RamsdenDesigns

Soap It To Me

Soap making is yummy stuff. Not that I'm eating the soap, or even licking it but boy does it make me want to run out and buy something really bad for me.

When I started making soap I was unsure how I'd go; would I be terrible at it, would it bore me to tears, would I burn a hand off? It was a real leap of faith to jump from sitting in front of the computer to standing in the kitchen stirring bright globs of soap.

As it turns out, soap making is a hoot. It's loads of fun and I'm really enjoying getting out of the office and into the 'heart' of the house. The kids are usually wondering around; Little C is often found trying to eat any soap she gets her hands on (which isn't often anymore) and Little J can be found dictating what scents she wants in the soap I'm making. And Big B, well he doesn't say anything but I'm sure he's wishing he could have the kitchen back the way it was.

I've snapped pics of my latest creations.

These cute hearts have a lovely zingy candy scent. I'm reminded of fairy floss and jelly beans with a hint of lemon. They're made in silicon moulds which give the soaps a beautiful shine. I'll be making more of these for upcoming markets.

These are the remade chocolate/peppermint soaps from this post. They smell divine and have a generous amount of real cocoa powder in the mixture which gives it a real chocolate look and smell. The shape isn't my favourite however and they won't make it to market but the recipe will in a different form. I'm hoping to make big slabs of chocolate and chocolate/mint scented soaps to sell instead.

These are multilayered soaps which are meant to have a sweet strawberry/vanilla scent but I don't think I used enough scent and it's pretty mild. The colour is pretty though and although it's hard to see in the photo the second layer under the orange/red layer is clear and gives it a really light texture to the soap.

I don't know what to do about this bunch of soaps; they're not good enough to sell and too coloured to remelt into something else.

Anyone want them?

Peppermint Chocolate Brownies...Yum

Little J and I had our first attempt at making soap today. It was supposed to be a chocolate bar with a beautiful swirl of mint scented green. Unfortunately I was pretty sure this was going to be a dismal failure whist making it, the chocolate scent I'd bought had a strong artificial flavour about it, nothing remotely like the delicate smell of real chocolate. And the green while it smelt nice wasn't rich enough in colour and when the two were poured together just lumped up and turned a brownie green. Not a nice brownie green either.

Thankfully, when removed from the mould the scent had changed to a pleasant peppermint with a hint of chocolate. The colour however was still hideous.

I'm just about to remelt it and start again. Except this time I'm adding in cocoa powder for that real chocolate smell and authentic colour.

 

Don’t Mess With The Tiger

After dinner tonight we took the cat out for a walk. Yep Tiger the cat likes to go wondering through the bush with us, he'll go about 200 – 400 metres with us before heading back home. Tonight we went past a house where two small dogs live. He was a bit worried and it looked like he was about to head home when I guess he decided to go for it and pass the house. The dogs were outside barking at him and he seemed to enjoy tormenting them, there was certainly no cowering or hairs up on his side.

Next thing we know the dogs have bolted for Tiger and he's off back down the path. Just as they seemed to be catching up to him he turns around and decides to chase them back. It was the funniest thing I'd seen in ages, watching two small dogs, howling in fear and hightailing it back to the safety of their front yard.

Who's the woose now doggies?

 

Note to Self:

Don’t step in a garden bed after it has been sprinkled with water crystals and then watered.

Unless stepping in what feels a lot like mushy dog poo is your thing.

Instead make the toddler find their own way out.

When I Grow Up

I want to be as talented as Fernanda Guedes. I mean look at that hair, it is pure perfection.

Hot Days Should Not Be Active Days

Considering I live in Western Australia I really should be more comfortable with the heat. I heard today it got up to 39 C which while hot should at least be tolerable.

Turns out it's not and I spent a fair bit of the day deeply disgruntled that I had to venture outside.

The day wasn't a total loss however, I managed to make progress on my office renovation, measurements are done (hey, it's progress), did half of my to-do list and even spent 90 minutes sweating it out at the gym.

Whist at the gym I warmed up by walking on the treadmill. The gym is located in a huge wherehouse with industrial style ceilings that are about 3 storeys high (wait, this is important info). So I'm on the treadmill and suddenly I get wet, one drop, then two. Eew, what is that, I'm thinking. Then it happens again. I take a quick look around wondering who's sweaty body is flinging fluid my way and is it acceptable to knee-cap them. No one, I'm all by myself bar the lady in front of me and she sure doesn't look doused in perspiration. Perhaps it's me, maybe I'm sweating in a weird way.

Then it happens again, and again. I'm being rained on I realise and notice all the water droplets on the concrete floor. Condensation being formed on the ceiling is dripping on me.

Now here's what I'm hoping; that the condensation is caused by the evaporation of people's water bottles and some unknown pond somewhere in the gym. Not by the evaporation of all those sweaty bodies dotted around the gym.

Mucking Around In The Backyard

Thanks to daylight saving we now have plenty of sun quite late in the evening. Rather than whinge about it I decided to get the kids out to do stupid stuff in front of the camera.

The loved it the little performers.

Note the dying grass, it was a perfect green two weeks ago, which shows how hot it's been.

 

 

Home Office Disaster

When we moved house I lost all my storage for the home office. And as you can see from the pic below the result isn't pretty. So I've decided my first interior project will be the office.

But the best and also the most daunting aspect of my office disaster is that I get to start from scratch. No more 'this'll do' furniture, finally I can buy exactly what I need for the space I'm in. I can also paint and nail things onto the walls, something that has never been an option to me before.

I've been spending a bit of time thinking about what I need and what I'd like. Unfortunately for me the first item off the wish list was a big cutting/painting/work table. My room just isn't big enough for that...and I don't see Big B letting me swap the office and the master bedroom. What I most desperately need is storage (and plenty of it) and a desk that makes good use of the space. The desk I have at the moment creates so much wasted unusable space.

With that in mind I'll be spending the next few days drafting up plans with the help of a ruler and old favourite, the latest IKEA catalogue.

Stay tuned, great feats of interior design will be appearing on this blog over the next couple of months.

Another 'Sorry I’m Not Posting Much' Post

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like (as if that's news to you readers) but there is something special about moving into a new house and just getting comfortable and slothing around enjoying the new surroundings.

Getting inspired to work is hard, my office is a mess, there is no storage so everything just sits in boxes or on the floor. Getting inspired in such an environment is proving impossible. I really need to get out there and buy some storage for it or I'm frightened the room will be like this forever and I'll never draw again.

Just to prove I still have a life (just not one involving drawing or work at the moment) here's a collection of the kids doing stupid but fun stuff (well I shouldn't say stupid...just nothing that I would do).

 

 

 

 

 

Hello 2009

I love a new year. The first day of the year always feels so magical, like there is something extra in the air, the sun shines a bit brighter or the birds are happier. The Earth of course doesn't give two hoots it's a new year so it must be me, perhaps I'm shining a bit brighter today.

As it's a new year I'm making resolutions. Nothing special and not too much pressure but I must not forget that all my happiness and self worth rests on me sticking to these ;)

New Year Resolutions

1. Keep the house clean. Apparently not everyone lives in a house so messy the clothes take themselves to the laundry. It appears that most people can see their lounge room floors. I've met people like that; I'm even friends with some of them.
2. Stop eating so much junk food, especially chocolate. I will achieve this goal by doing the bleeding obvious and not buy the stuff in the first place.
3. Stop yelling at the kids. It just makes them cry and then you have to deal with a naughty crying child. Although now I'm a bit lost; “Stop doing that to your sister” doesn't sound very menacing as a whisper.
4. Visit IKEA. Often. I'm not a huge fan of IKEA but let's face it they do have the best storage solutions around and this house needs storage...like I want a chocolate right now.
5. Reread no. 2.
6. Pay more attention to the kids and pay less attention to the computer...I just died a little on the inside.

            You know I'm kidding right?

7. Stop using the TV as a nanny...and focus more on getting the Nintendo Wii to look after them instead.
8. Actually get out there and use my gym membership and those personal training sessions I pay for but always seem to have something else to do instead.
9. Stop buying so much stuff for the kids. Oh who am I kidding, I'm totally going to break that one.
10. Stop eating gluten. I'm seriously certain that I'm intolerant to the stuff. Problem is, gluten is in practically everything and almost impossible to cut out, especially as most of our favourite family meals contain gluten. Finding alternatives wouldn't be a problem if I enjoyed cooking but I can't stand it, I'd rather be doing almost anything instead...except watching Dora The Explorer on dvd. Dora makes cooking seem like a pleasant experience.
11. Do a bit of decorating on the new house. Not too much, just perhaps getting the spare room and office done would be satisfactory.
12. And finally, track my spending and stick to the budget Big B has given me (Big B sets the budget because if it were left to me we wouldn't have been able to afford our own home...but we'd have loads of nice stuff from IKEA).

And that's it.

Failure progress reports to be posted as necessary.