PinkFink's Creations

I love funky cute jewelry, and these earrings I just received from PinkFink's Creations are exactly that! They are so light, I can barely tell I have them on. They are handmade with polymer clay and coated with a protective finish that gives them a nice polished look. The detail work is amazing! Perfect on-the-go earrings to match my particularly groovy outfit today. I'm in a gray, yellow and black argyle sweater and I'm feeling like a pretty hip chick. Too bad the only person that will see me today is the post office lady! :) She has lots of other fabulous creatures...some jewelry, some little sculptures, all adorable. So check out all the other one-of-a-kind pieces at PinkFink's etsy shop: http://pinkfink.etsy.com

Indie Love Blog

"A blog for Artisan Love"--check out the Indie Love Blog! http://myindielove.blogspot.com/ Headed by Nyblaque, a fabulously talented jewelry artist and Etsy seller herself, this blog features interviews of other Indie Artisans. Thought provoking questions, colorful photos of handmade items, and an eclectic collection of designers makes this a great place to stop in, shop around, and learn about other sellers. It was my priviledge and pleasure to be interviewed on Friday. Swing on by and spread the indie love!

Make your own All-Purpose Cleaner

Sometimes the simplest of ingredients work best to clean your home effectively yet in a healthy way. This is a great all-purpose cleaner to use on greasy stains, kitchen and bathroom counters, tables, etc.

1 tsp. washing soda
2 tsp. borax
1/2 tsp. natural liquid soap
2 cups hot water
10 drops essential oil
16 ounce spray bottle

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle. Add more washing soda to help whiten any stains. Spray as needed, wipe with sponge or cloth. I sometimes use lavender essential oil, or a blend of rosemary and peppermint, but you can choose your favs. Refreshing and clean!

I confessed!

To my great honor, I was invited to confess my secrets at http://bonhomiejewels.blogspot.com and I must admit, it was very therapeutic...rehabilitating even. ;) If you have a moment, hop on over there and take a look at my skeletons revealed. While you're there, you should definitely check out Bonhomie's jewelry. I have added several pieces to my favorites and my Wishpot List. Fantastic handcrafted silver and copper jewelry!

GaGa for Guacamole

I love Guacamole, and with our forecast calling for more snow, I was really in the mood for something fresh and green to invoke a little Spring. I whipped this up in no time and found it to hit the nail on the head for fresh and green. I omitted the tomatoes (because good luck finding good tomatoes this time of year), used a little less onion, and chopped up part of a jalapeno instead of the cayenne. Magnifico! While you're enjoying some guacamole and chips, check out my previous blog post here: http://tinyurl.com/dhr8wb for a bit of info on the benefits of Avocado for the skin. :)

Ingredients

3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

My Jones Soda for Valentine's Day

After seeing Anne-Marie's post on http://soap-queen.blogspot.com back in October about getting personalized My Jones soda bottles, I knew I wanted to get some. My husband and son especially like the Jones sodas so it seemed like a perfect, fun, personalized gift. I wanted to get them in time for my anniversary, but it takes 2-3 weeks after ordering to receive them and at that time it was already getting too close to our November wedding anniversary. So several weeks ago I decided Valentine's Day would be my perfect opportunity to pull out this gift idea. I sifted through our wedding photos, picked out one of my favs and placed my order. You can even put a little personalized note on the back of the label, so I put a little Happy Valentine's Day note on them. I got them the first week in February, so I had to hold in my excitement for way too long. Yesterday I finally got to show my husband! He was as amazed and impressed as I was and we're now enjoying our FuFu Berry with our wedding photo on the label. :)

TAG you're it!

Ashley of http://ladyfarrahbylocklear.blogspot.com just tagged me!!

Rules of tagging:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these Rules in your Blog.
3. Write 7 Random things about yourself.
4. Tag random people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each Person know they've been tagged.


Some random things about me:
1. I am terrible at wrapping presents. Really terrible. Despite #7.
2. I like using emoticons. I think it helps bring just a little bit of humanity to an otherwise cold and impersonal form of communication. :)
3. I like to read books and magazines that teach me something.
4. New scents make me positively giddy.
5. I love color and have a hard time choosing just one favorite.
6. I love coffee. And hot tea. I like to alternate my morning beverage between the two.
7. I can be methodical to a fault.


Look at who I tagged!

http://glasscircus.blogspot.com/
http://ruzciaetbousk.blogspot.com/
http://marielynnboutique.blogspot.com/
http://bead-sweets.blogspot.com/
http://awesomeavon.blogspot.com/

Glass Circus

I just happened to be browsing around on Artfire and saw an amazing fused glass dish on the front page. When I clicked on the dish, I fell into a whole world of fantastic fused glass work by Glass Circus. Love at first "site". I think this longer dish would be great as a soap dish, actually, because everything comes down to soap for me. ;) She also makes some adorable pendants, smaller dishes, plates, incense burners...you must go check it out. You can find Glass Circus on Etsy here: http://glasscircus.etsy.com and on Artfire here: http://glasscircus.artfire.com. Be prepared to fall in love, just in time for Valentine's Day.

New Caramel Latte Exfoliating Body Soap

Need a morning jolt? A blast of java? If you love sweet coffee drinks, this frothy Caramel Latte is for you! Even if you don't like coffee in your mug, you might be tempted by the decadent caramel and rich roasted coffee notes to wake up up in the morning. I added finely ground coffee beans throughout the soap for some gentle scrubby action. Especially good this time of year to help slough off dry, dead skin cells. Exfoliating your skin is actually an important process to help your skin stay moisturized. I love it on dry itchy winter skin. If your skin is coated with a heavy layer of dead skin cells, all that lovely moisturizer you slather on can't do its job. It won't be able to penetrate that layer of dead skin cells and you'll still feel dry and flaky even after multiple applications of lotion. Gentle exfoliation also helps prevent ingrown hairs and body acne, in addition to moisture retention. So, get scrubbing! Of course, don't scrub too vigorously because too much of a good thing really can be bad, and you don't want that.

Valentine Gift Basket Giveaway from Crouch Candles

I just found out about this great giveaway at http://crouchcandles.blogspot.com. A *custom* Valentine's Gift Basket filled with your favorite goodies! Visit the store at http://crouchcandles.net and choose six items to fill your custom made basket. Each comment left on her blog post with your favorite item and fragrance/flavor will give you one entry. With a long list of wonderful sounding scents, it's not hard to choose. Follow her blog and get another entry. Contest ends February 9, so hop to it! :)

Daily Ray of Hope

Another exceptionally lovely photo in my inbox thanks to the Sierra Club. Had to share. To sign up: http://tinyurl.com/58kkjx

Photo Credit: Jim Dollar Location: Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, 'What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?' -- Rachel Carson

Specials at Soap Rehab!

New month, new flavor of the month special! February Flavor of the Month -- 10% off all "Tiny Bubbles" Champagne scented products during the month of February. Celebrate Valentine's Day with the festive, bubbly scent of champagne. Prices as listed.

Also, free shipping all this week! Sunday February 1 - Sunday February 8--Free shipping on every order.

A big ~Thank You~ to all who entered to win my giveaway last week at http://bella1104.blogspot.com! :)