Swap stuff LIST!!! Read ‘em and drool!
I posted a couple days ago about this great swap I was in, and I've been asked nicely by Javvy McHornpersonerson to post the complete list and rave about it. Since I planned to do this anyhoo, here ya go:
Wilma made us all chocolates!! Ain't she great? She sent yummy Rocky Road candy, delicious dark chocolates, and Jalapeno jelly-filled chocolate hearts. Tasty stuff, all around.
LJ from Hocus Pocus made us a great set–soap, mudpack, scrub and lip balm…all yummy and can't wait to use any of it!
Darcy made yummy yummy goatsmilk soap–wrapped very nicely in purple tissue and decorated with a brocade heart. I wish my stuff looked this good. (testing to see if everyone can get a look at the pics without being a group member)
Althea made a great goatsmilk soap too, Imperial Purple, scented with something she calls Licorice Lavender. It rocks and I'm hiding it from Honey because I want to see how well the combo holds up. I love it and MUST try it
Mare is a great new fan of mine–she loved the incense I sent for this swap. And I'm treasuring her molded guest soap too–a castle, scented with Butter Rum yumyumyum!
Diane made us Vanilla Milk Bath and I'm in love–since I can't use my bathtub, I load a muslin bag with bath melts, salts, and will do that with this nummy-smelling bath. Or I'll send it to Moo so he can smell like Vanilla but not a feminine Vanilla.
Cheryl at Three Dog Kitchen made Goodnight Stress bath mix–yummy scent and I plan to bag and soak that too.
Rebecca did two items, a very pretty soap and the Salt Scrub I got, with Cherry soap beads in it. Yummy and might have to hide this too (gee, I'm selfish, yes? Tough)
Sandy at Fat Fairy Soaps did a Savon de Luxe (Deluxe soap, I guess?) and the ingredients sound fattening, but I bet the soap's gorgeous and nourishing! Should be nice to my "mature" skin.
Bridgett sure outdid my silly butt–great assortment she sent! Lemongrass Sage soap, yummy lip balm and more bath salts for my new scrubby trick! YAYYYYY!!
Kerry did several types of soap. I got Lavender and Lemongrass, another combo I really liked. Since I just got in some rockin' Bulgarian Lavender from Tina I'm gonna try it for a face soap. I love lemongrass soap for my acne–I have worse skin than I did at 16, but the Lemongrass, Tea Tree (I also make this with Peppermint instead of Lemongrass) really keeps it under control.
Paige did a scrumptious lotion in Creamy Coconut type (think it's the infamous Bath and Body Works evil empire who actually put the scent out). Nice, light and the scent is delish!
Jen at Just a Little Witchy did a body wash and I'd sure love to know what she blended THAT scent out of–I know there's a little Patchouli and some sort of Melon scent in there, but whatever it is it ROCKS!
Joan from the other side of Michigan (I think; I know she's somewhere in the state) sent two soaps–one's Pineapple Cilantro and the other's a blend she did–both rock and I can't wait to try them out.
Debbie from Cabin in the Woods sent a Tomato face soap (she added some Lime essential oil to this and the scent is magnificent–tomato but not marinara type) and a lip balm–the Tomato's getting a workout VERY soon!
Steph from Nature's Cauldron (the link's her blog; I don't have anyone's web address but will find out if someone really wants one) did one of my favorite scents, Juniper Breeze, in soap. Yummy and hidden!
Marlene made Purple Haze soap–and it's gorgeous–bright purple swirl in white soap, packed in an organza bag with sequins. The packaging's girly but that scent isn't. It'd be great for guys or girls.
Leah made Damn Dog Soap–what a hoot!! It's a dog's, um, end product, encased in a translucent soap. Smells like Snickerdoodles tho and it's already in the bathroom by the sink, just so I can giggle about it.
SuziQ made us Granita Sunrise soap–yummy yummy stuff!
MareMare made two kinds of soap; I got Herbal Mist and I'm dying to know what scent she used–I love it and would like to make a few for me (OK, I'd give Jav one too if he whined).
Karlene made Jasmine soap and lip balm–delicious smelling soap but I need to find it a home–Honey reacts badly to Jasmine. I'm keeping the lip balm tho, he can kiss my fat ass on that one.
The nice smart lady at Southern Scentiments (forgive me, I can't remember your first name) did a great-smelling confetti soap, red and green soapy bits in white white soap. Gorgeous and I wish my stuff looked this good!
I have to say this LOUD: YOU ALL DID A FABU JOB AND I WISH I WAS HALF THIS GOOD.
I also have to say THANKS VERY VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOURSELVES WITH ME and everyone else in the swap.
Vanilla Beans
I have a friend running a co-op on vanilla beans-holler if I should get a few for you. Minimum order is 15 beans (1/8 lb). I want 1/4 lb for me plus will add yours on if you want.
Remaining goodies spoken for
Just a quickie note–the incense I made (similar to the ones here) is going BUH-bye, but I will be setting incense to soak tonight or tomorrow!
I'm making:
Love Spell type
Patchouli (from the EO)
Dragon's Blood (aka Midsummer Night's Dream, for the squeamish amongst you)
And will be testing:
Arizona Rain from here (Laura Lee truly rocks and carries containers very nicely priced on eBay)
Donna Karan Black Cashmere type
Cranberry Woodspice (by request)
And hopefully will get to make lotion tomorrow too!
Swap stuff is HERE!
I just got a great big boxful of goodies and I’m not telling (yet) exactly what’s in it.
I did a soap swap with Steph’s SoapFragranceCo-Op-Without-The-Drama Yahoo list, and I’m not sorry I did! Everyone’s stuff was fabulous and thanks for letting me contribute!
For those who aren’t addicted to making yummy-scented stuff, a swap is where folks get together (in this case 25 of us) and each makes one item for each other person in the swap (not themselves unless they want to keep one of what they swap). We all sent them to the infinitely patient and fabulous Steph, who sent one of each item sent in to each person in the swap. We each paid our shipping for the return package and we each wind up with 25 items, one of each person’s contribution.
Yep, I sure did get a lot of soap but it’s great stuff–MUCH better than my soaps!
NO, I can’t list the items yet–I will do that once everyone gets their boxes. I’m in SE Michigan so I got mine very early in the shipment part of the swap.
I do have three extra of what I sent–will sell for $5.00 each. Email me for details or watch for the “lookit all the goodies” post.
Do you really think they could stand us?
I was talking to Moe on IM about my future mom-in-law and the subject of nursing homes came up. The IM conversation was a hoot, and resembles other discussions I've had with folks over the years–basically the consensus is that all of us born after 1960 are really going to be a pain in the ass to deal with in a home. Personally I think my generation and the ones following will be very interesting to care for in long-term residential care settings.
I was a Nursing Assistant in a very nice nursing home for eight years–long enough to totally wreck my back and learn that I really should have gone back to school while I was able to walk across campus without aid of pain medication. I do have to say that the folks I find myself thinking about or talking about when the subject of what I used to do for people comes up were the ones that most of my colleagues would have said were "just plain awful" to work with.
Gee, I thought they were the most fun, like the lady who had a taxi come once a week to bring her some great hot beef sandwiches from a bar in Eau Claire. To me, it showed the doubters that changing one's address to a nursing home did not automatically spell death, not even of the spirit. I could tell stories all day of little teeny tiny escape artists. The funniest one was a lady who was put to bed with siderails up and wearing just a hospital gown…who showed up at the nurse's station fifteen minutes later, dressed for clubbing and asking me to call her a taxi. Sure, her lipstick would have sent Bozo running for the makeup remover and old ladies really shouldn't wear sparkly blue eyeshadow, but she managed to escape from full body restraint (tied under the bed where I wouldn't be able to get at it today), dress, do her hair (consisting of ratting it higher than this pic of me has mine), put her teeth in and toddle down to the desk, WITH A BROKEN DAMN HIP!
I looked at her medication record a couple days later–dang, the street value on her bedtime meds would have been about $200 a SHOT! If I took that much shit at night, I could walk on a busted hip too! But oh my Gods, she was so cute all I could do that night was laugh, grab the nearest wheelchair and tell her that the band didn't show up that night so the owner took the night off and the club was closed.
And, as usual, I digressed…
Moe and I were pretty mild in our plot to overthrow the nursing home our rotten kids would hypothetically commit us to. By the way Moe, I think I can probably take an old dorm fridge and install the parts that make it cold in one of those room oxygen collectors so we can hide the keg from that old nosy nurse we're sure to have.
Oh–and instead of Val Kilmer, can I hide someone younger and hotter?
Who?
Hold on, I'm trying to remember his name, you know who I mean, that dark-haired fella, the insanely hot one…ohhhh, crap, why can't I remember his name?
I do NOT have Alzheimer's–my bowel movements are juuuuust FINE!
~looking at those last couple paragraphs~ Oh, shit.
Fun things at work?
Yep, I'm semi-back, and part of being semi-back is catching up on all the raving you looneytunes have been doing while I've been hacking and coughing my way thru life. I did catch an interesting rant on La Chat Noir's blog about Arts and Crafts day at work, and it got me thinking.
Yes, that is indeed your cue to DUCK! My brain's still oxygen-starved and doing really funky shit.
Since SerrasSecretSurplus eBay store and Angelic Providence are both intensely Artsy-fartsy and Craft-y, what at-work-but-fun-break activity would I organize for (future) employees?
It's not like every moment of making soaps, lotions, incense, candles (on request), or the myriad of other back-to-basics, natural, good-fer-yer-skin (Mr. K, are you wishing for a grave so you can roll over in it due to the really awful abuse of the English language in this sentence?) isn't already a birthday party, now is it? What other job would someone have where they can go to the boss and say, "Here–smell this" and not get in trouble even if it's truly putrid? After all, putrid is in the eye of the beholder and you wouldn't believe the requests I've had for scents.
But, like all good things, it has to stop sometime, and work is work, no matter how often you get to really make a mess. So, it does stand to reason that a break from the frolic-ing would be necessary. The question is, though, what could possibly be fun enough to interest someone holding down a job as a soapmaker that would be better than mixing up liquid crap and wondering what happens when you add that.
Suggestions?
What was the license number of that damned TRUCK?
Yeah, the one that hit me and makes me feel like I have a collapsed (or at least a pissed-off) lung.
Yep, still sick, breathing really truly sucks and I will get back on track someday soon–am making Honey take me to the doc (they originally told me I have the flu, yeah right, for THIS fucking long?) again tomorrow.
Anyone waiting on me to ship something, I will do soon as possible.
Steph, if you read this, you'll have my swap Monday, it's on its way from MI to you in OH.
Hugs to all, from a safe, non-infectious distance,
Deb
AWOL
Just a quick notice–
I tink I have the flu–shipping will be delayed but will resume soon as I can breathe well enough to do it right the first time.
Thanks and will babble again soon.
Deb
