Sometimes you just gotta laugh...............

Getting down the stairs to the studio on my butt is quite an experience. Coming UP is even more fun. I'm resting now (I don't think toes should be purple, should they?) and it's given me time to share some things I'm lusting over.....

Who DOESN'T need werewolf soap??

 

Werewolf soap by Lippincott Soap Company

Peridot French Cut Prism and Bronze Filigree Pendant by Trash and Trinkets

 

Art doll clown by paulanerhus

 

Assemblage necklace by landofnodstudios 

Lemon Cream limited edition soap by  Product Body

 Lemonade Lounger soap by Future Primitive

Oh, only me.

This morning I was blogging about a new soap, making plans to get Bella and next thing I know - BAM - broken foot. I'm lying in bed right now, hopped up on Vicodin, cast and all. Got some mean lacerations at the same time - opened my foot up almost to the bone.

One problem it's going to pose is my studio is down a long flight of stairs. And I need to work. Maybe I can scoot down the stairs on my butt -- and get a ride to the post office for mailing.

I can do this!!!

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EDIT:

Okay, Joanna - here's the photo you requested. If anyone laughs at the poor state of my toenail polish, I'll kill 'em!!! This is before the cast was put on. You can't see how deep the cut is because of the blood. You can see how swollen my foot is, though!

WASABI's back and he's got a new attitude.

I've had a lot of requests to make Wasabi again. The last batch was only a test, so it was made in a small quantity. I'm posting photos in a little while of other soaps on the rack.... so stay tuned. Big bad W will be ready on Sept 27th.

Here ya go:

Woes explained, A divine inspiration, A burning sensation, and Pit Bull Attack......

So here's the deal........ it's been a bad year. Probably shouldn't be airing dirty laundry on a blog that's supposed to be primarily business, but hey.... I am who I am, you know? I won't go into detail about what's been going on, but a brief synopsis might help explain why I've been so damn weird, late on shipping, etc......

So Bella goes to California under the pretense it's just the run-of-the-mill summer visit. She's still not back. All of a sudden it was "Your daughter's unhappy in Portland so she'll be staying in California indefinitely." WHAT??!! So I had precious little time to start preparing to move to California - packing my belongings, making arrangements, finding a place to live 1,000 miles away, and moving the business - which was really the hardest part. Not only does the physical part of the business take up SO much space, but it also meant, as I posted, taking 2-3 weeks off to get life in order, right in the middle of the busy season. Terrible. Just terrible. But she comes first and I am willing to pick up and move for her. So after completely screwing up TMTM, arranging and reserving a moving service, packing some stuff, I'm told she's coming home after all. This is good news. REALLY good news. Life was beginning to feel like a shaken up snow globe, and now hopefully everything can settle and life can get back to normal (heh - whatever THAT means). Thank goodness I had the support of you guys and some *really* amazing friends, one in particular. ^wink^

Thank you, everyone. I feel like I have all these friends all over the world reaching out to me. Do you know how awesome that is?

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Have to ever heard the album Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde? That album CHANGED MY LIFE. I adore it. After not hearing it for probably 2 years, I have been listening to it as I work lately. I'm inspired to do a set of perfume oils inspired as a tribute. I don't know how to go about doing that, though -- I would imagine it would be a good idea to get ahold of their "people" and get permission. I've got family in the industry and I know it can sometimes be a pain in the ass getting anything done. And copyright infringement - WHOA. Big deal. But it's definitely something I'm looking into if I can decide where to start.

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So I'm in the mall the other night and stop into one of the big stores that sell bath and body stuff. I am not familiar with their products, so thought I would see what all the fuss is about. Not being a fan of overly fruity scents, it was hard to find anything that really appealed to me. The smell in there was SO strong, I had a hard time distinguishing one scent from another, so I got the bright idea to spay a bit of one on the back of my hand so I could smell it later while walking around. Did that, left, and was rewarded with a burning.... nay, EXTREME burning....sensation that got worse and worse as the seconds went by. By the time I found a bathroom to wash my hands, the back of my right hand was bright red, welted, and stinging like the devil. I don't have sensitive skin in the least. As a matter of fact, I usually smell like 10 different things because I test all my perfumes (and RAW soap) on my hands. There must have been something in this stuff that I am wildly allergic to. Live and learn, I suppose. From now on, I'm going to stick with what I know - HANDMADE!!!

But after that I wandered into an import store and came out with a jingly-jangly anklet just like I used to wear years ago, and a floor length handmade black skirt that swirls around my ankles and makes me feel pretty.

So the night wasn't all bad!!

My pit bull puppy has extreme separation anxiety. It borders on ridiculous. Yesterday while I was driving, she decided she could no longer stand being in the back seat and proceeded to try and weasel into the front - she's only 6 months old, and about 50 pounds already. I tried to push her back the best I could, but she took advantage of the fact I was driving and *jumped* into the front, whizzing past my face - cutting, bruising, and scratching me in the process. I am bruised pretty bad under my chin and the right side of my jaw. I'm just glad I didn't wreck the car!! Funny thing is, I was coming back from buying her a crate that was hopefully going to help with her anxiety problem!!! My Chihuahuas are jerks, too, but I can handle 4 pounds of unruly - not 50!

Off to work.

Be well, everyone.

Big Fat Soap FAIL and Personal Tragedy

I made a GORGEOUS batch of soap last night. Absolutely beautiful and the scent was out of this world!!!. But the (new) technique I used required the soap to be poured at a really thin trace. Apparently, the trace was too thin because it didn't set up properly. When I removed it from the mold this morning and tried to cut it, it was so mushy and soft it stuck to the cutter and made a HUGE mess. So off it goes into the soap afterlife (aka trash bin). I could rebatch it, but I just don't have the time or inclination to do so.

One of my favorite suppliers is closing. This will have an impact on several products I offer. I will keep you updated on which ones, etc.

There is some major tragedy going on in my life. It's caused me to make horrible mistakes in the shop - forgetting items in orders, slow shipping, etc. I can't say what's going on right now, but it's huge. Very soon, TMTM will be closed for about 2-3 weeks. At least I HOPE that's all. Please, everyone, send me positive thoughts. I need all the strength I can get.

Happy Friday the 13th!!

I hope everyone has a safe and kick-ass weekend.

I just somehow managed to get raw soap in my mouth.

Don't. Ever. Do. That.

Here are a couple of new soaps I unmolded this morning. It will be interesting to see how much they change during the curing process.

This one is tomato leaf, lemon, and a kick of berries. Very bright! Every time I walk past, I have to stop and smell it. Seriously.

And this one is a really off the wall concoction of fig, cranberry, 3 musks, and 2 sandalwoods. It very dark and incense-y.....

And yeah, this is the soap I got in my mouth.

Blech.

Sleepy Hollow in the shop!

So here are the Sleepy Hollow perfumes:

And a fourth for good measure!

They're in the shop now!

Movin' on up......err..... or OVER

My Etsy bills are high. I mean really REALLY high. Like $200 a month high. I've been going crazy thinking of a way to move away from Etsy - not because I don't like them.. I DO I DO!! - but if I could just sort of spread my inventory out over several sites, *that* would be lovely.

So this amazing chick Amanda, the owner of Long Winter Farm, posted a blog about how she has moved over to a site called Big Cartel.... they have a flat monthly rate, as opposed to the individual listing rates AND percentage Etsy takes. So I took the leap and joined. As of right now, my shop resides here. It looks really terrible and has like 3 items in it, but that will all change soon. And from what I understand, I can change my link to shop.tmtm.com...that's easier, right? So yeah, even though I have to do all my own promotion for this site, it might work out rather well in the long run.

So an official web site is in the works too. I would like to buy the domain and just have it point to the bigcartel site, especially since the pages there are fully customizable!!!


Sweet, yeah?

EDIT:  I went ahead and bought my domain. themorbidthemerrier.com is now mine!

Sleepy Hollow

Okay, so there have been changes to the Halloween lineup. Partly because I added Ash from Evil Dead, and changed the Sleepy Hollow to three perfumes instead of 2.

I've gotta say - I've worn 1 each day for the last 3 days and have gotten SO many compliments! That's always such a nice thing. I decided to do them all pumpkin-based, cause that's how I roll. Funny, though - even though they all have pumpkin, they all smell completely different.

So you wanna hear about them?

ICHABOD -  Creamy pumpkin, 3 pines, moss and dark, raw vanilla. Starts out really piney and sweet, but mellows nicely into a mossy, woody dark scent.

KATRINA - A trio of white flowers, smoky almond, and spiced pumpkin. Sweet, but somehow really earthy, especially on the dry-down.

HORSEMAN - Oh my goodness. I *really* like this one a lot. Fiery jack-o-lanterns, black leather boots, temple incense, and the edge of a dark Autumn wood. Opens sweet, almost caramel-foody, but after only a few minutes on the skin, it darkens dramatically, almost changing into a different scent altogether.

I'm soaping tomorrow - hoping to somehow combine these three scents into one soap to compliment all three. As soon as I get to it, I will post pictures!

And photos of the Sleep Hollow trio will hopefully be up tomorrow.

Tomorrow - another debut! Muah-ha-ha.

Halloween Perfume Winners

Ok - sorry it's taken so long - here are the winners:

Sawney Bean
Ichabod
Horseman
Sweeney Todd
Rosemary's Baby

And Candyman lip balm.

Descriptions coming soon. Promise.