The pursuit of life, love and perfume

Fun, new things

2013-07-30T14:30:06Z

Stamp by Stamp Couture on Etsy:
Fantastic work and super fast shipping for a custom order.

A shout out to kitschaster (with pictures)

2013-07-16T20:56:01Z

It's funny, I can't ever really design for myself so a great deal of the stepping up to the next level that I've been wanting to do has been delayed. got smart and asked kitschaster if she thought she could do a logo for me.
She totally did. Working with her was super easy. She got the logo to me in two days and tweaked all of the stuff that I asked for immediately.

And because I now have a proper logo, all kinds of other things have happened.

I've ordered a custom rubber stamp of the logo that will be here later this month.

Lots and lots of good things on the horizon,

And, it was all made possible because kitschaster is so freaking good at what she does.

This happened today

2013-07-01T18:19:24Z

News and things

2012-05-01T14:11:32Z

Things here are good. We put in a garden for vegetables and herbs in the back yard. And one just for the pretty in the front yard.

I have a Canadian store that will be selling D.E. perfumes in a couple of weeks.

Maddie was accepted into the International Baccalaureate program. She tested off the charts. We re-decorated her bedroom. Had a birthday party. Good Lord, the girl is 15! When did that happen?

Over all, I'm content. Things are good.

We dyed her hair red. She said she wanted different. So we gave her different.

Dear Assholes:

2012-02-13T21:31:08Z

This is what Facebook is for:

+ Staying in touch with friends and family that I no longer live close to.
+ Posting pictures, thoughts, ideas and the very rare, non-finger-pointing rant
+ Perfume updates. I've been doing a lot of that.
+ Sharing sites, businesses and other things that I enjoy. I hope that you'll enjoy them, too.

This is what Facebook is NOT for:

+ Calling out friends and family members for slights real or imagined.
+ Inflammatory and bigoted posts about religion or politics.
+ Animal cruelty posts with graphic pictures.
+ Child cruelty posts with graphic pictures.
+ Any post that "dares you to repost it" because if you really want to end world hunger, child abuse, breast cancer, etc. re-posting something that someone else dares you to repost isn't going to do a damn thing to help.

The really cool thing I've been doing lately

2011-10-12T00:41:48Z

I've been making my own laundry detergent. It's really easy, all natural (depending on the soap you use), and relatively inexpensive to make.

The recipe is:
2 Cups of Grated Soap
(Fels Naptha is specifically a laundry soap but I've used Ivory and Dove and it's worked out just as well. I made my last batch with saved slivers of Villainess Soaps that I've accumulated over the past two years.)
1 Cup of Washing Soda
I Cup of Borax

I run it through a blender until it's granulated. Ready to use immediately.

I use 2 TBSP a load, 3 for heavy loads.

Pleasant Disarray

2011-09-13T02:36:54Z

+ Just discovered the world of craft beers.
+ Watching The Vampire Diaries with M*.
+ Getting over a kidney infection.
+ Gearing up for an update at the end of the month.
+ Will get caught up on L.J. F-List reading when I feel better.
+ Super excited about snagging a bottle of Solstice Scents - Skin Burnishing Glace Mist in Conjure.

On death and addiction

2011-07-24T22:13:21Z

Amy Winehouse died yesterday, and yes, I was a fan. I loved the jazz / 50's girl group sound she brought to radio playlists that are so overpopulated with sound-alike, over-produced, lackluster un-original crap. Like most of the world, I watched with sadness as the media picked up on and focused on her addiction rather than her talent and I hoped beyond hope that she would find the will and strength to get clean.

My news feed on facebook has been inundated with people saying things like, "that pathetic junkie bitch got what she deserved" and then other people were saying that no one should grieve for Amy. Which struck me as awfully callous and unkind and here's why.

If a family member or friend were to die from lung cancer because they smoked their entire lives no one would suggest that you not mourn for the loved one lost. Or that they brought it on them selves so they deserved what they got. And if anyone did say that , there would be a ton of people jumping in to correct that person.

There's a misconception that addiction is 'not' a disease and that people 'choose' to not get help. As a recovering addict, I can say that the sad case is more simply that people in the throes of addiction can not see how terminal their condition is and if they do, they are unable to simply stop. They are so caught up in the disease that they hurt the people that care about them the most and force them to watch as they slowly die.
Addiction is a disease, folks. Self inflicted or not, it IS, with out question a disease.
Taken from this wikipedia entry, "The disease model of addiction describes an addiction as a lifelong disease involving biologic and environmental sources of origin.The traditional medical model of disease requires only that an abnormal condition be present that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the individual afflicted. The contemporary medical model attributes addiction, in part, to changes in the brain's mesolimbic pathway.The medical model also takes into consideration that such disease may be the result of other biologic, psychologic, or sociologic entities despite an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of these entities.
Within the disease model of addiction, a genetic predisposition is believed to be present. An environmental event is also felt likely to be required.
These hypotheses would explain the result of adoption and twin studies that have been carried out, indicating that twins separated at birth have a higher likelihood of concordance for addictive disease than would be expected were there not a genetic component, and indicating that these twins have a lower likelihood of concordance for addictive disease than do twins who remain together in identical environments."

I lost my best friend to his addiction last year, I will most likely bury my youngest sister due to her struggle with this disease and I myself, am a recovering addict. I have lost more people than I could count on one hand to addiction. Talented, funny, incredible people. Wonderful people that the world is poorer with out.

If it were as easy to quit as just saying, "I quit", no one would die from it. Realizing that I needed help and then getting help were the hardest things that I have ever done. Too often, people don't live long enough to get the help that they so desperately need.

Taken from my friend, Don Riley, "Those of us who are strong, who are disciplined and responsible, we should thank God for our strength and pray that we do not rush to judgment when others cannot find such strength." (Well said, Don and thank you.)

Our new car

2011-07-13T12:36:39Z

2011 Scion XB

"Suspicious comments" and "Spam comments": LJ decision to 'block' spam i

2011-04-26T18:22:27Z

Originally posted by heeroluva at "Suspicious comments" and "Spam comments": LJ decision to 'block' spam is a big FAIL!

So I've been noticing in both my own journal and communities that I haven't been able to see some comments even thought it says there are more comments there than are actually showing up. Instead I'm getting a place holder that says (Spam comment) or (Suspicious comment).

Why are these showing up like this you may ask? In their rush to fight spam LJ has created a new filter that're AUTOMATICALLY TURNED ON in ALL journals and communities, which screens comments that are made with 'suspicious links' ie links that are not on their safe whitelist, so pretty much the majority of the internet. There is no noted way to add to the 'whitelist'.

What really gets me is that they didn't inform people that they were doing this until a week after it was done and that it was automatically turned on.

So how do I turn it off you might ask.

That's simple. Go to your Settings, click on the Privacy tab, and half way down where it says Spam Protection uncheck the box next to "Comments containing a link to a non-whitelisted domain will be marked as spam and moved to a special section." This applies to both personal journal and communities and the opinion has to be manually changed in each one.

While I understand how this could be a good idea, I think they went about it in a very backhanded way, and have implemented it poorly. There was no message to anyone that the link has been screened. It's automatically done. This went on for over a week before they said anything about it. There is still nothing in the FAQs about it even. The only way I found out about this way going through the support pages where people were reporting similar issues.

Please share this!

ETA: This links really illustrates the problems.

Things That I Love

2011-02-10T19:43:10Z

Taking my mind off the snow and arctic temperatures outside, (literally arctic - it's -2 degrees - I am a hothouse flower and am not meant to be in this kind of weather.)

Some things that I love.

For makeup:
Pink Quartz Minerals: I love, love, love this company's makeup. I love it so much that I'm pretty much only wearing PQM makeup these days. The eye-shadows are richly pigmented. The glows are sparkly and really do brighten up my complexion. I've become a huge fan of the Poppy Quartz blush. I also really love the Goldenrod under eye concealer - seriously, if it can cover my not-enough-sleep-circles it could hide an elephant.
What I love the most is Doree's policy of pure, natural makeup. I have super-sensitive skin and I can say that I'm not breaking out at all anymore.
Edit to include: Also, Doree is really awesome about working with you to get you exactly what you want or need. I really do love everything about Pink Quartz Minerals.

Soap and Bath and Body:
Villainess is hands down my favorite soap company. The scents are extremely well blended and for a very reasonable price you get a large chunk of really beautiful soap. My personal favorite is Blood. I love the top notes of grape-y, fruity wine but what I love the most is the white musk base that anchors the scent. I am a sucker for a good, skin scent, white musk.
I'm currently using the company's signature scent, Villainess in the shower. This soap is just lucious. I love what Villainess does with leather.
I picked up Grundy and Byzantium for J*. Byzantium hasn't been opened yet. Grundy smells like dirt - but good, clean, sexy dirt. J* was excited about it as he loves vetiver and Grundy did not disappoint.
M* got Crushed and Blush. She guards her soap like it's gold. So I have no idea what either of them smell like but she loves them.

sihaya09 sent me the motherload of sample packages last week. I haven't had a chance to try everything but the stuff that I have tried is below.
Solstice Scents (moving to SolsticeScents.com this Sunday). I bought a bottle of the Harvest Moon Burnishing Glace from Christina. I really want to love this stuff and I do. I love the fragrance, I love the texture but I have really sensitive skin and something in this blend irritates the crap out of my skin. I suspect it's the cinnamon e.o. and I firmly believe it's just my overly sensitive skin and not any fault in the blend. I'll pass this on to someone who will probably not have the same issues that I do.

Haus of Glois' Samhain soft bubbling scrub. I wasn't sure what to think of this at first. On just opening it almost had a celery note to it. But, it is terribly cold and terribly dry here and I need a good scrub so I gave this a whirl pretty quickly after getting it. It was awesome. The scrub was moisturizing and the scent was very earthy and very green. No celery note at all. I'll keep an eye out for them to re-open and I'll definitely order again.

omg, snow

2011-02-10T18:59:22Z

It started snowing Monday afternoon. It snowed all Monday night, Tuesday, Tuesday night and into Wednesday until about noon. I have never ever seen this much snow.

Tuesday afternoon:

The Aftermath:

For the record ...

2011-02-05T22:05:58Z

Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur and Green Tea is seriously the best thing on a winter's night. (Or afternoon)

02.05.11

2011-02-05T21:36:17Z

I'm preparing to make my self a drink.
A full week of cleaning out the garage and sorting through, and then discarding a bunch of needless stuff.
The kid is great. J* is handling more of the discipline and I'm getting to step back and just enjoy being around her.
The house is wonderful - hard to believe that we've been in this house for almost two years now.
We have good, good friends and a life that just makes me happy and content.

Had a GREAT moment in B&N today. As I was walking past a couple of girls that were sniffing each other's wrists, I heard, "It's called Alice In Wonderland and it's made by a company called Deconstructing Eden".
I stopped, turned around and asked, "Did you just say Deconstructing Eden?"
She said, "Why yes, I did! Do you know it? They're fantastic!"
Me: I do know it! My name is Toni Sinclair and I'm the owner of Deconstructing Eden."
More talking, she's a new fan and had no idea that I was local.
It was so very cool and reminded me a bit of my band days.

Okay, I really do need that drink now.

When Love Cast Me Out it was Cruelty who took pity upon me treasury

2011-01-26T17:46:03Z

Cookies!

2010-12-20T18:24:11Z

My internet crapped out this weekend which actually turned out to be okay because we baked a million cookies. Well ... eighteen dozen ...
I love my kitchenaid mixer.

Just baked.

Piping:

Filled:

Decorated:

Pictures 2010

2010-12-14T21:05:20Z

Bedroom:

Maddy and her cousin, Ryan.

Grandkids and Watson

Follow me ...

2010-11-19T23:12:00Z

Boosting the signals

2010-09-08T02:08:55Z

My most favorite jewelry designer and dear friend sihaya09 , is facing some pretty scary health issues concerning her cat, Olive. As the owner of a formerly, feral kitty who came to me with quite a few health issues of her own, I can totally sympathize.
Please go here to read more.
She has an online shop that can be located here where she sells her absolutely beautiful jewelry.
I can vouch for each piece being unique and magical as I am the proud of owner of several of her designs.
Go check it out - you'll be doing a good deed as well as acquiring a gorgeous piece of jewelry.

Also, liminalia's, daughter is missing. Please go here to read more.

**edited because my language skills suck some days.

Perfume Components : Amber and Ambergris

2010-03-22T18:55:09Z

Say “amber” to any perfume aficionado and they will immediately think of a soft and sexy vanilla, patchouli, maybe slightly woody, sweet scent.
Amber is a fixative that exalts the entire blend; it’s used in Orientals as well as the Fougeres and so is a hugely important component of perfumery.

It would surprise most people to find out that the scent they associate with amber is a perfumer’s interpretation of one of two things: ambergris or a fossilized pine resin.
I have chunks of ‘amber resin’ that I’ve burned on charcoal and to my nose; they don’t really smell at all like what I associate with ‘perfume amber’. They do smell like pine resin.
(The fir tree resin that I harvested that isn’t fossilized does give a deep, sweet, warm fragrance that is just beautiful.)

Unfortunately there is no such thing as amber essential oil, but there are some very good sources for both amber fragrance oils and solid amber. At this writing, I have no less than 18 different ambers, from fragrance oils to solids that I’ve dissolved and key accords. Each one is different. There are sweet-vanilla ambers, dry, woody ambers; dark, mysterious ambers and floral ambers. Each one is invaluable.

Ambergris is a whale secretion that’s passed through a whale’s digestive system either with fecal matter or vomited. Gross, huh? And in its raw state that’s exactly what it smells like.
After floating in the ocean under the sun it ages into a creamy, sweet and earthy fragrance.
It’s wildly expensive though because of its rarity and the fact that ambergris continues aging and getting richer and more fragrant. It’s also reputed to work as a pheromone.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a very small sample of a very high quality ambergris. I’ve used it jealously and sparingly and only in a personal fragrance for myself.
There are however quite a few very good aroma-chemicals that are very effective replacements for natural ambergris and most of them also act as pheromones.
Ambergris is at its best when layered, usually in Orientals and florals. It rounds out the entire fragrance and marries the separate notes.

Work Space - Now with shelves!

2010-01-22T02:03:08Z

Sinead's hand

2010-01-21T16:08:17Z

How I spent my day

2009-12-16T22:45:07Z

My head is now killing me, but the huge custom order is finished.

Writer's Block: Forgive and forget?

2009-10-26T17:07:17Z

It seriously depends. It's not that I hold grudges so much as I don't forget the lessons learned. I'm pretty intolerant of people that are dishonest and manipulative. But I am very quick to forgive when a sincere apology is offered.

atriel @ 2009-10-25T22:03:00

2009-10-26T03:06:08Z

Dinner party with very good friends.
Preparing to send the next batch of Kushiel's Legacy fragrances to Jacqueline Carey.
Website will be up and functional this week.
(Yay!)

Everything's zen.