Big, big, BIG break...

So, we found out on November 8th that we're expecting our third little miracle! The baby is due July 23, 2009 and although I think I would love to continue creating for Etsy, I know how I am while pregnant. I'll likely be spending most of my time SHOPPING on Etsy for all things baby right down to the cloth diapers. ;) If I do happen to get bit by the creative bug, I'll definitely let you know! :D As of right now, I need a huge nap. lol Lots of hugs and love to you all! XOXO

Wow, I didn't realize!!!

It's been over a month since I've written! I've just been creatively challenged for a while and I haven't felt like making anything new. Life is a little beyond crazy right now so I'm taking yet another break from Etsy. I need to de-funk before I attempt to craft again.

I got some polymer clay and although I have a LOT of ideas, I need to get the curing method down. I'm either burning my clay while baking it or it's not curing all the way. Bummer! I made the cutest little cake because that was what made me want to try my hand at clay in the first place. It was so adorable when I put it in the over to cure but something went horribly wrong. lol Oh well. I'll get it down. I'm looking at the prettiest colors with something fabulous in mind. ;)

And what IS wrong with me? It's 9:30am and I'm eating one of those NASTACULAR frozen burritos! That's soooo gross and nasty but ATM, it's deeeelish!

Featured EtsyBlogger!!! TulipsTreasureBox

I can't even begin to imagine the amount of time, talent and patience this takes but I'm in awe and I SO admire her work! She's featured for a good reason! These amazing works of art come from Tulips Treasure Box at Etsy! Please go and visit the shop! :D The blog is TuLipsTalking.blogspot.com

Back to school- EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival!!!

So, the subject of what 'back to school' means for you came up and I thought it was a good time to talk about it here. :D

'Back to school' is pretty much just another day at home. Since we're homeschoolers and we go year 'round, this is just something we say in the morning. Before we actually started our homeschool journey, I had a system in mind for how it would go down. We would start in the fall and end in the spring and then promote to the next grade level! No big deal!

We received our first grade curriculum on May 17th in the mail and as I looked through it, Madeline just got more and more excited to start! What do you tell a kid who is over-the-moon about learning? "No, you have to wait until the fall! The FALL is when you're allowed to start learning!" Um, no thanks. I have no desire to break a kid's heart. LOL I get a LOT of 'YOU MAKE YOUR KID GO TO SCHOOL OVER THE SUMMER??????' outrage, but they just don't understand how it is. I have a 6 year old who reads at the 9th grade level and comprehends at the 9th grade level. She's a stinkin' sponge! If I wait a little longer to get school started, I'm absolutely HOUNDED by her to get started! I had to convince her to take a day off on her birthday!!! LOL

Our youngest just turned 4 and will start pre-k curriculum in September. She's a different kid so she might need a different schedule and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. :D Either way, it's my life's passion to homeschool. It's my absolute joy and privilege. I'm good at it. No, I'm excellent at it! Hang out for a little while longer and I'll still be patting myself on the back. LOL J/K

I have plans, ya know!

I really do plan on getting back on track with my shop. I've had too many blog posts here saying I am and to watch for new stuff. Then I get off the computer and forget or I end up cuddling with my kiddos and it's just not my priority. My very wonderful cousin sent me some cute, CUTE fabric today and I'm planning on making some dresses or shirts with them. I'm going to offer some new styles, too! I'm so excited to get sewing! I need a long weekend where my computer and TV spontaneously stop working (just for the weekend though! OMG, can you imagine? HAHA) and I do nothing but sew. Maybe I could get the hubs to take the DVR and my DSL modem with him while he takes the kids out for an adventure! HAHA I'm seriously addicted to TV. It's pretty sick. I have every episode of Project Runway recorded but I haven't watched any of them because I'm so far behind on my TV watching. I had to totally drop Days of Our Lives because there just wasn't that extra hour in my day to watch it. Oh, wait... Etsy... That's what I'm supposed to be talking about.

So, anyway, I'm going to take Friday night and Saturday and just sew like crazy.

Oh, hey! Guess what I made tonight!!! You know the cheese rangoons from Panda Express? I made my own and they were A-MAZING!

1 packages cream cheese, softened
6 green onions, minced
1 tsp sugar....yes, sugar!
1 tsp salt
couple grinds of pepper (or dashes, whatever)
Wonton wrappers!

Peanut oil
water

Keep your stack of wonton wrappers under a damp paper towel while you roll the other ones.

OK, mix up all of your ingredients except the wontons, obviously. Take a wonton wrapper and wet 2 sides. Put about a teaspoon of cheese mixture inside and then bring the wonton together, corner to corner to form a triangle. Then, bring the 2 end points (assuming your triangle is pointing up) to the middle. Secure with a little water and pinch closed. Try to work all of the air out while closing up your wontons and pinch the edges so that they're really secure. I had some poppers and man, that cheese burns SUPER fast! OK, drop them VERY CAREFULLY into your hot peanut oil. You're deep-frying here so don't be chinsy on the oil! Make sure you have a place to put them when you take them out of the oil, too! Don't be like me with all the panic and the OMG's and the PHIL GET ME A PLATE!!!! I totally burned my fingers. That's not part of the recipe, btw. I think you get the idea. These rangoons are best paired with Panda's mandarin sauce. I'm going to attempt to make that this weekend. I'll let you know about that one. ;)

Wow, it's been a while! I have something new, though!!!

And now for something new!!!

So, I was down in the dumps and guess what! A sweet Etsy-seller-friend of mine suggested I make something new. A loop on The Goofy Tooth so you can hang it on a door! HuH? Wha??? That's SUCH a good idea!!! I've already sold one and have another up in my shop and now that alllll of my kids birthdays and t-ball are over, I can get back to sewing and Etsy-ing! I'll soon have The Goofy Tooth up in so many new fabrics that your head will spin, possibly roll! We'll see about the head thing. Anyway, come check out the new item and see what you think! I'm SO excited about it!!!

In other news, I'm still not dead. Life just went absolutely bonkers! At the end of May is my sister's birthday, June 2nd, my youngest daughter's birthday, June 14th is my nephew's, June 21st, my cousin's and June 26th is my oldest's birthday! Sprinkle t-ball practice 2x/week and t-ball games PLUS homeschool! Man, I just didn't have any time to write anything! I'm back in the zone though so I'll be here more! :D

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12881339

I'm not dead!

I'm just still taking a crafting break. Of course, I sold a few things once I stop trying. LOL I'm here though! I have to go start school but I just wanted to pop on and say hi! :D

I can't decide!!!

It's 12:30 in the morning and since I'm not crafting anything at the moment, and I'm just sitting around waiting for The Hubs to get home, I'm stuck deciding what to do. Listen to music or read a book or watch a movie! I've discovered this guy's music that I adore but I also have a really good book going! Dag! ('Dag' is not a word, kids.)

I'm in the mood where I just want to turn up my Ipod, get the ear buds as close to my ear drums as possible and LIVE the music, ya know? I'm one of 'those' people who get creepishly close to their music and I want to eat it and make it a part of myself. Man, I'm weird but it's true. Ever since I can remember, I would find the headphones and deafen myself for hours at a time, sitting behind the recliner in the living room just experiencing my music. Too bad it wasn't very good music, but I've learned since then.

Of course I have the unexplained, lame-crap that I'll listen to that's mainly just fluff and nonsense that I couldn't care less about. When I met my husband, he was playing in this band that was nothing but angry-sounding (our oldest daughter's words) music and I think everyone figured this was one of those music picks of mine that was unexplainable but for some reason, the music did that thing where it carries you away from reality for a while. I couldn't understand the words and when they put their album out and I read the lyrics, I was like, 'Um... Sense? Where is it cause this is crap,' but the MUSIC was what did it for me. I loved it even before I met The Hubs.

One day, I want to get someone to watch my kids so I can just listen to music for a whole day like that again. I always have to keep an ear open for the kids because they're not the best sleepers sometimes and our youngest is ALWAYS getting too hot at night (thanks, Nana! HAHA) and gets upset. Anyway... What? Oh yeah, I'm typing here... To the public...

Onnnnnnnnnnnn the other hand... I have a book to read. I did read 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and it was fab, BUT I'm also starting to read more realistic accounts of Anne Boleyn and King Henry and all the horrific and tragic mess that surrounded them. This is what happens to your senses when you marry a history buff. I would never, in a zillion years, have found this junk to be interesting and yet, here I am...

I've decided against the TV. I have 2 perfectly wonderful options in front of me that I could choose from and neither of them involve letting my brain turn to dookie.

Ok, see? I have a child on Benadryl for allergies and she has bad dreams on it and now she's up. Grrrrrreat!

An Etsy break is needed!

Every once in a while, I get crafted-out. I don't know how some of the high-volume sellers do it sometimes. LOL I placed my tooth pillow listings on hold but if you REALLY need/want one, please convo me using my Etsy shop and we'll work things out. Otherwise, I'm putting my sewing machine away for a bit. I need my kitchen table back, man. My earrings are all still up because I don't have wire-burn-out yet. :D

Upgrading.

It's super boring and I miss my peeps. That is all.

Behold! A window is born!

This is my oldest daughter. She's 5 and she just lost her first tooth! She pulled it herself and then flipped out over the tooth fairy taking her tooth, that SHE grew, away. She was SO not down with that idea. After a lot of trying to talk her into the whole idea, she was just terrified of the tooth fairy and so I made the heartbreaking decision to just tell her the truth about the tooth fairy. It wasn't easy and it wasn't fun but she slept peacefully that night and still got some cash out of it. Poor thing! She thinks way too literally for a 5 year old kid and was afraid of this stranger who would be flying around her room stealing things from under her pillow and hovering close to her.

In other news, she read the word 'requirements' this morning. THAT is pretty amazing! We're expecting her first grade curriculum in the mail today and I'm hoping that the language arts isn't too easy for her. She's soooo bored with kindergarten curriculum and needs a challenge! But when your child reads 'Costco is not responsible for damage caused by unattended carts' at barely 5 years old, you worry. HA!

My Baby!!!

She's playing t-ball and she loves it!!!

Mother's Day

There really aren't enough words to say about my Mom. It doesn't seem like enough to just say she's a cool mom or that I love her. I don't think it's 'the norm' to live next door to your mom (and dad) and be completely happy with that set-up but for us, it totally works out! Today, we were leaving for Dairy Queen and Eleanor jumped off the front porch yelling, 'YEAH! Let's go to Dairy Queen! That's a great idea!!!!' I called my Mom as we were leaving and she answered the phone repeating what Eleanor had just said. It's a really great thing to have family so close. Literally... CLOSE. :D

And the older I get, the more I remind myself of my Mom. Just funny little things like the way I sound when I clear my throat or cough. What strange things, right? But there they are all the time, reminding me that she's my Mom and a part of me. I can't believe she puts up with me every single Tuesday night as we watch American Idol together. I make fun of Paula like you can't imagine and I pause the show 200 times just to point out how squished up to her nose Paula's boobies are. As if she didn't notice!

I think Mother's Day generally goes un-celebrated in our family. Maybe it's because we don't feel guilty that we've been horrible to our mother the rest of the year? Maybe it's because there's never really a concern that she might not know that we love her? Anyway, my Mom is the most amazing woman I know. There's no one else that even compares! Oprah, you're nothing compared to my Mommy! Not that Oprah's a mom but everyone seems to think she's the best at this 'human' thing. Well, she's not. My Mom holds that title, THANKyouverymuch!

My newest item!

HEEEEHEEEEEHEEEEEEE!

Look at these!!! I SUPER DUPER LOVE THEM! They make me so happy and they wear really well! They're currently listed in my shop! They're graceful, fun, sassy, elegant, etc... It just depends on who you are and how you carry yourself! I think these earrings can compliment anyone!

All of the wire is sterling silver as well as the headpins and the ear wires, both of which are handmade.

Nab them up because I'm only making 1 or 2 pairs!!! Convo me if you'd like them in a uniform color instead of mixing them up!

AND THE WINNER IS!!!!

I didn't forget to draw the winner for the giveaway... I just forgot to TELL the winner that they won! See... There's a difference!

Anyway, the winner is Debra Lane Designs and I'm very excited to get the earrings sent her way! YAY! Let's hear it for Debra!!! WOOT WOOT!

OMG, did I just say 'woot'?

FREE EARRING GIVEAWAY!!!

Ch-ch-check it out! Ok, here's the deal... I'm giving away 1 pair of handmade, cherry earrings! They're wire-wrapped, lightweight and cuuuuute!

The rules:

1. Leave a comment on THIS entry!
2. Make sure you leave an email address so I can read you if you're the winner! Leave it in this format: email [at] whatever [dot] com.
3. Check back in a week to see who the winner was!

It's pretty much that easy! The name will be picked at random!


Post away, my friends!

YAY!

Earring success!

I listed 2 more pairs of earrings in my shop and I'm in love with them. I really mean it. If I could, I would totally keep every pair.

These are what I called my 'Vanilla Dangle Earrings'. Why vanilla? I don't know. The color of the beads just look like vanilla to me. Maybe it's just me, but the color is totally soothing. :D

Go to my shop and check out my new earrings and let me know what you think!

OK, anyhow...


Now, check THIS out! I got so excited when my cousin sent me this fabric...Oh, I should say the link to this fabric. I haven't bought it but I WILL. Because I LOVE IT SO!!!! If you love it like I do, you can buy the fabric from my super adorable cousins in Cali and support an Etsy seller! This fabric comes in 2 other colors and I'm dying for them all!

Today is my 9th wedding anniversary! YAY! The hubs and I have gone through a lot of really rough things, especially when we were first starting out. One of which was his mother's passing. We've endured a lot and came out stronger for it. Yes, I'm totally sappy about my anniversary. It can't be helped because I love the guy. He's pretty amazing. So, happy anniversary to me and the Dawg. :D

Genius!

You know, I've admired these I Spy toys for a really long time. I think they're just genius and I know my kids would love them! It's just sheer brilliance, really! I love how the items are printed onto the fabric and I could really see my kids in the back seat sitting together (yes, in their car seats) searching for the charms. And look at the stitching! It's PERFECT! Considering what goes into this item, and all of the goodies on the inside to find, $20 is a STEAL! I also love her car seat covers, her bibs...just everything! Go look at her shop and look at her items. This woman is obviously VERY talented! I'm really impressed and sad that I don't have any babies to buy this stuff for! One day, an I Spy toy will be mine! I mean my kid's! Not me. Cause *I* don't need it! HAHA Kidding. You know I'll totally play with it.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Where did all of my widgets and hoosies goooo???? Don't tell me I have to find them all again! FUN. :(

K, it's fixed. Stupid internet blips.

A few reviews!!!

Have I mentioned my love affair with Gudonyatoo yet? I'm obsessed with that shop and I love everything I see! The shampoo and conditioner? Amazing! I'm really impressed with them both!

I got a box of wonderment yesterday that almost made me to back-flips and hand-springs. Almost... I should lay off the ice cream... ANYWAY.

First up, the fantabulousness of Gudonyatoo's deodorant!

So, here's the deal.... I can over-power every commercial deodorant on the planet! The 'Clinical' deos? Yeah, not so much with the working... Give me about an hour and my body chemistry has figured it out and unlocked the key to stink. Knowing this, I thought, 'OK, Mandy. What would you rather have? Breast cancer from the crap in commercial deodorants or just stinky pits from something natural?' I decided it would be better to just maybe stink. Whatever happened with my deodorant situation, whether I stunk or not, it was worth a try. I ordered.... I used it. You know what happened? I went from morning shower to late-night bed-time with VERY NICE smelling pits! I gave it a few more days to see if maybe my body would figure it out but it never did! I LOVE THIS DEODORANT. Why on EARTH would anyone buy commercialized crap that just DOES NOT WORK. This is a deodorant ONLY, not an antiperspirant but I had no excess sweat issues. In fact, I think the lack of antiperspirant has really helped to regulate my body temperature! I'm usually so hot that I keep my house too cold for normal people! I think maybe by letting my pits breathe a little, it's really really helped! I can't tell you how much I love this stuff. My sister uses it now and she feels the same way. We get together and talk about how nice our armpits smell and go on and on about never buying commercial stuff ever again. We're a little weird.


This..... This is the most amazing experience ever! This is Gudonya Sweet Lips TRIPLE SUGAR Lip Scrubby--Cha Cha Chai Tea Flavor--vegan--2 Oz. Jar! This is one sweet deal for your lips! Simply pinch a little out of the pot, scrub it around on your mouth and then rinse off! Or, if you're my sister, eat it! It's amazing! I tried a lip scrub from Mary Kay once. I thought it was weird and it tasted bad and the lady kept saying, 'DO NOT GET IT IN YOUR MOUTH'. OK, then don't make a product that goes ON your mouth if it's dangerous! I was a little skeptical with this scrub but my sister, my Mom and I all agree! THIS STUFF IS AWESOME! It gave me the smoothest lips and you don't even have to apply lip balm when you're done! It's SUPER moisturizing! And this comes in a 2 ounce jar! Considering how little you need to go to scrubby town, that's REALLY REALLY generous! I just love it. Did I say that already? cause I do!







This is Gudonya's Whipped Clean in Wild Blackberry! I ADORE the way this smells! And the lather is serious! I have one of those shower poofs or whatever they're called... I only need to swoosh it around in the jar once for an entire shower! It's seriously an awesome experience!!!! I've also tried the Strawberry version and it's just as delightful! I used to really love Bath and Body Works shower gels and what-not. Now I just go there to buy the room scents! I have no desire to buy anything else there and that's saying a lot for me because I was an addict!





I've tried a LOT of lip balms and glosses and goo... Honestly? Gudonya just has this in the bag! You would think that a lip balm is a lip balm no matter where it comes from. It's all kinda Chap Stick-y, right? Nope.

This is Gudonya Lip Smoothies!!! I'm SO excited about it, too! It goes on so smoothly! It doesn't tug on your lip and there aren't any weird crystals in it like there are in some other balms I've tried! It's just totally smooth, not at ALL sticky and super duper nourishing to your lips! Even though you don't HAVE to use a lip balm after using the lip scrub, it's still really nice to use a Lip Smoothie to add a little shine to your young-again lips! I adore it and there's nothing like it!




So, there you have it! I'm in love with everything at Gudonyatoo! If anyone ever wants to gift me, I'd take anything from this shop! HA!

The Goofy Tooth is gone...

So, to be honest about The Goofy Tooth.... To tell the REAL story.... Well, it starts with my sister...

I have to start out by saying that I simply ADORE my sister. She's my hero, my best friend. She's beautiful and independent, smart, funny, clever, adorable, etc... I seriously love the lady!

Well, she had this one wonky tooth on the bottom that grew behind the row of teeth. It kind of just hung out in the back like the rebel it was. She always called it her 'goofy tooth' and it was always so funny to us! It was 'The Goofy Tooth'. So, when I started making my tooth fairy pillows, I joked and told her that I was going to name them after her tooth and open a shop and name it The Goofy Tooth and everything about it would be goofy! So, that's exactly what I did!

The only problem is that I don't like running 2 shops on Etsy. So, I moved my goofy teeth to my Magoo shop again.

And to finish this lovely story, it should be known that today, my sister had The Goofy Tooth pulled. She says she has a lisp now and that it's really really weird. I feel kinda sad for that goofy tooth and I feel bad that my sister will likely be in pain because of it. But as she said, if it hadn't been such a rogue tooth, she wouldn't have had to get mean with it! HA!

My sister is awesome!

Sometimes...

Sometimes I get really discouraged doing Etsy. I like making things and it's always so VERY nice when you get a message on there with someone saying how much they love your items. It's awesome to get custom orders! It's amazing to just feel like you're making something that someone LIKES. It's also time-consuming, demanding, sometimes frustrating... It's not ALWAYS rewarding. Every once in a while, I get the urge to purge my shops. Sell everything off for next to nothing (um, sorta like I did to my Magoo shop last week) and just call it quits. Then the craft bug bites me again. I made a cute hat out of some really nice yarn! I sold it this morning and shipped it out. I was SO HAPPY! Etsy pulls me back in and makes me want to make more and see who buys it. I'm not sure what the big draw is though. Is it just seeing people buy my things or is it making money? I don't know! Both are nice but I think maybe the real kicker is getting to know other buyers and sellers this way. I've gotten to know some really amazing, not to mention wildly successful, sellers on Etsy. I love hearing from them. So, I'll craft on. I DO need to take time to make a dress for my oldest! I've been promising! ;)

I've been tagged!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was tagged by http://backwoodsophisticate.blogspot.com with Seven Random Facts so here goes!

Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK, my 7 facts:

1. I have a love/hate relationship with sewing. I love sewing but then again, it gets old fast.
2. I'm actually not crafty by nature. I WANT to be crafty and that's kind of what motivates me to create. "Fake it till you make it" type of mentality there. LOL
3. We're a homeschooling family and we super love it!!!!
4. I stuck a pitchfork through my foot in 5th grade.
5. I'm about to have my 9th wedding anniversary! YOWZAHS!
6. I'm lactose intolerant. Let's not talk about that, k?
7. I knew my husband for mere WEEKS before getting engaged. I was LUCKYYYYYY!!!

OK, I'm gonna tag these peeps:

Morgan Street
Pointless Nostalic
Pamela Michelle
A Mother's Musings
Clear Epic
Little Buggas
Two is Now Three

HUGE SALE

If you go to my shop, http://mandymagoo.etsy.com, you'll see that I've cut my prices like crazy. I'm getting rid of my current stock and starting fresh. Get it if you want it! I'm also accepting offers! ;)

I made somethin' else...

YAY FOR TOOTH FAIRY PILLOWS!!!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10169623

This is a super adorable pillow so that you....um...I mean the tooth fairy, can get in and out quickly without waking up the wee kiddies. I've wanted to make one for a long time but I kept putting it off. I don't know why since it was so fun to make! Oh well! Whatever the reason, it's here now! I also have a TON of different fabrics to choose from so please visit my Etsy shop and convo me if you'd like one of your very own in a different fabric. :D

Ok, vacation's over....Time to get back to work!

I turned on Jimmy Eat World today (Clarity, not their new crappy albums) and got to work. I cleaned off the kitchen table which is my catch-all area that I hate. I did dishes, I fluttered around trying to clean off my sewing area (yikes....) and then I started to sew. I actually only got 1 thing finished before I started a headache and didn't want to sew anymore.. :( Sad. Anyway, here it is. Nothing fancy but a good real-life, I-have-no-bows kinda burp cloth. You know, the kind that you can actually let a baby barf on without going 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!' about. I'm sure the fancy ones are sure to follow but I had no matching ribbon for this fabric. :D

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10142231

Dangit!!!

1. I'm on vacation
2. kids are sick
3. house is messy
4. *I'M* sick now
5. youngest won't stop playing drums!
6. have to get the car fixed and new tires put on!
7. BLERG BLERG BLERG!!!

I am not having fun!!! I started having major swelling in my sinuses last night. Not really like a stuffy nose but weird swelling! It's starting to travel into my throat and I'm SO not cool with this!!! Hubs is on vacation and we had plans! PLANS, I TELL YOU! We were going to hit the zoo and do a little driving and have fun! FUN, I SAY! But now??? NOW??? Poop.

I just want to go get snuggly in my bed with my super-sized sinus-soothing face mask on (which I'll have in my shop at a later date. I LOVE IT).

Poopies. Poop, poop, poopies!

Taking a break

I have a couple of sick little kids and I'll be devoting all of my time to cuddling them and dosing out their cough medicine so I doubt I'll get anything made this week. The hubs is on vacation and we were supposed to get out of town or do SOMETHING but I don't know now. I don't want to be too far away from their doctor.

Oh and GudonyaToo has that conditioner for sale now! I ordered my bottle tonight! I LOVE IT. :D

K, I'm tired and I have a bit of a cough sneaking up on me. Ugh. I hope I don't get sick, but if I have to, I just pray I don't get sick until after they're well. Having the crud along with them is miserable. :(

So, ya know that shampoo???

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9751263

Go order it NOW. Seriously! GO! It's amazing! There's something truly purifying about rubbing a gritty pile of Tahitian Vanilla Salty Dawg Creme Shampoo in your hair! The grit is sea salt and it dissolves, of course, but that initial gritty scrubbing action is AWESOME! My hair was so clean. I mean, this reminds me of when I first tried the tooth chips and it was the first time I was feeling real, true clean! This is how REAL clean hair feels! This is how hair reacts to kindness! It recoils in horror to the chemicals and harsh detergents that are in commercial shampoos! Did you know that the same detergent that goes into shampoo is also the detergent they put in laundry detergent? Would you wash your hair with Tide? Yeah, me either! I lathered up my hair twice just to experience that initial gritty application again. There is NO weird feeling to you hair once you rinse it out either! It's perfectly normal feeling!

I must confess something though... Tina, from GudonyaToo included a VERY generous sample of conditioner she's obviously been working on. There's so much I want to say about it! First, it's the first conditioner in the history of conditioners that didn't make my hair oily all day. It rinsed clean away and I was left with such beautiful, shiny hair! I'm in LOOOOVE! I told my Mom about it and I said, "Mom, it looks like I did my hair today, but I didn't!" Seriously, it had volume and shine which is something that literally NEVER happens to my hair. EVER. I spent my youth buying ridiculous salon shampoos and conditioners trying to find that magic combo that would help my hair! I gave up long ago but now I think I finally found it!

Of course, I then put my ridiculously long hair in a rubber band and ruined all volume that I had going. I need a haircut in a very bad way so I don't have to rely on rubber bands as much.

By the way, I adore the Tahitian Vanilla scent so much that I ordered some of Tina's deodorant in the same scent so my pits can match my hair! Don't you hate it when you love your shampoo scent AND your deodorant scent but when mixed, it smells like something rotting in the kitchen? Just me?

Other than my glowing shampoo report, I ate at Red Lobster today. It was vile and greasy and my tummy hurts wicked bad. Yeah, I said wicked bad. What of it?

Please read!!!

An Etsy seller's husband is currently missing from the Seattle area! Please go here and read more about him!

http://mailpen.net

This is her Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5008691

I'm so extremely excited!!!

I FINALLY got to order some of this stuff from Gudonyatoo!!!

I can't wait to try it out and I LOVE pretty much everything she makes. So watch for my review on it! I'm sure it will be GLOWING and wonderful! I've got a good feeling about this, I tell you!

I have a couple of new items in my shop. A cute soap saver and a size 12 month tee with just about the most adorable little cowboy I've ever seen on it! It's fantabulous!




I'm bummed because the pictures didn't turn out very well. I think I just suck at taking pics. LOL But anyhoo, he's a cute little guy and I hope he finds a home soon!

What I worked on today..

I started out with an idea for a little onesie dress. I had the fabric that I wanted to use so I set out to make it. I measured and trimmed up the uneven edges and started to sew. I got the skirt finished and I sat there looking around for the rest of my fabric that I needed to add the rest. Blerg. I forgot to reserve any. I used it all so now I have one very plain but pretty onesie dress.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9562510

The pictures are pretty bad and I'm annoyed with them because the dress IS really pretty!




Anyway....

BUTT UGLY???

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=7140762

NO! NO! NO!

This soap was AAAAMAZING! I kid you not! It had such a beautiful scent that lasted all day long! I don't think she's making any more as this was an accidental batch, I believe, but man, I hope she has this scent in another soap! All I have left is a tiny nub that I wash my hands with and I nearly cried when it got too small to lather up my washy poof thing! BUT, in its prime, this soap was SO foamy and soft and wonderful! I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that my water bill was just a little higher when I had this soap. I just wanted to stand in the shower and sniff the bubbles! The bar was REALLY large, too, compared to other soaps I've seen out there. I was really surprised! "Generously sized" isn't an accurate description. Honkin'? Yeah, that would be the size! If this lovely bar of soap was an accident, then I can't WAIT to try out more from Morgan Street!

And that, my dear friends, is that!

So, it's been a while!

How were your holidays??? Mine? CRAZY. Drama-filled. Fun. Wonderful...etc...

I've been spending a lot of money on Etsy lately. I just wanted to give a few really good reviews. :D

My last purchase...


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8979689

I bought this hat from my very good friend and fellow RP lady, Jennie. Isn't it cute??? I got it for my nephew and he adored it! He's 6 and he ran around with his shaggy little boy hair, Heely's, a Nerf revolver gun dealy and his sweet little panda hat! LOL He's such a tough guy but he melts for those pandas, man.

Next up:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9046944



This is some serious face-wash! It doesn't lather at all but it's serious... I was a little worried about it at first because it has shea butter in it and when you're rinsing it off, well... It's rather odd feeling. I didn't trust that my face was clean because 1. No foam, 2. No over-powering scent that screams STOP SCRUBBING, I'M CLEAN!!! So I ended up using regular bar soap to do a once-over on my face AFTER I used this stuff. Then I decided to stop doing that to see what happened... What happened was my face was PERFECTLY moisturized and clean as a whistle! I have VERY oily skin but I'm used to using really harsh stuff to try to get it de-oiled leaving my skin partial to over-drying and cracking and all of that good stuff. My skin these days? Lookin' gooooood! I'm very happy I tried this stuff! It takes a little leap of faith to trust more natural products when you've relied on chemicals for so long.

NEXT UP:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8980583



Oh if I didn't think it was weird, I would TOTALLY take a picture of the bottom of my feet to show you! I SOOOOO love this stuff! I got the Japanese Cherry Blossom scent. It smells a liiiiittle bit like some deodorant I had but since I use it primarily on my feet, who can really notice, right? It melts into your skin pretty much on contact. My feet are usually pretty crazy rough. Cracked heels, huge calluses that are pretty stubborn... Not cool. The first time I used this stuff, I slathered it on, put on my aloe socks and went to bed. I woke up to...dare I say it? BEAUTIFUL feet! They were lovely! I'm ready for sandals in January! I'm almost out of it so I'm going to try cinnamon next! WOOHOOO!

NEXT UP:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8593335



Don't knock it, 'till ya try it!

I have pretty serious mouth issues. I'm allergic to commercial toothpastes, even Tom's of Maine. We went fluoride free a long time ago cause... What can I say? I'm a hippie, I guess!

My sister actually sent these to me and I HAD to try them! To be honest, I've tried brushing with soap before, but it was Irish Spring. I stuck with it longer than a normal person would and I loved how clean my teeth was! The Irish Spring taste first thing in the morning though... *shudder* Soooo, anyway... I love tooth chips! They're something that I can actually stick with long-term AND the owner of the store is WONDERFUL to work with and I love seeing pictures of their new baby goats! They also have a website outside of Etsy. www.roseofsharonacres.com I loved celebrating the new goats and I was so sad to hear about poor Patches: http://roseofsharonacres.com/memorials

And while we're talking about this shop, I have to tell you about my Mom's experience with their regular soaps (and yes, my whole family has become tooth chip users and we all swear we'll never go back). She ordered some regular soap from them and let me sniff. I was in heaven with their chocolate-minty soap. Oh it smelled like Junior Mints and my Mom says that it's such nice soap to wash with! Very foamy and very kind to your skin! :D So, yay! More good news for ROSA!

NEXT UP:

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=7027514




This ring was a PIF purchase. PIF= Pay It Forward. I loved this ring and although I feel bad that I only paid $2.20 for it (and that's including shipping), I'm happy to put something in MY shop as a PIF for only 20 cents, plus shipping! I have another ring from Lucie that I adore, however it's a Christmas ring. These rings LOOK like they might be hard to wear or thing and prone to bending. I assure you. These rings are SERIOUSLY strong! The wire hasn't bent on me and I've done dishes, mopped, wiped kid's butts, etc... My rings look perfectly new! Everyone who sees this ring just tries to steal it from me! Good thing I know Kung-Fu! LOL

Ok, that should do it for me for now! I have a LOT more to share but I'll spare you for right now. :D