Welcome to Century Farmhouse®!

a sappy sort of invitation

I have to confess that I didn't actually tap the maple trees this year.  My husband was at home on President's Day (Monday) and he beat me to it!  We have only about 12 trees that produce sap well and they can pretty much be tapped in an afternoon.  So, the sap is dripping, and dripping with vigor!  When the temperatures drop below freezing during the night, we get the maple sap popscicles like the one in the photo at left.

Maple sap is the first taste of spring; cold and wet and slightly sweet.  It is ambrosia!  Tasting it is also a good way to chip a tooth, so make certain that your open mouth is below the metal spile.  (Writing this from experience - no chipped tooth, but a sore one, nonetheless!  Do you think I'd remember to take a small cup with me to collect the sap rather than just tasting it right from the tree?  Of course, which is more fun?) 

Winter in our area of Wisconsin has been nearly non-existent.  We've experienced only fits and bursts of snow, which would melt before the next snowfall could cover it.  The temperatures have not dipped below zero degrees Fahrenheit...well, maybe once... so it should come as no surprise that the sap is running quickly this early in the season.  In any other year, we'd just be getting our gear ready for the tapping day. 

Cooking all that sap to syrup is a long process involving lots of wood, fire, steam, and syrup tasting.  Do not try to cook the sap down in your house unless you want the wallpaper steamed from the walls.  This is definitely an outside job.  I remember collecting sap before catching the school bus when I was growing up, and I remember that my mother learned about the wallpaper trick before she moved the entire process outside onto the open back porch.  We still have the old kerosene stove that my mom and my grandmother used for outdoor cooking, but it isn't too reliable and we have better luck cooking the sap in stainless steel pans over wood on our grill.  The manner in which we cook the sap down might be primitive and not tremendously efficient, but the end result is a smoky, deep, rich, sweet taste that is unforgettable.  Mmmmmmm.

So what does all of this sticky, sweet talk have to do with soap, you ask?  We'll be making the maple sap soaps in the next few days, and you are invited to suggest ideas for the scent of a new one!  Simply comment on the blog or send me an email by March 1, 2012.  If your idea is used, we'll send you a free travel-sized bar of the new soap!

 

Tiny gifts from the heart

Valentine's Day 2012 is beyond us now, but cute little cards were the project of the year, and many of my friends and loved ones received them on February 14.  I LOVE tiny cards, especially ones with hidey-holes for secret messages or tiny gifts.  The intrigue of tiny-ness must be universal, since everyone I've gifted with these cards loved to see what they contained and kept them just to look at.

Confession time:  I didn't design them.  Too bad, because they are really fun to create and even more fun to pass on to others and I'd like to take the credit.  About a year ago, I was up late working on soap (what else?), and to entertain myself was watching late-night Create Channel (PBS) TV.  The show was The Spotted Canary, and these cards, along with other interactive cards, were the highlighted demonstration during that segment.  Since then I've created gift cards, birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, and again, this year's Valentines.  Using pretty papers and details that you can create yourself or purchase or collect, you can make gorgeous cards for just pennies. Follow along below to see how I created some of the Valentines this year.

The trick is to start with an envelope or three. Truly, working with an odd number of envelopes will result in a card that opens and closes correctly. While you can make these cards with any size envelope, the tiny ones use the least amount of materials and are the most intriguing & fun.  The ones used for this project were letterpress envelopes purchased at a local hobby store and were about 3.25 X 3.25 inches square.   

So, you will need the following materials:

envelopes of your choice - an odd number of them

pretty papers, ribbon, stickers, buttons, glitter, use your imagination! (even old newspaper can make an interesting card), scrapbooking odds & ends work very well

adhesives: glue dot rollers, glue sticks, spray adhesives work best.  Liquid glues can make the paper wrinkle, so use sparingly. hot glue

scissors, paper cutter, crafting shears with decorative blades

patience

If you've chosen to use just one envelope, you can skip this step.  One envelope will result in a card that opens and closes with one pocket for a treat or a message.

If you'd like to create a larger card, begin by attaching the flap of one envelope to the lower front of another, and so on, so that all of the pockets are on one side and the glued flaps are on the other.  It will be necessary to use more adhesive than the gluey strip on the flap edge, as the entire flap needs to be attached.  The bottom edge of the envelope should be lined up with the fold of the next envelope's flap.  There will be one flap that is free...which will eventually become the front cover.

Next, choose the papers you'd like to cover the envelope with and cut them to fit the overall exterior dimensions of the main envelope body.  You will need one for each side of the envelope, two to cover the envelope flap, and one for the lining.  Actually, the lining piece needs to be only about 1/2-inch (about 1.3cm) wider than the back of the pocket opening.  Apply the adhesive to the back of the paper lining.  Glue the liner into the pocket, first lining up the top edge of it with the fold of the envelope flap, then smoothing it into the pocket.  If you are creating a card using multiple envelopes as shown in the top photo, insert the lining piece into each envelope before beginning to cover the outer surfaces.  Believe me, it is easier to insert the liner first!!

Apply adhesive to the outer side of the pocket and apply the paper covering.  Turn the card over and trim the edge of the paper to the edge of the envelope.

Next, apply adhesive to the entire inside of the flap, and line up the paper with the flap's fold line.  Smooth into place.  This is now the inside of the front cover.  Turn the card over and apply adhesive to the backside of the flap and the paper.  Apply the paper you've chosen for the front cover.  Fold the card closed and trim the papers to the edge of the envelope for a neater look.  Open the card and attach the paper chosen for the back cover to the flat side of the envelope; trim it, and you're ready to decorate your card!

If you've chosed to create a card using multiple envelopes, insert the pocket liners on all the envelopes first as described above, then cover the pocket sides of the envelopes. Trim as necessary.  Create the front cover of the card with the papers attached to the remaining envelope flap as described above; trim.  Cover the remaining backs of the envelopes - each one individually - trimming to the edges of each individual envelope by folding the ones around it and cutting any excess paper away carefully. 
Finish by accordion-folding the card, starting with the front of the card.  If done correctly, the outer edge of the front will line up with the outer edge of the back of the card, with all the envelopes folded accordion-style within the booklet. Open the card up to decorate.

Now comes the fun part!  Use stickers, glitter, cut-outs, computer-generated designs, etc. to decorate the card.  Create a secret message or find a tiny treasure to include in the pocket of the card.  It does help to attach a ribbon to the treasure or note to facilitate removing it from the tiny pocket.  Decorate the outside of the card, both front and back, and don't forget to sign and date your artwork!

To keep your card closed or to make it seem more of a treasure, you can attach a system to keep it closed.  A frog -type closure could be attached on the outsides of the front and back.  A ribbon loop attached on the back could slide over a button sewn onto the front.  Hide the ribbon ends by attaching them between the paper covering and the envelope back - before you put that paper covering onto the envelope!  I chose to hot-glue an 18' length of ribbon to the front and another to the back of the card, securing each with a glittering tab or a button.  To close the card, wrap the front ribbon over the back, and the back ribbon over the front, and twist back and forth as if you were wrapping a special gift package.  Tie with a tiny bow at the front of the card and trim the ribbon.

         Who wouldn't love to receive a card like this?  Who needs a gift??

 

We bring you Flowers...

Flower of Flowers sounds so romantic, doesn't it?  Flower of Flowers....literally, it is the description of ylang ylang, a tree which grows in the Phillipines-part-of-the-world - a tree which produces beautiful yellow or white or pink flowers which smell like lillies and symbolize love and devotion.  Traditionally, leis are made of the flowers; petals are strewn in bedchambers, and the tree is venerated for its flowers' beauty.

Romantic or not, this soap smells heavenly!  The scent combination of tangerine, lavender, ylang ylang, & jasmine is softly floral, yet heady.  Mmmmmm.  But the story of the soap doesn't stop there; even the label has a story to tell!

I've been bitten by the scrapbooking bug lately.  I like to create mini-cards - collages of designs and ephemera that celebrate a theme.  So inspired by that scrapbooking concept, I designed a paper background that utilized ephemera from my family archives along with bits of antique botanical prints and lots of swirlie-loopy lines.  And you just might see more of that in the future!

When she was about 12 or 13, my paternal grandmother, Maria, created a family tree.   She was born and raised in Germany, so it is written in German, in a fine hand that details the important dates and relationships of everyone depicted on the diagram.  I was able to incorporate parts of the family tree and parts of her description on the soap label. 
You can see the names of the many children in her family (there were ten), some of whom also imigrated to the United States, and who I had the privilege of getting to know.

On another part of the label, you can see snippets of her handwriting detailing how everyone fits into the family; when they were born, etc. 

My soap making grandmother also has a place on this label.  My mother has a collection of postcards that were written to my grandmother when she was quite young - in the early 1900s.  One of those cards appears to be written by a young person; one of my Grandma Rosa's friends.  I've included her name, Miss Rosa, from the address area of the postcard, as her name is that of a lovely flower. 

Finally, as a musician, I couldn't not include music to celebrate the beauty of flowers.  The Last Rose of Summer is a poem written in 1805 by Thomas Moore (the Irish poet, not the other Thomas Moore).  It was set to music by Sir John Stevenson and published in Ireland in the early part of the nineteenth century.  Even though the words are lovely but sad, the tune has always been one that I've loved.  Had to include it!

 

Flower of Flowers soap is packaged with surprises and lovely tributes.  I can't wait for you to see it, smell it, and touch it.  I think you'll love it as much as I do!