Cascade Springs

Cascade Springs

A tranquil setting for Bridal pictures or just a stroll with your family.

Even I can take a good picture with my iPhone 6

I was up there with my 2nd daughter Jade this past week for her Bridals and my youngest girls,

Seren and Carys and Jades daughter, my cute granddaughter, Paisley too.

I absolutely LOVE water and water falls, There is something spell binding about them.

Left to right

Paisley, Carys and Seren.

So high up you felt like you could reach up on your tippy toes and touch the clouds

And of course..the streams with crystal clear water that the girls just had to explore!

The water was really cold! 

Left to right

Carys, Paisley, Seren and Teylen 

(who is daughter to my sister's best friend, Keira who lives here, I hope I spelled her name right :/)

Keira's business is 

Snap Photography

The girls loved the arched bridge over the larger waterfall!

All in all it was a wonderful day, even with Seren getting car sick and throwing up inside and outside of Jade's car.

 I will post my daughters Bridals/Wedding soon.

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Chalk Art

I have had this large picture frame for many years.

It was a deep shade of gold, it looked like this other frame I had (below)

All I did was buy a primer and paint combined in an off white.

Gave it a couple of coats and let it dry.

I also gave the glass inserts three coats of black chalkboard paint

 And let that dry in between each coat

Then, I have a friend who is doing a creative writing course along with me

We often bounce ideas off each other to help with our writing process

And one day the topic was Water.

Read his writing HERE

I loved the words he wrote, so I decided I knew exactly where I wanted to

Showcase these thought provoking words.

I quickly drew out a sketch of the words and how I wanted them to look.

Then, with my frame and newly painted chalkboard paint dried. 

I set to sketching out the words on the chalkpaint.

All done!

And I love how it looks.

There is something magical about water.

If you're having trouble figuring out what it says here you go:

Water is magical, especially old water

In overgrown lakes... 

They collect time, history, myths... 

Expectations & Dreams.

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Aztec Indian Healing Clay

Now, I'm not the type of person to spend big bucks at a salon or spa (Being a wife of full time student doesn't allow such perks lol) But being said, there are some things a girl 'MUST' indulge in. One of them is chocolate and the other  are really good body products - that is -- as natural as you can get. None of the added nonsense of chemicals, parabens and chemically added fragrance's.

I for one, can't handle all that gunk!

But I must say, I have been using Aztec Indian Healing Clay1qda for over 2 1/2 years and I absolutely love it.
If using as a face mask it reinvigorates your tired skin. You can use it as a detox bath, which is fabulous too. It has many different ways to be used. Just be warned... When you have applied the clay, as it dries -- you will feel your face has become WARM, PULSE and TIGHTEN!! It feels great.

Now if you plan on doing your face mask when your little ones are running around, beware....They will call you names! Yep name calling! My little one, Carys saw me applying the mask and her eyes popped open wide and gave me this weird look and walked away. Then when I had completely finished applying it... Seren & Carys stood there and in unison said..."ARGH SCARY!" and ran away.

They kept their distance, taking a peek when they thought I wasn't looking, and then to add to my newly scary face, I growled!! And they ran off into their bedroom's screaming!! LOL And when Jason came home, they ran to him saying.."Mammy... Mammy is scary," and Seren added, "Mammy is green."

Jason followed it up with, "Oh, mammy looks scary." So that made them laugh and I sat there for the next 10 minutes, being called, "mammy, scary, green mammy, argh!"

Ah, don't you just gotta love your kids :)

But, today I'm going to show you how easy it is to apply a FACE MASK and after this I will show you how to make up a DETOX BATH (No pics of me in the bath lol) now that would be scary lol.

FACE MASK

 Aztec Healing Clay

Bragg's Organic Apple Cider

Water

Glass or plastic mixing bowl 

Wood or plastic spoon to mix

Use 1 part Clay to 2 parts liquid.

I used 1 part Apple Cider

1 part Water

Any left over face mask - scrap into a glass jar and use a good screw lid and the clay will keep for future face masks.

Mix the Apple Cider & Water together

I used an empty used yogurt pot and a craft wood popsicle stick

Pour the liquid into the clay.  Stir well, now you will get a reaction from the vinegar.

 It will fizzle up. Keep stirring

Till it thickens. 

Now if you want it to be a little thicker, sprinkle a little more clay in.

Apply to your face, I apply it not too thick but thick enough.

 Then leave it dry for about 15 - 20 minutes

 -ARGH... It's the Green Scary Mammy!!

Picture on the left is 10 minutes in

The right picture is 15 minutes.

You can touch to feel if it has dried. 

To remove the mask, just wash your face with warm water and gently wipe off.

Splash your face with cold water to close your pores. Then apply some moisturizer -- I use my homemade Raw Shea Body Butter

After your face mask, your face will feel tight and zingy!!

It will look RED!

Don't fret - the redness will fade, But I wouldn't do this type of mask right before picking the kids up from school, or date night LOL

I might add, my eyebrows are so fair, it looks like I only have half an eyebrow on each side. Plus you won't get many pictures of me sporting a bare face - well this will most likely be the ONLY one LOL

DETOX BATH

2 CUPS EPSOM SALTS

1 CUP APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

1/2 CUP AZTEC HEALING CLAY

5 - 10 DROPS LAVENEDER ESSENTIAL OIL

Mix the Apple Cider Vinegar & Essential Oil in a cup

And measure the salts and clay into a bowl.

Run a hot bath and add the vinegar/oil and then the dry salts and clay and whisk

Watch as the mixture creep and mix through the water.

 It looks like a storm brewing in your bathtub!

Your bath will look like a a very dirty one, grab a book and a big glass of water and soak in your 

DETOX BATH till the water is cool.

Towel dry. 

After the bath you may feel a little worn out. The  best time to do this bath is before bed.

MAKE SURE YOU DRINK WATER.

In the morning you will feel SO much better

AS a side note - I drink a Teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water every day.

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Playdough Day.

Seren love's to play with her dough.

 As well as making snakes, she also tries to sneak eating the playdough!! Yuk, lol

Although; it's not going to harm her.. Its homemade playdough with flour, salt , cream of tartar and essential oil. Easy!

Although she tends to forget that it tastes really, really salty.. So when she eats some, she pulls quite the sour face lol...and spits the playdough out..

                                              Recipe for Playdough.

1 cup of Flour

1 cup of Salt (I used sea salt)

2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar (Found in the spice Aisle)

1 Tablespoon Oil (I used Coconut Oil)

Essential Oils, Optional – (I used 7 drops of Peppermint)

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will Become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes, I used a little extra flour to help the kneading process.

Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container. We have been using ours for 5 weeks now & its still as good, as when we first made it, even smells lovely.

Also if it gets on to your carpet...don't worry let it dry & it will come off easy. I should know lol

(I chose not to use any food coloring, I prefer natural, but if you want to have colors, then try this blog site HERE - its colors are from spices & foods! Cool ideas - I will have to try it.)

My big little tinker :-)

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