Four Special Soaps

This set of four soaps dressed up in cool, copper charms will be available on "cyber"  Monday in my Etsy shop. The charms were made by Frank Vinson. Check out his work at http://www.manywonders.us You can find my soaps and tattoo balms at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ravenssight

Re-purposed Knife

I ordered this knife recently and was very pleased with the weight and feel of it. It's nicely balanced and will be helpful for a multitude of tasks. I will be using it as I search for useful plants and for cutting herbs in my garden. The knives are crafted from old knives which are sharpened and set into new handles. Mine is a deer antler handle. You can find more of his work at http://www.manywonders.us

I love making Etsy Treasuries but haven't had much time to work on them lately. Recently, some of my soaps have been included in various treasuries created by others. This particular treasury featured some fabulous soaps!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTIwODU2OTh8MTIwMDU0MjYyMQ/cleansing-the-body-soul

Raven Cloud

We had our first snowfall here in NE Ohio. Just a couple inches of the wet, slushy stuff. The sky was incredible and I snapped this photo. Can you see the raven?

Wedding Favors

The Cuban Coffee soaps have been sent. I tried a different type of wrapping presentation-a bit more work but I really liked the results. 

Cuban Coffee Soap

The Cuban Coffee Soap is made! It'll cure for about a month and then be wrapped in a decorative paper "cigar" band, tied with a length of hemp and embellished with a tiny heart and key charm. This soap is a custom order for a wedding-must admit I was a bit nervous when making it! The photo is of an earlier Cuban Coffee batch of my shea butter soap.

The Process

Tattoo Balm poured and cooling. I plan to take some samples around to tattoo shops in the area. Hoping they may decide to offer it for sale in their places of business. Self-promotion is a tricky thing and something with which I struggle!

CUSTOM ORDER!

Woohoo! So excited-I've been in contact with a woman who has placed a custom order for 20 half-sized bars of my Cuban Coffee soap! She'll be using them as small gifts/favors for her wedding in September.

DRAGON'S blood

This one was fun to make and the copper penny mica added visual interest. 

RAIN....again!

Rainy week ahead! So glad that my daughter, Hannah, gave me an LLBean gift card last year which I used to purchase a rain jacket! It's a great value and is made very well. If you're looking for a nice light-weight rain jacket, check it out!

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/68168?feat=508030-GN2

Chickweed...YES...Chickweed!

I made a new batch of chickweed-infused olive oil yesterday. I harvested it 2 weeks ago and had a large brown bag half full. Once dried and reduced by 3/4, I placed it in my crockpot and covered with olive oil. The "warm" setting is perfect and 8 hours later, I had my infused olive oil all ready to strain through six layers of cheese cloth. I'll use this in my next batch of tattoo balm. Read all about the wonders of lowly chickweed. http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/chickweed.php

I'm Baaaack!

OK, alright...I'll try the whole blog thing again! Hope you'll find this somewhat entertaining and interesting. I'll be posting snippets about my soap-making and my newest creation...Tattoo Balm. I got a bit tired of the A&D ointment after-care routine and decided to do my own research with the end game of producing a superior tattoo after product. I use chickweed and calendula-infused olive oil, apricot kernel oil, flax seed oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, and an essential oil blend for not only a slight fragrance, but more for the special properties provided. The great thing is that this balm, while marketed toward the "inked" crowd, can be used for everything from dry skin to cracked heels, rough elbows, and YES, baby butts!! http://www.ravenssight.etsy.com