Sunday, July 31, 2011

Stop Thinking & Start Living by Richard Charlson


I picked up this book during my last vacation a month back and started reading it throughout the last few days, and I found it to be a true eye opener, it made me feel incredibly better instantly. the Author Richard Carlson who's fame traces back to the year 1997 when he published the bestseller 'Don't sweat the small stuff', he walks the reader through a profound, simply written list of rationally common sense concepts as he redefines certain beliefs you have about yourself, people, life and the world. I so far learned, I am not a victim of unhappiness, no matter what the validations i may present myself with are. I am merely happy becouse I choose to be. I am experiencing a remarkable feeling, I did'nt even finish the book yet. My next read will be the the original 'Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all Small Stuff'.



*From Wikipidia: Richard Carlson Ph.D. (May 16, 1961 – December 13, 2006) was an American author, psychotherapist, and motivational speaker, who rose to fame with the success of his book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all Small Stuff (1997), which became one of the fastest-selling books of all time and made publishing history as USA Todays bestselling book for two consecutive years. It also spent over 101 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, and was published in 135 countries, and translated into Latvian, Polish, Icelandic, Serbian and 26 other languages; thereafter Carlson went on to write 20 books.




Monday, July 25, 2011

Soapmaking, there is a whole world out there

Soapmaking Safety Do's And Dont's (Creative Crafts)

So I've been really busy trying to figure out this cold process soap making business, and I can confess now, I'm totally hooked. The first time I saw my soap attempt turning into real soap it blew my mind. I bounced all over the kitchen for the next 5 minutes and kept on making soap (trying to get it right) ever since (you know, that was a couple of weeks ago).



I shared this safety and precautions video first as it's by far the most important part of learning how to make soap, you have to be really careful with lye, and do not underestimate its ability to hurt you. The only way to succeed is to gear up for that corrosive chemical and enjoy the privilege of being safe, and only then would you be able to gather your thoughts on what to do next.



The first batch was an instant success, the second though turned out very light in color and it's still fading. My third batch is missing the fragrance as I forgot to add it. My fourth attempt went into a gel phase very quickly and overheated, thus unmolding it was a disaster until a very kind lady at the Soap Making Forum http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/ told me to put it in the fridge and it worked. My fifth batch turned out very fluffy like damp chalk, and I had to experience my first rebatching attempt then (still waiting for it to harden). Well, my sixth batch changed color considerably due to a 60% olive oil recipe (the olive oil was a very dark yellow, closer to green). And finally, my recent batch (the seventh) had the oozing problem but not the very serious one… so it survived.



Well, you see know how busy I was ha ;)

I will hopefully upload some beautiful shots of some gorgeous soaps eventually, we'll wait and see..



Wish me luck :)