Well here we are in the first hour of National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, 2013. With nine minutes left in the hour my word count is at 1951 and I'm ready for some sleep. My brain is tired and I keep finding myself re-reading my work and editing.
Now normally, editing is a good thing. A very good thing indeed. But during NaNoWriMo it is highly discouraged. One of the major objectives of this event is to write with abandon. No thinking, no editing, just writing, getting it out there. Easy enough, right?
Yeah... no. Not for me anyway. Every time I go back and read something I've written I catch myself correcting, rewriting, EDITING.
I blame my control issues. And my deep rooted need to have everything around me be perfect, even though I know that's impossible. Silly me.
Despite the error of my ways (and that damned, red ink, virtual editing pen!) I have managed to crank out 1951 words in less than an hour. And this post. I think that's a pretty auspicious start. Yay me!
If I expect to keep up this pace, I'd be wise to get some sleep. And with that, I bid you all bon nuit.
Until next time - here's to 50K words in 30 days!
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Journaling and NaNoWriMo
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It appears that the time has come for my [quarterly? bi-annual?] blog check-in with a post about another one of my random ambitions.
As you may remember if you've followed me for any length of time, I have bounced from knitter, crocheter, photographer, book and movie critic, occasional fashionista, embroiderer, skin care creator and soaper. Yes, the old adage of "jack of all trades, master of none" definitely applies here. In fact, I am probably the embodiment of that cliche. I keep telling myself I want to buckle down and master at least one of my many creative interests. Problem is, I'm not sure which I want to commit to so completely! I mean, if I were to look long and hard at all the creative things I want to do, I would have to add baking, cooking, interior design, and writer to my list, just to name a few. I am starting to believe that when it comes to creative endeavors, I suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD.) Seriously, if I could clone myself, I probably would, just so one of me could sit back and watch all my others go to it on the creative front.
I've also noticed a pattern with my blogging; it seems to be directly tied to whatever my latest creative obsession is. That being said, I'm ready to announce the next artistic challenge. Ready? I want to write a novel. TA-DA! I have no doubt many of you saw that coming based on the title of this blog post alone. Or maybe you've been blessed [cursed?] with my ramblings of wanting to write for the last few months. Either way, it's that time. My writer personality has been tugging and pulling and screaming at my consciousness and finally, I must let her loose. The timing, of course, probably has a lot to do with it, since the National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) is just nine days away. I've tried this challenge before, to write fifty thousand words in 30 days, starting November 1st. In fact, I've tried the last two years and failed miserably. I blame my commitment issues. Well, that and the fact that it's so close to Christmas that all my other creative personalities (forthwith to be known as the others) start rearing their heads for time to do all their creative holiday endeavors. I think it's safe to say that at no other time of the year is my artistic MPD worse.
But this year feels like the year, you know? I've been preparing myself by starting a bullet journal late in September. It's quite retro, involving actual pen and paper for note taking. And so far, I love it. There's something so intimate about putting pen (or pencil) to paper. In fact, that's sort of become my new mantra. Writing in my bullet journal daily has stirred the writer in me, and as such I've found myself doing character and plot development for my novel. It's been a great exercise and is definitely getting me excited for November 1st. So yeah, I'm doing this. Or at least, I am going to try. (Damn commitment issues!)
And as my inner author takes center stage for the month of November, I will temper the others by allowing them an occasional opportunity to strut their stuff. In the meantime, lift your pens and pencils with me, find yourself some fine paper, and jot down a little note for someone you love. You'll feel so much better for it!
Here's to old school communication!
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As you may remember if you've followed me for any length of time, I have bounced from knitter, crocheter, photographer, book and movie critic, occasional fashionista, embroiderer, skin care creator and soaper. Yes, the old adage of "jack of all trades, master of none" definitely applies here. In fact, I am probably the embodiment of that cliche. I keep telling myself I want to buckle down and master at least one of my many creative interests. Problem is, I'm not sure which I want to commit to so completely! I mean, if I were to look long and hard at all the creative things I want to do, I would have to add baking, cooking, interior design, and writer to my list, just to name a few. I am starting to believe that when it comes to creative endeavors, I suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD.) Seriously, if I could clone myself, I probably would, just so one of me could sit back and watch all my others go to it on the creative front.
I've also noticed a pattern with my blogging; it seems to be directly tied to whatever my latest creative obsession is. That being said, I'm ready to announce the next artistic challenge. Ready? I want to write a novel. TA-DA! I have no doubt many of you saw that coming based on the title of this blog post alone. Or maybe you've been blessed [cursed?] with my ramblings of wanting to write for the last few months. Either way, it's that time. My writer personality has been tugging and pulling and screaming at my consciousness and finally, I must let her loose. The timing, of course, probably has a lot to do with it, since the National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) is just nine days away. I've tried this challenge before, to write fifty thousand words in 30 days, starting November 1st. In fact, I've tried the last two years and failed miserably. I blame my commitment issues. Well, that and the fact that it's so close to Christmas that all my other creative personalities (forthwith to be known as the others) start rearing their heads for time to do all their creative holiday endeavors. I think it's safe to say that at no other time of the year is my artistic MPD worse.
But this year feels like the year, you know? I've been preparing myself by starting a bullet journal late in September. It's quite retro, involving actual pen and paper for note taking. And so far, I love it. There's something so intimate about putting pen (or pencil) to paper. In fact, that's sort of become my new mantra. Writing in my bullet journal daily has stirred the writer in me, and as such I've found myself doing character and plot development for my novel. It's been a great exercise and is definitely getting me excited for November 1st. So yeah, I'm doing this. Or at least, I am going to try. (Damn commitment issues!)
And as my inner author takes center stage for the month of November, I will temper the others by allowing them an occasional opportunity to strut their stuff. In the meantime, lift your pens and pencils with me, find yourself some fine paper, and jot down a little note for someone you love. You'll feel so much better for it!
Here's to old school communication!
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The [Soap] Dish
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Over the last few weeks I've found a new passion. Yes, another one. I know, I know, I'm all over the place with my crafty, DIY stuff. But really, I can't help it. I love to create. I love to make things. And soap? Well, there's something very zen about taking fats, in the way of various skin loving oils like olive oil, avocado oil, shea and cocoa butters, adding in some drain cleaner (did you know that lye is in fact a drain cleaner? It's also used to make pretzels, canned mandarin oranges, hominy... I'm not kidding) and some awesome smelling essential oils, along with a myriad of other additives, and winding up with soap? Honest to goodness soap. Bubbly, creamy, cleansing (not drying, if you know what you're doing, and I'd like to think I do!), fabulous SOAP. I love it. To a degree, it's like baking for me, sans those destructive calories!
Yes, I am now making soap. I've made about 12 batches, totaling about 20 pounds of soap, in just over six weeks. All using what is called the cold process method. More on that later.
Today, I am making milled soap. Known also as rebatched soap. Essentially, it's a way of taking an existing soap and modifying it by melting it down and adding any assortment of things, such as rich and softening shea butter, or, as in my case, correcting a "mistake" and adding the scented essential oil I forgot to add when my niece, Heidi, and I made the soap. Soapmakers often use this method to repurpose "ugly" soaps, soaps that didn't quite turn out they way they'd envisioned. So yeah, that's another reason I'm rebatching the soap I lovingly call "Heidi-bean Bar." I don't want to toss the soap, since it's actually a great formulation, but I also wanted something more girly for my Heidi-bean. So this soap will be for my personal use once I've rebatched it and I will make her something fabulous for her use. Yeah, I know, I spoil the kid. And I love it!
Here we have the original soap, freshly poured into the molds. We tried to do a bit of a swirl, using red sandalwood powder to color part of the batch a deep purple and leaving the rest of the batch its "natural" color, then alternately pouring the two colors into the mold.
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Yes, I am now making soap. I've made about 12 batches, totaling about 20 pounds of soap, in just over six weeks. All using what is called the cold process method. More on that later.
Today, I am making milled soap. Known also as rebatched soap. Essentially, it's a way of taking an existing soap and modifying it by melting it down and adding any assortment of things, such as rich and softening shea butter, or, as in my case, correcting a "mistake" and adding the scented essential oil I forgot to add when my niece, Heidi, and I made the soap. Soapmakers often use this method to repurpose "ugly" soaps, soaps that didn't quite turn out they way they'd envisioned. So yeah, that's another reason I'm rebatching the soap I lovingly call "Heidi-bean Bar." I don't want to toss the soap, since it's actually a great formulation, but I also wanted something more girly for my Heidi-bean. So this soap will be for my personal use once I've rebatched it and I will make her something fabulous for her use. Yeah, I know, I spoil the kid. And I love it!
Here we have the original soap, freshly poured into the molds. We tried to do a bit of a swirl, using red sandalwood powder to color part of the batch a deep purple and leaving the rest of the batch its "natural" color, then alternately pouring the two colors into the mold.
The soap came out of the molds beautifully, although our "swirl" and layering attempts were, well, blah. The purple color was fairly muted, and the coffee grinds we added for a bit of scrubby action (Heidi said she really liked how the "scrubbies" felt on her hands) made the two colors blend to the point of being almost indiscernable.
After four weeks of curing, the soaps developed the dreaded ash, which sometimes occurs on handmade soaps. Surprisingly, some people like the rustic look it gives soaps. Me, not so much.
Heck, if it weren't for the muted purple, the ash on these makes them almost completely blend into our granite countertops. Not attractive as far as I'm concerned. Certainly not cute enough for a 9 year old girl's bathroom!
The first step in rebatching is to shred or chunk the soap to facilitate melting it. I figured the finer I shred the soap the easier and smoother it would melt. Rebatching is known to produce very chunky, rustic (but not ashy!) soaps and I wanted to minimize that as much as possible.
Patiently shredding the soap by hand. So yeah, I'm making hand-milled soap! Sounds fancy, eh?
With the ashiness shredded away, you can see the colors a bit better, but the muted purple just wasn't doing it for me, at least not for my niece. She should have a bright, vivid purple, pink and black soap! This just won't do.
Once all the soap is shredded, I tossed it into a gallon sized zip lock and tossed in a bit of goat's milk. Goat's milk boosts lather and is great for those with eczema and psoriasis. In soap, goat's milk is loved for it's skin conditioning properties. Once in the bag, I put it in a pot of lightly boiling water and walked away to do a bit of Facebooking and soap formulating.
After about 45 minutes in the pot, the soap was melted and looking nice and goopy. I quickly added the Eucalyptus Spearmint essential oils and snipped a corner of the bag to "pipe" the fast cooling, quickly turning to goop soap batter into the mold.
Since I really liked the way the soap turned out of this mold the first time, I figured why not use it again? As quickly as I squeezed the batter into the mold, I wasn't quick enough. By the time I got to the last heart the batter had cooled so much it was pretty much set. I barely got it into the mold.
All in all, the process wasn't near as bad as I'd read it could be and while the soap backs won't have a perfectly smooth finish, they will smell awesome and have a lovely conditioning lather.
Not bad for a first time rebatch and an awesome way to save what would have otherwise been a very boring soap.
Here's to hand-milled, heart shaped soap!
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