Astounding Language

There are tons of rocks on our property. Different sizes and shapes. We started collecting these and started using acrylic paint to paint them.

Our favorite rocks to paint are “lady bugs”. This is a very simple craft to do, simple, fun, and easy for both children and adults.

You need:

- rocks

- acrylic paint (which usually costs no more than $1.50, one bottle will paint a lot of rocks)

- clear varnish

Steps in painting:

- We first paint the entire rock black.

- We then paint the sides of the rock (in half circles) red or yellow (or whatever color you have)

- Once the sides are dry, we then go back and put a few black circles on the color portion.

- We then paint in some eyes and a smile.

- In addition, we usually write a saying on the bottom, for example, smile, be happy, live life, have fun, etc.

- Once we have completed we put a coat of clear varnish on them to protect them.

Total cost to make is less than $.50 (depending on the size of the rock)

We have found both adults and children love these rocks. Children love to play with them. Adults use them to put in their gardens, or just to have as an ornament.

Let your imagination soar, you can paint literally anything on rocks, from your favorite sayings to pictures.

Let your imagination go with these rocks! Happy Painting!

Catherine Pulsifer is one of the editors of Stress Relief by a Simple Life Where you will find stories, thoughts, poems and inspirational quotes on simplicity, frugal living, free craft projects, stress and more.

Note to publishers - please use the text “Stress Relief by a Simple Life” when linking to http://www.stresslesscountry.com
Thanks!

Most of us have a favourite flower. We plant them in our gardens, we buy them at the florist, we are given them as bouquets to celebrate a a birthday, anniversary or to wish us a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, most blooms have a short life. I adore flowers and as an artist, I have learned to preserve something of their essence in a flower painting forever. If you have ever wished you could do this with a favourite bloom, then read on.

Flower painting has a wonderful history. Botanical art has been used to document numerous species of flowers and plants. There is something very satisfying and magical about painting a flower and preserving just what it was like forever. Of course, flower photographs can do the same but when you paint you have the added pleasure of carefully examining the curves and colours of each petal, stamen, stem and leaf. You have to observe the way the light catches the flower and use this information to give it a 3D presence on your paper. By painting flowers, you get to know them intimately.

I would advise anyone wanting to start painting to begin with their favourite flower, no matter how complex it might seem. By choosing your favourite, you will be motivated to try again to render it well. Your feelings have a better chance of being transferred into your flower painting too. When a flower painting makes you gasp, it is because it initially did the same for the artist and they have found a way of sharing that with you. It doesn’t matter if your attempts aren’t perfect. Each time you try you will become more familiar with it’s shape. It will seem easier to paint and you will notice more about the nuances of colour and the way light can affect it.

Of course, there are some useful techniques which might help you learn flower painting. Many excellent art books have been written about this topic and your bookstore will certainly have several. But be wary of simply copying another artists’ techniques. You may be surprised to find that you are less satisfied with the results than you are with simply observing your favourite flower and perfecting your vision of it with each attempt.

Try drawing with different materials, have fun and keep all your attempts. You will be encouraged to see how your vision and skill improves simply by practise. I use pastels, both the soft powdery ones and the deliciously oily variety. I love them because of their beautiful range of colours, from very pale to vibrant hues. I can extend this even further by overlaying thin veils of colour, allowing the underneath ones to sing through. Or perhaps you could try watercolour? This has long been a favourite of flower painters and botanical artists and for good reason. The way you can allow one luscious colour to randomly bleed into another, just as it does in nature, is very mouth-watering!

As you can tell, I am fanatical about flower painting but I do hope I have managed to awaken a little curiosity in you. Have a go! What have you to lose?

Theresa Evans is a flower artist. Her flower paintings can be seen or her website http://www.flowerportfolio.com where you can sign up for her free e-course on flower painting. She is also available for commissions of a favourite flower.

Handmade soap is made of natural ingredients, including many herbs that make it healthy and replenishing for the skin. Aloe, for example, is one of the main herbal ingredients in handmade soap. Aloe comes from the inner part of an aloe leaf and is a wonderful healing agent. Used to treat burns, rashes, insect bites, Aloe is also used to heal wounds and help to prevent infection.

Basil, another herbal ingredient found in handmade soap, is most commonly used to treat acne. However, it also stimulates, uplifts and refreshes the skin, which is what makes Basil an ideal ingredient for handmade soap.

The majority of consumers have heard of chamomile, but few realize it’s long existence. Dating back at least 2,000 years, chamomile has been used to treat cuts and scrapes, rashes, burns, etc. It is widely used as part of a soothing bath and in skin lotions.

Lavender is a very popular ingredient found in handmade soap. Many soapmakers offer a product line specifically dedicated to lavender and it’s lovely, soothing scent. Much like it’s smell, Lavender itself is used to relieve depression and stress. In handmade soap, Lavender is a herbal ingredient that has proven benefits to the skin, including its ability to repel mosquitoes.

Did you know that Oatmeal is used in soap? Exfoliants, such as Oatmeal, are used in a large number of skin products and their uses are very important in removing dead skin cells while rejuvenating the healthy cells underneath. In addition, exfoliants have the ability to remove other properties that gather on the skin’s surface.

Rosemary is a herbal aromatic oil that is used in soaps and other scented products to give them a distinct smell. Additionally, rosemary itself is used to relieve the discomfort in bites and stings on the surface of skin.

With all of the herbs that are used to make handmade soap, the consensus seems clear that the ultimate goal is to replenish and care for the skin. Helping to remove dead skin cells, adding moisture back that has since been lost and not to mention a variety of terrific scents are just a few of the reasons that people desire handmade soap. If you are familiar with the golden rule, then you will understand why it is important to treat your skin and you would like for it to treat you. Take care of it and, in return, your skin will help you to glow.

Jeffrey Dorrian is the soap guy. Really, that is his website http://www.thesoapguy.com He has been making premium handmade soap for the past five years. “Handmade soap is a true inexpensive luxury anyone can enjoy.”
wholesale lavender soap

1.

High sky, and visible sinister shadows,

The covered moon, now still,

Then the eldritch dark, its eerie face falling,

And now, nearby, a viper-imp is calling
I no longer weep. But watch, watch the

Strange nights go by (why?)

(I shall get no pleasure in telling this story,
wherewhere strange nights bring forth
truth and light, to the dead.)

2.

Macabreand silent was the night, as there came a knocking, knocking, a
knocking on my basement door; as I stepped closer and closer, it threw,
threw its self open to me….

How can I explain what I saw, for I alone have seen them, no one else?
I stand in jest. There was, an indescribable two headed viper, so I seen.
Tall it stood, as tall as I, slimy and green.

In a dim, horrific mist! I sought to see what was below, belowwithin,
within my basement crypt. As I descended the stairs I saw facesbent
faces; alas, it was chilling to the eyes. There was some kind of beauty,
mythological beauty in all this. Hence, I descended side by side with
someone, something: yes, something, descended down the stairway
with me. And there, there at the bottom, they stood and stared with glee.

My mind was cloudy with doubt as I listened to the rain outside falling,
falling now, falling like a string of voices chanting, chanting my name.

There was a floating mist asunder, as if I was on a ship at sea; eerie
winds moaning, and strange hissing groaning; lo, I whispered, ‘where
am I?’ Shadows shape-shifting, swiftly, as I stood in amazement drifting,
drifting, just drifting, thinking about these past strange nights.

I noticed a bed of mahogany, saw a viper resting, resting on fog, upon
its fog like covers on the bed; resting, just resting, as if, as if it was
waiting for me with its crimson eyes and pale fangs, and ebony dark
dark, irises. The viper ebbed close to the edgeunaccompanied.

Adrift with a ting of modesty, the viper gazed with a grin at me, stirred my
mind, my soul; wanting to tell me something I needed to know. Said he, the
snake:

“I: I am the guardian of the ghouls, ghosts, the impsthe souls

with no peace, here within this house (my house), their legacy

to life. I suck out their core of crudity and fear. I wait for their grief,

arrogance to disappear. I wait, and wait with these strange nights.”

3.

I had learned in time, as time passed, months to seasons, that one head
of the snake spoke during the night hours, the other during the day; yet
day and night was dim all the same.

Ah! yes, I slept during the day, and caressed the bitter sweet delights
of the dark nights[why, I don’t know] when there, there seemed to be
these ghostly figures caught in-between heaven and hell, wanting to talk,
just talk to me.

I know, I know, so I said to myself: have pity on these ghostly skeletons
of lost doom, caught between humanity and the cellar room. And so
autumn and winter shed their skin again, and spring was upon me. And
once more I opened up the cellar door, for I did not hear the knocking, the
hideous knocking, I once heard before; and so I wondered why. And I
listened to the whisper of the twin snake [the snake with two heads]:

“Come, come join us in the forest deep, where forbidden

raptures never sleep?”

Like a fly to a spider I drew back, ready to attack, confusedI heard myself
hissing, so I discerned. I said, with panic, “They will never stay another
night in my house.” I said this to the snake, cold as he reeked with
wickedness. Then I said again, “Is this not plain?”

Said he:

“If only this was not true, but you keep returning to the cellar.”

I said:

“Wait a minute”[a pause to think] “…I’ll show you.”

And I, I, I waited, waited, waitedI waited a very long time. Then one day I
turned the knob of the door again, as the rusty thing almost fell off. There
was a cold, cold draft in the cellar, like a tomb, then I heard a low laughter.

4.

I heard the vipers voices say:

“Let us go up to the main floor of the house and see.”

I panicked thinking: are they coming for me? Then like magic, they
all appeared….

“There is nothing more to fear, [said the twin-headed snake];

let us go outside and think?”

For it was dark, and it was again, like always a strange night; the evening
star looked down upon me; the moon had a gray canopy; as I looked out
my window. Then he walked right through the door, like a ghost I suppose
does, saying:

“There is no more to fear.”

And I followed him this time. Next, as I went to open the door, the ghoul
behind me pushed, pushed me hard, and to my amazement, I went through
it, through the door, right through the solid door, just like him, without it
being opened; once on the other side I cringedI knew now, I was like
them.

Written January 9, 2005

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com