It's been a long weekend, complete with a fourteen hour film festival hosted at our house (Hobbitpalooza - all three extended editions of the Lord of the Ring movies, with 8 meals/snacks served throughout the day), an afternoon tea and crafty gift-swap with friends, and a brainstorming meeting with the crew for WhedonFest 2010. Also, a weekend-long visit from my daughter's boyfriend.

We had a great time, saw lots of friends, including some we don't get to see very often, and ate TONS of delicious food. :) The downside is that the prep for all this took up much of my week, so I just now got around to posting some new products.

I have "Tub Treats" available at the Stones River Market now, and hope to get them posted on Etsy soon. (In the mean time, if you're interested and not local to me, just email me for an order).

Tub Treats are currently available in a selection of 5 "flavors" (scents - don't eat them): spa day - a relaxing and refreshing scent that reminds my friend Squiddie of a day at the spa, sleepytime - pure lavender scent for relaxing at bedtime, spicy-fresh - created for an online friend who loves ginger, citrus fresh - just a blend of citrus essential oils for a refreshing and energizing scent, and scarborough faire - herbal essential oils blend just like the song (but without the parsley).

Each tub treat is about 1/2 an ounce of cocoa & mango butters with some added vitamin E and essential oils for scent. They're relaxing and moisturizing and would make a great addition to a gift bag!

New market place

I've just been added to the Stones River Market. You can check out the website here, and if you're local to Murfreesboro, I'd suggest checking them out. It's like a cross between a farmer's market and a CSA program. You sign in once a week, select exactly what you want from the various growers in the area, and submit your order. A few days later you go to the pick up location, give them cash or a check for your total order, and bring home all your locally raised, grown, made, or baked goodies. We ordered from them last week and came home with some turkey, ground beef, fresh veggies, homemade jams, and a garlic/herb focaccia that was quite tasty. :)

They have a bath & body section too, which includes my current items and another person who makes soaps and body scrubs and such. I'm really excited about this as both a seller and a customer, so be sure to check them out. And if you're close by and thinking about ordering something from me, this is a good way to do it without having to deal with etsy.

Finally Blogging - aka A Year in Review

Okay, It's been more than a year since the post about having my products available at Mesh.

In that time, I've added new items, many of which are available at Mesh and Brocade Nashville for those who are local. I have begun selling in an etsy shop, though so far only to people I already know online. While I can't even begin to express my thanks to those loyal customers, I do admit I'm hoping to gain interest from other etsy shoppers soon.

For whomever is reading this, in case you don't already know, my current line of products includes:

• two aromatherapy oil blends which can be used topically, in an oil burner, added to a steamer or hot bath, added to unscented body wash.
• an essential oil fortified massage oil developed with natural muscle relaxants according to common essential oil resources.
• a variety of scented and unscented lip smoothers in traditional lip balm tubes.
• two aromatherapy room sprays.
• a variety of bath teas made up of all natural (and some organically grown) herbs, botanicals, and salts.
• a selection of sugar scrubs including moisturizing oils, and exfoliating sugar and ground herbs or other natural ingredients.

I have a few things currently in development and/or testing.

1. all natural laundry soak for handknit items. I've done lots of research on other handknit soaks, homemade laundry detergents and fabric softeners, and beneficial fragrances and developed this all natural, no-rinse, fabric softening, gentle cleansing soak for hand knit items. I've used it on a number of my own items so far and have been quite pleased with it as a cleaning and softening agent. I have high hopes for it - now I just need to figure out the name. :)
2. tub treats. I made one batch that seemed to be successful, and were raved about by the recipient, but the batches done since then have not held their shape. I'm now checking other sources and trying out a few recipes in the hopes of making it work again. When they finally work, they'll be a great item for adding moisture and pleasing scents to a nice long soak in the tub.
3. body butters. I have made a few of these in very small batches and they were well received. Some are just moisturizing like any body butter, and others have been reported to help with the itching of extremely dry skin, preventing chapped/cracked hands during the winter, and even helping with psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis. Now it's time to start making larger batches so I can get those out to the boutiques and in the etsy shop.
4. aroma-balms. I plan to take the headache oil and calming oil and begin offering both in semi-solid balm form, presented in a standard lip-balm tube for easy application and a much safer (less chance for leakage or mess) carrying system.

So far, this is still very much at the hobby level, but interest is building and the word is spreading. I'll be trying to update much more regularly now as I make Crafting Balance part of my "work at home" schedule. I'd love to hear from people here, with comments, questions, ideas, suggestions, or whatever else you'd like to say!

I'm in a Shop!

So, after a few years of trying various craft forms in various gathering/convention/show situations with very little luck, I am now honored enough to have some of my herbal products offered for sale at Mesh, a local boutique with a wide variety of locally produced arts, crafts, home decor, clothes, bath items, and more, as well as refurbished furniture and various organic goods.

I've just placed the order for more ingredients so I can put together a second batch of Sore Muscle Bath Tea for them soon. I managed to pick up a few other ingredients as well, because I have a Rejuvenating Beauty Bath Tea I want to try out, and some aromatherapy oils that can be used in a room diffuser, as a massage oil, or in the bath. I think these can sell well, and I'm planning to offer them initially in a set of 3-4 different scents, 4 oz. bottles of each.