I made raspberry jam the other day. My mom and brother and sister picked the berries, and I drove down to their house to make jam for me and for them. It’s delicious…
I want to do more canning and preserving this summer. I never did a lot before because of space constraints… where to store said jars of food? But now that we have a basement, I can do a lot more.
We have a pear tree in the backyard so I might can pears. I definitely want to make blackberry jam when the berries are ripe, and salsa and pickles too.
It seems like canning and preserving is becoming a lost art. I hope to keep it alive a little longer. There is something really rewarding about it.
Mmm fun!!! Today I experimented with something new – I made soy wax tarts. Tarts are basically these scented wax thingies that you put in a potpourri burner (search for tart burner on eBay) to scent your house. I ordered some soy wax ages ago to play with but never got around to it today.
Fun!! I scented the two I made with a scent called “Pixie Dust.” It’s basically a green-y springtime type scent, nice and light. I’ve been burning a lot of buttercream/cookie/cake scents lately so I thought it would be a nice change. I want to make more of these, it’s waaay too fun!!
I think they would make an awesome gifts for a certain holiday coming up…
I didn’t make a doctor appointment today. I was going to, had myself all talked into it, and then I didn’t. I’m stuck somewhere between the “Hello Stupid, this isn’t NORMAL” self-talk and the “Quit whining, no one ever died from a month-long fever” self-talk. At least, I don’t think anyone’s died from it. I’m 99.4 currently, up from 99.3 this afternoon. Does anyone know if I should actually be worried about this?
Anyway, enough about my broken temperature regulator. I found some AWESOME sites I want to share. First up are some I should have posted about a while ago. I Buy DIY is a directory of all things handmade and crafty. I’m listed there. Craft Revolution is another super-kewl directory, with articles as well. Good stuff… and I’m listed there too. Indie Collective is a third directory (and I’m listed… of course!). They all rock, and the next time you need a gift or cool outfit or whatever, try these first.
The super-coolest find of the night? Etsy.com. It’s sorta like the eBay of handmade, except it’s all Buy It Now. Anyone with a digital camera and a little website smarts can set up shop and sell their handmade stuff. I’m thinking of listing some soap, especially my experimental stuff that I don’t necessarily want to sell through my “official” channels. I could definitely get hooked on something like that – I love to do random craft stuff but don’t have any way to sell them… so I guess that’s why Etsy was born.
I have sent requests to a few online (and a few brick-and-mortar) boutiques for consideration to carry my soap – they’re all consignment, which isn’t quite as nice as cash upfront, but I’ll take it. Then I had the idea that “Hey I could open an online consignment boutique too!” Of course, then my sense of reality starts up – and I think perhaps that’s biting off more than I can chew. But it would be sooooo much fun to do! I’ll continue to mull. If I started small, perhaps it’s doable.
Anyway, if I do list stuff on Etsy, I’ll probably post it here… fun stuff…
I’ve been having fun with The Gimp. I took this great shot of a small white church down on the coast of Maui, viewed from above, on this ridge above the Highway to Hana. For some reason, the picture came out kind of funky – the trees didn’t have as much detail as I was expecting, and the church was much too bright. In black and white photography, I would say the whites were blown out. Anyway, I had some fun running the picture through the Gimp’s various “artistic” filters and came up with some cool results.
: the perfection of imperfection : is a lovely website with the most awesome desktop calendars. I just love her work, so if you’re like me and you like to have a calendar handy (and the desktop is pretty darn handy), visit Mamselle and check her artwork out.