asheebeans

Oh, yeah, jewelry-making is another one of those not-so-cheap hobbies! Even the stuff to make my little polyclay jewelry charms can run into some money!! It's crazy!

I will say that the one tool I bought and fell in love with was a pair of pliers that is half-round and helps shape the wire into a loop! I sucked at making a plain, basic loop before but now this pair of pliers actually does most of the hard work for me! I wish I could remember what the tool is called! I bought it at Pat Catan's for like $7 and it is worth it's weight in gold to me! I'd like to see a jewelry class too.

Mine didn't show at first either, I had to click on something to make the gridlines show.....I wish I could remember offhand what it is that I clicked on! I think it was "Align", then you can choose "Show Gridlines" from the drop menu. I hope this helps you some!

I have a few of the older, non-glossy ones. The log molds take quite a beating! The rectangles made me a bit nervous, but they still held up. The soap pop mold is nice but I wish I'd have gotten it in clear! Did you try contacting them? You should not have a mold ripping after that few of uses with NORMAL wear/tear. I only have a few of their molds because I can't afford all of the ones that I want from them! LOL They're kind of pricey!

They are back to normal! Hooray!! Now I have to test the plain balm......scared senseless! LOL

I tried this recipe today & I love how nicely it sets up! i scooped out a little to use on my hands & they felt nice! I used coffee oil & demerrara sugar, btw. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

I added a bit more glycerin and cooked the crap out of it, but it finally came around! So the trick to shorter time is to not use as much olive? I'm going to try that next time around. It's kind of goopy right now, like snot! haha (I only added a bit of water) Thanks for your advice. I can't wait to scent this soap & try it out!

It does have a fairly large amount: 63% Thanks! I think I'll try that. It does bubble nicely when I stir it though! LOL I'm halfway there.....I just have to make sure it won't take my hide off!!

Just when I thought I was going to give up on candles and focus on soap/B&B!! Guess I'm going back to my candles now.....(until a politician who is uneducated about candles decides to pass the "Candles Have Flame" Bill & then what politician is going to vote against a bill that sounds legit but could be full of BS?)

I tried the recipe I received at Light & Lather Artisans and it is now more than 24 hours old and still screaming pink when I hit it with pheno! I cooked it extra, because I thought there was no way it could be done that fast--and it's still not technically done! I added more glycerin and cooked it a bit more while mixing well, and still no luck. Has anyone else tried this method (using glycerin instead of water) ? My first attempt looks like it was a flop!

So how'd the market go?

OMG, cinnamon FO on the eye?!? That had to burn like a mutha!!

You know, I was so excited to have new lip balm that I didn't do a blank....that was stupid on my part! It's the first time that I hadn't and I learned a very ouchie lesson! I bought some Medicated Chapstick and my lips are healing nicely. I'll have it on hand for when I do make a batch minus peppermint to see if it truly was the Peppermint EO. If my lips get fired up again minus the Peppermint, I'm pitching the two pounds of lip balm base that I bought and crying into my pillow for buying so much of it!! That's what I get for trying to get my money's worth on shipping too.

It was Peppermint EO that I used, not flavor oil. Like I said, I used a few (we're talking 5 drops here) in enough base to make 30 lip balm tubes plus 10 lip balm pots. I was afraid to use too much Peppermint, though everything that I was reading online made it sound like you use one drop EO per lip balm tube!! That seemed like a bit much to me, so I only used a little. The supplier is Soapies Supplies. Like I said, I love the staying power of this lip balm! It's not an oil slick, but it lasts for hours! I'm almost afraid to try again minus the Peppermint EO. I wrote asking what the sweetener was in the lip balm but haven't gotten a response yet.

I recently purchased some lip balm base and made some up using VERY little peppermint oil. (A few drops for several tubes' worth of balm.) I used all of the usual precautions and within a few days, my lips are now blistery and swollen and ouchie!! This was a sweetened base, and one I haven't tried before, so I am wondering if the sweetener had something to do with it? I used to use BCN's lip balm with no issue. I thought I would try a new supplier because I'd gotten a gift cert.....now I'm wishing I'd have skipped the lip balm purchase. I look like I stole Mick Jagger's lips and planted them on my face! Help! Here's the ingredient list: Ingredients: Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Jojoba Oil, Vitamin E, and Sweet Flavor for Sweetened Base. I'm disappointed because the base itself was awesome as far as staying power goes. Some lip balms are really greasy like an oil slick and this one wasn't. Too bad my lips feel like I kissed a boiling tea kettle though.......

That's why I hesitate to post in that "show and tell" section. I'm sure it is a well-meaning thing, but you know there are always going to be a few that turn it into something ugly! I don't think I would have liked someone "advertising" on my facebook if they weren't even my facebook friend, let alone selling the same things that I do! You did the right thing in just deleting it. Some people are out for a quick buck and will try to advertise wherever they can--whether they trample on toes or not.

You're so organized!! .....off to clean some of my clutter now..... LOL

I have some celestial colors & am itching to try a column swirl! I think my column is too big though. It's part of a fence post that I scrounged at Home Depot. They actually let me take the wood scraps from what they had cut with their big saw. I was never so excited to get scrap wood in all my life! haha

Yeah, for some reason my meatballer ones never got really hard until I tried that recipe. They are like bricks now! Woot!

There is a bath bomb cupcake class on this forum and the base of the cupcake (that recipe) makes awesome round bath bombs too! I'd suggest trying that one if you want some nice rock-hard bombs.

Steve was fun! He wasn't too disruptive. MY husband would have sat there like a wart on a toad's backside! At least yours is entertaining! LOL

I was going to suggest craftser but someone already did! LOL

I like the little foodie charms, and I watch YouTube tutorials on how to do the basic shapes (like cupcakes and donuts) and have made some other shapes on my own. It's alot of fun!! I have a charm bracelet I made with handmade polyclay cake slice beads and then I took Swarovski crystals and put them onto eye pins and rolled the ends so they look curly. Those went in between the cake slice beads. It turned out really cute and I get alot of compliments every time I wear it! Read up on polymer clay! It's fun to play with and relatively cheap compared to candles/soap! LOL

For starters: http://moldmarket.com/ http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/StoreGroup.aspx?CatalogID=1&GroupID=261&GroupName=Molds%2c+Cutters+%26+Stamps http://www.soapies-supplies.com/shop/ http://soapmolds.com/ http://www.milkywaymolds.com/ These are just a few from searching on Bing, and there were alot more! I don't know where you were searching but this should at least get you started.....

I was going to participate in the swap this year, but a few days before the conference I slipped and fell on my kitchen floor! It hurt like a bugger! I wasn't up to making anything, with my whole side being sore....but I'll have to whip up some cool swappin' stuff next year! (and yes, with kokum, too! haha)