Update

Three weeks ago our dear, 10 year old Welsh Terrier, Taffy, died. It pretty much knocked the stuffing out of me. We've taken it very hard. I'm gradually getting back to work.

I took advantage of ArtFire's new promotion of a lifetime price of $5.95 per month, and opened Sea Sprite Soaps on ArtFire. I don't know why ArtFire doesn't get more traffic and sales, but they have some wonderful tools and get their listings right into Googlebase, so this is a relatively inexpensive gamble I'm taking to get my shop out there.

I'm still tweaking Ghislaine's skin textures after some constructive criticism. As usual, every little change takes way longer than I ever think it will.

Monday we went up to Tampa to help Vicky celebrate her 21st birthday. We went out to lunch and she had her first legal cocktail in a restaurant -- a Margarita! Her dad had one too, so I drove home and he snoozed all the way back to Naples. I can't believe my baby is 21. It doesn't seem possible, but it must be true. Next year it's Geoff's turn.

One of my favorite suppliers, Southern Soapers, is going out of business. Not only will I miss their wonderful fragrances and fabulous service, but it's going to cut a hole in my stock. They had stuff I couldn't get anywhere else so some things, like Havana Nights, Twilight Rose and (especially painful) Tassie Lavender will be no more.

Arroz con Pollo

Mmmm...my kitchen smells amazing. I made a big batch of homemade sofrito, a la Daisy Martinez, so I can make Arroz con Pollo tonight. The frozen Goya sofrito is OK but making my own was a real eye opener, you just can't beat homemade.

Both of my kids will be here for dinner tonight. We brought Vicky home Friday, and Geoff is joining us this evening. I love to cook knockout Mom Food for them. For dessert: Magic Bars! Yeah, the nutrition goes out the window on the rare occasions both of my babies are home at the same time.

New in my soap shop, Satsuma Handmade Soap! Smells fabulous. :)

I've been working all weekend on one pesky seam in Jamika's skin texture. I think I've got it now. Here's another peek at her.

Hyperbole and a Half

Hyperbole and a Half is excruciatingly funny!

My son Geoffrey is moving into his own apartment on June 1st. The dorms and meal plans are very, very expensive and the kids hate the food. This way the rent is actually cheaper and he can cook real, healthier food for himself. Almost 20 and grown up much too fast. Because he's taking his bed with him, his room will be largely empty and any illusion we've maintained that he still lives here will be gone.

He's been in that room since he was a newborn. I can't believe it. Of course he will still come home for dinner a couple times a week or maybe to do laundry, but it's a big change. I think it must be harder for parents, we have nothing exciting happening like the kids do when they get a first place of their own. Mostly I will just miss seeing him around and talking, the everyday conversations that parents enjoy so much.

This weekend Vicky is coming home for the holiday. She's bringing her boyfriend with her. He's such a nice kid, and we're thrilled that she feels like sharing him with us. She's still in Tampa at USF until the end of first summer session, then we get to have her home until fall.

Last weekend my kids went with a small tribe of their friends to a 3 day "Purple Mad Hatters Ball," a music festival in Live Oak, which is up toward the North Central part of Florida. They camped right along the Suwannee River, a gorgeous location loaded with old live oaks and dripping Spanish Moss. I made a little album here with some photos.

I'm still working on my new little character for the Kids 4. She makes a cute little Indian girl, I think. :)

First Water Lily of Spring

We have a big water lily pond in the back yard, it's where I stage most of my product photos. Yesterday the first water lily of the year appeared. It's such a beautiful pale, pale yellow with an intense yellow center. I couldn't resist taking a photo of it.

Haiti: How to Help

The devastation in Haiti from the earthquake yesterday is reported to be "unimaginable." It's possible that tens of thousands have died in this tragedy. What can you and I do to help? Money is going to be needed desperately to provide food, clothing and shelter for survivors. I've just donated to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti organization. Other options are here.

Back to School

Both of our kids have gone back to college. Sniff. After a whole month at home, eating together, watching movies, going out and generally having lots of time for talking, it's hard to have it over so quickly. It's going to take me a while to get back to a quieter and somewhat duller life without our kids at home.

It's been cold and rainy for a week now. Today it never got up over 39 degrees and it's still drizzling. The cats are in my DH's office, too cold for them to be outside. Even though they yowl and scratch and are dying to get outside and freeze to death. This is supposed to go on for another week or more. I really, really hate cold weather.

Today I played with Michael 4 in Poser, trying out some morphs of my own. Take a peek. It's hard to believe this is a pretend 3D character and not a real person!

Raggedy Ann Dolly

I got the cutest little doll pattern from OhSewDollin on Etsy, and just had to make it for my husband's granddaughter. I had so much fun picking out the matching fabrics for her dress, bloomers and legs. The pattern calls for button eyes, but since little Sofia is only 1 year old, I cut out black felt circles and stitched them on instead.

I'm so happy with how this turned out. Years ago when Vicky was an infant I made one for her with a yellow calico dress, and was secretly thrilled when I visited her dorm last time and saw her original dolly sitting on her bed.

Here's Sofia's doll :D

Avatar -- Wow!

Geoff and I went to see "Avatar" yesterday afternoon. I can't find enough superlatives or even the words to describe how magical and awesome it was. The 3D and live action parts are blended seamlessly. You really care about these beautiful people and their world. I am a sucker for stories about second chances and redemption, so it was my kind of movie. I was so caught up in it, I barely noticed time passing. When we came out of the theater, blinking in the sunlight, I felt disoriented, like I'd just left an amazing and beautiful place, back to a gray, boring world. If you get a chance, it's well worth going to see it.

The Big 2000

I'm closing in on 2,000 Etsy sales! Maybe this weekend the numbers will jump. :D

Both of my kids will be home for Thanksgiving beginning Tuesday night. I can't wait! This year I'm going to let Publix make the turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing and gravy. I'm going to make a pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting instead of the usual pumpkin pie. And of course, the side dishes everyone has to have: Sweet Potato Casserole with cranberries and marshmallows on top, plus the green bean casserole. My daughter jokes that the main reason she's coming home is for the sweet potato casserole. At least I think she's joking...

Finished Reading

I finished reading "Wolf Hall" last night and wow! That is some book. The usual comparisons of Cromwell to More are biased toward More being the kind, gentle cleric, but this book turns it all around. I really loved it. If you adore the Tudor era and the whole Anne Boleyn drama, you'd love this book. I just packed it up and mailed it to my aunt and cousin in England, who put dibs on it after I'd finished reading it!

Both of our kids were home from college this weekend and I was sooo happy to get to spend family time with them. I always overdo it on the gourmet-type cooking and everyone gets French Toast or something equally fussy every morning for breakfast. We watched movies together and just had a relaxing time. It's always so hard when they get in their cars and drive back to school.

Playing in Poser

This is why I spent several days re-downloading everything for Poser. I made a couple of fun renders with Sadie Fae today. I think she is too freaking cute!

My copy of "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel finally arrived the other day and I've been reading it at night. I'm restraining myself not to just gobble up the whole book in one sitting -- hard to do since it's 500+ pages anyway. But I want to savor this. It's beautifully written.

Reinstalling Programs

Argh, I realized this weekend that I still hadn't re-installed Poser on my new computer. This is a huge program with a lot of content, so it's not a trivial matter. Then I discovered that somehow I had lost the backup copy of my most recent upgrade and went through hundreds of backup DVD's to no avail. And the DVD with all my content from Daz3D was corrupted.

So I spent roughly 48 hours downloading stuff from my account at Daz, getting my stuff back. It's incredibly slow and tedious. And now I'm working with an older version of Poser, one that was fine for a long time but I got spoiled by the upgrade to Poser 7 and now I'm back to Poser 6. Sniff. I may have to spend moolah now to upgrade to Poser 8. Some day.

It was so much fun seeing the little tiny kids come around trick or treating. We must have had at least 200 kids come around in packs with moms and dads and even costumed dogs! I'd bought $40 worth of candy at WalMart and gave away everything except 2 Heath bars I hoarded for myself.

Happy Halloween!

Here's a little Happy Halloween image I made a while back with one of my 3D characters, Gothilina! Happy trick or treating!

Mermaid Dreams Treasury

No kidding, I've been trying to make a treasury for two years now and tonight I finally got my chance! Check out the beautiful, briney brushwork in Mermaid Dreams! There are some really amazing artists on Etsy.

Winter Festival Handmade Soap

This new soap smells sooo good, bright citrus and deep conifers in a lively, wintry blend! Check out Winter Festival, also in my Etsy shop here.

We drove up to Tampa to have lunch with Vicky the other day. It was so nice to get to spend some time with her, since she hasn't been home for a couple of weekends. She got a job at a whole foods grocery store and will start working there soon. She wants to make more moolah to attend more of the many, many concerts available in the Tampa Bay area.

This weekend Geoff and his girlfriend drove up to Tampa to spend the weekend with Vicky. It's so nice when your kids grow up and get along. I remember the first few years, trying to keep her from banging him on the head with her bottle. They are only 11 months apart and it's only in recent years that they seem to have fun together!

Cute Crocheted Bath Mitt

I think this is too freaking cute for words -- A crocheted duckie bath mitt! I got the pattern from one of my favorite sites, Annie's Attic. It doesn't have a thingie for the thumb, but there are little pouches on both sides for your fingers to get a grip.

Last week I made some cute little soaps in a seashell candy mold. I thought I might give them away with big orders over the holidays. Then I got the idea that they would be pretty on top of regular, full sized bars of soap. So I tried it out and these turned out so pretty! They are topped with a light dusting of white gold mica for some pretty sparkle.

Two days ago I had to go to the eye doctor for my annual exam. This visit he didn't have the lower dose eye dilating medicine that they usually use so they can look way into your eyes. I had to have this full strength stuff that messed up my vision and perception for most of the day. I had a terrible reaction to it, including grossly elevated blood pressure, nausea and rapid heart rate. I was really scared about the blood pressure especially. It's finally gone back down to normal, thankfully.

You never think about something routine like that having such scary and potentially life-threatening side effects. But the eye drops contain atropine, and among the side effects which are rarely reported are perceptual disturbances, nausea, dizziness, elevated blood pressure and racing pulse. Just my luck.

No Jury Duty For Me

Just because it's the end of the month, I was thinking I might not get called for jury duty. But last night when I called in to check, I was told to report at 8 am this morning. In Fort Myers, which is a good hour's drive from here. So I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30, got ready, and drove up there.

Just as I'd suspected, no one wants a psychologist on their jury. Not the defendant, and not the prosecutor either. Oh well. It might've actually been an interesting case, a jail corrections worker gouged out the eye of a mentally ill inmate.

Now here is a new low in dolls. I always thought American Girl dolls were adorable and promoted good wholesome ideals for little girls. Uh oh. Meet Gwen, America's Homeless Doll.

Winter Grapefruit and Tassie Lavender Soap

Back in stock after a summer hiatus, my Winter Grapefruit (below) and Tassie Lavender handmade soaps! As always, they are also available in my Etsy shop. I love the smell of Winter Grapefruit, it smells juniper-ish, like a drink!

I made some little seashell soaps from candy molds the other day, just an experiment to see if it would work. They are indeed adorable, and they popped right out of the molds. But they are so teensy tiny that they don't hold much soap. It would be a nightmare to make them in quantity. But I think these will make cute giveaways for holiday orders.

My kids are off doing their thing this weekend. Vicky went to Tallahassee to a football game (basically, to party) and Geoff is hanging out with his girlfriend at school. So no kids at home this weekend. Sniff.

Mango Tango Handmade Soap

Back in stock in my shop, Mango Tango handmade soap! This stuff smells amazing. Also available in my Etsy shop here.

Both kids were home for the weekend, and it was so much fun to have them here. Well, maybe not so much fun for Geoff, who is finally recovering from swine flu. Just what you want to happen to your kid during his first month away from home at college! He was pretty miserable for a week or so, and slowly feeling better.

Vicky celebrated her 20th birthday Saturday. She's not a teenager anymore. She was photographed at a SuperVillains concert in St. Petersburg last week by a professional photographer. This turned out kind of cute!

Why Preservatives are Necessary

Read this. I see products all over the internet, including on Etsy, actually bragging about "no preservatives." If you're going to make and sell B&B products that contain water, you must use a preservative. Especially if you're telling people it's OK to slather the stuff on children.

P.S. Vitamin E and other antioxidants are not preservatives.