White Flag Designs

It's been a long time

2011-05-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't updated this blog in ages. My apologies to anyone who's come here using the url on my biz cards to try to find me! I am no longer actively selling my jewelry items online. My bath & body products have pretty much taken over my life, but I'm working hard to get them under control so I can once again offer both for sale over the internet. I am still making jewelry, I haven't stopped, nor do I intend to, I just haven't had the time to get items posted anywhere in order to sell them.

In the meantime, you can find my jewelry for sale at Brazen Betties, a boutique in Torrington, CT. This is a nice option for local folks to be able to check out the good in person- Julia, the owner, is also playing around with online sales, so anyone not close enough to be able to stop in to her store should be able to purchase WFD goods, eventually. I recommend you follow Brazen Betties on Facebook, as Julia's really good about posting pictures of new deliveries- that may be the best way to keep tabs on what I'm up to, jewelry-wise.

You can find my B&B goods, and eventually, my jewelry, in my Artfire shop, One Hand Washes The Other. Artfire is like Etsy but without the humongous fees for sellers; I quite like it there :)

You can also follow me on my OHWTO blog, where I post on a less-than-regular but more-often-than-here basis.

Lastly, I am moving out of the state in less than a month. You can follow my progress on that on my OHWTO blog, linked above :) I am hereby resolving to post here more often, even if it's just a couple crappy cellphone pictures of my latest work, so stay tuned!

-B

CT Places: Talcott Mountain

2010-06-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Talcott Mountain state park is located on Rt 185 in between Simsbury and Bloomfield. It's only 1.25 miles from the trail head to the tower, but it's a difficult hike, not for the beginner or people in less-than-ideal health. I believe there may be a back way to get to Heublein Tower which doesn't require as much walking, but I don't have any knowledge of where it is or if that shortcut even exists. I just know I've seen cars up there, and women with strollers up there, when there were no other cars besides mine in the parking area below O.o

Anyway, the trail starts off nicely, then quickly turns into a nearly-vertical rocky slope- there are a couple of benches to sit and rest at on your way up, but it's rough going. Here's some pics I took from the top of the trail, looking down over the Avon valley- my camera battery died before I could get to the tower, so I'll have to go back again and shoot some more pictures another day, but I'll include a stock photo from the DEP website so you can see how cool it is.

CT Places: Fisher Meadows

2010-06-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite places to go in the Farmington Valley area. There's tons of walking trails, a small playground, picnic tables, some with coverage from the sun, and lots and lots of sports fields, aka, wide open spaces. On the property is a small lake (or maybe it's just a pond?) you can go canoeing or kayaking in, and I'm not sure how the fishing is, but I've seen plenty of people having a go at it. Fisher Meadows is a great place to spend an afternoon, alone or with a group- there's pretty much something here for everyone.
Located right near Route 10, on Old Farms Road in Avon, it's adjacent to the Farmington River, and even has a few trails which will lead you to it. It's officially open from dawn to dusk, though the town of Avon website says that, with permission, you can use the property for camping as well! Check it out if you get the chance- here's some pics from my most recent walk around the pond, where I saw a snapping turtle laying her eggs!! She let me get REALLY close to her- I guess she was too preoccupied with the task at hand to chase me away :)

CT Places: Enders

2010-05-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

(This is the first in a series of mostly pictorial posts I'll be making, showcasing many of the mainly natural areas I frequent in this state. I love a good hike, and I imagine many of you might as well. Enjoy!)

Enders State park is located in West Granby, CT on Rte 219. It's like a 15 minute drive from my house and well worth it- the scenery is gorgeous, the uphill/downhill hiking is great exercise, and on hot days it's fun to go swimming in the natural pools at the base of the many falls along the trail. Check it out:

Sweet Anthem: My stash & a mini review

2010-05-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna show you guys the awesome perfume collection I have from Sweet Anthem. Sweet Anthem is an artisan perfumery run by Meredith Tucker out of Seattle, Washington. Her fragrances are 100% vegan, and come in either oil or EDP (alcohol-based) spray form. Most of my collection is oils- I've been collecting these for some time now- check out this little stash:

It's really cool seeing the packaging changes she's made over time. The big bottle on the left is Rebecca (my namesake, yay!) from the Autumn '09 collection- it came with the tag tied on with twine, but I took it and ran it through my Xyron sticker maker to make a stick-on label :) The other big bottle is Esther, which I got at the end of January this year after using up almost all of the sample I'd purchased in like 2 weeks' time (I seriously LOVE Esther). You can see how in just a couple months' time the packaging changed, in my opinion, for the better. The tie-on tags were cute but not permanent- I very much prefer the pre-stuck on labels. The sample bottles are all different ages- those really haven't changed much, and that's fine by me.

I'm not going to go into details on each of these scents, at least not today, but feel free to ask if you have any questions about any of the scents you see and I'll do my best to give you my impressions of them. My favorites from above are Esther and Madeline, and of course, Rebecca- I actually have 3 bottles of that LE fragrance stashed away, so I'm set with it for awhile. Oh and Elliot, which is supposed to be for guys but I think it's an awesome women's fragrance :D

Today I got in the mail another package from Miss Meredith, well ahead of the super-long delivery time I had anticipated- her shop announcement, at the time of my purchase, warned of a 30-35 day wait period. I don't mind waiting for an order, so long as I have advance notification, and Sweet Anthem's goods are well worth that kind of wait.

This time I got some EDP sprays, which are a new(ish) addition to her line. They're the cutest little 2mL sprayers (I have these same bottles in my shop, too, I LOVE them) which come with colored labels on them, nestled safely inside the awesomest little slider boxes, tied up with custom-printed "Sweet Anthem" ribbon. The boxes were accompanied by 2 different business cards, placed inside a glassine envelope and sealed with a sticker.

I got: Emily, Corrin, Madeline, and one of the new Spring 2010 fragrances, Lizie. They are all awesome (I already knew Madeline was great but I wanted to try her in an EDP).

Emily smells like cookies, but grown-up cookies, probably thanks to the sandalwood note. She may be next on my list of scents to buy in a larger bottle, I'm not sure yet.
There's Corrin, which is more of a "perfumey" scent- I detect mainly rose petals and tea after awhile, but the wonderful thing about Sweet Anthem's perfumes is the way they change during wear. At first, Corrin is a sweet berry-like scent and with wear she evolves into something much more, I don't know, mature, I suppose. It's a gorgeous feminine scent for sure.
Madeline is a bright, cheery scent that always makes me happy- I love this one. It's citrusy and winey but tempered with woods and a touch of smoke... she's playful but sort of sexy, too. Madeline's a must-try if you're buying from Sweet Anthem, if you ask me.
Lastly, there's Lizie. I was SO excited when I saw Meredith tweeting about her new spring line and the use of tomato leaf. I LOVE the smell of tomato plants, and tomatoes in general, really. I knew I'd have to try this perfume, and today, I got to. It's herbaceous and green and it blooms into something a bit flowery after awhile- it doesn't smell like tomatoes or tomato plants, which I guess is a good thing, though honestly that wouldn't have bothered me :) As with ALL of Sweet Anthem's perfumes (or the ones I've sniffed, anyway) Lizie has so much more to her than one or two notes and the way she smells when you first apply is a bit different from the way she smells an hour or two later.

One thing I feel I should mention is the fact that I am super-sensitive to perfumes based in alcohol. I can't usually wear them- most give me headaches or burn my skin or both. These 4, in my limited wearing of them today, hasn't hurt my head at all, but my skin is a little irritated where they were applied. I knew that this could happen going into this purchase, and I bought them anyway- I was hoping that I wouldn't react to whatever it is that gets put into perfumer's alcohol that my skin just cannot stand. Plus, the price on the little EDP sprays is lower than it is on the oil samples, so I looked at this as a way to test a few scents without having to spend as much money. Would I buy the EDPs again? Yes- but only as a means to test out new fragrances on the cheap. When I go to buy Emily and Madeline (and Lizie and Corrin...lol) in large bottles, I'll be ordering them in roll-on bottles of perfume oil. Now, I don't want to scare anyone away from trying these, because they're really great. If you can walk into Nordstrom's (or Macy's or whatever department store is near you) and wear any of the mass-produced designer perfumes you find on the counter, these EDPs from Sweet Anthem will be perfectly fine for you. I just have stupidly sensitive skin, and if you do too, then you'll want to start by ordering her perfumes in oils- click here for a link to her oil samples which have, incidentally, never irritated my skin. I'll either fashion myself a perfume locket to use to wear these 4 EDPs with, or I'll just spray them on my clothing instead of directly on my skin. And then when Meredith gets back from her honeymoon and reopens shop I'll grab myself an oil or two in larger bottles because these scents are just amazing.

That's all for now- again, you can feel free to ask any questions about any of the fragrances you saw here in the comments section- or check out her website at http://www.sweetanthem.com/perfume for descriptions and customer reviews. Thanks for reading!

Oh hi

2010-05-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for that other post that was here, I moved it. I didn't want it to be the first thing new visitors saw when they came to my blog. If they were only coming here to read that, then they most likely were clicking on an external link which will still bring them right to it anyhow. If you're here looking for it, wondering where it went, go back through my older posts- I backdated it just so it's not on the front page at the very top :) I'm not going to delete it, as I feel the truth should be told, but I don't need to see it every time I come to my blog, either.

I'll be updating this space more frequently now with reviews on stuff I buy- hopefully I'll be able to post only positive things! :D

Movin' out

2010-05-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

Heh, too much soapy stuff on this blog as of late, so just as I did when my smelly goods took over the WFD Etsy shop, I've moved it into its own e-space. Look for this blog to return to jewelry-and-accessories related posting, with an emphasis on steampunk couture, and maybe some other fun stuff that's awesome.

If you're here looking for my OHWTO fragrance list, or updates on anything related to that shop, it's here now: http://ohwto.blogspot.com/ (I'll be moving the customer appreciation giveaway post to that blog shortly). See you there!

SNEAK PEEK- New stuff coming soon to OHWTO

2010-04-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

That's all for now! I washed with that last soap this morning, by the way- it's a new recipe, with oatmeal and cocoa butter and I actually honestly noticed a difference in the softness of my skin once I toweled off. I had forgotten that this was a different recipe than my usual, and couldn't for the life of me figure out why I felt so SOFT- till I went back through my notes and found that this was the cocoa butter soap recipe I'd come up with a few months ago. Can't wait to add it to the shop!

One Hand Washes The Other= 100 sales and climbing!

2010-04-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

In order to celebrate my 100th sale on Etsy, I've decided to have another giveaway! This time, though, it will be a great big THANK YOU to my customers, who have supported my little shop. To enter, all you have to do is add to my shop's sales. Let's see if we can get to 200! Or, dare I say it, 300? Buy a lip balm, buy a year's worth of bath & body stuff, it's up to you. Basically, every purchase from OneHandWashesTheOther on Etsy in the months of April and May will enter you for a chance to win- anyone who's already bought from me this month will be entered automagically, so don't worry about having to buy more stuff just to get a chance to win. You don't even have to read this blog to be entered for a chance to win- just be a recent customer and you're in!

The prize: A USPS Priority Mail $10.95 flat rate box full of goodies from OHWTO, and maybe some other stuff I have from other lovely places (I've been hoarding makeup samples lately and might just share some of my unused ones with you guys) I buy from. Unfortunately, due to the insane costs of shipping internationally, this prize will only be available to my US customers. However, if you live outside the US, don't fret- I thought about it, and since I have SO MANY loyal customers who reside outside the US, I don't want to leave you guys out, so, I will be offering ANOTHER prize, just for non-US residents!! It will be the smaller Priority Mail box, the one that ships outside the US for $13-16, and it'll be packed to the gills with stuff (sadly, my jarred goods just won't fit into one of those boxes, so there'll be no scrubs or whips *sad face*). So, there will be 2 prizes in all, one going to a destination within the US, and one to a foreign land. These boxes are going to be chock full of soaps and whips and scrubs and balms and smells and who knows what else- they'll be prizes worth winning, that's for sure.

So, make sure you tell everyone you know, and make sure to stop by and check out the shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/1HandWashesTheOther No need to comment here for an entry, or tweet about it, or add me on Facebook or Myspace, or any of that stuff, but please, feel free to say hi in the comments below, and spread the word if you're so inclined! Winners will be chosen at random sometime in early June; each individual item listing purchased will count as an entry (sets of solid scents, soaps, etc will count as 1 item), so the more items you buy, the more chances you will have to win. I'll announce the winners' first names and countries here on the blog when they have been selected, and leave it up to them whether they want to say "hi" to you all or not. Since I'm awarding prizes to customers, I won't have to worry about getting email or delivery addresses from anyone, which is going to be mighty convenient. I'll try to post pics of the stuff I"m giving away, just so you guys can see ;) Deadline for qualifying purchases is 11:59:59 pm EST May 31, 2010. This give you guys plenty of time to shop and pick out some awesome stuff. Good luck, and thanks again to all of my lovely customers, without whom this wouldn't be possible- you guys rock!!

Oops, I did it again

2010-04-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

So, I've been on a buying spree lately, buying fragrances left and right. I know I keep mentioning my need to CUT BACK on the fragrances I have, but when I read these awesome descriptions I can't help but want to try them all!! So, here's a shortlist of the new scents I've got (and the ones I have on order). I'm still discontinuing the ones I listed before, and will be expanding THAT list soon (in addition to revamping the way my fragrance list is set up), but in their places I've got more olfactory awesomeness, so nobody's going to even miss the scents that are going bye-bye :) Check these out:

- Soft Sandalwood a very true sandalwood scent, it's soft and woody and sensual, perfect for men and women

- Froot Loops this one brings to mind one of our favorite breakfast cereals, it's citrusy and sugary

- Wineberry (a replacement for Berry Wine) a grownup version of a berry scent, the wine note adds a depth to the sweet berries. It smells like you could drink it

- Honey Bee a very sweet honey and powder scent, it's got a strong honey note but there's more to it than that- it's absolutely delicious

- Mango I was going to come up with a clever name for this one but decided against it; it's a true overripe mango scent in which one can almost detect the pit as well as the juicy orange flesh

- Amber Dawn a sensual scent for the ladies, with notes of amber and sandalwood and ambiguous florals

- White Chocolate Raspberry smells just like the name, this one is just plain delicious

- Pineapple a fresh, juicy scent, this is a cross between a real pineapple and an artificial pineapple scent, so you get the tang of a freshly-cut pineapple but the strength in scent that only synthetics can bring; it's yummy

- Peach Nectar this is not the overripe fake smelling peach that most peach-scented products use; this is a true-to-life peach skin and flesh scent, tart and sweet, without being sickeningly sweet.

- White Tea not to be confused with White Tea and Ginger, this is a scent all its own, floral and oriental and soft, very feminine without being one of those overbearing "perfumey" scents

- Chocolate Truffle like a rich chocolate truffle, this is a great chocolate scent for chocolate lovers everywhere

- Orange Peel not just the orange juice, this has the zesty "skin" note you get when cutting into an orange

- Vera Wang Princess (type)

- Blue Sugar (type)

- Nag Champa Renowned for its earthy scent, it contains Juniper, Patchouli and Vanilla. Rose Geranium and Jasmine are also present to give the blend a sweet note.

Impending Changes

2010-04-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've spent a lot of time recently thinking about how things are going with the One Hand Washes The Other shop, and, while things are going well, there are a few things I am going to be changing in order to make it even better. Here's a heads up as to what you can expect so see in the coming weeks and months, so that any changes don't catch you guys by surprise:

Fragrance Names- all my designer duplicates (Pink Sugar, Viva La Juicy!, etc) will be getting a name makeover. I'll keep the original's name in the description, so you'll know what you're getting (and so it doesn't look like I'm trying to take credit for scents I didn't design) but it's time to sit down and think about what else they could be called. Any suggestions are welcome- if I use your suggestion I'll send you a little "thank you" ;) Additionally, I have 2 Sweet Peas and 2 Spa Fusion fragrances which are so different from one another that they're going to need new names as well.
Inventory Cutback- I need to scale back the number of fragrances I offer. I've already cut some off the list, and used them up without reordering, but even so, I'm still running out of space in which to store my smelly things. Look for a massive cull, not soon, but eventually. This also applies to the Lip Balm flavors. This is one of those things that wouldn't be an issue if my space was unlimited, so if my situation changes, and I all of a sudden find myself with an abundance of storage/work space, this one might be struck from the list.
Lip Balms- I'm going to stop making lip balms to order. It's a pain in the backside to make ONE lip balm at a time, so I'll be making them in small batches of like 5 or 6 at a time and selling them that way. Special requests will still be honored, and may just be how I decide which flavor I make for each new batch, but my days of making lip balms to order are coming to an end. This also ties in with the next change, which I'm VERY excited about...
Colored Lip Balms- I've been dreaming about these for FOREVER. I'll be using a couple of different formulas, depending on the color being used, and as usual, all of them will be vegan-friendly. Colors will be all over the place: sheer, intense, shiny, matte, iridescent, color-changing, in every color of the rainbow... I've been playing a LOT :) Each will be flavored, lightly, with each color being assigned a flavor it will keep unless I get a bunch of requests for a particular color in a particular flavor. I'm so excited about introducing these I can't hardly stand it. You guys are gonna be so happy with them, it's ridiculous.

And that's it on my list of changes, at least for now. As always, I'm working on new soaps, and new scents, in addition to my jewelry and accessories, which I must admit, I've been neglecting lately :( Too excited about all my colors and scents, I guess. I'm still picking up the tools a few times a week though- I'm just not listing jewelry as often as I used to- most of it goes to Brazen Betties in Torrington, CT nowadays. Julia, the owner, is an absolute doll and she sells my stuff for me, leaving me free to play with smelly things most days. It's an arrangement which works great for both of us, I think. You should stop by if you are ever in the area, her shop is FULL of products created by talented local craftspeople.

Oh and speaking of new scents, I'll leave you with these, available NOW. Enjoy!

Carnivale- (I didn't realize this until a couple weeks after first creating this one, but I basically took all the "Sweet" out of the ever-popular Pink Sugar scent, leaving the florals behind, and blended them to create this sugary-sweet scent.) Cotton candy, orange soda, lemon snow cones and vanilla ice cream all come together to evoke memories of the sweetest part of childhood summer nights.

Absent- A 100% essential oils blend, this is my interpretation of Absinthe, made to be both wearable AND edible. That's right, I'll be putting this in lip balms as well as soaps and perfumes. It's an Anise-Peppermint-Lemongrass blend brightened with a few drops of red Blood Orange. It's definitely an anise-based scent, there's no doubt about that, but it's balanced by the mint and citrus scents so that even people who detest licorice-scented things might still be able to enjoy this. And of course, any fan of black licorice will most likely fall fast in love with this scent/flavor.

New Spring/Summer Scents

2010-03-26T13:14:00.001-07:00

Just in time for spring, and well before summer, I bring you a couple of brand new OHWTO exclusive scents! The plan right now is to have these available for a limited time, though if there's enough demand for it, I suppose my mind could be changed to add these to the year-round catalog.

Victuals: Hearty rolled oats spiked with syrupy sweet wild blueberries, topped with a sprinking of maple sugar and a splash of vanilla rice milk. This is a breakfast staple for me, and is the inspiration for this yummy foody blend.

Lost at Sea: You can almost taste the salty sea air as it crashes the against the bow of the ship, being cast about amongst the wild green and blue waves. Inhale deeply the tropical bounty of coconuts which could only have been bestowed upon you by Neptune himself, and the bouquet of citrus fruits brought aboard and stowed in the ship's hold for just such an occasion, and have not a care in the world that you are lost at sea.

Setting up shop

2010-03-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Like many other of my fellow Etsy sellers, I have noticed a steep drop in the number of sales the past few months. I thought it was a bummer, sure, but chalked it up to "well it's after Christmas, the economy is crap, what can you do?". Turns out though, that I was wrong in assuming that the drop in sales had come from factors which could not be controlled.

It turns out that Etsy items no longer show up on Google searches. I ran a few checks today, searching for my EXACT item titles on Google, and the only way that Google would link me to them was if I clicked the "Shopping" link at the top of the page. Heh. No WONDER I've been seeing less and less new faces in my Etsy shops as of late- Google isn't pointing people in the direction of my shops!! I can't blame Google though, because as far as I am aware, Google still operates pretty much the same as it always has. Etsy, on the other hand, has been messing around with the way their site interacts with Google, and I believe this is what has caused my recent lack of new customers. (don't worry, old customers, I still love and appreciate each and every one of you, but I can't grow if new people aren't being added to your ranks!).

So, being the investigative person that I am, I went to Artfire, to see if their sellers were experiencing the same issues I am on Etsy. I found a few items from various sellers, Googled those EXACT items titles, as I had done for my items, and what do you know? These items turned up on the MAIN Google search results page, in the #1 or #2 positions! Go figure! I remember a day when my Etsy items popped up the same way, but apparently those days are over.

After seeing this this morning, and actually getting upset over it, I made a rash decision, and I'm now on Artfire. Here's a link to the new shop: ONEHANDWASHESTHEOTHER . I'm in the middle of setting up shop but hope to be fully functional there by the end of this weekend. I will STILL be selling on Etsy, as it is my first love, and always will be, but right now Etsy just isn't doing what I need it to do for me. I need to grow my customer base. My shop can't be self-sustaining without fresh faces coming by. I do everything I can to drive traffic to my shops, but if my Etsy items aren't showing up in Google search then there's really no point in me trying. So, check me out on Artfire! It's a pretty neat site, with GREAT seller features, and from what I've seen their forums are so much more pleasant than the Etsy ones, which are just chock full of sellers upset at Etsy for not doing anything to fix what's been broken for months now. Understandable, yes, but I've doing something to remedy the issue on my own instead of waiting for Etsy to do it for me. Hello, Artfire!

PS- if you need a "procode" invite lemme know, I can hook you up ;)

SNEAK PEEK: Soaps

2010-03-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

Keepin the wording short this time, but here's some pics of some of the new soaps soon to be featured in the Etsy shop:

Oh and, if you didn't see, sample-sized perfume vials are NOW AVAILABLE! For just a dollar each, you can try out a bunch of different scents without breaking the bank, and then you can come back and buy full sized products in your favorites :)

Bath Bombs!! (and more)

2010-03-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

So, I've been taking FOREVER to get these fizzing bath treats made, and I finally got around to it today. These aren't going to be the plain-Jane bath fizzies I had originally planned on though- these are bath BOMBS. They're gigantic, and loaded with fun! In addition to fun they've got shea butter and dead sea salts to make for a total spa experience. You'll get fizz, scent, moisturization, and a muscle soak all in one lovely product! For now, they'll be uncolored, but I *might* toy with coloring them with some food coloring (or something) at some point. Unfortunately my preferred method of coloring, pigments and micas, will leave an icky mess in your tub when you're done, so I feel it's better to go without the color than to leave people with a gross-looking mess they'll have to clean up after using one of these babies.

The scent I made these in today was Barista! Tomorrow, I'm thinking Yuzu. Any suggestions or requests? I'm not going to be doing these bath bombs on an "as ordered" basis like I do with most of my soapy/smelly stuff. These will be made in different scents and sold from stock on hand, because they're rather labor-intensive and making one or two to order could get crazy, ESPECIALLY if I start getting lots of orders for them (I really do anticipate these becoming best sellers, they're that nice).

Look for them to make their debut in the Etsy shop VERY soon. And please, comment here with any scents you'd like to see bath bombs available in, and I'll be more than happy to hook you guys up :)

OH and while I've got your attention- I have a few cold and hot-process soaps ready to make their Etsy debut, too. Loving these so so much, I can't wait to share them with you!! Uprising, Barista!, Vetyver, Wild Strawberry, Blue Raspberry, and I'm debating whether or not to add the GingerFish soaps I have to the shop because there's only like 2 left- everyone in my house loves this one, heh. Check it out:

The colors are muted until you get the bar wet, then they really "pop", as you can see above. This is a really great bar of soap, it cleans without stripping the skin and leaves you feeling just right. The intense blue pigment makes for blue lather, too, which is super fun, and because it's pigment and not dye, it WILL NOT stain your skin :) I'm torn, this one may not be made publicly available soon, because I might just keep it all for myself, but if it does make its way to the Etsy shop then it's because I'm feeling generous and I love you guys :) (I'd hoard the other ones I just mentioned, too, but I have plenty of them on hand to share, heh)

More new smells!!

2010-02-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

This past week I decided to add a few new scents to my line, and in addition I came up with a yummy new custom blend, in a moment of rushed inspiration. New additions to the shop are as follows:
* Blackberry Sage Tea: a blend of bright berry and herbal sage, tempered by a mellow musky tea scent, not too sweet, not too herbal, it's very balanced and is fast on the way to becoming a new favorite
* Bubblegum: There's not much I need to say about this one- it smells just like your classic bubblegum scent, sure to trigger childhood memories, and a definite hit with the younger crowd
* Victorian Rose: Stroll through a true rose garden, down paths lined with rose bushes and beneath trellises laden with climbing roses in full bloom, and you'll have an idea of what this fragrance smells like.

And then there's the new exclusive blend, Barista! (yes, with the exclamation point). Barista! is an espresso-and-chocolate based blend, but you'll catch wafts of hazelnuts, sweet cream, and yes, even the sugary pastries sitting at the counter tempting you while you wait in line for your cup of coffee. It's delicious.

In addition, I've decided to phase out certain scents in order to make room for new ones, so get these while they last:

* Blackberi Sage (this one's actually all gone- I used the last in a batch of soap which is now curing)
* Bamboo & Sugar Cane
* Fresh Snow
* Indian Sandalwood
* Kaylin's Herb Patch
* Mandarin Twist
* Peachy (all gone as of 3/30; used it all up in some soap, which will be added to the shop soon)
* Perfumed Pomegranate
* Red Apple
* Smoky Patchouli
* Sweetgrass
* Sweet Pea
* Sweet Strawberry

Supplies are limited and I won't be reordering these once they're gone. If one of your favorites is on this list, and you'd like me to keep it, let me know, but really I just haven't seen much interest in these fragrances and I need to clear out some room... so I can buy more fragrances!! ;)

So that's that, some changes to the fragrance list are in order, and I'll be woprking on the following this week:

- Listing my tinted lip balms on the Etsy shop. They're ready to go, I just need to finish my picture editing and write up the listing.
- Bath fizzies (finally!!). Big ol' balls of fizzy fun for the bath, these are so much fun to use, and I can't wait to get them added to the shop.
- 1mL samples of perfume oils, so you guys can check out my scents without having to make major purchases! I can actually do these right now but I haven't listed them yet because I haven't figured out how to label them. I guess in a pinch I could use some address labels and do something boring, but I wanted to make these nice for you.
- Bath Salt labels- again, this product is ready to go, I just need labels for it, and a description written up. Oh, and pictures... :)

I also need to handmill a bunch of soaps I've had sitting here waiting for me to make them into something awesome. Look for those soon, as well as some awesome new hot and cold process soaps which are currently curing. The purple heart you see above is my new Queen of Hearts soap; shimmery regal scrollwork and gemtones on a soap fit for a Queen. Look for that one to be up on the Etsy shop soon as well :)

What's this?

2010-02-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

After much thought, research, formulation, and yes, even dreaming, I am finally ready to present to you my latest and greatest concoction:

What is it? It's a sugar scrub! But, don't I already HAVE a sugar scrub in my shop? Why yes, yes I do. This one is different though. Lots different. This one is 100% from scratch, this one is an oil-based formula, and this one is an emulsifying scrub. Emulsifying meaning that when water hits it, it combines with the water and transforms into a lotiony substance which leaves a light layer of moisturizing oils on your skin. It's just dreamy. You can get out of the shower and don't need to use a separate product to moisturize- there's already a barrier on your skin! With cocoa and shea butters, coconut, rice bran, grape seed, and olive oils, and a blend of cane sugar and evaporated cane juice, this stuff packs a wallop and is just amazing when used to polish those trouble spots like elbows and heels.

Look for the scrub to make its debut in the Etsy shop soon, along with this new scent: Uprising. Here's a pic of Uprising in scrub form:

It's the same basic recipe as the white scrub you saw above, but with rose hip powder and neem leaf powder added for their various benefits to the skin. Uprising, the scent, is an all-essential oils blend, consisting of pretty much everything out there- no, just kidding, but seriously there's a lot of different essential oils in this blend. Predominant scents in this blend are cedar and lavender, with lemongrass, fir, vetiver, rosemary, and white thyme playing backup. It's a "feel good" blend which I find gives me the kick in the behind I need to get moving on these cold winter mornings- it's like sunshine in a jar. Obviously due to the high essential oil content, I can't recommend anything containing this scent for pregnant women or children, but it's a definite "must have" for anyone who suffers from the winter doldrums.

I just soaped this scent today, using the cold process method, and hope to be able to have those soaps in the shop in 4-6 weeks' time, but... we'll see what the soapy fates have in mind for that, heh. In the meantime, I'll be adding the scent to my usual vegan-friendly, detergent-free glycerine soap base, in various shapes- it's just lovely on a loofah soap :)

OK so there's that, a new product and a new scent... next up on my to-do list is bath fizzies, finally. I'm not sure what my problem is, I've been meaning to get these added to the shop for literally months now, but I just haven't gotten to it. Again, I don't know why- they're tons of fun to make and to use! So keep your eyes peeled, I should be adding them to the shop before the month is out. Till then...

More new scents- and more to come in the new year!

2010-01-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hapy new year, everyone!! I have another few scents to add to my list- I've already added them to the list at the right >_> but here's the short list for you gus:

- China Rain
- Frankincense & Mirth (strong EO blend)
- Vetyver
- Leather
- Fresh Zucchini Flower
- Desolation Angel (strong EO blend)

Complete descriptions have been added, too, so if you're intrigued, scroll on down and read all about them! Frankincense & Mirth is a custom blend you'll only find here; it's the third in a line of perfumes I've been developing, following Fevrier and Desolation Angel. These are really fun, bold fragrances, comprised mainly of essential oils, but accented with fragrance oils to get those notes that you just can't hit with natural oils. Once I get a few more blends tested and ready to go I'll be putting them into their own little sections both here and in the shop, but for now they can all be found mixed in with my regular fragrances.

This is what I think of when I think of February... or as they say in France, "Février", which is the name of one of my custom blends. Red fruits and black spice make up this heart-warming blend; you'll smell currants, cranberries, pomegranates, and black pepper- along with the tingling nip of winter's winds.

More custom scents will be coming in the next few weeks... herbs, chocolate, labdanum, and butter may or may not be making an appearance :) Additionally, some fragrances will be saying "farewell" once they're gone- I need the room, both on my fragrance shelves and on my blog. I'm also planning on revamping my version of "Absinthe" as I feel it's currently a bit too strong on the anise... which I find to be growing on me but still, I'd like to soften that up a bit. Now, back to work. I hope 2010's treating you all well so far!

Metamorphosis Cosmetics- A Warning

2010-01-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

You know the old saying (it's Latin, so it's really old) "Caveat Emptor"? It means "Buyer beware". Keep that in mind when shopping with Metamorphosis Cosmetics, aka, Gipsy Dreamer, aka, Diaphoni, aka, Julia Williams (not even going to go into how Gypsy is spelled wrong). I'm not going to digress into too much shit talking, as much as I WANT to right now, but just know that she has ripped me off, as well as at least 2 other people I have found here on the blogosphere. This is a fact, not an opinion.

I thought something might be wrong when I didn't get my order 2 weeks or so after placing it on March 22, 2010. I emailed her asking what was going on (very nicely, I might add- we were "friends" on Twitter) and got a prompt, super apologetic response about her being sick and she told me my order was going out that day or the next... except it never went out. 2 more weeks passed, and nothing. At this point, it's been a month and the 45-day Paypal window to file a claim for non-receipt is quickly drawing near. So I opened a Paypal dispute, because in past experiences with non-shipping sellers, this has gotten them to either send me my crap, or refund my money. Then, I went to Google to do some research. Lo and behold, there were others who shared my story- I realized it WASN'T just me, and that this woman had (seemingly)taken us all for fools.

Heather at Eyeconic Makeup also had pretty much the same experience as me, only she laid hers out in a nicely organized timeline on her blog. I only WISH I could be that organized!! In the comments on that blog entry, you'll find others who've had pretty much the same experience as I did with Metamorphosis Cosmetics (I also made sure to leave my story there). I felt both relieved and angry when I found that blog post, because it meant I wasn't the only one Julia had failed to deliver an order to, but sadly, it also meant that I wasn't the only one Julia had failed to deliver an order to.

I don't have an awesome timeline like Heather does, but I do have the text from my open Paypal case. I escalated it to a "Claim" on 5/4...Here's what's been said in the Paypal dispute so far (you'll have to start at the bottom and read your way up):

5/4/2010 06:03 PDT - PayPal: Buyer escalated this dispute to a Claim.
5/4/2010 06:03 PDT - Buyer: The seller provided me with a USPS tracking number, 2308 3250 0000 2510 5671, which shows a package delivered to WASHINGTON (where the seller lives, incidentally). I live in CONNECTICUT. I have absolutely no reason to believe that the order I placed and paid for was sent and I'd like to escalate this to a claim. It's been well over a month now since i placed my order. A quick Google search shows that this is not the first time she's scammed buyers: http://eyeconicmakeup.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-dealings-with-metamorphosis.html PLEASE, Paypal, shut this "seller" down before she rips off any more consumers.
5/2/2010 07:44 PDT - Seller: Hello Becca, I am sorry that the post office is being such a pain at the moment, we have seen this happen where there is no tracking information until the item is actually delivered. If you truly want a refund then please mark the package return to sender and we will initiate a refund once we get the package back.
5/2/2010 07:38 PDT - Buyer: I still have not received any package, and when entering the tracking number into the USPS website I get the following message: Label/Receipt Number: 2308 3250 0000 2510 5671 There is no record of this item. If I can just get my money back I'll be a happy camper. I don't want the product anymore and have grown tired of dealing with this. We all have better things to do.
4/23/2010 07:29 PDT - Seller: Hi Becca, I am Julia's boyfriend and I am trying to help her get the shipping issues resolved. We have your package ready to go out in todays mail. You will be able to track it with the following number at USPS: 23083250000025105671 I hope this will resolve this matter to your satisfaction. Have a lovely day.
4/22/2010 14:04 PDT - Buyer: I REALLY hate to do this, but seeing as emailing you hasn't gotten my tiny little order shipped, and it's been over a month since I ordered, I'd really just like my money back at this point. I'll shop elsewhere.

FUN FACT about that tracking number- it traced to WASHINGTON STATE, where Julia just happens to live. So, not only is she not shipping paid orders, and lying to people about her reasons for her delay, she's also providing false information to Paypal about tracking numbers. Apparently this tracking information changed- I don't quite understand how the package went from being "delivered to Washington" to being "delivered to Connecticut", but it did. Which makes this part if this story irrelevant. Still, my point stands: I cannot advise you strongly enough to avoid doing any kind of business with this type of person, and this person specifically. What she's doing is just so wrong. I (and others) bought from her in good faith, and she took our money and appeared to run off with it. If she has done this to you off as well, please, feel free to share your story here. Also, I encourage you to file a Paypal dispute/claim against her. Or mail Paypal Fraud about it if the 45 day dispute period has expire and your package has not arrived. I firmly believe hat had I not filed my Paypal dispute/claim, I would never have seen this order.

FUN FACT about my Paypal Dispute- the day I filed it, Julia took a break form her Twitter hiatus to tweet "If you have ordered from me and have not gotten your order, I'm sorry. Please don't start a paypal dispute, I've been sick and will work..." She hasn't been back since. I hope that nobody who saw that actually listened to her pleas; she's just trying to push you to wait until the 45 day Paypal time limit for filing non-receipt claims has come and gone.

I'm all for supporting the little guys. I'm all for buying from new sellers. I'm all about buying way more makeup than I'll ever wear. I won't let Julia sour me on any of that. But I will be wary from now on of buying from sellers who tweet about how their utilities are about to be shut off, and who have "donate now" buttons in their webstores. I think I'll steer clear from them from now on :) Thanks for reading my rant, guys! <3 Here, haz a kitteh:

UPDATE: Talk about timing!! Guess what I got in the mail today? An envelope from Metamorphosis Cosmetics, much to my surprise. It was sent out on May 3rd, the day after I complained again to Paypal but the day before I escalated the dispute to a claim (it was STILL weeks after Julia's boyfriend told me on Paypal that he was taking care of things for her and my package would be shipped immediately- see above). Anyway, the envelope is sitting on my countertop, unopened. I'm debating whether or not to risk sending it back for a refund- not feeling too confident I'll actually get my money back. I just know I won't be able to use these products and be happy about it... anyone want them?

I've edited this post to reflect changes to certain bits of information- the tracking number that magically changed delivery locations, and I took out a lot of the "scammer" stuff- seeing as I did get my package I guess it's not fair for ME to call her a scammer. If you haven't gotten your stuff though, it's still okay for you to do so.

ADDITIONALLY: If you're only here to start shit, don't bother, I'll be deleting any more RUDE comments, thanks. This post has been backdated so new visitors to this blog don't have to be subjected to this drama the instant their page loads.

2009-12-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

I've now got "Mountain Dew" scent available, for all you gamer-people and lovers of all things mountainy and dewy :)
Also, I'm just looking for an excuse to try out this blogging app for my new iTouch. I refuse to buy an iPhone, but I can totally get down with this little thing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iTouch

REEEaaaaaal Quick- NEW SCENTS!!

2009-12-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

I'm super busy as of late, and haven't had the proper time to really update this blog as much I should :( Sorry about that!!

Anyway, I have a few new fragrances available- check 'em out! You can have these added to pretty much any of my "Choose your own adventure" listings in my Etsy shop

Eventually I'll get these added in to the list at the right ----------->

- Fevrier: Red fruits and black spice to warm your spirits in the coldest month of the year.
- Pink Peppercorn: not a "pepper" scent at all, this is a beautifully feminine blend of sweet and tropical hawaiian flowers.
- Christmas Morning: All the joys of Christmas- the pine, the candy canes warmed by the lights, and the bracing hint of snow in the air.
- Bananas!: This smells like banana-flavored candy, think "Laffy Taffy" and you'll have a pretty good idea of what this smells like.
- Brass Goggles: A smooth mostly masculine scent, this has notes of Pepper, Cardamom, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Tonka Bean, and Amber.
- Honey Blossom: If honey grew on trees, this is what their fragrant blooms would smell like. Mainly a honey scent, it has a hint of flowers.
- Coffee: Wake up with the scent of freshly-ground coffee. No frills added, this is a straight coffee scent.
- Patchouli: Relive your younger days with this fine essential oil straight from the patchouli plant. It's used in aromatherapy for its antidepressant and sedative qualities.

I'm working on all sorts of fun new blends, too, so keep an eye out- hopefully after the holidays I'll be able to do a proper update with lots of NEW STUFF :)

Till then, happy holidays to you and yours :) Enjoy the season!

Going Retail!

2009-12-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

Well, sort of, anyway :) This is very exciting news, guys!!

As of December 4th, many of my jewelry and accessory items (and a few soaps, too!)can be seen and purchased at Brazen Betties in historic downtown Torrington, CT! Brazen Betties is a specialty boutique which features the work of hugely talented local artisans, and I'm honored to have had my product included in their eclectic selection. Here's a link to their site, so you can find driving directions and regular business hours, etc: http://brazenbetties.com Though it says they're open 5 days a week, from now until Christmas they will be open 7 days a week!

My favorite part of this arrangement is that I don't have to take pictures of items and come up with descriptions for them- those of you who have seen my shop on Etsy (whiteflagdesgins.etsy.com), you know they type of work I produce, but did you know that for every one item you see up for sale, another 10 or more are sitting in a chest, unlisted? I produce far more than I can sell online, I just don't have the time, or the patience to photograph, edit said photographs, and write descriptions for everything I've made! So stop by Brazen Betties and get a glimpse at my FULL line of products!

And the winner is....

2009-11-17T09:42:00.000-08:00

Follower #89: Janil!!!
Congratulations! I will get your package ready to go out in the next day or two- hope you're ready for a box foll of STUFF!!

Thanks to all who entered; this was fun, if not a little drawn-out... I'll make the next giveaway shorter, promise! :D

OMIGOSH- 101 followers!!

2009-11-17T09:35:00.001-08:00

Haha, it was only at 99 this morning, so this is pretty awesome. I'm off to draw the winner right now. Good luck, everyone!! BRB with a name :D

My Tiny Meat Product Testimonial/ When I like something, I stick with it

2009-11-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been starting random convos with people on Twitter, about this and that, depending on who's tweeting about what. Well, tonight I caught TinyMeat's post about a new checkbook cover... reminding me that I could use a new one. I bought one from him over 2.5 years ago and while it's held up well, and is still fully functional, it's starting to show some wear, finally. It's like the checkbook cover that wouldn't die or something, I swear. The thing has been with me through like 7 purse changes, and it's still going strong. I think I'm just looking for an excuse to spend money, I mean, check out these pictures- the thing actually still looks pretty good... I dunno how, lol- I abuse the heck outta my stuff.
Here's the original product shot:

And here are the pics of my checkbook cover, taken tonight (mine is blue on the inside, not green like the stock photo shows, due to variations in paint chips):

There she is- Wraith Pinned to the Mist in all her glory, still lookin surprisingly good after all these years. It's really just got a bit of dirt/staining at the corners, and there's some threads just starting to fray at the crease, though I attribute that to my habit of keeping a pen clipped to it at all times. Overall, I'm still super happy with my purchase, and I think I'm just looking for an excuse to buy this one from TinyMeat because it's so darn cool:

I dunno. Laser Cats FTW! My checkbook cover has certainly fared better than the TinyMeat wallet I bought for the hubby at the same time, though to be fair (to the wallet), my checkbook wasn't in my back pocket when I jumped out of a moving car :s And it should be noted that if that TinyMeat wallet hadn't been in *ahem* someone's back pocket when they jumped out of a moving vehicle, well, that person's ass would probably be disfigured and scarred for life. Yes, that's right- TinyMeat wallets can save your ass- literally.

It's an exciting time

2009-11-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've had so much going on lately, it's almost impossible to comprehend. Working on like 10 different *new* products and dreaming of hundreds more, and opening up a new Etsy shop to put all my soapy stuffs into, so that my jewelry and accessories can have some breathing room. Here's some glances at what I've been up to...

More cold process soap! I think I'm closing in on what will become "my" recipe, but it's so hard to tell right now, with the time I have to wait to even think about testing them!

This is a coconut-almond scented soap, colored with alkanet root powder. I learned from this batch that alkanet root powder should really be infused into an oil and used as colorant that way, instead of having the powder just tossed into the soap- it doesn't mix in very well. It's kind of neat to watch the color change from a blue/gray tint to a reddish-brown one though, as the soap's pH changes... sorta like having a built-in sensor to tell me when it's safe to use :)

Here's one that seized up on me right after adding the fragrance at trace. If I'd been thinking ahead, I could have saved it, but I was unprepared and instead chose to just dump it into the mold and try to use it the way it was. That's what all those air pockets are about- it's me still trying to swirl my 2 colors together, even though the consistency was sort of like a thin paste. Oh well- it smells wonderful, and I can't wait to use that scent blend in another batch. I'm calling her "Green Lady"; a blend of evergreens, herbs and flowers, inspired by the tale of the green lady who haunts a certain local cemetery... but, that's fodder for a blog post of its very own, some other time.

This. Oh man, this one I'm in love with. Unfortunately, I think it's a bit too fat-heavy and won't set up as hard as I'd like, but maybe I'm wrong and it just needs some time. It's scented simply with lemongrass essential oil, and topped with calendula petals, and when cutting it, the consistency was like cutting through butter with a hot knife. This was another one I tried to color with alkanet root powder, this time infused into some grape seed oil, but alas, I didn't use enough and the intended swirl looks more like a funny discoloration instead- you can see a bit of it up at the top left corner. Next time I'll probably just leave that out :)

And here's some more exciting news- I've started stocking my new shop, One Hand Washes the Other. I think the name speaks more to what I'm selling, as far as bath & body products go, and with solid scents and lip balms and soaps making up more than half my sales, I figured it was time to give them their own place. In addition to all the White Flag Designs goodies currently available, I'll be adding some VERY exciting new products to the lineup. So far, I've got Whipped Bathing Creme and a Whipped Sugar Scrub; they're really the same product, only one had sugar in it for an exfoliant, and the other doesn't. This stuff is loaded with sweet almond oil, shea butter, and vitamin E to help nourish the skin, and of course, it's soap, so it rinses clean when you're done.

The Whipped Bathing Creme explodes into millions of creamy bubbles when exposed to water and some agitation, and that's just on bare skin. I Imagine that with a bath pouf the volume of lather will be ridiculous, though I can't say because I don't use those bath poufs. Pictured is Blakberi Sage, uncolored because, well, I wanted to make white soap.

This whipped sugar scrub is just to die for. The consistency is like Cool-Whip, but wait- there's sugar in there too! The little granules melt away as you scrub, leaving behind noticeably softer skin upon rinsing. You may find that you have no need to moisturize after using this product, though I always do anyway, just because I like feeling all greased up. During testing, though, I didn't moisturize afterward and my hands, normally dry and eczema-prone, were so soft and smooth I couldn't stop rubbing them together. Pictured is Blak Chocolat, an awesomely chocolatey scent, enhanced even more so by the addition of a smidge of cocoa powder as a colorant.

So, that's it for this post; I'm off to get my potted perennial plants in the ground before winter really hits. For some reason the temps are supposed to be in the 70's today, so I figure I had better get this done while I still can.

Birthday Goodies!

2009-11-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday was my birthday, and I told you guys I was expecting a fair amount of Etsy goodies as my presents... wanna see? Here they are (minus the earrings I already posted about):

A pendant from COOB Originals, I was totally bummed when I saw that this had been sold a month ago or so, but tptally psyched when I opened it up yesterday!! :D Made from a broken skateboard deck, this guy's really into recycling- he even packaged the pendant in a box he made out of some cardboard packaging, making this purchase even cooler, if you ask me.

I got this print, purchased from Kilkennycat, and after I opened it we both spent some time examining it to see if it was a print or a painting. The quality is amazing. Reminds me of good times in my old Volvos :)

And last but not least, I got this ring from Mixco. It's ceramic and it is so totally rad, I'm not sure what else I can say about it.

I guess I should also mention this *early* birthday present I got- lucky me, I checked the mail the day this came in, and hubby said "well since you already know what it is, you may as well open it now" :D I wear it all the time, it's probably my favorite thing as of late. It's a heart-shaped silver locket, with the front shaped like feathery wings. Both of the wings flip open to reveal the inside (which is currently empty on mine, but one day I'll stick something in there :) ). It was purchased from FashinJunkie4Life, on her private website, though, not from her Etsy shop. Since I have a million silver chains on hand at all times anyway, I don't need another and she offers a "just the pendant" option on her website that she didn't have in her Etsy shop.

I think I got some pretty fun handmade stuffs this year. I mean, there were also plenty of things bought from the box retail giants, but I think these handmade items give such a nice touch :)

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-11-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday today, I'm heading out to do birthday "stuff" and whatnot, but be sure to check back later- I asked for mostly Etsy stuffs this year, and I'm gonna update the blog and share all my Etsy b-day goodies with you guys! I probably sent out like 30-40 "buy me this on Etsy" emails, not expecting to actually get even half of them, lol, but we'll see what handmade surprises await me...

I already got a pair of earrings from DandyApple <3
Check em out:

Dia De Los Muertos approaches!

2009-10-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

It's almost time for everyone's favorite Mexican holiday- Dia De Los Muertos is almost here!! Occurring on November 1st and 2nd, the holiday celebrates the memories of family and friends who have passed on to the other side. Here are some really great Day of the Dead-themed items I found on Etsy- enjoy!

I <3 these things today

2009-10-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

No words, just pictures. Enjoy :)

Speaking of giveaways...

2009-10-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

I sent in my samples to It's All In The Bag today- 58 total, some with samples of solid scents, and others with discount code cards... I decided to double my contribution by adding about the same amount of discount cards as I did samples (which also come with discount cards!). If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, it's a site which is collecting samples of handmade vegan goods and selling them in mixed bags, with proceeds from all sales going to an animal sanctuary! The bags sell for $35, including shipping, and are being sold for this holiday season. Check out the site and keep an eye out for them to become available- it's a great way to get little stocking stuffers, or just to sample a bunch of cool stuff yourself, relatively inexpensively. Here's what I sent in:

And... here's some more of my lovely cold process soap experiments...

Mayan Gold is the scent I used in this one, and I'm in love with both the scent and the way the colors came out- look at the weird crackling, it's almost as if the pigments withdrew from the soap and huddled together. It looks like fire :) I have the feeling that I won't be able to replicate the look of this one again though... *sad face* At less than 2 days old I was able to wash my hands with a small piece and my skin felt soft and smelled lovely- no lye burns, or even dryness. Just smooth, gently perfumed skin.

Here's Pink Sugar... in black! I added a bit too much fragrance oil, I'm still not sure where my mind was while I was measuring it out... the end result is a strongly scented bar of soap. It should still be okay, it'll just leave my skin a little *extra* smelly after washing :) Love the pink swirls, though!

More CP Soaps!

2009-10-25T11:55:00.001-07:00

I've pretty much been spending any and all my free time the past week or so making more cold process soap. Yup, I've been bitten; I knew it would happen eventually. It's way fun, and I love experimenting with different oil/liquid combinations to see what happens. I've been keeping all my batches small, 1-1.5 lbs, until I figure out which recipe(s) I really want to focus on for my shop. For now, it's just playing :)

Here's what I've been up to:

This one came out really cool; the predominant oil used was unprocessed shea butter; I was trying to use up the last of what I had on hand so I could justify buying some of the processed kind. I know the unprocessed is better for your skin, but personally, I don't like the smell. I use the shea in my lip butter balm recipe, and

it's time to change it up a bit. I'll be ordering the deodorized version soon, and hopefully that will make the lip butter more palatable to me. I haven't heard anyone else complain about it, and in fact I know that some people enjoy the scent of raw shea butter, but it really irks me :P
SO anyway, this soap's got a funny berry-like scent to it, which was strange because I scented it with the most awesome blend of Indian sandalwood and some vanillas... it smelled SO GOOD while stirring it. After curing though, it's got an almost grapey smell. So... I won't be making CP with that scent blend again, which is unfortunate; at least I've still got my M&P soap :D. The bars came out nice and hard, after just 24 hours of cure time- can't wait to see how they do after a few weeks!

This one I'm not too sure about; it's my 3rd batch (ever) and it came out kinda funny. It took FOREVER to trace, and I poured it into the mold, still runny. It eventually gelled, and solidified, but it's got soap ash all over the top of it and it's still a bit spongey feeling. Granted, as I type this, it's less than a week old, so it's going to take some time to cure, but it just didn't seem to come out as well as my first and second soaps did. We'll see though, maybe it will be awesome.

This one came out so awesome, I'm totally psyched about it. It's a pumpkin beer soap, made with Saranac Pumpkin Ale, and scented with Sweet Pumpkin, and topped with a sprinkling of real pumpkin pie spice! The combination of the beer and the fragrance oil make this soap smell like fresh-baked pumpkin bread; it's absolutely divine. It even looks like pumpkin pie- I hope that when I go to replicate this one in a larger batch it comes out just as nice.
That's it for now; be sure to check back later- I have more pics of more soaps I need to upload!

So... it's giveaway time!

2009-10-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking and thinking on this, and here's what I've decided- I'm going to have a giveaway right here on this blog as soon as I hit 100 blog followers. As I type this we're at 32, so we're like a third of the way there already. And once word of this gets out, it'll probably hit 100 in no time. SO... once this blog hits 100 followers, as soon as I realize it, I'll be drawing a name out of a hat. Well, actually I'll be assigning everyone a number, according to the order in which their names appear in my followers list, and I'll run a lotto through random.org to determine the winner. And if there are 200 followers on the day I notice that I've gone over the 100 mark, I will include everyone's name/number, so don't worry if you get here and see that the blog follower count is at #159 or something- you'll still be in the running :)

What's the prize? A Priority Mail flat rate box, size small, full of stuff. From my Etsy shops stuff, not just random stuff I found under my bed (unless you want that kind of stuff, idk). Stuff like soaps, lip balms, solid scents (all vegan, mind you), jewelry and accessories, and even maybe super secret sneak peeks at things yet to come. Whatever I can fit in that box- I'm thinking I won't even pad it... though that might be a bad idea, on second thought. I probably should pad it- it would stink to win a box fulla stuff only to have it arrive with half of it damaged :(

How to enter: Follow my blog, and leave a comment here (with some way to contact you, email, twitter, it doesn't matter, whatever you're comfortable posting here is fine by me) on this post. That's it! Of course, you can help speed the process along by tweeting about this giveaway, or emailing your friends, or posting it on Facebook, etc, etc, but I'm far too busy to do what some other people do with their giveaways, giving "extra" entries for tweeting, or for making purchases, or for posting links on blogs, or whatever. I simply don't have the time to verify all that stuff, so I'm keeping it simple. Now, if random.org draws the number which corresponds with your name, but you haven't commented here, I will choose another winner. Additionally, if the winner does not respond to my attempt to contact them (using the contact info they have posted here) within 3 days, I will choose another winner.Sorry, that's all part of my keeping it simple- I don't want to have to chase down any body so I can give them FREE STUFF.

Check out the Etsy shop (link over there to the right) to see examples of what you might could win, or check out these pics for an idea:

No guarantee as to what you'll be getting, but hey, it's free, right? Good luck!

Wax Seals!

2009-10-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Just got my new wax seal in the mail today- it's part of my whole "store packaging makeover" project that I've been slowly working on... one thing at a time, though, right?

Here, check it out:

I can't wait to get another order in so I can use this thing on something!

Oh and By the way... MAKE YOUR OWN LAUNDRY DETERGENT

2009-10-16T21:55:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to post this for FOREVER, but it keep slipping my mind. Mostly because it comes to mind when I am away from the computer. Usually it happens while doing laundry. Homemade laundry detergent- a how-to! I've been making my own for, I don't know, about a year, year and a half now, using 3 main ingredients, plus fragrance. It's easy, it saves (tons) of money, it's more environmentally friendly than store bought detergents, and it's fun, because I can scent my laundry however the heck I want to and I get to control the strength.

Here's what you need:

-Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. It comes in a box that looks like a baking soda box but instead of being an orangey yellow it's a lemony yellow, and it's BIG. Big like a cereal box big. It's usually found in the laundry section at your local store, right next to this next ingredient...

-Borax. 20 Mule Team is the brand I buy, and it's also the only one I've ever seen, but I suppose that if you have another brand available to you, you could use that as well. Just make sure it's 100% Sodium Borate.

-Soap. Any old soap will do. You can use fancy handmade soaps, or you can buy the cheap stuff from the dollar store. I buy "Pure & Natural" made by the Dial Corp- it's hardly pure or natural, but it's (mostly) fragrance free, and it's hypoallergenic. It's also cheap- I hear they sell it at the dollar stores, in a 3 pack, for- you guessed it- a dollar! Heh, I get mine at the grocery store and pay less than $2 for my 3 packs though, so it's pretty cheap no matter where you buy it. You can get whichever soap suits your fancy- try some Fels-Naptha or that other one whose name I forget at the moment for an extra boost of clean, go to that fancy boutique up the street and buy some fancy scented soaps for your laundry because you need to pamper yourself, or buy Ivory because it's crazy cheap. My Pure & Natural turns into a fine powder when I rub it on the grater, and that's why I like it, but more on that later. I've also used Ivory and the laundry soap that's like Fels-Naptha but isn't... I really wish I could remember the name of that one.

-Fragrance (optional). Use something approved for skin contact; soap fragrances, for instance, are ideal, as are essential oils. You can get fragrance oils for soap at your local craft shop, or there are about a million places you can order them from online. Steer clear of candle fragrances unless you know for a fact that they are safe for use on skin- this detergent, like any commercially available one, may leave some of itself behind on your clothing, and you'll want to make sure that the scents you put in it aren't going to cause skin irritation.

Now, you're also going to need:
-A container to put the finished detergent in, and maybe a few extras to put extra soap in if you decide to plan ahead like I do. I store my unused shredded soap in large ziploc band plastic tubs- the really large "family size" ones so I can whip up a batch of laundry detergent in 30 seconds or less.
-Some way to grate your soap. I use an old-fashioned 4-sided cheese grater, and a lot of elbow grease. I tried this little cheese shredder thing with a spinny handle, but it didn't work very well for me. I hear some people use food processors, but if you do that, do you really want to use that thing for FOOD ever again? I sure wouldn't, and I don't see a need to own 2 food processors, so every 6 months or so, I shred up 3 bars of soap. By hand, using a cheese grater. It's a pretty good workout, I guess, and I can get it done in less than 45 minutes.

First off, you need to get your 3 main ingredients into powder form. The borax and the washing soda come this way, but your soap most likely does not. So, grab your chosen method of shredding, and get to it! I shred 3 bars of soap in a sitting, one at a time, but only so that I don't have to do it more than 3 times a year :) A little trick I've learned: dry soap shreds MUCH finer than fresh soap. So when I go and buy bars of soap for this purpose, I open them as soon as I get them home, and then stash them away. I probably won't use them for a few months, so they have plenty of time to dry out and get nice and hard. Then, when the time comes, I can take my dried out soap and scrape them on the finest side of the grater, and end up with powdered soap instead of shredded soap. This provides for a superior clean, as the soap will now dissolve readily in water, whereas large shreds might not fully dissolve in the wash, and could even end up leaving little soapy bits on your laundry! If your soap does come out shredded rather than powdered, don't worry- you can make sure it will dissolve in the wash by starting your load off with hot water (before adding your laundry), adding your detergent, then switching to warm water once your little soap bits have dissolved in the wash water.

Once your soap is shredded/powdered, all you need to do is take your 3 dry ingredients, measure out equal amounts of each one, and mix together. I use a cup of each, and put them all in a large glass jar, screw the lid on, and give it a good shake. You could use 1/4 cup of each if you were using a particularly small container, or 3 cups of each if you were making a really large tub of detergent. I've found the 1-1-1 ratio to be quite effective, though, so it's what I use.

If you want a scented detergent, add a few or a lot of drops of your chosen fragrance to your mixed detergent, and mix again. Keep in mind the base scent of your detergent, though- if you used a scented soap, you may not need to scent it, and you'll certainly want to keep the base fragrance in mind when adding scent to your detergent. This is why I use the Pure & Natural soap- it's got the tiniest bit of fragrance to it, and that disappears after about 2 drops of whatever fragrance I add. To my 1-1-1 cup detergent, I usually add about 3mL of fragrance, adding a few drops, mixing, adding a few more drops, mixing, etc, until it's all in the detergent. That way I don't get big clumps ;)

That's it- homemade laundry detergent. Easy as pie.

Use 1 Tbsp per load of laundry, or 2 for really dirty loads (I'm not sure on the exact amount one would use in one of those fancy high efficiency washers, but I hear it's usually half what you would use in a regular washing machine). Put it in your wash water as the drum is filling and let your laundry soak for 15 minutes before letting the machine run its cycle for a great presoak, or just toss it in and go. We have hard water, so I always add 1/4 cup or so of baking soda to every load so that the detergent can do its job on my clothes instead of wasting it on softening the water, but if you have decent water at your place you won't need to do that. This stuff works just as well, if not better than, the stuff we used to buy from the store, and it's so much more cost effective.

Just remember not to use the container you put your detergent in for anything else, ever again. Keep that in mind when selecting your container and you'll be all set.

Oh and if you want a cheap, natural fabric softener that leaves no residues or scents on your clothes, use white vinegar. Pour it into one of those "Downy" balls, up to the line and everything, and throw it in with the wash. The rinse cycle will rinse away the smell, so don't worry about that; the vinegar will soften your fabrics AND help to rinse out the rest of the detergent. The only thing it doesn't do that well is stop static, but vinegar actually softens clothes as well as any sheet fabric softener out there.

If anyone has any questions or additions to this, I'd love to read your comments! Have fun making your own laundry detergent!

Today I made soap

2009-10-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

But not just ANY old soap, no... this is "real" soap, made with oils and lye and lots and lots of messes and mixing :) I failed to take any pics of the process, but I'll be sure to update this listing with pics of the results when I have them... as it's my first batch of cold process ever, there's no guarantee how it will end up- usable? garbage? the best soap ever made?

...Only time and saponification will tell, but so far everything seems to be going as it should. I mean, I HAVE spent the last 8 months or so reading and reading and reading about this. I'd hope that I'd be able to at least end up with usable, if not salable, soap on my first go round. It's a black bar, with swirls of red and gold throughout, or at least that's how it looked when I poured it into the mold.

Came up with a special new fragrance for it too- and as soon as supplies come in I'll be offering it in a solid scent in the Etsy shop, so you all can enjoy it before the soap is ready (assuming, of course, that the soap comes out awesome enough to sell, which it *may* not). A rich blend of scents: cracked coconuts and fresh limes dance amongst swirls of dark musky woods, hint of vanilla, and a sprinkle of powder. All I could think about when making this was Morocco. Which brought me to Tangier, which made me think Burroughs, then Kerouac, then- Desolation Angel was born.

Unfortunately I used up ALL of my coconut scent in the blend for the soap, and I was able to make just enough of it for the soap, but no more. I actually kinda lucked out that way, I guess- it could have ended up that I didn't have enough of this new fragrance to use in my soap, and then what would I have done? :) I was able to get a couple of drops out of the mixing container, and I made myself a sample size solid scent with this divine mixture, but no more shall be had until I get my scents back in stock. Which is a shame, because this tiny jar I have is very dilute and I fear it won't last me the 8+ days it's going to take for my stuff to get here. And the soap won't be ready for use for AT LEAST a month!! I don't know what I'll do in the meantime... this scent is amazing, and I don't usually say that about things that I make.

Anyway, time to go get some orders ready for shipping tomorrow- I'll be back to update this with pics when I can!!

Edit: Here's pics!! I couldn't wait, I had to cut into it a little early, and I took pics as I went. Man, I don't know how I'm going to deal with having to wait 4-6 weeks to use this stuff :( I'm no expert, but it looks pretty alright to me, and the scent survived the saponification process wonderfully... I could have poured it a bit sooner, I guess, to eliminate some of the bubbles I trapped, and I think next time I'll use activated charcoal for black rather than oxides, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Oh and I have to do more swirling on the next round, for sure. I thought I had overdone it- guess I was wrong!

Lookin' good, Desolation Angel, lookin' good.

Stacks and stacks! LOL Soaphenge.

I think...

2009-10-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

...it's time to start a giveaway.

In time for Xmas?

What will it be?

Hmmm...

How shall I proceed?

Stay tuned!

Etsy <3's me!

2009-10-10T04:49:00.000-07:00

And I heart Etsy.

Really.

This has been an awesome week for my shop, being featured in both the Etsy Finds blog post (again) AND on the Front Page last night! Checking into Craftcult, this is what it looks like when you've actually got news ion the "Featured" tab:

It was pretty cool to see that.

I got a screenshot of the FP, too- I pretty much heart every item that was up there with me; anatomy is so freaking rad. LOL I also wound up buying from one of the sellers, CraftieRobot, so I guess that being on Etsy's front page IS good for business! Here's the entire collection, minus one- Wengergirl's mermaid skeleton teeshirt sold FAST. As well it should have; it was really cool.

Now, as far as results go, I wound up with 2 large sales last night right around the time I was on the FP. One of them, I'm not sure was a result of being on the front page, but the other one, I'm pretty sure, came from there. I also had a potential customer contact me regarding another good-sized order, and the item itself wound up with 12 new hearts and 200 or so new views. Not bad for an hour's worth of exposure just before midnight EST, huh?

So, the moral of the story is, do whatever it takes to get your stuff on Etsy's front page so you can get some sales. LOL. No but seriously, it really is good for business, so keep working on those photos and products, and keep up a presence on the site (think: forums, chat, etc) so that more people with the funky little "Admin" tag on their avvies will see you and your wonderful products and think of you when selecting items upon which to bestow what basically is Etsy's highest honor. :)

Sassmowth Designs CONTEST!!!

2009-09-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Check it out- a contest for a free photo print from the one and only Sassmouwth Desgins!!

Here's a link to her blog, for all the nitty-gritty details:

And be sure to check out her Etsy page, there's lots of pretty pics there! This one is my favorite (and coincidentally, the one I'm trying to win :D)

OMIGOSH I'm in Etsy Finds!

2009-08-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am super duper excited to have had my glow in the dark brainssssssss soaps featured in today's Etsy Finds, so I'm just posting about it all over the internet. Please bear with me, I promise the excitement will wear off, eventually ;) But with 5 bars sold already, and dozens upon dozens of new hearts, I'm just so totally stoked about this and am already planning the future of my soap empire...

Here's a link if you wanna go check it out- there's a TON of awesome Halloween stuff in there: Link There's just so much sick talent on Etsy, and i'm glad to be a part of it :D

Oh, p.s. here's a pic of my item, it's my glow in the dark Brainsssssss soap!!

Creepy Queen Magazine- MightySquirm Tshirt giveaway

2009-08-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, I rarely get excited about giveaways, usually because I don't care for the items being given away, or because the amount of effort required to win just isn't worth the prize being handed out. This one is different. Creey Queen Magazine is giving away 2 t-shirts from The Mighty Squirm- check them out here.

Their stuff is AMAZING- I love the artwork, and the shirts appear to be quality shirts. I can't say for sure yet, as I haven't won my shirt, so wish me luck with this and make sure you get yourself an entry or two, here.

The prizes are these two shirts, in size Medium:

I'm really hoping to win the second one, but I gotta say, I wouldn't be unhappy if I won the first one, either- they're both just superb work. Head on over to Creepy Queen Magazine (and register if you haven't already), and enter yourself to win one of these two awesome t-shirts!!

Crisis: Resolved

2009-08-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well, all's well that ends well. The seller who copied my item and description is no longer selling it. I'm not sure whose decision it was to remove the item, the seller's or Etsy's, but for now, it is gone.

We'll just have to keep an eye out on other handmade sites like Artfire, etc, to see if she decides to be all thefty over there ;)

Thanks again to all of you who helped me to deal with this in a responsible and adult manner. Left to my own devices, I'd probably have done some really bad stuff and gotten myself kicked off of Etsy, lol. You guys are the BEST :)

CopyCattery Updates

2009-08-13T09:07:00.001-07:00

Hi all, thanks to you all for your support in this; I hope to see this resolved quickly. Etsy admin is AMAZING- they got back to me this morning! I was pleasantly surprised by that, after being told it might be a week or so before I heard from them. I am forwarding to them all relevant information regarding these items, and they should be taking care of this soon. For anyone who's interested, Etsy's copyright policy can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/copyright_policy.php; apparently all I have to do is send them some info regarding these items and they'll make this right. Etsy doesn't wanna be associated with design theft anymore than most of the rest of us do- it's icky! I'm confident that this will be resolved shortly, and that this other seller will realize that not only is it just not cool to copy other people's work, it's not worth the hassle. Especially not for 6 bucks!! Sheesh.

Speaking of the other seller, I haven't received a response to my convo, but I did see that they slightly altered the wording to their listing. I can only assume that that is their response to my note. They only changed it slightly though, I mean, the first few words are still the same! Uncreative people are so predictably boring...

Anyhow, I'll let you all know what happens with this as things develop.

My first copycatter!

2009-08-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

If they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then why do I feel so damn INSULTED right now? I popped into chat this evening, to say hi and see what was happening, when I stumbled across a very FAMILIAR item... it was one of mine, sort of. The ring base was a cheaper, lesser-quality one than what I used, but the overall idea was mine. Then, I read the description after a friend pointed it out to me- it was also mine, WORD FOR FREAKING WORD. I was shocked. So, I did what any reasonable Etsy seller would do, I posted her item in chat. She replied with a "hey thanks for posting my item I'm glad you liked it!" type post, to which I responded by posting my item in chat.

She left, lol.

Here's a link to my item, and a screenshot of the offending item; I refuse to link to it b/c I don't want to give her shop full of lies any undeserved traffic.

My item: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27067403
She even had the balls to HEART the freaking thing before she stole it!

The incriminating screenshot (all identifying info has been removed):

I have forwarded UNALTERED screenshots of both items to Esty admin, and hope to see this situation resolved soon. Wish me luck!

Cupcakes- made of soap!!

2009-07-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to trying out my new 3D cupcake molds- I have regular size and mini sizes, and they're really cool. Getting them out of the molds isn't so cool, but they do come out, eventually. Here's some pics of the large one I made... next time I'll be paying more attention to the coloring, but as this was my first run with them, I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time. Honestly I wasn't sure that they would even come out of these molds, the walls are so thick. Now that I know they will, the next batch will be pretty pretty :)

PS- it's scented a fresh and clean-smelling Sage Citrus, can't wait to actually USE it!!

Top 100 Handmade Products Websites Site

2009-07-12T16:57:00.001-07:00

I just signed up, I figure why not, right? There's a few openings there currently if any of you guys wanna get your shops up there- it's 100% free. Here's a link: http://tophandmade.gotop100.com/in.php?ref=124 I'm not sure if it'll lead to any new sales yet, but... seeing as the initial investment consisted of about 5 minutes of my time, I don't see any downside to signing up.

Plus they have a sweet looking cake background that makes me hungry :)

UPDATE: I have also joined up with The Soap Seduction Top 100 site, for all of the same reasons stated above. Here's a link to that site too :) http://thesoapseduction.gotop100.com/in.php?ref=184

Steampunk Soap?

2009-07-07T05:26:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I figured why not? It's pretty much made its way into everything else, but I had yet to see any soapy products inspired by days gone by, so...

I'd like to say I scented them all with old-fashioned scents which have been carried since the Victorian era, but that'd be untrue. One of them smells like cotton candy :) The other two, though, were scented with some fragrances that are sure to trip that "nostalgia" switch in your brain. The key with wings has been sold, so I'm down to two, but more will be made, soon. I'm waiting for something awesome to come in the mail so I can get to work; the next round of these "art soaps" as I like to call them is gonna be so freakin' rad.

Today I climbed a mountain

2009-06-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

...and I did it before 10 am!! Go, me! Unfortunately, I took no pictures because I didn't bring a camera. Maybe next time- I'm going to incorporate this into my routine, so there should be pics eventually. Oh man I'm beat now though, and it isn't even lunch time. Here's some pics from the last time I went up there, taken with my old Kodak camera on a hazy day. The next round'll be on my Nikon D40 and I'll wait till the air is clear :D

Rhymes with Orange

2009-05-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

Today I will share with you some things what rhyme with orange. And since everyone knows nothing rhymes with orange, here are some things that are orange :)

The Floppy Disk Notepad in translucent orange is being sold by TheGeekeryShop. It's a pad of lined paper sandwiched between two orange floppy diskettes- I swear I've seen this design somewhere else, but never in orange. The lucky purchaser gets their choice of a blue or a black pen with their order.

"A Clockwork Orange" by LanitaPhoto is an 8x8" artphoto print; I thought it was pretty cool looking.

MarymeeStudio made this vase, titled "Vase with Vines in Peachy Orange". I believe that is a fairly accurate title.

LucyMaude has got a ton of cool vintage stuff for sale, but check out this awesome tangerine patent leather purse!! This is a classic, and a perfect bag for going out this summer- and because it's vintage, there's very little chance that anyone will have the same one.

Ah, here are some firepolished beads for sale from SurpriseSupplies. I really liked the way this photo stood out from some of the others in my searching.

DogboneArt is selling this "Nervous Robot" shirt and various variations of it in their Etsy shop. I love the look on this robot's face. He's all like "uh oh..."

Pyrex!!

2009-05-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

Pyrex is probably my favorite thing to use in the kitchen- if I could, I'd use it for EVERYTHING, and in fact, I'm working my way up to that. My collection pales in comparison to some I've seen, but it's getting there. Cooking, serving, storing, Pyrex does it all, and more. The vintage stuff is by far my favorite- check out these awesome finds from Etsy:

On sale for only $3 by Piratesb00ty, it's chipped but I'm in love with the pattern. I have a piece from that set and would like to one day have them all. These little mixing bowls are great because they have two spout-handle things, one for pouring and the other for holding while you're pouring.

This awesome refrigerator dish is being sold by GoodSamaritan. What's a refrigerator dish? Hell if I know, but I want one. Actually, I've seen them sold with lids, I think they're like the pre-plastic version of Tupperware.

OMFG I want these so bad. Look at them. LOOK AT THEM!!! Sassboxclassics is selling them for $85, which is a bit steep but come on- it's a complete set and look at the colors. I mean, they're magnificent. The only problem with this set is that I'd be too afraid of ruining them to actually use them, so they'd just sit on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.

Take a gander at this set being sold by PlaidPonyVintage! At only $30 for the two of them, PLUS LIDS, it's a real steal of a deal. They're beautiful AND functional, and totally going on my list of stuff to buy one day when I have money to burn.

Lastly, I present to you a baking set in the prettiest shade of pink. Cassielynne has these in her Etsy shop, for now, anyway. These are way too awesome to be around for very long. A 2 quart covered casserole, and two baking dishes, one 2 quart and one 1.5 quart, would make for a great start to your very own Pyrex collection.

zALGO

2009-03-26T19:10:00.001-07:00

͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~HE ͡҉ ҉̔̕WHO͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉̵̞̟ WA͡҉ ҉̔̕̚~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇ITS BEHIND ͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉
͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇THE ͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉WALL ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇͡҉
҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇

͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝
͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇HE
COMES͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝
͡҉ ҉̔̕̚̕̚҉ ~ ҉

Up and Running

2009-03-12T14:25:00.001-07:00

...or, walking, maybe. The new shop is finally open at Etsy, and can be found here:

I've also taken the time to get my Zazzle account active again, as well as signing up for seller accounts at:

RedBubble

Dawanda

and Artfire

Visit WhiteFlagDesigns's ArtFire Shop

This is going to be interesting, trying to keep all these shops up and running. Reckon I'll be busy.

Oh I almost forgot- a link to my Zazzle account!

make custom gifts at Zazzle

My Etsy Supplies Shop

2009-03-01T23:42:00.002-08:00

Whilst I get busy setting up for the grand opening of White Flag Designs on Etsy, have a look at my old shop, which I've decided to dedicate to selling supplies to fellow Etsians.

Etsy
Buy Handmade
yourmominavolvo

BLogging

2009-03-01T23:42:00.001-08:00

LOL