Don't get me wrong, I think that consumers have a right to know exactly what is going on with the products they use on their skin. It's part of the reason why I make this stuff myself, so I know what goes into it and I know that it is not harmful or going to cause cancer. But this act wants us to pay thousands of dollars to "regulate" us and the paperwork alone, for each and every product, along with possibly expensive testing, is completely unreasonable to expect from a small, at-home business.
I don't think I've ever posted anything like this on here before (and I hope the video works!), but I just wanted to let any of you know that care to know and get the word out that this is NOT okay. Not without some sort of consideration for the small timers; We're not all multi-million corporations here worried only about our profit margins.
- Mood:
cynical
I want to do a line of soaps that are "Zodiac Soaps." A different blend, maybe Essential Oil, maybe Fragrance Oil, not sure yet, for each sign of the zodiac. I think it would be really fun and if done right would sell well too. Would make great gifts too.
If I wasn't already so behind on soap making, I'd be really excited about this.
- Mood:
artistic
Today Dayna threw her first real fit about clothes. She DEMANDED to wear these Dora the Explorer pajama pants all day. Of course I didn't care, but it was kinda funny anyway. Especially because they're pretty loose on her and by the end of the day they're falling off her and she's tripping over them. But she loves them.
She had a very busy long weekend so we just stayed home and relaxed today. We didn't even go outside because it was raining. Friday we went to a neighboring town for an "Art in the Park" craft show and did really well as far as sales go. Dayna was good for the most part and even took a short nap which still amazes me because we were outside and she just doesn't do that. She went to be about 6 pm and I woke her a few hours later for fireworks. They bored her pretty quickly and she was definately ready for bed when we got home. Then Saturday morning we had the farmer's market and again did really well. Dayna did not do so well though but it was a lot to expect from the poor girl.
Those are really the things that have been keeping me busy. Miss Dayna and Blissology. Dayna is so big and so smart. She's a little chatterbox and never slows down. Blissology is growing and we have a lot of cool new products. Massage oils that I made the blends for myself. Massage oil candles -- which are really awesome. They're candles that melt at about 102 degrees Fahrenheit and then you can pour it directly onto your skin. They smell wonderful and are really moisturizing too. If you want to see them, I'm always happy to pimp out my page: www.thescienceofbliss.com
Max wants me to say how wonderful he is too. Whenever he's home he picks on me.
Stupid Extreme Home Makeover always makes me cry.
www.thescienceofbliss.com
Huge thanks to Jim/
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
digital_touji because I know it would not be up without him. Thanks Jim!I know there's still some pictures that need to be redone (I'm getting better!) and I want to add some gift baskets, but there's a lot of cool stuff there now.
We're testing massage oil candles right now. The wax/oil melts at a low temperature so you just light the candle and then pour the oil for a massage. I think I might have mentioned this already, but the testers are really loving it so I think we're going to go for it.
We were supposed to be making more lotions, bath teas, and fizzing bath salts this weekend but it just didn't happen.
Next week we go to San Diego! Woot! It's gonna be so fun watching Dayna try to take it all in. Disneyland Adventures, Universal Studios, and the San Diego Zoo are all on the list of stuff to do. Plus the beach, of course. So ready for Spring Break!!! So sick of this snow...
Dayna says a whole lot of words now. And animal sounds.
Fish, Duck, appleju (apple juice), kiss, snacks, kick... those are the only new ones I can really think of off the top of my head, but really, she talks all day. Her and I communicate pretty well but other people don't usually know what we're talking about.
She says mooo, nay, cock-a-doo (missing the doodle-do), arf (or ruff, whatever a dog says), mow (meow), qack (quack). Yesterday we went and saw the baby cows, chickens and rooster, barn cats, and today she saw baby chickens and some ducks. She loves them all. The zoo is gonna be sooo much fun. She makes monkey noises and sticks her tongue out for giraffees (we watched a youtube video of one sticking his long tongue out, so she thinks they'll all do that.)
Dayna's been climbing on the furniture. She gets up on her little Dora couch then climbs up onto the regular furniture. She's only fallen twice the past couple days and only cried for about 30 seconds, so I guess it's not too bad. This does mean though that we had to lower her crib completely. I don't know how long it will be before she's climbing out of it. Not looking forward to that.
For the trip, and because we've wanted one for a long time, we got a video camera. The battery only lasts about an hour and a half, but I cannot wait to use it. Videos of Dayna to come soon!
- Mood:
accomplished
We're getting ready for a spring break trip to San Diego in THREE WEEKS. Anyone have any tips for traveling (flying out) with a spirited toddler?
Gill -- I don't know where else to contact you really, so hopefully you'll read this. I've got that lavender soap. I also have an all natural soap with no fragrance (but it does smell a little sweet. It has oatmeal and goat's milk to help with skin problems too. Let me know if you want any. I can set up a special listing there on my etsy site if you want. That way we can make sure shipping is correct.
- Mood: busy
Front Cover Picture!
(Sorry it's so huge, did not resize. Thus, the link)
Back in business: Soap maker starts over
By Arlene Shovald - Special to The Mail
Pam Smith thought she was all washed up after a serious car wreck, but happily, she is back in business, making soap with her daughter, Shannon Daniels.
"Soap making started as a hobby," Pam said. "I saw some homemade soap in a store about 10 years ago and thought I could do that.
"Part of me has always thought I should be self-reliant and I wanted to learn to make soap the way my grandmother did."
Her first batch was made the old fashioned way with tallow and lye, but after that she developed her own recipes and now makes her soap with nearly all natural ingredients.
At first she gave her soap away as gifts, but at the encouragement of friends, went into business, calling the product Mountain Homestead Soap.
"Shannon was in high school when I started," Pam said.
The soap business and everything else came to a crashing halt Nov. 23, 2003, when Pam was driving to Pueblo on U.S. 50 and was hit by a drunk driver.
"I broke both legs and my left arm and I was in a wheelchair for awhile," she said. "It was a long recovery and required a lot of therapy."
Smith was able to return to her job teaching computer science at Salida Middle School a year after the accident, but then, soap making still sounded like more work than fun.
"Before the accident I found joy in making soap," she said. "After the accident and recovery it became work."
It was Shannon who got her interested in making soap again. Shannon had been away at college, working on a degree in anthropology and studying natural healing.
After the birth of her daughter, Dayna, 14 months ago, she began reorganizing her mom's former business, Mountain Homestead Soap, and recently applied for a retail license as Blissology.
"We changed the name because, in addition to the soaps, we make lotions, bath salts and room scent diffusers," Shannon said.
When the baby is sleeping, Shannon joins her mom in the kitchen making soaps and other products.
"Our recipe was developed after a lot of experimentation," Pam said.
Ingredients include a lye and water mix, a combination of oils, cocoa butter, shea butter, fragrance oils, and goat's milk, with different products used depending upon the recipe.
The goat's milk is used in the unscented soaps for people with sensitive skin and/or allergies.
Soap making is a time consuming process. After mixing, the lye and water are cooled to room temperature and mixed with hard oils which have been melted.
Then the mix is again cooled. A blender mixes ingredients before pouring liquid into molds which make 42 bars.
After 24 hours the soap is removed from the mold and cured four weeks. Before wrapping it, Pam and Shannon trim edges of the bars and it's for distribution.
Many of the products have healing properties. Stress-Be-Gone, for example, is made with essential oils to uplift and relieve stress. Some other product names are Juniper Breeze, Angel of Shavano, Lavender, Mountain Showers, Very Vanilla and Honey Almond Oatmeal.
The tiny handmade pots for their room diffusers are made by Margo Perschbacher. A fragrance oil is placed in the bottom of the pot and wicks up specially made sticks to release a light scent into the air.
Locally, Earth Song is carrying the products. Their website at www.thescienceofbliss.com is currently under construction but their products can also be seen at http://blissology.etsy.com or http://www.myspace.com/thescienceofbliss.
Phone orders can be made by calling 539-5295.
"It feels good to be making soap again," Pam said. "I enjoy the process, I like experimenting with new ideas and it's fun to see other people get excited about something we've made."
Shannon agreed, adding, "I like being able to look at finished bars and know I made it and it will give pleasure to someone else."
======================================
There was another picture on the inside of the paper too, along with the story... but I haven't scanned the article in and they don't have it on the online version.
So what do you think?
- Mood:
excited
I took this quiz though and it's pretty much right on.
Your Results:
John Edwards
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Bill Richardson
Chris Dodd
Joe Biden
Mike Gravel
Dennis Kucinich
Rudy Giuliani
Tom Tancredo
John McCain
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
Fred Thompson
Ron Paulhttp://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-q
No, this isn't a real update. I promise to update only if people buy my SOAP!
That's right, I'm making soap with my mom. You can see it and buy it here: http://www.blissology.etsy.com
And I guess I'll tell you a little about how it all started. (I just had this all written out and somehow managed to go "back" and lost it all)
About 7? years ago my mom wanted to know how her grandmother made soap. She was a 3rd grade teacher at the time and they were doing a section on "pioneering." She did some research, made the tallow (out of animal fat -- yuck! our new soaps have no animal stuff in them), mixed the lye, and made soap! Then she researched some more and found out that soap-making was kinda a big emerging hobby at the time. So she bought some oils and some fragrances and made wonderful soap.
Then other people found out. And they bought it from her. And wanted more. And more. They loved the scents and the way their skin felt afterwards. Soaps you buy from the store are actually detergents. They remove the glycerin (so they can sell it to other companies for a profit) which is so good for your skin. Her soaps were creamy, lathered well, and smelled so good. And they did great things for their skin!
Then she started making other stuff too. Lotions, bath salts, facial creams, shaving "creams", lip balms... And people bought those up too! She loved making people happy with her products, and people loved having them.
But then a horrible thing happend. My mom and sisters were hit by a drunk driver. We are so lucky that she lived. But she could not walk, had only one usable hand, and certainly soap was the last thing on her mind or anyone else's. It took a long time before she could move normally again. Lots of pain, physical therapy, and of course, time. Lots of time. And even though she could finally do things she used to do BtA (Before the Accident), she still didn't want to think about the soap. That was a reminder of her past life, and a reminder of the accident.
People still wanted her soaps though. They begged her to make it again. Some offered to pay her hundreds of dollars to start again. But she just couldn't quite face it.
That's where I come in!
She had a room dedicated to her soaping supplies. It was piled high with junk and stuff. I knew if I could just organize it all... make it workable... she would be inspired to start her business again. So I did. And she did. WE did.
After we made our first batch, there was no going back. She wanted to change the name so that it was part of her NEW life, not her old one. So Mountain Homestead soaps became "Blissology". That's "the science of bliss." Soap making really is a science. And our soaps really are blissful.
Mom and I are partners now. 50-50. And we want to share our bliss with you.
- Mood:
pleased
I've made a blog for Dayna to post daily stuff, milestones, and of course pictures. And if you're my friend, then you're invited to view it.
http://daizydayz.blogspot.com/
Today:
Happy Birthday Clare! Hope you have a wonderful one.
Tomorrow:
Happy Birthday Wushie! I miss you.
and
Happy Birthday Jim! Hope you liked your CAKE. And PARTY!
- Mood:
exhausted
----------------
Well as of 4:24pm on Monday January 8th, 2007. Dayna Elizabeth Daniels was born.
Shannon is doing well, we didn't get to have a normal birth as she would not dialate so they decided to do a c-section on her. It lasted about an hour and it looked painful to say the least. I know I had to step out for fresh air due to the fact I felt abit faint watching things happen.
Dayna comes in at about 7 pounds and is very healthy dispite the fact she is abit early. She has deep blue eyes and dark blond hair at the moment and i'll be posting images and video once things calm down. Shannon is healing well from the c-section and other than that everyone is excited. So i'll keep you folks posted with pictures.
----------------
You can visit my journal to see the last post about how things got this way at my journal or you can just rejoice here. Shannon and baby are both doing well.
http://tenko21.livejournal.com
- Mood:Father
Swedish Cake
2 beaten eggs
2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz)
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup coconut
Mix all ingredients well. Bake in ungreased 9X12 pan at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Icing:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/2 stick margarine
2 tsp vanilla
about 2 cups powdered sugar mixed in slowly
Coconut and nuts sprinkled on top.
I'd prefer to NOT pay per song. I don't mind paying a small monthly fee for unlimited downloads. So... reply!
- Mood:
bouncy
The H2N2 strain (more commonly known as "Spanish Flu") isn't really something a lot of people know about let alone think about. But imagine for a moment if people in your family and your town were suddenly getting ill and dying. All around you. Everywhere in the world.
The thing is, this is still likely to happen today. In fact, despite our advances in medical care and drugs, there is still no cure for influenza. Today, population is higher and more dense. If a flu virus reached pandemic levels today, it will kill millions of people worldwide. That includes the U.S., Austrailia and the U.K. WorldWide.
Here is what is happening:
- Birds get sick just like people do. One illness that has been seen in birds for hundreds of years is a type of flu. Some types are more susceptable than others and of course some strains of flu are more deadly than others. But this is for the birds.
- People might get sick by coming into contact with birds that have a virus. Usually this is through contact of feces and so it is more common for people who actually work with poultry to get sick.
- Viruses are very unstable. They mutant and join together very frequently. When people start getting sick with diseases that usually affect only certain types of other animals, that shows a mutation. If it mutats again OR joins with another type of "human flu" strain, then it can be spread from human to human. This is where it gets worrisome.
- Humans have no, ZERO, immunity from viruses from other animals. So it's usually very fatal. And it also would spread very quickly once humans are passing it to each other. Disease spreads faster in highly populated areas and in "travel hubs" which have a lot of access to other places of the world.
- Millions of birds have been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the virus.
- Every 27 years there is a pandemic flu virus on Earth. The last was 1918 so we are well overdue.
- Once a virus like the current Avian flu (H5N1) which originated in Asia really starts rolling, it really cannot be stopped. Right now, we are just waiting. And watching. Britain has already started preparing for mass deaths. (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/envir
- There is no cure for flu. Vaccines are helpful, but we have a shortage of annual flu vaccines just for regular, common flu. The Center for Disease Control says that there is no way that there will be enough vaccine for the Avian flu. In order to make it available to the public, companies would have had to start a long time ago in order to produce enough. (Vaccines are being tested by scientists in Veitnam and probably China, but they will not be able to actually produce it until 2006 at the earliest depending on how their tests go.
The Titantic Sinks.
President Lincoln dies.
Leonardo da Vinci is born.
The first road atlas is released.
But most memorable:
Clare is born. And celebrates a birthday each year after!
XOXO
P.S. My "new" journal will probably be more insightful and sometimes have way more information than anyone could want to know (read: grossness).
- Mood:
apathetic
No, seriously. Why? In case no one told you, it's freakin' winter! Yeah, okay, I only like snow about once or twice a year, but rain? And not like sprinkles either, but we're talking torrential downpours not unlike Noah's flood. And it will not cease to amaze me that the grass is still green here.
I'm not much one for New Year's Resolutions, but there is one thing I'd like to be able to do this year. I want to start a very small, mostly indoor herb garden. Now, you may not know this, but I have a freakin' black thumb. I cannot keep anything that lives in a pot alive unless it is the mold in my toilet. I did have some bamboo for a few months once and it was doing great until 1) the heater started blasting it and 2) nacho ate it. Then it got all yellow, nasty and well, dead.
So the other day I bought the cutest little palm plant thing. Nacho doesn't seem too interested in eating it, so maybe I can actually get it to grow. And in a month or so I'll start growing a few herbs. I figure that it's a pretty cheap and fairly rewarding hobby, so I hope it goes well. And I hope Nacho does not get bored or hungry.
School started today. But of course my classes are all online, so it doesn't really feel like it. Looks like it will all be really easy as long as I don't forget to do stuff.
Cleaned most of the house yesterday, so I'll post a picture of my really ugly golden couch. Notice, if you will, the cute little plant up there on the bar of the kitchen.
- Mood:
relaxed
