Love this

I was testing out this new fragrance I bought from Brambleberry, not to mention it was a good time to practice layering. I did not really think it was going to real well. But I love this. The storm that is busy brewing over that ocean matches the fragrance well. Ummmmm.

I call it Stormy Waters.

Who killed the doll?

My kids do some pretty crazy things sometimes, so when I saw this on my kitchen floor, I had to laugh, even though it was kind of funny and then again kind of not. What are the chances that I'd have a CSI crime scene on my tile.:)

As it turns out the red smudge is from a strawberry my little one squished into the tile and then just so happened to drop her dolly right next to it. Looks BBBBAAADDDD!

At 9:30 at night

There is a major sweet tooth in my household. Cookies are usually gone with in a day or two, especially if they are homemade...yummy. I am always looking for new recipes to try, so last night after a desperate search through the cupboards, I decided it was necessary...at 9:30 at night no less...to make brownies. It is not like they are hard to make, they just take a little time to mix and a lot of time to bake.

Of course, I can never just make a resipe, I always have to alter it in one way or another. I wanted raspberry brownies. OOOOOHHHHH......AAAAHHHHHH!

So I took a plain brownie recipe and mixed in aswirl of raspberry jam before I baked them....o.k. I'll say it again. OOOOOOHHHHHH.....AAAAHHHHH......mmmmmm. They smelled so fabulous, and oooey gooey goodness when they were cut into.

I'll be altering this recipe again, maybe I'll try orange marmalade, apple butter, or plain old strawberry next time.

Porn to brighten your day.

Inspiration is all around, everywhere that I look these days. I think that the summer wild flowers blooming has a lot to do with it. So I thought I would show some soap porn that makes me think of summer.

Poppy Party Soaps by Naturally Lela

Bailee Berry Exfoliating by Mountian Mama Chic

Sweetgrass Sun Soaps by Luxury Falls
What could be more summer than this!?!

Spell Bound by Sherri's Scents and Soys

Words for your Brain

Be careful what you think...

Your thoughts become your words,

Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,

Your habits become your character.

Character is everything.

Not sure where this comes from, saw it on a crafters sign at a farmers market years ago, it has stuck with me ever since.

Words worth thinking about.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

I am always up to try something new, especially when it comes to the old standby chocolate chip cookie recipe. I found this recipe on a fabulous foodie blog. So I whipped this one up last night and baked a few this morning. OOOOOhhhhhh mmyyyyy.....

I think I have eaten too many already!
You can find the recipe here for your own devouring session.

Orangalicious, Finally!

Love to get ready to make soap, whether it is a new batch or not it is always an experience. It is like a science experiment and you not quite sure what the end product will look like. So I was elated when this batch turned out the way it did.

Here are just a few of the ingredients plus, a few that I had lying around. "The Gathering" of ingredients, as I like to call them.

The colors I used are micas, copper on top(love this) and apricot blush(love this even more) on the bottom. I love my colors intense and they both embody the fragrance I put into the soap.

MMMMmmmmm....love how pretty the colors swirl ont he top of the mold. This is the first test of a new mold I made, trying to get the dimensions just right for the size and shape I was going for. The shape was right but the length was not quite there and it did not fit the whole batch of soap, so I improvised and used a plastic container that worked well. You can see it in the back kind of hiding.

I had read about soap growing and cracking, this was my first experince with it. Duh, I forgot to insulate the top well so it grew and cracked. Boo hoo :( The picture does not show how much it really did grow but I did manage to stop it.

Beautiful! I am delighted with how it turned out and the aroma is fabulous. i wish I could have smell -o-web or something so you could smell it through your screen! Orange rounded out with a little grapefruit, so energizing!