New products

I have been stuck a bit.  Sick of making the same item over and over, I have decided to branch out a bit.  The encouragement and great advice came from my wonderful congo-mates at Lilypad Landing.  I love being a part of a congo, I’m so glad I gave it another try after selling my last business.  With their encouragement and a little late night inspiration I came up with this-

It started as a standard plastic grocery sack.  I cut the common plastic sack apart in an attempt to create bags that would be more affordable for the average shopper.  But once I had the bag cut apart I couldn’t imagine using any of my lovely fabric for such a boring, straightforward bag.  It needed something more, a bit of style and flair.  I slept on the idea and like every night I woke up at 3am, this time with  my mind gnawing on the idea.  Like my standard market bags I kept trying to find a way to make the bottom a solid color but the idea just didn’t work.  The early morning inspiration to make the top a solid may seem obvious but it is still 180 degrees from the idea I was trying to create.  After a template and a mock up I found what I was looking for.  So there it is, a simple but stylish market bag.  It fits a ton of food, up to 2 gallons of milk, in an easily obtainable style that makes shopping (and reusing) easier than ever.

Haiti Relief

Okay, I admit it.  My name is Jen and I have an empathy disorder.  While I know generally what is happening in Haiti I must be honest here and say I have not watched all of the news stories.  I can’t.  I was awake for weeks after hearing a story in England about a baby who was found (thankfully alive) days after her mother passed away.  Commercials for horror movies give me nightmares.  And I don’t say that lightly, I had horrible nightmares every night from the “I am Legend” movie.  After a few weeks of this I decided to read the Movie Spoiler, thinking that if I knew the story it wouldn’t be scary anymore.  The result was more weeks of worsening nightmares.

So maybe you can see why I can’t stand to watch news footage of children scared and homeless and starving.  It’s too much for me and makes me go and wake up my children, who are confused and tired and don’t want to be hugged at 10pm.  But there’s no escaping that the news there is not good.  Hunger, thirst, and fear run Haiti now.  The government never had the resources to deal with such devastation and so there is no one to help.  Although help arrives every day, it’s nearly impossible to get that help to the people who need it the most.

So last weekend as I sat in my comfortable house I couldn’t help but think about Haiti.  My sweet babies sleep soundly in their beds.  The fridge is stocked with food, even it if isn’t brand name and fancy.  Water runs freely from my faucets and if I need something a car will take me without a second thought to a store where I can blissfully buy anything I need with a credit card.  But I think of those mothers in Haiti.  What do you do with three children and NO water and nothing to eat?  I feel bad when I say “we can’t afford that” to my 5 year old.  How would I feel if I had to tell him “we don’t have anything to eat today, you’re going to have to go hungry?”  How would I function day to day if I couldn’t care for the most important thing in my life, my children.  Worse yet, what if the wall of my house fell in and I died?  Or my children died?

So you see why I don’t need the news.  My own imagination is more than enough to scare and horrify me.  I feel helpless and powerless to help them because really, I am.  I can’t drive down there with 10,000 pounds of food and feed and cloth and heal the wounds, physical and emotional, of every family in Haiti.  I’m stuck doing whatever little thing I can.  That’s where the next chapter begins. 

I started http://www.hyenacart.com/HaitiRelief.  Items donated by an amazingly talented and diverse group of talented artisans will be auctioned off starting February 14th through the 21st.  Yes, it’s Valentines Day.  But I figure there’s no better way to celebrate love than to show it to people who need it most.

Lilypad Landing stocking tomorrow!

Well as usual I am late to the ball.  My awesome mom flew in today, which means I have lots of help with the kids and house this week!  But it also meant I had to clean this house up finally.  Ugh!  It takes 2 days to clean it and 1 hour with the kids home to make it a total disaster again.  So per my usual self I underestimated how much time it would take to clean and ran out of sewing time for this stocking.  I have one lovely needle roll stocking.  I just love the asian themed fabrics, and I can’t ever get enough of blue and brown together.   So tomorrow night at 9 pm EST this little lovely is up for grabs.  It is not crooked, as one picture looks.  I didn’t realize it looked that way until I stocked.  Hopefully I’ll have time to grab a new pic in the am.  Find it at http://www.HyenaCart.com/LilyPadLanding

Cut picture of Blackraspberry

This swirl sure came out lovely.  I love the deep purple too, it matches with the scent just perfectly!  This will be stocking in 4 weeks, when it’s cured.

Raspberry Vanilla Cold Process Soap

It sure smells good here

Yesterday I made some tub scrub with tea tree oil.  Tub scrub is my own (soon to be released!) natural cleaning product.  You’ll hear more about it very soon.  But for now I was overwhelmed with TTO, a scent I don’t particularly care for but since it has some antibacterial and anitviral properties it’s great for cleaning without harsh chemicals.  After it sat on the counter before heading to the curing area, the scent had permeated the house entirely.  The first thing I thought this morning was “I need to make some soap.”  I perused the new collection of smells and decided we needed a little blackberry and vanilla filling the house.  So I did a loaf with a lovely swirl of blackberry color and white.  The scent isn’t supposed to discolor according to the reviews, but we’ll see.  Most scents with vanilla end up a dark chocolate color.  If it should discolor at least it will smell great!  Added to the scent of chicken with a wine, tarragon and cream sauce and wild rice cooking for dinner and it smells amazing.  Like a pie is baking for dessert.  Hubby is probably going to be disappointed!

New yummy scent heaven

Oh my goodness, I just got the yummiest bunch of scents!  I haven’t been very motivated to make new soap after getting a batch of yucky, disappearing, seizing, curdling, discoloring scents.  I have certainly learned my lesson, I never buy scents unless I can find LOTS of reviews.  Every one was a problem child and it really makes soaping a pain instead of a fun and creative process.  Nothing ever turned out like I expected.  I only used that smelled good in the bottle but the rest is just going away.  But my order from www.PeakCandle.com was chock full of scents that made me want to crawl into the bottle and stay there for a week.  I can’t WAIT to make some new soap.

No drama here

Have you even noticed that some wahm companies attract drama?  Well, this isn’t one of those companies.  My life is full, fun, busy and happy enough without constantly trying to fill it up with online drama.  I sew what I love and what inspires me, and then I hope I sell that item to make life a little easier in my household.  Sometimes that happens,and sometimes that doesn’t.  More often than not if something doesn’t sell, I give it away.  On occasion I give things away on my own site (like right here, stocked on 12/31)  more often I donate that item or auction it off and donate the proceeds.  If times are good I even donate above the value of the closing bid.  If times aren’t great, I’ve been known to scrape together a few dollars to help anyway. 

What I don’t do is engage with people interested only in creating drama and bringing down reputable wahms.  I’m tired of that inspiration and passion being tied up with other people’s agendas.   No matter the cost to me personally and my business, I refuse to be engaged.  This is the only post you will ever see from me on this issue from this moment on, and no I will not elaborate.  If someone chooses not to shop from me in response to drama created by others, then that is a loss I have decided is worthwhile.  I hope you find what you want with some other wahm, and I’ll even be happy to direct you to another talented wahm if you like.  It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve helped someone and it won’t be the last.  I refuse to be reduced by the actions of others and I will continue to be myself.  If you find feedback that I haven’t responded to, this is the reason.  No comments are allowed because I have said my piece and have counted to three. 

Some previews up today

Stocking is Thursday but as promised some previews are up today.  I still have one needle roll to complete and some more photos to take of soap.  I love these cute owls and the bright colors.  I need to find something other than needle rolls to make with these adorable coordinating fabrics I keep finding.  It must include binding, I LOVE sewing binding.  Does that make me strange?  I guess I don’t love sewing it so much, I just love how it turns out.  It’s such a clean, polished look and I can’t get enough. 

Close up-

Love this binding

 

And of course the whole piece-

Next stocking, this week!

Well I’ve been sewing. And I have soap curing that will be ready this week.  I’ve been using it myself and not only is it lovely to look at it’s very yummy.  I’m going to take pictures in the morning but it’s yummy cucumber, oatmeal milk and honey, plus some from Christmas that you can count on being at great discounts.  If you’re looking for something, let me know.  Look for pictures soon.

Frozen foods for picky kids

This could definitely be just my kids.  But I’ve noticed that my kids will eat just about anything frozen, even if they wouldn’t touch it with a stick once it’s cooked.  My daughter (3.5) is notorious, but my 2 year old is quickly catching up with her.  I’ve been tired and stressed and given into her begging and she’s eaten frozen fish sticks  (ewwww!) and frozen chicken nuggets!  Cooked, she will nibble a corner of a chicken nugget but frozen she’ll eat 2 or 3.  That doesn’t even begin to touch the veggies.  My kids are all good veggie eaters anyway but if I give the kids a small container of frozen veggies while I cook, they will let me cook dinner in peace and eat full serving of the frozen plus a serving of cooked.  Of course, I’d prefer my kids didn’t eat things like frozen chicken nuggets at all.  But in reality when it’s supper time and my daughter has eaten 2 bites of a bagel and 1 bite of a sandwich all day, I just want her to eat SOMETHING.  I know the experts always say kids will eat when they’re hungry but after days on end of that diet even I start to freak out.