I drifted around on my floaty chair and wrote in my journal.
I put together a kit of art supplies for journalling and art-to-go.
I pondered, reflected, made lists and puttered. A perfect day.
Monday, July 26, 2010
A perfect birthday
Today was all mine. No big celebration, no expectations.
I drifted around on my floaty chair and wrote in my journal.
I put together a kit of art supplies for journalling and art-to-go.
I pondered, reflected, made lists and puttered. A perfect day.
I drifted around on my floaty chair and wrote in my journal.
I put together a kit of art supplies for journalling and art-to-go.
I pondered, reflected, made lists and puttered. A perfect day.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Make your own yummy lip balm!
This luscious lip balm is my own 'secret' recipe, the one I sell, but I never was great at keeping my own secrets!
One of the best things about making your own lip balm from scratch is choosing your own pure, natural ingredients. There is a lot of room to play with personal preferences and desires so use my ingredient list as a starting point for making your own unique blend. These quantities will make about 20 average size lip balms.
Ingredients: 35 gm beeswax, 15 gm cocoa butter, 15 gm shea butter, 35 gm liquid oils (such as jojoba, avocado, sweet almond, olive, etc.), 10 drops vit E oil. If you are sensitive or allergic to any ingredient, try substituting with another ingredient that has similar properties, keeping the same proportions of liquids and solids. Titanium Dioxide can also be added as a natural sunscreen but please do your own research on this natural mineral if you choose to use it.
Weigh out all your ingredients (except Vitamin E which is heat sensitive) and melt them together in a double boiler (or equivalent as shown). Stir in the Vitamin E after the other ingredients are melted.
Carefully pour the melted ingredients into the individual tubes. I place my tubes on waxed butcher wrap so I can easily peel off the spilled ingredients to remelt later. As your lip balms cool, they will form a dent on top. You can add more lip balm to top them off or leave as is. When cool, clean any spillage off the outsides of the tubes, cap, label (if desired) and enjoy! Friends and family love getting these as gifts.
My lip balm pots use the same basic ingredients and method but are formulated to be slightly softer and are poured into small pots instead of tubes. For six small pots use: 10 gm beeswax, 15 gm cocoa butter, 15 gm shea butter, 20 gm liquid oils, 10 drops Vit E oil.
I don't flavour my lip balms because of the possible negative effects of even the pure essential oils normally associated with lip balms. If you choose to add an essential oil to your lip balm, please research it carefully. Essential oils are very powerful and should not be used indiscriminately. I also choose not to use any synthetic products in my handmade lip balms or other body care products.
Suppliers:
Voyageur Soap and Candle (located in Surrey, BC, Canada)
Cranberry Lane (located in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada)
Majestic Mountain Sage (located in Nibley, Utah, USA)
Most soapmaking suppliers carry everything you'll need to make your own lip balms, including a wonderful assortment of containers in glass, plastic, and stainless steel.
Have fun!
One of the best things about making your own lip balm from scratch is choosing your own pure, natural ingredients. There is a lot of room to play with personal preferences and desires so use my ingredient list as a starting point for making your own unique blend. These quantities will make about 20 average size lip balms.
Ingredients: 35 gm beeswax, 15 gm cocoa butter, 15 gm shea butter, 35 gm liquid oils (such as jojoba, avocado, sweet almond, olive, etc.), 10 drops vit E oil. If you are sensitive or allergic to any ingredient, try substituting with another ingredient that has similar properties, keeping the same proportions of liquids and solids. Titanium Dioxide can also be added as a natural sunscreen but please do your own research on this natural mineral if you choose to use it.
Weigh out all your ingredients (except Vitamin E which is heat sensitive) and melt them together in a double boiler (or equivalent as shown). Stir in the Vitamin E after the other ingredients are melted.
Carefully pour the melted ingredients into the individual tubes. I place my tubes on waxed butcher wrap so I can easily peel off the spilled ingredients to remelt later. As your lip balms cool, they will form a dent on top. You can add more lip balm to top them off or leave as is. When cool, clean any spillage off the outsides of the tubes, cap, label (if desired) and enjoy! Friends and family love getting these as gifts.
My lip balm pots use the same basic ingredients and method but are formulated to be slightly softer and are poured into small pots instead of tubes. For six small pots use: 10 gm beeswax, 15 gm cocoa butter, 15 gm shea butter, 20 gm liquid oils, 10 drops Vit E oil.
I don't flavour my lip balms because of the possible negative effects of even the pure essential oils normally associated with lip balms. If you choose to add an essential oil to your lip balm, please research it carefully. Essential oils are very powerful and should not be used indiscriminately. I also choose not to use any synthetic products in my handmade lip balms or other body care products.
Suppliers:
Voyageur Soap and Candle (located in Surrey, BC, Canada)
Cranberry Lane (located in Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada)
Majestic Mountain Sage (located in Nibley, Utah, USA)
Most soapmaking suppliers carry everything you'll need to make your own lip balms, including a wonderful assortment of containers in glass, plastic, and stainless steel.
Have fun!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Treasure Hunting
I just returned from a short holiday at my sister's in Edmonton. The drive was long but beautiful scenery and wildlife driving through Jasper National Park.
Knowing how much I love finding used treasures, my sister planned out a whole week's agenda of second hand shopping for my visit - garage sales, antique malls, re-use centre, thrift stores and a flea market. She had found some great stuff for me before I got there and we found all kinds of wonderful things in our search, too.
Knowing how much I love finding used treasures, my sister planned out a whole week's agenda of second hand shopping for my visit - garage sales, antique malls, re-use centre, thrift stores and a flea market. She had found some great stuff for me before I got there and we found all kinds of wonderful things in our search, too.
Lots of baubles and beads for mosaics.
Old books, music, newspapers, and atlases for mixed media
A vintage RC Cola box for my art supplies
And an antique baker's loaf pan for a commercial oven for more art supplies!
My sis had also picked up a couple of golf clubs over the past two years for rentals on our golf course (under development). We had a very full car coming home!
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