Shizzle Design

That's the talented and creative Shelly Andrade of Shizzle Design (second from right).  And with her are the three of us enjoying her class for painting, waxing and distressing techniques with Ce-Ce Caldwell paints. 

About a year ago I was online looking for non toxic paints.  I came across Shelly's story:  the one about  her doctors advice and her change to Ce-Ce Caldwell paints.  Shelly is not kidding when she says CCC paint is not toxic and has no odor!  We painted our items right in her living room.  She blanketed her furniture and set up work benches for us and yes-sirree, we did paint inside her home!  The only aroma filling the air was the pizza she ordered for lunch.

Equally she is not kidding that this was the easiest painting I've ever done.  I just could not wrap my head around it though.  When we signed up for Shelly's class she repeatedly told us not to do any sanding.  No prep work? < puzzled smirk >  How could that be?  I could not dismiss years of ingrained insistence that any top-notch painted project rests on how well one completes the prep work.  The idea that there is no need to prep when using CCC paints did not compute in my brain!  A product as easy to use as Shelly had been telling me (and non toxic to boot) would yield a professional looking finish--I'm all in!  Still at 9 PM the night before the class, I grabbed my girlfriend and our pieces of furniture and insisted we do the sanding. Until Shelly's class my friend would do anything I told her to do.  That's not the case anymore.

< heavy sigh and a wink >.

You can see that buffet in the background.  That's another story for another post.  It's beautiful isn't it?  Good bones and just needing that right re-do with Ce-Ce Caldwell paints and aging wax!  Check back on this blog for a tutorial on what happens to that buffet!

On the drive down to Shelly's place I'm still yammering about the prep work.  "Imagine NOT sanding or removing the sealer from the surface so that the chalk paint can stick"  I marveled incredulously.  My girlfriend listened intently but said:  "You know if this paint is all Shelly says it is, it will transform our lives."  I think she's right.  It's just that awesome!

 

The base of the square table above, had an original coat of dark green.  You can see that with only the first (base) application of a very light blue, almost white, coat of CeCe Caldwell paint the coverage is impressive.  The small, mahogany,  pedestal table (on the right) has a base coat of green.  Over the Kentucky Mist green is a buttery, Johnston Daffodil, yellow (see below).  One of Shelly's distressing techniques calls for many layers of color along with the wet distressing application, finalized by a coat of aging wax.  In order to speed up the drying process between coats we used a small fan or blow dryer.

After only 4 hours both our projects were done and looking...well...looking just short of breathtaking and miraculous!

 

 I'm only speculating but our decision to start using CeCe Caldwell paints and signing up for Shelly's top-notch, painting class was a stroke of pure genius. 

Fresh and Clean

We made soap.

First assemble all your ingredients.
Obtain a blender dedicated for only this task.  Pick up a cheap one.  It doesn't have to be fancy just good at combining the ingredients.

Next put on your protective eyewear (please be sure to do this.  You will be working with lye and a tiny splash can get into your eyes).

Prepare your lye and water mixture and set aside until the temperature lowers to the level required by the below recipe.

Prepare a well ventilated work space:
Lay down newspapers or paper towling.
Prepare your molds.  This must be done before you blend your ingredients together.
Set out kitchen scale.
Wear rubber gloves and goggles.
Three 2-3 cup containers (I use glass bowls)
One large, 4 cup bowl.
Blender
Candy thermometer
2 rubber spatulas
oils
lye
goats milk
distilled water

Prepare your mold:
Line a box the size of a child or women's shoe box with wax paper (the wax side toward the soap and the unwaxed side against the cardboard shoe box).  Here's a link to a YouTube tutorial on lining the box.

Measure Liquids:
1 5/8 oz goats milk
4 oz. distilled water
Pour water into large dish (I use a 10 oz. coffee mug) and place thermometer on the side with bulb end in fluid.
Add 2 1/4 oz. of 100% lye (THIS IS VERY CAUSTIC AND YOU MUST WORK IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA.  DO NOT put your nose or eyes near it for a curious sniff to "see" what it smell like.  It will burn your nose.)
CAREFULLY pour the lye (powder form) into the distilled water which is in the mug with the thermometer.

The temperature will rise quickly.  Caustic and very strong fumes will be emitted.  Stir the mixture until the lye crystals are dissolved and then WAIT FOR THE TEMPERATURE to lower between 110 degrees and 115 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir occasionally while lye is cooling.

Next, Measure your oils and pour into your blender:
6 oz. Coconut Oil (if needed melt in the microwave so that you have a liquid)
5 1/4 oz. Olive Oil
3 3/4 oz. Almond Oil
Blend together for 10 seconds.

Add essential oils and herbs or exfoliating ingredients like coarse salt, coarse sugar, ground herbs like basil, etc.  Be very careful as some ingredients like poppy seeds, coffee beans, etc. will clog septic and sewage systems.

Alternative #1.  Kitchen bar:  add 1 1/2 T. grapeseed oil, 1 T. finely ground coffee, 1/2 t. cloves.
 Alternative #2. 1 1/2 T. apricot kernel oil, 1 T. ground lavendar, 2 t. lavendar oil
Alternative # 3.  1 1/2 T. lemon basil essential oil, 1 T. ground basil
Alternative # 4  1 T. essential lemon oil, 1/2 T. eucalyptus oil

You get the idea...mix and match essential oils to your liking.  We get our essential oils here and for more exotic oils like agar, bergamot, basil, calendula, and others try buying  here.

In the blender, combine  your essential oils into your olive oil/coconut oil mixture for another 10 seconds.

NEXT--CAREFULLY ADD COOLED LYE MIXTURE.  Blend for one minute.

Add the goats milk and continue blending until the mixture comes to a trace (the consistency of thickened pudding).

Pour into your prepared shoe box mold.  Cover with the lid or an old towel and leave undisturbed for 24 hours.  After 24 hours pull the block of soap out of the mold and cut into bars.

Dry your soap by placing them on a mesh mat or rack out of direct sunlight and in low humidity conditions for 30 days.  After 30 days they are ready to use!  Enjoy!

I'm purely speculating but I think these moisturizing bars will keep us fresh and clean.

Jammin'

My family is dispersed all over the world. One member is in Kenya, Gran Canaria, Nice, etc.; another is in Florence, Pisa and Palosuelo so my youngest and I decided a visit to my hometown was just the ticket!   What's really great about that is catching up with relatives, childhood friends, schoolmates, neighbors and families.

During one of our outings we picked cherries in an orchard belonging to a family we've known for decades; and brought our farm-fresh bounty back to base camp (a.k.a. the home of my friend, the Michigan Martha Stewart) and within two hours had made jam!  Wow!  Farm to table in two hours.  Not any ol' jam--fresh cherry jam:  sweet cherries, black sweet cherries and sour cherries.

We picked 'em:
 

We cleaned and pitted 'em:

  

 And we made jam!

 

Go here for sugar free jam making.

Jam

 Yield: 8 half-pints.

1 quart cherries (4 cups equals 1 quart) 

 8 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
  2 (3 ounce) envelopes liquid pectin

1 tsp. butter

Directions:
Combine fruit, sugar, butter and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Once you reach a rolling boil stir in liquid pectin. 

Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. 

Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. 

Adjust lids and rings. 

Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. (Note: Add appropriate additional processing time for high altitudes). 

For more information on jam making click here: JAM MAKING.

I'm only speculating but I think we'll be jammin' all summer.