VIDEO: How to Make Soap, Quick and Easy!

Watch my tutorial on how to make soap using the melt and pour method below:



I've had a mellow week so far prepping some fiber for batts, sewing, and working on some drawings that I hope to make into rubber stamps...once I figure out where/how to get rubber stamps made! I went thrifting with a friend yesterday and found an awesome deer head planter that is totally up my alley (pictures soon!), a cute dress, a lion embroidery on burlap (!), and a few other little clothing items to alter and play with. Tonight I'm teaching an art class at home, and I'm excited because we are going to be making things with polymer clay as well as dyeing some yarn while we're at it. We might even have time to go over how to use a hand spindle! And if that's not enough crafting for you, I'm looking into some new (to me, at least) materials to make jewelry out of, so hopefully I can have a little jewelry studio going at home too! Oh, and I've been spinning lots of yarn and making new things for my Etsy shops... It's just the listing things on the computer that I procrastinate on. I'd rather be covered in paint or fiber dyes than sitting behind the computer uploading images, so the actual updating always takes a little longer to get around to.

I'm glad that my art and craft output is on the upswing this month, because last month, I had a much harder time getting motivated to make stuff. I think part of it is due to the bad economic times and the fact that my sales aren't what they used to be, so it's tough to stay upbeat and to keep making things when you are having trouble making ends meet. I toyed with the idea of getting a "REAL" job, but when I looked at the classifieds, it was just so depressing. There are slim pickings, to say the least, and I didn't want to end up in a job that I hated just to earn a paycheck. I'd rather work harder on my own, making things that I believe in, than working at a job I despised somewhere. Sometimes my art friends and I talk about how things would have been easier if we'd majored in something more practical, hee hee... But I know that making things is all I want to do; anything else would feel like settling.

So instead, I am doing what I do best: playing with color, making pictures, making yarn, and making anything else I know how to make, because it makes me happy and satisfied at the end of the day. I keep the cycle going because all of the money I make goes right back into supplies for making more stuff, and I get to spend my days creating and dreaming up new ideas. Oh, and staying at home and playing with the puppy and watching Netflix videos is pretty sweet, too!