THE BLOG OF THE SOAP PIXIE

OBAMA IS AMERICAN!!!

2008-10-10T20:34:00.001-07:00

I wasn't going to post anything on politics on any of my blogs but since this last Republican rally was in my state I felt I had to speak out.

I want the world to know that the 2,000 or so people that showed up for the Republican rally in Lakeville, Minnesota are not a good representation of my state. Just the number of participants says all it needs to say. There are about 5,000,000.00 people living in MN and only 2,000 showed up to the rally. The 2,000 were most likely people who live in Lakeville or surrounding communities. Unfortunately I happen to live in one of those communities (very racist they are I've been learning through my own experiences here).

MSNBC is describing the people who showed up at the rally as "crazy" and "racists." Clearly, they are! But they are not a good representation of the rest of the people in my state.

Some of the chants that came from todays rally were things like "Obama is an Arab" , "Obama is a terrorist." None of which is true. Any educated person would know that (and BTW/even if he were an Arab, that doesn't mean he still isn't a good person). Apparently in another state at one of the Republican rally's a person yelled out "Bomb Obama." Unbelievable! I feel I've been forced back and time and I'm living through the chaos of the racist 50's and early 60's.

People at the rally talked of "fear" and "anger" when speaking of Obama. What I fear are the crazies like those that attended the rally. Those are the people we should all be afraid of, those are the people that assassinate presidential candidates.

McCain did his best to distance himself from the craziness at the rally. He defended Obama several times saying "he is a good family man." Some people even shouted "kill him" and McCain tried to settle them down only to be booed. NICE NICE NICE SUPPORTERS!

Shame on McCain and his group for contributing to this insanity by trying to link Obama to terrorism. This is the backlash for smear campaigns. I hope politicians learn a lesson from this.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

2008-09-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not blogged lately. I'm seriously losing touch with the blog community. I try really hard to get online and whip as fast as possible through blogs and the couple forums I frequent but lately there just isn't enough time in a day.

My sister is profoundly disabled and she lived with my mother 20+ years with 24/7 nursing and my mother as guardian. When mom passed away I took on the responsibility of guardian, ocassional caregiver, and staff manager. I've wanted to maintain this small business of mine, even signed up to do card classes and sell Stampin Up products, but I've seriously got in over my head.

My sister is my #1 priority and lately there have been issues upon issues, meetings upon meetings. It just gets more interesting by the moment. So it seems the whole crafting for the public is going to have to wait. As it is, my hubby left his job to help me juggle the responsibility of raising 3 girls, maintaining my house and my sisters house, plus give me the hours I need to work with staff and other issues.

At least I can still craft for myself. I love my soap and I love my cards. It is just a relief to say it out loud, that I'm only crafting for me and not someone else for a while. I don't have the pressure to have something done by a specific time that I know I'll never get around to.

I hope all my blogging pals are still out there :( That I cannot live without :)

A BLOG AWARD!

2008-08-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

I recieved this wonderful blog award from my friend Carrie~gigi over at MUD PUDDLE GIRL. Carrie and I have known each other through the blogging world for quite a while now. She is a sweet, lovely, and kind person and I'm really happy to have met her. It is joy, knowing each of my blogging friends and I feel honored that Carrie gave me this award.

Rules: link to the person who gave you this award and pass the award on to others you want to share it with.

I return this award to Carrie, and also include those that Carrie picked: Heidi, Trisha, Elizabeth, Heather & Joanna :)

Here are few more I'd like to add:

Tracey at NEA's SOAPWORKS

Cindy at DREAMING OF INK WITH ME

Karie at 1 CRAFTY GAL

Amber at AMBERSAMBRY

WHATS UP WITH THE SANDLEWOOD??

2008-08-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

I made a batch of soap using sandlewood powder for color yesterday. Now, I picked up what was labelled as red sandlewood at a store here in Minneapolis. I didn't know what properties it would bring to my soap, if any, so I did some research and learned that it produces a nice purple color. Well, something isn't right. Looks like sandlewood powder, smells like sandlewood powder, but this is what color it is in my soap:

Does anyone have a clue as to why I didn't get purple?? :(

NO MORE SOAP SUPPLIES

2008-08-02T09:32:00.001-07:00

Time to spend money on a new camera. I seriously can't take it anymore. Here is the latest: Strawberry scented soap with strawberry seeds. For the last 4 batches of soap I've used the Heat Transfer Method of soapmaking but........ something is different. I can't put my finger on what it is but something is not quite the same. I like this method because it cuts the soaping time in half but even though I'm using the same base recipe, something about the soap is not the same. I've decided for now to go back to my "old" way of making soap unless I'm ever in a hurry and need to cut soaping time. Anyone else notice the difference in their soaps with the two methods? (when I say two methods I mean the regular old method of matching temps).

Here is the strawberry. Sorry the picture isn't the best :(

SOAPMAKING DAY

2008-07-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today was soapmaking day again for Donna and I. We've committed ourselves to a couple craft shows this fall so it is time to experiment with what types of soap we want to create. This was my first experience with rose clay. What were the results? Well, I didn't really like the way it looked when it was poured into the mold, neither did Donna. Brick red isn't the prettiest of colors. So to top off the ugly brick red soap we poured in an essential oil blend that was just as ugly. LOL! Stinky scent for ugly soap. LOL! It will be interesting to oncover it tomorrow.

Here is Donna hard at work:

SOAP GOODIES FROM E. GASSNER

2008-07-30T15:25:00.001-07:00

I received some goodies from Elizabeth over at GASSNER CUSTOM SOAPS and what a big surprise it was. I was only expecting a few fragrance oils but I found so much more in the box. She sent the cutest little soap with a rubber ducky embedded in it for my baby girl. The baby immediately knew it was for her, grabbed it and ran. She tried to eat the duck so I had to take it away until bath time. LOL!! She also sent my two older girls the cutest M&P kit. Of course, they ripped into those immediately and made their cute little soaps (I love the idea Elizabeth and so did the kids, thank you so much!!). I received some of her body frosting, and I'm looking forward to trying it out, along with two great lip balms that I'm using already.

Please check out Elizabeth's blog over at GASSNER CUSTOM SOAPS BLOGSPOT, she makes the cutest soaps, plus quite a few other items as well. She also has her own ETSY SHOP plus a WEBSITE and she's updating all the time with new products, so don't miss out on the goodies!

Here are a couple pictures from my gift box:

My Middy with her fish soap (she made it all on her own with one of Elizabeth's kits)

Some of my goodies. I'm luvin the lip balm (I'm a lipbalm-aholic. LOL!)

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

2008-07-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Amber over at AMBERS AMBRY BLOG

(copied from egassner - it made it so much easier than retyping, I hope that was ok Elizabeth??)

These are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them (This is only a game)
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up

1. I like catching frogs with my kids
2. Mosquitos don't like me, so I rarely get bitten, if ever.
3. I only like black nail polish
4. I want to be a beekeeper (and I will someday)
5. When I eat sunflower seeds I eat the shell too, I don't have the energy to crack them open and take the seed out. LOL!!
6. I'm terrified to walk out on frozen water. No one can make me do it.

I'll hold off on tagging others because I just noticed a tag that I missed by someone I was just about tag. *zooming off to finish that one.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOAP SWAP??

2008-07-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Umm.... I got very behind in my blogging and although I had good intentions I kept getting further and further behind. Not to mention my goofy camera flaked on me. I recently borrowed a camera for the sole purpose of taking a picture of the soaps I received in a swap we had going on the original forum. Warning: I'm not the greatest photographer, but here are the fantasic soaps I received. I love each and everyone of them and I kept them all together in my room and they made it smell beautiful. Each one is unique and wonderful. I love seeing the creative side of soapers in their bars of soap. The BEST PART IS that I get to use them now. I've been as patient as I possibly could be and now it is bath time (I didn't wait 4 months to shower, I just waited that long to use the soaps. LOL!!)

HERE THEY ARE:

If you want to find more of these fabulous soaps and learn more about their makers you can find the artisans at the following locations:

CARRIE

ELIZABETH G.

SHERRIE

JOANNA

NATALIE

DENISE

HEIDI

JOURNAL YOUR SOAPING ADVENTURES

2008-07-26T17:56:00.001-07:00

A while back I started keeping track of my soaping ventures in my little handmade soapmaking journal. I thought I'd upload the journal here for anyone who would like to keep track of their recipes but hasn't gotten around to creating their own. Just click on the link below and it will take you to a the download. If you have any trouble, just let me know, I can always email it to you :)

CLICK HERE

HANDMADE SOAP BETTER THAN DETERGENT BARS?

2008-07-19T11:22:00.001-07:00

First let me say this: one reason I like making soap is because I can control what I put into it, therefore, control what goes on my body. Before I ever made soap I would buy soap from a local soapmaker (for the same reasons), I liked knowing what the ingredients were and that it was natural.

Today when I was at the farmer's market looking at some of the stands of local soap sellers a thought came to mind. When you are telling people about soap it often times is natural to tell them why handmade soap is better than commercial made soap (or I should say detergent). But in all honesty, can we tell people that handmade soap is better than detergent bars if our soaps contain frangrance oils?? We dont' know what goes into the creation of a fragrance oil because of the "trade secret" law. Often times what is in a fragrance oil isn't always safe for our bodies.

Fragrance oils are a mixture of aroma chemicals. The mix can either be part artificial and part synthetic, or all synthetic.

phthalates are often used in synthetic fragrances and phthalates are hormone mimic's. The FDA doesn't regulate the use of phthalates in cosmetics.

Here is a link with some information on synthetic fragrances: CLICK HERE

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I do use FO's in my products and I also use products on myself that contain FO's. I prefer EO's but I, like many people, love scents that I cannot get in an EO. I know the "warnings" and I choose to continue using FO's.

But.... my question is this: when I'm selling my soap can I still promote it as being better for a person than detergent bars if it contains and FO? Doesn't an FO possibly carry with it the same risks as a detergent bar's chemicals carry? I also sell EO soaps and always tell customers to do a patch test before using (since we can be allergic to anything, natural or not) but since FO's are "synthetic" what is your opinion on that?

(I hope no one takes offense to this post. This is something I struggle with personally and would just like advice/opinions on, nothing more than that).

NEW SWAP & NEW FORUM!

2008-07-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

The Soap Forum has moved and it has changed names. It is no longer the "pixie lee soap forum" - it is now called "soapmakers corner." You can find the new forum at SOAPMAKERS CORNER.

We are also having another soap swap. This time around there isn't going to be a theme but a certain soaping technique will be used. If you are interested, pop on over to the soap forum and sign up, we'd love to have you join us. This swap is open to all soapers :)

You can find details on the swap here: FOR SOAP SWAP DETAILS CLICK HERE

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 :)