I have just finished adding French Kisses Lip Balms in both black tubes and metal slider tins to my website: HERE and while you’re there check out the new Liquid Goat’s Milk Soaps enhanced with Shea Butter and Silk : HERE These soaps are amazing for your skin !!  And come in six wonderful scents!

Bar soaps are in the making and should be available in the next few weeks. (Bar soaps require a curing time and take from 2-4 weeks to be ready after making.)  They will be available in matching scents to liquid and in both fancy 2 oz bars and in slab cut 1.5 oz bars.

I must say…my house smells wonderful and my family is in scent overload these days!! So go check it all out and bring some of these amazing scents to your house!

Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

Posted using ShareThis

GENEVA, 18 February (BWNS)-

The European Union yesterday issued a statement
expressing its “deep concern” over Iran’s plans to bring seven imprisoned
Baha’i leaders to trial for espionage and other charges. The Baha’i
International Community has called for their immediate release, maintaining
their innocence and characterizing the regime’s claims as an “escalation of
its systematic crackdown on the Baha’is.”

The EU statement coincided with increasingly sharp anti-Baha’i rhetoric from
Iranian officials, who said a trial for the seven might come within a week.

The seven Baha’i leaders have been imprisoned in Tehran for more than eight
months, during which no formal evidence has been brought against them and
they have not been given access to their legal counsel, Nobel laureate
Shirin Ebadi. Another 30 Baha’is are imprisoned in Iran, while 80 other
prisoners have been released on collateral.

The European Union said it was concerned that, “after being held for so long
without due process, the Baha’i leaders may not receive a fair trial.

“The EU therefore requests the Islamic Republic of Iran to allow independent
observation of the judicial proceedings and to reconsider the charges
brought against these individuals.”

The document was endorsed by the entire 27-nation membership of the EU,
along with Turkey, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine, and Moldova.

Separately, in Brazil yesterday, the president of the Human Rights
Commission of the Federal Chamber of Deputies sent an open letter to Iran,
asking for the release of the Baha’i prisoners.

The Brazilian statement was issued by Pompeo de Mattos, president of the
national legislature’s Human Rights Commission.

“The peace-loving, humanistic principles and practices for which the Baha’is
are known in Brazil have earned this community respect and credibility among
the country’s human rights supporters,” said Deputy de Mattos. “There is
therefore no reason to doubt the credibility of their claims.”

Other such strong statements of support have been issued over the past
several days from governments and parliamentarians in a number of countries,
including Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Meanwhile, an official Iranian news agency report yesterday quoted a
judiciary department spokesman as saying the seven Baha’is “would attend
their hearing sessions within one week.”

According to an Islamic Republic News Agency story, Judiciary spokesman
Ali-Reza Jamshidi told reporters at his weekly press conference yesterday
that the “seven committed criminal acts including spying for foreigners.”

Mr. Jamshidi stated that the Baha’is would “definitely be allowed to use
legal counsel,” though they have had no access to their lawyer to date.

His statement followed a harsh report on Sunday that quoted Iran’s
prosecutor general as saying the government plans the “complete destruction”
of Baha’i administration in Iran.

“The administration of the misguided Baha’i sect at all levels is unlawful
and banned, and their ties to Israel and their opposition to Islam and the
Islamic regime are clear,” said Iranian Prosecutor General Ayatollah
Ghorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi, according to a report in Fars News.

“The danger they pose to national security is documented and proven and
therefore it is necessary that any substitute administration that acts as a
replacement for the original be confronted through the law,” said Ayatollah
Najafabadi.

Diane Ala’i of the Baha’i International Community said the activities of the
Baha’i leaders had to do with meeting the minimum spiritual and
administrative needs of the 300,000-member Baha’i community of Iran. She
said Ayatollah Najafabadi’s attempt to portray their actions as “dangerous”
was baseless and that the government is well aware that there is no truth to
such allegations.

“How can the chief prosecutor equate something so harmless as a group of
individuals who get together to give spiritual guidance and administer such
things as marriages and burials and children’s moral classes with something
that threatens Iran’s national security?” said Ms. Ala’i, the Baha’i
International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

“After they banned Baha’i administration in Iran in 1983, the government has
always been aware of and informed of the activities of these ad hoc groups.

“In the eyes of the government, the only real ‘crime’ of the seven currently
in Evin prison – along with the some 30 other Baha’i prisoners currently
held in Iran – is that they hold a religious belief that is different from
the majority in Iran, and that is something that the current regime finds
intolerable,” she said.

Ms. Ala’i also discussed remarks made yesterday by Mr. Jamshidi in response
to a question about Ayatollah Najafabadi’s statements. Mr. Jamshidi was
quoted as saying: “Any acts which could be taken as propaganda against
Islam, Iran and its Islamic establishment is definitely considered a crime
and its perpetrators would be legally encountered.”

“The fact is that the Baha’i Faith is the only independent world religion
other than Islam that accepts the divinity of Muhammad and reveres the
Qur’an – along with the holy books of all the world’s great religions,” Ms.
Ala’i said. “There is nothing anti-Islamic or anti-Iran about the Baha’i
Faith, its teachings, or the practices of its followers. The government
cannot impose its own interpretation of Islam on the Baha’i Faith and
conclude that the Baha’i Faith is anti-Islam.”

The arrest of the Baha’i leadership takes place in the context of a severely
and rapidly escalating campaign of attacks against the Baha’i community that
has included the creation and circulation of lists of Baha’is with
instructions that the activities of the members of the community be secretly
monitored; dawn raids on Baha’i homes and the confiscation of personal
property; a dramatic increase over the past two months in the number of
Baha’is arrested; daily incitement to hatred of the Baha’is in all forms of
government-sponsored mass media; the holding of anti-Baha’i symposia and
seminars organized by clerics followed by orchestrated attacks on Baha’i
homes and properties in the cities and towns where such events are held;
destruction of Baha’i cemeteries throughout the country; demolition of
Baha’i holy places and shrines; acts of arson against Baha’i homes and
properties; denying Baha’is access to higher education and, increasingly,
vilification of Baha’i children in their classrooms by their teachers; the
designation of numerous occupations and businesses from which Baha’is are
debarred; refusal to extend bank loans to Baha’is; the sealing of Baha’i
shops; refusal to issue or renew business licenses to Baha’is; harassment of
landlords of Baha’i business tenants to force their eviction; and threats
against Muslims who associate with Baha’is.

“Indeed, the lives of the seven leaders currently in prison reflect lifelong
efforts to promote the best development of Iranian society as a whole,
through the promotion of education, social and economic development, and
adherence to moral principle,” Ms. Ala’i said.

Earlier this week, the British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell issued a
statement saying the Iranian government “appears to be increasingly using
vaguely worded charges to target human rights defenders and religious
minorities.”

“It is hard,” said Minister Rammel on Monday, “not to conclude that these
people are being held solely on account of their religious beliefs or their
peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association.”

To read this article and see photographs of the seven imprisoned Baha’is, go
to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/699

To see the Baha’i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org

——————————————————————-
Copyright 2009 by the Baha’i World News Service. All stories and photographs
produced by the Baha’i World News Service may be freely reprinted,
re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any
individual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha’i
World News Service. For more information, visit http://news.bahai.org.

Just a quick moment to brag/shout/celebrate….lol…
In the last two weeks, I managed to officially become…

• A graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting, Summa Cum Laude
• an NNA certified and background checked Notary Signing Agent
• and an Enrolled Agent,  federally authorized  to represent taxpayers before the IRS

whew…if you think that’s a mouthful…try doing it! lol.

With that said…time to celebrate is short.  The intense marketing and work of getting my tax business off the ground has already begun!
(I am of course already looking forward to being able to crank up the torch and melt some glass again!)

Till I find another moment to write more…
Have a great one…and BE great!
Lori B.

I know…. I have not been posting as often as I would like…. I have been one busy lady….
Good news…. I passed the final part of the SEE exam! I now just have to wait for the IRS to approve my application…which means passing a suitability/background check. Of course that shouldn’t be any more difficult than the FBI fingerprint and background check I had to pass to become an e-filer right? Well….just a bit…but I should do fine! Once my application is approved, I just have to wait for my card to arrive and I am then officially an Enrolled Agent!
Better news… I am almost finished with school!!!! After 4.5 very long years, I will be graduating summa cum laude with my Bachelor’s degree in accounting in early January!
And then…let the real fun begin! Tax time and building my tax business!
What about the art you say? No worries… after tax season I have plans for some exciting new things…new jewelry lines that Ive been working on….. some intricate cabs will take center place and I will also be offering the cabochons for sale to other jewelry designers and collectors!!
So back to the books for me ….for now…. and very soon I shall be back to the “real world” and able to keep in touch here.

Have a great one…and BE great!
Lori B.

The First Annual Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC) Holiday Bazaar is this Saturday, November 1, 2008 from 1-5pm at the Charles N. Enes Community Center in South Windsor (Directions are below).  AHC is a rare neurological disorder that causes paralysis during attacks and may cause long term mental and/or physical damage.  The cause and cure for AHC is unknown.  AHC is a degenerative disorder.  All proceeds will benefit AHC research.

Obviously, this entry is completely personal and has not a thing at all whatsoever to do with jewelry, glass, metal or fire…although maybe a bit of flame and explosive flammable materials.

For anyone out there who has not had the pure fun of a potato gun, I highly recommend you do an online search for instructions and build one! Even if you don’t think that you will like it, give it a go. What a fantastic way to occupy the boys in your life, entertain the girls, and work out some frustration and aggression without hurting anyone on the highway!

After determining that cold refrigerated potatoes were far better ammo than soft room temp or warmed in the car all day ones, we went on a journey of exploration into the world of explosive aerosols. We have spent the last week of evenings searching and testing for the ideal fuel. Before anyone offers advice, let me cover what we did try and what worked and what didn’t. Then, if you know of something that we have left out that you know from experience works like a charm…please let me know!

___________________________________________________________________

Did NOT work at all or very well…

-AquaNet hairspray. (they do not use cfc’s any longer and this stuff just smells bad.)
-Butane
-Starting Fluid
-Oust deodorizing spray (we read on the net that this was great…NOT)

___________________________________________________________________

Worked ok or better…

-Right Guard Aerosol underarm deoderant
-Kiwi camp dry water proofer
-Parts Cleaner
-Axe body spray (REALLY stinky!)

___________________________________________________________________

*Note: no person, plants, animals, or property were harmed in any way! We shoot them out over a very large pond behind our house. We hope that the catfish are enjoying the feast that we have been able to provide!

So…feel free to comment on any ideas for what we should try next!

ps- We KNOW that propane will work with explosive results, but prefer to retain all of our current limbs and digits for the time being…..

In honor of my 100th post I want to share with you…

I received this amazing blue beaded rose along with a delicate yellow accent flower (also painstakingly made from tiny little glass seed beads) from my good friend, Sandi, in NJ. I am always in awe at what she can do with those tiny little buggers…. I get nothing than some practice swearing whenever I attempt to work with those things! Feel free to visit her “Picture Trail” site and see more of the gorgeous little pretties she makes…oh…and don’t forget! She is usually willing to sell them for a steal… I keep trying to convince her to raise her prices!….so buy yours now before I get through to her! lol. http://www.picturetrail.com/beadgrl

Sandi's Rose