Soap Carving - A Lost Art?

I have always felt my paternal grandmother was probably the biggest influence on my creativity. She was truly an artist in her own right. We stayed with her when we were kids while our parents worked, and she always had art projects ready for us. She recycled materials as far back as the 60's, seriously! Even though she was only 4'10" tall, she was a little bundle of energy. She was always working on something.

One of her many talents was soap carving. Ivory Soap made huge bars and she would buy them and store them in dresser drawers to "age". She had a tiny penknife that she used to carve the aged bars of soap. She carved a nativity scene that had about 70 pieces. A display case for it that was covered with navy blue velvet. She also carved a wedding party with the bride, groom and their 6 attendants. Both groups were entered in the state fair during the 40's and 50's. I have the blue ribbon for the bridal party from 1947. I also have the bride and groom. The detail she captured was amazing and her sense of scale was spot on.

The soap has aged to a yellowish patina and it is a bit crumbly. The bride and groom are all that is left. I am afraid the photos of the complete sets are long gone. For posterity's sake, I have photographed it before it is gone. I don't think you can even get the huge bars of Ivory soap anymore.

I Shop When I'm Bored

Why is it I always complain that I never have time to just sit down and do nothing, then when I HAVE to stay off my feet, it drives me crazy? I had foot surgery this past Wednesday to fix the toes I messed up wearing high heels. I was in constant pain and decided it was time to do something about it.

Now that I have so much time on my hands, I've been doing some browsing and window shopping. My wish list has grown considerably. A few of the new additions to my list are shown above.

I noticed that one of my online friends can do anything she sets her mind to. Linda, also known as Papernclay makes fused glass jewelry. She also makes polymer clay pieces. Her watermelon beads were awesome! She does origami and can make a crane out of your wedding invitation. Recently she started learning lampworking and I am in awe of the beautiful beads she has made already. People like Linda inspire me to try new things. You can find Papernclay at Etsy.com and ArtFire.com.

Glass Anarchy's Got the Blues!

Signs of Spring?

We have gotten a break from the cold, dreary winter weather this past week. It has been in the 60's several days. I have opened windows to let the house air out. Today I was walking the dogs around the yard and discovered crocus already blooming. There are also some daffodils showing color that should be blooming by next week.

I am not a winter person, so this has been invigorating. I've already tilled the garden to get it ready for onions in a few weeks. The garlic I planted last fall is doing well and there is still sage, oregano, thyme and rosemary that survived.

A Day To Spend Outdoors

This is already a wonderful weekend. Temperature is in the 60's, the ground has thawed enough to till the garden and set my onions out. It doesn't matter what else I should be doing, I'll be outside all day.

I came across an interesting blog the other day. http://paprikasperch.blogspot.com
She contacted me because she was featuring one of my butterfly plant stakes in the blog. Her jewelry shops are http://paprikasplace.etsy.com and http://baciscreations.artfire.com I love the heart necklace (pictured).