Bath bombs & lip goo

Day two of our bath & body chemistry experimentation. We started with some bath bombs. We used some Mayan Gold as our scent.  They should be ready to use by tomorrow.

Then we moved on to the lip goo... I think we will have enough lip balm to last us for a while.

Off to watch Ashes to Ashes... Everyone needs a little Gene Genie in their life!

All done...

We're pretty much finished with school till mid July. Since Mac is off to high school in August, she has an even longer break from formal studies, but she will be busy with camp (as an assistant in jewelry & drama) and with her reading. 

After a two week-long Spruill Center marathon (classes & open studios) we spent a mellow day re-batching some soap...

 beading... (learning right angle weave) 

And making some very yummy pizza! Thanks to "P" we have found a new GF flour that is wonderful. It's called Mama's Almond Mix Blend. I even got her cookbook, despite all the Biblical stuff, but who cares, when the dough is pretty darn close to the real thing; well at least as close as we've found over the last six years. 

I can tell you, not a slice was left!

We made soap!

Our first batch of soap...  Waiting the four weeks till we can use it will be hard. Fi is so excited to start the next batch; already planning which fats to use, and if we will French Mill some of this batch. Thanks to Ann at Spruill for an awesome class. I finally feel comfortable working with lye and a nine-year-old all at the same time.

Black & White or Color....?

Well, it's done...

We signed Mac up for High School yesterday. She is beyond excited, and should be, given her class line-up; Adv/Acc Algebra (she's already finished this at home), Honors English, Bio, Health, something called Freshman Focus (study skills/mentoring?), Latin I (It's Cambridge... she's already read the whole first bk), Acting I & Technical Theater. She better bring home straight A's... :) I love the vibes at the school. Being a charter/magnet school, there is just this feeling that both the students and teachers really want to be there. This is not the public school of my teen-hood.

All this is going to be a major change for us, especially after eight years of homeschooling. Fi is going to miss Mac, but I think it will also be an exciting time for her being the sole focus of our studies.

So, I guess we are now part of the Spartan family. It still feels a bit odd.

Wordless Wednesday... well maybe not.

I was very honored to be asked to help make the copper binding & a bead for this amazing handmade bk. It's a collection of art donated to help raise money for the Spruill Center For the Arts in Atlanta. I thought I would share a few of the pages with you.

A snowy day...

A Slow Sunday Afternoon

Come to the show!

This is a wonderful fundraiser for the Spruill Center's Jewelry Dept. Gecko J will be there, along with many other amazing jewelry artists.

Then and now.. Happy 14th Mac!

A Frosty Friday

Mac documenting Fi's travels in the very cold snow.

Cooking at Nanny's

And Andee waiting to see if she gets a little taste.

Fi's first Flip video!

I may have a future movie director under my roof.

New Years Eve..

As we come to the end of 2009, our family is having much fun playing with a couple of our Xmas gifts, a Flip video camera & a new Cannon Power Shot. Here are photos taken with Mac's new camera. Fi's first video to follow.

A scarf I made, one I actually needed to count to make! LOL

Some gift bags for Gecko J Designs...

I'm ready to get back to class... I love working from my home studio, but there is just something about creating within a group, watching others as they problem solve, and sharing new ideas. So, I will count the days till winter session starts, and work on my knitting.