Tart N Candle Addict

I have an AWESOME GIVEAWAY for everyone!!

2010-05-20T15:03:00.001-07:00

I have an awesome giveaway for everyone. This is going to be a quick giveaway so be sure to check it out.

www.famaradesigns.com

Win a Set of 3 Soaps from Famara Soaps!!!!!!

Lots of ways to win!!!

Accumulate points from today until June 20th

-get 1 point for adding me as your friend on Facebook.
-get 1 point for adding me to your favorite shop on Etsy ♥ Heart me♥
-get 1 point for following me on twitter: http://twitter.com/famaradesigns
-get 1 point for following me on my blog: http://famaradesigns.blogspot.com/

-get 2 points for tweeting about my store and about this giveaway on your twitter.
-get 2 points for posting about my store and about this giveaway on your blog.
-get 2 points for posting about my store and this contest on your Facebook page.
-get 2 points for mentioning my store and this contest on your Etsy store home page.
-get 2 points for posting about my store and this contest on the Etsy forums.
-get 2 points for posting about my store and this contest on someone else’s Facebook page

-get 3 points for buying from my shop. (2 points per item that you buy)
-get 3 points for including me in your treasury on Etsy

-get 10 points for doing a feature/interview about my store & my products & this contest on your blog!

The winner will be announced & notified on June 20th!

You must send me any links for places you posted to my email famaradesigns@live.com , a message to Famara Soaps Facebook page or a convo in my Etsy shop.

Start accumulating points, you would be the winner!!!!!!!!!! Don’t miss it out.

A great giveaways!!!

2010-01-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hi blogger friends. How is everyone today? Staying more I hope. It is freezing up in PA today!!!

Well I want to share a great giveaway with all of you. I am fairly new to the giveaway game, trying to learn as I go and hoping maybe one day I will win one and hoping one day I will host another giveaway.

Okay here is the giveaway. I am as you know a tart addict!! I love my scented goodies!! So while on facebook one of my favorite e-shops for tarts posted a giveaway through Handmade Guru.
(http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Handmade-Guru/181070556894?ref=ts)
Now everyone be sure to go visit her on facebook b/c she does have a few giveaways posted.

The giveaway I am excited for is from Crosscreek Country Candles! OMG Deanna has some of the BEST tarts you will ever smell. Here is some of the info on this giveaway, and be sure to check it out:

http://networkedblogs.com/p25721762

Crosscreek Country Candles is giving away a breakable clamshell, 3 single wickless candles AND a linen spray in YOUR choice of scents! Yep, you can mix and match! It’s just like placing a small order and you get to customize everything to your liking.

http://www.crosscreekcountrycandles.com/

Now giveaway #2. This giveaway looks awesome as well and I am keeping my fingers crossed here for this one too. http://shabbykatprimitivessundriesnsuch.blogspot.com/
Now this blogger is one very talented and creative person!! Her items looks absolutely wonderful!! Please go visit this wonderful blogger and take a peek at her giveaway.

Another day another scent, need another template...lol

2010-01-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today is another day and tomorrow will become another day. My eye today is so much better, swelling down a great deal, pain and irritation still there along with the blurred vision but so much better.

I spend the day going through my candle and soap room going through items, realizing I have way too much. I have tarts coming out the body, I have dippies hogging up a whole shelf and candles that fill 2 boxes full. I am also over run with supplies, now realizing how addicted I truly am to scent. Since I am so over run with stock I post my tarts for .40 cents each on my websites, also on local cheapcycle groups. I emailed a friend who is going to trade candles for bath and body items I do not make. Then my sister in law emailed me needing more dippies so WOO HOO I maybe able to move out some stock. I did not realize how bad my addiction was, but taking a break to get our health issues straightened out and returning made me realize how bad it truly is. I shall over come my addiction in the future.(I think...lol)

I also spent the afternoon searching for templates for my blog and of course came up empty handed and disappointed. I am not at all computer savvy so this is going to be a challenge to try and change my blog template. I really would like one that is primitive or candles & tarts but like I said came up empty handed. Anyone have any site recommendations?(free is best or low cost templates is okay as long as they are user beginner friendly)

This afternoon I also read some other blogs, it took forever seeing my eye sight is so blurry but I did read a bunch of blogs. I did not comment though b/c then that would have taken forever. I am so jealous of most you bloggers out there. So many of you are so talented when it comes to blogging. Everyone's blogs look so neatly put together, written so well and the template were all nice and suited the blogs themselves. Impressive!! I am also very impressed with all the frugal blogs out there along with the coupon and deal blogs. I really need to learn how to coupon and refund!!!

Well the boys are home from school and the two high school boys are acting up so this is cutting my blog short, have to go see what is going on.

Everyone have a wonderful night!

Curious question for my fellow bloggers

2010-01-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

Good evening my fellow bloggers. How is everyone? This blog tonight is going to be kind of short, so I will get straight to the point. In my past blogs I might have mentioned my past medical issues, chronic kidney stones, kidney cysts, back pain with inflammation, knee and ankle pain(other joints now also) basically chronic pain. Anyway in late November I started with a rash across my face and my children's hematologist said it looked like the Malar rash, and she asked me if I have Lupus. I did say no, I had no clue what it was and after speaking to her longer I seem to have so many symptoms of Lupus. However I did tell her I had recent blood work done from my sports medicine doctor. She was able to pull it up, saw my RA was negative along with something else. She did ask if I was on any meds when this test was taken and sure enough I was on steroids at the time. Long story short she contacted my family doctor and things seem to be pointing towards all my problems being from some autoimmune problem or Lupus. I am on a waiting list for a rheumatologist, dermatologist, and urologist, so until then it is a waiting game. My family doctor did say I have so man symptoms of Lupus or autoimmune that we need to get to the bottom of it.(fatigue, joint pain, dry eye, kidney issues and all that comes with that, depression,colitis, hair loss and I bruise easy...one of the reasons my kids went to the hematologist)

Now to current date: I have been having issues with my eyes for months, dry eye set in and then when I had that malar rash I also had a rash over my right eye. Well my rash went away on my face but not on my eye. Well two days ago I woke up with my eye swollen a little, it was sore and my vision a tad blurry. Yesterday same thing, more swollen and more painful. Today woke up, eye swollen shut, very painful, red, vision awful. I went to the urgent care, was given steroids yet again and a cream. Came home and ended up in the ER hours later due to my left eye now starting with same issue and the pain became to much. Well now I am told it look like Sjögren’s syndrome. Now I am wondering what this is.

So once again I am lost and confused and looking for anyone who maybe going through any of these two things. Anyone who can help me with everything going through my mind, anything really. Thanks for any help in advance.

Long time since last blog.

2010-01-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow bloggers!! WOW it has been such a long time since I posted on my blog. Life grabbed and hold of me and wouldn't let go. Life has thrown alot of lemons my way in the last few months(murphy's law ya know) but I have been trying to make lemonade out of it, so that's why I haven't posted in forever.

The holidays have come and gone, work is still work but I am determined to get back to what I use to love and that would be making candles, tarts and bath and body, and being online with all my online buddies. I plan to start getting caught up on reading other's blogs, catching up with online friends and finding me all over again. I also intent on figuring out how to change my layout to something better.(however this will take a while seeing I am not to bright when it comes to templates, html and all that jazz)

If you want to share your blog with me please post it in the comment section and I will try my best to get to it.

Well off to clean up my mess from making candles today...it felt so good to be creating again. Have a good night everyone.

HTML, Templates, Webpage Design Dumb!

2009-09-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

I previously wrote a blog on the learning process, I thought it was a pretty decent blog for a beginner and when I wrote it I realized I am still and always will be in the learning process. Learning something new everyday is exciting and sometimes lots of fun. And then there are days when we try to learn something and we just do not get it. Now those days are frustrating!! Am I right?

I am so trying to learn HTML, webpage design and templates and I must say I am completely dumb in this area!! I can't seem to figure it out no matter how I try or how long I try. I have finally come to realize maybe I am just not capable of learning this stuff, and admit I am HTML,template and webpage design DUMB!! Okay I admit I am a little slow in this area but I am determined not to give up!!

Not giving up. I am going to not give up on learning all of this. I am going to be brave and ask for help, research the internet(though the pages I came up with only made my confusion worse) and hit the book stores. So one day when just maybe you see a new blog template you will know I have learned something because I did not give up!

I know this is a lame blog but I just spent 1.5 hours on my website trying to add a picture/banner to my site and couldn't figure it out!! Plus the other day I tried to add a new template here it didn't work. And I tried to add an auction template at ebay and forget it!
So I admit my flaws and I will learn it one day...just watch!

Halloween Giveaway WINNER!!!!!!

2009-09-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

Good morning my fellow bloggers!! How is everyone today? Well time has run out for my Halloween giveaway and that means we are here to announce our winner!!! This is giveaway was fun, I got more entries this time woo hoo. Well, last night before bed my son picked a winner!! Is anyone interested in hearing who won????? The winner of this Halloween giveaway is....drum roll please................................

Momma Such!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! I have emailed you and can't wait to hear back from you.

Thank you everyone for entering. I so LOVE fall and HALLOWEEN so watch out I may do yet another giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taylor Swift & Beyonce you ROCK & Kanye West Grow Up!!

2009-09-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

OMG I am so angry right now I turned to my blog to vent! My whole family is sitting all throughout our house watching the MTV VMA awards and we were all stunned and shocked at what just took place. Taylor Swift bless her heart won for best music video, God was she shocked when they said her name. All she kept saying was WHAT, OMG, OMG. This young lady ran against many established talented stars like Pink and Beyonce and she won. Well during her sweet speech Kayne West the immature jerk he is got up and took the mic and said Beyonce should have won and she has the best video, blah blah blah. Beyonce herself looked mortified, Taylor Swift poor thing looked like she was going to cry and she was frozen in shock and Taylor Lautner's head was moving like he might morph into a wolf. Now I am sorry but this is a grown man, a man we all know who is out spoken but this took it too far. This was not only disrespectful, this was a grown man STEALING a precious moment from a young lady who is what 18 if that. Now who is suppose to know better??? Taylor Swift handled herself well and I hope to God she does not let this man's childish out burst ruin her moment. She won that award fair and square and for kanye West to be such a baby about it is just so sad on his part. (maybe this is the only way he can get attention and his name in the press, being a jerk!! Again how sad is that!! Try being musically creative again, maybe it will work better then doing something like this) Oh and by the way Kanye West, did you ever hear the saying silence is GOLDEN! Well if not, there you have it....do you get it or is it too hard for you!

Taylor Swift CONGRATULATIONS! You so deserve that award and you so did deserve an uninterrupted moment to make your acceptance speech.

I am so glad my children are older now, 10 being the youngest and that they already know wright from wrong. Our children deserve positive well behaved roll models and tonight that is not what we saw on MTV VMA's. My youngest did question whether this was staged or not but I doubt with the expressions on Beyonce's and Taylor's face I don't think so. But then again if it was shame on you MTV(!) young children and teenagers watch this show, what are you teaching them.

Again CONGRATULATIONS TAYLOR SWIFT!! Awesome video and great song!!

UPDATE: Beyonce you are one classy lady with a heart of gold!!! You have always come off to me as just a regular old person, not so much someone famous....your personality and ways about you just are so down to earth. What you did tonight when receiving your award for best video of the year was just amazing! To ask Taylor Swift to come out nad have her moment, because you remember being 17 and receiving your award and wanting her to have her first special moment was precious. You have such a huge and generous heart! Kanye West can learn alot from you and Taylor. That was awesome and priceless. We all thank you for doing that and correcting something you had no control over!! What an amazing lady you are!

SORRY if this blog offends anyone, I didn't mean too I am just so angry right now I needed to vent!

WII, WII, WII

2009-09-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

WII, WII, WII!!!!!!!!!! As most of you might have read yesterday was yet another day of rain here for us and I was wondering what I was going to do besides my maid duties(cleaning) and pouring some candles or tarts. Well, I did pour Mac Apple candle and a Warm Vanilla Sugar candle and clean but I also spent hours playing WII with my family. YIPPY!!!!!!!!!!

Now I have major back issues along with supposedly kidney disease so playing most WII games just isn't possible for me without creating more pain or falling. So when Dad was out running around he found Game Party by WII at a game trade store and he bought. The Game Party has games like darts, skill ball(ski ball) shuffle board, air hockey, hoop shooting, ping cup and trivia. Sounds fun and easy huh?

Well he brought this game here the day before and we played for about an hour, maybe a little longer. It was such much fun, that yesterday we played for hours!!!!!!!!!! We had tournaments and team challenges and just a blast!!!!!!!!!

Skill ball is just like ski ball, but a little harder. The way you have to do the ball is tricky and good luck earning those points an tickets. Darts was a blast I kicked butt 3 times until my 17yr had a lucky game blowing my 247 score out of the lead with his 289 darn lucky game. Hoop shooting....lol HARD and not as easy as it is normally. My throw landed most of my shots right out of the game of play and against the wall. Shuffle board, oh so fun but another one tricky in finding your way to throw the little disc. This one became our most competitive game and the one we played the most next to darts. After losing my first game with my partner I was booted to another partner where we kicked butt. Then I got booted again to yet another partner where we then kicked butt every game!!

We had such a good time playing games for a few hours! We had quality time, sportsmanship and lots of laughs. I want to do this again and again and again!! Now today the sun is out and my family fun time is out the door. I guess I will be playing by myself :0(

Hey did anyone see the video for Oprah's block party with the Blacked Eyed Peas? The one where the girl sets of a dance crazed crowd? If not check it out, it is really cool to watch, and seeing all those people dance is just amazing!

OH, OH a request to play WII before my youngest go's out! Shuffle board here I come. Got to go!

RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, I am trying to sleep in and I just can't do it. All I hear is bing, bing, ting, ting....rain drops hitting the air condition in the window and rain drops hitting the spouting. Mind you they were LOUD!! I get up I let the dogs out, as I let them up they looked at me as if I were nuts and I should be the one going out there in the rain. My dogs HATE the rain and my tea cup poodle is too much of a princess to go outside in the rain..so she thinks. Ya know what too, it never fails, I give all four dogs a nice bath on Thursday and Friday it rains cats and dogs all day and the temp is brisk and cold outside. I love fall but the rain needs to go!!

So what am I going to do today? Another day of rain!! I guess I will do some house work, laundry and then go pour some more fall scents. I received a new scent order in the other day and again I feel in love with some new scents. Mind you these are scents I wouldn't normally pick but decide to try anyway and I was very impressed. One was Autumn Lodge, not bad in the bottle but when I poured it yesterday it smelled so good. So maybe today I will pour some Autumn Toddy and see if that is better in wax as well.(it smells good straight in the bottle) Reece will probably be downstairs pouring as well. He is into making Halloween tarts right now and learning how to take pictures of his stuff. Reece has his own page on my website as well. He likes to do almost everything and he likes to make stuff and loves to make stuff for the holidays.

I guess I better get started on some house work....My maid duties are calling me.

So Slow....thanks to the economy

2009-09-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my this economy is sure effecting everyone and everything!! I have been making candles, tarts and soaps for 6 years now and man is it slow!!!!!!!! Turtle slow, almost no action or nibbles what so ever. WOW. This time of year usually begins the candle and tart frenzy of the year. People start burn candles and tarts around this time, and they seem to love the fall/seasonal and holiday scents!! This year it just seems like no one is doing much of anything.
The downing economy has all of us pinching pennies, saving where ever and how ever we can and for going all of the things we use to love to do.(this just isn't burning candles/tarts, it is also going out not matter what that may consist of, eating out, celebrating events and so on)

What is everyone else doing during these hard times? I have been doing alot of cutting back. Starting with home - we turn off lights, hang clothes out to dry, use our toaster over when ever possible instead of heating up the big over. We shop only for what need, we use coupons and or buy generic. We stopped eating out as much, we no longer rent lots of DVDs we now living a boring life...lol. As for my very slow business, I have been offering sales and freebies and nothing.(www.tartsgalore.com) I found webhosting that was cheaper then before. And I only make items now when need be. I list extra items on ebay,(Tart Galore Ebay) or place them on our local freecyle groups to maybe brighten up someone elses life. Oh the crunch of the economy!!

I would love if anyone can share more cost cutting ideas. What are your plans for the holidays with how the economy is? What was one of the things you have cut back on that was hard to do?

The economy is horrible right now, but I am doing a Halloween giveaway right now so please feel free to join and maybe win some free Halloween goodies. Halloween giveaway is a few blogs below.

Trying to overcome.

2009-09-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Trying to overcome! Now how many of us have tried to overcome something in our life time? For me, murphy's law, it seems life is a challenge almost weekly. I stopped asking the question, what next because I kind of think I was bringing on my own bad luck. I never ask why me, because I know everything happens for a reason. Though I may not understand that reason now, one day I will. I always tell my children what doesn't keep us down or kill us only makes us stronger and wiser.

My murphy's law seems to have stayed with me for sometime now when it comes to my back. I fell back on Feb 13th 2008 when walking into work and my back injury seems to have decided to stay from that fall. I am trying so hard to overcome my daily pain, my struggle to walk while in pain and also to over come my fear of falling which for a while seemed to be a weekly event. Overcoming this has been difficult, I do not have insurance, but I am a lucky one because my local hospital does offer a free charity program which is helping me. Yes this is embarrassing to have to get charity help but my life and well being is so much more important then what any person may say about me.

My challenge to overcome this daily pain has me receiving pain shots in my back...which haven't helped so far. I receive therapy 3 times a week which is helping a little. Therapy has taught me excerises to help strengthen my lower back and abdomin. It has helped me over come my fear of falling...only fell once since starting therapy. It is slowly giving me some relief in my back as long as I keep up with it and with my medications. Overcoming this has been difficult and a very long road, I have my steps forward and my steps backwards, but I am determined to feel better once again.

If you have something to over come whether it would be your health,pain, life and or addiction, anything, do not give up you can overcome it. Time, patience and determination is what it takes. I will over come all of my set backs and health issues because I will not give up.

Determination - the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose decided;
settled; resolved.

Overcome - to get the better of in a struggle or conflict; conquer; defeat to prevail over

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!

2009-09-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!

I just wanted to stop by and do a quick blog to wish everyone a HAPPY LABOR DAY!! I hope everyone enjoys their picnic and remembers the reasoning/meaning of labor day.

"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."

Picnics are a time for family, friends and fun so have a blast today! Enjoy eating, and the weather...this usually is the last celebration of the summer season as well!!
We are celebrating Labor Day by having a small family cook out, not much but we will make the best of it. Tarts Galore is having a 30% off sale(LABORDAY coupon) I guess I better go finish cooking...the part I hate most about cook outs...cooking and cleaning up. Everyone enjoy your holiday!

Also, please check out my Halloween Giveaway!! Enter while you can!

The learning process....

2009-09-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

We are never to old to learn something new, right? Well boy do I agree with that! With all the technology today we have to be able to keep up. I am in the learning process of so many things, blogging, website ownership and twitter. Twitter is something I have no clue about so I am just in the beginning stages of learning that one.

What I have learned about owning a website, it sure is alot of work. I learned how to do some html, uploading pictures, editing and so much more. What I haven't learned yet is how to promote my website, get advertising, and most of all to get orders. All in due time, because I am determined to learn all I can.

Blogging,lol....I stink at blogging but I am hoping to improve. I have learned how to write a blog though I am not that good yet. I have learned how to put a layout/template on my blog(boring but okay not plain) I have learned how to share by blog on some groups. And most of a;; I have read lots of blogs that have taught me so much. They taught me so much in different ways then blogging, they taught me life lessons, how to over come, what not to do and most of all how to be careful and responsible in my actions. What I hope to learn yet is to write a better blog, get more readers, a better layout and how to do giveways...which I am so much enjoying.(have lots to learn here especially)

Twitter....hhhmmm the only thing I know of twitter is it is a way to keep in touch with people and post up dates about what you are doing or have done. Other then that, I am clueless. So twitter is something I seriously need to learn. Hey is there a twitter book for dummies????

Well my learning has not stopped since high school. With everyday that passes I learn something new each day. My saying to my children is you are never too old too learn, and with each thing we learn we become more wiser and understanding.

Don't forget to check out my Halloween giveaway post too!!

Labor Day weekend! New Giveaway

2009-09-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! What are everyone's plans for this holiday weekend? Me, nada as usual. Maybe we will cook out Sunday or Monday but as of now....nothing. So, I hope everyone else has a wonderful holiday weekend.

My favorite time of the year is FALL! And my favorite holiday is Halloween!! Yes I am one of the weird ones, I LOVE and I mean LOVE Halloween!!( I also am addicted to the movie series Halloween) I am so excited for Fall to be here and can't wait for HALLOWEEN!
I have been going a little over board lately preparing for fall(and winter) for Tarts Galore, buying new scents some new molds and and loving every minute of it. I recently bought a new mold that makes little jack o lanterns that you can place a battery operated tealight in, it is adorable! The other day when Reece was bored we went downstairs and poured some Halloween tarts in bats, ghosts, pumpkins and witches. Then we also poured this new mold. All our pouring was done in Cranberry Peach Cider and my goodness does it smell yummy! Today we popped our items out of their molds and then Reece painted the face on the jack o lantern(picture above) This was our first time using the mold and now I can't wait to pour some more little jack o lanterns just for myself.

I have decided to do another giveaway!!! Since my favorite time of year is almost upon us, I am going to do a fall/Halloween giveaway. This giveaway will consist of fun stuff for fall and or Halloween!! Oh this is going to be fun for me!! So if you want in, leave me a comment for 1 entry, send me an email and get 2 entries, share this blog and get 3(email me with how you are sharing this blog or place it in the comment) teah me about twitter and get 3 entries.( I am twitter dumb!) I will draw a winner on Sept 15th!!

Beautiful Day!

2009-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

WOW today was beautiful here! It was sunny, cool and we had a nice soft breeze blowing today. AAAHHH I loved it! I woke up this morning, it was cool out so I grabbed some fresh tarts and turned on the burners. In the burners went caramel apple and within a short time, oh my downstairs smelled so wonderful and yummy!!! Anyone else have their burners going? I am so ready fro fall now, not only because it is my favorite time of year but because I get to burn lots of yummy smelling tarts. Since fall is right around the corner, and I may have some scent addicts here, I am going to offer for just bloggers a 6 pack of tarts for $3.50!!!! The scents you can pick from are - Apple Cider, Pumpkin Spice, Nutty Taffy Apple and Cranberry Ginger. So if you are interested just let me know. This is a great way to stock up now before fall comes.

Well today is Monday and this will be the first full week of school for the boys! I am slowly getting back into the swing of things here at home. The boys are adjusting well. No one is complaining anymore so that is an awesome thing. Now I am suspecting, the homework will start pouring in and attitudes may change but who knows.

I have one who is a senior this year and I am so proud of him right now. He is preparing to take his SAT's once again!! He wasn't happy with his scores last time or the way his SAT's went down(he was late forgot a pencil and yada yada yada) so this time he has a book to study from, he is picking colleges and taking his senior year serious so far. WOO HOO no senioritis this year for this one!!!(2 before seemed to both come down with this aliment,but both in college now so I guess they recovered enough to make it through their senior year)

Now for my youngest. He is in 5th grade and so did not want to go back to school this year!!He whined and complained and moaned for the last couple of weeks of summer. Then a few days before school was to start we finally got the paper work with who is teacher will be. Well that changed everything. All of his friends but a few are in his class. Most of the kids have been friends since first grade and are all very close and now this year they all got put together!! Yes, a few didn't but heck we can't have everything I told him. Now school is fun and the gang is back together!

Family movie night, do not waste your time....

2009-08-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well family movie night turned out to be not what I expected. DANG IT! If you read my blog from yesterday you read where last night was family movie night. Myself, 3 boys, 1 girlfriend, 2 friends and Dad(my other half) all went out to the movies last night to see Halloween 2. Oh I was so excited for this movie to come out, we made these movie plans a few weeks in advanced because we were all so excited. The time went kind of slow yesterday, then it was finally here, time to go. We all head for the theater, get our tickets find our seats and there we wait.(we were early about 20-25 minutes, seeing it was opening night) Finally the lights dim and we are watching the huge screen. Well after what seemed eternity of watching trailers and ads, then movie finally started. After about 15 minutes I knew I was going to be very disappointed. I sat there and hoped the movie would get better. IT DIDN'T!! Eight of us went and all eight of us were very disappointed in the movie. We all expected something so much better, and not so much of what we got. As the movie went on it got predictable and just honestly kind of boring. I so wish I would not have spent all of that money and waited for it to come out on dvd. Hey but who am I maybe others loved it. I am just a huge Halloween fan and I liked the first re-make but this one left all 8 of us very disappointed.

When the movie let out, the theater was jammed packed and I mean jammed packed, a Friday night lots of new releases and lots of teenagers and young adults. Bobbing and weaving our way to the door we seemed to get separated from our party. As a Daddy, myself and my youngest head out the door we hear all this chaos and realize, hey not everyone is here, something is going on inside. Well Dad makes his way back in, me following behind with my youngest, and low and behold a huge circle has formed and there are a few boys fighting!! The one security guard is struggling on the floor with one guy while the other guy is trying to get his hooks in, and the the other guy is on the side ya know egging on the fight and trying to get involved. Well Dad barrels through the crowd, a few ladies cursing at him as he does so, as I tell them he is an off duty police officer. He gets to the edge of the circle and in a few seconds, with the blink of an eye, he does a pick and scoop and he has one guy off to the side holding him back as the security guard gets hold of the other guy. Now, approaches the other security guard standing in front of the other guy trying to keep this fight going.(alot of good he did, he stood there in front of the guy arms crossed just looking at him...plus he was skinny and so not intimating looking) While all this is going on some dumbie, probably trying to sound tough, yells as Dad gets in, someone get that big guy, get him. I look over and the ladies that he barreled through look at him and tell him he is a cop!! Next thing ya know, I guess his female friend tells him again he's a cop and they head out the door. Now tell me why I a few idiots have to wreck the evening for so many people?!!! To fight in a large crowd like that was uncalled for and immature! They did not look cool they looked like morons, idiots, butt heads and a-holes. My son's girlfriend and his friend got barreled through from these idiots fighting, neither of them hurt, just shocked. (this is why we all got separated) But tell me what was the point of this? Did they get anything out of it?

So my family movie night out as you can see was a huge waste of money and to top it off my family got put in to somewhat of a dangerous situation. Thankfully no one was hurt, we all got to spend some time together and we learned a lesson...actually a bunch of lessons.(don't waste money, stick together, and fighting isn't worth it, it only makes you look like a fool. Oh and Daddy is pretty cool when he is working)

Back to school and family movie night!!

2009-08-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

The kids went back to school on Wednesday Aug.26th and I am so trying to get back into the flow of not having tons of kids around all day. It is so different not hearing "MOM" or knock knock, heck not having kids run in and out is so weird right now. I am kind of excited though to get back to the way things go when the kids are in school. Hey a clean house for more then an hour, peace and quit to read a book or watch a show and not feeding someone every hour or two. Oh the joys of the kids going back to school.

My kids day back on Wednesday was uneventful in their eyes. My older two who are in high school said it was boring and not much different from last year. My youngest who is in 5th grade, held back the tears at the bus stop but put on his brave face and went to school. After school he walked in the house so excited and told me how his day went. I told him the tears he was holding in were a waste of water, that once he got back to school he would be perfectly fine and excited to see all his new friends. Everyone had a good first day so we are off to a wonderful start. Now let's see how things progress as the school year goes on...lol.

Since today is Friday and the boys do not have school tomorrow we are going to the movies tonight! WOO HOO family night out at the movies. This for us is a very rare thing just b/c of the cost! Tonight though is special though not only b/c the kids are back to school but b/c my family from Mom down to the youngest are horror movie buffs. We each love horror movies! I am a Halloween fanatic!! Watch it weekly and can never get enough of the series. Tonight is the opening night of Halloween 2 by Rob Zombie and we are all so excited to go see it. We are probably going to have to go movie theater hoping just to get in b/c our movie theaters sell out so quickly when something like this opens up. I have been counting down the hours all day and in 3 hours we will be leaving WOO HOO!!! There will be 6 of us going tonight, 1 of my boys has to work and the other one his girlfriend does not like horror so we will be 2 people short. My oldest is bringing his girlfriend,(this seems a little serious but time will tell) and this will be our first outing with her so I hope she can keep up with my families antics.

Okay 3 hours to go, so I better get off of here and make some dinner before we go. Movie theaters are expensive enough to get in let alone buy food there, so I have to fill these boys up before we leave. I'll fill you all in on how the movie is. I AM SO EXCITED!

OH one more thing. Can someone explain to this dumbie....what and how does Twitter work? I know you post updates on there but I am not sure how it works. Everyone keeps telling me to take Tarts Galore to twitter but I have no clue what so ever. I am still looking for ways to advertise so since this was a suggestion, I would love for someone to fill me in. PLEASE!

Sad Sunday for my kids

2009-08-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday August 23, 2009, to day is the official last Sunday of the kids summer vacation. The boys return to school August 26th, 2009 and they are so sad!! LOL. Not really, I think the older ones are ready to go back but the youngest one..well different story. My youngest son is sad b/c most of the neighborhood kids are moving up to middle school and he is left behind. Now mind you there are a 2 boys he plays with that are still in his school that are in our neighborhood but all the others have moved on up. We already have the nerves setting in and I hope all my old classmates are in my new classroom. Boy I can remember those days myself and I am so glad they are over!! But today is a very SAD Sunday in out house.

Once the boys go back to school I am now going to know what to do with myself. I was released back to work PRN, so I can continue therapy so I will have some work days but other then that it is just going to be me and my 4 legged babies. I do know one thing, I am going to try working and promoting my site like crazy. I had my grand re-opening last week and for 10 days I advertised and had a special going on along with FREE gifts and nothing!! I know it all takes time but I have to find some serious ways that are FREE or inexpensive to advertise. Doing ti along is so hard and time consuming and honestly FRUSTRATING!! However I shall not give up! I just added a tart giveaway for the next week, for every 3 tarts you buy you will get 1 FREE.

Since the boys are going back to school and fall and the holiday season is upon us, I have been searching for new scents for this purpose and my golly I think I found a whole bunch! I am so in love with almost all the new scents I just purchased, I have a few new favorites, Nutty Taffy Apple, Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie, and Apple Strudel!! But each and everyone I got I really like! I can not wait to start pouring some of these scents just to make sure they are as good in wax as they are in the bottle! I'll keep you all posted on this one.

What I would love to find out from all of you is this...what is your favorite fall, winter or holiday scent?

Well I am out of here, now I am such a mood to go pour some of my new favorite scents.

If you are bored and want to check out Tarts Galore, and see what we have to offer or our scent list please do. I have a special just for bloggers...place an order and receive 10% off any size order just use blog when checking out.

www.tartsgalore.com

Here are just a few of our new scents

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
Apple Cider
Apple Cinnamon Strudel
Apple Strudel
Buttery Vanilla
Chocolate Covered Cherries
Country Roads
Cranberry Pumpkin Pie
Nutty Taffy Apple
M&M Cookie
Pumpkin Loaf
Roasted Chestnuts
Spiced Vanilla
Vanilla and Cinnamon

Late Night Blogging

2009-08-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is a late night blogging night for me. I am so wide awake it isn't funny. I am trying to unwind and nothing is working, maybe for the simple fact that nothing is ever on TV anymore.
Boy if TV had a channel just for paranormal, psychics, horror movies, TRUE scary movies(true ghost stories/paranormal) I would be in my glory! But there isn't...just syfy which is no longer interesting to me unless they show something like above. Anywho, once again nothing is on TV tonight.

So, why can't I unwind??? My day was semi boring...lol. I did the normal...woke up, showered, cleaned, did laundry, grocery shopped, washed 2 of my puppies(okay not puppies but always my babies)online, poured a few batches of tarts, and that was about it. HHmmmm so why can't I unwind?

LOL, wanna hear a funny story on why I had go only wash 2 of my dogs? I am not sure if I posted this but I have 4 dogs and they are my babies. I have 2 shih tzu's, a lhasa apso and a tea cup poodle.(she is the baby and thinks she is a real baby) This morning my other half took down the pool, and cut the grass. Now does this sound like something that would lead a dog or two into trouble. Well, yes, you just do not know one of my dogs. Sa'More, my 3rd in line, is a crazy dog, he decided he was going to roll around in the mud soaked, bare grass area of where the pool was. I guess Smokey, 2nd in line, thought it looked like lots of fun so he joined in. Of course I yelled and told them to stop and they listened...SHOCKIING! They stopped right away and went to just roaming and sniffing the yard.

Now, I walked back into the house, out of their site for about 2-3 minutes and when I come back out what do I see!! I see my 2 naughty dogs laying in the flat, drying pool which is gross, green and stinky!! Before I could even yell both decide to roll around in the nastiness and just have a blast!! I think they thought they were being like my boys, children boys, in the pool. Of course after screaming on top of my lungs 3 times, they finally thought "UH OH mom is mad we better get out of here." And yes indeed they did remove themselves from the pool. As they walked towards me I could see the GREEN, BROWN and GUNK on these two dogs who both seemed so unaware of their new look or smell!! And yes, I am a very bad Mommy, all I could do was laugh and yell and laugh some more!! They looked crazy!! So after I composed myself I had Reece come in and get a bucket of warm soapy water so we could give them a make shift bath outside. NO WAY was I allowing either of them to walk one paw into my house looking and smelling like that. Both dogs hated their new way of getting a bath, but punishment sucks, doesn't it. When all said and done I had a good laugh and now I have two dogs that smell like grapefruit shampoo.

So maybe b/c of today's exciting events is why I can't unwind. The sight of my dogs was funny. Oh and the sight of my other half washing the car and then having to chase the get away hose while it sprayed water all over the place, as it is went crazy! He was bobbing and weaving trying to avoid any spray or drop of water. I was laughing so hard that when I hid my sound of my laugh, I heard my neighbors next door laughing as they watched out the window...then I was really cracking up. Hey I could not help it, he is a big guy and he is afraid of a little water. What is he going to shrink or melt? Come on, we ladies would have just went with the flow. But it sure was hilarious!!

Okay so now I realize why I am so wide awake!! Maybe I should think about how slow and uneventful my grand re-opening has been for my site and then I can mellow out....lol.

I guess I will go turn off all of my tart burners and truly try to settle down for the night. Oh, today I was burning pumpkin carrot strusel and I was in heaven!! Now I am so ready for the fall and for the upcoming holiday season! YUMMY!

Night!

Grand Re-Opening

2009-08-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well today is my grand re-opening of Tarts Galore WOO HOO!! I am so excited to get my site up and running again but yet I have some hesitations. My passion and love is making candles, tarts and bath and body. I just find it so relaxing and my dream is one day to have this as my full time job. I want to post all over the web my grand re-opening but I am not sure where to post it anymore. Yes, I do the yahoo groups, yes I am one momcafe, and maybe I could do Craig's list but I hesitate. I want this to work, I have spent so much time re-vamping things and changing waxes and finding different scent selection and all that fun stuff to please everyone's scents..senses. But I did forget one thing...where an dhow to properly advertise your Internet business!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thmost important thing!!!!!!! Now how could I forget that!!!

My grand re-opening will go on as of today and in the mean time while I should be excited and rip roaring ready to pour I will search the web and look for what exactly it is I need to advertise my site properly. Maybe I could find other bloggers who have suggestions on this!! So if you are a blogger and write about this let me know!!

My site is up and ready to go, there are a few minor things I want to change but that is only after my lesson in my site construction and management. (new web hosting I have to learn all their in's and out's) I have tons more stuff to add but thankfully no more scents.(okay I lied maybe a few that are on there way here) I have a Grand sale going on and a few hidden surprises for those who order.(11st customer gets a surprise, anyone who spends $10 or more all gets a FREE gift and customer orders 1,5 and 10 get surprises)

Fall and winter are coming, I have lots of great ideas for the upcoming season!! And I have a few scents I will carry just for this season! Now come on be honest who doesn't love to burn tarts or candles during this time of year!!! My favorite season is FALL and I have lots of great things planned, contests and giveaways for both the site and my blog so watch out! I will also offer great deal on items just on this blog so if you love candles, tarts or any scented item keep your eyes opened here!

Well I am going to go see if I can research advertising so everyone have a wonderful day!
If your bored please feel free to check out www.tartsgalore.com and share with me any feed back on my new website.

I think I will also make one wish for today....grand re-opening........

Birthday Wishes

2009-08-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Birthday wishes is the theme for this blog. How many of you have a birthday today or tomorrow? How many of you know someone who has a birthday today or tomorrow. Well let me tell you this....tomorrow Aug 14th, 2009 is a HUGE birthday for my family. Aug 14th is my cousin's birthday, my niece's birthday, and my girlfriend's birthday.(plus a few other's but I just can't put their names to the day but I know their are a few more birthday people in my family.) So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone!!!!

Birthday's are a time for receiving gifts and well wishes and most of all to be with loved ones. How many birthday's come and go and you have no clue what to get a person. You sit there and struggle and hope you can find that one perfect gift. I know I have been down this road many times with birthday's and holidays.

Now, my girlfriend Maryann's birthday is tomorrow and you all might remember me talking about her in my blogs. Anyway, if you haven't read about her, my friend Maryann makes all natural bath and body products and sells her stuff through etsy and my website. Well tomorrow is Maryann's birthday and I was wondering what could I do for her for her birthday. Well this is what I came up with. Now Maryann's stuff on etsy right now she has items up for .20 cents...yes I said .20 cents, they are her pay it forward...meaning buy and item for .20 cents, pay for S&H and get a great product for little cost...so pay it forward and do something good for someone else. She also has up HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU packages, these are also .20 cents and $10.95 S&H and you will receive A BOX filled with home made almost all natural items!!!!! Now mind you this package for $11.15 is well worth a lot more then that!! So my gift to Maryann is advertising again her sale and hoping someone stops by and possibly takes advantage of her good/kind gestures.(if you do tell her you were sent form this blog)
So if you want to check out her stuff or just shop a little bit and pass sometime stop on by
http://www.auntmemmy.etsy.com

Now my other gift to her is sending her birthday wishes!!! So if anyone wants to leave Maryann a birthday message just post a comment on here and I will send her all the comments at the end of the day. Or you can stop by her blog and leave a comment there for too http://maryannkudera.blogspot.com

So I am going to end this blog saying this
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARYANN, BEN AND KISHA!!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANYONE ELSE WHO MAY BE HAVING A BIRTHDAY AS WELL!

WINNER of my Giveaway! And an apology!

2009-08-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

I need to start this blog off with a huge apology!!! I was suppose to post the winner of my giveaway on Saturday but for the last week now I have been down and out due to the shots in my back(they do not agree with me and I get such migraines from them which keep me in bed!) So I am so sorry for not updating my blog on the date stated!!!

Okay so this blog is going to be short and sweet. I had my son pick a winner for my blog giveaway. The winner is Joshlin !!! So Joshlin please contact me so we can get things set up.

Well I will try to post more soon, once I start to feel better and up to par.

Giveaway!!! Also PIF's!

2009-08-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

I guess I am slacking!! I haven't updated my blog in a few days! Sorry!!! I will admit I am kind of in a freeze, I can think of what I want to write but to get it out, just isn't working. Brain fry maybe.

Okay today was suppose to be the last day of my giveaway but due to me leaving soon I was going to extend it a day. Well b/c I haven't been keeping up with my blog and posting the giveaway I will keep it going until Saturday Aug. 8th. SORRY about that but this is my fault and not keep ing up with it. What I would love is to find someone's blog who explains giveaways, how to host, enter, post, find items to giveaway etc. Anyone know any blog like that??

PIF's- pay it forwards!! (http://www.auntmemmy.etsy.com )My girlfriend still has her pay it forwards on her etsy site! She also has another GREAT DEAL!! It is her HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALE item. My girlfriend's birthday is Aug 14th....ssshhh I bet she thinks I wouldn't remember....but it is also a family member's b-day. Anywho she has on her etsy a birthday sale and it looks to be a box off goodies for .20 cents plus S&H. Wow what a great deal and a way to try out great products. If you don't want to buy a box of goodies you can get her PIFs also for .20 cents plus S&H. Trust me, give her items a try, you will not be disappointed at all!!!! And just maybe you will find her items to be awesome like I do. Be sure to check her out http://www.auntmemmy.etsy.com

Oh, oh, I forgot to fill everyone in on how my party went Saturday night. Let's start with the consultant...she was to be here by 6 she said, she was coming from NY b/c the local consultant I booked with could not do my party so she handed it to this peson. Well 6 came and went, nothing, 7 came and went nothing. At 7:20 I finally called the original consultant I booked with to find out what was up, and she thought I was playing around with her. When she realized I wasn't she tracked down my consultant. Once she did that she called me back and said she was having car issues and would be here is 10-15 minutes. Now it is almost 8 and no consultant, and one guest left...mind you only 2 showed up at this point, we told the others to hold off since they were all local and close to me. 8:10 arrives and so does my consultant, poor thing got lost b/c her GPS was I think low on battery they said. Okay time to party!! Called the few people we told to hold off, went and got my neighbor and party time. Yeah right by that point people's minds changed and made other plans(MUSKIFEST) so no one really showed up.(We had 7-8 coming not counting us the 2 co-hostess.) Well the party had 4 guests and myself and other co-hostess. It wasn't the party I excepted, nor did it go the way I would have liked it to go. I now regret even booking the part and I feel bad the consultant drove that far, but it just so was nt what I expected!!! Sad thing is 1 guest left, 3 guests changed plans when the consultant didn't show up on time and it just was awful.

BUT, my 2 son's went to the WWE show at a local arena and my youngest son had a blast and my 15 yr did a great job taking and watching his brother during the show. I did luck out, Daddy worked the show so he was so close by they kept going over to see Dad.(Dad is a poilce officer so he was patroling the show) I was so worried about my 15yr taking his brother, would he watched him right, would he yell at every little thing his brother says, will he pick on him ect...but he didn't and he showed he can be more responsible. YES! Sadly he didn't care for the show, but he said it was still somethign to do.

Oh ggeesszzz I guess I better get off of here and get ready to g to the hospital for my 2nd shot!! I so do not want to do this again but they said I must try again. YUK! My back hurt worse then last time and I had a headache for weeks!! :0( Oh why do I have to do this again!!!

I will talk to you all later and everyon have a great hump day!

Better Day...Better Days

2009-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

I want to start this blog of with first saying THANK YOU to my fellow bloggers for allowing me to vent and for reading my venting. Then my boys for letting me know they had my back and were here for me. Today is such a better day and I am not going to let anything stop me from doing what it is I need to do or trying to bring me down.

All day in the back of my mind I keep singing this song by Dianne Reeves called Better Days. Years ago I stumbled on this song and it instantly brought me to tears because it so reminded me of my grandmother.(the song is about a grandmother and granddaugther) My grandmother was the queen of our family, strong, independent, stern and the most loving person you could imagine. My grandmother was the glue in our family and handle all the issues that arose. My grandmother was never sick a day in her life, I don't remember ever hearing her complain of even a headache. But in early 1989 my grandmother was told she had liver cancer and only had a short time. LOL, I don't think the doctors remembered who they were talking to. I was pregnant at the time with my second child, yes a boy and he was going to have his name my grandfather's name so my grandmother was so excited. Summer came and it didn't look like she was going to make it until he was born. I went into pre-term labor with my son in Oct and was in the hospital. During my hospital stay I was explaining to my doctor the situation with my grandmother and how she is holding on until my child is born. The snowball effect started!!

Dec comes and my labor begins, 4 days of labor and a difficult time, my son was born! He was born at 7:05 am with my grandmother in a room up a few floors from us. I got to hold my son for a short time, they cleaned him up and whisked him away. My grandmother was called, she heard the him cry, she got all the details, got his name and got to see pictures of him that they took. One week later to the day and almost to the time of my son's birth my grandmother went home. It was hard on the family but everyone was relieved she got hear and see my son.

It was a month or two later when I was going through difficult times steming from the birth of my child I heard Better Days. OMG it was like my grandmother was in the room with me and letting me know it was going to get better and be okay. She was right!!!

Now my son is 19 almost 20, a personality just like his father(funny and full of himself) but the strength, determination and courage of my grandmother. My son let's nothing get in his way, he supports and will stand up for his family and when the going gets tough he is there. Funny how one beautiful soul leaves this earth only for another to take their place.

Before my grandmother died she did tell us my husband and I that she would be watching out for us, she'd come back and haunt him if he hurt me and she would let us know she is always with us. Well needless to say myself, my mom and my sons are always finding pennies, especially when times are rough and we are down and out. One time when things were so bad for us I found a penny out front embedded into the cement of my new home and later that day while at my grandmothers tombstone, the wind blew down her flowers and when my Mom bent down to pick them up under her name was a penny. Now my son who she so dearly waited for finds tons of pennies and always the one finding money on the ground. So whenever we find pennies we say "Nana's pennies from heaven" She is still looking out for us.

When you are down and out check out the song Better Days by Dianne Reeves.

One last thing, don't forget the giveaway! Or the PIF's!!!!

Did you ever have one of those....

2009-07-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have just one of those God awful days where nothing seems to go right and as the day goes on it just gets worse. Well did I have a day from you know where yesterday. I woke up in such a good mood, excited to clean my house, update my blog and hopefully make some tarts. Well needless to say cleaning my house happened but nothing else did. I will say this by 1:00pm I wanted to crawl back into bed or under the nearest rock and act like I didn't wake up or I wasn't here. I was so excited to go to bed, thinking tomorrow can only get better, but I couldn't sleep!!!!! Now today I am tired, worried, stressed out and just plain old blah. How do you all cope with a really extremely bad day?

Well today is another day and it is better then yesterday!! THANK GOD! However I just can't find my get up and go. So does anyone know where it went? Or how I can find it again? I want so bad to make tarts, yes I am very low and or need new scents, but I just can't seem to get myself there today to make them. I am burning sun washed linen right now and it smells good and makes my house smell clean but I want a pick me up. Any scent suggestions?

I did have something shocking yesterday though, all of my 4 boys that are still at home, actually all stayed home and slept home last night! I couldn't tell you when the last time was that all 4 were home all at one time to sleep. Since summer started the 2 middle boys(17 and 15) are always in our home town (which is close by) sleeping over at friends house's days at a time. I was kind of shocked that they came home to sleep!!! My boys are always on the go...that is the 3 older ones still at home. Two of them drive so my goodness, no one is ever home. The nice thing about it is, as young boys they all fought as older - young men they all get along!!! Now when I say get along, I mean get along. From the oldest down to the youngest, they play sports together , go work out at the gym, go to wing night together, go out to eat and sometimes the oldest 2 take the younger one to the movies, out to eat, to Camel back beach, swimming and my youngest son loves every minute of it. (a little secret for you all...my boys still come in my room at night and sit with me and watch tv...sometimes they ever lie in the bed...maybe only 15 minutes but hey it is something!!)

This is just a reminder, do not forget about my giveaway and or the PIF's my friend Maryann is doing on her etsy site! Also look out for Tarts Galore to re-open, I think I found web hosting I am happy with!!! One more thing, be sure to check out some of my fellow bloggers who are following me, or who are listed as my favorites(which will be updated soon) I am sure you will enjoy reading them as well!!!!

Now this is a biggie....be sure to check out this giveaway as well!!!!!!
Bake Me A Wish Gourmet Brownie Cake Giveaway!!!!
http://snipsandsnailsboutique.blogspot.com/

Time to go back lunch for the crew I have here now. Happy blogging everyone!

GIVEAWAY!! Plus a PIF!!!

2009-07-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Good day bloggers!!! Well today I have decided to do my giveaway!!! WOO HOO!! This giveaway is going to be a simple giveaway but something hopefully worth while to some one or many of you. The giveaway is going to be for a surprise gift from me and possibly from a fellow WAHM!!!! So here is how my 1st giveaway is going to work. As of right now I have no followers :0( and zero comments, so for anyone who decides to follow my blog or leave a comment will be entered into my giveaway!!! I will run this giveaway from today, July 27th until next Wednesday Aug 5th. My winner will be posted in my blog Aug 6th!! So who wants to get in this giveaway!?!?!

Okay with that said I have more good news!!! Does anyone ever do any RAOKs(random acts of kindness) or PIF (pay it forwards)? Both of these are kind gestures made to one another in hopes of passing them on. Well I know of a few PIFS that I thought I would pass on to you all!! These are great PIF's too! Here is the link to check it out. http://www.auntmemmy.etsy.com
(http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5794172) Now I can say this person has great products and you will not be disappointed! She is a WAHM with 3 kids. She offers many types of items from homemade soap to homemade pain cream.(the pain cream works, I use it!!) SO be sure to check out her PIF.....20 cents can go along!

Is Sunday the day for rest? Not here!

2009-07-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning fellow bloggers, how is everyone's Sunday? I will admit mine is off to a very slow start today. Woke up again with a slight headache, and it is very humid here and my house is screaming to be cleaned and I am just not in the mood today.(sadly I will have to do it sooner or later)

Did you ever have one of those lazy days where you just do not feel like doing a thing???!!! I want one of those days today! It looks like thunderstorms are coming our way, it is hot and humid and a Sunday....Sunday the day of rest I thought.
Well if Sunday's are the day to rest then someone better tell my boys on Saturday they better start picking up after themselves!!!!

Children are such a blessing. I was lucky enough to be blessed with 5 children and yet 5 BOYS! I will say it has been a fun journey watching them grow and mature into men and young men, but boy were they easier where they were younger. I still have 4 boys left at home...19, 17, 15 and 10 and they are great boys just a little lazy.(the other one is 23 almost 24 in 6 weeks!) Maybe I shouldn't say lazy maybe I should say spoiled. My boys pretty much have everything a kid can want, but I swear I think they think I am their maid!!!!!!!!!!

When they were younger my boys all had chores. Now when I say chores I mean like washing the cereal bowls after breakfast, one would sweep the kitchen floor, 1 take recycling out to the can and one dust. Oh and keep up with their room. Now of course I would have to re-do everything that they did, again mind you not of all these chores were done everyday by them but the days it was it helped even though I would re-do them. Well something happened when they grew up. Now their bowls and dishes sit either in their rooms or in the sink, clothes all over their rooms and shoes/socks shirts lay where ever they were taken off at. Shoes, you know the tripping hazard, those too, where they come off is usually where they stay. Can someone tell me where I went wrong? Trying to get them to do anything is like pulling teeth!!

So today my house is in not that bad of shape. Mostly the kitchen needs a really good cleaning and the dishwasher needs to be loaded. OH and of course the garbage bag is over flowing but other then that my boys seemed to have picked up their shoes and socks last night and no shirts were left throw over the stair railing. WOW! I must still be asleep....lol....nope I am awake. So just maybe I will be able to have that lazy day today.

Today I have my burners going as usual. Downstairs living room, kitchen and sunroom all have caramel apple. My bedroom, skinny dipping and my son's room has cherry slush. My other son's room has clean and sexy....and I honestly do not like this one!! My son doesn't like it too much either but since he keeps his burner on pretty much all the time, he has it in there now b/c he is at work. I bought a few of these tarts from another online vendor but I know now which not to buy...clean and sexy!!!!!!!!!

So does anyone else have anything burning?(candle or tarts?)

Candle Makin PIF's & RAOK's

2009-07-24T17:57:00.001-07:00

Howdy Hoo Everyone! How are all of you?

Oh what a lovely day today is...yeah right...it is hot and humid.(which doesn't help my back and leg issues) At least it is sunny and not raining or thunderstorms like they stated.(day isn't over yet so better be careful)
Well I have some shocking news.....I am pouring candles today!!!

OMG it has been forever I think since I poured some candles! So far I made just a single jar candle in mac apple and now I am in the process of making a loaf candle in banana berry shortcake....with toppings and all. Waitig for my wax to cool is taing forever, so I need to decide what scent I want to make my next candle in. I guess I will go down to my storgae area and close my eyes and just pick one. Ya know what, let me go dow satirs pick my scent with closed eyes, finish my banana berry shortcake and then come back later and finish this blog. (maybe with pictures)
I'll be back later!

Okay later is here!!

LOL and I am all done for today/tonight.WOW it felt good pouring like that again. I made 4 candles, banana berry shortcake in a loaf pan, black forrest truffle, mac apple and brairberry clementine.The mac apple and brairberry clementine are just regular jar candles and the other 2 are of course more...black forrest truffle is grubby and the loaf of course is topped.

Okay why did I make these candles today after months of not pouring candles. I poured my candles for my friend Maryann, who I think you all need to check out...trust me you want to check out her etsy site (http://www.auntmemmy.etsy.com ) Maryann and I do alot of swapping and trading...we help each other. Since we do that, help one another out, I want to share some more with you on Maryann.

My friend Maryann is a very talented soaper. She makes such awesome soaps and bath & body products that once you try them you are hooked. Anyway she does PIF(pay it forwards ) which is similiar to a RAOK(random act of kindness) on her etsy site....http://www.auntmemmy.etsy.com She is offering a PIF right now, so ya may want to go check it out. Now you can also find Maryann's items on my website but her PIF is not there. SORRY!(http://tartsgalore.webs.com/)

Maryann is like me and we like to do PIF, RAOK and now giveaways. Now when it is time for my giveaway which I think I will post finally tomorrow, I may have a sample of her goodies in there as well. So be sure to watch for the giveaway and pass it on. Okay so here is just one picture, a quick not perfect picture of one of the candles.

Rainy day = Makin day

2009-07-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

Rainy days!! It seems like this summer we had more rainy yukky days then hot & humid ones. HHMMM, I do not know which is worse. I'll settle for beautiful 80 degree weather with sunny skies.

What's burning? Today since it was so dark and windy and humid I put in my burners red velvet cake! YUMMY! And funny...my son's friend came in and asked what smelled so good and could she have some. LOL I don't think she wants to eat wax. I can't wait for fall, that is when I love to burn all my bakery scent and fall scents.(bakery I burn fall and winter and oh my I am in heaven!!)

Anyway since it rained today my son bugged me to make dipped critters for his little neighborhood friends. Since I had some stuffed animals I did not want, and extra wax I caved. It was suppose to be a joint effort but of course once we started and got one dipped he and his friends took off. So I made a dipped frog, a bunny, a nice size teddy bear and a chicken...yes I said a chicken. Each one was dipped, mind you in different scents and fluffed and now ready to go home. One problem with the going home part.....no one is around....all the kids took off, where to I have no clue!!!

Oh and in the mix of doing the dippies, my son told his other friend I would do cardboard air fresheners for her and for his other friend I would do a soap. GGeeeezzzz just offer my services. Well once again I gave in and made 2 card board mini heart air fresheners for his little friend. The soap will have to wait until tomorrow or later.(I had to clean up and clean up dinner)

It was so nice making things like that again. I miss it and can't wait to get back into the full swing of things when I find a new web hosting company!! I still am deciding if I want to change my name, but it is so tough to come up with something new. here is my problem, I like my name I have now, problem is I offer more then tarts. I want to change my name but have no clue as to what and how to come up with just that perfect life time name. Any ideas or suggestions?

Well my pot should be cool enough to put away now, so I guess I will go finish cleaning up and work on my giveaway. Yes my giveaway, I did not forget still just trying to figure out how to do it.

Have a good night!

Another day...

2009-07-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hello again fellow blogger's, how is everyone today? How is the weather in your area? Here is is cloudy and humid!!!(I hate humidity!!)

Well today is just another day in my book. I really hate being home, I am longing to go back to work. My days seem to just run into one another, it is the same old same old everyday. I miss being able to see different faces and talking to other adults. I am so hoping my back and kidneys start to improve soon!!!

I got to make some room sprays today. Yes, I actually made something. It sure has been awhile. So far all I made was a Sun Washed Linen and a Sea Shore. Shortly I plan on making 2 fruity ones as well. Just can't decide on the scents yet. I want to do something different so we will see what I end up with then.

I also finally decided that yes I am going to do a giveaway. I know I have no followers yet but if just by chance someone passes on by here and decides to stop and read this...YES I am going to be doing a giveaway!! My blog yesterday was in debate over what I should or shouldn't do and I finally decided yes I am going to do my giveaway. I know exactly what I will be giving away too. Now I just have to find out how to do this and how to promote it and my blog.(any advice please share it) So that is my goal later today...to figure out how to do my giveaway.

Well I hear my youngest calling so I better go see what he wants or find out where he is going. Everyone have a wonderful day!

Giveaway!! Should I or shouldn't I?

2009-07-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

GIVEAWAY, should I or shouldn't I is today's blog. Now this is silly b/c I have no followers yet...see I said YET, but I also posted something like this on myspace blog. I always see on blogs and myspace people doing giveaways, and they always catch my eye. No I have never entered one or held on but their is something about them that attracts me to them. They also make me want to do one myself. So my question is this...should I or shouldn't I? I must say I would love to do one, but first thing is I have no clue or how and where to post it and how to get people to enter. Ya know the funny thing is I already know what I would give away...tarts or a soap....LOL.

Okay so any of you bloggers out there who happen to stumble on this blog and can walk me through a giveaway that would be great! Also how in the heck do you get traffic to your blog? I will admit I do not write much on here b/c no one follows but my mind goes everyday to here but I just can't always bring myself to write.

Well thank you anyone for stopping by and if you want to check out my blog on myspace for the giveaway here it is www.myspace.com/candlesbydia

It's been awhile

2009-07-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

WOW it has been awhile since I posted. Dang how time flies. Time sure does fly but can we all remember where that time went?? I know where the time went in the last week...but other then that it got away from me.

In the last week, I have had an epidural shot in my back, another doctor appointment about my multiple kidney stones and cysts and have been pulled from work due to all of my ailments. I will say this though, I am so very tired of living in pain everyday and just nto feeling well. Now hopefully maybe something will help me to get back to a normal life.

Now, back to my addictions!!! I am into a new scent called morning mist!!! I bought this scent off a tart supplier and my goodness do I like it. It is very soft, fresh and clean all rolled into one. Now I have to find a way to raise some funds to invest in a few more of these tarts.

I did make a few things yesterday, I made some soaps. The picture up above is of a popsicle soap scented in grape.

Wednesday's worries

2009-06-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's, everyone calls it hump day...for me it is just one more day to go of work and then my 3 day weekend..WOO HOO. But today's Wednesday is a little different for me this week, it was day of worries. Don't ya just hate worrying?? It makes us crazy, stresses us out, makes us sick and worst of all ages us!! YUK! Thankfully though my worries today are not that bad. I am just worried about having to go to my doctor appointment tomorrow at the spine and pain center. Being in pain stinks but when you live with it everyday, it becomes more of a pain in the you know what!! I am excited to go tomorrow to see what they can do for my back, hip and leg, but it still will not help my kidney issues. Oh well I guess I can't be greedy. But if I go to this appointment tomorrow and leave there with no answers or with no hope of treatment I have no clue what I will do. Between the pain I have all the time in my back, hip and leg and my kidneys it is enough to drive someone insane!!! So I am going to keep my chin held up high, have positive thoughts and hope and pray all works out well tomorrow and that they can finally help one of my issues.

Anywho, off of that subject. I must brag now about a chandler.(candle maker) I have been making candles, tarts and bath and body for over 6 years now, although I love it I do have an addiction of constantly burning tarts from other chandlers. Well I have a few favorites and right now I am going to share one with you. Crosscreek Country Candles!! Deanna is the owner and let me tell you her items rock!! She has awesome tarts and even better customer service. I was burning the other day one of her tarts and my goodness my whole downstairs smelled wonderful.(it was banana caramel drizzle) I need to place another order with her shortly and I am unsure of what I want this time, but in no way am I worried about being disappointed or not liking a scent. So if you have a craving to burn some tarts please check Deanna's site out...www.crosscreekcountrycandles.com

Well I am out of here for now. Tonight is Ghost Hunters and although I have seen them all I still enjoy the show. Give me ghosts, hauntings, paranormal...what ever and I am there!! LOL :0)

I love Friday's!!

2009-06-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well today is FRIDAY!! and I love FRIDAY'S! I am off which means, I am not off at home. The boys leave me lots of work to do...I do not think any of them know how to pick up a dust rag, broom or sweeper. So I woke up did some cleaning and then ran around. While running around I stopped and picked up True Blood a series on HBO.

I am so in to Twilight...yes even at my age, that I am so impatient for New Moon to come out that I need something to keep me occupied so the time goes by.(I read all four of the books already twice so I truly need something) Well I hear everyone talking about this True Blood series, so yes I picked up season one disc one and sat down and watched it. I was kind of disappointed but I did enjoy it. I was a little taken back by the similarities of Twilight and True Blood. Maybe it was just me but some it seemed like I have heard that before. I won't tell ya all just in case you plan on watching it, but watch it carefully and see if you pick up on what I picked up on. I hope to go see if they have disc 2 and 3 tomorrow but I was told it is a hot item right now and it may take a while.

While being off to day I did get to go through my basement and move out some unwanted candle and soap supplies. Now I just hope I can sell off these four boxes. If I do that means I can go shop online for more tarts!! YEA!!! I would love to try more vendors but haven't found nay yet that catch my eye.

I also found a great freebie today. I love getting freebies in the mail!! I remember a long time ago when freebies were so easily found and actually came to your mail box. Now they are few and far between...plus most do not even make it to your mail box. Well I thought I would share this one with whoever may read this blog.

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid69402.aspx

Well I am off for now, I am going to go make some room sprays!

Thursday just another day

2009-06-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well Thursday has been here and now is just about gone. Yet it was still just another Thursday. A work day for most I am sure. Work today was fine. I really enjoy my job and the staff!! The patients are pretty nice too. I am home now until I go back to work on Monday.

My plans this weekend....hhmmm of course catching up on household chores and laundry. The boys are lazy!! I think they were more helpful and cleaner when they were younger! They seem to be alot more work as they get older. I plan on making a few things. Tarts mostly, I am just about out of stock and need to make some and get an order placed somewhere. I am addicted right now to skittles, passionate kisses and english ivy. I am not to much into florals but now with summer here I do often burn honeysuckle.

Does anyone here do facebook? Well I do...okay I try to...I still do not get facebook and myspace. I know how to log into both do some searching and of course friend requests but that is about as far as I can go. So anyway, I wasn't to sure about facebook, thought I was too old for it(same with myspace) BUT since I have joined facebook I have found old friends...who of course have not aged like me and even family members who I haven't seen in years. I was so excited when one of my cousins sent me a friends request on facebook, once I accepted I was able to track down some more of my cousins. I missed them all but didn't realize it until that facebook request. Now my goal is to get as many of us together and have some kind of reunion.(our family had a huge family reunion when we were younger but we all got older and it seemed less important...at least to me, but I will admit I was wrong) Since my Dad passed away I do not think I have seen some of my family members from my Dad's side. Now that I have facebook, I will not lose contact with them again!! Now I just have to figure out how to get at least some of us together.

Speaking of facebook and myspace. Myspace lead me to one of my dearest friends who moved away 21 years ago. When she left we were both single mom's to one child and now those children are all grown up!! She was brave enough to befriend and email anyone who went to my school or who lived in my area and waahh lahhaa she found me. When I got the phone call from my mom that some one was looking for me, I was shocked, because who's life could I have touched so long ago would want to find me??? Doesn't that sound strange but think about it....really. My friend has done well for herself and moving was the best thing she could have done. Now it makes me wonder about what if that would have been me???? Anyway I hope we do not lose touch again...heck she is about to be a grandmother and the last thing I want to do is miss hearing about this baby as it grows up.( I missed watching her daughter grow up and it depresses me!) Babies are a blessing but so are friendships! I have to thank God everyday for bringing loved ones back in my life.

Okay that is it for tonight, back is starting to really hurt so I better get on that heating pad before I will not be able to sleep.

Have a good night everyone!

Mondays....

2009-06-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

Aren't Mondays just the best...NOT! Weekend is over and we go back to work. So how was everyone's work day. Mine, was okay steady but ok.(I am probably one of the few who really likes where they work at, so that helps greatly!)

So who's kids are on sumer vacation already? My kids have been for almost 2 weeks. You can tell they are home...food is sparse and the house is in disarray. Oh the joys of motherhood....go to work and come home and work some more. Anyone have any ideas how we can change this?

I didn't get to make anything over the weekend, but I plan to this upcoming weekend. Since I didn't make anything I had to go into my hidden stash of tarts from online vendors. I can't go a day with out burning a candle or tarts. Tarts are usually burning(electric) all day long. So what I popped in Passionate Kisses and oh my I am in heaven. I do have to make some room sprays soon...can't live without these either in certain areas of the house.(who can guess what those areas may be)

Well off to go search for more online vendors for my addictions. Everyone enjoy their night.

Welcome to Tart N Candle Addict

2009-06-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

HI everyone! Welcome to Tarts N Candle Addict! Yup, you have guessed it, I am addicted to tarts and candles. I am also addicted to handmade soaps and bath and body items. I do make my own items but I am again also very addicted to buying from other crafters!(best way to go is buy homemade and handmade items and or from work at home moms) Oh and with that being said if you are reading this and are a crafter, please feel free to email me a link to your items!

Besides my addictions, I am also a Mom to a houseful of boys...5 in total...4 left at home. I am an animal lover and I have a houseful of them.(4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 birds) I once ran an adoption for animals. That was a tough job...it is so important for people to not only have their aimals spay and neutered but also to be able to commit to a life long commitment.(so many people relinquish their animals when they are no longer babies...they become bigger and no longer as cute!)