Monthly Archives: October 2011

I have spread to three flats of oils and pigments now! Whoa! I honestly didn’t realize how much I had ordered until I started organizing. Lol. This close up is food and bulk refill FOs. In a flat to the right of it is a small flat that used to hold canning jars and now has a tiny army of EOs, natural supplemental items (like chamomile extract, etc) and all colors. To that flat’s right is another large flat which holds the nature, holiday, mens, and womens FOs. It’s still a little awkward to find the right bottle, but at least I have a starting point now and they’re more protected from accidental bumps. The flats are proving even more beneficial since they soak up any residue instead of it being on the shelf. Btw, I’ve been sniffing brown sugar FO. It smells like maple syrup (not quite expected, but still a lovely scent) and I think it’ll go well with a chocolate FO. Replicate that wave of deliciousness of opening the door to a doughnut case. Lol. That might be a really fun room spray. Betcha if the recliner happens to smell mouth watering on a day that I want to go out to eat, that there will be a spontaneous offer for us to go to Topeka for a bite. Mawahahaha ; )

Yesterday evening I finally felt well enough to organize and find homes for my new supplies. The shelf holding an army of pipettes coming out of the boxes is my oils and salts shelf. Um, I don’t have anymore room for oils after this last delivery! Lol. I will replace what goes empty, but I will not buy any new scents. Please remind me of this declaration when I make my next order. *grin* Jeepers!

My upper shelf holds glass jars, bulk containers like the oats that I grind, the scale, and my sewing machine. Below that is my delightfully fun shelf of ingredients. Below that are different soap, lotion, shampoo, spray, and massage/body oil bases along with a few prepped plastic jars. At the bottom is mostly a ton of empty containers that I have been working at collecting during sales, so that I never have to make a customer wait a few weeks until I have the appropriate container. My purple yarn basket has become a bottle and lids basket for easy access. I thought ahead and got a tiny trashcan to take to events for people to toss sample spatulas, wet wipes, and paper towels. (Cue pat on my shoulder for truly learning from the cancer walk event!) The plastic unit to the left is full of soap molds (going to be a little fuller in a few weeks since I have four more silicone molds I found on sale through a mail order catalog. I figure that the silicone molds are an investment, so if they’re on sale and I can swing it, they shall be mine *failing miserably at the dramatic imitation*). You would be surprised (unless you are familiar with my need for things to be orderly, like my spreadsheets *grin*) how much of a relief being organized and stocked up is. Later today I’ll pull down my lotion-dedicated pots (on that upper shelf too) and start making new lotions hopefully. So exciting!

Okay, my OCD has been satisfied and I gave more of a look at the meh aspects of making my stuff. *grin* I have an amusing (okay, amusing to me at least) pic to add, but otherwise it’s time to drift into a state of tramadol bliss. Lol.

I know it’s not as interesting as the previous two ingredients, but I’m excited to get these. They’re thinly sliced (I’ve read several notes made by crafters that it’s pretty awkward and difficult to cut, especially without industrial equipment, so I didn’t want to try) and I will embed them in soap. I read about the embedded soap being awesome for scrubbing heels and elbows. It’s definitely a more intensive exfoliation than what I typically prefer to make. I try to make everything safe for even delicate skin, but as long users don’t scrub hard, these should still be good for most skin types. I think they look kinda cute in little wheels too ; )

It’s even more difficult to get a decent picture of the vita beads. They’re so small and apparently incredibly full of static, since they are bouncing around on the lid and in the bottle. They are a lot smaller than I expected (especially such a small bottle for not a small cost! There goes that realization of not paying attention to sizes again. Lol). I have a feeling that they will expand and take on a soft look once in bath gel. Right now the beads are tiny, hard rocks though. Definitely one of the most interesting and unique ingredients on my shelving unit!

It’s hard to capture just how neat these look. They came double bagged and when I removed them from the outer bag, I was hit with that sharp and refreshing smell. I can’t believe how strong this little bag is, especially through plastic! The coolest thing is after I replaced the bag inside of the outer bag and put them away with my supplies, I slowly became aware of an odd sensation in my hand. With Fibro I tend to have odd sensations and am super sensitive, so it’s not a surprising event. However, this isn’t a common sensation for me. It dawned on me that I was mildly tingling from the little bit of menthol residue that came through the inner bag! Whoa!! Now I’m even more excited about making a lotion with the crystals.

The texture turned out kind of cool I think. Now the molded side looks too nice lol. My worst problem is that I can’t get black again! I tried correcting that second round, but these turned out even more of a navy, despite using the colors on the other side of the color wheel. I think they’ll melt again and become some cool car soaps *grin*