I'm in love with this SOAP!

I know it sounds slightly irrational, but I made this Apricot Freesia soap a couple of days ago and just cut it this evening.  I am in LOVE with it!  J'adore ce savon!

The apricot color is of course reminiscent of actual apricots.  And I used white and yellow to represent freesia.  It smells like a lovely late spring day!  Lovely!

Watch me cut the soap here:

and unveil it here:

And here are the crêpes that Sean made for school.  Elles sont délicieuses!

I hope you have a lovely week!

--J

Quality Time

I like to think of myself as a crafty kind of gal, but my prowess does not usually extend into the kitchen.  However, my kids and I decided to make some delectable things this weekend, which turned out to taste pretty darn good.  Most likely, this was due to my children's very presence.  I really enjoyed spending quality time with them.  I hope they decide to take over kitchen duties for me permanently.  ;)

My 15-year-old son and I made this yummy homemade pizza:

And my 11-year-old daughter and I made these scrumptious snickerdoodles:

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And then I made a couple of batches of soap; Twigs & Berries and Monkey Farts:

I will post more on these soap when I remove them from their molds.

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I have also been crocheting.  I made these wristers using Lion Brand Unique yarn in Harvest:

And this adorable little junior bluebird of happiness.  I will admit that he was made unintentionally small because I made an error while following the pattern.  Namely, I left out 9 rows of crochet.  But I still think he is cute!

How is YOUR weekend going?

Gros bisous!  
--J

Arrow, Soap, Sewing, and the Royals

I will freely admit it:  I have an obsessive personality.  That serves me well much of the time and it certainly keeps me entertained.  My new obsession?  Arrow on the CW:

Need I say more?

Well, I will say this:

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I made some new soap today--Lavender Vanilla.  It's a variation of a soap I made in the past called Vanilla Lavender. I used a different combination of fragrance and essential oils and different coloring.  Here is a sneak peek before I put it to bed.  I will cut it in a couple of days so check my Facebook page here if you would like to see what it looks like before going on the curing rack.

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In other news, my sewing skills have been reawakened as I "sewed to the oldies" at a local fabric store with a work colleague.  It was fun.  I am a big charm pack fanatic and here are a few of the things I worked with last night.

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And lastly, the Kansas City Royals lost the World Series and I am just now ready to talk about it.  Just kidding.  I was disappointed but not devastated.  I am very proud of my hometown baseball team and I congratulate them on their fine performance this season.  I may have to make my way back to the K next year to cheer them on in person.  Love you, Royals!  Thank you for making me a fan again!

Ta ta for now!  

Wonderful new soap and a matching washcloth, too!

Our Grapefruit Handmade Soap has finally cured, and I couldn't be happier with how it looks and smells.

And serendipitously, I finished making a washcloth using Peaches & Creme cotton yarn in Candy Colors  yesterday.  I didn't realize it until I started taking pictures of the grapefruit soap this morning that the colors in the washcloth match really well with the soap.  I haven't decided if I will sell this washcloth in my Etsy shop or use it.  It is so pretty, if I may say so myself!  

I hope your day is exploding with happy colors!  Happy crafting!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, lavender and fir needle soap, and Fifty Shades of Jamie Dornan

The kids and I usually put up the Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving.  We were too busy getting ready for Chris' birthday parties, which were Friday evening and Saturday all day.  So today was our day.   Unfortunately, at least 1/3 of our tree's pre-lit branches did not illuminate, and this tree is only a year old.  Bummer.  So I had to venture off to the store to find some lights (and behold, Jo-Ann had a 60% off coupon as well!) and we finally got down to decorating the old Tannenbaum.

Here is a before picture:

And a few after pictures:

I love these kids!

I made some new soap this afternoon as well:

It's organic lavender and fir needle soap made with shea butter and avocado oil.  I can't wait to use this!  It should be ready around December 29.  

And lastly, I found out that Fifty Shades of Grey has begun filming in Vancouver!  Here is a pic from fiftyshadesofgreyfans Tumblr page:

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in Fifty Shades of Grey
http://fiftyshadesofgreyfans.tumblr.com/

I was disappointed that Charlie Hunnam won't be in the movie, but I do love the choice of Jamie Dornan.  Who can resist a dreamy Irishman?  Oh, and the rest of the cast looks pretty good too.  I am not one of those people who just HAS to have certain actors in certain roles.  I mean really, I'm not a casting agent nor a director so who am I to say who should play a particular part?  I do need to get back to work on my novel so I can do what E L James is doing, hobnobbing with dashing stars, galivanting around Seattle and Vancouver, and enjoying life as a bestselling author.  Of course, my dashing hottie will be Michael Fassbender!  LOL!

Now it's the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Only three more weeks until winter break.  I can't wait!

Tschüß!

Just listed our first soap on Etsy!

It has been a long time coming, but we are finally happy enough with our homemade soap to list one on Etsy.  It is a delightfully frragrant gingerbread vanilla soap.  We packaged them with Christmas scrapbook paper and homemade labels.  We are also giving some as gifts for the holidays coming up. 

Thanks for reading! 

Our Etsy shop