Thursday, June 15, 2017

Busy day today!  I made two batches of foaming hand soap. We were just about out of both at the store.

Claire and Garrett helped me bake some cookies, but the oven thermostat is wacky and 2 of the batches overbaked.

Made 2 batches of wax melts

I have also been working on a series of Made in Michigan candles.  Hmmmmm, all three involve chocolate.  I am sensing a theme here.

Today's batch was Detroit and the Sanders Ice Cream Shoppe.

Monday was Mackinac Island and Traverse City

I still have 5 stockings to make and 1 stocking for an order.  

June 27, 2016

I have been super busy the last couple of weeks.  I may have mentioned that I am listening to a podcast, Etsy Conversations.  I have learned a lot about improving my Etsy shop.  I have spent the last couple of weeks re-doing my tags and titles.  I am learning a lot about SEO - search engine optimization.  My views have gone up quite a bit, but not much of an increase in sales.  However, the shop has doubled in income compared to this time last year.  I am finding it fascinating how descriptions and tags affect views.

I have also been revamping the labels on our products.  I am a "visual" person so packaging is high on my list of priorities.
Here are some of the labels I have done for our jar candles.

          The wax melts have a new look also:

                                              Soaps too!

The brick and mortar in town is also keeping us very busy.  Our dips and mixes are selling very well.  I laugh now when I think of how nervous I was about this move, but I am so glad we went on board.  The people I work with are fantastic and a lot of fun!!

I've also been working on grungy candles.  I love the Candy Cane scent even though I really should be working on the fall grungies.  

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

I mentioned a new blog I had found the other day -  http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/.  I have started reading from the beginning.  So many things this lady writes about hit home with me.  I have struggled all my life with disorganization and messiness - that horrible feeling when people drop by unannounced, the disapproving looks from people people you secretly admire for their efficiency.  All of it.  My earliest memories of clutter induced chaos are the weekly piano lessons I took as a child.  Every single week was a panicked last minute search for my piano books which I hadn't touched since my last lesson.  Today I still routinely have to search for my phone before leaving the house.  Organization is not my gift but it is a virtue I strive for.  So, in the spirit of Dana White, I am combining a couple of my blogs and putting it all out here.  She starts off her daily blog with a checklist of things she has accomplished.  Seeing that list must make her feel proud.  Cleanies don't get that - it's like "duh," but those of us that struggle often have self-esteem issues and those daily props can really make a difference.  So is my list for this morning:

Emptied dishwasher
Cleaned off washer and dryer (the dryer is a particular hot spot)
Put all of the things destined for my basement workroom into a tote to take down when I go to work.
Did 4 months of taxes for our business (sales tax is due in February)

Later, I hauled all of the stuff to the basement,
Made a batch of candles

Made a batch of wax melts  Actually, I made two - they were scented with cinnamon sticks. 

 However, when I went to pour the first batch I was not happy to see purple wax filling the clamshells.  Ugh
Packaged up the tarts and candles
Made stockings - yeah, in February - that's how far ahead we have to do it.  :)
Went back downstairs to do something and all of a sudden I started having awful spasms in my back.  The last time that happened was in Alaska, but I knew what had caused it.  I have no idea why my back went out.

Hobbled upstairs and decided since I couldn't attend my meeting, I would spend the evening finishing Claire's quilt.   I can't wait to give it to her. Finished the binding, washed the quilt (now the washer is leaking), and set up my quilting machine for tomorrow.

Put a chicken in the roaster to slow cook all night.  We raise huge chickens and this one didn't quite fit, but I put foil over the top and now I am heading off to bed.

Friday, January 22, 2016

I was a little better behaved yesterday regarding things I "want" to do and things I "have" to do.  The workout room is looking much better.  I still have a ways to go, but I am gaining ground.  I have made a dent in several rooms, but today I am focusing on the piano room and living room.  It's like losing weight - you don't see a difference for a while, but then all of a sudden - bam!

Yesterday I made a batch of Amish Friendship Bread Tarts.  If you look at the picture, you will see 3 little girls looking out the window.  These Amish young men were building a lean-to on our tool shed.  The girls were fascinated by both the men and their horse and buggy. I happened to snap this on the fly and it is my favorite picture ever.

I wasn't too sure about this scent at first, but I am finding that I love it more each time I work with it.   Of course, the most fun was making the label.  For some reason I find packaging my favorite part of the whole creative process.

I also made a batch of matching candles.

I had planned to make fudge yesterday but discovered I am out of butter.  I was quite surprised because I buy a LOT of butter.  The dairy farmers should have my picture in their milk houses.  

Soooo, since I couldn't make fudge, that freed up some time for quilting.  For the very first time ever I made an "Eleanor Burns" quality pinwheel - every point perfect! (When Claire and I watch Eleanor Burns, we eat a piece of chocolate every time she says "perfect.") I am a very slow piecer and for many years I forced myself to work faster.  I have a niece who can churn out beautiful quilts in record time.  I discovered that in quilting, as in life, one must be true to oneself.  I need to work slowly and methodically, concentrate on what is right in front of me under the needle.  I had to ask myself why I quilt.  I quilt because I love the process.  I got more satisfaction out of that one perfect block that took me almost an hour than if I had made 6 in the same amount of time and had to rip out stitches - which is what happens when I try to do things faster than my abilities allow.  If you think about it, there are many life lessons to be learned from quilting.  Patience, perseverance, focus, planning, organization.  These are all things that quilting helps me work toward. 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Today was one of those days where the wheels spin but you really don't get anywhere. Oh, I got things done, but I felt like I was swimming upstream. I finished the rug that Madison was "helping" me with.

I packaged some orders. Made some grubby tarts for another order.

Did some photos for the shop, listed some items.  Oh, and I ordered some 100% soy wax.  I haven't worked with it before because I've seen soy candles and have never liked the look of them.  But everyone seems to want them sooo, I ordered 10 pounds to see what all the fuss was about.  I made a batch of  Hazelnut for one of my orders.  The customer said she would be willing to test the soy to see how she likes it.  We raise soybeans so I thought I should at least give it a try.  We shall see.  Pictures tomorrow.

 Word of the day:
Wednesday of the Fourth week of Lent
Saint(s) of the day : St Euda, St Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello (1791-1858)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 5:17-30.

Jesus answered the Jews: «My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.»
For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also.
For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to his Son,
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.
And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.
I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.