Spring Inventory Soap Sale!

Soap Inventory Sale! 

$5 Flat Rate Shipping (if you order at least 3 bars, 1 or 2 bars will ship for less than that, actual price) 

So these bars have been dragged around to multiple craft fairs and the labels aren't so pretty anymore. Also, I'd like to clear out some scents to make room for spring/summer inventory. 

Regular price $6 or 3/$15, all soap is on sale for $5 or 3/$12. Get em now! This is all I currently have, I will make some of the ones I am out of soon. To order, comment or shoot me an email or FB pm/IG DM, I will keep the numbers of each bar updated on FB, and will try my best to keep them updated here. Only soap is on sale, not lotion bars and balm although I do have some of those available.

I use only vegetable oils in all of my handmade cold processed soaps and most bars are vegan, unless otherwise noted (some contain goat's milk, honey, or silk). Unless otherwise noted my soaps contain olive oil, coconut oil, and hydrogenated soybean oil, sometimes with shea butter as well. (hydrogenated oils--bad for your heart, great for soap!)


Essential Oil Soaps

• Egyptian Lime Geranium with Silk and Rose Clay--1 regular bar plus 1 oversized flower shaped bar (non vegan)
• Lavender--Lavender Essential Oil with a purple swirl--1 bar available
• Gardener's Scrub--Lemongrass, lemon, orange, and peppermint essential oils with calendula, chamomile, and poppy seeds--5 bars available (If you want a gift set for a gardener in your life with some of my lotion or balm and/or a crocheted dish cloth, talk to me)
• Rosemary Mint--Rosemary and Mint Essential oils with a blue and green swirl--1 bar available
• Gift of the Magi--Frankincense Essential Oil, Myrrh Powder, and gold shimmer mica--2 bars available

Unscented Soaps

• Facial Soap--these are a little smaller than my standard bar and are unscented, full of skin loving oils such as olive and avocado. These were designed for regular to dry skin types--3 Bars available
• Oats n Honey--Unscented, uncolored soap with honey and ground oats for light exfoliation--0 regular bars available plus 3 smaller oval bars. Oval bars $3 each (non-vegan)

Fragrance Oil Soaps

• Red Sedona--Fresh and fruity with a bright orange and pink swirl (these are slightly thicker/larger bars than my normal rectangular shape)--1 bar available
• Cranberry Chutney--Fruity but not too sweet, with a red swirl, one of my favorites and newer addition to my line--1 bar available
• Black Raspberry Vanilla--sweet and fruity fragrance with warming vanilla, this bar has a purple-y/pink swirl and a few strawberry seeds throughout--1 Bar available
• Pumpkin Souffle--better than Pumpkin Spice! Warm notes of spice offset with pecan, walnut, caramel, and espresso--10 bars available

Lotions and Balm
 
Lotion bars are solid discs of lotion that you keep in a tin and can take out to rub on your hands, elbows, heels, or any other place that needs lotioning! Since they are solid there is no preservative needed (no water) and they won't spill and make a mess in your car, purse, or backpack. (not on sale, sorry!)

Lotion bars available in Lavender, or Unscented. I can also make in other fragrances if you would like to inquire. $6 each (no discount on these)

• Lavender Lotion Bars--1 bar available, feel free to order more because I can make a new batch up easily
• Unscented Lotion Bars--0 bars available, but feel free to order because I can make a new batch up.

Everything Balm
 
Everything Balm is a combination of Unrefined Shea Butter, Lavender Essential Oil, Tea Tree Oil, and Vitamin E Oil. Put it on anything itchy, I use it for rashes and bug bites! (not on sale, sorry!)

• 1 oz. Everything Balm--$4, 1 available (I can make more)
• 3 oz Everything Balm--$10, 3 available (I can make more)

All the Soaps!

Guess what? I made soap! It's been two years since I'd made any, and I'll confess, I'd thought about giving up that particular hobby a few times in the last two years. I'm glad I didn't though, in the last month and a half I've made about 16 batches and now I remember why I love soapmaking so much! I've had some ups and downs in the 12 years since I started making soap (lots of craft fairs, having my products in a gift shop, losing creative control), but I'm pretty happy where I am now, making the kinds of soap I want and finding people who want to buy (or swap!) my soap.

Calendula Lemongrass Eucalyptus

The first couple batches I made I posted to social media and a lot of people wanted to buy them, so I started taking reservations. (I don't want to take any money before the soap is ready to ship because there's always something that can go wrong! The soap could seize while I'm making it, it could mutate colors while it's curing, or a nephew could come along and poke his cute little fingers in 8 bars like a certain someone did when he was 5 (although, after making him work off the amount of money I could have sold those bars for, I don't think he'll be doing that again.)) After the first couple of batches were all reserved, I had to make some more of the same fragrances because more people wanted them!

Oats n Honey

I want to thank my amazing Craftster moderator friends who support me in so many ways and are my loyal customers as well!

Since I'm not much of a photographer (understatement!) my sweet friend Kim is taking pictures for me again to use on Etsy. I'll post a a few more here but probably replace them when I get the ones from her. I bevel all my soaps before labeling but these are all pre-bevel.

All of my soaps are made with vegetable oils only and most are vegan as well. All ingredients are always listed on the bar. The batches below that are not vegan are Oats n Honey, Egyptian Rose Geranium with Silk, and Fresh Tweed Goat's Milk.

All soaps are currently $6 or 3 for $15. My prices will go up a bit when I post to Etsy due to fees. If you see something you would like to order please drop me a line and I can send you a Paypal invoice.

Everything Balm is $4 for 1 oz or $9 for 3 oz. This is the product that finally healed my contact dermatitis after years of being on steroidal creams which were expensive, stained my clothing, and according to the warning label, "causes thinning of the skin." Unrefined shea butter, lavender essential oil, tea tree oil, and Vitamin E oil.

Essential Oil Soaps:

• Calendula Lemongrass Eucalyptus--with avocado oil and dried calendula petals
• Shea Lavender--a high percentage of shea butter, soothing lavender essential oil and a purple swirl
• Egyptian Rose Geranium--colored with pink clay and containing silk
• Gardener's Scrub--poppy seeds, orange peel powder, dried calendula and chamomile with a blend of citrus and mint essential oils
• Lime Ginger Peppercorn*--lime and black pepper essential oils with a bright green and dark black swirl (*this soap has a small amount of ginger fragrance oil as well as the essential oils) (sold out)
  
• Rosemary Mint--fragranced with peppermint and rosemary essential oils and swirled with blue and teal (currently sold out but will be making more soon)

Fragrance Oil Soaps:

• Black Raspberry Vanilla--a sweet and fruity fragrance with a pink swirl and strawberry seeds for light exfoliation
• Dragon's Blood--earthy and musky, this blend smells of amber, sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, and chocolate.
• Orange Dreamsicle--sweet and citrusy just like Orange Creamsicle ice cream bars, with an orange swirl
• Spring Rain Sea Salt--a fresh and floral fragrance with a blue swirl and lots of sea salt, which makes for a hard bar that can be slightly crumbly, but makes lovely soft lather and leaves your skin feeling extra soft and smooth (sold out)
  
• Fresh Tweed Goat's Milk soap--like a lightly spicy, fresh man's cologne with goat's milk for extra soft and moisturizing lather
•  Pineapple Sage--sweet and fruity with a hint of sage, this bar is swirled with teal and bright purple  (sold uut)
  
• Red Sedona--this is another sweet and fruity bar that is hard to describe, it's swirled with yellow, orange, and pink neon pigments
• Vanilla Coffee Bean Scrub--this bar is fragranced with almond vanilla cappuccino fragrance oil and is full of ground coffee beans for a gently exfoliating bar

Unfragranced Soaps:

•  Oats n Honey--no added fragrance, but there is a sweet warm smell from the natural honey and a nutty smell from the ground oats in this bar
• Facial Bar, Normal to Dry Skin--this round bar contains no fragrance or colorants and is full of skin loving oils--olive, rice bran, avocado, and shea butter. 

 Upcoming batches of soap

• Facial Bar, Oily or Acne prone--with bentonite clay and tea tree oil
• Orange Clove--essential oil bar
• Fresh Grass--just like fresh cut grass!
• Jamaican Bay Rum--my favorite fragrance on a guy
• Not soap, but I'll be making some of my lotion bars. What's a lotion bar? It's a solid bar of lotion that contains beeswax to stay in a solid state. It's great for keeping in your purse/backpack or in the car or anywhere else that regular lotion might spill. It's extra moisturizing so it's great to use on extra dry skin like heels and elbows. These won't contain any fragrance oil or essential oil but I'm using unrefined cocoa butter as part of my recipe, so there is a bit of a chocolate smell.

Lavender Shea

Lime Ginger Peppercorn
Happy accident with this swirl. What do you see?

Red Sedona in the mold

Orange Dreamsicle

Gardener's Scrub

Vanilla Coffee Bean Scrub

Spring Rain Sea Salt

Spring Rain Sea Salt in the mold

My main curing rack, there are about 4 drawers/shelves not showing
From top: Dragon's Blood, Rosemary Mint (sold out), Black Raspberry Vanilla, Lavender Shea (left),
Calendula Lemongrass Eucalyptus (right), Pineapple Sage, Red Sedona

These were my curing racks before I purchased the handy dandy ones above. They got pressed back into service when
those racks filled up! Left, from top: Fresh Tweed Goat's Milk, Spring Rain Sea Salt, Orange Dreamsicle.
Right, from top: Vanilla Coffee Bean Scrub, Gardener's Scrub, and a secret something on the very bottom.

Also made some of my Everything Balm, in two sizes.

Pillows with my Boys

Every Christmas I help my nephews make something for their mamas. This year I decided we'd do pillows. My younger nephews' mom and grandma both drive dump trucks, so when I got this awesome Busy City paper piecing pattern I knew that would be great! The boys picked out the colors and fabrics and I think they did a great job! The 6.5 year old picked out the pinks for his mom (she does love pink!) and the 9 year old picked some cute ones for his grandma.







For my oldest nephew's mom I decided on a simple heart pattern that I just quickly sketched out. Again, he picked out all the fabrics. After I pieced and quilted each pillow, the boys got to use the sewing machine! I did a simple flap style backing with some cute winter themed fabric, used my new-to-me embroidery machine to create a label right on the back, and let the boys stitch them up! I had fun playing with some of the decorative stitches on the new machine as well, very fun for quilting!



Before stitching into pillow top



Proud boy and happy mama!

PMQG Medallion Quilt Finish

I've posted a couple of times about our PMQG project last year. Part 1 and Part 2. Instead of a Block of the Month, we did a Medallion Along. Each month, the five of us officers designed and released a new border for the medallion. It was so fun seeing what fabrics everyone used, and with different options for each round plus everyone choosing different medallion centers, they all came out so unique and beautiful! Here is a link to our Flickr if you would like to see some more!

Here is the finished quilt, hanging at Modern Domestic! I worked my tail off to finish the quilting and binding in time to enter it for our show at Modern Domestic! I free motion quilted a in each round and then bound it in Violet Craft's Domino Dice. I'm so happy with how it turned out and can't wait to get it back! The quilts will be hanging at Modern Domestic through the end of February I believe.

And here it is when I finished the top at our January guild Sew Day...

I really love the back I made for it, but don't have a good picture of it yet. I used Anna Maria Horner's Hand Drawn Garden in Sketchbook and pieced in a bit of Momo Avant Garden along with strips of turquoise and purple solids.

A Boxcar Tote for ME!

A couple weeks ago I won a sewing class to local shop Modern Domestic. And the class was taught by a friend of mine, so that was extra fun! The class was for the Boxcar Tote by Alexia Abegg. I haven't made a ton of bags in the last couple years so I was super stoked! After spending way too long picking out fabric from my stash, I narrowed it down to about 8 fabrics. I only needed 6, so I did some creative swapping with the pattern pieces.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and will definitely make it again! I added a long strap, I like a shoulder strap and the pattern only calls for the small handles. The only thing I don't like is that I used the right kind of interfacing for most of the bag, but a slightly lighter interfacing on the large lining pieces, so the whole thing is just a touch saggier than I like. Lesson learned!









I added a magnetic snap to one of the outer pockets, and divided the other outer pocket into two. (all of the things I changed here were suggested by the teacher! I likes these changes and would do them next time as well)



Inside the bag I divided the inner pocket off-center so the smaller section would easily hold my phone. (again suggested by my friend/teacher)





For the fabrics I used Cotton + Steel, Kate and Birdie, RK Essex Linen in Steel, the alphabet print is Baby Jane, the scissors print is Half Moon Modern, and the main print is from the Handmade line by Macrina Busato. The blue binding is Squared Elements and I have no idea what the tiny aqua dot binding is. Maybe from Joann.

I used another print from the Handmade line a while back on a project for my friend Pam! It's such a cute line, I wish it had received more attention. (I also wish it had a more unique name than "Handmade," it's quite hard to search for and get relevant search returns!)

Catching Up + TNG

You know when you have so many things to catch up on you don't know where to start? Chronologically sounds like a reasonable place to start, but instead I'm just going with what I have pictures for.

Also maybe a brief recap of the last few months~guild quilt retreat, beach mini quilt retreat with friends, Holiday beach trip with the boyfriend's family, lots of baby-sitting the nephs, retiring from being President of the guild, taking on guild Workshop and Retreat Coordinator duties with a friend and successfully organizing our first workshop, and so many projects!

Project recap!~(aka, outline for blog posts to catch up on?) Made Christmas present pillows with the nephews, a Boxcar Tote Bag, charity quilt, Ocean quilt, in progress Fair Isle quilt, PMQG 2014 Medallion Quilt, and successful hand stitched binding!

Waaaay back in the summer I started a Star Trek TNG cross stitch for the boyfriend's August 1st birthday. Now, while I technically finished the cross stitch in time for his birthday, I didn't frame it or gift it until Christmas. I know. Total slacker. But he loved it, I enjoyed making it, and when I posted it to Craftster it was chosen as a Featured Project. Triple score!

And my favorite in progress shot:

And a couple more:

And what do I have planned for the upcoming year? Vacation-wise I've got another guild retreat next month and another in October, a family trip to Tucson, and a family trip to Maui for Thanksgiving! 

Project commitment-wise I have to finish the Ocean quilt for my aunt, a crochet hat for my cousin, I'm still part of the Faith Circle of do.Good stitches (2 blocks a month),  and I joined the Challenge Accepted Bee on IG for advanced paper piecing blocks (1 block a month), and I promised to run another round of the Mini Art Quilt Swap on Craftster. 

And organization-wise besides the 2 retreats we also have 3 more workshops in the works for this year, plus I need to get back to my sadly neglected moderator and blogging duties on Craftster.

Whew! Besides all of that I should probably also, you know, get a job.

Avant Garden On the Go Bag

At this summer's Quilt Knit Stitch show, I was introduced to Patterns by Annie, a very cool pattern company and the makers of Soft and Stable, which is a kind of foam/batting hybrid to give structure to bags. I ended up buying the Patterns, Soft and Stable, and Hardware for two different patterns. This is the smaller of the two I bought patterns for, the On the Go bag.

I love having a smaller purse when I travel (my everyday purse is huge) so my goal was to finish this before I went on vacation. Mission accomplished! I hadn't done much purse sewing in a while, but my good friend Kim is an amazing bag maker and teacher and she said she'd help, so I figured I could figure it out with her help!

I used some of my birthday fabric from one of my favorite designers--Avant Garden by Momo and the purple linen Mochi dot binding is also by Momo. After cutting out the main pieces of the bag, you sandwich the Soft and Stable between the front fabric and the back fabric and then quilt that, then you cut more pieces from that. Very cool way to get your quilted fabric in!

The front flap has a zippered pocket with slots inside, as well as a vinyl pocket.

Slots inside the front flap zipper

A slip pocket on the back

Another vinyl pocket when you lift the flap up

Inside of flap

Credit card slots inside main body of bag (inside zipper)

Overall this pattern was really well written and although some of the pieces were difficult to bind because of going through so many thicknesses of Soft and Stable + fabric, I am pretty pleased with my results!

I'm excited to work on the next pattern and kit I have from Patterns by Annie--Mini Organizer. I'm going to try to adjust it to add an additional zipper across the top of the bag, I like my bags securely closed!

Easy Enchiladas and Black Bean Salad

I love making these enchiladas, change up the meat or use veggies/tofu/beans as you like!

Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce

Makes 8 enchiladas

Canned Green Enchilada Sauce (medium heat), at least 20 ounces (large can or buy two smaller cans**)
1 Package large corn tortillas
1/2 package taco seasoning, or 1-2 Tablespoons
Finely shredded mozzarella cheese, 8 ounces
1 small can fire roasted green chiles
2 cups cooked chicken breast*, chopped or shredded (rotisserie chicken works great for this)

Mix taco seasoning, fire roasted green chiles, and 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the cooked chicken. On a griddle/pan heat each side of the tortillas for about 30 seconds, not enough to brown but so they become pliable. Spray a large casserole dish with Pam and then spread about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish. On a cutting board lat out a warmed tortilla, add about 3 Tablespoon cheese e and about 1/4 cup of the chicken/chile mixture. Roll up and place seam side down into pan. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Cover with foil and bake in a 350* oven for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes to fully melt cheese.

Serve with sour cream, chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, and chopped cilantro.

*If you don't have any cooked chicken on hand, poaching a couple chicken breasts in just enough simmering water to cover with a little salt, garlic powder, and onion garlic for about 10-15 minutes results in nice moist chicken.
**Extra enchilada sauce? Freeze it in a ziplock bag to use another time. Be sure to label it!

Ground Turkey Enchiladas with Red Sauce

Make as above, substituting 12-16 oz ground turkey for the chicken and using Medium Red Enchilada Sauce instead of the green.

Cook the ground turkey in a frying pan over medium heat with 1/2 package of taco seasoning. Drain if needed (depends on how lean your turkey is). Add in 1/3 of the can of red sauce and a can of fire roasted chiles. Continue as above.

I used to make this salad all the time and then I kinda forgot about it. Not sure why it has lapsed, but I'm glad I made it again today and will do so again soon!


Black Bean Salad

1 can black beans
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 small sweet onion, diced (or 4 green onions, chopped)
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 can fire roasted green chiles
1 avocado, diced
juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper (optional)
1/2 cup canned corn, drained (optional)

Mix together all ingredients through the fire roasted green chiles. In a small bowl, place the diced avocado and pour the lime juice over, mix well (but gently). Pour the avocado and lime juice into the dish with the rest of the salad. Gently mix and add seasonings to taste. Store in the fridge to chill for at least an hour before eating (if you can wait that long!)

WIP Wednesday: Scrap Boxes Charity Quilt

I'm linking up with the always fun Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

I got a little bit behind in my do.Good stitches quilting. I'm on time every month with sending blocks in, but for the quilts I'm assembling I had two to work on at once. My Scrap Box quilt has been sitting around, basted for well over a month and I finally got around to quilting it this week. This quilt idea came from Squares and Triangles.

I asked for different colored boxes, any color except black and brown. For the backing I was finally able to use some Kona Steel that Kristin of Sew Mama Sew had given out to my guild when she stopped selling fabric. The strip that is showing on the back is a Brandon Mably print, and farther down I have a little bit of solid pink pieced into the flower print.

 I took to Instagram and FB yesterday to ask what I should use for binding. Lots of ideas but I think I have it narrowed down to either a solid aqua/turquoise or a solid pink. There were way more votes for the solid turquoise, but I like the idea of the pink since this is going to a girl and I have so much pink on the back.

And the other do.Good stitches top I had  I passed on to my friend Rachel to quilt. She's an amazing long armer and quilted my very first do.Good stitches quilt!

Quilty Flashback Friday: Pinwheels and Prairie Points

I'm linking up with Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy for Quilty Flashback Friday! What a fun idea!

I made my first quilt 5 years ago this month. I'd been toying with the idea of making a quilt and my friend Kim was encouraging me to. When I found out one of my mom's co-workers was having a baby, and another co-worker gave me a charm set of Moda Oh-Cherry-Oh fabric by Me and My Sisters Designs, well that sealed the deal and I jumped in!

Kim found a Moda Bake Shop pattern for me and I went to it. I'd been sewing apparel and other projects since junior high, so the hardest part about quilting was that a 1/4 inch seam seemed so incredibly small!

 

It's kind of amazing how much I learned from the mistakes in this quilt. You can see that I reversed a few of the pinwheels, so you can bet I am very careful when I make them now. I did pretty well on the prairie points but haven't made them since then. And the quilting? Oh the quilting! I went to Montavilla Sewing Center and asked for a quilting foot. They sold me a walking foot. I assumed it was a free motion foot and attempted to do some meandering. Hilarity ensued. I didn't realize until much later that I had the wrong foot. Ha!

This is what a first time quilter trying to free motion with a walking foot looks like!

I'm still not sure that I've recovered from that mistake and rarely free motion now, but I do have the proper foot for it!

I made a fairly wide binding and chose to not make it continuous or mitered. I think that was a good choice, it's ok to do some things the easy way when you're learning! Overloading on trying to do everything "right" is a good way to burn out.

So, here I am a few years later. I'm not a master quilter, but I've improved so much, and I'm even President of the largest Modern Quilt Guild. Not bad for someone who free motioned a quilt with a walking foot five years ago!

My Medallion in Progress, Part 2

Here's an update on my Portland Modern Quilt Guild Medallion. This year our guild decided to do a Medallion Along, introducing a new round to the medallion each month, rather than a Block of the Month like we did last year. I wrote about the center and the first four rounds here.

This is what my medallion looked like at the end of Round 4/May:

June we did a simple border for some breathing space. I got slightly behind that month so don't have a pic of it on its own, but I used a fun orchid colored Kona cotton with some lime/turquoise MM Ta Dots for the conerstones.

For most of my background fabric I'm using Laura Gunn's Painter's Canvas in Platinum. I love her fabrics so much!  July's round consisted of 48 4.5 inch Square in a Square blocks. I actually made this round twice, since I was also working on the to-be-raffled guild medallion made out of Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics fabric! I'm really happy with this quilt, the colors are bright and happy, tempered with my favorite neutral--gray!

I'm typically a month ahead as we officers are making the quilt before we introduce it to our guild each month. I'll be adding August on soon! We only have August and September to go and then are giving people a few months to finish it up. Ultimately we want to have a really fun mini quilt show with these at our December meeting and then some of them will hang at Modern Domestic in the new year!

Yellow Brings it all Together

I love when Stitched in Color does Mosaic Contests. It's really fun to play around with virtual swatches and make a palette online.  Of course, picking out fabrics is one of  my favorite stages of making a quilt anyways, so it just seems like pure play! This is what I came up with after looking around on Fabric Spot with today's theme: Yellow! 

I love yellow and there were so many options, I chose a few prints with only yellow and white, a few that brought in aqua, pink, red, and periwinkle, and then rounded it out with a couple neutrals, a solid aqua, and as always with me, a dose of gray!

I'm really excited to buy some of the new Momo Collection, Avant Garden, and chose two of them for this pallette!