sure I’m sold. Every time I apply the balm I have to squeeze the contents up enough to use without the container rubbing my lip. Not a show stopper but not my favorite.

Organic Essence brand lip balm was by far my favorite of the two lip products I tested.

These very cool cardboard jars, though, are fabulous!  I love how sturdy they are and how they have a cardboard liner for extra protection. This would be especially perfect for a vegan or organic product. Overall I am loving Organic Essence products and their eco conscious containers.

I’ll keep searching the web for workable ideas. I’m liking the eco trend especially now that I’m making my own products and getting to see how much plastic is tossed after a single use.

I’ve been using wonderful Under the Willow laundry soap for a while and love it. There really isn’t any reason for me to stop using their soap but I’ve been curious to try making it.

The recipe I decided on was 1 cup Washing Soda, 1/2 cup borax, and 1 bar of soap. The soap is where I strayed a little from the usual Fels Naptha bar. Instead, and this is where I’m not sure, I used a Bramble Berry cold processed vanilla soap that smells amazing. The soap seems little too sticky once it’s been shredded but I’ll give it a try before deciding if this was a good recipe. Here are a few pictures of the in process and completed soap compared to the bought.

All ingredients mixed in.

The one on the left is my soap. Compared to the lighter soap on the right it’s clumpy and sticky. I’m wondering if the bought stuff is less bar soap, different kind of bar soap, more borax or washing soda, or something completely different. If this recipe isn’t quite right I’ll keep trying till I get it right.

Time to head back to bed.

Finished soaps.

These lovelies are destined for a Bramble Berry swap that I’m running a little late on hence the two late nights of soaping. Tomorrow will be packaging and labeling night and then shipped off to the Bramble Berry headquarters where they will be distributed to their final recipients….other soapers. That right there is probably the scariest part about a swap like this. I can’t wait to see their soaps but I’m terrified what they will think of mine. Really it’s to try out Bramble’s different scents but it’s like a peer review. And so many of them are really really impressive soapers. I’m definitely feeling out classed.

Finished soaps.

For me this wasn’t only about the swap. I’m looking for new, creative, and inspiring ideas for my shop. Pineapple Cilantro is definitely a scent I wouldn’t mind coming home to every day. It reminds me of my honeymoon in Mexico with virgin pina coladas and the now defunct Illuminations green pineapple cilantro candles.

Unfinished cut soaps.

Layering soap definitely is a challenge for me. The sad little laser thermometer I bought last month does Not show accurate temps so mostly I’m going off of how thick the hot soap is and how hot if feels to the touch. Definitely tricky but I’ve got a few tricks for fixing layers that don’t stick. Hot “soap glue” administered with a pipette works wonders or dipping the whole layer and reaffixing it to the bottom layer. It’s a little like brick work….sort of.

I’m also rather proud of my new soap cutter. A sheet of thin aluminum and a plastic miter block from the hardware store. It worked perfectly and I’ll attach a “handle” to the aluminum to make it easier on my hands. This of course wouldn’t work for cold process soaps with the aluminum but there are plenty of other options out there for cutting cold process soaps and I needed something for glycerin soap.

Layer 1 green, layer 2 white, layer 3 clear yellow, layer 4 white with clear yellow soap balls, layer 5 green, layer 6 gold mica sparkles and clear yellow soap balls and white sparkly with drizzled green squiggles, layer 7 whipped sparkly white soap drizzled around the embedded soap balls and squiggles, gold mica sprinkled on top.

Here I used up the leftover several times over whipped soap and green soap along with some unscented pink, blue and turquoise soap balls I had sitting around. The whip is a bit too soft for soap but if I used it for bath bomb cupcakes it would be perfect.