THE BLOG OF THE SOAP PIXIE

CREATIVE MOMENTS TO COME

2008-07-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report, after my small trip to Florida, I'm feeling pretty darn good again and good = creative. My dear friend Donna and I will be selling at two Craft Shows this fall, I received the applications today. I'm really excited about it. I haven't felt like doing a craft show in ages so this gives me something to look forward to. In the past week I've ordered from about 4 different soap supply companies and I'm waiting patiently for all my goodies to arrive. All you soapmakers out there know what that feels like. I'll be experimenting with soaps and Donna will experiment with cards - figuring out what we like and what we'll want to sell. Fingers crossed for some "mind blowing" creations! :)

SHOPS OF MY FELLOW BLOGGERS

2008-07-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hey blogging buddies, I've listed your etsy shop, website names, etc... on the right column of my blog. If I didn't list a fellow blogging buddy please let me know. I checked everyone who was listed on my favorite blogs to lurk on to see if I could find a link to your shop and may have overlooked it. If I did, please let me know.

And NEA, if you are out there, what can I do to make you open an etsy shop :)

OFF TO FLORIDA

2008-06-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Where? Anna Maria Island. I had never heard of it until one of my stamping friends, Sharon, told me about it. Actually, she shared a bunch of pictures on INKSTAINERS FORUM and it seemed like a perfect place to visit for the family. We'd been talking about a short trip to the beach and Sharon was so kind as to hook us up with her favorite vacation spot and now that is where we are headed. I cannot wait to walk on white sand and see the beautiful blue water. Our family is in desperate need of a vacation. Hopefully we all come back refreshed and ready for life :) and.... with a few pictures to share.

xxoo to all my blogging buddies.

WHIPPED SHEA EXPERIMENT

2008-05-29T07:24:00.001-07:00

Before I begin about the whipped shea first let me say this: DO NOT BUY A EXILM CASIO DIGITAL CAMERA - THEY ARE USELESS!

Ok, on with the Shea.

Joanna over at the THE SOAP BAR, owner of PRODUCT BODY sent me a sample of her whipped shea. This is the stuff I had to beat my kids off of, remember that?? Well, I've been a long time fan of shea ever since I first experienced it years ago in a Bath & Body lotion. It was the only thing that helped me get rid of the dry skin on my feet. I've been buying shea ever since and using it in various concoctions at home but had never heard of or seen a "whipped" shea product. I wanted to give it a try so I googled a few recipes online, watched a couple You Tube videos, figured I knew enough and finally decided to give it a go.

I had a pound of shea in the fridge so I dumped it into the double boiler and melted it down. I put that into a bowl and my daughter Maya added the jojoba oil (we over did it but who cares, it is just an experiment. LOL!) I blended it 2 minutes then stuck into freezer for 4 minutes and on and on and on we went. Blend + freeze + Blend + freeze, until we had a whipped cream consistency. I was excited until about 3 hours later it turned into a chunk of butter type consistency - ME NO LIKE IT!! ME ACTUALLY HATE IT!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CREAMY PUDDING LIKE CONSISTENCY??? Besides that, it stinks! For all of you bloggers that I posted on your "favorite scent" polls that I loved Peppermint... forget that I said that. I hate peppermint. I don't know what happened to my sniffer (No Donna, I'm not pregnant) but I cannot stand the smell of peppermint EO anymore. Now I'm stuck with a chunky whipped shea that stinks like peppermint. LOL!! Well, no worries, my hard to please darling daughter Middy absolutely loves it. It made her want to shower (that is a miracle in itself) and rub it all over her body afterwards (see, everything happens for a reason). Now she's clean as a whistle and stinks like peppermint.

The moral of this story. I'm not sure, but I know one thing:

I am no JOANNA. If you want some seriously fantastic whipped shea then you gotta try her SHEA BUTTER (double whipped). And guess what, it isn't peppermint ;)

TIME TO TRY A LEMON SCRUB

2008-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

I hate hate hate this but I'm one of those poor unfortunate souls that suffers from malasma. For those who don't know what that is, it's the ugly brown spots that develop on certain areas of the face because of some crazy hormone dysfunction. Yup, I call it a "dysfunction." I noticed the brown spots appearing shortly after I had my first child. My sister-in-law had malasma while pregnant with her 3rd child and it faded after pregnancy with the help of a cream called "concha nacar." Sooooo, I used the darn cream and it didn't help. My skin kept getting worse, first on the upper lip, then on the cheek bones, then on the forehead. I started to notice that the dark spots even hurt when exposed to sunlight. I had some goofy dermatologist tell me it was sun damage. NOT POSSIBLE! Dorky guy, I'm not a sun worshipper. LOL! Anyway... Long story shorter - It isn't going away. I've done the research and this stuff is here to stay. I have options like Level 3 chemical peels, NOT HAPPENING TO THIS FACE, NOOO WAY! I've decided to try my own concoctions. Next step, LOTS OF LEMONS. If anyone has any tips on what can naturally lighten the skin please send them my way. I'm an experiment about to happen.

GUESS WHAT ARRIVED ON MY DOORSTEP?

2008-05-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

PRODUCT BODY thats what. I ordered some products from my blogging friend Joaanna over at THE SOAP BAR BLOG and I must say - if your reading this Joanna - I'm so pleased with the fact that your product arrived in world record time. That is some seriously fast shipping! I couldn't believe it when the package came to my door. I LOOOOOOOVE fast shipping!

I couldn't wait to smell it. LOL! Yes, I'm a fragrance junkie. It smells sooooo good. Joanna also sent me some samples of her other products and I'm now in love with the champagne fragrance. I plan on trying the samples this evening in shower and after shower. LOL! The cream is perfect, just what I wanted. I ordered the SHEA BUTTER INFUSED CREAM and I love how silky smooth it is. I have to keep beating my kids off so they don't use it all up (don't worry, I don't really beat them. LOL!!)

My 8 year old Middy wanted to have her picture taken with the goodies so here she is modeling for you all. Yup, there is one sample missing, that's because it is in my purse (yup, that champagne whipped shea). We all sampled it and I had to hide it from my kids.

Thank you Joanna for the lovely products!

I MISS BLOGGING & BLOGGERS

2008-05-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Since the move into the new home I haven't really gotten back into the old routine. 90% of that is a really good thing but 10% is sorta sad. I miss blogging and I miss my blogging buddies. Now that we are finally settling in and actually beginning to make sense of the mess in our home I'll slowly be returning to blogging. I hope all my blogger friends are doing well and that their soaping or cardmaking ventures are going great! Hopefully I'll have some soap to share soon. Tonight I'm placing an order from Snowdrift Farm. They have a 10% sale going on until 11:59 p.m. YAHOOOOO!! Gotta get me some goodies :)

BTW/I have yet to blog about the soap swap and all the wonderful soaps I received. That will be my very next post. I have all the soaps together ready to be blogged about (except one because I used it - but I'll be mentioning how wonderful it is and I'll take a picture of the half used portion - Hee Hee!).

ON THE MOVE!

2008-03-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight my computer will go off and I will no longer have DSL until Thursday (if all goes well with the new company doing the install). Our closing on the new home is tomorrow and the closing for the new owners of our home is March 27. Busy week. Of course, it would have helped if I hadn't put off packing. Yup, it is the day before closing and I still haven't packed everything (plus I'm still suppose to paint parts of the basement). Why, you wonder... I wonder that too. Since my mom passed away April 2007 I've lost all my energy. I can't explain it. I received a letter from Hospice on Friday talking about the anniversary of a lost loved one and how it can take days/months/years to feel good again sometimes. Yikes, years???? I don't know what happened to me but I'm hoping to get my motivation back soon. I made soap last night and wanted to be anywhere but the soap kitchen. That was a scary feeling.

On a more positive note:

TO ALL MY BLOGGING FRIENDS - WISHING YOU A BRIGHT SPRING AND A HAPPY EASTER!!

SO WHAT IS THIS FELT SOAP?

2008-03-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

JERABEKS CAFE

I've been hearing a lot about felt soap and reading about it here and there. I didn't give it much thought until the other day when I was visiting a cafe in my old neighborhood. There is a bohemian family I grew up with that has a family owned cafe since 1908, that everyone in the neighborhood loves to visit. Well, recently, one of the owners decided to sell her handmade soaps. I was excited when I saw they are felt soaps so of course I had to get one. Well, I tried it out and now I'm hooked. I really like the way it felt on my skin. I was worried at first it would be scratchy or itchy but it was super soft and I love the way I don't need to use a washcloth because the felt does the job.

If anyone is interested in learning to felt I found this tutorial on YOU TUBE.
CLICK HERE!

I DID IT!

2008-03-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

As if being a soapmaker and selling the soap wasn't enough. I took the leap and have become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. I'm actually very excited about it. A friend and I have been going to other peoples stamping classes for a while now and like with soap, I love experiencing other peoples ideas and work but I really love the creative side of making cards and stamping as well. So, my friend Donna and I have decided to combine our cardmaking skills (she's a fantastic cardmaker) and all of our tools (we buy what one another doesn't have) and create some fun cardmaking classes of our own. I will still attend my host/friend Kelly's classes, because I enjoy her company and want to support her business also but I'm really going to enjoying tapping into my creative cardmaker side even more to share with other people. Please wish me luck, I'm going to need it! LOL!

WHAT A CUTIE!

2008-02-22T18:15:00.001-08:00

I was just surfing the web tonight and I found the cutest little guy (um... or maybe girl).

These adorable pic's come from this site:

ZIAMUNSHI.COM

Another soapmakers blog. Lots of great looking soap over there :) and cute dogs too ;)

ALL THINGS CUPCAKE CONTEST!

2008-02-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

Hey soapers, there is a contest going on over at ALL THINGS CUPCAKE. Annnnnd, I'm sure you all know what I'm thinking. Get your little soaping hats on and join the fun! Make sure you check out all the details on her site, it looks like it will be a fun one. The last day to submit your entry is March 2!

Here is the EXACT link because it's getting burried under all the newbie posts over there. LOL!!

CONTEST LINK

COLD PROCESSED SOAP/GLYCERIN MIX

2008-02-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

I saw this technique in a book a while back and I thought I'd give it a try. Last week I had a small window of opportunity to make soap again so I jumped on it. LOL!!

Just a little tid bit of advice, don't JUMP ON SMALL WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY! LOL!!! Because I rushed to it I ended up not having everything I needed in place. Call it my "cocky soaping syndrom." I felt super confident, my head was swollen with delight. Afterall, I've been making soap for a while, why would I need to "think" about it. Well, I was wrong :(

I rushed through so quick that at the last possible minute I realized that I didn't have the fragrance that I thought I had for one batch (I was splitting one batch in two) and for the other half I had put it in the mold and realized I didn't add the fragrance at all.

OMG! I panicked. I quickly added any ol fragrance to the one batch and to the other half I grabbed the fragrance I had intended to use and just stirred it in (no measuring, not even stirring it in completely. What was I thinking?????

Of course, I ended up with a yellow soap that smells like organges and the other half, well, I'm embarrassed to report that it turned BLACK in the area where I shoved in the fragrance. *sobbing uncontrollably over here.

But, to my surprise, I've asked several people to look at my yellow colored orange smelling soap and tell me what they think is wrong with it. Not a single person could figure it out. I had to point out IT IS YELLOW AND SMELLS LIKE ORANGES! The proverbial response was "Well, why does that matter?" LOL!! Well, as we all know, it really does matter but as long as they don't care I guess I can relax a bit.

Here is a picture of the yellow organge smelling soap. LOL! If anyone has any has advice on how to turn this mini disaster into a success, please let me know :)

THE HOUSE SOLD!!

2008-02-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Maybe it is premature of me to be dancing a jig but I'm very excited. We have signed a purchase agreement and if all goes well with the buyers having our home inspected, then our home will officially be sold. I probably shouldn't be dancing a full jig yet so maybe I'll just do a half jig but I am very excited. At least I can say we are half way there =)

MY BLOG IS FINISHED!

2008-02-13T21:23:00.001-08:00

TaDa! Here it is! The new blog design. It is so fresh and colorful, I love it! So cute, I've very happy with the design. I hope all of you who come by and visit like it too since I wanted to please all of you as well :)

pH STRIPS

2008-02-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

The topic of pH levels in soap came up over on the forum and I thought, why not post about it here too.

I remember when I first started soaping I knew nothing abouth pH. I learned straight out of a Sandy Maine book (if you want to learn to make soap her books are perfect). I don't know where along the line I learned about pH but it wasn't very long after I started to make soap that I learned how important it was.

I always shoot for a pH of 6-7 when I make soap. I usually get my pH strips from SNOWDRIFT FARM and they have a really good explanation of the pH levels/color codes on the back of their container which makes it very helpful to know what range your soap should be in.

I also found this article that explains the bodies pH:

One of the most important roles of our skin is to protect our ‘insides’ from the external environment, acting both as a barrier and a filter between ‘outside’ and ‘inside’. In addition, the skin is involved in regulating our body’s temperature, like when we have a fever or we’re physically working hard, we tend to sweat, which is the body’s way to attempt to lower the temperature.

Another important role of our skin is to protect us from harmful substances entering our body, and in eliminating toxins. This takes workload off our Liver and Kidneys to filter out by-products from our body’s metabolism. The skin also breathes!

Hormones, Sweat glands and pH

The pores of our skin are made up of a combination of oil and sweat glands (sebaceous and sudoriferous glands) helping to keep our skin healthy and elastic. An excessive sebum secretion is often associated with oily skin and acne. This is particularly common in adolescents as the increased levels of sex hormones stimulate sebum production and secretion. When in balance, the combined excretion of oil and sweat from the skin’s pores has a pH of about 5.5.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

A BLOG MAKEOVER

2008-02-09T05:54:00.000-08:00

The soappixie blog is getting a makeover. I've hired CUPCAKE DESIGNS. I've given her the color scheme I'd like but the rest is pretty much up to her. We've picked a layout and gone over graphic idea's but more of just brainstorming so it will be super exciting to see what she comes up with. So, if you have a chance after the new blog is up and running (probably in the next day or two)please leave a comment, I'd love to know what you think of it.

LIFE IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT A BILLOW

2008-02-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

Every girl in my family now has their very own special billow. My friend Carrie over at UNDER THE WILLOW GIFTS BLOG sent my baby girl a billow for her birthday and included a surprise billow for me as well. It was such a treat to open the box and find not one but two beautiful handmade billows. They are really a great thing to have. I use mine to rest against when watching t.v., the kids take them everywhere including in the car for long rides. Baby has been fighting her older sister for her billow and now finally has her own. I wish I could say she was happy with just the one but she isn't, she goes around collecting them all for herself now. LOL!!!

Please visit carries online business UNDER THE WILLOW GIFTS where she sells her beautiful billows plus handmade soap and other handmade items. She puts a ton of thought into her handcrafted gifts and they are always a delight to receive.

Here is a special photo of my girls snuggled up together with their billows:

ONE STEP CLOSER TO REAL LIFE AGAIN

2008-01-24T18:39:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is the official day.... that we put our home on the MLS and try to sell it. It has been an exhausting 3 months. These past 11 months have been nothing short of a mini nightmare but thankfully a huge part of the stress is coming to an end (which is getting this darn house ready for the market). Someone please remind me why I decided to buy a new house and sell our home in the middle of winter and in such a crappy market????

I miss making soap and I miss making cards :( I cannot wait to get back into my soap kitchen and start doing some serious online soap shopping :) That will certainly make me smile again.

Please, everyone, keep your fingers crossed for me that the home sells quickly!!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

2008-01-20T20:55:00.001-08:00

I've been tagged by my blogging friend Steph over at PLAYING WITH SOAP.

THE RULES ARE:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

3. Share the five top places on your "want to see or want to see again" list.

4. Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

So here it goes, the five random and/or weird facts about myself:

1. CHECK OUT PLAYING WITH SOAP!

2. One weird fact: I don't sleep. Seriously! I probably get about 2 hours sleep a night. Been that way since a child. Second weird fact: I eat peanut butter on french toast. Maybe not weird to everyone but to those around me it is super weird. Third weird fact: I over buy books. I have about 100 books I've never read. I buy and buy and buy and don't even read half of them. It is an addiction. Fourth weird fact: I like to do those silly search and finds on kids menus at restaurants. I like seeing who can finish them first, me or my kids. LOL!! Fifth weird fact: I hate having dirty hands. If I get one speck of something on them it will drive me crazy until I wash them off. Another childhood issue. LOL!!!

3. I want to see: Tibet, India, Italy, Alaska, Africa

4. I've tagged: Carrie Gigi at UNDER THE WILLOW GIFTS BLOG
Diane at DIANE DIARIES BLOG
Missy Balance at CRAFTY CARNIVAL BLOG
Soapaholics Anonymous BLOG
Royal ROYAL COQUETTE BLOG

5. Everyone has been notified :)

ATTENTION!

2008-01-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

Over at THE PIXIE SOAP FORUM we will be having a spring soap swap. We had so much fun with our first swap this past November that we couldn't resist having another. If your interested in joining us, please pop on over to the Pixie Community and sign up. We'd love to share our creations with you!

NOW THEY HAVE SOAP JEWELRY

2008-01-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

I'm one of those people that has a tendency to wear jewelry that represents who I am or whatever phase I'm going through in my life. When I was in my late teens/early twenties I was heavily into rock climbing so I purchased a necklace charm of a carabiner and wore it religously. When I moved to Mexico in my college years I purchased a bunch of little charms to go on a charm bracelet that fit who I was at that time (a dog for the strays I use to hang out with every day, a palm tree because, well, I was living in Mexico, et...) on and on and so forth. Well, not too long ago I was surfing soap supply shops and found some soap jewelry. By George, what will jewelers think up next. LOL!!

These are super cute and they can be found at OREGON TRAIL SOAPS

MAKE YOUR OWN COSMETICS

2007-12-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

I was just surfing around the net and found this site. I had seen it before but lost the link and forgot about it but now that I found it I thought I'd share it before its lost again.

CLICK HERE FOR MAKE YOUR OWN COSMETIC RECIPES

It looks like there are some fun recipes to play with.

A CARD FOR LITTLE OL ME?

2007-12-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

I love handmade EVERYTHING and cards are up there with the handmade soaps. Steph from over at PLAYING WITH SOAP sent me this card with her soaps for our soap swap. It is one of her first. Now, if this is one of her first I can only imagine what #2, #3, #4, etc... are going to look like. She is as talented a cardmaker as she is a soapmaker. Steph, if your out there, you should have seen my first card *hiding under desk right now. Your card is really great! I love it... THANK YOU! =) And welcome to the wonderful world of cardmaking.

The best communities for cardmakers:

INK-STAINERS
SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS

Come for a visit sometime Steph :)

SOAP SWAPPING FUN!

2007-12-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

A group of us over at the soap pixie forum decided to have our first soap swap. I received some FANTASTIC soaps from some very TALENTED soap makers. Please check out the sites of those soapmakers who participated to learn more about their soapmaking experiences and a little about themselves as well.

CARRIE~GIGI'S SOAPS

Carrie turns her holiday soaps into ornaments. This is the first I've seen someone do this. It is really a creative idea and she is a very creative lady. Please visit her over at UNDER THE WILLOW GIFTS WEBSITE or at her BLOG

STEPH'S SOAPS

Steph experiments with her soaps and creates some really wonderful things. She likes to work with layers and textures. Her soaps are beautiful. Please visit her BLOG where she shares some of her creations with the world.

DENISE'S SOAPS

This swap was our first "holiday swap" and Denise really created such a great soap. I love the red/white swirl affect. She also shared her green tea soap with us and it smells delightful. Not only is Denise a talented soaper but she is also a very talented photographer. She shares some of her beautiful photographs on her BLOG so please check it out.

Here are grouped all the soaps together. I'm not a great photographer myself, as you can see, but hopefully you'll get an idea of how wonderful these soaps are from the picture.