Amber & Musk, Etc. - Homemade Vegan Soap with Shea Butter

Amber & Musk, Etc.

Mysterious, Romantic, Handcrafted Vegan Soap

Lovely, charming, gracious, and alluring are apt descriptions of this beautiful bar of soap.

Romantic musk and amber, a hint of fruitiness, the comfort and familiarity of vanilla, and a touch of mystery. This is a delicious fragrance you'll love!

Check out the photos above. This is an artisan bar you'll love for yourself or love to give as a gift!

AND, it's VEGAN. No animal products are used in our homemade soaps, ever.

Always moisturizing and gentle, our homemade soaps never dry and irritate like store soaps can, which often have a long list of unpronounceable chemical ingredients.

'Amber & Musk, Etc.'

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Store 

This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and Sunny Simple Monday and     Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and Crafty Texas Girls and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Giveaway Winner Announced - and NW Wisconsin Barns

Neighbor Bill's Barn
Across the Hwy from our house

June 1, 2013

Just because I always seem to need yet another photo of this barn.

***

Thanks to everyone who entered the HomemadeSoapnSuch Giveaway

Winner of the Father's Day Giveaway:

*****  Mrs. T. *****

See Rafflecopter Widget

***

'Rugged Denim' and 'Vintage Leather'

Natural, Vegan, Handcrafted

Buy Any 5, Get 1 FREE

 Check out all our handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our Etsy Store 

This post is linked to

Barn Charm

Barns of NW Wisconsin - Barron County

My favorite barns are usually red, but I love the stone wall of this barn on SS north of Cameron, and the fact that it's built into the hillside. To my eye, this has most of the important features, i.e. a silo, a fence, a nice straight roof, and a field of wildflowers. (Yes, they're dandelions, but when you've seen only white for the past several months, the yellow dandelions look beautiful!) Unfortunately, cows, the major feature, are missing.

You know they're only weeds because you don't want them.

Look how pretty they are!

***

This week the grandkids are here. Lots to do, including working on VBS projects (You're right, it doesn't take normal people this long), going to Sand Creek on one of the warmer days, taking the grandpuppy to the vet for checkup and shots, going on nature walks, attending my weekly Bible study with a great group of friends, cleaning up the backyard, playing games, and if we get a really warm day - picking snails for our garden pond.

***

Father's Day Giveaway
Ends Friday night at Midnight

Don't miss my HomemadeSoapnSuch Giveaway

Check the blue Giveaway box on my sidebar.

'Lemon Verbena'

Vegan, Natural, Handcrafted

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

My ETSY Store 

This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and  Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Giveaway, Homemade Vegan Soap, Father's Day Giveaway

Here's your chance to win 2 bars of luxurious, handcrafted, vegan soap for your favorite dad!

1 bar of Rugged Denim

1 bar of Vintage Leather

Two great fragrances, both of which he will LOVE in the shower or bath!

These large, handcrafted 4.5-5 oz. bars are made with all-natural base oils, essential oils, quality fragrance oils, and natural colorants. No animal products are used in making our soaps. Let him in on the secret of natural, handcrafted vegan soaps that will make him forget the days of dry, itchy skin caused by commercial soaps! Doesn't he deserve happy skin too?

Check the Rafflecopter for several different entry possibilities!

This Giveaway will end at 12:01 A.M. Saturday, June 1. The winner will be announced here, on Cranberry Morning - Monday, June 3.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***

Buy Any Five, Get One FREE

'Patchouli Incense'

Vegan, Handcrafted, Natural

All soaps are labeled, wrapped, and sealed.

...and more! Check out all our handcrafted, vegan soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our Etsy Store 

Barns of NW Wisconsin

SW of Rice Lake, WI

My daughter took the photo of this unusual barn in Barron County. I'd like to find out the history behind it.

My time online this week is going to be sporadic at best. I have some posts scheduled, but VBS is coming up in just a few weeks and it's not so much that the craft samples will take all that much time to make, but locating my supplies is the issue. This week I'll be tracking down the supplies and getting organized with my VBS crafting buddy.

How is it that June is coming right up??? Good grief, we were in the midst of winter a week ago!

*** 

Buy Any Five, Get One FREE

'Coconut & Lime'

Fresh, tropical fragrance!
Handcrafted, Vegan, Natural

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

My Etsy Store 

This post is linked to  Barn Charm and  Friday Fences  and  Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday

Soap, Homemade, Natural, Vegan, Soap Logs

Two of the newest soap logs - or loaves

Just before cutting

What you see before you are two homemade vegan soap logs just out of the mold, posing for a photo.

'Peaches & Almonds'
(polite applause encouraged) 

'Raspberry Sorbet'

Sprinkled with Real Dried, Crushed Raspberries
from our humble raspberry patch
(The one the bunnies didn't get)

You have no idea how much fun this is!

For anyone who's ever wanted to have the whole thing - to cut it into whatever size bars or shapes they want.... Please see my Etsy Shop for this whole soap log listing. And, of course, you'll find many other gorgeous fruity, floral, herbal, woodsy, etc. handcrafted, vegan soaps there as well, in individual bars.

Each soap is hand cut, labeled, and wrapped in a cello bag, then sealed with a gold seal. They make perfect gifts for Mother's Day, Thinking of You, Birthday, etc.

NOW Accepting Credit Cards at my ETSY Shop!

AND, we have Etsy Gift Cards available.

Buy Any Five - Get One FREE!

'Raspberry Sorbet'

Natural, Handcrafted Vegan Soap
Fresh, Fruity, Delicious!

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

My ETSY Store 

 This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and  Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Lavender Soap, Vegan, Homemade, Lavender Bud

'Lavender Bud'

Handcrafted, Natural Vegan Soap

    

Springtime is finally upon us, and we've got a number of new natural, vegan soaps at both our Etsy Store and our website. (See links below.)  If you're looking for a visually interesting and fragrant bar of homemade vegan soap, our Lavender Bud definitely fits that description!

This beautiful bar of Lavender Bud homemade soap has the same great, silky and moisturizing lather of all our handcrafted, vegan soaps. Always mild, this particular soap has an amazing lavender and vanilla, plus slightly woodsy and earthy fragrance, accomplished by a combination of Essential Oils and Quality Fragrance Oils. It's luscious!

Real lavender buds were sprinkled on and embedded in the top for an exotic touch and extra fragrance.  Avoid the harsh, drying chemicals of mass-produced, store-bought soaps. Treat your skin to beautiful natural goodness!

Each fragrant bar of Lavender Bud homemade vegan soap comes wrapped in its own distinctive label and enclosed in a clear cello bag - ready for gift giving.

100% Natural Base Oils, Vegan

Appx. 4.5-5.0 oz. per bar.

Check it out!

'Lemon Verbena'

Another Natural, Handcrafted Vegan Soap

...and more! Check out all our handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Store 

This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and le chateau des fleurs and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and  Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Share Your Creativity and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Vintage Paper of Pins

A Paper of Pins
and the spools of thread

from my great aunt Verna

The scissors belonged to my mom

Boy:
I'll give to you a paper of pins,
For that's the way true love begins,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
I won't accept your paper of pins,
If that's the way true love begins,
And I won't marry you, you, you,
And I won't marry you.

Boy:
I'll give to you a soft easy chair,
To sit and comb your pretty hair,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
I won't accept your soft easy chair,
To sit and comb my pretty hair,
And I won't marry you, you, you,
And I won't marry you.

Boy:
I'll give to you a pure silver spoon,
To feed your babe this afternoon,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
I won't accept your pure silver spoon,
To feed my babe this afternoon,
And I won't marry you, you, you,
And I won't marry you.

Boy:
I'll give to you a fine dress of green,
To make you look like a real queen,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
I won't accept your fine dress of green,
To make me look like a real queen,
And I won't marry you, you, you,
And I won't marry you.

Boy:
I'll give to you a diamond so bright,
To light your way in dark of night,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
I won't accept your diamond so bright,
To light my way in dark of night,
And I won't marry you, you, you,
And I won't marry you.

Boy:
I'll give to you the key to my chest,
So you'll have gold at your request,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
I won't accept the key of your chest,
So I'll have gold at my request,
And I won't marry you, you, you,
And I won't marry you.

Boy:
I'll give to you the key to my heart,
That we may love and never part,
If you will marry me, me, me,
If you will marry me.

Girl:
Yes, I'll accept the key to your heart,
That we may love and never part,
And I will marry you, you, you,
And I will marry you.

Source


(Smart girl, wasn't she!)

When I was in grade school, 1st or 2nd grade, I think, we used to sing that song. And I think it was when we listened to the Wisconsin Educational Radio Network (now WPR) program, 'Let's Sing!'  I only remembered the first two verses and had to find the others online.

Does anyone else remember this song?

Did anyone else listen to 'Let's Sing!' on the radio?? I think it was only a Wisconsin thing, so...

And yes, my gradeschool is definitely vintage...and no longer used as a school.  I posted about it earlier.

A little worse for wear,

but full of fond memories.

And just in case you're interested (that's rather presumptuous, isn't it!) here's the Woodside School post I wrote back in November.

***

Spring SALE on

all our Homemade, Vegan Luxury Soaps

Ends March 21 at 11:59 PM...
(Don't turn into a pumpkin!)

...and more! Check out all our handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Store 

 This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and  Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and  Tweak it Tuesday and Memories by the Mile and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and 3boysandadog and Trueaimeducation and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

The Aga Cooker - Anglophile Friday

Source

There is something so charming about an Aga!  Secretly, I imagined living in a Yorkshire cottage with my dogs, my cat(s), a tile floor, and an Aga. And Kevin.

I want that kitchen (above) - complete with chubby yellow Lab and minus the lazy guy reading the paper while the carrots wilt. Okay, I'm not exactly coveting it, but it does make me think about painting my kitchen cupboards white. You-know-who is not fond of the idea. He says it's a fad. Maybe, but...

Source

I LOVE this Aga and the photo. I first saw the photo in a book I bought from Goodwill, 'Perfect English Cottage.' If you've not seen that book, it's worth checking out on Amazon. If I never get to England again, I will look at my photos and will page through Perfect English Cottage from time to time.

The only thing I don't like about the photo above? If you zoom in, you'll see that the tablecloth has pompoms along its edge. Eek.  But I do love the white beams.

 Source

That photo makes me want to go paint something. I wonder if it will inspire Suzan of Simply Vintageous? You've got to visit her blog if you're not already a follower. The conversations between Suzan and John are hilarious. Anyway, I digress. Back to the subject of Agas.

I did a Google search for info on Agas and came across this article from the UK Telegraph. The following is an excerpt:

'I hadn’t always been an Aga aficionado. I regarded them as status symbols that people pretentiously described as “best friends”. They were the toys of Marie-Antoinettish pseuds who wanted to play at living in a farmhouse in Wales – when actually they were hedge fund managers from Notting Hill. Madonna and Guy Ritchie had one, just as they donned Hunter wellies and Barbours and claimed to love hunting and fishing. (Now I wonder if maybe they divorced after a row over the gas bill.)


'Tessa Glass, a mother of two, who has an Aga in her second home (another eco crime) in Sussex refuses to believe she is an Aga lout, wilfully helping sea levels rise, all so she can scoff perfect Yorkshire puddings. 

'But Aga owners are green,' she protests. 'They’re the kind of people who love the country and have dogs. Apart from the footballers’ wives, that is.' She’s taken aback when I explain that flying to New York twice a year would cause less devastation to the rain forests. 'La la la, not listening,' she cries. 

'Not listening, indeed. The list of celebrity Aga owners who also profess to be eco warriors makes hilarious reading. Sting and Trudie Styler lecture us about the Amazon but – natch – they own one. Prince Charles is forever warning us of climate Armageddon but his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, 'wouldn’t cook on anything else.'

'Colin Firth, whose wife runs a chichi “green” store is another fan. Not so much hypocritical as puzzling is Sharon Stone’s avowal that an Aga is the first thing she would save in a fire, though the lightest model weighs 64 stone...'

***

I hope you'll follow the link and read the entire article. It's hilarious!

 

 Source

Every Jack Russell Terrier needs a matching Aga. Doesn't that photo make you want to just rush out and plop down £5-6,000 for an Aga? - or maybe a Jack Russell Terrier.

 Source

Imagine - a raspberry-colored Aga!! Isn't it beautiful. And for only £5,000+ pounds, it can be yours!

Nice sink, huh! It's deep enough to bath a toddler in, although I don't have any small children around here. Still, I like it. Actually, I have a great old white enamel cast iron sink with built in drain board, standing up along the wall of the garage, just in case I ever need another sink - which I'm sure I do, even as I write. It is a great old sink, and there's been a small ongoing debate for years now - about its usefulness and whether or not it will one day be hooked up to water lines again.

***

Here's another article, this one from Housebuilder's Update. Again, an excerpt:

'The Aga stands head and shoulders above all other gender issues in selfbuild land. 95% of women aspire to owning one, 95% of men just don't get it. I have seen many an otherwise well-thought out ecologically-slim footprint completely blown out of the water by a shiny new £5,000 Aga in the kitchen. Indeed I suspect that there are many husbands who have only managed to persuade wives to go through the four years of chaos and upheaval it takes to selfbuild by using the promise of an Aga in the kitchen at the end of it all. It's a powerful, if expensive, seduction tool, the ultimate selfbuild babe magnet. If it's the price it takes to get a selfbuild off the ground, maybe it's a price worth paying.

'As a man, I am one of those who just don't get it. I have cooked in houses with Agas and about the best thing you can say for them is that they are quaint. But as a man, "What do I know?" as the current saying goes. Yes, the Aga will definitely be too hot for a three-bed cottage, but what’s logic got to do with it.'

 Source

I guess the only things I like about this photo are the hardwood floor and the avocado/lime-colored Aga. I don't fancy my piano(s) in the kitchen.

 Source

Very pretty, but I think this was a show kitchen. Who really lives like that - (besides my sister and my daughter?)  lol    I mean, c'mon. Flat surfaces are there for a reason.  Just look at my desk, for example! (maybe not) But it is a nice black Aga.

***

And here's my sweet little happy 1913 Home Comfort cast iron cookstove:

It costs nothing but wood to run - and doesn't have to stay on all year 'round!

I should have moved my gloves and hat before taking the photo.

***

Spring SALE

on all our natural, handcrafted vegan soaps

Now through March 21 

 Don't miss it!

'Green Tea & Ginger'

...and more! Check out all our handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Store 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and  Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and 3boysandadog and Trueaimeducation and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special