Sea Salt Soap, Quilting and Pizza!

SEA SALT SOAP ~

Last month I played hooky and made up a batch of Raspberry Lemonade Sea Salt Soap. I used coarse Dead Sea Salts and fine Pacific Sea Salt in this batch ~ along with colloidal oatmeal. The oils used were Sunflower, Castor, Jojoba, Palm & Coconut. Butters used were Shea, Cocoa and Mango. Then I swirled with ultramarine pink.

Well ~ it’s ready to be used and I put it up on my Etsy shop ~ RASPBERRY LEMONDADE SEA SALT SOAP.

SPLIT RAIL FENCE QUILT ~

Continued working on the Spilt Rail Fence quilt…it’s definitely alotta pink. LOL! Not something I would make for myself…not even sure why I had that material in my stash! Hmmm…wonder if I have fabric gremlins? Trading out my Civil War repos with hot pink?! I get up at 4:30 am now, so I don’t have a lot of time to stay up like I used to. For some odd reason I’m pooped out by 9:30 pm. LOL! It’s going to take a while to finish these quilts, me thinks! Here is what I did last night ~ four 12.5″ blocks then sewn together. I’m using 6 different 2.5″ fabric strips for this quilt.

PIZZA! ~

Ok…even though I’ve lost a lot of weight (63 pounds and more to go!)…I love pizza. And I’m able to indulge myself at BLACK ROCK PIZZA in Sparks, NV. It is THE BEST pizza I’ve ever had. Very original pizzas, and great customer service. Thanks Stephanie and Juan Carlos!

Black Rock is owned by Linda & Dave Winchester and they’re there every day (at least every day we are there…and we go at least once a week). ALL PIZZAS (30+) are thin crust with either Multi Grain or Sweet Italian…I love the multi grain crust. There are many sauces ~ Pesto, Olive Oil/Garlic, BBQ, Spicy Sicilian, Thai, Hot Wing, Ricotta White.

My favorites are the veggie Planet X (Ricotta White Sauce, Fresh Garlic, Spinch, Roma Tomatoes, Asiago Cheese) ~ Wild Wings (Buffalo Sauce, Buffalo Chicken, Celery, Jalapenos, Gorgonzola Cheese) ~ Sage Brush (Olive/Garlic Sauce, Turkey Sausage, Sage, Lemon Juice, Fresh Garlic, Romano cheese) ~ Stone Boy (Pesto Sauce, Basque Chorizo, Roasted Red Peppers, Sun dried tomatoes, red onions, gorgonzola cheese) ~ Carlin Trend (Pesto Sauce, Sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, asiago cheese and sliced almonds) ~ Razorback (BBQ’d smoked pulled pork shoulder and green onions) and the Poker Brown (Thai peanut sauce, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, smoked red onion, green onions, celery, red bell pepper topped with habanero jack cheese and oriental noodles!). I also love the Pale Face (Olive/Garlic sauce, fresh chopped garlic, pine nuts with gorgonzola and provolone cheese)…but I had gallstones and this one made my stones go crazy. Luckily that sucker was pulled last October so now I can eat it again. I’d stay away from this one if you do have gallstones! LOL!

The sandwiches are to die for too! Great salads ~ and I’m in love with the Gorgonzola Dressing. They should market that stuff! Starters are tasty ~ Rattlesteaks (Thin strips of Sirloin Steak, marinated in Buttermilk, Seasoned, cooked crisp, drizzled with Chipotle Sauce) ~ Sawtooth Knobs (Mushrooms filled with ham, fresh garlic, cream cheese, jalapeños, onions; all distinctively flavored in BRP’s smoker) ~ Tumbleweeds (Artichokes tumbled through seasoned breading, served with marinara, ranch, gorgonzola or balsamic vinaigrette).

Made you hungry yet? If you live here in Reno or Sparks ~ there is no excuse why you haven’t given them a try yet. You’ll be hooked on the first visit. If you’re coming into town ~ they are at 2855 N. McCarran Blvd, Sparks, NV 89431.

Beach Glass ~ Time to make Jewelery after Buying & Bartering

I used to live near the ocean when I was a kid ~ collected all sorts of treasures when I walked the beaches. But for the life of me, I can not place my box of sea glass, rocks and shells. I found a few of my rocks ~ but no glass.

So I’ve been buying a few auctions off of ebay and etsy.

The ones from etsy are too small to make pendants out of them…and I’m not sure I can even drill holes in them for earrings. Will have to ponder on those for a while longer. They are very beautiful pieces, just sooooo tiny. For now they are in a crockery bowl from my Grandma’s house next to my bed so I can play with them before I go to sleep. LOL!

Here is the bowl with all of the beach glass in it ~ both Etsy’s and the Ebay finds ~ the ones I found on ebay are larger and will work perfectly for what I have in mind.

Are those cool or what?! I like the rims on them…great for wire wrapping. I’ll be making necklaces for my sister, mom, niece and myself from them. Maybe even for my 5 year old nephew…with braided hemp, perhaps!

I’m in trade with a wonderful jewelery artist on etsy ~ SafariSister Jewelry + Findings + Objects ~ am trading my soaps for some of her findings, a necklace for myself and a pair of earrings for a present (not sure who will get them!). I’m going to use some of Jacky’s earwire findings with the beach glass. Can’t wait to get them!

I have to figure out how to drill holes through the glass too. From what I’ve read up on it…you should drill the glass under water. Hmmmm…wonder if they teach that in the Under Water Basket Weaving class?! Guess I’ll just take a bowl out to the shed, put a scrap of wood in the bottom of it and then put the glass on top of that…fill it with enough water to cover the top of the glass and start to drill. Luckily we have a cordless drill…I can just see me electrocuting myself.

So…in the near future I’ll drilling holes in glass, wrapping wire around said glass, learning how to braid hemp and whatever else I can think of.

eBay & Etsy Yarn Artists ~ Oreo & Stash Up Yarns

I have a friend in the Crafters’ Cafe (ebay group) who is an excellent knitter ~ I’m pretty sure most of us in the group have a pair, OR MORE, of her socks!  Oreo, or Oreobbenb, sent me a pair of red merino wool socks for our Valentine Exchange this year that I have worn pretty much every night…we have hard wood floors in the house and it gets cold.

She’s been knitting for sometime now…it’s probably a stress release as she is a nurse at a Florida nursing home, and life is stressful for a nurse.  Socks, scarves, belts, shawls, and baby clothes for dolls (Nana’s Reborn Dolls) and I’m sure real babies too!

I am an avid knitter and crocheter. I am addicted to yarn of all types. Just love the feel of it. Every year I enter our local fair and so far have won blue ribbons on most of my entries.

Socks are my favorite addiction and carry along knitting item. I’ve also been known to knit scarfs, hats, sweaters, dresses, doll clothes and mittens.

I have taught many friends and co-workers to knit. I believe this is a hobby worth passing on to others.

I also dabble in soap making and polymer clay. I usually sell my soaps locally and give some as gifts. Same with my polymer clay creations.

And here are some socks she’s working on for me with the Watchlar yarn from Stash Up Yarns ~

You can find Oreo on her Blog.

STASH UP YARNS ~

Bio
It was just a few years ago that I became intrigued by knitting and yarn. In a very short period of time I turned into a yarn addict. I scoured the internet for any and all yarn shops local and virtual. I spent unseemly amounts of money on yarn and needles and patterns. And here I am even more addicted to knitting and to yarn than I have ever been before. The very idea of winding a hank into a center pull ball using my improvised nostepinne gives me a thrill. And even though I have already purchased every current knitting publication I never fail to revisit that section of the magazine racks because the sight of a knitting magazine is truly a joy to behold. And its contents even more fascinating to read and peruse again and again. The next leg in this pursuit of yarn fiber has led me to hand-dyeing yarn. Dyeing may keep me away from knitting, but who cares? As long as yarn is in the picture, nothing else seems to matter.

I was looking for merino wool yarn for Oreo to make me some socks with…decided to head on over to www.etsy.com as we were boycotting ebay at the time. Glad I did as I found Nina at Stash Up Yarns ~ what WONDERFUL yarn! And great customer service ~ very nice lady, indeed!

I bought her Jasper, Hand-painted Merino & Bamboo Wool yarn which is Sea Green and Blue-Gray in color ~ and another beautiful yarn called Watchlar, 100% Merino Wool that is Thistle and Gray in color. The Merino & Bamboo wool is the most wonderful yarn I’ve petted ~ LOL! I had to keep it a while before mailing it to Sharon for her to knit with. I just kept picking it up and rubbing it on my face.

I recommend that you visit both of these talented ladies!