Local Produce

I took a little trip to a local produce market trying to get a heads-up on my experiment. This is what I found. I also located a couple u-pick farms close by. I hope to go to one of them sometime next week.

Digital Camera Recommendations

Help me out please, fellow bloggers. I need to buy a digital camera but have no idea of brand. Any recommendations? Pros & cons?

TIA!

Peppermint EO

Mentha piperita
Extraction method: Steam Distilled
Perfumery note: Top

Peppermint (IMO) is one of the most versatile essential oils available. A very recognizable scent, as well as, flavoring. I find that I use peppermint quite often and not just for blending. The cooling effect is very soothing, especially in the summer months and is great in muscle rubs. A component of the chemical makeup of peppermint is menthol, which is what gives it it's cooling effect. It is found in many products like toothpaste and shampoos.

Initial thoughts:

Cool (sometimes cold), sweet, fresh, strong, sharp

Color evoked by the fragrance:

Blue! So often I see bath & body products that have peppermint notes and they're colored with red coloring, I guess resembling the candy. I always see blue when I think of peppermint.

Blends well with (short list):

Anise

Bergamot

Eucalyptus

Fir

Lemon

Orange

Safety precautions:

Possible skin irritant, always use diluted. Should be avoided by pregnant women and not used on children under age seven. Avoid using nears eyes.

Side note: Works great as an additive to bath water. DO NOT, however, use more than about a teaspoon in a full bath (just my personal recommendation). Better yet use the hydrosol, unless you want a really cool bath. No make that a cold bath. Because peppermint is soooooo cooling you could really freeze your tush off in warm/hot water. OK not really but it feels like it.

{grumble}took me an hour to warm up.

Support Local Farming Project Part 2

Here's my plan. I want to try this starting August 1 through 31.

1. Weekly shopping at local farmer's and produce markets
2. Purchase only what is grown locally
3. Track my purchases and compare to what is found (that I'd normally buy) in supermarkets
4. Track savings
5. Post weekly updates and maybe a photo of dishes I prepared (that is if it's photo-worthy lol)

Pretty simple really. Of course I'm sure I'll be limited in what I can get but that's all part of this experiment. Also I live in Michigan so I also would like to know what I can preserve for the winter months.

What I have on hand that I'm growing myself:

• basil
• rosemary
• dill
• peppermint
• spearmint
• chocolate mint
• ginger mint
• strawberries
• lemon verbena
• lemon balm
• pineapple sage

That's it really. I started late with my planting this year so I'm really low in choices. But that's OK. There are several farms around and some are U-pick.

If you'd like to join and have me to post your update I'd be happy to. Should be interesting!:)

Support Local Farming Project

There's an experiment I have been wanting to do: only shop locally for produce. I'd like to document the varitey of items I can get locally and how it affects my finances. I read about someone doing this months ago (sorry I don't recall the blog) and had planned on giving it a try myself. Well the time has finally come and I will begin this experiment on August 1 for one month. If anyone wants to join in on this I'd be more than happy to post your results as well.

More details to come...

Etsy Organic Street Team

There is a new Etsy street team for sellers of organic goods!

Etsy Organic

What's it all about?

• promoting an organic & sustainable lifestyle
• promoting organic handmade goods
• sharing of information, resources and industry updates, based on organic industry standards
• increasing the number of organic goods in Etsy shops

If you're interested in joining please come over to the Etsy Organic Flickr group. All team criteria is listed there.

Cristina Amador & Cabisuteria

How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I've been a crafter my entire life, I didn't always make jewelry, but I was always looking for a creative outlet. I started with the jewelry four and a half years ago and it's been a very nice journey. I decided to start selling because it seemed to me that I could try to make some money off my jewelry making hobby and it turns out that people liked my creations a lot!

What inspires you to create?
Everything, I can see a beautiful color combination in a fabric, the shape of a leaf in my backyard or a gorgeous chandelier in a restaurant. I am a very visual person, so everything I see inspires me in what I do.

How do you organize your time?
It's hard sometimes, because I want to spend all my time in my studio creating. But I try to balance it out with working on my thesis project, which thankfully it's jewelry related, and with the marketing side of the business: taking pics, uploading them to my site, answering emails, etc. The tutorial making is really fun for me, I take my own pics so it can be challenging at times, but the end result makes it totally worth it. Teaching someone how to create and then receiving an email from them about how they can make nice pieces of jewelry because of your tutorial is priceless!

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
I try to be an active member of the jewelry forums and by active I don't mean a spammer! I offer my sincere critique and help where I can give it. I also learn a lot from the other members as well. You can find my tutorials in my etsy shop cabisuteria and my jewelry in my site cristinaamador.com .

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009?
I am planning on doing a two day Open House for the Christmas Holiday Season, hopefully I can create enough inventory for that. I also want to write at least two more tutorials. For 2009 I want to keep writing tutorials, try to get my jewelry into some shops and galleries and maybe get to teach live workshops.

Diary 2009 Project - Deadline Extended

There are still a few dates left for fantazya's project. It's a great promotional tool. Check out her blog for full details and contact information. The deadline is now set for July 25, 2008.

A Visitor & A Little Inspiration

I had to run errands one morning and upon my return home I saw this little guy hanging out by my garage door. He (she, it?) stayed there all day.

I found the color to be so soothing that I decided to try and bring that color into a batch of soap. These bars are scented with essential oils of lemongrass, fresh ginger, rosemary, clove, black pepper, fir needle, juniper berry and nutmeg absolute.

Jealousy Jewels by Tracy

How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I have been crafting for as long as I could remember... As a child I was a member of the local 4H Club and always took the crafts class, which my grandmother taught! Crafting runs in my blood! As I grew up, I continued to take art & craft and sewing classes throughout junior high and high school. As an adult, I still love crafts of all sorts, but my favorites are scrap-booking and designing Jewelry, of course! I was turned on to designing jewelry, when I volunteered to help a friend’s mother make jewelry for her daughters wedding. I loved it, and haven’t stopped since! I always received a lot of compliments on my jewelry from friends and even strangers, people were always asking where I “bought” my jewelry, so I decided to sell it!

What inspires you to create?
I get my inspiration from many aspects of my life and the fashion world! The serene landscapes that surround me, living in California and the playfulness of my children are often an inspiration! I also like to pay close attention to the fashion world and take what fits my style!

How do you organize your time?
Organizing my time can sometimes be difficult! I try to make specific time slots to work in my “business” stuff and new designs, plus I fit it in whenever I have any free time! Especially the networking piece of it, which can be fun and emotionally rewarding!

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
I try to promote my work, whenever I can! I purchase banner ads on websites that I feel fit with the style and personality of my work, and I network every chance I get! I also love to do interviews about my work and shop and participate in giveaways. My work can currently be found on my website at JealousyJewels.com, on Etsy at Jealousyjewels.etsy.com, theknot.com and on Silkfair.

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009?
I would like to expand my line to boutiques both locally and throughout the United States and to increase my overall sales and number of customers.

Unscented Oatmeal Soap

I made this 2 days ago and cut yesterday. It is unscented soap made with ground oatmeal. Sometimes you just want a scent free soap with a little additive to help soothe the skin. It turned out well and is on the curing rack. It contains oils of coconut, olive, castor & wheat germ, along with cocoa butter. Aside from the oatmeal there are no other additives.

Brianna Belle: Handcrafted Jewelry and Vintage Finds

I'm a twenty three year old african-american business woman! I've always been very interested in fashion and creating my own style, and I have a lot of ideas about changing the fashion industry to be more inclusive: to make things more affordable, more size friendly, and unique. I'm a plus sized woman myself, so I understand how difficult it can be to find affordable, chic clothing, especially in vintage shops, so, I do make finding plus sized vintage pieces as much as a priority as making high quality jewelry.


How long have you been crafting and what made you decide to sell?
I've been crafting pretty much all my life. My mom and aunt inspired me because they constantly made their own decorations for different holidays and it was something I got to do with them as a sort of girl's night thing. Around high school and college, I started out making my own clothes, trinket boxes and jewelry. I tried to sell some of my trinket boxes via livejournal, but nothing sold, so I was discouraged and quit. I discovered the handmade wares on etsy.com, just as a buyer for a while, and then after taking some time off from college and having some financial freedom, I decided to open my own shop. It took about two weeks for me to realize that I wanted to turn my crafty hobby into a real business and move into the brick and mortar world someday.

What inspires you to create?
I'm inspired by modern and vintage fashion, as well as what I want to wear. I see things in catalogs or on celebrities that I like and think to myself, "wow, I can make that", or "I can make something that looks just as good or better and make it available for other people for a low price".

How do you organize your time?
Since I just opened my store, I spend a lot of my time promoting. I would say that I spend six days a week doing something for my store. I'm either running around myspace, facebook, livejournal or the etsy forums trying to increase visibility of my store. I am slowly but surely creating new products and when I do create new pieces, I spend about two hours a day working on them.

How do you promote your work and where can we find it?
I promote my work via livejournal from my blog there: http://briannabelle.livejournal.com/ Also, from the myspace associated with my store: myspace.com/shopbriannabelle

What are your business plans for the remainder of 2008?
Before the year is up, I would like to increase my sales and have a steadily growing customer base. I'll be honest, I genuinely bust my butt in terms of promotion. I do everything I possibly can to get my name out there, and I do feel like all the hard work will pay off before 2009.

Rosemary EO

Rosmarinus officinalis
Extraction method: steam distilled
Perfumery note: middle

Rosemary is commonly grown and used not only as a seasoning for food but also for its therapeutic and fragrant properties. I will only be focusing on the extracted oil used for fragrance purposes. It would be reckless on my part, however, if I didn't at least make note of the safety precautions of rosemary essential oil.

• Avoid during pregnancy
• Do not use if you suffer from epilepsy
• Do not use if you have high blood pressure

Initial thoughts:
Green, fresh, herbaceous, sharp, medicinal, very slightly sweet

Throughout the day the green and sweet notes dissipate and it becomes more sharp and medicinal with a slight pine note.

Compared to fresh rosemary the EO is not as sweet with the fresh herb not as medicinal.

Color evoked by the fragrance: green

Blends well with (short list):
citruses
geranium
ginger
peppermint
spearmint
tea tree

Look What's Growing

This is my very small patch of strawberries. I wasn't sure if I'd get any at all but look at what's growing. :) Next year I'll have to plant more.

Strawberry seed oil, an emollient, is a source of anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids. It may be included in skin care products, mainly for dry and/or damaged skin.

Diary 2009 Project

This is such a neat project run by fantazya. It's a great promotional tool. It looks as if there are still a few spots available. Check out her blog for full details and contact information. The deadline is set for July 15, 2008.

"Feature Artists Promo and A Giveaway" Winner Is...

aweso

Congratulations and thank you all for participating in this giveaway! :)

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Timestamp: 2008-07-04 01:26:06 UTC