And the winner is....

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

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

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.

Birthday Goodies!

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!

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!

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

No words, just pictures. Enjoy :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of giveaways...

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!

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!

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!

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!