Another Cutie

I'm still working on Jamika's skin texture. I think she looks kind of like a young Rihanna here. :)

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.

Jacarandas in Bloom

One of the most glorious sights down here in spring is the blooming of Jacaranda trees. The bare branches are all covered with vivid purple flowers. It puts a smile on my face just to see them, just like when I see a Kingfisher bird sitting on a telephone wire. Sure signs of spring in South Florida.

My son, Geoffrey, is home from college for the summer now. It is so good to have him home again. I can't believe he will be going back as a sophomore in the fall. Vicky is going back as a junior in the fall. We are driving up to Tampa next week to bring her and all of her stuff home for a week, then she goes back up to attend some summer classes.

Tonight I made the most delicious pork tenderloin with lots of garlic, lemon and rosemary from my garden. I paired it with oven roasted potatoes, also with garlic and rosemary. Absolutely killer. I swear I am a much better cook since I started watching Food Network. I could always cook basic meals and a few specialties, but watching other people make gourmet food opens your mind to the possibilities.

I've also gained an appreciation for esoteric kitchen tools! I used to see little ramekins, offset spatulas, bundt cake pans and stuff like that and think that it looked cool, but couldn't bring myself to see how I could use it. Now I have all those and more. My next kitchen toy is going to be a springform pan.

Jamika

I'm working on a new Kid4 Poser character, tentatively named Jamika. Here's a peek at her portrait, and one of her in an adorable new Regency outfit. :)

Back to the Poser Universe

The last month or so I've been working hard to get back into making and selling my 3D Poser characters. I'm happy to say that my Josie for the new Kids4 is complete and now available at Daz3D. Here's a couple peeks at Josie! :)


OK, I can't resist one more of her as a little elf!


I've already begun working on a new kid character, using photos of a Caribbean woman with the most gorgeous golden-toned skin. Lots of interesting little freckles and bumps that make her stand out.

Soapmaking? Oh yeah. I really need to get back to making more soap. I'm running out of stock. So many creative ideas, so little time...

I can't believe the school year is almost over. Geoff will be checking out of his dorm on April 28th and beginning his summer classes within 10 days of that. Vicky gets out the week after that. She will be going back to Tampa for the first summer session.

Kids with Bright Futures have to take a total of 12 credits in summer to maintain the scholarship, so they want to get it finished within their first two years. Next summer they both want to go to Sweden for a fantastic summer program at Uppsala.

Still Alive...

Things got very busy. First one kid was home for spring break, then the other kid. It's been fun having them here and cooking their favorite meals, going to the movies and beach with them, etc. But now both kids are back at college and we are back to our normal routines. A little boring, but comforting nevertheless.

I'm back to trying to get my stock up again. I have a few new/revived soaps coming soon: Hawaiian Lei Flowers, Lilac, Coco Lime Verbena and Sea Fan, which is an awesome dupe of Lolita Lempicka. Tomorrow I'm going to try to make Gardenia and Havana Nights, maybe even some Sugared Walnut. I'd love to make more new ones, but then I run out of the old ones and have to make them first, so it's hard to add new stuff. I've really got to thin out my offerings, but if only a couple people like something, it's hard for me to take it out of rotation.

I'm making a lot of progress on my new Poser character. I wish I could show it off, but I can't because of an NDA. Even if I do say so myself, it's adorable.

Two New Handmade Soaps

I've been out of action online for a while, trying a couple of different things and returning to my Poser roots to start creating some more 3D characters.

In the meantime, I've been doing lots of soaping too. Brand new in my shop today, hints of Spring with two fresh floral fragrances: Pink Carnation and Lavender Ginger. I wasn't going to bring back the Pink Carnation after I sold out the last batch, but so many people emailed me about it that I decided to make more. These soaps are also in my Etsy shop here.

My Lilac and Lavender soap was featured today in the RI Handmade blog. Who can resist Lavender? It's nice to be in such good company too, some good looking stuff in this feature.