Isn't it just the most wonderful day out there? Today, in the TampaBay area of Florida we are experiencing our coolest day yet of thisseason and it is just mahvelous dahlings!
I rode to work with the top down on the Miata and for the first timethe heat on my feet. In FL it is either top down with A/C on or topdown and heater on. Rare is the day you do not need to accompany your top down driving with one of the two.
But before the weather put me in a great mood, I managed to take mysoap I made yesterday out of my round tube mold from UPland.ooooooh it is so pepperminty and it lathers wonderfully and then Ieven used my bath poof on it and I was literally covered in whitelather and bubbles with no skin showing. I just love mysoapmaking!
This was the first time I made round soap and what fun it is! Ithink I will have to get yet another tube and liner from UPland andI think another set of the mini molds too! I'm just a mold hog andfragrance 'ho these days.
I also spent quite some time yesterday on the phone with my sisterin upstate NY where they had been putting the something or others onthe roof to prevent ice dams. I gather it is a heating wire appliedto the roof so when heated she says it allows the melted snow todrip down and not get held up creating an ice dam. All I know is itis much nicer to live in FL at this time of year. She said lastyear they were putting them up on their roof on Thanksgiving Dayduring a snowstorm while the turkey was cooking away in the oven.Well at least this year it was not during a snowstorm, eh?
Back to soap and sundries..... so I made the round peppermint soapthat smells wonderful, lathers greatly but is almost peach incolor? I used Rocket Red jojoba beads to add a bit of red color tothe soap. Ummmm they morphed and none of it is white and most of itlooks peach. I can't wait to see what color the Peachy Keen Pinkones morph too LOL Or the Brilliant Blue ones.
I also made the MSM cream from another list's (SS maybe) class whichwas Saturday. I had an issue or two with that but it appears dojust what the claims were, aid in pain. I took the jar with 6 1/2oz in it to work today. I can get really really painful and thenslather it all on for relief LOL. It too is scented in peppermint.
My son came home from college this weekend and it was sooooo good tosee him. My how he has matured in the short time he has been on hisown. The poor kid is fully aware of just how much college iscosting him each semester. A whopping big amount too! He was allconcerned about what to get his dad for his b'day, which isWednesday. Asking me to get something from him. I have no cluewhat my dh wants and we no longer exchange b'day gifts it appears.I told him call him on that day and you will make his b'day the bestever! Send him an e-card and if you have time make him a card andmail it to him. Any or all of those things will make it a wonderful day!
If any of you have access to the Armyaviation 2006 Blue BookDirectory for Aug/Sept 2006 my son's picture is on page 121 for theTennessee Valley Chapter Matching Scholarship. YOu might be able tosee it online too. Let me see if I can find it. This is the Quad A(AAAA) Scholarship Foundation. There were 3 awarded for 4 years of$2,750 each year; 2 awarded for 4 years of $1,000 each year; 1awarded for 2 years of $2,000 each year and then my son at 2 yearsof $1,500 each year! There were 2 more $3,000 total scholarshipsand then (in total amounts) eight @ $2,000; ten @ $1,500; 110 @$1,000; and ten $1,000 per year interest free loans.
I am so honored that I am the mother of a son who got one of thehighest scholarships offered by the AAAA Foundation!
Yes you can see it on line, http://www.quad-a.org/
on the left choose ARCHIVES
then 2006 scholarships
and you can see the article as I see it in the magazine.scroll down on that first page and he is the bottom right :)
okay I could go on and on (as you all well know) but don't you justLOVE Fall in Florida?
hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that Monday is the beginning of a terrific week for you,
lots of soapy hugs
denise/deBrat showing her proud mommy side quite obviously today :)
Monday, October 9, 2006
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Soaping during Tropical Storms - a saga - as told by denise/deBRAT
Preface:For those that like my stories of soaping mis-adventures, this one is a doosey! enjoy!
NOVEL:Okay so I know better. I'm an adult. Have been for many years. I have been known to make good decisions in life but sometimes I forget myself and make decisions like I am that 16 year old that my mind's eye still sees my physical self as.....
Last night was the third night of dh being away on a business trip. Monday night as you may recall, I made three different batches of soap with varied results with Crystal (soap virgin) there. Tuesday I wound up at dinner with my gf and her three kids so no soaping stuff that night. So last night was the last night I could do any soaping until I go to Judi In Jax's this weekend!
I drag all my stuff out of the hallway where I left it Monday night, because I COULD with dh away. And I'm sure there are others who read that with the proper appreciation for inflection of the word could. And I decide to make a double batch of the 3 oil batch from Monday night that lathers so nicely and inexpensively and moves so quickly to make. Recalc the lye at www.the-sage.comand measure out the lye, decide to go with just water this batch and as I am begining to pour the lye into the water a downright DELUGE of rain falls from the sky! OH crap! What was I thinking? Of course, it will rain heavily and the wind will kick up because there is a Tropical Storm now effecting my area of Florida and I am trying to soap. stupid ninny....
so I proceed, as my lye is now in the water and I sure as heck am not going to risk forgetting the lye water is there on the table and pack it all up... and then have dh come home and feed the water to one of my plants or something. and i'm not going to go out in the DELUGE and pour it some place safe as a disposal method.... so I plod on hoping that the wind stays rather lowish and the rain stays on the out part of the screen room.... measure my oils dump them in the crock pot to begin to warm in hopes of "meeting" the lye temps soon and......
drip drip drip goes the water.... drip drip drip my lanai roof is leaking? Oh crap! (again)
I decide well if I'm going to make soap during a Tropical storm it should smell like I did, and find my lovely special-ordered-only-at-Gathering Tangerine Rain(lebermuth).... oh how appropriate..... measure it out on my scale and think(I should NEVER think) lets see how this might smell with a touch of black pepper in it......
we will never know.....
I came back with my black pepper (TFO's) and what do my HORRIFIED eyes spy????????
one disinigrating-before-me styrofoam cup of Tangerine Rain FO..... I cannot change the font in my post.... be assured it is now at like 72 pt font CAPS and BOLD when I say oh CRAP!
So now I scramble. Trying to salvage the FO only to realise that the cup is melting, not just a hole in it, literally melting away like it was the Wicked Witch with a bucket of water on her. (Can you jear Dorothy laughing away at me?) I grab the paper towels (I use a LOT of paper towels when I soap LOL) and try to mop it up some.... oh CRAP! my scale is plastic.... the FO is making my scale very very very very tacky! Not as in not-chic, but sticky tacky....so i take out its battery and rush to my sink and try to figure out how to remove most of the FO from the scale without the water ruining the scale's ability to weigh.... at $30 I sure did not want to buy another one this soon into my soapmaking career.
Conclusion: Well I made soap but I am now hoarding what remains of my Tangerine Rain and the soap has a nice lemon California scent with chamomile tea leaves added to it instead. And the second batch came out okay and it too is NOT Tangerine Rain but lavendar and oatmeal and I think I should give up on that combination, that one NEVER has a successful batch. OH! and guessie what? I made them both only to trace and additives stage.... I put them in the molds to GEL! I did cold process... well sort of as I continue to heat the mix in my crockpot until trace then cut off the crockpot.
I also ordered a bunch of molds from Upland yesterday and they are winging their way to me as of yesterday late afternoon. Hopefully, with all the rubberbands the molds need.
I have a pic of the cup and of today's cuttings but the camera is at home. so will try to find time to download them tonight and post tomorrow. If not, it will not be until tuesday or wednesday some time til the pics show up.
so just to let you know that it started with the DELUGE at about 6 pm last evening and as of noonish today the "should have stayed in bed" continues. today from when I woke up and the one mold won't release my second batch of soap, to the unexpected traffic delay (did you know that 15 mins in traffic is just long enough to make another bad decision and try to drink your Sunny Delight from a travel coffee mug that will not cooperate and wind up with Sunny D in your lap? And the number of papertowels/napkins in your car is directly related to the equation: paper's absorbancy %= 75% of ounces of liquid spilled and soaking into clothing item) to the student STILL with an account problem since last friday's phone call at 5 mins to 8 am and it goes on and on my friend like that song....
soapy disaster prayers and hugsdenise/deBRAT
Thought for the day: if grease takes out grease (oil laundry sticks) does this mean that salt soap will clean up sweat? I was mighty mighty sweaty after last night adventures and cleaned up with a salt swap bar :)
NOVEL:Okay so I know better. I'm an adult. Have been for many years. I have been known to make good decisions in life but sometimes I forget myself and make decisions like I am that 16 year old that my mind's eye still sees my physical self as.....
Last night was the third night of dh being away on a business trip. Monday night as you may recall, I made three different batches of soap with varied results with Crystal (soap virgin) there. Tuesday I wound up at dinner with my gf and her three kids so no soaping stuff that night. So last night was the last night I could do any soaping until I go to Judi In Jax's this weekend!
I drag all my stuff out of the hallway where I left it Monday night, because I COULD with dh away. And I'm sure there are others who read that with the proper appreciation for inflection of the word could. And I decide to make a double batch of the 3 oil batch from Monday night that lathers so nicely and inexpensively and moves so quickly to make. Recalc the lye at www.the-sage.comand measure out the lye, decide to go with just water this batch and as I am begining to pour the lye into the water a downright DELUGE of rain falls from the sky! OH crap! What was I thinking? Of course, it will rain heavily and the wind will kick up because there is a Tropical Storm now effecting my area of Florida and I am trying to soap. stupid ninny....
so I proceed, as my lye is now in the water and I sure as heck am not going to risk forgetting the lye water is there on the table and pack it all up... and then have dh come home and feed the water to one of my plants or something. and i'm not going to go out in the DELUGE and pour it some place safe as a disposal method.... so I plod on hoping that the wind stays rather lowish and the rain stays on the out part of the screen room.... measure my oils dump them in the crock pot to begin to warm in hopes of "meeting" the lye temps soon and......
drip drip drip goes the water.... drip drip drip my lanai roof is leaking? Oh crap! (again)
I decide well if I'm going to make soap during a Tropical storm it should smell like I did, and find my lovely special-ordered-only-at-Gathering Tangerine Rain(lebermuth).... oh how appropriate..... measure it out on my scale and think(I should NEVER think) lets see how this might smell with a touch of black pepper in it......
we will never know.....
I came back with my black pepper (TFO's) and what do my HORRIFIED eyes spy????????
one disinigrating-before-me styrofoam cup of Tangerine Rain FO..... I cannot change the font in my post.... be assured it is now at like 72 pt font CAPS and BOLD when I say oh CRAP!
So now I scramble. Trying to salvage the FO only to realise that the cup is melting, not just a hole in it, literally melting away like it was the Wicked Witch with a bucket of water on her. (Can you jear Dorothy laughing away at me?) I grab the paper towels (I use a LOT of paper towels when I soap LOL) and try to mop it up some.... oh CRAP! my scale is plastic.... the FO is making my scale very very very very tacky! Not as in not-chic, but sticky tacky....so i take out its battery and rush to my sink and try to figure out how to remove most of the FO from the scale without the water ruining the scale's ability to weigh.... at $30 I sure did not want to buy another one this soon into my soapmaking career.
Conclusion: Well I made soap but I am now hoarding what remains of my Tangerine Rain and the soap has a nice lemon California scent with chamomile tea leaves added to it instead. And the second batch came out okay and it too is NOT Tangerine Rain but lavendar and oatmeal and I think I should give up on that combination, that one NEVER has a successful batch. OH! and guessie what? I made them both only to trace and additives stage.... I put them in the molds to GEL! I did cold process... well sort of as I continue to heat the mix in my crockpot until trace then cut off the crockpot.
I also ordered a bunch of molds from Upland yesterday and they are winging their way to me as of yesterday late afternoon. Hopefully, with all the rubberbands the molds need.
I have a pic of the cup and of today's cuttings but the camera is at home. so will try to find time to download them tonight and post tomorrow. If not, it will not be until tuesday or wednesday some time til the pics show up.
so just to let you know that it started with the DELUGE at about 6 pm last evening and as of noonish today the "should have stayed in bed" continues. today from when I woke up and the one mold won't release my second batch of soap, to the unexpected traffic delay (did you know that 15 mins in traffic is just long enough to make another bad decision and try to drink your Sunny Delight from a travel coffee mug that will not cooperate and wind up with Sunny D in your lap? And the number of papertowels/napkins in your car is directly related to the equation: paper's absorbancy %= 75% of ounces of liquid spilled and soaking into clothing item) to the student STILL with an account problem since last friday's phone call at 5 mins to 8 am and it goes on and on my friend like that song....
soapy disaster prayers and hugsdenise/deBRAT
Thought for the day: if grease takes out grease (oil laundry sticks) does this mean that salt soap will clean up sweat? I was mighty mighty sweaty after last night adventures and cleaned up with a salt swap bar :)
Friday, August 4, 2006
Thanksgiving Day Soap Pictures!
Hey all,
Here is a picture of the Thanksgiving Day Soap after it has been made and cut since July 26th. This AM I cut a bar into 3 samples and look at the cool coloring it currently has. It is in the bottom right of the picture.
To the left, in a flower shape, is my peppermint EO salt soap cut into thick sticks with a clear and melt overpour with Rosemary EO that has the claim to fame of being my first (and only) bar of soap sold! Woohoo! I'm framing one of the dollars she paid me with :)
To the upper portion the pink rectangle is the BUS peppermint EO Salt Soap in its original form. Too ugly to send off as part of the swap but too wonderful to pitch and way too hard to rebatch, plus all that salt in there..... did not want that just melting away to nothingness.... so Anhoki/Angela suggested the melt and pour over pour. Of course, as I march to the beat of my own stubborn drummer, I should tell you that Anhoki/Angela made that suggestion after the first batch failed. I, my non-listening self, managed to foul up several more batches before officially panicing about the impending arrival date deadline and doing the resulting overpour. by the way, it is one of the few soaps I put the WHOLE bar into my own shower.... smile.... but by far my two favorite soaps are the peppermint salt, ugly though it may be and the Thanksgiving Day soap... now to experience the adventure of trying to re-create the same recipe (yes, I kept notes) and getting the same results!
Okay, you have waited long enough for the picture!
hugs and happy soaping adventures,
denise/deBRAT
Here is a picture of the Thanksgiving Day Soap after it has been made and cut since July 26th. This AM I cut a bar into 3 samples and look at the cool coloring it currently has. It is in the bottom right of the picture.
To the left, in a flower shape, is my peppermint EO salt soap cut into thick sticks with a clear and melt overpour with Rosemary EO that has the claim to fame of being my first (and only) bar of soap sold! Woohoo! I'm framing one of the dollars she paid me with :)
To the upper portion the pink rectangle is the BUS peppermint EO Salt Soap in its original form. Too ugly to send off as part of the swap but too wonderful to pitch and way too hard to rebatch, plus all that salt in there..... did not want that just melting away to nothingness.... so Anhoki/Angela suggested the melt and pour over pour. Of course, as I march to the beat of my own stubborn drummer, I should tell you that Anhoki/Angela made that suggestion after the first batch failed. I, my non-listening self, managed to foul up several more batches before officially panicing about the impending arrival date deadline and doing the resulting overpour. by the way, it is one of the few soaps I put the WHOLE bar into my own shower.... smile.... but by far my two favorite soaps are the peppermint salt, ugly though it may be and the Thanksgiving Day soap... now to experience the adventure of trying to re-create the same recipe (yes, I kept notes) and getting the same results!
Okay, you have waited long enough for the picture!
hugs and happy soaping adventures,
denise/deBRAT
Saturday, July 29, 2006
I have a dress for the wedding!
I got my dress for the wedding today and it was permanent marked down AND on sale for 30% off too! Not only that, but I managed to get shoes that go with it and have tiny heels so I can maybe wear them the whole night. Here are pics of the dress with the "mother of the groom" jacket and without it and the tops of the shoes and the sides of the shoes. It is indeed my "Ultimate-Mother-of-the-Groom" dress... sigh... it is done.
I'm so VERY excited to have this done. now to upload pics and call Jen to check them out!
yea all I need is a purse/clutch and even that I can do without... that is what dh's inside pockets of his suit are for, right?
hugs all may you all be this happy this weekend...
denise/deBRAT
Friday, July 28, 2006
The most amazing soaping adventure happened today.....
This is just so cool ... today i brought to work some of my 40 oz of lotion i made last night after my massage therapist was at the house.... and i gave a few away.... i had met this nice lady in the parking lot one day who had made homemade baklava and I was a GOOD girl and did not have any..... i had knocked on her door yesterday (everything is protected by a swipe card in this building so i can't just get into the area she works in) there was no answer and i had so wanted to give her a couple of pieces of soap, the new Thanksgiving Day and the Rosemary's Mint soap.... but alas, when she did not answer it was not long before someone else came along needing a little brightening in their day.... so today i run into her in the hallway and think ahha i have lotion in the cubible still.... I'll give some to Margareda.... and can you believe this woman makes her own lotions, soaps etc!!!!!
just down the hallway from the lab i work in. She wanted info on making her own perfume and i gave her a quick answer but i will refer her to some of these lists... she is working on her dissertation so doubt she can read many but oh my gosh!!! right down the hallway from me is another soaper/bath and body products-maker!!!
Now tell me ladies what can be depressing about this? You would think nothing... but ... BUT... we just had gathering adn I was trying in the worst way to GIVE away the other bed in my room and have someone ride up with me.... see? now THAT is depressing. BUT I will go forward and hope that she is not in the end stages of her dissertation, eh? wink
hugs
denise/deBRAT
just down the hallway from the lab i work in. She wanted info on making her own perfume and i gave her a quick answer but i will refer her to some of these lists... she is working on her dissertation so doubt she can read many but oh my gosh!!! right down the hallway from me is another soaper/bath and body products-maker!!!
Now tell me ladies what can be depressing about this? You would think nothing... but ... BUT... we just had gathering adn I was trying in the worst way to GIVE away the other bed in my room and have someone ride up with me.... see? now THAT is depressing. BUT I will go forward and hope that she is not in the end stages of her dissertation, eh? wink
hugs
denise/deBRAT
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Yet another soaping day/night
Tonight I made soap! I made soap in honor of my mom's 69th birthday. It is crockpot soap with 100% carrot juice I got at work today as part of the liquid. They were donated to us at the college by someone who must represent www.bolthouse.com . And I used the Pumpkin Pie Spice I got from Debbie @ Lebermuth.com and Lordy it smells like I baked a pie! Well, more appropriately like someone else who cooks well baked a pie... mine always have that hint of burnt something fragrance about them....
Anyway, I cooked it the way Cheri www.bearablescents.com told me on the phone the other night that she does hers in the crockpot. I let it roll over to the center three times though because it reached the center each time without being completely all around the edges to the center. Cheri says she lets it roll twice. I guess it is soap.
Hubby is away and I had left a message for him to call me about a phone call he got that needed to be returned in a timely manner.... yup... you got it... he called when it was all done and 1/2 of the 12 bar slab mold was filled already! Sure hope that it survives the less than "all-at-once" pour.
I have pictures so here you are you patient people!
soapy hugs
~denise/deBRAT
Anyway, I cooked it the way Cheri www.bearablescents.com told me on the phone the other night that she does hers in the crockpot. I let it roll over to the center three times though because it reached the center each time without being completely all around the edges to the center. Cheri says she lets it roll twice. I guess it is soap.
Hubby is away and I had left a message for him to call me about a phone call he got that needed to be returned in a timely manner.... yup... you got it... he called when it was all done and 1/2 of the 12 bar slab mold was filled already! Sure hope that it survives the less than "all-at-once" pour.
I have pictures so here you are you patient people!
soapy hugs~denise/deBRAT
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Final Salt Bar Swap Try
So today yet again, I tried to make salt soap. This time I changed the FO to Royal Aromatics Pink Grapefruit. i also mixed my color, FO and salt in at trace then poured my batch into my mold. Then I set it to bake in the sun for over 2 hours. I brought it in after the color change stretched its way all the way to the sides from the center. I then waited until just before 5pm to cut my soap.... this is what I have for soap...... sigh
What you see in the picture: on the far right is a slightly paler bar. this is one of two individual molds bars made. the difference is i did not attempt to swirl more color into them, just into the slab. In the center you see a small sliver of a pink translucent bit I took off of the bar I tried a small slice from. It lathers lots in very small bubbles. It has a slight hint of grapefruit so not sure if the scent will be come more intense as time passes or not.the bottom center you see the top of the bar. on the left you see one of the "holes" that presented themselves when I cut the soap. Yes, clear odorless liquid came out of there. But it has no bite to it at all. You can also see in that same bar some of the pink translucent area of the bar.
So... what did I do? Or is it just ugly and still functional? Dang, this is my 4th batch of soap for the salt bar swap. I have hardly made any soap at all so I guess I'm lucky I have some luck at it but I can't wait for it to be pretty AND smell nice AND lather. I only want three things from it. Well, four... I'd like to sell some too. Maybe I'll go make some unscented lotion... the scented kind came out well last week and now I have bottles!... have a grand and glorious day filled with the blessings of family and friends ~denise/deBRAT
Friday, July 21, 2006
Soaping: It is always an Adventure
So last night on the way home from work I remembered to stop at our local Ace Hardware store and see if I could get a soap cutter. Now "remembered" is an important word in the first statement because my memory is not what it used to be and even worse if you ask my husband. So I walk up to the cleark (very nice at least 10-15 years older than me deBrat=48 currently) and try to describe to her that I wish to purchase a tool that has a metal blade about this long or longer and is strong enough to cut through soap... and it is what a soapmaker uses to cut their soap .... but I don't remember what they were calling the ones they were buying in "hardware" stores for lots less than those marketed for "actual" soap cutting use. Nice clerk has no clue what I'm describing but kindly walkie talkies someone else and asks. I felt like I could hear the guy chuckling silently in his head as to how will he answer this question tactfully fully knowing that I am standing right there able to hear his answer.
He has no clue either... so I say okay i'll walk up and down the aisles but I have another question. Do you carry lye? Grandma's lye soap? yes, its right over there.... in the meantime the man on the other end of the walkie talkie has walked up and now I follow him down the aisle with the Lye for soap. My words.... turns out they had some soap there... nope I'm going to get lye to MAKE my own soap. Oh that would be in the plumbing aisle... okay. So I walk over there and as he has nothing more interesting to do so he follows/escorts me to the plumbing section. Needless to say they did not have Roebic's and nothing else qualified as 100% sodium hydroxide........ to be continued
He has no clue either... so I say okay i'll walk up and down the aisles but I have another question. Do you carry lye? Grandma's lye soap? yes, its right over there.... in the meantime the man on the other end of the walkie talkie has walked up and now I follow him down the aisle with the Lye for soap. My words.... turns out they had some soap there... nope I'm going to get lye to MAKE my own soap. Oh that would be in the plumbing aisle... okay. So I walk over there and as he has nothing more interesting to do so he follows/escorts me to the plumbing section. Needless to say they did not have Roebic's and nothing else qualified as 100% sodium hydroxide........ to be continued
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Salt Bar Soap Again
Okay so I made salt soap again last night.... The results from my slab mold are to the left there. Crockpot hot process attempted pink swirl. Peppermint EO 1 ounce(equaling 3 TBSP) into about 2#s of the 3# batch of soap. about 30 drops of get this.... Life of the Party liquid coloring red... finally something of Life of the Party that works in hot process soap and not just Melt n Pour.... into the reserve portion for color. Salt went mainly into the non colored portion of the soap with just a bit of salt into the pink section......anyway.... I had a hard time convincing it to be flat on the top. I remembered someone recently saying they had used a spatula dipped in hot water to smooth out their top on a hot process soap. So I tried it......So I used the hand with the playtex glove on it and dipped my hand in the really hot water and attempted to flatten it out. All that did was create white foam across the top. Well my doubts about quick trace (once again) were dispelled by the appearance of the foam. Surely, if it is foaming "it is soap"! The salt is in the white part (about 1# of Mediteranean Fine Sea Salts) The pink portion has the tiniest bit of salt.
Two observations as the strength of the peppermint EO was already noticed in the rebatch on Sunday: firts, the top of the soap (what you see in the picture) had tiny areas of pink wet liquid. When blotted the pink liquid had no odor to it at all, nor did it appear to be oil. You can easily see the difference between oil and water type substances on a papertowel.
Second when I cut on the cutting lines (showing up better this time then the rebatch did on Sunday in my new UPLAND silicone slab mold) when I cross cut it some of the pink fell away from the rest of the pink/white part. I took a picture of this but after I had already downloaded from the camera and uploaded to here this AM and I was out of time for leaving for work.
So now I am at a loss of what to do. I guess I need to find a plain white soap producing recipe that I can just make and make and make and have on hand to rebatch everytime I need to "fix" another batch I've made...... sigh and not of relief. More like sigh of acceptance of flopping soap.
Tried a chunk of the mostly all mixed together pink part that was put into the separate mini mold bar(I cut the soap bar to the left in quarters) this morning and it feels nice and it smells exquisite and it lathers okay, certainly not profusely... but how do you send off partially fell apart soap bars to be swapped.I want my soap to look like Anhoki's! I want my soap to look like ANYone else's but what I have been getting. Silly me, I sure bit off more than I can chew this time signing up for the swap.
Well that is my story and I'm sticking to it
have a soapy successful day,
denise/deBrat
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Salt soap.. but Where's the Salt?
Alright it is just not fair to have thing after thing go wrong with my soap. don't get me wrong, I have lovely, useable soap from today's rebatch but now there is like NO salt feel to my soap. I suspect that the clear melt and pour melted my salt in the white rebatch and then i think the dead sea salts melted away in the M/P too. So I wonder if I technically have salt soap for a salt swap?
I hate to rebatch this again, but I can't make another batch in time to mail out. If I rebatch it, yet again, and add more salt to it, how do I prevent it from dissolving again?
on an UP note.... it smells divinely. It lathers nicely. It feels good on my skin while I use it. So it IS soap.... but is it salt soap?
Sigh..... I can't do anything easy
Oh and here are the pics!!!
the soap fresh out of my silicone line mold from upland. I'm going to love this mold... now to buy a cutter that will cut it..g. I had to use our big knife to cut it. the wavy cutter would not have gone through this without making a knobby mess every 6" or 7 ". Anyway here it is turned upside down from the mold.
Here are the cut bars. Not one bar is the same size or weight as another bar. they range from 3 1/4 oz all the way to 5 1/2 oz I guess the salt is in there somewhere, eh?
So they are interesting and I can't wait to decide what to do with them. Perhaps I should make a little baggie of peppermint bath salts to send with the soap for the swap? Would that be a good peace offering?
Let me know what you think! That is what the comments box is for.... lots and loads of hugs
denise/deBrat
I hate to rebatch this again, but I can't make another batch in time to mail out. If I rebatch it, yet again, and add more salt to it, how do I prevent it from dissolving again?
on an UP note.... it smells divinely. It lathers nicely. It feels good on my skin while I use it. So it IS soap.... but is it salt soap?
Sigh..... I can't do anything easy
Oh and here are the pics!!!
the soap fresh out of my silicone line mold from upland. I'm going to love this mold... now to buy a cutter that will cut it..g. I had to use our big knife to cut it. the wavy cutter would not have gone through this without making a knobby mess every 6" or 7 ". Anyway here it is turned upside down from the mold.
Here are the cut bars. Not one bar is the same size or weight as another bar. they range from 3 1/4 oz all the way to 5 1/2 oz I guess the salt is in there somewhere, eh?
So they are interesting and I can't wait to decide what to do with them. Perhaps I should make a little baggie of peppermint bath salts to send with the soap for the swap? Would that be a good peace offering?
Let me know what you think! That is what the comments box is for.... lots and loads of hugs
denise/deBrat
My outdoor soaping station and the pool progress
More Pics, because we know it is all about the pics :)
Here is my table set up with the crockpot, new Upland mold. see the orange electric plug?
Here is my new Upland 12 bar mold. It has a silicone insert and I chose to get it with the cutting lines on it as I do not have anything to cut my soap with yet exept my wavy Pampered Chef cutter.
And here is the edge of the pool. Hubby took all of these metal parts off when he changed the liner. These are what he was painting with primer in my soaping spot yesterday!!! The grey part is dh's idea of making the pool not look dirty because he painted on the grey so the dirt would not show too much? You got me.... he lost me at making it look dirty all the time so dirt would not show....
and now i have just finished eating a cheap Publix brand dill pickle. It smelled like a pickle but tasted like the peppermint EO smelled.... hmmmmm not a good idea to eat something that smells like that peppermint stuff? I checked my hands and they don't smell of peppermint....
okay until the next set of pics comes my way this is it.... going to go check on my rebatched soap....
Brat
Here is my table set up with the crockpot, new Upland mold. see the orange electric plug?
Here is my new Upland 12 bar mold. It has a silicone insert and I chose to get it with the cutting lines on it as I do not have anything to cut my soap with yet exept my wavy Pampered Chef cutter.
And here is the edge of the pool. Hubby took all of these metal parts off when he changed the liner. These are what he was painting with primer in my soaping spot yesterday!!! The grey part is dh's idea of making the pool not look dirty because he painted on the grey so the dirt would not show too much? You got me.... he lost me at making it look dirty all the time so dirt would not show....
and now i have just finished eating a cheap Publix brand dill pickle. It smelled like a pickle but tasted like the peppermint EO smelled.... hmmmmm not a good idea to eat something that smells like that peppermint stuff? I checked my hands and they don't smell of peppermint....
okay until the next set of pics comes my way this is it.... going to go check on my rebatched soap....
Brat
More pictures from Gathering!
Thanks to Judi in Jax I have a pic of the "bar" facial people.
I have now uploaded the bar pic four times. I am just going to take where it lands because every time i try to move it I delete it and have to re upload it. geeesh
Left to right front: judi in jax,Millie, Amber, Wayne
Back oh shoot Dan/daniel I think and I forget oh-miss-quiet-ones name... help me fill in the blanks pretty please?
and a pic of Sindy and her swirled cold process (then she put it in the car so we could see it done) soap demoLeft to right front of pic but back of heads: Ocala Kelly, deBrat
Back with full bodies LOL: Sindy, ??? , Joanne
see the neon powered colors on the table next to Kelly's head? See that pitcher of bright pink? She will pour that from a very high height! oh brave one.... I want to make soap like yours!
And that has to be Trish and her camera off to the left there..... I'm knitting that is why I am not looking up at that time.
more pics coming
~Brat
Ooops missed these pics from NFC Gathering 2006
Oops I missed these pics in the camera and I took the soap and lotion ones today just to post for your look-see.
This is what shea butter looks like after riding in the back window of the car for 5 hours and then being in the a/c of the house for a couple of hours. It is just starting to get smooshie again instead of a pure liquid. That butter has been whipped up by hand with a fragrance, rosemary perhaps? and it sits in the bathroom waiting for me to check it out and see what if anything, i wish to do to it next.
My foot after the Dead Sea Salts bath soaking story. It is hard to see how red my foot actually is because the flash reflected off of my foot. dang flash it won't behave on this camera. i am always holding it down while taking a picture.... i need to take a class in photography but truly just want to learn how to use my Nikon 8700.
The soap that Sindy made in her Cold Process swirls demo. Talk about going forth fearlessly! That woman is nuts. The color is not quite as bright as in the bags but it stayed much brighter than I was thinking from the description she was giving about "fade". it too smell wonderful. the colors are Neon: orange for the base, pink and green for the swirl. Paige sold out of her neon colors before that demo. Gum package for size reference.
My first lotion! those are lovely 2 oz bottles judi in jax so kindly sold me at the Gathering so i could make my lotion AND bottle it LOL. The black lids are NOT on them. the coconut is on the left and that is the 5th bottle that did not quite fill all the way. My tester bottles both of these. The raspberry is on the right. Gum package for size reference.
It is too bad you cannot feel or smell these lotions they are WONDERFUL!
I am so happy to have something go so right my first time of making it. Of course, some of my happiness could be from the fact that I planned to make soap yesterday and my outdoor area was "taken" up by the pool project my dh is working on for 5 days so, I made lotion and bath bombs and bath salts instead. I had not soaked in the tub before I started buying Dead Sea Salts and making bath bombs and bath salts.
Now to work on a name and labeling. Oh so much to do and the weekend runneth out already :(
lator gators,
deBrat
This is what shea butter looks like after riding in the back window of the car for 5 hours and then being in the a/c of the house for a couple of hours. It is just starting to get smooshie again instead of a pure liquid. That butter has been whipped up by hand with a fragrance, rosemary perhaps? and it sits in the bathroom waiting for me to check it out and see what if anything, i wish to do to it next.
My foot after the Dead Sea Salts bath soaking story. It is hard to see how red my foot actually is because the flash reflected off of my foot. dang flash it won't behave on this camera. i am always holding it down while taking a picture.... i need to take a class in photography but truly just want to learn how to use my Nikon 8700.
The soap that Sindy made in her Cold Process swirls demo. Talk about going forth fearlessly! That woman is nuts. The color is not quite as bright as in the bags but it stayed much brighter than I was thinking from the description she was giving about "fade". it too smell wonderful. the colors are Neon: orange for the base, pink and green for the swirl. Paige sold out of her neon colors before that demo. Gum package for size reference.
My first lotion! those are lovely 2 oz bottles judi in jax so kindly sold me at the Gathering so i could make my lotion AND bottle it LOL. The black lids are NOT on them. the coconut is on the left and that is the 5th bottle that did not quite fill all the way. My tester bottles both of these. The raspberry is on the right. Gum package for size reference.
It is too bad you cannot feel or smell these lotions they are WONDERFUL!
I am so happy to have something go so right my first time of making it. Of course, some of my happiness could be from the fact that I planned to make soap yesterday and my outdoor area was "taken" up by the pool project my dh is working on for 5 days so, I made lotion and bath bombs and bath salts instead. I had not soaked in the tub before I started buying Dead Sea Salts and making bath bombs and bath salts.
Now to work on a name and labeling. Oh so much to do and the weekend runneth out already :(
lator gators,
deBrat
North Florida Crafters 2nd Annual Gathering
I did not take many pictures but here are a few I managed to take. If others took pictures and have shared them online I'll post a link here if you'd like. Also, some of the names I do not know please feel free to tell me so i can identify everyone here.
Tammy mixing up the hair mud for the demo. This is after the 1 hour powerpoint show of information on the Dead Sea and the products she makes from the imported minerals. It is hard to make out but she is wearing a leopard or cheetah patterned material apron. It is a fancy as her outfit LOL
Judi in Jax, Lori (pawdette@yahoo.com)and OcalaKelly
Vendor: Alabaster products/table in the background.
I literally ran into this woman several times before taking her picture. She is opening her swap goody box. I was so busy apologizing for cutting in front of her and her friend I never got her name. My only defense is I get so focused some times I just blunder forth and miss everything around me. I'm so sorry, again. Would you please provide your name? [according to Ocala Kelly this is Sylvia. She had a wonderful olive oil and jasmine soap in the swap. :-)]
Hmmm I should know who the guy in the background is but I don't recall his name. Anyone?
Ocala Kelly with her tart warmer/burner from Cheri in the swap goody box. She is wearing her new shirt from the mall visit the day before.[I stand corrected that is not kelly's new shirt she wore the new shirt after the hair mud treatment.] Kelly's dh and two sons were there. They had all gone to the museum and the mall on Friday and the boys wanted to go back again on Saturday. To both the mall and the museum.
I am sorry I did not take more pictures. But the camera is a heavy one and I tend to get so "focused" on taking pictures I miss out on what is actually happening. Sometimes you have to choose in life and of course while I was there choosing to watch, listen and LEARN seemed good but now that I'm home I'm so sorry I did not take pictures. I think Trish took tons of pics perhaps she'll share some for me to post here?
Tammy mixing up the hair mud for the demo. This is after the 1 hour powerpoint show of information on the Dead Sea and the products she makes from the imported minerals. It is hard to make out but she is wearing a leopard or cheetah patterned material apron. It is a fancy as her outfit LOL
Judi in Jax, Lori (pawdette@yahoo.com)and OcalaKelly
Vendor: Alabaster products/table in the background.
I literally ran into this woman several times before taking her picture. She is opening her swap goody box. I was so busy apologizing for cutting in front of her and her friend I never got her name. My only defense is I get so focused some times I just blunder forth and miss everything around me. I'm so sorry, again. Would you please provide your name? [according to Ocala Kelly this is Sylvia. She had a wonderful olive oil and jasmine soap in the swap. :-)]
Hmmm I should know who the guy in the background is but I don't recall his name. Anyone?
Ocala Kelly with her tart warmer/burner from Cheri in the swap goody box. She is wearing her new shirt from the mall visit the day before.[I stand corrected that is not kelly's new shirt she wore the new shirt after the hair mud treatment.] Kelly's dh and two sons were there. They had all gone to the museum and the mall on Friday and the boys wanted to go back again on Saturday. To both the mall and the museum.
I am sorry I did not take more pictures. But the camera is a heavy one and I tend to get so "focused" on taking pictures I miss out on what is actually happening. Sometimes you have to choose in life and of course while I was there choosing to watch, listen and LEARN seemed good but now that I'm home I'm so sorry I did not take pictures. I think Trish took tons of pics perhaps she'll share some for me to post here?
Saturday Night Facial Party
I thought we had a picture of some of the "in the bar" facial people but it must not have been with my camera? Anyway here is a facial picture or two or three. Probably more than you would like to see... 
I am convinced that "criminals" are forced to take pictures of themselves in mirrors in order to get the proper "mug shot" for the record. Awful pic BUT both my eyes are open?
Oh, this is the microdermabrasion type product we used after we washed our face with a liquid mud soap. Something about mud and soap... what is the word? oxymoron?
PLEASE, remind me NOT to take pictures of myself to market MY products. This looks like caption should be "died with mask on" The only thing missing is the satin interior and the lily.
Okay so she/me is so happy because I've been resurrected? Still a frightening sight in my opinion. Oh and the white spot you keep seeing on my cheek is really white. I have others too. It is some chemical thing going on. Tammy of www.deadseabulkmaterials.com can tell you better what it is.
Hope you enjoyed visiting the facial pics,
Soapy muddy hugs
denise/deBrat
I am convinced that "criminals" are forced to take pictures of themselves in mirrors in order to get the proper "mug shot" for the record. Awful pic BUT both my eyes are open?
Oh, this is the microdermabrasion type product we used after we washed our face with a liquid mud soap. Something about mud and soap... what is the word? oxymoron?
PLEASE, remind me NOT to take pictures of myself to market MY products. This looks like caption should be "died with mask on" The only thing missing is the satin interior and the lily.
Okay so she/me is so happy because I've been resurrected? Still a frightening sight in my opinion. Oh and the white spot you keep seeing on my cheek is really white. I have others too. It is some chemical thing going on. Tammy of www.deadseabulkmaterials.com can tell you better what it is.
Hope you enjoyed visiting the facial pics,
Soapy muddy hugs
denise/deBrat
The Packed Miata Pictures
Here are the pictures of the Miata packed for returning from the NFC 2nd Annual Gathering in Tallahassee on July 8th, 2006. I won't tell you how many dollars it takes to fill a Miata but I might mention how much of some things are in there.
You may have read that Cherie and Frank could not go to the Gathering and so they met me at the outlet for Russell Stover in Wildwood so I could on the way "up" to the Gathering pick up their swap items.... and on the way back to give them their swapped out goodies, their purchase from Rainee and their goodie bags and door prizes.
The only way this would work is if A) my suitcase would fit between the front seat and the glovebox AND B) the three 35# boxes of oils would fit in the trunk.
As you can see I did pack the right suitcase and it fits neatly between the seat and the glovebox. In the front passenger seat you see Cherie's order box (square, which containes their door prizes and some of their goody bag items as there was room in it and so little room in my car) her swap box(short end of the rectangel)my suitcase, 1 gal of castor oil and out of view are the two heavy goody bags with some from the other bag stuck in them too for Frank and Cherie. On top of that list is my cooler, my bag with my knitting supplies in it, the camera case and then on top of that is the very old very light weight folding luggage rolling thingy. The luggage thing went behind my seat for driving.
This is looking into my back window. This has the chocolate from Russell Stover that I did not sell while at Gathering, 10#s of Shea butter in that purple bag from Gin (www.saltysshelf.com) and my goody bags (we each got so many goodies they were in two bags!) with some of the paperwork i picked up in them too. One should never travel with 10#s of unrefined shea butter in their back window in a two seater car in Florida in July. Just really really bad combination... Oh and one should not have consumed too much alcohol the night before either.
This is of my trunk. I put the three, 35# oils boxes in first with plastic garbage bags around them incase they leaked in any form. They are also turned so the spout is toward the trunk lid and not down... again, just in case of leaks. My car is not paid for yet, there is no need to ask for anything bad to happen to it, eh? around it you can see the 2# fragrance containers ( i only actually got 2# of two sale Oils from Debbie Woodruff www.lebermuth.com the others are that size container but only 1# FO before you think I got totally carried away in purchasing LOL. My goody bag umbrella is over on the right side. There are also my Dead Sea products; salts, mud etc. On the left side almost not seen at all are all my extracts. There is a small deeper well area there and so there are three FO 1# containers in the well with the other things around them.
So it all fit in, including me and it took 14 trips from my room with the luggage cart to load the car Sunday morning. The maid kept asking if I was leaving LOL Kept telling her a few more trips!
You may have read that Cherie and Frank could not go to the Gathering and so they met me at the outlet for Russell Stover in Wildwood so I could on the way "up" to the Gathering pick up their swap items.... and on the way back to give them their swapped out goodies, their purchase from Rainee and their goodie bags and door prizes.
The only way this would work is if A) my suitcase would fit between the front seat and the glovebox AND B) the three 35# boxes of oils would fit in the trunk.
As you can see I did pack the right suitcase and it fits neatly between the seat and the glovebox. In the front passenger seat you see Cherie's order box (square, which containes their door prizes and some of their goody bag items as there was room in it and so little room in my car) her swap box(short end of the rectangel)my suitcase, 1 gal of castor oil and out of view are the two heavy goody bags with some from the other bag stuck in them too for Frank and Cherie. On top of that list is my cooler, my bag with my knitting supplies in it, the camera case and then on top of that is the very old very light weight folding luggage rolling thingy. The luggage thing went behind my seat for driving.
This is looking into my back window. This has the chocolate from Russell Stover that I did not sell while at Gathering, 10#s of Shea butter in that purple bag from Gin (www.saltysshelf.com) and my goody bags (we each got so many goodies they were in two bags!) with some of the paperwork i picked up in them too. One should never travel with 10#s of unrefined shea butter in their back window in a two seater car in Florida in July. Just really really bad combination... Oh and one should not have consumed too much alcohol the night before either.
This is of my trunk. I put the three, 35# oils boxes in first with plastic garbage bags around them incase they leaked in any form. They are also turned so the spout is toward the trunk lid and not down... again, just in case of leaks. My car is not paid for yet, there is no need to ask for anything bad to happen to it, eh? around it you can see the 2# fragrance containers ( i only actually got 2# of two sale Oils from Debbie Woodruff www.lebermuth.com the others are that size container but only 1# FO before you think I got totally carried away in purchasing LOL. My goody bag umbrella is over on the right side. There are also my Dead Sea products; salts, mud etc. On the left side almost not seen at all are all my extracts. There is a small deeper well area there and so there are three FO 1# containers in the well with the other things around them.
So it all fit in, including me and it took 14 trips from my room with the luggage cart to load the car Sunday morning. The maid kept asking if I was leaving LOL Kept telling her a few more trips!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
The beginning of the Bath & Body Adventure
Well this is really only the beginning of the blog portion of the Bath & Body. So let's go through today's B & B adventure..... I was to make soap. I long to make soap. It has been been 10 days since I last made soap. As much as it did not turn out in the manner I would have liked, I still got to make soap. Soaping is an addiction beyond any other crafting/selling/teaching I have done.
So back to the actual soaping. t he Soaping that did not happen. I asked dh (dear hubby) to please take my folding table outside so I could make soap today at his convenience. Well, when I went like an hour later to see if it had been convenient yet what do my horrified eyes do i see? But a ladder and pool pieces reeking of nasty primer paint where my table should be. eeeek!
DH is working on rebuilding most of our above ground pool since thursday and today was the priming with nasty smelling stuff day... sigh... no soaping going on in this yard today. So on to plan B!
Plan B turned out to be making lotion! I was waiting to make this recipe from an online class in one of my soaping groups until I got back from the North Florida Crafters 2nd Annual Gathering last Saturday (07/08/06) http://www.northfloridacrafters.com/ where I got the specific to make lotion ingredients, along with TONS of other supplies. So I mix up this 20oz batch of LOVELY white lotion and split it out and scent it with a Raspberry Scent and a cool Coconut smell in the other half. I wiped the emptied bowls out with my fingers and put it on me. I smell like a coconut covered raspberry right now. I'd be a great frozen beverage with ice and rum or vodka.
So after the Ten 2 0z lotion bottles are full and the clean up is done I realise that the ladder and pool parts have not made any progress out of my outdoor soaping area so I start on Plan C.
Plan C is to make bath bombs and I just so happened to stop by my local grocery market to get one of the ingredients I still needed last night. So I was soooo ready to create some more Bath de-LIGHTS. I made a bodacious bath round to go with the Raspberry Lotion and then I made some Coconut Bath Salts to... you guessed it... match up with the Coconut Lotion. The Raspberry one is just so light and playful in scent and the Coconut makes me think I'm at the beach without the gritty sand to wash off later, eh?
So now I better get to work on labels for these products because I know they are not going to last for Christmas gifts!
May each of you be surrounded by those you love today and every day!
Blessings,
denise/de-BRAT
So back to the actual soaping. t he Soaping that did not happen. I asked dh (dear hubby) to please take my folding table outside so I could make soap today at his convenience. Well, when I went like an hour later to see if it had been convenient yet what do my horrified eyes do i see? But a ladder and pool pieces reeking of nasty primer paint where my table should be. eeeek!
DH is working on rebuilding most of our above ground pool since thursday and today was the priming with nasty smelling stuff day... sigh... no soaping going on in this yard today. So on to plan B!
Plan B turned out to be making lotion! I was waiting to make this recipe from an online class in one of my soaping groups until I got back from the North Florida Crafters 2nd Annual Gathering last Saturday (07/08/06) http://www.northfloridacrafters.com/ where I got the specific to make lotion ingredients, along with TONS of other supplies. So I mix up this 20oz batch of LOVELY white lotion and split it out and scent it with a Raspberry Scent and a cool Coconut smell in the other half. I wiped the emptied bowls out with my fingers and put it on me. I smell like a coconut covered raspberry right now. I'd be a great frozen beverage with ice and rum or vodka.
So after the Ten 2 0z lotion bottles are full and the clean up is done I realise that the ladder and pool parts have not made any progress out of my outdoor soaping area so I start on Plan C.
Plan C is to make bath bombs and I just so happened to stop by my local grocery market to get one of the ingredients I still needed last night. So I was soooo ready to create some more Bath de-LIGHTS. I made a bodacious bath round to go with the Raspberry Lotion and then I made some Coconut Bath Salts to... you guessed it... match up with the Coconut Lotion. The Raspberry one is just so light and playful in scent and the Coconut makes me think I'm at the beach without the gritty sand to wash off later, eh?
So now I better get to work on labels for these products because I know they are not going to last for Christmas gifts!
May each of you be surrounded by those you love today and every day!
Blessings,
denise/de-BRAT
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Dear Jane Meet-up in Kissimmee June 10th
THE CAST:
Liz Gray. Denise Oldham, Janet in FL - Annemiek, Denise/deBrat, Robert - Linda Smith, Irene Watson, Annemiek
THE DEAR JANES:
Annemiek and her DJ blocks
Denise Oldham's Dear Jane, all the bits were there but the photographer (me) did a poor job of it.
Janet in FL's dear jane laid out on the flannel backed tablecloth she used to transport it. Clever girl.
Please forgive me, in my excitment of actually seeing the quilts and people i did nto take enough pictures. I missed Linda Smith's blocks, Liz Gray's blocks and neglected to get Irene's Sailor Jane pictured again. I'll have to dig about to see if I can find the picture from the last get together with her in Kissimmee.
Liz Gray. Denise Oldham, Janet in FL - Annemiek, Denise/deBrat, Robert - Linda Smith, Irene Watson, Annemiek
THE DEAR JANES:
Annemiek and her DJ blocks
Denise Oldham's Dear Jane, all the bits were there but the photographer (me) did a poor job of it.
Janet in FL's dear jane laid out on the flannel backed tablecloth she used to transport it. Clever girl.
Please forgive me, in my excitment of actually seeing the quilts and people i did nto take enough pictures. I missed Linda Smith's blocks, Liz Gray's blocks and neglected to get Irene's Sailor Jane pictured again. I'll have to dig about to see if I can find the picture from the last get together with her in Kissimmee.
More Winnie Quilt blocks arriving June 2-9th
Steffie
Rei
Sue who
Jeanne Meddaugh
Anky Zentjens
Linda Franz
Thursday, June 1, 2006
Block received May 30th #134!!!
Here is a pic of the block from Joyce Delucia it is the 134th to be received and has already been trimmed and put up on the design wall to be on the DJ sized block side of the quilt.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Graduation Day!
What a lovely day it was yesterday. The long awaited commencement walk began right on time (4 pm) on May 22, 2006 and round about 6:20 pm they were pronounced officially graduated all 456 of them. Son was 3rd in his class with a GPA of 6.34 just 1/100th out of Salutorian of the the class.
Well I know you do not wish to read any more but to get right to the meat of the matter and see the pictures!
Proud Family: Mom/denise, Maternal Grandfather/Pop-Pop, Paternal Grandmother/Gladys, Dad/Neal, Graduate/N Caelum, Maternal Grandmother/Joyce, Paternal Grandfather/George, Paternal Aunt/Cheryl
Denise/deBrat, N Caelum, Neal C
Aunt Cheryl and N Caelum
Every young man who has just graduated deserves a gorgeous girlfriend!
Alyssa and N Caelum
N Caelum and many other of the top graduates of this class had Ms Chisholm as their "gifted" teacher at Summerfield Elementary School. They were the first, first-graders in the gifted program. Previously it began in the second grade.
Well I know you do not wish to read any more but to get right to the meat of the matter and see the pictures!
Proud Family: Mom/denise, Maternal Grandfather/Pop-Pop, Paternal Grandmother/Gladys, Dad/Neal, Graduate/N Caelum, Maternal Grandmother/Joyce, Paternal Grandfather/George, Paternal Aunt/Cheryl
Denise/deBrat, N Caelum, Neal C
Aunt Cheryl and N Caelum
Every young man who has just graduated deserves a gorgeous girlfriend!
Alyssa and N Caelum
N Caelum and many other of the top graduates of this class had Ms Chisholm as their "gifted" teacher at Summerfield Elementary School. They were the first, first-graders in the gifted program. Previously it began in the second grade.
Blocks received May 22
These blocks arrived yesterday but noone checked the mail box until this morning because yesterday was son's graduation from high school! you can see pics at the family blog if you care to see him in his finery.
The first block is from Edith Shanholt who so kindly made the block I designed to honor my friendship with Winnie. How absolutely adoreable this block is done up in pink and brown with a hint of green and of course good ole' muslin. Thank you Edith for making a block for this quilt and for choosing my design.
This block is from Brigitte and it travelled a long distance in order to be in this quilt too. It is so lovely and bright and happy. I gave them both kisses, took their pictures and right after work tonight I will put them on the design wall in the 12 empty places for this sized block to go.
I need to pick out sashing fabric for this quilt. I'm going to cut the pieces 1 1/2" and then use my handy dandy 5 1/2" sized Creative Grids ruler to square each of them up. they will be a wee bit odd sized in the sashings to all be the same size for assembly but they ALL come with the same size love attached to them ... HUGE...!
Thank you again all for participating in this and I can hardly wait to design the other side of jane with the rest of the blocks....
hugs
denise/deBrat-jane
okay so proud mom could not resist just one pic of son and his family here at the site. hope it is not too large for loading on your pcs to view. :)
Me (mom), my step-dad, my MIL, DH just barely seen in back, Neal the graduate, my mom, my FIL my SIL
You see National Honor Society white, gold tassel braid is Honor Society and there is a East Bay Indian very heavy weight pendant on that grey ribbon. He graduated with a GPA of 6.34 and third in his class of 456 students.
The first block is from Edith Shanholt who so kindly made the block I designed to honor my friendship with Winnie. How absolutely adoreable this block is done up in pink and brown with a hint of green and of course good ole' muslin. Thank you Edith for making a block for this quilt and for choosing my design.
This block is from Brigitte and it travelled a long distance in order to be in this quilt too. It is so lovely and bright and happy. I gave them both kisses, took their pictures and right after work tonight I will put them on the design wall in the 12 empty places for this sized block to go.I need to pick out sashing fabric for this quilt. I'm going to cut the pieces 1 1/2" and then use my handy dandy 5 1/2" sized Creative Grids ruler to square each of them up. they will be a wee bit odd sized in the sashings to all be the same size for assembly but they ALL come with the same size love attached to them ... HUGE...!
Thank you again all for participating in this and I can hardly wait to design the other side of jane with the rest of the blocks....
hugs
denise/deBrat-jane
okay so proud mom could not resist just one pic of son and his family here at the site. hope it is not too large for loading on your pcs to view. :)
Me (mom), my step-dad, my MIL, DH just barely seen in back, Neal the graduate, my mom, my FIL my SIL
You see National Honor Society white, gold tassel braid is Honor Society and there is a East Bay Indian very heavy weight pendant on that grey ribbon. He graduated with a GPA of 6.34 and third in his class of 456 students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)