Handmade Soap

Making your own soaps

As a reminder, your skin is your largest organ and so many toxins are brought into the body through it.  Sometimes it's environmental and hard to shield ourselves from but often we slather chemicals and many artificial ingredients on without realizing what we're doing.

Upon death, women are found to have built up a significantly larger store of toxins and it could easily be attributed to our lifestyles and the beauty routines we keep.  Daily, from morning to bedtime, we have the rituals of creams, sprays, makeup, and cleansers all harboring artificial scents, colors, and chemical combinations.

By replacing some of the products you use, you could reduce the toll on your body and maybe even alleviate some allergy symptoms you weren't even aware of.

So check out the link above to get some tips!

Iced Coffee At Home

Very tired of spending so much on iced coffees and other amazingly yummy drinks.  Since I make all my chais at home, decided to take on iced coffees.  Really, I find that what makes shop-bought so awesome is that they add a lot more sugar than I would at home. 

Here are all the ingredients you need: 

-Simple Sugar
.....in a saucepan (or in the micro, it's just that mine is unbelievably gross at the moment) heat half a cup of sugar and half a cup of water, stirring until it is all dissolved.  I keep this solution (chemistry term, go high school!) in an old jam jar in the fridge for future coffee drinks or mojitos

-Cold Coffee
.....after the morning, whatever hasn't been drunk goes into a jar and right into the fridge.  since i really can't do caffeine (and my husband's coffee is horrendously strong) it helps that you can dilute it a lot with the ice and milk
-Milk
.....or soy/rice/coconut/almond milk.  you know what you can have
-Ice
..... that stuff that you make in the ice cube trays

first mix the coffee and simple sugar (when ice goes first it's hard to stir), then i fill the glass 3/4 up with ice and milk to the top.  again, a lot of sugar is the secret to any dunkin donuts or mcD tasting iced coffee

Recent Etsy Purchases

When there's money in my PayPal account, it doesn't stay there long!

As I journeyed deep into the shops of Etsy last night I came across The Healing Leaf who sells herbal teas and other goods.  The ingredients are organic and with each listing she has some information on how the herbs can be used as remedies for common ailments.  I read through her many positive reviews and placed an order for some Lady's Mantle, Yarrow, and Yerba Santa- how could I not when shipping is so much cheaper on multiple purchases?  She shipped them out today and I am anxiously awaiting making a great pot of tea!

I still continue my search for alternative medicines and grow increasingly frustrated with pharmaceutical ads on television and in magazines.  It's such a joke to mask your symptoms while never addressing the true cause AND to do damage to your bodies with these drugs!

There are so few out there who want to help you be truly healthy and some of them are pursued by the government (FDA) because a cure to anything would diminish the profits of many billionaires.  As the presidents of organizations such as the American Cancer Society drive around in mercedes and jaguars do you think they'd give up their money, lifestyles, and that of their children to replace these ongoing treatments with finalizing cures?  They don't want you to buy one med and be cured.  They want you to buy your pills every month for the rest of your life and be scared to stop.

And best of all, many times the cure isn't even a manufactured product- it's an herb you can grow in your garden or simply an issue of a nutrient deficiency.  How can they make money on that?

You must also be wary of those who present themselves as altruists but are really looking to profit from those seeking true healing.  An example would be Kevin Trudeau- though I found many great truths and advice in his book, the majority of it was political and of course there was the To Be Continued aspect so that you need to buy all his books.  Please go to the library.  The books I have are from the goodwill, various thrift stores, handed down, or bought on sale.  This should be shared knowledge and our health should not be a for profit operation.

Wow, I really just wanted to say I'm excited to get my teas!

Last week I purchased some great items from Blood Pudding Press

I was very pleased with the art supplies I ordered and it was very cutely packaged!  Please check out both shops and as much as possible support artists and one of a kind products.  Even when something is more expensive, there's no need to be a materialistic society that thrives on the swelling amount of possessions we can attain- an item we save up for will be cherished and passed on with more sentiment than any bauble we'd get at a Target.  Plus, who wants to walk around and see 50 other people in their city with the same item?

Red Giant's Dysfunctional Majesty

Another Art Announcement:

The 4th album from Red Giant is due for release in September from Small Stone Records.

This is what the trip to Boston was all about!

AA Revival

I'm so very proud and yet jealous of my dear friend K.t. because she has kept the soul of Artisans Alliance alive and is the needle that threads together the best, most eclectic group of Cleveland artists.  As I sat here missing being surrounded by such amazing people I came to the realization that it's about time to start AA-Raleigh!

I began participating in local art events and although I've enjoyed it and done well I'm so damn lonely.

This week will begin the postings searching for artists and the search for a cool meeting place- I'd use my new apt but I'm really not looking forward to being robbed and murdered by strangers.

In Etsy news, I created my first treasury entitled: Just lay back, Doll featuring a darling burlesque outfit, an ostrich feather boa, Nipple Jewelry, a vintage brothel token and many others!  Dirty, dirty things!

Purse Photoshoot

Had some stuff made but I really dragged my feet on getting it online.  Been busy and and procrastinating.  Lost a bit of my inspiration and motivation.  Finally last week I went "downtown" (on my usual tuesday excursion) and brought a suitcase of crafty items with me.  After grabbing my beloved iced chai and walking a couple blocks I spotted the most prefect rusty building.

I've been looking online and see some awesome upcoming art events but everything happens on weekends which are perpetually unavailable.

poop.

here's my lovely afro lady:

I burned on top of my sunburn for 4th of July weekend and this week it has turned into tan.  This is the darkest I've been in YEARS AND YEARS.  Normally I'm super sensitive to sun and really limit exposure (plus I lived in Cleveland- the "where the sun don't shine" of the US in more ways than one, heh heh).  But damn if this state ain't so sunny I went 4 shades darker in less than two weeks.

Here I am with yet another bag I'm gonna miss so badly:

I'm reaching for those dreams!  But only half heartedly and with a firm grasp on my bag, cause one cannot arrive at the top to find they are horrendously unaccessorized.

A darling choice of bag for shopping with your friends or hanging outside random buildings.  Vogue.

Where'd I put those darn tampons?

I'm feeling awfully faint from the heat.  I'm fetchin for my vapors.

THE END