Natural Ingredients: Part I ~ Sweet Almond Oil

A Few Words about...Sweet Almond Oil

Sweet Almond Oil is an ingredient you will find in many handmade bath and beauty products today. I have really grown to love using it in my products because is light and penetrates the skin easily. It is just about a perfect base for lotions, scrubs, balms, hair products, and even massage oils. Sweet almond oil is rich in essential fatty acids and vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and E. Soap makers find that it saponifies easily and yields a mild soap with good lather.
With all of these benefits, it is no wonder that sweet almond oil is said to ease symptoms of eczema, psoriasis and help in combating itching and inflammation. It makes a great lubricant and helps to restore skin's natural moisture. Also, it is suitable for all skin types.
You will find sweet almond oil in many of my scrubs and all of my lotion bars. I recently created a massage oil for my husband when he had a cold. I filled a 1 ounce bottle with sweet almond oil, and added eucalyptus, tea tree, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils. I rubbed it on his chest instead of using the petroleum based vapor rub we grew up with, and he loved it! You can do the same with any combination of essential oils you prefer for a wonderful and soothing aromatherapy experience!

April Showers?

Hi again! This month is half over already, I can't believe it!! It has been very busy for my family...first of all, we traveled out of town for a 2 day Bible assembly. It was very upbuilding, and we got to visit with friends we hadn't seen in a long time! Hard on the heels of that trip, our annual observance of Christ's death, the Memorial, was celebrated on April 9th, which just happened to be hubby's and my wedding anniversary! Since he gave the talk this year, he was preoccupied and pretty nervous all week, so we waited until Saturday to celebrate our anniversary. It was our 15th, and sadly the first one in which Grandma Doreen was not there to have special time with the kids. We took them with us and had a wonderful family dinner out at a local steak house. (There is a new one opening soon so we are going to save our "alone" dinner for when that one opens!) Then we all exchanged presents, which is our yearly family tradition! The kids each got their first digital camera, and they are loving them.

The flowers above were one arrangement I helped make for the Memorial. A group of us got together on the 8th at our friend Debbie's house and had a great time! We had several bouquets around the Hall...and since I believe in Upcycling, many of the roses will become potpourri eventually! ;) Here is one of the Rose Bouquets:

With all of this activity, tax prep. kind of got shuffled, so now we are doing the last minute tax dash...but several surfaces in my house that I haven't seen in a long time are now shiny clean and free of stacks of papers!

Store News!

My store on Etsy has been busy with some custom orders recently finished and one in the works...yay! I made my first sale on ArtFire too! I hope my buyer loves my Starbucks Coffee Sugar Scrub as much as I do! I have another batch in the works, but this time I am using 90% Organic ingredients! Also, it will be scented with a hint of chocolate.....mmmmmmm!!! I will post here and Tweet about it as soon as it's ready...gotta finish Taxes first, ug!

In hopes of having some income to order supplies with, I am having my first ever BOGO SALE in my Etsy store! Buy any item and get another item of equal or lesser value 1/2 off!! This sale lasts through April 18th, so hurry!

A Month of Ups and Downs...and Downs and Ups!

At the beginning of this month, our little town was facing something big...the local mine, which had been booming and prospering to unprecedented proportions, was caving in to the growing economy crisis. Layoffs were announced, over 1500, which was about 1/3 of our town (give or take). As Feb. 2nd got closer, there were even rumors that disgruntled people were going to start trouble to the extent that the National Guard would be called in. Fortunately it didn't come to that, but a mass exodus has begun. So sad to see truckloads of people hoping to find opportunity elsewhere. Many of our friends have been affected too. Some have gone to other towns within the state, some to Colorado, and some to New Mexico. My husband thought that his department, which deals in Vibration Technology and Preventative Maintenance, wouldn't be affected, but unfortunately it was shut down, and he was laid off too.

We, like several others, have decided to stay in the area if at all possible, so we had planned to use his layoff as an opportunity to take care of things around the house that had been put off. Things were shaping up pretty good, and he was planning on Auxiliary Pioneering, as we call setting aside extra time in the month to share Bible truth with our neighbors, for the first time. Then the phone rang...apparently knocking out the department hadn't been such a good idea after all. His boss wants him back on Monday. Go figure! We are thankful he has a job, especially as hard as they are to find right now. But I have to admit a teeeeensy bit of sadness that "the old grind" has to take up so much of his time again already! We were getting used to having him around! OK, I'm just a little weird. So, a bittersweet sigh of relief here in our house!

In my employment news, in spite of Tweeting profusely, Free Shipping has not brought the droves of people to my store that I thought it would, and I think I am going to have to branch out to keep my business up. Potpourri just isn't a necessity in these uncertain times! I have made a couple of trades, which I think is great! Like the old days, when you could pay the doctor with a chicken or two! Imagine trying to do that now, lol! Anyhoo....I have started making Bath Salts, and will soon begin creating Sugar Scrubs and the like. So, you heard it here first, my new studio at Artfire (http://paradisepotpourri.artfire.com/) will soon feature many new botanical Bath Salts, Scrubs, and fizzies!

Megzy and I are also stocking up our eBay store, and getting ready to part with some former treasures. People still need clothes, right? So, we will keep listing and hopefully help our families by doing something that just may be helping others in a small way too! http://stores.ebay.com/paradisepotpourriglobalbizarre?refid=store

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/

New Items at our eBay Store!!

Finally! In our excitement and enthusiasm over our crafty success with our various Etsy stores, Megan and I have both sadly neglected our original endeavor on eBay, Paradise Potpourri Global Bizarre! This store features mostly good quality used clothing for the whole family. In our troubled economy, people are looking for their favorite brands at lower prices. One of the best ways to do this is to find them Gently Used! Our inventory is very low now, but on its way back up, so add us to your eBay favorites, and maybe you will see something just your style pop up soon! http://stores.ebay.com/paradisepotpourriglobalbizarre?refid=store We accept most reasonable offers, too, so be sure to check it out!

Sticking my toe in the water.....

Well, I've gone and broadened my horizons...sort of! I decided to try the Free account on Artfire! You can see my new shop here: http://paradisepotpourri.artfire.com/

So far I have only listed 2 items which are also in my Etsy store, but I think I will list more gift sets and different combinations here for now. The free account allows for only 10 items anyway, so it will be a good way to try it out and see if I have enough fans to justify upgrading. If you have any suggestions, please let me know what you think!

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!

My First Alchemy Request!

You may have seen the Bride and Bridesmaid Dress Sachets in my shop...I just love them, they are so elegant! I will now admit to you dear blog readers (prepare for a shock!) that I *gasp* purchased these sachets pre-made, and the Rosebud Wedding Throw that comes in them is the handmade by me part. Believe me, if I tried to sew anything like this, it wouldn't be pretty...maybe it could be used as a dishrag or something! Anyway, the sachets are only available in limited colors, much to my disappointment, and my customers I'm sure who have wondered if they could have them to match their wedding party. This exact quandry came up a few weeks ago when I was asked to make some in a deep plum/eggplant purple. Sadly, my supplier only offers Lavender. Somehow, my brain kicked into gear and I decided to try dyeing some white ones!

OK, this sounds simple right? Ummm, no. As it turns out, polyester satin is notoriously difficult to dye! After coming up with some very off-looking lavender ones using Rit Dye, I called up Dharma Trading Company. They gave me some numbers to enter into a computer every 108 minutes, and voila! Nothing. OK, not really....but they did give me some great pointers and I was able to purchase some special dye for polyester fabric (and I didn't have to fight off any polar bears or involve any smoke monsters!)

Sadly, even this special dye has not proven foolproof, but I am learning. The fabric has little variations that can show up as spots or even streaks. The bows are glued on and come off in the dyeing process (insert dyeing humor here!) Fortunately that part is easily remedied! The ones you see above are not the final product...when I give them their last dye bath (they need to be one shade darker), iron them (i hate ironing more than Smoke Monsters!) and glue the bows back on, I will post the photo here and it will show up in my Sold Alchemy Items...woo hoo!!

I am getting braver and I think that I will be willing to try new colors in the future...so if you have a special occasion coming up, let me know if you would like me to create some spectacular sachets for your lovely day! Of course, if your colors are pink, white, light blue, hot pink, maroon or ivory...let me know and they're already a done deal! ;) You can see some of them on my flickr page, in my shop, or in the slideshow on the right side of this page!

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!

Discoveries!

Well, I was wrong about selling my very last Mocha Java sachet...I went to my workshop to start the new batch, and discovered 2 more large ones and 3 small ones! One of them even had a keychain charm on it, so I will be photographing that one and listing it ASAP! I still started the new batch, because I'm really excited about adding the red color to it. I know there are alot of fans of the "just brown" batch too though, so now I can have something for everyone! Feel free to leave me a comment with your personal opinion here if you want :)

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!

Yet Another Treasury West!

Wow, Treasury West was wide open this morning...down to 134 lists! I really didn't have a good plan, but when Megzy called whilst I was contemplating this and informed me that she was making a list of her own, I couldn't resist! This time I decided on jewelery, but a few other items crept in which are very jewel-like...see for yourself!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=20222

Here's a link to Megzy's list, it's so gorgeous, I love the colors!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=20190

Aaaahhhhh...There's Nothing Like a Soothing Bath!!!

As a busy mom, homemaker, Etsy Artisan, and all that other stuff person, I don't get much time to myself. I have a huge bathtub which has substituted as a storage area in our main bathroom for waaaay too long now. (don't worry, we also have a separate shower, LOL!) Yesterday I dug out all of the unnecessary clutter and put some of my Sensational Soothing Bath Tea to the test! It definitely lived up to its name, and my husband was most impressed with the lovely scent and soft skin that resulted from my "me time". I used the method most often recommended for the bath tea...steep the sachet in about 4 cups boiling water for 10 minutes, and then add it to the bath water. The sachet makes a wonderful body scrubber, exfoliating and washing more of the herbal blend onto fresh, clean skin! If you haven't experienced herbal Bath Tea yet, you are in for a treat! Here is a link to Sensational Soothing Bath Tea from Paradise Potpourri: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11664372 and if you love Lavender, here is our Stress Relief Bath Tea! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12323952

Working on New Things...

Whew! I decided to take advantage of the overcast day and clean out my workroom (aka storage shed) this morning. It also helped that my boys decided to put on their Superman costumes and have a Lois and Clark marathon...don'tcha love DVD boxed sets of TV shows? :) Anyway, I found several little gift containers that I had forgotten about, intending to use them for presents at one time or another. It seems such a waste to let them just sit in there not being used, so I began experimenting with gift sets for the store. I am thinking of grouping them in scent themes, such as Lavender, Rose, etc. in a re-useable container. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see!

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!

Welcome to my Etsy Potpourri Blog!

Hi! Thanks for visiting my little corner of cyberspace ;) I started this blog to tell everyone about my Etsy store, Paradise Potpourri. You can check it out by clicking here - http://paradisepotpourri.etsy.com I create scents to bring cheer and delight to any room in your home, your office, or even your car! I also have a plethora of other ideas, so I will post here regularly for the latest!

Please take a moment to vote in my poll, and if you have something you'd like to see in my shop, or a comment to share, feel free to drop me a line here!