Merry Christmas Everyone!!

May peace and joy

be with you

and yours during

the holiday season

Happy Holiday's to you and your loved ones.

Vacation Over...Back to Work

I've had my little vacation thanks to the Twilight Saga (huge sigh) now back to work.  I've started making soap again.  My holiday sales were pretty good. Much better than expected, so now it's time to restock the shelves and start getting ready for Valentines Day.  I know it's a bit early but it takes nearly 6 weeks for soap to cure, so I need to get started now.

I'm waiting for a shipment of fragrance oils, so I started with what I already have here. 

Since I keep a journal of all everybatch of soap that I make, I like to sketch my soaps and plan out the entire process from start to finish before I start a batch. That's why it frustrates me so much when a batch doesn't turn out exactly the way I envisioned it in my head.

This batch, scented with Patchouli essential oil, turned out to be a pretty close match. Yay!

Obsessed...

I'm terrible and I know it. I've been neglecting my blog. Why? Well after much persuasion from my sisters, I decided to pick up a book called Twilight.  I'm sure many of you have heard of it. In fact, I'm sure there aren't too many of you who haven't.  At any rate, Brandon and I  were sitting in the  Raleigh airport waiting for our flight to California by way of Newark for an ACN International Convention (WhooHoo!!, But, that's a story for another day). I knew we had a looong day ahead of us with 3 flights and 2 layovers, so of course I needed to get myself a book. 

I've already read the Dan Browns Secret Symbol.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen too many good reviews from my fellow Outlander fans about the most recent book so I settled on Twilight.  I'm not a fan of horror movies or books.  I don't even like vampires, but oh my goodness!  I've been bitten.  I LOVE this series.  I couldn't put it down. 

Even though we had a jam packed weekend at the convention, I still managed to get the book finished in time to purchase the next 2 books, New Moon and Eclipse, during the return trip home.  I sped throught those then purchased the final book Breaking Dawn.  It took me about a week to go through the entire saga.  When I was done of course I had to see the movies THEN I started reading the books again.  What's wrong with me?!  I'm totally obsessed. Team Edward all the way!!!

You are what you think...

This passage is from one of my favorite books: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I keep a copy posted on the refrigerator so that I can read it when I'm working, cooking, etc. I find it to be very inspiring and it's a constant reminder for me to keep a positive mindset. Please enjoy :0)

If you think you are beaten, you are

If you think you dare not, you don't

If you like to win, but think you can't

It is most certain you won't

If you think you'll lose, you're lost

For out in the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will-

It is all in the state of mind

If you think you are outclassed, you are

You've got to think high to rise

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!!

I won a giveaway!

This is really cool.  I just found out this morning that I won a free giveaway from Vermilion Star Press.

The funny part is that I didn't intentionally enter the contest.  A few days ago I watched the movie "7 Pound" starring Will Smith.  His love interest in the movie had two antique printing press machines.  They were just very cool.  So then a few dayslater I came across this blog and right away it reminded me of the movie. It looked interesting, so I decided to follow.  Apparently, I entered myself into a contest and won!  What luck :o)

Blood Orange Patchouli Soap

So here's yet another attempt at those darn swirls.  So far I like them.  We'll see how they turn out when I unmold them in the morning.  I think this one just might work.

2 New Soaps

Right now I'm working on a wholesale order and these are two of the batches.

Energy

I can't wait to slice this one and see how my attempted swirls turned out.

Lavender

This is an interesting batch.  It's my first time using Alkanet Root Powder.  Right now it's almost blue.  I think it's pretty.  But, apparently this is not the final color.  As the ph balance of the soap changes, so will the color.  Fingers crossed.  It should end up purple or lavender.  I hope it doesn't turn gray.  That would not be very pretty.