Ultimate Organic Soaps

A working weekend -

2011-03-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

Well, right now it's snowing, but yesterday it was sunny though really cold. There was a cold wind blowing, and because I've been having problems with my asthma all week, I didn't want to dig up more heavy, soaken soil. In any case, the soil in my garden box was frozen so I imagine the soil to be dug up was not much different.
But as always there is a lot of work to get done. We have received a gift of stone during the week. When my brother-in-law was living, he worked with excavators, stone, dump trucks and hauling services, etc. My husband is still quite good aquaintences with some of my BIL's old work mates and they are often only happy to help us out once in a while. We've been needing lots of stone to work with, and this is what we received this week.
Concerning my garden. Everything is going well with it despite the fact nothing is really happening at the moment. But it appears that the neighbors are really impressed and my mother-in-law is impressed beyond impression. So all is right with the world at this point of time.
However, my husband has said to me: It is pink, you know.
Me: Is this a problem?
Him: Not in and of itself, but if we're going to do this and make it bigger in the years to come, we should probably be a little bit more professional about it.
(Well okay - he didn't exactly say it like that..... but it was good enough for me as I would much rather do this kind of work than anything else this weekend).

In the meantime, we had told my kids that they had to do 30 minutes of work for us hauling rock to both sides of the cement wall we're working on. They of course thought that this was the absolutely worst thing that could have happened to them. If you closed your eyes and only listened to them, you would have thought that we were the absolute cruelest of parents by all their crying, complaining and screeching at times. They complained that they were tired, had sore arms, sore legs, were sick to their stomachs, etc. My daughter even said she had a broken bone in her foot. However, as always, when the 30 minutes of work was finished (which took 45 minutes because of the rest breaks needed), the sprang off to their friends and were not heard from again for another 2 hours.

The plan for the wall is to put stone on either side and cover it with soil. On the side closest to the road there will be flowers which my daughter intends to plant from seed (or they can be purchased if problems with this arise). On the side closest to the house a small hedge will be planted to help give us some partial privacy.

And here is how my garden looked after the first coat of paint. The same color as the house and the sheds we have.

Very nice indeed, I think.

A Bed of Potatoes???

2011-03-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make myself a vegetable garden for a long time. But the time was never right - I had kids in diapers, I was focussed on looking for new work, we were preparing to move to a new house, etc, etc, etc.

Now my kids are older, we've been living in our new house for almost 3 years, I'm in a job that I like and things are generally going my way.

I had fully intended to purchase the materials that I needed to make a garden, but as luck would have it my in-laws have moved to a smaller apartment and much of their furniture needed to be replaced. This included the bed. When we heard that they were going to throw out the bed frame, I jumped at the chance to save myself some extra money.

This is the bedframe standing up against the shed.

My husband had left for work at 4 am this morning, but before he left he scraped into the ground where he wanted the garden to be so that it would not interfere with the rest of the landscaping her is working on.

And here at the back of the house we have a tiny little spot of property that is not covered in rock and gravel. The shed you see belongs to our neighbors and is placed right along the edge of the property.

Now, the thing is that this area needs to be dug out and filled with rock and gravel. It has been my job to do this and for 3 years I have not even started on it. In my defense, we had no where to place the soil before now and I was pretty busy with other things anyway. But now the time is right.

I had to admit I wasn't sure how this was going to move forward. I had free reign to use all the material available to me from my husbands tool shed. And like most of my big projects, I prefer to move forward without too much forethought and make adjustments as I need along the way.

Here I was just placing the sections of frame together. Each piece had either industrial screws or screw-holes, so in theory it shouldn't be difficult to put together.

See?? Easy peasy.

I was quite happy that there were no obvious problems thus far, and I looked like I clearly knew what I was doing to those who drove by, honked and waved at me.

I need some re-enforcement pieces of wood to nail into the corners and hubby had said I could use some of his leftovers from when he laid down the floor in the attic a few weeks ago. I found a piece that I thought could be cut into four pieces. It took a while for me to find a saw - but this is no fault of my husband. He is super organized, which is something I really have to work hard at but have been getting better as the years go by. After 10 minutes of looking, I found it hanging in plain view on the back wall of his tool shed. Go figure.

So I cut the piece of wood into four pieces. See that red spot on the upper left piece of wood????

Funny story about that....

Yeah, it's blood. And yeah, I mangaged to cut myself on one finger. Now, I'm not proclaiming that I can saw planks and timber like a professional, but I do proclaim that there's nothing girly about my technique. I've been taught by those who are much better than me and have a good understanding of how to let the saw do the work, take my time, etc.

The problem is that I'm just too cheap. When I came to the last cut to get my last two piece of wood, it wasn't long enough for me to put enough pressure on it with my left hand while sawing with my right. And I just couldn't be bothered to go and get another piece of wood. At this point, I was sawing in quite a girly fashion, hardly putting any pressure on the saw, making short back-and-forth movements and just generally praying that no family member would walk by. Despite this, the saw jumped out of the groove in the wood and landed on my finger.

It was just a tiny cut, but it just wouldn't stop bleeding. Blood in general does not bother my, but it was dripping on the wood, dripping onto the gravel below, onto my clothes - so in the end I was required to be a responsible adult (which is something I try to keep during my working ours, Monday through to Friday) and go in and get a bandaid.

I nailed in the first corner piece of wood. I was so contrated on making sure it was firmly in place on one side of the frame that I forgot to make sure it was also tightly against the second side. Thus there is room for my fingers. Well bugger all, I thought, but after contemplating the dilema for about 15 seconds I decided my husband would no doubt have an ingenious way to fix the problem. Then I made sure I did the other 3 corners properly. I mean, what could go wrong???

And now it was time to lay down newspaper. It was at this time I realized I had another problem. We only get the paper on the weekends. It was Saturday. And the Paper was collected for recycling the previous Monday. So the above was all I had. I began to make friendly visits to my neighbors who are beginning to be quite used to my crazy schemes and usually are willing to help me purely for the entertainment value involved.

As you can see, I've got great neighbors.

Now the really hard work begins. I've done a lot of landscaping at our cabin before. Landscaping itself is never easy, but landscaping on the west coast of Norway by hand has to be some of the worst. Even during dry periods the ground is heavy, dark and saturated with water. But there's not much to do but to just get on with it.

It takes a bit to break through the grass and get started, but once that is done it does start getting a bit easier.

After 4-5 loads of soil it's time for me to stop for a bit. It's 1 pm, I've got iron clothes for my son who's headed to a birthday party, hubby is coming home from work and would like to sleep for a bit, and I've got a long list of things that need to be purchased to make the next week run smoothly. So time to pack up.

After dinner I'm drinking a quick cup of coffee and read on the internet that it's supposed to rain cats and dogs tomorrow, which makes me realize I have to finish everything tonight. Changing back into work cloths and heading out, I see that one of the corners has completely opened up. I have no idea how this happened and it's a surprise to me. After having a little consulting with my husband I'm thrilled to learn that he suggests that I use the power drill and the big, long and thick screws. You can bet my heart starts racing as power tools is something I feel just don't take as much of a center role in my life as they should. The day is looking up.

So after 30 happy minutes of working with power tools (30 minutes that went by all to fast if you ask me), it appears that my garden box is going to be solid. From this point onward it was moving soil as quickly as possible from the ground into the garden. It was heavy work as I was already pretty tired (it's soooooo much easier to run on the elipse machine). Before I knew it, it was dark and cold. I could see my breath rising from me and I was more than ready to go inside, clean up and open a bottle of wine.

This is my newly built hole-in-the-ground. It's a bit hard to see, but it is a good meter and a half deep. (What am I going to do with the rest of this soil???)

And here is as far as I made it on my garden. The soil will settle and I will have to add at least 5 loads more. But this can wait until next weekend.

As for now, I feel it's been a long day, with lots accomplished.

Good News -

2011-01-23T05:01:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and I'm on my way to introducing a new product: Aloe Vera soap.

I have had a number of interested customers write to me over the last year asking if I sold this type of soap, was going to sell it, had heard of anyone else who had produced it, etc.

Well, I can finally say that I am on my way - I have received 3 small aloe vera plants that I have soaking in water until they start growing roots, after which I will be planting them permanently.

Looking forward to keeping everyone informed of my progress -

First Class in Karate

2011-01-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

I took my first class in Karate tonight, with my kids who already have their yellow belts.

It was really the workout for me and I can say that I feel each and everyone of my muscles in my body.

That's a lot of muscles.

But I don't hurt. Not yet in any case.

And I'm already looking forward to next week. :)

A new thrill in my life -

2010-11-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, it has been a long time since I have written a blog post. What can I say? Fall has come and with it the usual colds that go around, meaning I've been home with the kids or I've been working double shift because some of my co-workers have been at home with their kids. Thank goodness I work at a fabulous workplace and we take care of each other as much as we can.

On top of that, my soap sales have really taken off, including two inquiries about making 150+ soaps as wedding favors for weddings over the New Year. All of this has been good, but also means I've been balancing my life on a knife's edge. I've been taking lots of extra vitamins and cod liver oil, been watching even less TV than I normally do, and forcing myself to stop what I'm doing (no matter what it is I'm doing) and going to bed at reasonable times. It's paid off so far. I myself have only had one really good cold, but I managed to keep working thanks to my great co-workers. I have it in the back of my head: when I get fever, I can call in sick with a good conscience.

But this is not at all what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to talk about was the new thrill in my life. Anita Blake

I was lucky enough to come across a written interview with the author Laurell K. Hamilton.

Official photo from Twitter - lkhamiton

What caught my attention was this: she writes about a strong woman, Anita Blake, who's profession it is to legally do away with vampires, zombies and the like. She has practical knowledge of a wide variety of weapons, and she knows there is a time and a place for each weapon, depending upon where she'll be, what she's wearing, etc.

If this was not interesting enough, what really caught my eye was the fact that Hamilton has received criticism due to the fact that as the series of novels progresses, Anita becomes involved in a number of sexual liaisons that are unbecoming of a woman. Needless to say that this type of criticism seems to come primarily from the USA. Apparently if a male character is involved with 2 or more women, this is quite acceptable. But should this be the reverse then it is not appropriate for the general reading audience.

Mind you, I have not progressed that far in the series.

(Photo nicked from Amazon.co.uk)

The first novel was a very good read, though not a fabulous read. It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that in Anita's world vampires and zombies live alongside humans and there are various laws governing both. Though towards the end of the book it I did naturally accept this reality.

What I did really like about this book was that I was able to get a good insight into Anita. And let me tell you, she rocks. She's cocky, yet has high morals. She doesn't take crap from others, especially male police officers, though she doesn't put them down either. They have a mutual understanding of each other. Her job is an official executioner sanctioned by the state and she sleeps with stuffed penguins. Basically she's the kind of person I wish I could hang out with once in a while.

(Also nicked from Amazon.co.uk)

I just finished reading the second book last night, and I really thought it leaped forward from the first book in great bounds. She encounters a number of really gruesome characters, and takes them on in a way that leaves you thinking: Yeah, that could really happen. She shows both her tough side to us as readers, as well as to her close friends as to how far she is really willing to go when faced with decision making between right and wrong, both to stick it to the bad guys, and to outwit them to save those who are clearly worth saving.

I'm 37 now, and this if the first time in 3 years that I've read something that has really drawn me in and has been a lot of fun to read. Ask my husband - the last couple of years I've read book after book and have thought again and again: Well that was a complete waste of brain cells. This is true even to the point where I stopped purchasing books because I could not trust that it would be money well spent.

I've heard comments from some who have read her books that they have hopped off half way through the series because Anita begins to change too much. I'm really interested to see how I respond to this when I get to this point. I know for myself that I've had intimate conversations with close friends where we admit to each other that we are clearly NOT the same person we were 15 years ago. We have totally different values, what we think are more open minds and a completely different way of looking at life. What will I think? We'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

But for now, I think Anita was one of the best things to happen to me right now. James Bond and Indiana Jones have nothing on her.

A fun purchase that turns my world upside down -

2010-10-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

I made a purchase the other week. Something that I thought would be fun to wear at work. For those who don't know, I work full time in Norway's education industry, working with pre-schoolers. (95% of Norwegian children go to day care full time, which is incorporated into the Norwegian school system).

I saw the ring below from my friend, RenatheSchneider.

I had expected the kids to think it was super cool, and my co-workers would be skeptical, roll their eyes and think: Yeah, we expect that sort of thing from Nicole.

Instead and much to my surprise it turned out to be quite the reverse. My co-workers thought it was really cool, asked me who I bought it from, how it was made and what the price was. From my co-workers I had my 'outside-the-box-personality' accepted and even honored a bit.

From about 30 kids over a two day period I had conversations like this:

Is that a bee in there? -- No it's a fly.

Is it dead? -- Yes.

How did it get in there? -- The woman who made the ring put it in there.

Why? -- She thought it was a cool idea. I also thought it was a cool idea and so I bought it from her.

Does it still make buzzing sounds? - No, it's definitely dead.

Did she kill the fly? -- No, the fly was already dead on a window sill before she made the ring.

Why? -- Because flies are born and only live a few weeks before they die. That's the way they're made.

Why would you put a dead fly on your hand? -- That's a really good question. I think it's a fun thing to do.

My mom got mad at me for squishing dead flies. -- I can understand that. Squishing dead flies can be a bit yucky.

I don't think my mom would like that ring. -- Yeah, I can bet a lot of mommies wouldn't like that ring.

Why do you like that ring? -- I guess I like it because it's different than all the other rings I see. I don't think there's anyone else in Norway that has a ring like this.

Are you sure you're allowed to wear that? -- ????

And so the questions continued. I honestly didn't think that this ring would cause such a stir with all the little ones I work with. There were a lot that did think my ring was cool. But I was very surprised at the number of children who DID NOT think it was cool, and who questioned in a 4-5 year old way if it was acceptable to use animals as decorations. Which does to go show that our hard work of introducing ideas of ethics and philosophy are starting to pay off.

Ten Things that Went Right This Week -

2010-09-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've always been a believer in positive thinking. Earlier in my life when things were tough I was keeping a journal where I wrote positive things almost daily. Perhaps now when things are really good in my life I shouldn't forget this. Perhaps certain habits should be kept up continuously regardless of the situation.

1) Even though I was feeling pretty bad with a big head cold, I still went to work and was treated well by those I work with. It made the week livable and by the end of the week I was feeling much better and glad I pulled through without staying home. -- Yeah to the good people I work with.

2) I received a second wholesale order.

3) My daughter was invited to her first birthday party since she's started 1st grade. She's very excited and it makes my heart sing.

4) The group of women I work with and I had a meeting with the parents of the children we work with and almost all the parents had great things to say about the work we did. Those who wanted something changed had small wishes that were not big deals. Everything seems really positive.

5) I've eaten candy every day this week. Since it's been a bit of a rough week and since I have not gone overboard, I'm deciding that this is a good thing that is needed for my soul.

6) I'm starting training again tomorrow.

7) Today I drove into Bergen today, alone and without kids. Even though I was just in for soap supplies and didn't even treat myself to coffee, I listened to my favorite music driving to and from the city. And I started day-dreaming again about what I want to do for my 40th birthday. Maybe I'll invite the Canadian Ambassador to Norway or even the King of Norway. Not that I expect them to show up, but it would be really cool to show off some rejection letters.

8) My kids have been exceptionally nice this week. I mean, I have great kids who have good boundaries. I'm just saying that they've been exceptionally nice this week, especially on a week that I really needed them to be. I think I'll feed them Nuggati for breakfast tomorrow.

9) My husband made dinner tonight - Fårikål - which is Norway's national dish. And he made enough to eat tomorrow evening as well.

10) It's Sunday tomorrow...... and I have all day to think of things that will make me happy.

Building Building Building

2010-09-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

I think my friends (both on the net and off) as well as coworkers, acquaintances and finally even my friendly post man don't actually believe me. The question always arises in various forms: What did you do over the weekend? How did you spend this summer? What are you plans for the autumn?

The answer is pretty much always the same: building.

So this is what we were doing last Saturday (our Sundays being saved for family walks and hikes).

We built an outside shed for the new bar-b-que that we bought earlier this summer. It was a little bit of an investment and we intend to keep it for quite some time to come, so that means building it its own house where it can hibernate during the wet, wet winters we have.

My apologies for the unfinished picture. We did manage to put a sealed roof on it as well, but I forgot to take a picture of that. What can I say? Both my hubby and I were so tired after building this that we actually bought 'store-bought-pizza' (Oh My!! The Horror!!) and slept for almost a full hour on the couch afterwards....

It seems to be my curse in life that I am an effective painter. Which means that this will forever be my job. As my father used to say, 'No good deed should go unpunished.'

Need I say more?

In any case, I was able to prime all sides of our Grill Shed, all the while lifting roof materials up to my hubby, telling the kids they could not go in and watch TV, making jugs of juice to drink as well as pots of coffee for hubby (Norwegians should take their coffee intravenously if you ask me, but that's another blog post), and washing and hanging up clothes.

But it got finished, and our bar-b-que will live to see many happy summers.

Other projects that are waiting to be finished: above are foundations forms for a cement wall. We're waiting to next paycheck to order the cement. (Both hubby and I have made enough cement by hand and we're really tired of it. This time we're phoning the cement truck).

It is on this wall we will be planting a small hedge.... and will be having an eating area just behind this wall and in front of our house.

This wall should have been completed over a year ago. It was my brother-in-law (digging and foundation expert in our family) who had started helping us build the foundation forms. He spent one weekend with my husband and started building the forms, and then was diagnosed with cancer the week after that. And six weeks after that he was gone. In our grief, we just couldn't go back to working on it even after months had passed.

When my husband did finally get to finishing the forms last autumn, they weren't strong enough. The result was that the forms broke and the cement spilled sideways, which can be seen above. With the help of my father-in-law, we built a second form on top of the first unsuccessful wall and finished the job.

This raised flat space will also be covered with concrete, and then layered with stone tiles of some form or another. We are thinking of uneven, natural shapes, but this is not something we will be doing this year.

Finally, we have dreams for this area on the side of our property. Where the cars stand we would like a garage. And to the right of the swing set (which will probably disappear in a year or two at most) we dream of having a glass winter garden. These are pretty big dreams at the moment, and we are not quite sure how we will finance it (I need to sell at least 5 times as much soap as I am now.... and I don't think this is possible under the restraints of being a mother and working wife like I am at the moment), but the two of us get so much joy simply talking about the dreams.

It's been said in many different ways by many different people, but the line in Amanda Marshall's song rings in the back of my head as a constant these past couple of years: The joy's in the ride.

Prepare for Christmas Early This Year

2010-09-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, Christmas gift shopping is a double edge sword. The desire is still there: we want to show our friends and family that we care and think about them. We want to symbolically tell them that they are still special to us.

The down side is that it can be so inconvenient to Christmas shop. We need to pay for parking (if we can find a parking spot!), we often have little ones in tow that do not want to be with us in the first place, we've worked long days and are tired, the weather is really bad and we're worried about getting to and from our favorite shopping places, or packing and sending parcels in the mail can take longer than originally planned for. The list can go on and on.

This is why I am offering an Early Bird Christmas Offer. If you order soaps from me as Christmas gift between now and the end of November, I will package your soaps in holiday colored wrap, include a small Christmas/holiday note, have your package ready addressed with stamps and will send it off on November 25th, which is generally the last shipping day which will guarantee that all packages will reach their destination before Christmas. (I can also send it earlier if you give me instructions to do this).

Purchase your Christmas gifts in September, October or early November. Simply write a message to me in the 'Message to Seller',give me instructions on what I should write on the little holiday card to the recipient of your gift, and where I should send it. Then cross those names off your list and breath a sigh of relief. Your work is done! That's it.

And all of this for no additional cost.

Then you can spend the time before the holidays concentrating on the important things: decorating the house as you wish, baking the Christmas treats you remember from your childhood, attending your children's Christmas concerts while being able to pay full attention to what your youngsters are doing.... not thinking about all the other things you need to get done.

Nothing could be easier. Everyone deserves to have a great holiday this year.

For any other questions, just contact me in my store: Ultimate Organic Soap

A Sunday Walk

2010-08-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

We as a family are doing our best to be more active about taking more family walks/hikes on the weekend.

Last weekend was such a weekend, but our time was really cut short so we drove to a fairly easy route - a gravel road that follows the power lines into the wilderness between where we live and Bergen. It's a very popular route as the road is flat and well maintained by the city, and has enough hills, dips and turns to provide exercise for all ages and skill abilities. This weekend that we were here, we met an awful lot of people - other families such as ours, seniors out for their daily walks, hard core trainers running with headphones attached to their ears as well as those new to exercise who were obviously working up their strength and endurance.

We park our car at a parking spot just off the highway. It is here that many park their cars before taking buses into Bergen. We then cross the road and make our way to the pedestrian over cross.

Here is the view to the left of the over cross.

And here is the view to the right.

And of course my kids need to take the opportunity to be really tough and sit for a few minutes high under the overpass, with the cars passing directly over their heads.

But only 20 meters from the overpass the gravel road starts. We can hear cars driving pass us for about 15 minutes. But after that we have moved far enough away from the main highway that we only hear the birds and the last of the summer insects buzzing.

As mentioned, a nice terrain for all types of people to walk/cycle/run/train on.

My son insisted that I take this picture because he was convince that the possibility that this hole led to a magical underground kingdom was better than average.

Nice scenery.

Nicer scenery.

Open spaces.

Secret places.

Must make a mental note that the Heather is getting ready to harvest.

Another beautiful scene. Here we stopped to eat some apples and let our kids splash in the water.

Small corners of the forest that look like fairy tales where trolls live.

And where princesses collect their flowers and herbs.

And knights in shining amour train.

After walking for an hour, we reach a nice meadow. It was here we rested and had a bite to eat before heading back.

My Newest Latest Soaps

2010-08-22T01:31:00.000-07:00

I made a bunch of different soaps just before going on summer vacation, and now the school is starting they're ready to go.

I think they look fabulous. All of these soaps are made from olive oil, sunflower oil, soya oil and coconut oil.

This one will be known as PURPLE JASMINE OATMEAL. The lovely flower leaves are picked and dried at my sea side cabin from the wild rose bushes we have there. Unlike commercially purchased flowers, these petals keep their color when dried. Also added is crushed oatmeal (great for the skin) and Jasmine Essential Oil.

This is my new MARIGOLD soap. It crushed oatmeal and dried organic marigold flowers on the top.

EUCALYPTUS AND LEMON BALM SOAP. Both of which are good to get rid of mosquitos. :)

DARK JASMINE TULIP SOAP - This soap is made with the essential oil Melati, which belongs to the Jasmine family, but has a heavier smell to it. Perfect for winter days when we want to remember the summer.

These are my new, HUGE, bars of MOCHA SHOWER SOAP. Perfect for great scrubbing action.

This is my new SILVER CHRISTMAS SPICE SOAP - a soap with the spices of Allspice, Cinnamon, Ginger and Nutmeg. This combination of spices gives a lovely silver sheen to the soap as well. The smells with be great for the upcoming holiday season.

A new batch of TURMERIC soap. Turmeric is great for those suffering from extra dry skin or exceme.

Should you wish to purchase one of these soaps before I get a chance to put them in my store during the next couple of days, do send me a line at: ultimateorganicsoap@live.no

Another Painting in My Collection

2010-08-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I've purchased another painting. I hope it doesn't become too addicting.

This one was purchased from a used store not far from our cabin. At the moment it is hanging in our bedroom there. However, I plan to repaint the living room next year and then make place for this piece.

I purchased it for one basic reason: The first because I really am trying to keep with the traditional theme of Norwegian cabins (and my husbands traditional family) but add in some of my modern wishes and likes.

The style of the painting that you see is pretty abundant in Norway: a picture of a cabin of some sort by water, trees and with a mountain or two in the background. Usually however, the colors are incredibly subdued or even dark and depressing in nature.

However I really liked the colors in this painting. When I first saw it, it was hanging really high on the wall of the used store.

After the work was taken down for me, I saw that the buildings were made three dimensional with matchsticks and some sort of thick paper. In the windows the artist used gold foil to simulate candle light shining outwards through the glass.

I did write the name of the artist down to research him/her when I came home, but have misplaced that note somewhere. The woman who sold us the painting (and who would not give my husband a discount of any kind even though this work only cost us about 50.00) said that the artist was famous locally and that many of his works were in many houses in western Norway.

Regardless of the truth of this story (which could be completely true for all I know), I in any case liked this piece enough to think that 50.00 was well worth the price. I will be looking forward to giving updates on my research of this piece in the near future.

What I did last summer.....

2010-08-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been back from vacation for a couple of days, and have had a number of friends and collegues ask me what it was I did over the summer.

I painted.

I painted three sides of a two story cabin, the walls twice and most of the window sills 4 times.

I've come back with one arm looking like it belongs to someone who trains seriously, 5 times a week, and the other arm looking like... well... an arm of a 37 year old who does not train as much as she should.

This side of the cabin had not been painted in many years, and is the side that faces the sea. When I was painting the walls, you could almost hear the wood sucking in the paint.

As one can see, these two windows are all foggy. This is because when my husband took over the cabin and it was falling in on itself, he needed many windows at the lowest prices just to fill in the holes. He was able to purchase a bunch of punctured windows for next to nothing. We have since been replacing the windows, one every couple of years. We hope to replace these in another 3-4 years.

We will have to hurry though. As you can see on the green, unpainted window frame, the wood is falling apart and rotting. When I was scraping the window that was white, I almost took out the entire bottom part of the frame with one little flick of the scraper. I gently pushed it back and asked it nicely to behave for just a couple more years.

This is our front door, saved from a security firm. We've been meaning to paint it and this year I got around to doing it.

First coat with white paint.

Second or third coat with white paint. I forgot to take pictures consistently.

Fourth coat with white paint.

All the windows and crosses in the windows were painted four times. I actually don't know what the word is for those crosses in the windows, as we never had them in my part of Canada where I grew up. In any case, they too needed to be painted 4 times, in super thin coats.

Luckily these crosses are easy to take off. You just need to put your fingers underneath them in the proper spot, apply a little upward pressure, and pop they're off!

Here's the first batch, with rocks and pieces of wood underneath them to keep them from sticking to the plastic.

Oh yeah, I also scarped and painted the kitchen door twice.

Now we're starting to see pictures of the finished job.

A long stretch of wall that's got two coats. There's a glimps of the scaffolding my husband made for me to paint the upper reaches because I didn't want to stand on a ladder. Considering he learned a few things from his father who is a Master Carpenter, I completely trust his constructions.

This is a picture of the same side of the cabin as the first pictures in this post. Everything looks so much better with some good coats of paint. Although I will have to paint the nearest window white again. I was desprately trying to get this wall painted before it started raining and sacrificed the white windows to get it done. But at least I know I'll have something to keep me busy the next time I make a trip to our little paradise.

I'm pretty proud that I got all this work done. Don't forget I did it while making most of the meals (my husband was helping his father on other construction work), keeping order inside the cabin and washing clothes by hand once a week.

Even my mother-in-law is impressed. :)

A Day Out At Sea - Our Family Trip

2010-08-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

What can I say? We have the greatest kids. Even though my husband and I were working physically hard most of the summer building and painting our cabin, we only heard one or two complaints from them during an entire 4 weeks. Most of the time they were playing with their cousins and when they were alone on our property for 10 days, they played so well that my mother-in-law actually came down from her cabin to ask if we had told them to 'not bother her' (they were so involved in their play that they were not even going up to their grandparents so very often).

Because they were so good and because my husband and I were able to get so much work done, we decided to treat them to a day on the sea.

Needless to say they were thrilled.

The day was planned. Late lunches were packed (warm hamburgers with cheese [but no veggies - an extra treat for my kids] wrapped in tinfoil), thermoses of hot chocolate and coffee were made, a cooler of fruit was taken as well as a bottle of Pepsi, and finally we could not forget the bags of chips and pretzels which are usually not eaten in our house.

As you can see, we packed the boat with matresses and blankets for the kids to ride on (we did this last year as well and it was something that they spoke about for months. And being great kids they were quite willing to cover up their faces so that this picture could be on my blog.

The first thing we did was take the take the boat to a county called Lindås. It was here that my mother-in-law had been telling us of a lock that has now been turned into a channel. According to her the water ran very swiftly through the channel and it was very exciting and a little scary. So of course we needed to take the kids there.

Here is some of the scenery that we motored by....

Small villages with their own marinas, both for the locals who all own boats as well as for the cabin owners that don't have direct access to the water.

We were a bit wary of the weather. The clouds were heavy and dark, but they all seemed to be floating over us to Bergen, where it rains 3 meters a year. We took comfort that we were still seeing bits of sun even though it was much darker futher inland.

And now we're coming to the area where this lock is located.

Water symbols that need to be obeyed, lest we run aground.

As we start slowing down, we can catch glimpses of cabins that peak out from hidden passages.

More natural scenery with man-made stone work that's probably close to 80 years old.

And here we come to the lock. We must say that we came when the tide was nearly at its highest, so the current was not particularily strong. Having said that, the current did move incredibly fast. While it was not really a problem for my husband, I would feel uncomfortable with my boat knowledge navigating this stretch of water, especially when we came back in the other direction.

A close up of the stone work.

Yes well, that was 10 minutes of excitement. Now the question came, what should we do now?? An answer was suggested: Should we go to Fedje? Yes!! My kids could hardly contain their excitement.

Fedje is the most westernly point of Norway that is populated by people. It's an island off the mainland and takes us over an hour to travel to by boat from our cabin. It was a central point for whale hunting, back in the day. Now however it deals more with sports fishing as well as being a major radar control for both commerical and military purposes. Most people who live on the island take the ferry to the mainland every day to go to work.

First we have to go under 'The Bridge'. Yes there are lots of bridges on the western side of Norway that connect small island to small island. But this one in particular is known to my children as simple 'THE Bridge.' The current comes in and out so strongly that it churns up lots of food and undergrowth and attracts really large fish. I've never fished in this area without catching something. Definitely a place to go for all those who visit me. And who are not vegitarian.

We pass the bridge and start heading towards the beginning of the fjord, which can be seen as those large islands that look very tiny in the distance.

And now we're out into the open sea, looking back to the mainland. Pictured is a large fishing boat. One can see how the blues of the clouds and the distant mountains begin to fade into each other. We did also see 3 large cruise ships as well as 4 oil tankers, but these were so far off on the horizon that it was impossible to take a picture of them with my little camera. That will have to wait until next time... when I hopefully have a much larger camera.

After about 30 minutes riding at a high speed on really choppy water (I won't be able to do this when I'm 80!) we reached the island of Fedje. The main harbor is on the right hand side. As one can see, there are very few trees here. The winds just blow too hard.

And looking to the north west from where we were, one can see the open ocean. If we keep heading in this direction and all goes well, we'll make it to Greenland in 5-6 days. That's also assuming that the Gas-Fairy visits us and refills our tank when we're sleeping.

And this is looking back towards the mainland of Norway.

Here we are in the main harbor of Fedje. All the houses and buildings always look so romantically perfect because they are painted almost every year. The storms out here can be severe, and the blowing salt does nothing good for all outside surfaces. Also, a good amount of income for the island is also based on tourism, so a pefectly romantic setting doesn't hurt.

Another scene 300 meters away from the last picture.

And this, according to my children is a giant fire boat. We did try to point that it was a cable boat, and showed them the large reels used for lying down and pulling up huge undwerwater cables. But no - according to them it was a giant fire boat. How could they know that, we asked them. Because it's red, they responded.

Doh!

Here are some more boat houses at the back of the harbor. I would guess that most of these are rented out to tourists, without having anyone actually tell me this.

Some of them are still drying their fish outside.

And then we see a Pilot Boat come in. It is here that all freighters and cruise ships are met with pilot boats before they are allowed to travel into Bergen. This particular boat only stayed here for 15 or 20 minutes before turning and going out of the harbor again.

But then we could suddenly feel the air changing. Or if I'm going to be really honest I'll admit my husband could feel the air changing. I was busy eating my hamburger. He showed me the sky past the island towards the open ocean. It was time to pack up and head back to the mainland. These clouds could simply be clouds. Or it could be the beginning of a storm that we didn't know anything about because we were not really paying attention to weather forcasts.

So we told our kids to 'hunker down' as we were going to speed back to the mainland and it was sure to be a bumpy ride. Like true kids, they buried themselves under the blankets. And so we left.

We passed by the local ferry making one of it's last run out to Fedje. It was approx 9 pm at this point.

One of the things that I always have loved about the northern Atlantic ocean is the different shadings of dark blues, greys and blacks. I was lucky that the camera was able to capture the different shades of blue from the left side of the water to the right. This of course has to do with the light and not the water itself and for a couple of minutes this was the sight to be seen: the water at the bow was bluer than the water at the stern. And the sun shifted and the illusion was gone.

This kind of sea is completely different from my good friend Star's sea. It's definitely beautiful, yes, but I can't say that there's anything pretty about it. I'm always left with the feeling of being very small, but in a very other worldly kind of way. I always feel more humbled coming back from trips like this.

And lets not forget the colors of the sky. Even late in August, the sun hangs in the sky for quite some time. We were almost at the mainland and had slowed down the boat. At this point my daughter complained she was cold so I took the oppurtunity to relax under the blankets and share a little body heat with her. We looked up at the sky and started finding shapes and pictures in the clouds.

We were now officially back to the mainland and stopped in a little habor called Hopland. This is where my husband's grandmother was born. We filled ourselves with refeshements of hot chocolate and chips while we watched clouds roll it. It looked like it was just going to be cloud cover, although we weren't entirely sure at this point.

My husband's grandmother was born in the white house, in 1903. It of course was less than half the size at that point and was until recently owned by one of my mother-in-law's cousins. But it was sold outside of the family a number of years ago so I have no bad feelings about taking pictures of it. As you can see, my husband's entire family has grown up right on the sea shore.

The clouds start coming in and we start puttering back towards our cabin, which will still take us a couple of hours to get to.

We stopped under the bridge again because my children wanted to sit under it and listen to the cars drive over. We had to wait for 15 minutes for the first one drive over us.

As we drove onward, we threw out the last of the potatoe chips and hamburger bread to the seagulls. They swarmed behind us.

We realize that we're very lucky. The clouds are just cloud cover. The winds die down and the water becomes very still and calm.

And then around 11.30 it gets dark enough that my camera cannot take proper pictures anymore, because it has nothing to focus on. Still, I love the blues and blacks.

But in the end we all had a great day at sea. We came home after midnight, after having spent 7 hours in the boat seeing different things and the kids were very happy.

Needless to say we all slept until close to lunch time the next day.

The Last Porch is Done!!

2010-08-07T05:43:00.000-07:00

Our last and final porch is done. And my husband and I celebrated with a fire on top of it while we toasted with a glass of wine and looked out over the sea.

This is the last major project in 13 long years of replacing, rebuilding and upgrading a cabin that was over 100 years old.

Congratulations to us.

A Tour in the Kitchen of My Cabin

2010-06-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

Many have been asking about what it looks like on the inside of our cabin. I had never thought about writing posts about this, but after thinking about this it seems like a very good idea.

Our cabin, both inside and outside is a mixture of old things given to us by our forefathers/grandparents and new things. All of these things are placed on all of the remodeling we have done/are doing. Even though I have never met most of the people we have inherited much of these items from, if it wasn't because of them, my husband and I would never be able to rebuild our cabin and provide something for our children to carry on in the future.

This cabinet we have hangin on our walls is actually a small part of a large cabinet system that my husband's grandmother had in her living room. It was so big it stretched across one entire wall and on some places reached from the ceiling down to the floor. This was the only piece of 'fine' furniture that she had, though by our standards today it is not fine at all. The wood is actually quite thin and we've had to support it on the bottom (an extra plank has been set on the bottom and it has been re-enforced on the inside). But when we extended our kitchen and had no furniture to actually place in our extended kitchen, this fit the bill.

Each of these glass doors can lock, but the keys were lost long before we inherited parts of it. You can see on the right hand side that we need to use small pieces of paper to keep the doors from swinging outward. :)

Above is our washing area. To connect to running water costs an awful lot of money, plus you have to pay the entire cost for someone else to build a sewage system of some type. This will not be happening in our lives. However, we can have the running water come up to our doorstep and simply go out and get it for almost free. So considering we'd rather build ourselves for our children, the choice was pretty easy.

But what I wanted to point out was the red coffee thermos that has been washed and is airing out. It is known as an 'elephant' coffee thermos, as this was the brand of coffee thermoses that was made in the 1950's and 60's. They stopped making them a long time ago and are no longer in existence. My entire Norwegian family say that these are the best coffee thermoses and that you cannot have better tasting coffee if you use anything else. (I for one don't drink Norwegian coffee, so I have no comment on this opinion).

This is the last elephant thermos that is in use in the entire family (and now I'm going out to my mother-in-law's extended family as well). While I can't say that this thermos has actually saved us money, it has certainly kept my husband very happy and cheerful during the 13 summers we have been married and have been working on remodeling our little piece of paradise. I take extra pains to carefully wash the glass on the inside of the thermos (which hold the coffee warm), and it will be a very sad day when this thermos makes it's way to thermos heaven.

Pretty much everything you see here has been reused or inherited from somewhere. The large wooden plank that makes do as our kitchen countertop is actually saved wood that was originally used to make doors before metal doors became more popular due to lasting effects and home saftey issues.

The baskets, knives, sives, bread box, green paper towel holder, crocheted hotmats and carved wooden egg holders (these last two are hanging in the corner against the wall by the fridge) were again inherited from my husbands grandmother who passed away a few years before I moved to Norway.

The coffee maker and toaster are actually ours from when we were first married.... but the toaster has actually been destroyed and thrown out in metal recycling - it stopped popping up toast and clearly became a fire hazzard. We certainly didn't want anyone else to start using it.

This is the last item in our kitchen that has saved us a lot of money.... the stove which again has come from my husbands grandmother. I do believe it's from the early 80's, which doesn't feel that old to me considering I grew up in the 80's and remember it as one of the best times of my life. But I have to admit that perhaps the 80's is not as recent as I remember it to be. :)

In any case, it was another thing that was given to us that we could use even though it wasn't the fastest or the shiniest and because we have done so we've had the oppurtunity to build on other aspects of our lives.

I will continue with more pictures of the things that have been given to us that either helps us or makes our little piece of paradise a bit more special.

A Little Place on the Sea Shore

2010-06-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

I love my little place by the sea. Here is where I collect my Norwegian Kelp for my Norwegian Kelp Soap.

Right at this spot is a great place to sit, in a crook between the rocks that jut up from the sea. In the water right in front of my feet here, the solid stone dives steeply almost 60 meters. There's great spots for fishing, both her and on the other side of the fjord.

Right in front of me the sea is rising and in just over an hour it will have risen enough to cover all the Norwegian Kelp. It will have washed away my gathering bucket and will be touching my toes.

But I'm in no rush.

I have good time.

'Eternity is in love with the productions of time,' said William Blake and it's here that I find that quote to be a truth that drives itself deep into me, though I cannot explain why that quote would mean so much here and now.

This is not a problem, because I am in no rush.

I have good time to ponder this, not paying attention to the water that creeps closer.

Gift Wrapping and International Sending

2010-06-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

I have always been willing to gift wrap and send my soaps off to different addresses for my customers. I am asked about this from time to time, and while I do have a note about this here and there in various places in my store, this is not something I've actively promoted.

I for one know how difficult it is to send gifts to overseas friends and family. All of my family is in Canada, and the longer I live in Norway, the harder it is to show. The children grow fast and it's difficult to purchase clothings, and I certainly cannot purchase books in a foreign language. My other relatives are all getting older and often have everything they need already. And, with me in a full time job, two kids and a lifestyle that includes rebuilding a cabin and adding improvements to our existing house, my trips to Bergen are few and far between. I actually only travel into Bergen maybe 4 - 5 times a year now, which suits me just fine. But it also means that I miss out on finding a big selection of gift articles that I could purchase.

I've been buying more and more of my gifts on the internet and this is something that I have finally been getting good at.

And apparently I am not the only one as I am getting more and more customers who are asking me to do this for them.

Above is a parcel I packaged for a woman living in the USA, to be sent to her father living in the UK. When I sent her a link to the picture of it, she was clearly quite happy and appreciated the fact that she did not need to re-package the gift and pay for postage a second time to send it to her father herself.

But what was a stunning extra treat, is this great feedback she left for me:

Not only wonderful customer service - Nicole went above and beyond when she added a personel note and gift wrapped & sent to my father for Fathers Day for me. I live in the USA. She lives in Norway & my Father lives in England - so it saved me time and $$$ by her sending it direct to him. I will be buying from this seller again for sure. A Very Happy Customer here!

It seems to me that a lot more Etsy sellers could increase their business by offering this service. It takes very little time, and if the right materials are chosen (for example, I use brightly colored tissue paper instead of wrapping paper because it is less expensive and also weighs less - in addition I use lovely, recycled yarn/material as ribbon), it can be very inexpensive.

I personally do not charge any fee for wrapping my soaps. But even a small fee should not stop customers from taking advantage of this time saving offer.

Something to think about.

My Creative Daughter

2010-06-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

I don't usually talk about my kids on the internet as a conscious choice, but sometimes rules were made to be broken.

My 6 year old daughter is also very creative and loves trying out new skills. What I find very exciting about her is that she can have an idea and follow the creation of it through to the end, even if she finds out halfway through that her idea can't function as she originally thought. She will then adjust her creative process, sometimes asking for help, sometimes figuring it out on her own.

A while ago when I was busy with my soaps, she decided it was time to have a birthday party for her penguin. She made her penguin a birthday crown, an box to package the presents given to the penguin as well as two gifts.

This first picture is taken by me. The other three are taken by her.

The little speaking bubble says, 'I'm having a birthday'. That too was her idea - she had the bubble already cut out and told my husband what to write in it. (She starts school in August)

Here is her birthday box, complete with a bow drawn on the top. Also, an old vitamin box has been turned into a cake, with the label 'kake' so that there is no misunderdanding by us adults.

What did the lucky penguin get? S/he got a car that s/he can play with.

As well as a scarf to keep him/her warm during the cold days of spring. (And it snowed two days the first week of May.... so this could come in handy. Good thinking on her part).

Already she wants to be like me, and create something to sell on Etsy. Luckily I've been able to tell her she has to wait until she's 13 (a white lie? I'm not sure as I have not check it out), but that she can use this time to get really, really good.

She's satisfied with this for now.

A New Way of Doing Giveaways -

2010-06-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

I've had good success with my give aways up to this point. Up to now, I've given away 2 free soaps for the person who purchases every 50th soap.

But some of my customers have told me that they've often stayed up late into the night, and then gotten up early because of the time difference in order to try to catch the 50th soap, and thus slipping the need to purchase 7 or 8 soaps at once.

Most adults as it is don't get enough sleep, what with long hours at work, taking care of the kids as well as lots of other commitments. I certainly appreciate my customers loyalty. The fact that they would stay up into all hours of the night for something that I make is something I find absolutely amazing.

But at the same time I certainly don't want to become a thorn in someone's side. That was certainly not my plan.

So for the next 100 sales, I'm going to change the rules for the soap give away. Everyone who purchases a soap within the 'last 50 soaps' will have a chance to be drawn to win two free bars of soap. As it stands right now, this would mean that everyone who has purchased a soap from soap #251 to #300 will have their name entered into a draw. I will draw a name and contact that person to let them know they have won.

While I myself am a really competitive person (I'm going to take up Karate after the summer and am so looking forward to the challange!), I do realize that my former contest will not appeal to all customers. And even though I am competitive, I am a true and ardent believer in fairness (for heaven sakes! I'm a Canadian living in Norway! A person cannot get more diplomatic with a belief in social equality than that!).

So we will try this contest for a couple of months and in the meantime I will be eager to hear the opinions of my customers.

In the meantime, keep an eye on my store - herbal soaps and seaweed soaps are almost ready to sell!

My First Oil Painting Purchase

2010-05-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

Most people know that I'm a big fan of Nancy van den Boom's work. I love her work and the way she uses color and light. I mentioned this already in an interview that I did with her a few months ago.

Before I come back to a new examination and opinion of Nancy's work, I need to refer to a recent documentary I had seen a few months ago. It was an anthropological study on art. The most significant importance of the program I took with me was this: globally speaking, the landscape painting (or photograph in recent years) is the most popular with human beings. There is something about a landscape painting that goes straight into the primitive core of people and speaks directly to their feelings of safety and well being. And of all landscape paintings, the most popular of these are those that contain 4 features: water, a possibility for shelter, fertility of surrounding area and 'a way out'. By a way out, I mean a pathway, a stretch of openness, or an area of the painting that one can imagine travelling to. This final point fullfills the intrinsic need in almost all humans of seek out unexplored areas or experience new ideas.

Nancy's work displays all of these four features and does it in a way that is much more 'delightful' that what I've seen in other landscape paintings.

While not all of Nancy's paintings feature water that can be directly seen, her work is so full of greenery and color that it implies that water, and a great deal of water at that, is easily obtainable. In addition, there's always something in Nancy's work that is both calming and exciting at the same time. It has taken me a while to put words to it, but I've come to realize that looking into Nancy's work makes me fantasize about being in the world she creates. I can see myself having to work, yes, but having to work much less - perhaps only a few hours a day. Everything is fruitful and the people are happy in visual worlds that Nancy captures. It's a place where it rarely rains, and when it does, it's just enough to keep everything as it should be.

As a final comment, as much as I love Nancy's work I am certainly not in the place in my life right now where I can drop down 500+ American dollars for one of her pieces (which I think should be sold for more.... but we don't need to tell her that). As a mother of two small children, a mortgage, a 'regular' job, etc, 500+ dollars is always better spent on other items, usually involving the needs of the children.

I mentioned this to Nancy a few months ago, and asked her what would be the price of a much smaller painting. She almost immediately produced a tiny piece and showed it to me. And since then she's created many small paintings. I have liked them all to varying degrees, but when I saw this sea side landscape I knew it was the one for me.

So now I can say that I have purchased my first oil painting: a small 10 cm by 10 cm canvas. I love it already and cannot wait for it to arrive in the mail. And it costed me just under 30.00 USD - perfect for my budget at the moment. I hope to collect more in the future, with possibly a few larger pieces as the children start leaving home.

It's not often that a purchase makes me feel so good - I am generally not a very materialistic person. While I am sure I will love this painting as long as I am around to see it, I do hope one day in the future my grandchildren can say 'Our grandmother knew and communicated with that famous artist in the Netherlands.'

We will have to wait and see.

My New Herb Soaps -

2010-05-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard harvesting all sorts of herbs - or working with herbs that have been harvested for me. Here are the soaps that I have cut and set out to dry:

Above and below are pictures of my newly created Dandelion Soap. This was wonderful to make and I have just fallen in love with the golden color of the soap.

Above and below are samples of organic Laurel Leaf that has been picked and dried for me by GUFOBARDO who has supplied me with many organic herbs. Do contact her if you are interested in what herbs can be purchased from Sardina and what her prices are.

Above and below are pictures of the soap I've been making from STING NETTLES. I'm very much in love with these soaps and have made a few batches already.

And finally here are pictures of Organic Thyme soap. The thyme has also been gathered and dried for me by GAFOBARDO. It smells fantastic and I cannot wait for it to be finished drying and placing it up for sale.

If anyone is interested in purchasing some of these soaps early, just leave a message in the comment sections and I'll contact you.

In the meantime, here's to organic living!

Stinging Nettles and Seaweed Continued.....

2010-05-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

We've had another weekend at the cabin, with both myself and my husband looking forward to lots of work.

I of course was looking forward to gathering dandelions for my soap. But alas, on Saturday morning I woke up to this:

Lots of rain. I don't know why I was so surprised. The weather forcast I said it was going to rain over all of Hordaland (the county/province of Norway where we live and have our cabin), but I had been optimistically assuming that the clouds would roll over us and drop their rain in Bergen as they often do.

Not this time however.

On the other hand, the cherry tree is in bloom. This is not something that we usually get a chance to see. Usually Nature and Us do not work so well together and we miss it. So even though it was raining, it was a nice treat.

Another good look at our tree..... it could be a few years before I get another picture like this.

And down on the grass there are lots of wild flowers growing here as well.

But it's time to get to work.

I pull out a bag of nettles that I picked last weekend, dried and froze to get rid of their stinging and burning qualities. And I have with me a couple of sharp objects to help me complete my task.

After the nettles have been dried and frozen, they are so nice to work with. Soft to the touch and no nastiness involved whatsoever.

But before things get too messy, I remember that I cannot do any sort of decent work without good coffee and good music. Last Christmas I received a new Walkman cellphone from my husband. The instruction booklet said that the phone is capable of holding up to 8 000 songs..... but I'm no where near that number. I don't think I'll ever have enough money to download so many songs.

The music is a collection I've downloaded mostly from Itunes, and the coffee is actually imported from Denmark. Don't get me wrong, I love living in Norway.... but there is not a brand of good Norwegian coffee to be found here. After 10 years of really trying hard to like the most popular brands, I simply admitted defeat and have been importing ever since.

So I move myself to the only semi-solid structre we have outside: an old bench. Even our picnic table moves and wobbles so much that I would not trust working on it with sharp objects.

Some basic, course chopping the first time around......

And then switching over to fine chopping, Jamie Oliver style.... though I have to admit I've never seen him use a clever.

And after the nettles are chopped finely enough, they go into a nice, big ziplock bag where they will wait patiently for me to use them in soap.

For those who are wondering why I don't dry my herbs completely, it's because on the west coast of Norway we get so much rain, and it is so damp that except for 2-3 weeks in the summer (if we're lucky!) it's impossible to dry anything naturally. Smoke houses have been used for centuries for both fish and meat, but it seemed that smoking herbs was perhaps not the end goal for me.

After the nettles are packed away, it's time to work on the seaweed. This has been hanging here the last week or so, semi-drying. It wasn't perfectly dry, but I had planned to put it in the freezer along with my other gathered herbs.

I start off with a little bit and begin to chop.....

It's really hard work because as it dries, seaweed becomes more leather like. This little bit above took me almost 15 minutes to chop. And I'm starting to wonder if my time/profit cost ratio is worth it in the end.

I go back and cut some more seaweed down from it's drying rack. I'm using the sheep shearing scissors that my husband's grandfather used.... and it is questionable if he was the first to use them himself.

So I was struggling, on the second little helping of seaweed. Even with my sharpest tools it's a struggle. It was at this point my husband took a coffee break and came to see what I was doing.

Now I do have to admit that I did marry my husband because he was the smartest man I ever met, both with IQ intelligence as well as practicle intelligence. After watching me for a bit he asked me if it was possible to grind the seaweed in the meat grinder we have.

Now what a great idea that was! I had not thought of using my meat grinder as I have not used it myself for almost 4 years. I use it when I/we catch lots of fish. If the fish is fileted and then ground, it can later be used for making fishcakes, gratain or fish puddings (like meatloaf). And, as long as you have all white fish, you can mix it together. But we have not been on any big fishing trips in a long time. Any fish that is caught is usually eaten for dinner that very day.

So we got the meat grinder out, set it up on the edge of the balcony and put it to work. It worked like a charm!

It was grinding up the seaweed better than I could ever chop it and I'm glad that my hubby and I make a good team. BUT! It really started to downpour at this point and this particular balcony railing was not a good place to have the grinder. So both of us decided to call it a day for these activities, and spend some time with the kids.

DAY TWO --

The next day it was starting to clear up. There were rain clouds in the sky, but luckily they were going over us.

And always in the distance we could see some blue sky.

So I set up my meat grinder on the other balcony... the one that had the much nicer view looking out to sea.

And here I started my work.

It's still pretty tough work and today (two days later) I've still got some sore muscles in my right arm.... but it is definitely much easier and much more time efficient than using the chopping method.

And I like the idea that I'm using human power instead of electricity - the ultimate eco-friendly way of getting the job done.

And when it's all ground up.......

Into the antique bowl with the large crack on the side it goes.

When it became clear that my arm was getting sore a bit too quickly, I needed to figure out a way to turn the grinder around without having the risk of breaking dishes that would fall several meters down to the ground. A nail and a plastic lid saved the day. (Although both hubby and I agree that we need to stop in at IKEA on our next trip and find better and bigger tools for me. Perhaps even a bucket that can hang under the grinder..... we'll perfect the technique before summer ends!)

And slowly the cracked antique bowl fills......

And after a short hour it is completely full and I'm out of seaweed. This too has gone into plastic ziplock bags (which can be washed and reused!) and is in the freezer waiting for me to make soap out of it.

Stay tuned for the next harvesting adventure!

Harvesting Stinging Nettles and Seaweed

2010-05-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

My family and I have been spending some time at our seaside cabin during the last week or so. It's been great to get away from the rush of the city and work (although I do love my job - let's not get that wrong).

I've also been using this opportunity to harvest both nettles and seaweed, which I've been dreaming about all winter.

Here is the seaside of our cabin. Most mornings we drink our coffee and eat breakfast here. Right now we're doing it with thick jackets on, and watch the steam rise from our mouths. But it's worth it.

If we walk to the end of this balcony and look over the edge, you will see where we will be building the fourth (and thank goodness the final!) balcony during this summer. After this is done, all the big work will be done for at least another 7 or 10 years or so. We're looking forward to that.

Looking down to the left, one can see the stone beach just below us. It is actually illegal to build cabins this close to the sea in modern times, but follow this blog and you will find out why we are lucky to have this place.

Looking straight down, one can see all the nettles that needs to harvested (or as my husband would say - to be gotten rid of. I'm doing my best to harvest as much as possible as it grows to at least a meter high, and he's the one who will have to work in it while building the porch. Mind you, he finds a weed-whacker works wonders).

In order to get down to the nettles, it is necessary to walk all the way around the cabin. There will be stairs down from the porch one day in the future, but as for now we need to go the long way around.

Here is the door to our basement.... and the reason why we have a cabin so close to the sea. These stone walls are part of a foundation on a living quarters that can be dated back historically to the 1700's. And it logically goes back at least 100 years before this as this is when the old farm stead (which now belongs to my husband's second cousin) was recorded historically. Many farms had what can be loosely translated as a 'farm hand' or 'yeoman' in romantic terms. This was however not a romantic title to have.

The men (and probably also their families) that lived here would be allowed to live on a small corner of the farm in exchage for 10-14 hours of work a day. After that, they were free to go home and work on their own garden and produce their own food for their own survival. They were also allowed to fish, but part of this harvest had to go to the owner of the farm. And interestingly enough, there was a law stating that one day a year (a specific date which I am not sure of, yet) the owner of the farm could throw out this man (and his family if he had one) for no reason and replace him with someone else. So when it really comes down to it, those who lived here were slaves to the farm owner with no possibility for anything else.

But this is why we have a cabin so close to the sea. It is legal to continue building on an existing foundation, something my husband's grandfather started doing immediately after WW2.

And opening the door to the cabin, we see that we use this space for storage, and not a nice and tidy storage area either.

To the left we see an old window set in stone which would not have existed in the 1700's. It was no doubt added when my grandfather-in-law when he started working on it close to 70 years ago.

Shelving on the wall directly behind the door with all sorts of old nails, pipes, and knick-knacks that have been saved by various family members during the last 50 years.

To the right of the door, we can see the foundation for the the chimney, which can no longer be used without burning down the cabin. We however are content to use small electric heaters. My husband and I have done so many reperations and additions to the cabin that to replace the chimney will be something our children will have to do.... if they decide to do so.

As one can see however, this is not a large space. It measures about 3 meters by 5 meters, at the most. It's hard to fathom that an entire family, with at least 4 children and possibly many more, used to live here.

But here it is what I'm looking after - garden gloves. Because stinging nettles is pretty nasty stuff.

Stinging Nettles, or Brennenesle as it is known in Norway is not something you want to play with. The scientific name is Urtica dioica, and when touched, it will actually inject small amounts of poison under the skin. It stings and itches like a Dickens. If you have tough adult skin and can grit your teeth for 15 or 20 minutes, it usually goes over. But if you are a kid like my daughter, and accidentally run into it while playing football while wearing shorts and short sleeves, it can leave horrible red welts all over your body. Luckily Aloevera salva tends to work quickly.

At the same time, nettles has been used for centuries both as food and for it's medicinal qualities. It's rich in both A, E and K vitamins (something desprately needed during the 1700's when there is little time to produce or collect your own food) and is also rich in flavoids and plant acids. Common uses were against internal infections, heart and kidney problems, arthritus, and as a blood stopper. For these same reasons, it can be also used for the skin, once the stinging part of the plant is destroyed.

But first I have to pick a bunch.

Here is what I picked in 15 minutes or so. And even though I was wearing garden gloves, I was stung several times on the palms of my hands, though the material of the gloves. I've since made it a point to wear latex washing gloves after this.

But instead of grabbing the Aloevera, I decided to try seaweed, which I have also heard works wonders against small rashes and scrapes.

Leaving my nettles behind, I grab a bucket and head further down my property to the sea.

This rock wall that can be seen here is the first project of work at the cabin I was given 12 years ago, newly married and living in a country where I did not speak the language. There is a reason why I'm pointing this out and I will come back to it in a bit.

Another view of the same wall for the opposite side. Stick with me, there's a reason why I'm pointing this out.

Here we have the seaweed that I will be harvesting. It looks like we have two different types located on our beach, but really this is not true. What is seen above is what the seaweed looks like when it's establising itself on a rock face.

And this is what it looks like after it has had time to grow a bit.

And this is what it looks like when it has had a winter to grow without any of us removing it from our swimming area.

This type of seaweed is Ascophyllum nodosum, or is otherwise known as Norwegian Kelp. It is high in nutrients and minerals. The first thing I did was drop my bucket (well after taking pictures in any case), grab a few handfuls of seaweed and rub my itchy hands on it. Abracadabra, my itching stopped, and I was a happy girl again.

Other things I have learned about Norwegian Kelp - it stimulates cell growth, tones and hydrates the skin, and can apparently be used in soups, broths and chowders. While I have not tried that, I can say if you catch fish, pack it in this seaweed and then toss it on the fire, it will be the best meal you've had in a long time.

A close up of the seaweed - here are the small gas bubbles that help the seaweed float to the surface when the tide comes it. The closer to the sunlight they can come, the more photosynthasing that can occur.

While I'm busy with my gathering, I suddenly hear a noise behind me - it's my daughter who's suddenly gained an interest in snails and small crabs that the tide leaves behind when it goes out.

Here's a quick shot of the treasures she has found.

This shot shows the difference between an inexperience wall builder who has never pushed anything other than a pen and textbooks for 10 years (that would be me) compared to an experience farmworker. And that was the point I was alluding to earlier.

On the way up, I hang all my seaweed on a super old (50+ years?) apple tree that has long since stopped producing apples. It will be cut down and replaced in a year or so, but in the meantime it can be useful to me.

And my daughter follows me up because she's told that if she's going to look for more snails and crabs, she needs to put on a life vest.

Into our half finished kitchen to boil some water to make the nettles more customer friendly.

We still carry our water in by the bucketfull because it costs a small fortune to be allowed to be connected to the local irrigation system. And we would rather have a fourth porch instead.

And the water goes onto our old-fashioned oven that we inherited from my husband's grandmother.

While the water's slowly boiling, I carefully transfer the nettles into a siv.

Finally the water is boiled and I can pour it onto the nettles. Quite a nice vegitable smell rises up in the steam, similar to spinach but not as strong. Although I think I will add some mint essential oils when I use it in soap.

And while I wait for the water to do it's trick, I admire the view.

And ask my daughter what she's found.

She tells me she's found a mussel, lots of snails and a ton of bitty-small fish swimming just out of her reach.

And now it's time to separate the nettles from the other grass that it was harvested with. A job that is easily done without any painful consequences with my bare hands.

And here we have lots of nettles that is now ready to be added to my soaps.

It would also be interesting to note that I have read that fireweed loses its stinging abilities when dried, which is something I am also going to try. But since I intend to use this immediately, I couldn't wait the 5-10 days drying takes. But I will get back on that one and blog about my experience with that.

Dedicated to ARTMIND, or... An example of sewing from one who cannot sew, but really doesn't think it should stop her anyway.

2010-04-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have a great friend, Artmind, on Etsy who works with clay and makes the most amazing, modern sculptures. She has just written a blog piece about finally purchasing a sewing maching and was describing how she needs to learn how to use it. Despite this, she has been able to make the most adorable stuffed doll.

I for one have never let my lack of knowledge of how to use power tools actually stop me from using them. And I've got the marks and scars to prove it.

Having said this, I would like to show what my sewing endavours produced yesterday.

Here is my sewing machine, a 1950's Bernia that my husband purchased for me a couple of years ago. As alluded to, I had never actually used a sewing machine before, and the instructions were written in Swedish and Finnish, not Norwegian. And it was 1950's Swedish and Finnish... which did not make things much easier. Luckily the manual had excellent pictures.

I don't actually make clothes, although I would really like to one day. And when I say make clothes, I mean actually make them. I can see myself finding all sorts of pieces of fabric and sewing them together and then figuring out afterwards if I should climb into the garment, or put it over my shoulders.

But that's a blog post for another time.

This is what I ususally use my sewing machine for - to repair my son's clothes.

My son, despite the fact he's getting old enough to not ruin his clothes, still wears holes through his pants which require repair every few weeks or so. I could get mad at him. I could scold him and tell him not to have fun and to grow up, but I figure that before I know it he'll be out of the house on his own and I really don't want to be left behind with a bunch of perfect pants hanging in the closet.

In any case, my son does not actually mind having patches on his jeans. I find this amazing because he is the only boy at school that has this. I do not know if there is any other mother in my neighborhood who can sew, or perhaps most are just not willing to bother with it. Regardless, I certainly am not willing to purchase new pants every second week.

Having been through this procedure a few times already, my son suddenly said that he wanted to pick the color of thread. This was okay by me. So yesterday he decided on red and blue.

Now the thing about not knowing how to sew is that I really don't know what to do when it comes to specific problems. Like how to sew patches on jeans that have very, very, incredibly narrow legs. I got the one leg sewed quite fine, but for the second leg the patch shifted despite the fact I had it pinned down. So suddenly there was way too much material on the fourth side of the patch to be sewn.

I had already spent over half an hour sewing and while I love my son dearly, I'm not about to start ripping out thread for jeans he's going to outgrow in another month or so.

And as I see it, every mistake I make is a potential piece of artwork in the making.

So with my ingenious intellect (or my ability to slide over to the side of laziness) I cut the patch in half, folded the material over itself and then sewed up the edges nice and clean.

My son thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen and can't wait to wear these pants to school on Monday. He wanted to know how I 'got the patch to do that'. 'Ah, my son,' I said, 'A mother can't give away all her secrets.

The Latest Soaps -

2010-04-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

I don't seem to be having as much time to spend blogging as I ususally do. The bright side is that this is mostly due to the fact I am getting a lot of steady sales. Not only do I have to package and send my products, I must also keep making great soaps that sell as well as thinking about very cool soaps to make for the summer season.

In the meantime, here is a pictoral list of what has appeared in my store during the last couple of weeks:

The above is a new batch of Tulip Petal with Exotic Floral Boquet Essential Oil. This time I used yellow tulip petals that have hints of pink, purple and green. Very lovely.

My Jasmine Oatmeal soap appears to be one of my best sellers, and I have now made a few batches of these. This particular batch is now selling through Etsy. I have two other batches waiting upstairs in my attic. They should be done in a few weeks.

This is perhaps the soap I am most proud about - a Chocolate Mint Soap that is made with Orangically grown mint. The differencein scent is astounding and since I have used organically grown herbs, I will never, ever, ever in my long, long life ever go back to even buying the best quality herbs from other places. When I made this soap, my kitchen and living room were smelling of mint for long into the day.

Here is my latest batch of Poppy Seed with Orange Zest. Also a steady seller.

Above is my third batch of Rose Petal with Pure Vanilla. One of my friends likes this soap so much because it reminds her of her childhood ice-cream.

This is my latest version of Mocha Shower Soap. This have to be one of my favorite soaps. I love how the coffee grounds in the soap scrub against my skin after a hard workout.

Here is a new soap that I am trying out, and which I use myself. This is an oatmeal soap that has the Essential oil of Patchouli. Just before Christmas I received a great book on herbs, soaps and skin care. And on one of the pages was a small paragraph, perhaps only 5-6 sentences long, explaining what Patchouli was. The sentence that read, 'a very popular scent from the 1970's' made me roll my eyes and think, 'well, I'll never find that!' Low and behold on my next trip into town to get supplies, in the store where I buy my essential oils, there were two bottles. I could not believe my eyes and bought both of them immediately. It is a very nice, heavy scent. And further research has informed me that Patchouli oil is effective at working against acne and exceme, as well as chapped skin.

Second to last, I have a couple bars of Chocolate Chip Mint soap left from an exhibition that I sold at a few weeks ago. I just love the way this soap looks, and had to show it off a bit. :)

And finally I have a new batch of Juniper Berry and Jasmine. This soap has a slightly heavier scent than my previous batch, without being overpowering.

Do check out my store often..... I have big plans in store for the coming weeks and months. It's going to be an exciting summer!

Etsy Artist Interview - Nancy Van den Bloom

2010-04-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've written in my blog. Things have gotten busy in my life (this includes lots of Etsy sales - over 60 in a 3 day period), but now that things are calming down again, it's time to get back to business.

I have been wanting to share this interview with my readers for a while. This Etsy European is an artist that lives in the Netherlands. Before I read her answers to my interview questions, the thing that was most striking to me about her work is her broad brush strokes, her use of color, and her wide range of theme. Since reading her interview, I am very much taken by how her creativity seemed to always lie in the background of her life, although one can say that she's always been in touch with her creative side. In reading about how she came to develope a new relationship with her internal creative self, I get the sense of feeling that her creative self somehow was able to rush forward and envelope her, almost swallow her whole with great energy and exuberance. It seems to me in any case that this rushing forward, in almost a sense of abandonment can be seen in her work, the brush strokes and the colors I first fell in love with.

I have chose a variety of her paintings to show her range of ability, but one must check out her Etsy shop as well as her own website to get a true feel for her talent.

With no further ado, here is the interview.

**************************

Name: Nancy van den Boom
Age: 50
Married/Children: I live with Cor and my two children, daughter Roos (15 years old) and Son Bas (22 years old) and 3 three cats.
Occupations: painter/artist and accountmanager internal facilities for the beautiful city of Haarlem.

Important Links: Nancy Van den Bloom Etsy Shop, Nancy Van den Bloom Homepage, and Nancy Van den Bloom Blog

Where did you grow up and what did you like best about it?

I grew up in the village of Heemskerk in the Netherlands, a place close to the dunes and the NorthSea with sandy beaches. A wonderful place to grow up. Lots of space to play outside, ride horses, dwelling and experience nature, weather and all the nice things of being outside which I love so much. The house where I lived with my parents and brother was half a mile from the castle “Assumburg” , which was a youthhostel . This castle and its function made my youth very special. Lots of foreign visitors, people to talk with and even work in the weekends, when I was 15.

I prepared breakfast, cleaned the bedrooms and it was a very nice opportunity to explore the castle and almost feel at home in this special, romantic place.
I also had the possibility of ride the horse of the farmer next to the youth-hostel and I had a great time there. I still remember it all so well and I cherish the memories of it all. I had a very happy childhood.

Where do you live and what is the best part of living there?

Now I live in an even smaller village not far from the castle I described. The village is called Uitgeest. It is near a lake with lots of recreation, flat land with cattle, dunes nearby and luckily, also the NorthSea. I like it a lot to live in this village, I am familiar with the surroundings and enjoy the rural touch of it. And the cities Haarlem, Alkmaar and Amsterdam are very close (about 30 minutes drive), so when we look for something else than rural elements for a day, it’s easy to do. We can visit these towns with all the wonderful elements like art, culture, shops, movies, people and restaurants and then go back to the “peace” of our village. Here we can smell the grass!

Is there a particular secret about where you live that only the locals know?

I don’t think the people in my village are very good at keeping a secret longer than 1 hour! They love to discuss all, and very much in the open. Perhaps it would be a nice secret that there’s a treasure on the bottom of the lake (a non-discovered painting of Vincent van Gogh in a big trunk, I would love to dive it up!).

What term would you use to describe your creative talent: artist/craftsman(woman)/creator/other. Why is it you see yourself in this way?

I see my talent as an intuitive creator. I just put up a canvas and grasp those brushes! I kind of intuitively check the connection between me and the subject that I choose. If it feels ok, I start painting and if I don’t feel a connection, I let it go and start looking for something else. In this way I keep on working in the flow.

How did you begin with this creative process and how does it add to your life?

I used to draw a lot as a child and my father was quite an example for me. And I remember he played a lot with light in his work and I loved it. When I was a teenager I didn’t draw so much any more, other interests…Both of my parents are very creative, my mother did wonderful watercolors, she discovered this also quite late in her life, but was always creating, like making cloths for her and me and my dolls. So for a long time (from my 14th till my 44th) no painting or drawing….

In 2004 I had a negative, frustrating feeling about my work and I asked myself lots of questions about changing my career. I looked for help and got advice from an internal advisor, who works with people that got stuck in their work, like me at that time. She had clever strategies to get people in contact with what they really love, their passions. For example, I had to write a fake diary about my dreamed life when I would be in the right place doing what I love. I remember visualizing myself as an author at the time. I had no problem at all visualizing this! It was a great feeling. Another task was to make a painting of myself. I painted (with acrylic, no experience but for school) a tree, with strong roots, some broken branches, lots of light. I liked it a lot to paint I noticed. I thought, wow what’s this? She was surprised with what I presented her. I started another painting, a selfportrait of me, at 8. I remember thinking this is really me and I loved the vibrancy of this early painting. I loved to paint and quite fast I tried oil paint and that’s when I ultimately fell in love with painting. This medium was really mine and I painted very much in a short time. I painted so much I forgot about the problems at work so the advisor had done a wonderful job letting me discover my passion. From that moment on I developed my skills quite quickly since I painted every day, like crazy almost and wanted to learn. I had no education and found it all out by myself, on my own. In 2 years I got lots of commissions, even big ones (portrait of 5 people for a magazine) and I must admit, this was going all very, perhaps, too fast. The pressure got high and I forgot to enjoy almost.

Where you creative before this time? If so, what other creative arts do/did you dabble in?

I did a part-time education directing movies and made quite “non-professional” but quite ambitious movies, together with Cor, who’s a great cameraman/photographer. Together we made a 40-minutes fiction-movie (I made script, did direction) with which we became the champions of the non-professional league in the Netherlands and the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxumburg). We also made a shortfilm on making coffee. Sounds dull and like daily routine, but in this shortfilm making coffee is full of suspense, and we managed to make this ordinary subject quite special by giving it a glamorous and suspense-look. When the cup of coffee is prepared in the end of the film, it looks like a great achievement. This was fun of course.
I loved making films, it’s a great process from scratch to showing an audience, but it’s a very intense, energy-swallowing exercise with lots of people (just like the work I do), locations and technique. Painting is something I do by myself, no negotiations, just color, composition, my own ideas, I love working like this. It’s very good to keep balance for me.

Is there something in particular that you find inspiring?

There is so much that inspires me! But in particular…it isn’t going to be a very suprising answer I fear: nature, light and shadows, colors.

When you have a quiet moment to indulge yourself and there’s no one around to bother you, what is it you like to do best?

Hot bathtub, lots of foam, smell of perfume, candlelight with enough light to read a wonderful book, and ideas in my head for a new painting!

What type of music are you listening to at the moment? What does this music do for you?

I like lots of music. Soul like Al Green, Temptations, Aretha Franklin, and some jazz too, like Ella Fitzgerald. The mood, the swing, the warmth of heart is what I love about this music. And I can sing along many of the songs, since I hear them such a long time already. It always brings me in a good mood, if needed…

Where is the place that you have visited in the past, that you have particular fond memories of? Why?

It is a place in the Netherlands I visited last year, B&B De Ziel in Diepenheim. I was surprised by my own country. A green region so close, so inviting and wonderful. I spent 4 wonderful days there with Cor, the two of us. That was really special because we enjoyed the simple things in life so much: a good hotel, good bikes to ride on, the sun in our faces.

Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview that you feel our readers should know?

Being able to create is of the important things to be really happy for me. I wish all people to live out their creativity, for themselves but also for all those who can enjoy what we create. Therefore I am so glad I discovered ETSY!

What is French Milling

2010-03-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

A number of my customers have been asking me what French Milled Soap actually is, and why it should be better than regular Cold Pressed Soaps.

After explaining the process a number of times, it occured to me that I should find a way to actually show them.

To that end I have created a YouTube video that does this.

Enjoy everyone!

Exceme, Psoriasis, Cayenne Pepper and Soap -

2010-03-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

A lot of customers and potential customers that have come through my store have asked me a great deal of questions about my soaps, and specifically about the extra ingredients I add into my soaps.

Probably one of the questions I get the most runs along the lines of: I/my sister/my friend has exceme. Do you have a soap that will help with this?

The answer is yes, I do. First of all, all handmade soap is a much better choice for those who suffer from exceme and psoriasis. This is because all handmade soap contains GLYCERIN. It is a biproduct of the saponification process, or the chemical process that occurs when a alkali (such as lye) is mixed with a fat (such as animal fat or liquid oils). Glycerin is a highly valuable and sought after biproduct which is used with almost abandon in the cosmetics feild. This is because glycerin is acts as a humectant, or as something that can absorb and retain moisture. This is very good for skin.

Having said this, all plain, handmade soap is good for the skin, can be used by everyone and will help those who suffer from exceme to keep their hands softer and less prone to cracking.

What is added to handmade soap can either help or aggitate those who suffer from exceme. Unfortunately it is difficult to write a list of what those who suffer from exceme should and should not use. Each person who suffers from exceme may have different allergens that cause outbreaks. As a general rule, perfumes should be avoided. Essential oils *may* be a slightly better choice for those who suffer from exceme as they are completely natural substances in themselves. However each essential oil has their own properties (essential oils that come from flowers may not be a good choice for those who suffer greatly from pollen allergies) and it is impossible to say who will react to what. My advice is this: if you suffer from a light case of exceme that is easily controlled without too much prespcription medication/lotions, and you really want to try a particular type of soap, by all means take a chance. But be prepared that the soap might need to be thrown out (or hopefully given away to a close family member or friend) after only a few usages.

If one has extreme exceme that is very difficult to control, my advice is to steer clear of soaps with essential oils as well.

However soaps with other types of additional ingredients may be benificial to those who suffer from exceme. I have had good results with carrot soaps and cucumber soaps as both of these soaps have vitamins and other nutrients that are absorbed by the skin. They certainly do not cure exceme, but are very pleasant to use by those who suffer from it.

One type of soap that seems is very interesting has been helpful to a good number of people is, believe it or not, soap that has an additional ingredient of Cayenne Pepper. I know, I know - logic would say the absolute opposite of what seems to be true for most people. It would seem that cayenne pepper (or Paprika as it is known in many parts of Europe) would be the worst thing to put exceme, that it would only irritate the skin and lead to possibly agonizing pain for the sufferer.

Instead, cayenne pepper seems to relieviate the itching for many who try this technique and it does so for this reason. Capsaisin, one of the components found in peppers and which is responsible for that warm/burning sensation in your mouth when eaten, also prevents (or eventually prevents) your nerve endings to send pain messages back to the brain. These same nerves are the nerves that also transmit 'itching' messages back to the brain. By using products that contain capsaisin, one does not feel the need to scratch one's skin so often. This in itself is often a 'present time' relief for the sufferer. Over longer periods of time it proves to be benificial for the skin as a whole - the less one scratches, the more time the skin has to try to repair itself.

For these same reasons, cayenne pepper and products that contain capsaisin also seem to prove benificial to those who suffer from arthritis and those who suffer from psorasis.

If you are interested in purchasing a small sample of cayenne pepper soap from my store, simply click on one of the soap pictures above and contact me. I can set up an inexpensive private order for you.

Etsy Artist Interview - LaTouchables

2010-03-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

My next interview is with a person who I greatly admire, and with whom I have begun to have a developing friendship with. What impresses me most with Dawn is how wide spreading her skills are. Most Esty artists, myself included, work with one type of medium, make one type of article though with perhaps variations on the theme.

Dawn on the other hand seems to be able to use her skills to create clothing, jewelry, handbags and totes as well as other accessories. I'm quite amazed of where her creativity takes her. And I was very glad that she agreed to take part in this interview with me.

Name: Dawn
Age: 49
Married/Children: Married, with a cat, no children
Occupation: Artist, crafter, language consultant
Important Links: LaTouchables Bags and Things, LaTouchables Etsy Store

Where do you live and what is the best part of living there?

I live in Southern Germany, near the Rhine, where the sun often shines and one can get good wine…and there are a network of bike trails that go on forever, we are close to France, I sit practically in the lap of the Pfalz mountains, considered by some to be Germany’s Tuscany. Our village is surrounded by woods…we are close to some big cultural centers…so many great things about living here!

Is there a particular secret about where you live that only the locals know? That the tourists would flock to your local if they heard the slightest rumour of it?

Yes, we have some of the best white asparagus in the world. It’s a delicacy, and we get fat off it when it’s in season!

What term would you use to describe your creative talent: artist/craftsman(woman)/creator/other. Why is it you see yourself in this way?

I consider myself an intuitive creator. It has a lot to do with curiosity and desire. Craft is an integral part of it—I don’t like to work shoddy—but I work best when I am inspired. I’m always inspired, so that’s not an issue. It’s wise to step back when you feel a lack, do something genuinely different, and when you get back to the drawing room, you have power and imagination.

How did you begin with this creative process and how does it add to your life?

I began thinking this way as a young child, probably before my concious memory. I was lucky to grow up in a family that encouraged the arts, so it became a way of life. As far as crafting was concerned, I was only carrying on legacies set by my forefathers—in the days of yore (well into my parent’s generation, and thus influencing me), it was a matter of pride that you did something well, and it was also a matter of neccessity. You couldn’t just make a blanket and have it fall apart on you…when you made a loaf of bread, you made sure it had no big airbubbles in the dough—that bread had to feed a big family. When you made your own clothes, you made them to fit and show youself off—you invested time and effort. So when I make something practical, I want it to last, wear well, look good.

Were you creative before this time? If so, what other creative arts do/did you dabble in?

I got my education at a big university, beginning with classical performance arts, namely the violin. Mid-studies I switched to painting and the visual arts, painting large mural-size neo-expressionist paintings. I’d drawn and painted my whole life, so it was really my choice. I made forays into metalsmithing, which I adored. I still take classes now and again. I spent years taking modern dance classes. A completely different discipline can only enhance your imagination, I believe!

Can you remember the first creation that you made?

Yes, I was four years old, and I found a drawing of a butterfly I had done when I was three—as if I had found an artifact of my earlier life—I was blown away by the colors, I couldn’t believe how beautiful they were. Of course, my mom loaded praise on me. Parents should do that with their children, to establish early feelings of well-being and comfort in the arts.

Is there something else that you made that you are particularily proud of?

I decided to braid a rug, once. I devised a plan, bought the material for pennies at a warehouse, cut strips, finished the edges, braided it, sewed it together by hand, and we’ve had it on our floor for ten years, in front of the sofa.

Is there something in particular that you find inspiring?

Nature, other artists, other ‘thinkers’, my friends and family. I love literature.

Do you have a particular customer (on or off the internet) that you remember particularly well for good reasons?

I have a few customers who have encouraged me. I value their comments and contacts enormously!

How would you envision the perfect dinner? Who would be there (famous/family/fictional/etc)? Would it be formal/informal? What would be served?

For me the perfect dinner would be with one person, at a small table on a street, or a blanket on the beach.

What type of music are you listening to at the moment? What does this music do for you?

It varies. I like music that takes me outside of me…I’m into the music experience! That could be some pop song on the radio or something totally out there—like a recorded street scene from Africa, or anywhere, anything with a beat.

Where is the place that you have visited in the past, that you have particular fond memories of? Why?

There are so many places, but Morocco was my virgin voyage, and made a tremendous impact on me. I lived for months in one city, with a family of a friend, who, inspite of my strangeness took me in and treated me respectfully as a member of their family, tolerating my eccentricities and encouraging my forays into their culture.

Where is the one place you would really like to travel to one day? Why?

I’m open. I even get excited about desolate places, lonely truckstops, tops of volcanos, looking into the other side…

Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview that you feel our readers should know?

Yes, in the beginning there was fire. Making and keeping fire was an effort, a craft, an art.

Turmeric Soap Knowledge and Give Away

2010-03-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all who have participated in this give away. Amazingly, 4 of the give away winners were local! So very exciting!

Be on the lookout for another giveaway coming soon.

Turmeric is a spice that has been used for centuries and has fallen out of favor in the last couple of decades, mostly due to the introduction of more exciting spices from other, far away eastern places.

But turmeric is now starting to make a comeback, both as a spice to add color and taste our dinnertime food, but also because of its reported health benifits. A great deal of research has been done the last number of years on the benifits of this spice. And while there are many reasons as why one should add tumeric to food, here are some reasons as to why one should start using turmeric on your skin:

1. It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns.

2. May prevent melanoma and cause existing melanoma cells to commit suicide.

3. It is a potent natural anti-inflammatory that works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects.

4. Is a natural painkiller and cox-2 inhibitor.

5. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is a natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

6. Studies are ongoing in the positive effects of turmeric on multiple myeloma.

7. Has been shown to stop the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.

8. Speeds up wound healing and assists in remodeling of damaged skin.

9. May help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.

-- information gathered from EAT THIS - HEALTH DIARIES

As if this were not enough, here is some futher information gathered from another site with medical news:

1) Turmeric is a natural healer for skin conditions such as eczema, acne, dry skin and psoriasis.

2) The use of turmeric in cosmetics and skin care products helps to naturally slow the appearance of aging and restore youth. Continued use decreases the formation of deep creases and wrinkles.

3) Turmeric is helpful in speeding up the recovery time for smallpox, chickenpox, hot skin disease and red rashes.

4)Turmeric is sometimes used in natural cleansers, such as a mixture of turmeric powder and milk.

5) Turmeric can help to improve overall skin care. Washing with a cleanser that contains turmeric will reduce hair growth and give the skin a healthy glow. Facial masks and bath oils can also be made with turmeric.

My turmeric soap has been selling quite well locally, but it seems to be quite lonely in my Etsy store. I suspect it is because there are many who do not know the great benifits of using tumeric.

To remedy this, I am offering a give-away in my store. The next 5 people who purchase 2 bars of soap will receive a 3rd bar of turmeric soap completely free, and for no extra shipping.

Just click on my store name to come directly into ULTIMATE ORGANIC SOAP, and let your journey begin.

Interview from Finland

2010-03-02T01:29:00.001-08:00

My next interview is from a women on the complete opposite side of Scandinavia from me. Minna comes from Finland and has a very unique type of artistic style that goes straight to my heart. Her Etsy store KARUSKI is also the word used for candy in the local Finnish dialect that she speaks. This is what her products remind me of: pure and simple candy from days that have long gone by; candy which is sweet and savory, but not too sweet. And not guady with neon colors, 10 different layers of taste as well as the artificial chemicals that are so present in today's candy and today's world.

I am very proud to present this interview and hope that everyone takes a chance to sneak a peek at her works.

********************************

Name: Minna
Age: 36
Married/Children: In a long term relationship
Occupation: crafter/designer, self employed
Important Links: etsy, blog, site, twitter

Where do you live and what is the best part of living there?

I live in Southern Finland. This is a small town within an hour drive to Helsinki. The best part of living in here is definitely the beautiful nature.

What term would you use to describe your creative talent: artist/craftsman(woman)/creator/other. Why is it you see yourself in this way?

I'm formally educated as a textile designer. However I feel I'm more into making by hand than drawing patterns. So I'd call myself a crafter. It holds a holistic idea about good life in general.

How did you begin with this creative process and how does it add to your life?

Even though I have wandered several paths in my life I don't think there never was another bearable solution for me than what I'm having right now. Being a full time crafter and living a self employed life suits me the best (regardless some occasional obstacles and financial insecurity I have to face).

Were you creative before this time? If so, what other creative arts did you dabble in?

I started with drawing and painting at kids art school at the age of 6 and went to these classes on weekly basis until I turned 12 or 13. That was the start and later on I've studied basics for other mediums of fine art and aesthetics (philosophy of art). However at some point it was clear to me I wouldn't be able to live as a free artist so I sifted towards textile studies.

When you have a quiet moment to indulge yourself and there's no one around to bother you, what is it you like to do best?

Most of my days are as you described. Almost everything I do throughout the day is craft related in a way or another. Of course sometimes I get interfered by our pesky cats;) As my days are rather quiet, I really enjoy occasional meet ups with a good friend in the city or other social gatherings.

How would you envision the perfect dinner?

I fancy a nice dinner for two. It can be at home or at a small restaurant in Helsinki, Paris or a place in the middle of nowhere. The place doesn't matter that much as long as I'm in a good company!

Where is the place that you have visited in the past, that you have particular fond memories of? Why?

I've been trekking in the Northern part of Finland with my boyfriend a couple of times. The open landscape is really extraordinary there, I haven't seen similar anywhere else. It just felt great to spend almost a week in wild life with a map, compass and a tent (+ some food of course!).

Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview that you feel our readers should know?

I hope all of us find our own way how to lead a happy life

Thank you Minna for taking the time to show us a little bit of your life!

The Winner!

2010-02-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

The winner of my weekly challenge is BLUETERRACOTTA who came up with this amazing fish.

I actually did not choose the winner myself. Since my son was the inspiration for the contest (he is 7 and has wanted to be a marine biologist for almost 3 years now, with a bookshelf full of books to prove it), I let him choose the winner.

After looking at all the entries, he thought that this fish was just about the coolest thing he'd ever seen. So aces to BLUETERRACOTTA - you've got the ability to go straight into the heart of a future world scientist. :)

To find out what BLUETERRACOTTA'S theme will be, do check out her blog.

The Winner of the Weekly Challange -

2010-02-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

The theme was "Spring", and I put in my TULIP SOAP to compete with all the other great creations of my Etsy Collegues.

Winning means that I need to choose the theme for the next week.... and so, without further ado, the theme for this week is: SEA CREATURES. Artists/Craftspeople can use either living, extinct or fictional as their inspiration.

Come back to this blog daily to see what competing contributions have been given from some of the most talented people on this side of the Atlantic.

A lot of hard work and personal sacrifice (and almost a few stitches as well) went into the creation below: Lucy the Octopus by P8Accessories. P8 i located in a tiny village in Germany, and has a fantastic selection of hats, skirts, bags, totes, aprons, wallets, and wrist warmers to name just a few. Do be sure to check her out.

This lovely scarf is made by one of my favorite Norwegian artists, INGERMAAIKE. Born in Holland, she and her family made the move to Norway a few years ago, looking for a better life. They seemed to have found it. Inger's Etsy skills are mostly seen in the felting of wool with spinning and a tiny bit of knitting on the side. Over the years, I have seen developement take a sharp curve upwards and her products become more and more beautiful.

Below is a scarf inspired by sea mythology.

This next entry is from BlueTerracotta. Located in Francem BlueTerracotta works with both textiles and ceramics. She has a fantastic eye for detail and almost always has an element of nature in her work. Here is one great fish that would love to find a blue bed to swim in sometime soon.

This entry is a great beaded starfish made by madebyCsJ's. She is a great new artist from Hungary who's beadwork is just amazing! Do check out her shop and maybe you can be her first customer!

Presented below is a LARGE MOLESKINE, by GUFOBARDO. What is a Moleskine you ask? I had the exact same question a few weeks ago and have since learned that it is a type of notebook. Gufobardo makes all of hers from leather, and hand draws each picture. Each one is OOAK - and a gorgeous piece of artwork to cherish.

This creation below was made by STAROFTHEEAST and is made from a combination of natural and artistic objects. In this frame is a lovely little piece of driftwood and a sand dollar. In addition to this, two hand crocheted sea anemonies are proudly displayed. Very cool for someone who enjoys being by the ocean but lives high in the mountains. :)

This next wearable piece comes from CREATIONSBYEVE, and is made from nuno felt. The colors are fantastic and the textures do make you feel as you are floating in a lovely sea of paridise.

This next entry is from COLOURSANDTEXTURES, located in Surrey, in England. Her store is full of beautiful paintings, some done in water color and some in acrylic. Some done on paper, some done on fabric. I thought this was a beautiful rendition of tropical fish, originally silkpainted on a kimono, and now available as a set of postcards.

This entry is from Kreativlink - she makes the most amazing, handmade workbooks/diaries/notebooks from both leather and textile materials. All the inside pages are hand torn, and the effect is stunning!

I gave a friend one of her books as a gift, and I do think it was a great hit!

A New Soap - Exotic Bouquet with Tulip Petals

2010-02-13T01:49:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of my latest soap, which will be out in a few weeks for sale.

I was a little concerned what would happen with the tulip petals, and I'll explain why. Most flower petals discolor, or if we really want to honest, turn brown/black and completely disintigrate when making soap. I found this out last summer when I was making soap from lots of wild meadow flowers I had spent hours collecting.

Some flowers are strong enough to stand up to soap when using the French Milling process. Rose petals are strong enough. And I've been using rose petals in my soap already.

But I was not sure about tulip petals. I had not read anything about this, despite semi-extensive searches on the net.

So like most things in my life it was just to hop in with both feet and try.

And above is the result: a lovely soap with a little bit of Exotic Floral Bouquet Essential Oil, and beautiful, brightly colored tulip petals.

I could not be happier.

Nominated to the Handmade Olympics

2010-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Of all things that I was not expecting - I have been nominated to the 2010 Handmade Olympics!

I knew that it was occuring, but with my busy life and responsibilities, I was not paying attention to it. So imagine to my surprise that out of over 900 different talented people who were nominated, I was one of 80 that was chosen to participate.

First of all, a special thanks to Fluerfatale, whom I think was the person who nominated me. (If it was someone else and that someone sees my mistake, please inform me of it as quickly as possible so that I can fix it).

Secondly, I would certainly appreciate it if everyone who likes my soaps would vote for me. It will only take two minutes of your time.

Simply go to this link: Handmade Olympics Event #4, scroll down through the wonderful other handmade items I am competing against, and vote for me - or vote for someone else if you really do, truly, in your heart feel that their product is better than mine.

Let the best craftsman win!

Long Time......

2010-02-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've written in my blog. Things have been incredibly busy at home (but then, when are they not) and creative efforts other than maintaining my store have been put a bit on the back shelf.

But just because I've been a bit quiet does not mean things have been happening. Here are some soaps that are pretty much ready to be put onto my store shelves.

Below is my giant Mocha Soap. The very first Mocha Soap that I made was not French Milled.... this was fine in the beginning, but now I want all my soaps to be French Milled.

The beautiful color in this soap comes from a combination of cocoa powder and coffee.

The next a new batch of Juniper Berry Soap for Men. My last batch sold out quite quickly.

Finally, I have a brand new soap, which is *almost* ready to be sent out. It's still a touch too soft for my liking.... but soon it will come of age.

This soap is actually GRAPEFRUIT AND COCONUT SOAP. Grapefruit is great for greasy skins as it has anti-fungal and astringent qualities. The coconut works as a great exfoliant.

And this is what has been happening in my neck of the woods for the last little while.

Dreaming of Spring

2010-01-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

While I am still enjoying what is left of winter (we still have some snow left, it's a 'nice-type' of cold out in the air), I am looking forward to the fact that spring is coming in a few moths.

At this end, I am thinking of spring themes -

I have just placed in my store, VANILLA BEAN WITH ROSE PETAL SOAP.

Whole vanilla beans are cut up into tiny, small pieces. Vanilla bean oil is a powerful anti-oxidant, and the smell is a great calmer and relaxer.

And what can I say? The rose petals are just gorgeous.

In addition, when I've not been making soap, I've been working on other stuff. The little time that I do sit in front of the tv is not spent completely vegging out. My personality just does not allow it.

So I've been making some lacy wash cloths with a gorgeous shell pattern. These are made with cotton thread, and will probably be made in great quantities in a large number of colors.

I'm very excited to see what the year to come with bring me.

2010-01-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

Your skin is an amazing part of your body. It's the heaviest organ of the human body, weighs approx. 11 kilograms (just over 24 lbs) and if it was stretched out it would take up 1.7 square meters of space (of 18.3 square feet) - which is basically the same size a a single bed.

Queasiness aside, this phenomenal creation also has the ability to absorb up to 60% of topical products that are put upon it. Hormone therapy and medications to curb smoking urges have taken advantage of this by using patches placed on the skin.

But interesting enough, the skin will not absorb everything. Vitamins A, D and E are absorbed through the skin, yet none of the others. Most minerals are not absorbed through the skin, while at the same time early research is showing that it is quite possible that some air pollution is.

Finally, it is interesting to note the skin is the organ that the body pays the least attention to. Of all the nutrients and vitamins that are taken into the body through digestion, all major internal organs are the first to receive their share and the skin is the absolute last. In a perfect world with good eating and exercise, the heart and lungs will stay comparatively healthy and strong, while the skin begins to deteriorate with age. It underlines the importance to take care of the skin from both the inside and out.

Here is a reminder of what it takes to keep the entire body, but especially the skin healthy:

1) Drink lots of water - it is the main transport means in your body for delivering both vitamins and nutrients and taking away waste matters.

2) Eat lots of fruit and vegitables, preferably raw.

3) Find skin products that you believe you can trust - there are a lot out there, making a lot of claims. But the general rule is that the more organically made the product is, the better it probably is for you. Research and ask questions before spending a lot of money - and research has shown the more money you spend, the less you receive for your money.

4) Protect your skin against the sun, wind and cold - all year round

50th Soap Sold = 2 Free Bars of Soap

2010-01-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Above is probably the postcard I will be printing out - with a list of the usual soaps that will be found in my store.... :)

And I've decided to promote in a fun way - things are going really well with steady sales. Because of this I've decided that for every 50th soap that is sold, that person will have the opportunity to have 2 free bars of their choice added to their shipment.

As it stands now, I am at soap 47.

Quick! Before it's too late!

Crazy, Crazy Soaps

2010-01-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a bit of a rush the last while - lots of priorities at home that need to be constantly re-organized. Along with my working full time (and these past days being home with sick kids), juggling driving the kids the to karate and gymnastics, keeping the house running, etc - we've packed away Christmas and I've taken the oppurtunity to go over the house completely: washing down, washing up, deciding if things need to be thrown out or given away, etc, etc.

My poor kids; they were given the message that if they could not keep themselvs occupied for a while they would be given a list of jobs to do to help me. Needless to say I didn't see them for hours even though they were in the same building as me. :)

I've been wanting to show off some really cool soaps that I've made a while ago.

Above is my Turmeric Soap - which is almost ready to be sold (just a couple more weeks until it is completely finished curing).

Turmeric has been used for centuries for a lot of reasons. It has anti-inflammatory properites and has been known to enhance beauty by adding a healthy glow to the skin. There have also been studies (there are also on-going studies as well) showing how turmeric fights against cancer and tumors, including skin cancer and melanoma -which is NOT to say that we should stop using sun screen protection.

Above is a bar of CAYENNE PEPPER SOAP -

Cayenne pepper???? (I can hear the crowds gasping and shaking their heads).

This first batch is almost ready, and ready to share. Cayenne pepper first and formost helps to increase blood circulation in the body. This is true when it is ingested into the body, or applied toppically. Secondly, when applied topically, it offers pain relief and is used by those suffering from joint pain or minor arthritis. It can also offer temporary relief from psoriasis. And finally, for those who suffer from cold hands and feet - this might be exactly what you were looking for.

Finally, we have CARROT SOAP - perhaps not so 'crazy' as 'clever'.

Carrots are chock full of great stuff that can be ingested or absorbed directly through the skin. These include but are not limited to: Vitamin A, vitamin E, and anti-oxidants such as carotenoids and tocopheryls. Studies have shown that these can provide some protection against the sun as well as repair minor sun burn damage.

Keep an eye out in my store for these great soaps!

Grecian Artist Supreme

2010-01-09T06:38:00.000-08:00

My latest interview is from an artist who has to have the cutest products I have seen in a long time. She too is a member of the European Street Team and has such a great personality that I just needed to share her with all of my friends and collegues. Enjoy this interview - :)

Important Information:

Name: Maria
Occupation: Studying for my Master’s degree in Business Administration
My Etsy shop: Heart Shaped Creations
My gallery in Deviantart: Click Here
My Flickr gallery: Click Here
Twitter: http://twitter.com/heartshapedcr

What term would you use to describe your creative talent: artist/craftsman(woman)/creator/other. Why is it you see yourself in this way?

I’d have to say that I think of myself as an artist. I constantly seek for inspiration all around me and I consider my creations as a mean to express a part of my personality.

How did you begin with this creative process (working with clay) and how does it add to your life?

I started working with clay by an urge to experiment, when I purchased my first blocks of clay during my wanderings in a craft-store. Working with this medium has offered me so many things, that I wouldn’t even know from where to begin. I think it’s important for me to say, that my starting point was when my life had taken a rough turn and focusing on my art was something that let the sunlight go through my heart and helped me in a great way to overcome that period.

Were you creative before this time? If so, what other creative arts do/did you dabble in?

I guess I’ve always been involved in some sort of creative process as long as I can remember myself. When I was younger, I used to draw, make collages, later I got “addicted” with the art of decoupage and now clay has become my new medium of expressing myself. I guess having a mum that is a writer and a painter didn’t leave me with much of a choice of embracing art as well!

Can you remember the first clay creation that you made?

My very first clay creation was a bear. I remember that it took me almost a day to finish it! As you can imagine, that first creation had nothing to do with the figurines I create now. However, I will never forget how happy and proud of myself I was for bringing that little bear to “life”.

Is there something else that you made that you are particularly proud of?

Generally, I always feel content everytime I finish a figurine. Despite the fact that, some of them can prove quite tiring and demanding, when I make the final touches and I can say that I’m happy with the final result, then I go to sleep with a smile!

Is there something in particular that you find inspiring?

I love and respect life in any form, therefore I draw my inspiration from nature, but also from fantastic worlds and generally from anything that makes me smile.

When you have a quiet moment to indulge yourself and there's no one around to bother you, what is it you like to do best?

I enjoy those moments of solitude by watching a movie on my couch or by flicking through the pages of artbooks from my favourite Fantasy Artists.

How would you envision the perfect dinner? Who would be there (famous/family/fictional/etc)? Would it be formal/informal? What would be served?

Hmmmm…perfect dinner? I think if I had Hugh Jackman across the table I wouldn’t mind about formalities or the meal! :-D

What type of music are you listening to at the moment? What does this music do for you?

Generally speaking I’ve always been fond of rock music. For the past few years, I only listen to symphonic/rock metal, ambient and Celtic artists. Music always helps me to relax, let off steam etc. Most of the times I pick the music that I will listen to according to my current mood.

Where is the place that you have visited in the past that you have particular fond memories of? Why?

I have to say the Greek island of Milos, which I visited with my parents when I was a child. Its wild beauty is something that is engraved in my mind eversince and I really want to go back there one day.

Where is the one place you would really like to travel to one day? Why?

I would like to travel to numerous places, but my fondest dream has always been to visit Scotland. It’s one of the countries that captures my imagination…

Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview that you feel our readers should know?

"Why do we have to listen to our hearts? Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure” Paolo Coelho

*********************

Thank you so much Marie, for being willing to share some time with us!

New Soaps - Yeah!

2010-01-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a bunch of different soaps since Christmas..... and some of them are selling in my store now. The rest will be ready to sell in a couple of weeks.

Above: Winter Spice Soap - a lighter version of my Christmas Spice Soap. This soap has cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg.... and smells wonderful. These spices and combinations of them have been used as anti-inflammtory and anti-bacterial ingredients. Nutmeg has also been traditionally used to promote skin reparation. Everything we need during the cold chilly days of winter.

Above: Chocoalte and Oatmeal Soap. This soap is just fun, fun, fun. It smells so good and has good qualities for your skin.

Above - My already popular Cucumber Oatmeal Soap. This soap contains NO ARTIFICIAL COLORS OR PERFUMES. That great color comes from the cucumber itself. Both Cucumbers and Oatmeal has great qualities that help the skin.

Above - Passionfruit Tea Soap - this soap is pretty much scentless, and looks gorgeous. A lovely Olive oil and Coconut oil soap with warm swirls and hints of purple.

Finally - Crushed Mint Soap - A soap with a lovely fresh smell that provides coolness to hands and feet. Perfect for hard workers and warm summer days.

A Day in Winter Wonderland

2010-01-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of our winter holidays. We all slept late, and after eating a quick breakfast and watching a bit of tv, we all decided that this is not how we wanted to spend our day.

So we split into teams: hubby packed the car, scraped windows, and put lots of wood into the fireplace so that the house would be warm when we came back. I dressed the kids in various layers of wool, as well as winter suits, made hot chocolate and quickly packed other necessities.

Like all 5-years my little princess had managed to get one of the many pairs of mittens we took with us soaking wet. At least we had a place where they would dry out over the hour long drive to get to our cabin.

After a peaceful drive we come where we spend most of our summers. Even though we have a four-wheel drive, we had decided even before arriving that we would NOT drive down the long hill to where our property lies, but instead to use the vast number of sleighs we've been collecting over the years.

Our children were supposed to help us, but before we even had a chance to unload what we had taken with us from town, they were off like a shot.

This was clearly a battle we were destined to lose.

When we finally made it down to our property, my husband decided to take a quick visit into the cabin to check for any mouse invasion, or potential water problems, while I took a short trip around our property and dreamed of harvesting ingredients for my soaps next summer.

Along the way I ran across some fox tracks. Not long after this I saw some hare tracks as well. I wonder if these two met for dinner or not.

One might notice how blue the pictures are. This is due to the angle of the earth against the sun... the low level of light. This day there was exactly 2 hours and 9 minutes of direct sunlight.

Onto my future summer plans - below is where I have my small garden. Here I have grown carrots, zucchini as well as potatoes. I have also been working on a contraption that will work like a greenhouse..... or really a greenhouse with lots of open windows. So it's really a question if my idea will work or not. I will have to blog more about it in a few months.

On the upper part of the property is where I find my juniper berries... though I admit it's hard to see the difference between the juniper bushes and the other surrounding vegitation.

In amongst all the wild raspberry plants that can be seen grows a horrendous amount of nettles, fireweed, or burning grass. This plant has been used as a medicinal plant for many centuries and I plan to cut it all down, take it through a quick parboil, and then store it for further use with my soap.

These are the wild roses where I have collected my rosehips to make my rosehip soap.

While my hubby and I were busy doing our business, my creative daughter was making ice-sculptures by breaking apart the frozen layers of snow. This one she has called 'Frozen Christmas Tree.'

Meanwhile my son was having fun playing in his own fantasy world.

We get the fire started......

And soon we're all roasting sausages.

It's not often that I get captured in photographs, but here I am with my two favorite kids in the whole, wide world.

All in all, it was a great way to spend the last day of Christmas Holidays.

A family day of sledding....

2010-01-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today the entire family was home, it was frightening cold (well okay, not really) and there was lots and lots of snow (that part is true).

We have been horribly unlucky through the Christmas holidays with not enough family time, just us four, no one else, no responsibilities. Today was not going to be like that. We put everything on hold, invited some friends who we really like, took our biggest and fastest rocket sleds and went to find the best hill on the island.

Here it is - a hill on an old farm no longer in use.

Perfect.

Here is my son and his best friend way up on the top of the hill. They had said that they were not going to let anything stop them and come down the hill as fast they could.

Here comes my son, racing down full speed ahead!

And before my camea can allow me to take another picture, he's down at the bottom, hiding behind the sparse vegitation.

Lots of fun was had by all, and we all spent 3 hours getting great exercise climbing up the hill (myself included) and racing down, being blinded by flying snow and praying to the higher power of choice not to break any bones. And in between all of this fun, lots of hot chocolate and chocolate covered healthy granola bars.

A wonderful day.

2010 Has Arrived

2010-01-01T02:09:00.000-08:00

2010 has arrived, and I am sitting here in my living room watching tiny bits of snow fall down from the sky. In the distant I can see low cloud cover the tops of the mountains of Bergen, but if you allow your eyes to follow the valley eastward, you can see where the sun is trying to break through.

Not a bad way to start the year.

2009 was an incredible year in all ways. I stood on skis for, really, the first time in my life. We lost a family member through unbearable circumstances. After 10 years I found a workplace where I like to be, where I know I can grow and where I feel wanted and appreciated. In 2008, through my 6-year-old so I was lucky to meet adults I would not normally have come into contact with. These relationships have grown through 2009 and have greatly enriched my life. I look forward to seeing what 2010 will bring.

2009 was a huge turning point for me. After living in Norway for more than 10 years, I had finally come to a place where this country was more than just a good place to live, in comparison to a lot of good places to live. In 2009 something shifted in myself and this country became a place where I wanted to be. For the first time it was not a problem that I will probably spend the rest of my life here. On the contrary, it was a positive thing.

I see 2010 as a vast open space, where I can go where I want, do what I choose and take advantage of any oppurtunity I see. I have looked forward to all new years with hope, but this is the first time I have come into a new year with expectation of good things to come.

I leave this post wishing everyone, friends, collegues, family as well as a flood of new traffic from places unknown the absolute best in 2010. May your lives be over run by good luck, hard work and good experiences. And may we all come to this day next year with smiles on our faces and peace in our hearts.

Interview with Felting Wonder

2009-12-30T03:51:00.000-08:00

Today's Etsy Interview is from a woman who I've known for a good year via Etsy, and whom I had the pleasure meeting face to face last winter, when I was on a skiing vacation in Lillehammar. Inger Maaike works with wool. Her main pleasure is with felting wool and she creates a huge assortment of finished products: scarves, jackets, arm warmers, and even sculptures.

Inger is a very quirky sort of person. A nice and hospitable person, she has opinions on many subjects (and people) and is not scared to share them. Her heart is warm and she clearly is not concerned about outward appearances. Flashy is not not her style.

When I met her for coffee (after having received wrong GPS directions from my husband and arrived a couple of hours late), she gave me a tour of her house, which her and her husband had purchased not long before. Both of them were tired of the rat race in Holland and took advantage of her family ties to Norway to find a new place to live as well as a new lifestyle. Her house is of an older Norwegian style and feels very cozy, no matter what room one is in. From her kitchen window is a gorgeous view over the river valley where she lives.

I have maintained contact with Inger since then, and we have 'playful' games and contests as to who has more snow, better weather, etc. Both of us being immigrants to Norway means we have a lot in common, though we come to from two different countries, have different base languages and really, two different cultures.

I am proud to have Inger as my first interviewee.

Personal Information: Inger Maaike, married, 3 children, 2 dogs, 3 cats, the odd stray mouse. Is a mother, obsessed with fiber arts, says she is an eternal student and, most importantly an infernal optimist (as opposed to an eternal optimist, I think. That definitely suits her style more).

What word would you use to describe your creative talent: artist/craftsman/creator/other. Why do you chose this word? I am, I think, an artist foremost. I create not to sell per se, but out of an innate need to create. Sometimes very prolific and sometimes not so. But repetition is not something I am very good at.

Were you creative before this time? If so, what other creative arts do/did you dabble in? I began creating as soon as my motor skills would allow me to do so. It has been with me in one oway or another since before I can remember: sewing doll clothes, cooking on a tiny gourmet set, wood carving, dollhouse furniture, bootmaking, and bag making just to name a few. I worked with any material with a distinct, natural feel.

Can you remember the first felted creation you made? I most certainly do. After months of dithering I took the plunge and enrolled in a workshop feltmaking given by a famous Dutch felter LYDA RUMP. She wanted us to make a vessel around a resist. I of course said, 'Vessel? What use is there in a vessel? I want to make a bag.' 'No,' she said, 'you can't.' 'Yes,' I said, 'I can 'cause I paid you and I want to.' To cut a long story short, I walked out of the door with a bag in the shape of a poppy.

Is there something else that you have made that you are particularily proud of? After the first bag I made several more and then I discovered the sight called TREETOPS COLOUR HARMONY. There I saw the most amazing color combinations and much softer wool than I had worked with to date. So I ordered wool and silk and made this coat and scarf set. I never wear it and should sell it, but that is really such a cool coat combining my love for sewing and felting to perfection.

Is there something in particular that you find inspiring? Beauty, intense colors, nature, natural materials, happiness, originality..... to name a few.

When you have a quiet moment to indulge yourself, and there's no one to bother you, what is it you like to do best? I have a lot of this as I work from home and the boys are in school. I felt, spin, read, surf the net, walk the dogs. In short, I enjoy life.

How would you envision the perfect dinner? Who would be there? Would it be formal/informal? What would be served? I am not much of an eater. I eat 'cause otherwise I would perish. So for me the perfect dinner would probably be some sort of paste that contains everything I need which I can just schlurrp up and be done with it.

Where is the place that you have visited in the past that you have particular fond memories of? Why? I have travelled quite a bit but of all the places I have been I would think Istanbul is my very favorite. A stunning city in all senses.

Where is the one place you would really like to travel to one day? Why? I dream of travelling to New Zealand and Australia one day. I have never been there and both countries look absolutely incredible from what I have seen on tv.

Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview that you feel our readers would like to know? Every day might be the last one...... don't wait til tomorrow.

If you want to find Inger, check out these direct links to her different sites:

Daily Felt - Inger's Blog
Felt by Ingermaaike - her Etsy store

Secret Santa from Estonia

2009-12-28T02:12:00.000-08:00

For those who do not know, I am a proud member of THE EUROPEAN STREET TEAM - a team of 300+ Etsy sellers who's skills range from metal work, jewellry making, sewing, sculpture... and this is just the start.

Every year one of our members, ARTMIND organizes a Secret Santa project and sends out a huge list of questions to all want-to-be participants. Then she receives the questionaires and does her best to put two and two together, finding the best matches for the year.

I'm not sure I was a great questionaire-filler-upper. I tend to try to live my life as a 'minimalistic' type of person. I don't collect things other than books and ideas (and at the moment I am considering to get rid of most of my books.... but think maybe, just maybe one day my kids might want to browse through them - tough decisions), and if there are any changes in my life that I'm working on it's getting out more, meeting people more, experiencing new things more.

I am also allergic to most perfumes and animals.

So I'm not an easy person to shop for if you don't know me well.

But - Mitsy from ARTMIND did a great job and matched me with a great woman from Estonia.

I got the package about a week before Christmas. And boy was I looking forward to it. Many other of my team members had been receiving theirs, some opening the packages right away, some waiting patiently until Christmas. I myself opened the package right away - I live by the rule that if the present does not come from a blood relative, and there's no one around to stop you (hubby was at work) then it's fair game.

The parcel came fromJelena, who runs the Etsy shop: LARIATA. I had seen her now and then when chatting with team members in our own private forums, but had not had the chance to actually get to know her very well. She works with beads, and does some amazing cluster bead work. Her shop is one that should be checked out, definitely!

Here's the goodies peeking out...... oh.... what can it be?

Some local chocolate! Good call! Chocolate and coffee are definitely my drugs of choice and I always enjoy tasting these treats from other areas of the world.

And some really cool, antique styled bookmarks with some stunning clustered bead decorations. These are already in use (I tend to read 3 - 7 books at the same time, in a pile on the floor beside my bed....) and work really well.

And the chocolate was gone before Christmas arrived, though I did manage to spread it out over a few days. :)

Much appreciation to Jelena! And much appreication to MITSY - another good job done with the SECRET SANTA. I very much like the idea that I am thinking of a new friend off in the distance, over the horizon every night before I go to sleep. A very good way of bringing people together.

Fantastic Cucumer Soap

2009-12-26T05:12:00.001-08:00

When I first started making soap in the summer, I made cucumber soap. At this point I was not using the French Milling Process. What came out was nice. It was really great for the skin and everyone was happy.

But this time I wanted to do better:

When I made soap last night, I changed a few of my tecniques, wrote down what I did in my soap diary, and crossed my fingers. And look what I cut up today!

I am so impressed with the color of the soap - a gorgeous green color. And even though it hasn't finished curing, when I washed my hands after handling the soap and washed away the residue that was left on my fingers, that residue left my hands nice and soft.

I cannot wait until they are finished and ready to use!

My Genius Daughter........

2009-12-20T00:30:00.000-08:00

So last night, I finally had some time since mid-November to work on my Etsy store. The Christmas gifts have been purchased. The house has been cleaned and only needs a quick 'once-over'. Our list of food to purchase for the two traditions celebrated in this house has been made and will be purchased on Monday.

And many of my soaps, which I thought would not be ready until January are hard and ready to use!

Which means I can take pictures.... something I really like doing. It's a skill I'm still working with, but can see the improvements I've made over the last couple of years.

So I put the kids in front of the tv (usually I'm turning the tv off and telling them find something else to do) and gave them a bowl of chocolate each. 'This will keep them occupied,' I think.

And I've got myself set up and begin to arrange soap, when I hear my daughter behind me, 'Are you taking pictures of things you're going to sell, Mamma?'

'Yes.......' I say. I now realize that this is not going to go as smoothly as I had planned.

'Oh can I please help? Please? Please? PLEASE?!?!?!?!?.......' she eagerly asks. The last 'please' reaches a volume and a pitch not acheieved even when she is desprately after a toy or some gum when we're doing our weekly shopping at the store.

I can tell she desprately wants this.

And I sigh...... this is not going as smoothly as I had planned.

'What do you want to do?' I ask.

'I want to take all the pictures!' she says.

And it's then I realize that I can break someone's heart, or I can go and do some laundry. I never get enough time to do laundry. So I give her the camera and tell her to have fun and leave to find smelly clothes.

'Can I take pictures of two soaps at once?' she asks.

'You can take pictures of as many soaps as you want,' I answer from the other room.

'Can I take pictures of all the soaps together?' she yells to me as I move further into the house.

'You can take any kind of pictures with the soap - just use your imagination!' I yell back to her. I'm upstairs now.

'Okay!' she answers, in her optimistic 5-year-old voice.

And these are some of the pictures she came up with. Some of them were out of focus, but most of them were suprisingly not. I must say, I'm pretty impressed.

She's pretty good! And not just because I'm her mother. She's trying different things, seeing how different shaped soaps fit together, or don't fit together.

And I think that after Christmas is finished, I'm going to find the United Nations regulations and the Norwegian laws regarding Child Labour. She might be of more use to me than being a cute face with intelligent comments.

Chocolate Chip Soap

2009-11-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

For those who just need to have a little bit of chocolate every day.....

This soap is so lovely and soft on your skin and faintly smells of chocolate and mint.

A perfect way to treat yourself to goodies during the holiday season without having to worry about your waist.

Christmas Soap - Julesepe

2009-11-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

Now these soaps have been great fun to make - I've made three batches so far, most of which are destined as Christmas gifts to those living around my island.

These, as almost all of my products, are made using the French Milling Process, which means I re-melt my soaps before adding the ingredients that make my soaps special.

Most soap makers add oils and perfumes during the first process. By waiting a bit, I can wait until the curing is finished (or almost finished) and instead add ingredients direct from nature. This way the lye has completely transformed, has disappeared and the goodness of the additional ingredients can come forth without being destroyed.

In this case, I've added cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg. Not only do these combine to produce a smell that reminds everyone of their childhood Christmases, but they all have individual and combined health benifits for the skin. Some of these include anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Allspice has been used to help skin wounds heal more rapidly. Nutmeg has anti-inflammatory products. All of which help through the winter when our skin is often dry and prone to cracking.

The smell of cinnamon has been rumoured to help with memory.

But perhaps the best thing about this soap is that it is just so fun to use. The smell is notable, but is not overpowering and will not drive your guests out of your bathroom gasping for air.

A perfect little something to keep you smiling through the holiday season.

Cucumber Oat Soap - Agurk Havre Såpe

2009-11-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderfully soft soap, that is great for your hands. At the time of writing this, I only have two pieces left and need to make more, as soon as possible.

Both cucumber and oats are known for soothing irritated skin, and reducing itchiness.

A lovely light green in color, this soap has diced natural soap added to form a nice pattern.

This soap guarantees to be a sure winner!

I Love Packages

2009-11-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

I got a package in the mail!!

Let's peek inside.......

Can you see what it is????

My soap dishes!

All 60 of them!

I think they just look so cute.

And all these deep ridges make it so that handmade soap (well all soap, but especially handmade soap) stays dry and lasts longer.

What I like most is that they make my soap look really big. And just clear up any misunderstandings, all of my soap is bigger than the competition's soap. It's just that these soap dishes really shows that off.

Shows it off any way you display it.