Ever get stuck on something, like, you just can't leave it alone?

I've been painting bees this week. Bees have special meanings for me, like industry, busy-ness, family, prosperity, and others.

I have lots more planned. Lots.

I hope your week is full of busy-ness and good things!

Forever and truly yours,
~AnaBanana

When I'm creating a new soap, I have a picture in my head of what it's going to look like ~ A white base, with gold mica swirls and mint green to suggest leaves. Then reality hits when the soap misbehaves. I thought about putting this on into the zombie zoaps page, gut it's not quite ugly enough to make the cut.

Titanium dioxide is used to make white in cosmetics, and I use it sparingly in soap to make a whiter base. I use a lot of olive oil in my soap recipe, and it has a darker cast to it, so sometimes TD is necessary. But TD has a tendency to speed things up, as far as soaping goes. And that's what it did, made this soap move quickly. One second it was nice like a cake batter, the next is was soap on a spoon!

Good thing I can move faster than a speeding bullet. I also leap tall buildings in a single bound. Well, more like tall laundry piles in a stuttering trip. Hehe.

This coconutty fragrance is sweet, has a goodly portion of vanilla in it, so I expect it to darken some (though the TD may slow that down). It's got a hint of something like pineapple, but I'm told there is no pineapple in there. Check it out for yourself and see what you can smell. It's truly lovely. Or completely yummy. Or both.

Happy sudsing!
~AnaB

What do you do for fun? Me? I do this. I'm new to the art and have room to improve, but I love it and love the way it's both calming and exciting at the same time.

So tell me what makes you tick. What brings you joy in your day? How do you love to create?

~AnaBanana

So if I can't paint apples ~ since some beautiful girl ate them ~ then I'll have to draw beautiful girls. This is totally free hand, which I'm not the best at, but maybe I can improve with some effffffort. Yeah.

For my daughters who love apples...

I love painting. It does something good to my brain that no zombie can undo. Well, at least I don't think any could. Hm. Let's not try that theory out and just call it good, okay?

There are two apples in my watercolor study because my daughter ate it before I could make a third painting. She was so cute ~ "Mom, I'm a predator and it was all by itself. Rawr!!"

That girl loves apples like zombies love brains!

I hope your day is lovely. Ever yours ~ AnaBanana

Sometimes things don't always go the way we plan. I like to plan things. Makes me feel like I'm in control. But color in soap can sometimes be like the hair on your head ~ there to remind us we're not really in control after all. ;)

So meet, Lilikoi. Lilikoi is the passion fruit in Hawaiian. Lilikoi is pronounced lil-li-koi, think lil as in slang for little, li as in lick, koi as in the fish (sounds like coy). This li'l girl was intended to be a bold red with deep gold, but she apparently has a mind of her own.

So what does she smell like? Well, the passion fruit is popular in many drinks in Hawaii and certainly not just for adults. The fresh and sweet notes are incredible. If you have never had a passion fruit let me try to explain. Citrus notes like lemon peel have a soft peachy highlight, then juicy raspberries and blackberries sweep the senses and bring in the violet undertones. Vanilla amber takes care of the dry down and you have a passionate thrill right in a bar of soap!

Ask me for a sample with your next order, and I'll include it free!

Yours ever and ever,
An-na-na-na-na

Coming in June is my grandbaby. Okay, so I can't take full credit for this wee one, but I am very excited to meet this new grandchild. What's really fun is my daughter decided to be a bit old fashioned and wait until the baby is born to find out if he's a boy or she's a girl.

For her baby shower, I've made these gorgeous dark chocolate and peppermint lip treats. The chocolate does impart a slight tint when worn, and it's beautiful. I really like the way these turned out. I'm crossing my fingers my daughter will like 'em too!

Yours truly ~
AB

This is what I turned in for class. The journey was a fun one that I hope to have lots of opportunities to repeat.

xo~
AnaBanana

This watercolor is 3 x 3 inches and is a developed sketch for an assignment in my Illustrator class. The finished/final picture will be 9.25 x 10.25 inches, big enough for a good-sized book cover, which is what this is for.

I'll add some text to it, play around with that a bunch, and see how it turns out.

What do you do for your creative outlet? Do you paint? Draw? Knit? Weave? Let me know! I'm always inspired by others' work.

And always have fun!

Yours ever,
AnaBanana

I'm turning both of these paintings in for my poster assignment in complementary colors. There's about 9 to 10 hours of time spent on each painting. My blending technique improved a lot in this painting. It's so exciting to see this kind or progress!!! This is Steamrolled Em in Red and is done in acrylic.