Four Thieves

I just de-molded my latest "artisan" soap. It's called Four Thieves because it just might prevent the spread of the Bubonic Plague.  It is all naturally colored with herbs and scented with rosemary, eucalyptus, lemon, cinnamon, and clove. It smells good enough to eat.

I think it turned out swell; I'll cut it into bars tomorrow. Have a look at the full five pound bar.

Adventure Time

Taylor's friend made her some really cool Adventure Time cookie cutters for Christmas. 

Logos and Labels

I've been working on a new logo and label designs for the soaps all this last week. After much experimentation with fonts and layouts here is what I have so far. Constructive feedback welcome.

Sweet Anisette is the name of one of the soaps I make. I will change out the name with each soap. For example, I have Patchouli Mint, North Woods, Splash, Brad's Bar, Lavender Mint, Four Thieves, Lavender Patchouli, and Naked, etc.

My New Obsession

Here is a photo of my newest hobby/obsession.
Soap making.

I am still figuring out the process and possibilities of this endeavor. There are so many ways to go with soap making, but I'm really drawn to the most natural methods - all natural colors and fragrances. These soaps are made from olive oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter, and are only scented with essential oils. The center soap has no fragrance or color but it smells great. Like soap. It has a very high percentage Shea butter and olive oil, so it will be very skin loving and conditioning. They have to cure still for about 3 - 4 weeks and then we'll get to try them out.

I just had to share this. I think it is amazing and inspiring.

New Year's Resolution?

We enjoyed a wonderful visit from theVirginia Chelaks for New Years. When they arrived we discovered some of our happy party were dressed for the holidays.

Clint, Harrison, Marjorie, and Joe dressed in their holiday colors.

Our time together was very enjoyable. We relaxed, and played lots of games and enjoyed each other's company. Bananagrams is a favorite.

Family names - including our four legged members - done with Bananagram tiles.

We took our "almost annual" height picture. Grrr. I'm on the short end now.


It was fun to have Harrison with us for three weeks, but I think he was homesick for Utah. He kept trying to call "home."

We did a great photo shoot with his "Core Four" friends. This is one of our favorites.

Harrison and I challenged each other to reach our fitness goals. I started today by walking 3 miles in freezing weather.

So that's the update from the SC Chelak household.
Love you all.

Whew! If anyone has tips on formatting a blog it would be appreciated. Every time I inserted a photo it would put it at the top of the blog, and I had a hard time moving it to where I wanted it to be. At this rate I would update even less often than I do. JethRobyn, you seem to be the expert at this. What am I doing wrong?

Annie and Beyond

We just closed our production of Annie and it was a rousing success by all standards. We had 9 performances and all of them were nearly or completely sold out. The response has been terrific. People came from all over the state and even Georgia to see the show. Best of all, it got a buzz in Greenville, and the snobby Greenville theatre people came to see the show and were genuinely impressed. See Easley, we can be great.

I had the distinct pleasure of playing Ms. Hannigan opposite some pretty fantastic actors. Meredith as Lily and Kenny as Rooster were so much fun to be bad guys with. I had a blast. And the orphans were terrific. I grew especially fond of McKenna Crosby as Molly and Stevie as Annie. They were so good!

Next up on our stage is our outlandish comedy, They Came From Mars and Landed Outside the Farndale Avenue Church in Time for the Townswomen's Guild's Coffee Morning. I'm not directly involved, but I'm sure I will be around a good bit.