It's My Etsy-Versary!!

Wow! It's being a great first year since joining Etsy! I truly believe that having a special place to sell handcrafted items is the way for an artisan to go...I know that potpourri isn't something in high demand like, say, soap :) but I have made at least one sale every month since opening my Etsy store, and I have only made 2 total sales of potpourri in my ebay store in the same time period! Of course, I haven't really tried hard on eBay, since other items of a non-handcrafted nature seem to do very well there. It's our place to recycle clothing items! But I digress....I'd just like to say Thank You to Etsy for getting the ball rolling for us little crafters everywhere!

Of course I wouldn't still be in business if it weren't for my customers, soooooo......In honor of my First Etsy-Versary, I am offering FREE SHIPPING throughout February on all orders...even the somewhat heavy and bulky Luxury Size Bath Tea! In addition, mention this blog to me in an Etsy Convo or on Twitter and I will give you an additional 5% off your order! I may get brave and have a blog contest but I've never done that before, so if you have any tips or suggestions, please share them! :)

http://paradisepotpourri.etsy.com/

Kids, Cats, Potpourri, and Other Stuff!

Yes, it's me...I'm still alive and kicking, and finally updating my blog after being delinquent these last few weeks!

I have busily been homeschooling my middle son, and after about 6 weeks, we are finally starting to get into a routine. Life continues to happen around us, of course, and we are slowly learning to deal with the inevitable interruptions...like grabbing work to take with us when my youngest's school calls to say they 'think he has Pink Eye and would I please come to get him'? It's a 40 minute drive round trip plus a stop at the store, so no quick trips for us! Fortunately, he didn't have Pink Eye(and I should have known that because he has had major allergy problems with his eyes the past couple of weeks!)

In other news, our mama cat, Lana, had her second litter of kittens two weeks ago, and they are sooooo cute! My daughter took this photo during their lunchtime the other day :) They are fortunately faring much better than her last litter, of which only 1 out of 6 survived. So sad!

And finally, Paradise Potpourri is beckoning...one of the many things I am learning to juggle in my new role as Learning Coach. Business is still good, so I guess people still like me! :) I have managed to squeeze in time to make new batches of Bountiful Harvest, Cranberry Orange, and Honeysuckle Rose. Accordingly, I took new photos of them all, and they are now adorning the Etsy store nicely! I am still working out a recipe for Margarita Potpourri, but I'm almost there! Also, new batches of Rainforest and Rose Garden are in the works due to popular demand! Speaking of which I want to give a very special shout-out to Carrie, aka lunastar, of Morning Star Natural Soaps, Lotions and Soy Candles....she has given me such wonderful incentive to keep plugging along, reminding me that there is a scent for everyone and buying me out of bath tea even though she has such amazingly wonderful bath products in her Etsy shoppe! When I have a chance to figure out the ins and outs, I will feature her here on my blog! Meanwhile here is a link...be sure to check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5077777

Next weekend, my mother-in-law will be having heart surgery, so I don't expect to be blogging too much at that time...in the meantime I will try to post some interesting tidbits to catch up!

Cafe Rouge du Chocolat!

Here is my latest creation...Cafe Rouge du Chocolat! I had to look up the French terminology on Babel Fish, so I hope I got it right! It's a re-creation of my classic Mocha Java, and it smells just like walking into a super uppity coffee shop! I have only listed the one size so far, but more sizes will be available soon. I can easily make them up now, too, for anyone who wants to shoot me a convo!

Back to Work...I Promise!

Whew! The kids go back to school this week...except one, I haven't received his materials yet for homeschooling, so probably next week for him. Anyway, no more running around means a bit more time at home, so I finally got to work on a couple more potpourris! I started with Mango, so voila! Mango Madness! I also made a new batch of Lemongrass, one of my all time best sellers. My supplier no longer carries some of the ingredients, so I improvised! I will be posting new items over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

And The Winner Is....

You!!
July 31st is my "official" 6 month Etsy anniversary! I also just made my 20th sale on Etsy, by selling my very last Mocha Java sachet...but never fear! Another customer suggested that I create Mocha Java using a dark red color mixed in. Since some of the ingredients I used in my last batch are unavailable right now, I have decided to substitute some of them with some dark red rose petals, and perhaps another dark red flower, and call it Mocha Java Rouge! I also received an exciting Alchemy request...another first! But I will save that to blog about when the order is done :)
ANYHOO...To celebrate, I am having Free Shipping on anything in my store through August 15th, which is the actual 6 month anniversary of my store opening! This sale will include any alchemy requests...so convo me!
Finally, I am going to create the winning scents from my Party Potpourri Poll...Margarita, Mango, and the runner up, Cold Relief Bath Tea!

Wow, I listed something brand new today!

Check out this upcycled vintage sachet, made from a vintage hand embroidered kitchen towel, and embellished with beautiful beads! Here is the link for a full description: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13168006

I'm getting the hang of the photo thing!

I mostly cleaned house today, but I did so well that I rewarded myself with some long overdue photo-shoots of my potpourris. When I started my shop in February, I took all my photos in front of a dark green curtain that I had been using for photographing my ebay items. I got lots of compliments, and liked them really well, but I finally decided to try the all white background which is more Etsy-ish! :) As a result, I updated a couple of currently listed small ones, and re-listed Victorian Bride (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9919296) and Healing Lavender (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9874176). I had been using extremely antiquated photos of both, so now they are fresh and lovely, to match their scent!

Now if only Etsy could invent a scratch-and-sniff feature!!!!

Until then, check out my Sampler Pack...three scents of your choice in any color sachets for just $2.00 each!! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12839584 You can even choose bath tea!