Soap Naming Contest Winner!

Happy Friday, today is the day to announce the winner of my soap naming contest!

Congratulations Cassie, I loved your Lemon Bars name for my latest soap creation!

It was great talking with you in e mail too, now I'm counting the days till I can send it out =)

Clear Dollar Stamps Garden of Life

I have two clean and simple cards for you today.

I've been thinking in 3's because I've been playing with a die and this little flower from the Clear Dollar Stamps Garden Of Life digital stamp set has inspired me.  It's a beautiful set, I've barely scratched the surface using one tiny flower for my card  and hope to use more of the set very soon!   

The die cuts three squares in a row and I was wondering if I could use it to create a digital card.  It took a little while for me to size the flowers down, flip a couple of them so they weren't all the same and put each one in just the right spot so I could cut three in a row with the die.  I've grown used to using Spellbinders dies that I can see through and this one is made by Papertrey Ink and solid so it was a challenge. 

My second card was C.A.S.E.d from Dana at Dana's Dabbling Studio.  I thought her clean and simple layout was so nice I wanted to try it myself.

I used the negative part from the die cut to draw around the flowers with a Copic 0.5 Multiliner and as you can see I need practice starting and stopping.  

I have a supply list for my cards below:

Stamps/Images:  Clear Dollar Stamps Garden Of Life

Cardstock/Papers:  Mohawk Bright White, SU Brocade Blue

Inks/Markers: HP Office Jet 6000, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accents/Tools:  Papertrey Ink Take 3 die, PTI banner die, PTI Sentiment, Copic 0.5 Multiliner, Cuttlebug Dots Embossing Folder, Scor - Pal

Techniques:  Digital Stamping

Today's cards are also for our Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown challenge themed X3.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - X3

Homemade Baby Bottom Butter

I'm gathering supplies today to make a Baby Bottom Butter, it's main function is to heal and keep away diaper rash.  

You might remember I told you last week that I'm soon to be 53 years old and want to assure you I'm not having a baby but we are expecting our first grand baby!  I also have a couple of younger friends who are expecting so I'm working on some natural baby products to give as baby shower gifts.   

I love mason jars and thought they'd be perfect for this project so I have them in a pan of boiling water to sterilize, boil for 10 minutes, let them cool so you can touch them and they're good to go.  Maybe I should add you'll need to dry them before adding the Baby Bottom Butter.

Next I'm melting the oils and beeswax in a homemade double boiler using a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup.

After all the oils and beeswax have melted I wanted each jar to have an equal amount so I used my kitchen scale.  You can see in the photo they are starting to cool and will soon become solid.

It's time to add the gentle skin nourishing essential oils to the butters at a 1% dilution which would be no more than 15 drops total in each of my jars.  Baby skin is very sensitive so less is more with the essential oils.  I chose to use Lavender, Rosewood, German Chamomile and Helichrysum.

Can you see the German Chamomile essential oil?  It's a lovely royal blue color and smells wonderful!  In this photo I'm blending, blending, blending.  It takes a little work to get all the essential oils incorporated into the butters but it is so worth it - you'll have a nice finished product when the essential oils are all blended in.

Here it is!  Finished Baby Bottom Butter ready to give as a shower gift.

My recipe for the body butter came from Andrea Butje's Aromahead Blog and I used a few different ingredients because I didn't have everything her recipe called for.  Andrea is my instructor for the Aromatherapy Certification Course I'm taking online at Aromahead Institute.  

Here's my variation of the recipe:

1 oz. Beeswax

1 oz. Unrefined Cocoa Butter

1 oz. Palm Oil

2 oz. Fractionated Coconut Oil

1 oz. Baobab Oil

1 oz. Shea Butter

Remember to measure your ingredients on a kitchen scale and add your Shea Butter last to the melted oils and just stir it in.  Shea Butter can become grainy when over heated so I add it to my melted oils and just stir until it's incorporated.  

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and come back to see some of the other baby products I'll be working on.

Where do you buy this stuff?

The Bulk Herb Store
Aromatics International

 Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Linky Parties:

Clever Chicks

Frugally Sustainable

Gingerly Made

Adorned From Above

igottacreate

Jacki's Hearts & Sweets

I have some fun cards to share with you today using a pre-colored digital image that came in a set from D.A.I.S.I.E Company called Jacki's Hearts & Sweets.

I've been working on Clean & Simple designs and having a hard time with leaving all the white space alone.

After I walked away from this one and came back to look at it I like it, but it was hard to walk away!

I cut out the image again and placed it on the white card body after I embossed it, it just seemed so naked without it... 

These are cards that were just for fun and are going into my Operation Write Home box.  I left them blank inside so they'll make nice "love" cards to write home on.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Doodle Pantry Ant Masquerade

I have a fun Doodle Pantry card to share with you today!

When I saw this already colored digital stamp set I was so excited!!!  I have the Ant Masquerade digital stamp set that was previously released as line drawings to be colored but hadn't used it yet.

I wouldn't have thought to use some of the colors in the pre-colored version either and I LOVE the digital papers that come in this set to match the images.  My card layout is an old sketch from "Fetch A Sketch" that I wanted to try.  It took some thinking and math on my part and I'm really happy with the way my card turned out.  Here's a peek at the sketch.

I also like the matching digital papers most Doodle Pantry colored stamp sets come with because I like to dress up my cards a little with envelope liners.  Most of my cards are donated to Operation Write Home and I think envelope liners make them just a little more special.

Thanks for visiting my blog today - 

RED Soap Cutter from Essential Depot

Soap Makers have you heard the news?!

I joined a Facebook Soap Makers group recently called Soaping 101 and have been learning a lot through participating in and following conversations as well as watching Soaping 101 videos on You Tube.  

Yesterday there was a whole lot of excitement in the group about this new soap cutter being rolled out by Essential Depot today.  They're signature color is red and here's what they have to say about it:

Engineered to last a lifetime when used as directed, the U.S. – made soap cutter uses quality steel and is coated with a hard, baked-on firehouse red powder-coat enamel.  Its heavy-duty base and cutting table are high-grade HDPE plastic.  Essential Depot’s RED Soap Cutter is specifically designed to complement the company’s RED Silicon Mold.  Loaves from the mold fit exactly into the cutter and can be cut quickly, easily and accurately into 11 equally sided one-inch bars.

I want one!  And then there are the RED Silicon Soap Molds that I really want to try out!

I have a 2 LB Acrylic soap mold for experimenting with new recipes that I do not have to line and love it.  

Here's what Essential Depot has to say about their RED Silicon Soap Molds:

The Revolutionary Essential Depot (RED) Silicone Soap Mold is four to five times thicker than traditional silicone molds, and is the first silicone soap mold strong enough to withstand thousands of uses.  In addition, it is engineered to provide years of easy service, and sized to make soap loaves that can be cut into 11 one-inch bars.

Made of finest grade silicone with following specs:  

• Temperature ranges from -40 to 536 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Will retain its shape after thousands of uses. 
• Dimensions (Inches): Interior: 11.25(L) X 3.25(W) X 3.70(H) Exterior: 11.75(L) X 3.75(W) X 3.941 (H) Wall thickness: .25 inch; Bottom thickness: .24 inch.
• Designed to make a 4 lb to 6 lb 11.25 inch long loaf of soap. You determine the height of the soap when you fill the mold.

I haven't placed my order yet I'm still day dreaming about the new cutter and soap molds...

They are definitely on my wish list!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

OWH So Sentimental

I wanted to share my card for this week's Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown challenge, the theme is So Sentimental - using a sentiment as your focal point.

I made my card months ago in a mass production frenzy using this sketch and different patterned paper pads I've collected as well as great digital sentiments I've found on the internet.  

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - So Sentimental