Flower Lip Balms

I've always loved those violet pastille candies, the kind you can only find in specialty stores like A Southern Season. I thought it would be fun to develop a lip balm that tastes like violets, and was so happy to find a supplier who makes high quality flower flavor oils for premium chocolates. My order arrived the other day, so I'm pleased to tell you that I've added Violet Lip Balm to my Etsy shop.

Natural Shampoo

Finally, my Natural Shampoo is in my Etsy shop! I have been working on this idea for a long time, researching the best ingredients and essential oil fragrances. This is a lovely, gentle shampoo with 3 fresh, clean herbal fragrance choices: Herb Garden, Earth Basil and Lavender Sweet Orange. I was so happy with the little "stars" that appeared in this photo of the shampoo.

I thought these were pretty funny, and thought I'd share. :)

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?

Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without
Problems.
What would you talk about?

There is no escaping karma.
In a previous life,
You never called,
You never wrote,
You never visited.
And whose fault was that?

Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkis.

Let your mind be as a floating cloud.
Let your stillness be as a wooded glen.
And sit up straight.
You'll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.

Be aware of your body.
Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

Two Yummy New Lip Balms

My new Virgin Coconut Lip Balm and Pina Colada Lip Balm are sooo yummy! They are loaded with Virgin Coconut Oil, which retains the rich coco-nutty smell and taste, plus lots of luxury cocoa butter, shea butter and mango butter. I've sweetened them naturally with Stevia, an herb that gives the lip balms a lovely touch of sweetness.

Senior Prom

Here's a photo of my baby girl, attending the Senior Prom tonight. I can hardly believe she's this grown up now, all of 18 and ready to go to college in the fall.

Marigold Mint Handmade Soap

I wanted to have a garden-ish look to photos of my newest soap, Marigold Mint. I found inspiration in the drugstore checkout line, a small package of marigold seeds. They are starring in some of the soap photos. I think this one turned out pretty good!

I recently ordered a small, folding lightbox so I can take photos indoors and on gloomy days. Or when I don't want a lot of distracting scenery in the background. I can't wait til it gets here so I can try it out.

I had to get up early this morning and have some labwork done. I found out a few days ago that my blood pressure is too high and I need to address that. So it's back to Weight Watchers and doing yoga regularly, and I've started taking a very low dose of blood pressure medication. I really hate to take it, but it's to the point where it would be irresponsible not to. I'm hoping with enough weight loss I can get off the medication. I'm not sure what to expect from it, but so far, at least, I don't feel much different.

The Pot That Calls...

the kettle black! Today I saw a post in a public forum about someone violating someone's copyright by buying their product and then making one that's exactly the same, then putting it up for sale. Certainly that's a rotten thing to do. But then again, there's only so many ways to dangle a bead from an earwire, so I wonder if such an arrangement of mass-produced jewelry supplies would even qualify for that kind of protection.

Getting back to the person making the complaint -- this person sells jewelry made from photos of contemporary political and cultural icons, photos which are clearly taken from online and print sources. The person's avatar is made from a classic painting which is now in public domain, it's true. But unless the person took a photo of this painting him or herself, it's likely that he or she has violated the copyright of the person who actually took a photo of this painting.

I've seen this kind of outrage about "copying" and "violation of copyright" every day online for close to 15 years now. Depressingly often it is the people who scream the loudest about their rights and threaten lawsuits who take others' work and think if they "change" it by some magical percentage, then it's OK. So taking a Newsweek photo of say, Barack Obama, laminating it and dangling a "Hope" doodad from it and selling it for close to $50 is OK. Never mind the rights of the person who owns copyright of the photo.

OK, so maybe this person got permission from the Newsweek (or whatever) photographer to use their hard work to make a few bucks to sell a bracelet. Somehow, I doubt it. I do love me a good dose of irony.

Two New Soaps

I've just added two new soaps to my Sea Sprite Soaps shop -- Polar Express and Blood Orange Patchouli! They are both divinely fragrant and make such rich, creamy lather. Check them out!

I'm in a Treasury

My Red Clover Tea soap is in a gorgeous treasury, Time for Tea! Go take a look at all the gorgeous tea soaps from the Etsy Soaper Stars Team!

I'm having one of those fallow periods where you just have to rest and re-charge your batteries. Haven't done a lot in terms of work, just reading and doing stuff with the kids. I'm enjoying the last of the spring break with them, as they return to school again in a few days. I can hardly believe my daughter will be going to college in August. Time is going by too fast.