Subtle hints. . .

Send in your ugly soap for the greater good!

I just saw this posted on a message board that I frequent, and when I watched the video it brought tears to my eyes. Thinking about all the people who go without basic necessities.

Here is the link to the video and story:
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/seminole_news/072409_Hope_in_a_bar_of_soap

Here is a link to the org: http://www.cleantheworld.org/

Please take a minute and watch the video.

They take gently used soaps from hotels and rebatch them, then send them to Haiti.

I am going to send them all my soap scraps and ends, ugly batches, misshaped bars, test batches and batches with fading scents from now on. Just imagine that something you would normally throw out can help fight disease and possibly even save a life!

According to the original poster they will take MP, CP, HP and Liquid soaps.

Oh and it gets even better! They don't rebatch the soap themselves, they partnered with a Men's mission in Orlando providing jobs to the Homeless!

So please send any soaps to:

Clean the World
c/o Threads of Compassion
4625 Old Winter Garden Road B7
Orlando, FL 32811

I'm also going to contact local hotels and see if they will donate as well.

My First Soap Loaf, inspired by the Soap Queen.

So I was really inspired by Ann Marie's (The Soap Queen) videos, the ones I'm talking about are here (Swirling) and here (Packaging) . . .and well you know me, I love making things.

I decided to make a loaf, I think it turned out great! I am so loving Melt&Pour soaps right now!

I didn't have a loaf mold, but I picked up an Ice Cube Bin from Wal-Mart for under 2.00! And it worked perfectly, had just enough give for the soap to pop right out.
It's a bit long, but still works (took about 50oz of soap to get the loaf the right height)
Anyway here is a picture of the Ice Bin, well the side of it anyway. . .


I made the loaf with a mix of Clear and Goats Milk bases, the scent is Rose Jasmine. And I used a combo of Shimmery Blue, Shimmery Pink and Flat Purple colorings (and yes Shimmery is a technical term)

So here is the whole loaf, fresh out of the "mold"


And here is a already wrapped bar. Now I just need to print up some labels.


And finally because I can never to anything perfectly, I cut a bar and well messed it up. So I kept cutting and made 1oz size chunks, I'm calling it Soap-To-Go :)

Knifty Knitter -- so easy!!

So I have been making crafts at work lately -- sorry I didn't get any pics before giving them away! Well last Thursday (actually Friday at 1am) I went to lunch (Which means I walked around Wal-Mart) I was so saddened to see that all the fabric was gone!! Yup my local wal-mart quit selling fabric -- worst part I MISSED THE SELL!

Then I thought "Well maybe I will do something with yarn." So I was walking around what was left of the crafts I found "Knifty Knitter" looms, and they are awesome! So easy to use. I got the rectangle purple one, it came with the hook and a book. And I got some pretty yarn that was on sale too!

Here is the loom :




And here is my progress after about 15 minutes







Did I mention that I don't know the first thing about knitting. . .but this is soo simple! I really recommend it to anyone and everyone that would love to knit but doesn't know how!

Click here for the basic instructions on how to use the purple loom

Anyway, I'll post more when I'm done!

Stress and the Every Day Job

So I must be getting stressed, I mean I knew that I was but not to the point that I really am. We recently "restructured", meaning that I am taking quite a few clients without access to their systems or being trained on them. It sucks, and I know it will for a while. . . I have accepted it. . .or at least I thought I did. I mean we all (NightHawk) are going through it right now, being merged into one group from our comfortable three. I would much prefer two groups, it makes more sense to me and quite a few others. . .but it isn't our decision to make.

Well anyway the other day I was on one of these calls and I just broke down, I don't know why but I just started crying uncontrollably! *HOW EMBARRASSING* I couldn't stop and it was so strange, I have never been like that before. . . and it wasn't even a really bad call. It is just so frustrating doing things and not knowing what the hell I am doing. And I know that the end user can tell that I am bluffing, simply because I don't know enough to bluff my way through it. Argh, it is just so frustrating!

So another sign that I'm super stressed. . . I started crafting at work. Yup any down time that I get I'm doing something to distract myself. I'll have to take some pics of the things that I have made so far. . . not like they are the greatest quality or anything but it is fun and calming, especially when you don't worry about things like measuring or ironing. . .lol

Anyway it was nice to vent and hopefully things can only get better! Thanks for listening internet and anyone else that stumbles by. :P

P.S. I also noticed that I forget what I am doing while I am doing it. . .a lot and I'm not the only one. . . I think our brains are fried.

No Sew Tote

So I just finished making a pretty sweet tote bag, and it was super simple! Here are the instructions, I followed them exactly. Click Here

All you need is some fabric, scissors, duct tape, and a stapler! It looks surprisingly tough too.

Now the fabric isn't the cutest, but hey what do you expect from the remnant bin in Wal-Mart at 1am. Upside I got enough to make two of them for about 1.80. Factor in the Duct tape (which I didn't have on hand at work) for about 2.00 and that is 3.80 for two unique totes! How awesome is that!

lolcats and loldogs

They make me giggle.
I check out these blogs everyday!
Cats: http://icanhascheezburger.com/
Dogs: http://ihasahotdog.com/

Here are a few of my favorites!

So it's been 2 months. . .

Wow time has flown by, I guess that I haven't really been in the mood to blog lately. Things have been so depressing.

An update on my mom: She didn't get the pacemaker (huge relief) but she did have to wear another heart monitor for 30 days, she finds out the results of that this Thursday. This will tell if she needs a pace maker or not. I am so hoping that it was her meds that made her heart rate slow, I really hope that she doesn't need a pace maker. That is just too scary to imagine.

Update on my Brother: He is doing well from what I can tell. I don't really hear from him much. . . but that is to be expected. Mom gets a call from him every now and then, which she immediately calls me to let me know. . .lol and I wouldn't have it any other way.

And about 2 weeks ago everything in my house decided to break :(
First the heating element went out on my dryer, so we had to buy a new one. . .thank goodness we got the new truck (yeah did I mention about a month ago our truck quit working! Super long story about jumping time and for another time)
So we got the new dryer home and installed, and the heating element went out on my stove, the brand new stove that came with the brand new house (well going on 3 years old)
I was so pissed. . .why does everything happen at the same time? Anyway the range will work, and the broiler works, it looks like the bottom coil thingy is all that is wrong with it. So I have to find a place were I can get a replacement (Lowes apparently doesn't sell it)

And that is pretty much it. . .

Today is a better day

I heard from my brother today, which makes me feel so much better. He said that he is doing fine, and it that "You can't get a country boy down"

I still worry, but I always will.

Mom got her surgery scheduled, it will be this Friday at 6am. She has to go in at 4:30 for blood work and other tests, as to be expected she is scared about it. We both are. But I just keep telling myself that she will be fine, and that this will make her healthy again.

Please keep my family in your thoughts

On the 6th I received an email from my brother, he is only 21 and a Marine serving in Afghanistan. He almost died twice since the beginning of the year. Right after midnight on the first he was in a convoy and a truck a few trucks ahead of him blew up, luckily everyone made it out ok. . . but then on the 6th something happened and he almost got "blown up by a mortar a couple of times". He lost a close friend that day and had to carry him off the battle field. It is killing me because I haven't heard from him since the that email. . . I am really worried but I can't tell our mother, because I know how much it will upset her and her health isn't the best these days.

Mom (who is only 43) is scheduled for open heart surgery on the 23rd of this month. Her heart beat has been so slow, that the doctors think there is a blockage and they are going to give her a pace-maker. She wore a heart monitor for a week and her heart beat ranged from 32-48. . .the average heart rate is 60-80.

I just feel awful keeping this from her, but she doesn't need to know. . . she needs to stay in the bubble of thinking that he is over there doing nothing. . .just stationed in a quite area. That is what we all were hoping. . . but now I know.

I'm so sorry to go like this, but I am just so worried about them both.

House is turned upside down

We are moving everything in the house around, so no soaping for me for a while. . . although when we are done I will finally have my craft room the way that I want it. I have gotten over the whole "no holes in the new walls" thing, and I plan on having a whole wall of shelves. I will post pics if we ever get it done. . . we are kinda slow on things like that :D