Not what it's suppose to look like..

So where do I begin? My name is Sonia. Yup, that's me. The photo is taken courtesy of my 5 year old daughter Angelina.I'm a work at home mom with 3 part time home based businesses (jewellery, stamping and bath and body products - hence my blog name). I'm a wife to my work-a-holic (who also works from home) and Olympic ping pong wannabe husband D. I'm also secretary/treasurer/accountant for D's consulting business, mother to two beautiful but sometimes crazy kids (Brad and Angelina..ok, so it's not their real names, but close enough)
and mother to two fur babies Terri, a.k.a. Babu the fearless Yorkie

and Tigger the vermin cat that eats and chews through everything and anything. Photo taken courtesy of Angelina again, which is why it's a little blurry.



I'm also "sister of the year" (well, at least I think I should be awarded something for putting up with him for so long) to an older brother whom we'll call JERiKo. Jeriko is 3 years older, but you wouldn't know it. As you get to know me, you'll understand the love-hate relationship I have with my brother.

My job pre-children was as a Denturist a.k.a. Denture Specialist. I think I am done with that chapter of my life. Although it was rewarding to see a patient through the process which often resulted in an improved appearance, it was a lot of work making dentures! Working with stone, plaster, wax and wire bending metals is not something I am missing.

Then again, I MUST be a sucker for punishment..because what do I do once I'm bored? Well, stamping was the first of my many hobbies turned to businesses. I am a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator (www.stampinup.com) and I currently teach rubber stamp classes and sell stamping supplies to women that eventually love it as much as I do. I LOVE to stamp! I am truly not an artistic person..but stamping makes me look crafty and I enjoy it, so I continue on my inking journey. I am feeling *that* much closer to Martha. Hey, and why would I spend $5.50 plus taxes on 1 store bought card, when I can spend $500+ on stamps, cardstock and ink every few months to make my own cards, right? Makes sense to me.

Here's a few cards I made the other day. I kept them simple and let the patterned paper do all the work.




So about a year and a half ago...one of my stamping friends introduced me to simple stringing (of beads). It went from wanting to learn how to make these exact pair of Swarovski earrings...


to an online and home party jewellery business (www.soniajung.com). Here I thought I'd be decked out in more jewellery then a multi-million dollar rap artist...but alas, reality had sunk in...I make jewellery for others and by the time I'm done, I'm too tired to make any for myself. So, the very first pieces I made out of sheer enjoyment are the ones I wear...and will probably continue to wear until I'm buried in them. Oh and did I mention, I'm using my handy wire bending skills to bend silver wire when I make almost all of my pieces? LOL

Being that I appreciate all things handmade, I stumbled upon an amazing website www.etsy.com. It is the e-bay for all things handmade. So, I started buying my hand and body creams from a very popular etsy store...until one day a few months ago while surfing the net I stumbled upon the supplier to this store. EUREKA!! I can buy the base creams direct and not have to pay retail prices and wait 3 1/2 weeks for delivery!! The only downside, is that I have to order the cream by the gallon!! Eeep!! What to do with fifteen 8oz jars after I make my one 8oz jar?!? Sell it of course! This was the birth of my third (and final) business www.essentialgoodies.com. It is still a work in progress. Oh and did I mention, I'm constantly using different kinds of waxes when making many of these bath and body products? Hee hee Heck, who knew that making jewellery and bath and body products was not far off material-wise from making teeth?!?

So, I attended a cold processing soap class two weekends ago and I was eager to make my first batch of soap. Of course, I had to wait for some key ingredients to come by courier. Well, I got them today!! So, as soon as the kids were out with the grandparents, out came the supplies. The first thing I had to do was measure and mix the lye. Lye is sodium hydroxide, it's some seriously potent alkaline crystals. If one piece of crystal or dust falls on your skin and starts to react with the humidity in the air or your oils on your skin (and you don't wash it off), it will eventually eat right through. YIKES!! So, I started to freak out a little when I went to pour some into a container and found the crystals jumping all over the place and out of the container onto the counter and floor due to the static build up on the plastic container. LOVELY!! Out came the vacuum cleaner. Luckily I cleaned it all up before the cat and dog took notice. Anyways, I followed the instructions to a "T", but the lady who had taught our class gave us the wrong dye measurements (she guessed since she never measures). So, my lemon and peppermint essential oils soap, which is suppose to look primarily cream with yellow swirls is now a lovely shade of pumpkin orange with slight cream swirls. This is NOT what it's suppose to look like!! A little bit too much dye I guess, but next time I will add less. The soap is f-ugly, but if you ignore the lovely shade of cream and orange, it is definitely quality stuff! 2-4 weeks for curing and I'll get to test it out! It's all good..it was a great learning experience, and the first batch will be for family and friends. So, who wants some?!? I think I'll have at least 14 bars to find homes for. This particular scent was made especially for my brother, as he requested tea tree or lemon with peppermint. I told him I'd make sure his bars had some unsaponified (unprocessed) lye left in them...just for him. For all the pranks he's pulled and tried to pull on me growing up and for the numerous calls he continues to make daily pretending to be my sister-in-law. Yes, he either thinks I'm stupid enough to believe that his deep voice raised to sound like a tranny, is suppose to sound like my SIL, or he just plain likes bugging the crap out of me... just because. It's a love-hate relationship between us. He loves to bug me, I hate it and hang up on him. ;o)

So, I had a lot of fun today making soap, and to make a nice day even better, I got a call from a friend's aunt who placed a nice size jewellery order for her future daughter-in-law's bridal shower (prizes). Guess, I'll be busy bending wire tonight!