Hot Hot Hot

Tucson has jumped right into summer. It's been hot hot hot here. Yesterday we hit 105, and today is just a couple of degrees cooler.  Mom and I have to start our morning walk at 7am instead of 8am, because it's already too hot for walking by 8. Dang, I hate getting up early!

To all  my fellow Tucsonians, and other desert dwellers, drink lots of water!

I listed a couple of soaps that are not new, but I have been out of stock for a bit.

Spiced Cinnamon Sandalwood. Did I ever tell you how I came up with the scent for this soap?? Well, I had a fragrance oil called White Spice. Didn't like it, didn't like it at all. It was too sharp, too tangy, too acrid for me. But, I couldn't just toss it! I had purchased a whole pound of it. So, I started doing some fragrance mixing with it. Brought down the sharp and tangy with Sahara Sandalwood, and smoothed it out with Cinnamon Stick. Now, this is one of my most favorite scents! I love this blend!

Note: Click on any photo to enlarge

And Pineapple Crush. An oldie but a goodie.

These are a couple of soaps I made last week, still in the molds.

They have already been cut and are in the soap room curing away! The top one is Dragons Blood. It has already turned a beautiful deep black. And smells wonderful! The bottom one is a blend of Chai Tea and Black Raspberry. It has deepened to a ruddy brown. The smell is devine! And they are both a fantastic recipe that includes cocoa butter, and wheat germ oil. Your skin will love them! These still need a couple more weeks of cure.

Last week, I made a couple of ankle bracelets. These were fun to make. They are all completely adjustable. Just clasp the lobster claw to any of the jumprings! All metal is sterling silver.

This one is Green and Blue Turquoise from the Kingman mine here in Arizona.

Creamy White Swarovski Pearls.

Capri Blue Swarovski Crystals ... so pretty, so sparkly!

A Bit Victorian

I just finished making this necklace. 5 strands. Oxidized brass chain mixed with wire wrapped Swarovski pearls and cyrstals. It has a very Victorian feel to it. The little capri blue Swarovski crystals sparkle like blue stars!

5 Strand Chain Necklace

I feel like I should put it on and tell Ray, take me dancing!

Honey, take me dancin !
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes.

In the soap dept., I listed 2 soaps recently.

Carrot and Goat Milk Fragrance Free soap. This makes a great facial soap.

And Salty Citrus Spa. I usually use Alaea Hawaiian Red Salt in this recipe. But I only had 1/4 of what I needed so I made up the difference with white sea salt. Smells good, and has good-for-your-skin goat milk. 

Soap, Jewelry, and Hummingbirds

I haven't been making a whole lot of new soap. Mostly, I've just been doing necessary restocks. I've been doing a little more in the jewelry department.

New soap listings -

Dark Desert Soap with Agave Nectar

I have a couple on the curing rack, ready to list. One is a Fragrance Free Carrot and Goat Milk soap. The other is Salty Citrus Spa. I usually call it Hawaiian Citrus Spa, but I only had a very small amount of the Alaea Hawaiian Red Salt that I usually use. So I used white sea salt to make up the difference. :) I should get both of these listed by the end of the week.

Also on the curing rack, and needing a couple more weeks of cure ... Spiced Cinnamon Sandalwood, and Pineapple Crush. 

I've been a little more prolific with my jewelry making. Take a look! :)

Beaded Spiral Weave Necklace with Blue Tigereye

Bronze colored glass seed beads. I found a tutorial for doing this spiral weave on youtube. 

Another spiral weave necklace. This one with copper color seed beads spiraling around a core of bronze color seed beads. Tiger Eye beads as the focal.

Dark Pink Rose Necklace. The rose focal is antiqued brass. The sparkling pink beads are Swarovski crystals. I included 2 pics of this one. :)

This next little bracelet I was practicing the right angle stitch. I used 3mm bronze beads, with just a few gold color faceted glass beads. The glass beads give it a lovely twinkle! For the clasp, I wove a button, well, actually kind of built it onto the beads. Used some of the beads in the bracelet as the base of the button. I was impressed with myself! LOL

A Peacock Pearl Necklace. These are some really pretty freshwater pearls in slightly iridescent purples and greens. I wire wrapped each one with gold tone brass wire. The padlock clasp is also brass. I didn't really get a good pic of this necklace. No matter what color background I put it on, I just couldn't pick up the colors properly.

Another Flat Spiral Stitch Bracelet. This one with the same pretty bronze metal beads that I used in the right angle stitch bracelet. The core beads are 8mm Swarovski pearls, with a couple of blue Swarovski crystals to make it sparkle.

A Turquoise Heishi Necklace. This heishi is teeny tiny, about 2mm. Turquoise is from the Nacozari mine in Sonora, Mexico. Such a pretty dark blue with black matrix!

 

This last one I kept for myself. :) It's a simple necklace, the beads are Zia Stone that I picked up at last fall's gem show, along with a few turquoise heishi beads I had left over from another project. 

Now, let me show you what Ray has been up to. There is a lovely little hummingbird that has been building a nest in the oleander bushes right outside our bedroom window. He's been taking video of her  working very hard! I'm going to steal one of his videos and post it here, but follow his blog so you can watch over the next few weeks as she completes her nest and hopefully produces a family!

Sonoran Connection