Good Things

~~~SEWING~~~

Blue Moon Original Aprons

~~~Booth display at Texas Country Reporter Festival~~~

Blue Moon Soaps

Hello everyone.

It's been awhile since my last post but believe me, I've been busy!

Between work, sewing and soapmaking there hasn't been much time for anything else.

Oh, and moving into a new home... Can't forget that.

We just did The Texas Country Reporter Festival and

I sold out on most all the ladies full aprons.....
WOOHOO!!!!!
 And, I've added water bottle carriers and wristlets to the
Blue Moon Original line and they also did well .

The soap and related products always do good.

I find the water bottle carrier and the sling bag
very useful on my walks with the dogs.

Blue Moon Original Water Bottle Carriers

Blue Moon Original Sling Bag

As to the job.....
I am now working at Cato Fashions here in Waxahachie and I love it!
I get to dress nice, meet new people and get a 20% discount to boot.
Plus my manager has no problem working with my show schedule.
Tres Bien!

Well, my sewing machines are calling,
so I'll say Bonjour for now.

Till next time, enjoy life.

OH MY!!!!

SO.....

I had a job interview in Dallas today....

What was I thinking?

Stop and go traffic, rude, impatient drivers and the awful smell...

Once I hit the Trinity River Bridge the sewage smell of the River

mingled with the vehicle exhaust fumes...

That's when I remembered why I moved to the country!

Lou Sterrett Justice Center

 This is just one of three towers, guess we have a lot of criminals!

The job opening was for a commissary worker at the Lou Sterrett Justice Center.

Basically it entailed delivering, via a cart,  personal care and other sundries to the inmates.

Sounded easy enough, what the posting failed to mention was the hours,

6AM to 2PM.

There's no way I can be anywhere at 6AM,

I drop off two other people at their jobs.

Unless it pays $20.00 an hour I'm out.

The interview was odd to say the least,

but that's a whole story in itself....

This is more my speed.

First cutting of the season.

I walked outside while waiting for this photo to load,
heard crickets, a frog and other country noises.
No traffic, no stench, that's what I'm talking about!

I hope I find a job more suitable to my sensibilities.
Perhaps you' all could put the vibe out there for me?

I have numerous skills available!

I'll be making soap tomorrow, also more my speed.

Till next time,

Bonjour and good karma

Lack of sunshine AKA I've been depressed!

Well....

I've been a little depressed....

Winter always does that to me.

Short days, lack of sunlight, working indoors?

All of the above?

Yep!!!

Anyway....

I was in need of a little brightness in my indoor home life so I decided to lighten things up a bit.

A few pieces of furniture were banished, a few rearranged and some renewed.

This dresser, rescued from a thrift store eight years ago,

functions as a sort of buffet/dining room storage unit.

Originally, I removed the mirror and painted it all white.

Bor-ing.....

Then I went through my dark green phase.

Then I marbled it a black/green/gold/white.

Today it's marbled blackish/red with the mirror re-attached

and has a new home in the hallway.

This is my vanity, rescued from the thrift store also.

I've had this baby since 1980.

She also has gone through several transformations,

Black on white, dark green on white, brown.....

Today she's sporting a bright, sunny yellow.

Hairstyler Barbie and Mr. Peanut approve of their new digs!



New kitchen window treatment

The windows needed a little help also!

The kitchen has two windows and the office/sewing room has three.

Needless to say, there was a lot of curtain making going on!

I used the fabric from the old office curtains to make a new

table cloth for the soap display table.



New office window curtains

And Soap, lots and lots of soap,

craft shows are right around the corner!

Soap curing

I feel a little better now.

 Thank you Better Homes & Gardens

for getting me out of my funk!

Maybe I need to do some canning too,

I'm a little low on jam!

Till next time,

Bonjour



Life & Soap Shows



Nathan's pomegranate tree

SO.....



It's soap show time!!!

You never know what is going to sell.

For the last several years, our dominant category in all products was floral

and that's where I concentrated my efforts.

The trend this past spring was fruits and spices, seems that trend is continuing.

Our demographic is widening, we're all over the page now.

Customers that were hard sells previously are now purchasing our products.

Not just the soaps either, all our products are selling better.

Personally, I've been feeling the earthy vibe for awhile.

Something I have noticed is,

when I'm formulating a new scent, and purchasing

the scents for it from my local supplier,

a few months later they are selling "that" scent pre-blended.

I've even noticed them naming the scent pretty close to, or the same as mine.

I order under my Co. name, pretty easy

to go to my site and see what I'm up to.

Whatever...

 My husband says I should be flattered.

Again, whatever!!

Yesterday's show was great with lots of sales and today was spent

making more soap, etc.

I have four more shows for the year and I foresee my immediate future

filled with soap bubbles.

Oh yea,

I was contacted yesterday by a local B&B for soap.

We shall see where that goes.



My morning view from the surreal world (work)

Till next time,

Bonjour

Soap, Lots Of Soap!

Well....

When I'm out doing my soap shows,

I always get a few people asking about soap classes.

Sure I say, I teach,

then I give them the rundown.

For this price you will receive, this, this, that, that, etc.

Plan on spending this amount of time.

Most people think they want to learn, but generally they really don't.

It takes time and effort, it can be messy and costly.

It takes forethought, organization and research.

Lots and lots of research!

For me at least.

I did a lot of research,

downloading info on carrier oil properties,

learning about essential oils, botanical additions etc.

And the formula testing,

right amount of lather, long lasting, hard bar, moisturizing, gentleness....

I have a 3" notebook, full of info,

all neatly arranged in alphabetized categories, separated by labeled, index dividers.

My soap recipe/formula book is divided into sections also,

fruits, floral, spices and each section is also alphabetized.

Each scent has it's own recipe page and I keep detailed notes

every time I make a batch.

Super soap trolly

What can I say?

I'm extreme.

My daughters call it O.C.D.

I say, it's not a dis-order, it's order!!!

Should be called OCO instead.

Anyway

I make about 24 different soaps and they need a place to cure.

I tried a shelving unit and that was ok but I knew I needed something more. Like this!!

I found this bread rack at Canton First Monday Trade Days

For $35.00. I had researched these online, cheapest was about

$200.00.

I knew I wanted one, just didn't want to spend so much.

$35.00, I was willing to do!

Makes a handy, dandy soap drying rack don't you think? I can wheel it where ever I need it to be, there's plenty of shelves, and it can hold about 28, 20 bar batches of soap. Super!

                        The reason I'm telling you all of this is because,

I actually did get to teach a class.

But, it's late, so that story will have to wait.

Till next time,

Bonjour



The Pitfalls Of Verbal Communication

OH MY!!!

It's not just a potato, patato dilemma.

It involves tone, accent, inflection, body language......

You're saying one thing and the recipient is hearing something completely different.

I've lived in Texas since the late 1970's

 BUT,

 I still  have a definite Midwestern accent and style of speaking.

No amount of ya'lls and fixin have

fooled anyone here as to my origins.

I try to speak this language,

I say the correct words, it's that vocal style I have

that gets me into trouble on occasion.

Example:

Steve & Ginger

My girl Ginger helps me with the soap shows, she's a Texan

so I let her do most of the talking.

She's a great little salesperson,

friendly, outgoing and speaks the language correctly.

Today she was helping a lady pick out soaps,

explaining the different scent categories, botanical additions etc....

The lady had several soaps in her hands and Ginger said,

'I can put those up here for you while you choose more".

The lady was good with that but then said, "let me see those".

I said to Ginger, "she doesn't remember what she has".

I've seen it happen time and time again,

they smell so many, pick out some,

and then forget what they chose.

However I said it, my tone my accent,

my body language, I don't know,

pissed her off. She put down the soap,

mumbled something and walked off!

It's never my intent to hurt anyone with my words,

I really think before I put any words to print lest I offend someone.

I would never overtly intend to make anyone feel bad.

What it all boils down to is,

REGIONAL LANGUAGE AND INFLECTION MISHAPS....

If I have offended anyone with my style of speaking,

 I am truly sorry, and be assured it was not done in malice.

That being said,

how about we all lighten up just a bit and give each other a break!

I'm out here in 96 degrees plus heat trying to sell soap, why would I piss you off on purpose?

Oh well, nothing I can do now,

maybe some Duct Tape across my lips is in order?

We had a great show,

sold lots of soaps etc. so apparently I said a few things correctly!

Round two tomorrow,

where did I put that Duct Tape?

Till next time.

Bonjour

Soap, Ear Infection And Tornadoes

So....

Running out of soap.
The last two shows have been great,
but,
the soap supply is running short.
Odd.
We have been doing the soap scene for about seven years now
and the most popular scents have always been the floral.
Now?
Mostly the earthy, spicy scents with the fruity not far behind.
I was caught off guard, so now I'm scrambling to catch up.
What used to be a predominately female demographic (floral)
is now evolving into a unique mix of both the sexes.

Gotta love it.

Anyway....
I won't trouble you too much with my recurring ear infection..
BUT...
I've about had enough.
You would think,
one GP, one ENT and one emergency room visit (ruptured eardrum)
should have fixed this five or so year problem.
NOT...

I'm not kidding!
I have been told I have allergies.
I had about given up.
As a last resort I went to the local clinic and guess what?
I have a fungal infection.
Diagnosed by a PA!

The GP, the ENT and the emergency room blew me off.
I could have had a seizure, lost my hearing, even died....

This PA was appalled, O.M.G. she said.
Needless to say I'm pretty drugged up, and hopefully, on the road to recovery
without too much damage done to my hearing.

OK,

THE TORNADOES!
GEEZ...

Being that I couldn't sleep Monday night due to the storms
I took a vacation day on Tuesday.
I'm laying in the lounger on the deck reading, napping,
when I was awakened by the sound of dog nails clicking on the wooden deck around me.

Lady was circling me, trying to wake me up.
Seems there was a possible tornado about five miles away.
(We call Lady the weather dog because she knows when there's bad weather approaching).
 OK Lady, I'm awake now, what's up?
 I spent a few hours in the closet with her and Red.
The storms moved off to the east towards my mother-in- law's house in Canton, 
passing her but hitting Edam and Ben Wheeler.

Today Sunday, AM started out cloudy with signs of rain that never materialized.
I went out to pick wild blackberries and discovered several more berry patches on the property.
WooHoo, I do love free food.
Later the temps turned cold so we spent the day making soap, canning meat, berries,
 and also doing a little baking.
Also made some ham beans and cornbread.
YUM!

Believe it or not I had to get the winter quilt out of the blanket chest
cause it's cold in this house tonight!

Disclaimer
Any awry statements, typos or incorrect sentences will be blamed on the blog and not the drugs!!!

OK, there's the rain, darn. I have laundry on the line!
OH well....
Till next time.
Bonjour

P.S. For some reason the "blog" decided to bold almost everything, align things incorrectly and not

print most of my text! I swear, it's not the drugs!!! I give up. I'm going to bed!

The Ennis Bluebonnet Trails

Bluebonnets

COUNTDOWN...

My town is the Bluebonnet Capitol of Texas.

For the whole month of April everywhere you look you'll see bluebonnets.

On the side of the highway, in open fields, in my yard,
acres upon acres of bluebonnets.

Mixed in with the bluebonnets are indian paint brushes and
a host of other wildflowers

that I should know the names of but, sadly I don't.

You can go to the Ennis Visitor's Bureau and pick up a map
that lists over 40 miles of drivable trails
for viewing this bluebonnet phenomenon.  

I live on one of these trails.

There's even a sign at the top of the hill that says so!

On the weekends there's a steady stream of visitors
out viewing and taking pictures of the wildflowers.

When I first came to Texas, and this little town, I did the same,

 yep,

 had my picture taken sitting in a patch of wildflowers......

Sounds sweet, doesn't it?

Know what I got?

A bad case of chiggers!!!!

What the heck is a chigger, I had never heard of a chigger!

(Any of various small, six-legged larvae of mites of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on insects, humans, and other vertebrates. The chigger's bite produces a wheal that is usually accompanied by severe itching. Also called chigoe, harvest bug, harvest mite, jigger2, red bug.)

Gnawing, biting, itchy little critters is what they are!

I was miserable for weeks.

 (Well maybe not for weeks, I am a bit of a drama queen).

Don't even know what happened to that picture.

Anyway,

Every time I see a family, with their cute little girl, dressed in her Sunday best,

out taking her picture in the wildflowers, I think to myself,

YOU'RE GONNA BE SORRY!!!

So, keep my story in mind if you have a hankering 

to have your picture taken in a field of wild flowers!!!

So,

 this weekend is,
 "The Bluebonnet Arts & Craft Festival"

where tens of thousands of people (said so on the visitor bureau's website)

come to pick up maps of the trails and purchase bluebonnet related stuff.

I have bluebonnet related stuff....
I carry a bluebonnet soap.

I guess you know where I'll be spending the next two days.
(Booth # 9 if you want to come visit me).

We always do well at this show

and,

 there really are a lot of visitors

 and,

 since it's in my home town,

it's a no brainer!

Soap Display

Time to label some soap and pack the totes.
(Oh no, the rhyming thing again).

See you'all Monday!
Bonjour

99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall




Z CHOCOLATE MINT



SO.....

The song 99 bottles of beer on the wall

 has been floating in and out of my mind for the last few weeks.

Perhaps because the song seems to never end.

And, as I prepare for our upcoming shows, the work seems to never end.

We have five shows scheduled for the spring so I've been a busy bee.

Over the last few months I've made,

113 lip balms

26 body butters

31 bath oils

96 bath teas

300 bars of soap (I think, sometimes I get lost)

I'm probably good on most of the soap till June,

everything else I'll make as needed.

With spring soon to be here for real,

the ladies will be thinking about wearing their sandals,

 and then realize they have sandpaper feet.

Body butter to the rescue, I guarantee!!

I think I have things covered, at least for the moment!

And, as I've been busy as a bee and

thinking of endless bottles of beer, guess what?

WAIT FOR IT....

I landed another store account!!!

Yeppers, I sure did!

Shabby Sheek Boutique in Texarkana, Texas. (Google them)

This makes three total.

I'm so proud of me....

Slowly but slowly I shall make this venture work and

before I know it,

I'll change my name to Tyler Durden and

 have a whole army of people making soap for me!!!

You  know, the movie Fight Club.

(I choose to believe they were only making soap.)

And who pays $10.00 wholesale for a bar of soap anyway?

Lead me to them!!!

And what I wouldn't give to have that army

working in my herb beds. ( I really don't like pulling weeds!)

So here's to a successful spring!!!

Anyway. I've been offline so to speak, for far too long,

I'm off to see what you' all have been up to.

Till next time,

Bonjour

OH YEAH,

If you have a ruptured eardrum,

don't go to the emergency room,

find an urgent care facility!

$250.00 versus $100.00

Just thought you would want to know!!!

OOPS And Super Nate Spice

OOPSIE...

I posted my Christmas swap today only to realize I had forgotten to enclose all of the goodies!

Drat, so be expecting two packages Sue.

 In a previous post I mentioned baking a Foccacia bread for Roland's b-day. (Roland is my husband's employer) Well, one of Steve's co workers saw it and asked for one also. My pleasure!!!

The bread machine is super handy when you want bread with very little effort.

Just throw the ingredients in, push dough cycle and Viola, 90 minutes later you have kneaded dough.

Oil the pizza stone, sprinkle with herbs or spices, coat/roll dough in THE SUPER NATE SPICE, let rise 30 minutes and bake. Couldn't be easier!

The reason I bring this up is,

Sue wanted to know what THE SUPER NATE SPICE is.

I grow herbs mainly as additives to my soaps and such but we also eat them.

Rosemary, thyme, sage, all kinds of mints, oregano, Mexican oregano, parsley, basil, lavender, fennel, lemon balm, lemon verbena, I think that's all.

Let me just start with this...

We have Nathan, my grandson over every weekend.

When Nathan was about 6 years old (he's 12 now) I started to teach him about herbs. How to identify them and how to use them for cooking and healing. (Also taught him to make soap.)

Well, he has taken a great interest in the cooking part. (His favorites are gravy, bread and popcorn.)

He takes the gathering basket, goes out into the herb beds and gathers herbs.

Then he brings them back in, washes them, puts them into the drying baskets and labels them.

Now comes the fun part.

When they're dry he gets creative.

He has blends that he does. Earthy, lemony, spicy, minty, or a mixture of all.

(You never know what he might do.)

He gets down the mason jars, the mortar and pestle, the sea salt and starts blending.

(He also likes to make lemon pepper.)

VIOLA

SUPER NATE SPICE!!!

(The kid can make some awesome popcorn with his blends, (just watch out, sometimes he adds crushed red pepper seeds!!!)

So when I make bread I just choose what category I want and go with it.

He is just too cool!!!

Old school phrase, I know.

So to answer your question Sue, It's just a blend of herbs, Nathan Style!

Now, where is that snuggly quilt?
There's time for a few minutes of TV before beddy-bye!

Till next time...

Bonjour

Making Soap

WHAT IS THIS YOU ASK?

Well, today we are making soap & this is a pic of some of the soap oils all measured & ready to go into the soap pot. It takes 6 different oils & 2 different butters to create my soaps. (Very moisturizing.)

Here we are heating the oils & butters.

How do you like my little gadget that holds the thermometer? 

My Steve made it for me.

HEATING, HEATING, HEATING

So now we have everything measured, heated & ready to mix.

MIXING, MIXING, MIXING
That thingy on the right is my mixing speeder upper.
Now it's time to add the other goodies, essential oil, botanics ETC.

 

All right, into the mold you go.

You're labeled, wrapped & ready to go under the blankets for 24 hours.

AND YOU GUYS TOO!!!

(SLEEP TIGHT)

Tomorrow we will unwrap, unmold & cut you up into perfectly, perfect bars.
And then it's off to the soap drying rack for you where your other soap friends are waiting.

WAITING, WAITING, WAITING

3 weeks from now you'll be ready to help me clean up the world!!!

AND THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE SOAP!!! TA DA

Tomorrow is canning day!!!

BONJOUR