Book Review - Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs

I was very excited when this book was in my list of review options since it's historical fiction. If you've read some of my previous book reviews you know this is one of my favorite genres.

As I started reading, I was slightly disappointed. I could NOT get into this book! The chapters are each only a few pages long and after just one chapter I'd put the book down and walk away. I never do that! Honestly, I can't quite figure out what my problem was with the book. It was a decent story, just not captivating. When I finally got interested in the book (at the very end) and kept reading and reading to find out what happened to a specific character, he went away and the author never says what happened to him! There is a sequel to this book called "Mine is the Night", however, I don't think I want to read through it with the sheer hope that she brings the character back.

Here is the summary from the back of the book:

"Lady Elisabeth Kerr is a keeper of secrets. A Highlander by birth and a Lowlander by marriage, she honors the auld ways, even as doubts and fears stir deep within her.
Her husband, Lord Donald, has secrets of his own, well hidden from the household, yet whispered among the town gossips.
His mother, the dowager Lady Marjory, hides gold beneath her floor and guilt inside her heart. Though her two abiding passions are maintaining her place in society and coddling her grown sons, Marjory's many regrets, buried in Greyfriars Churchyard, continue to plague her.
One by one the Kerr family secrets begin to surface, even as bonny Prince Charlie and his rebel army ride into Edinburgh in September 1745, intent on capturing the crown.
A timeless story of love and betrayal, loss and redemption, flickering against the vivid backdrop of eighteenth-century Scotland, Here Burns My Candle illuminates the dark side of human nature, even as hope, the brightest of tapers, lights the way home."

An excerpt from the book can be found HERE.

If you decide to read this, let me know what you thought!

As a reminder, I was given this book for free from the WaterBrook Multnomah "Blogging for Books" program. All opinions are my own.

Tutorial: Two-Sided Loofah Soap

Here are instructions for a fun soap making project to do at home. It's a two-sided loofah soap! Scrubby on one side, smooth on the other. Supplies you'll need:

1. white soap base


2. clear soap base


3. loofah


4. a mold that will fit your loofah


5. fragrance oil


6. color


7. rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle

Measure the height of your mold and use a sharp knife to cut your loofah so it's half the size. My mold is 1 1/4" high so I cut my loofah to 5/8". Be careful not to cut your fingers! I got my loofah from Sahara's Supplies. Cut up and measure out enough clear soap base to fill half your mold. (You can purchase cheap melt and pour soap base at most craft stores but if you'd like a quality base I suggest finding a source online) My mold holds 6 ounces so I needed 3 ounces of soap for this step. Melt the soap in your microwave (about 30 seconds should do the trick) and mix in your fragrance oil. I used 1/4 tsp of Raspberry fragrance, also from Sahara's Supplies. Place your loofah in your mold and pour the melted soap on top of it. Spritz with the rubbing alcohol to remove any bubbles that may have formed. Allow this to cool for approximately 15 minutes. The soap will need to be hard enough to pour another layer on top without melting it. This next step is the same as the previous step, but using our white base. I chose to add some color to mine. I used "chameleon" mica from Sahara's Supplies. The picture doesn't do it justice but this is an amazing red with silver mixed into it.

Need a tip on mixing mica so it blends properly? I add the mica to my fragrance oil first. Mix well and then add a bit of the soap base. Mix well again before adding the rest of the base.

Now you're ready to pour the melted soap base on top of the first layer but first, spritz a bit of the rubbing alcohol onto the first layer to help them adhere. Allow the soap to cool completely. After it has cooled, you're ready to remove it from the mold. Congratulations! Now you're ready to hop in the shower with your fun new soap! If you make this project let me know how it goes!

4th Annual Autism Awareness Fundraiser

For the 4th year in a row I will be donating 50% of all Puzzle Soap sales to the Autism Society of America. Please help support this cause! This fundraiser will last the entire month of April.

Pictures and a Poll

As promised, here are pictures of the "swirled soap". It turned out more blotchy than swirled.

And now I need your help! I'm getting ready to order more lip balm flavors and I want your opinions. Please vote for your favorites from the list:

honey
caramel
cucumber melon
coconut milk & peaches
black cherry
anise
pear
coconut
strawberry lemonade
apricot
kona coffee
bananas foster
mango peach
watermelon
lavender
iced pineapple & tangerine
something not listed: ________

Thank you!

My First Attempt at Swirling

For a challenge with a few of my teammates on Etsy, we have to make a tropical themed product that contains more than one color. I had the perfect scent for this...HoneyCocoMango! It's a delicious blend of honey, coconut, and mango. Now the color is where the challenge comes in. I've done layers before. I wanted to do something more unique for this one so I decided to do swirls.

I picked pink, orange, yellow, and green for my colors. Since I use log molds I used the 'in the pot' swirling method. Let's just say it's a lot harder than it looks. I was getting a little flustered trying to get all four colors mixed before the soap became too thick. I think I swirled a little too much once I put it into the pot and now I'm afraid it's going to be a big, ugly mess when I cut it.

Stay tuned for pics to see how it turned out. I'm very anxious to see for myself.

Big Giveaway on Facebook!

Want a chance to win some great prizes? Head on over to Super Coupon Lady's facebook page and see what you can win. One of the prizes is my Herbal Bliss Sugar Scrubs. Good Luck!

Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer

Time for another book review! This one is for "Flight of Shadows" by Sigmund Brouwer.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The story itself was good. Caitlyn, the result of a scientific experiment, is on the run from bounty hunters and the government. She meets a street-smart illusionist named Razor who helps her escape but she's not sure she can trust him. Razor helps her learn about herself and the unique power of her DNA. It leads her to make a choice between the two men who love her, and whether to keep her freedom or sacrifice herself to change human destiny.

The first few chapters of the book were rather hard to follow. Every chapter jumped to a new scene and introduced new characters. It took a paragraph or two to figure out what was going on. The entire book reads this way but after learning all the characters it becomes easier to follow. I discovered after I started that this book is the sequel to Sigmund Brouwer's other book, "Broken Angel". Perhaps I should have read that first.

There are a few disgusting scenes involving a man eating a rat and the author has an abnormal obsession with coffee. This probably bothered me more than it should have but everytime coffee was mentioned I thought "here we go again...".

All in all it was a pretty good book. I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Read the prologue HERE.

As a reminder, I was given this book for free from the WaterBrook Multnomah "Blogging for Books" program. All opinions are my own.

Did you find the review helpful? Rank it here:

Diaper Pail Deodorizing Disk Recipe

I just made a few of these as part of a baby shower gift so I thought I'd share the recipe. These are very easy to make and are great for sticking in your diaper pail if it has a compartment for them, or nearby if it doesn't.

Supplies you'll need:
Lavender Essential Oil
Water
Baking Soda
Silicone Cupcake Molds or other small flexible molds
Cookie Sheet

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees. Mix a few drops of lavender essential oil with a small amount of water. Add baking soda and mix to make a paste. Keep adding more baking soda and water until you have the desired amount. You want it to be wet enough so it holds together, but not so wet that it will take forever to dry out. Fill each cupcake mold with approximately 1/2" of the paste. Set the cupcake molds on your cookies sheet. Place in the oven at 175 degrees for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for another hour, or until fully dry and solid. Remove from cupcake molds and they're ready to use! After they've lost their fragrance, don't toss them out! These are great to use in your laundry. Crumble them up and toss them in with baby's clothes to deodorize and soften them.

Body Butter Giveaway!

Body Butters are now available in my shop! Even more exciting...I'm giving one away! Tomorrow, February 3rd, one lucky winner will be picked to receive a free 3.5oz jar of Yuzu Whipped Body Butter!

To enter:
Head over to facebook tomorrow and post a comment on the following two pages:

http://facebook.com/pages/Vixens-Natural-Jewelry/284357900776

http://facebook.com/AngiesSudsNSuch



Good luck!

Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction so I was immediately drawn to this book. My obsession with this genre began with a trip to the thrift store. I was browsing the books and came across "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. I recognized the title since it had recently been made into a movie so I bought it...and LOVED it! Within the next few months I acquired the rest of the Tudor series by Philippa Gregory and all of the ones I read so far are amazing. When I received "Lady in Waiting" I had no idea it would tie in with those books.

"Lady in Waiting" is two stories in one. The first story is about Jane Lindsay, modern day New Yorker whose husband of 22 years recently walked out on her. She runs an antique store and one day finds an old ring stuffed into the binding of a book. The ring is inscribed in Latin with the only recognizable word being "Jane". She instantly feels a bond with this ring and its owner and tried to find out more about it. Along the way she discovers more about herself and how to deal with her marrital problems.

Story two takes place in sixteenth century England right after the death of Queen Katherine, Henry VIII's sixth wife (this is where it ties in with the Tudor series). It's about Lady Jane Grey who would eventually reign as Queen of England for a total of nine days.

The story revolves around the decisions that both women have made (or that others have made for them) and how they affected their lives.

I give this story two thumbs up! You can download and read the first 4 chapters of this book on the WaterBrook Multnomah website.

As a reminder, I was given this book for free from the WaterBrook Multnomah "Blogging for Books" program. All opinions are my own.