Whew, that was a close one.

OK, so this past 4 weeks has been, well, interesting. I ended up in the hospital suffering 2 strokes from a severely torn artery. I came very close to not making it…..scary stuff. I have been in serious healing mode the last month and figuring out what I can and cannot do. I have had to slow myself way down (very, very hard for me as I am a multi-tasking queen) and tell myself that I cannot do everything all the time. My hope is that I can parlay this thinking into creativity and, most importantly, calmness. I have still been pouring a few candles here and there, but haven’t been back to the blending of my lovely perfumes. I hope to get back to that next week after a short vacation to the Oregon Coast. I am feeling much better. Just the anesthesia alone kicked my behind! Thanks for the words of support and love. Will be back to some more blogging soon. I have some new perfumes to list as well on my Rebel & Mercury Etsy shop.

Some mid-Summer yummies!

Wow, a month has gone by since my last post. Whew! I have been a busy gal. I wanted to share some new product info with you as they will be out very soon. First,  "Corbieres" perfume will be ready to sell by end of next week. This blend is my tribute to the beautiful notes of the wines that come from Corbieres (an appellation in the Languedoc region of France). The grapes grown here are known for their hints of Currant, Cocoa and various spices. I have blended 3 types of Ginger, Cardamom, Saffron, Black Currant and Cocoa for a rich, complex, fruity and spicy perfume. I love how it reminds me of a full-bodied, slightly sweet red wine. I am also finishing the newest candle in the Just For Fun line called "Biscotti". This is a really fun blend that has generous amounts of Almond, Ginger, Vanilla and topped of with some sparkling Lemon. Another great Summer candle and just sweet enough to satisfy those dessert lovers. As my cream perfume solids are becoming more and more popular, I am expanding that line to include a gorgeous Tuberose solid. This Tuberose is an intensely sweet single note perfume that will wear perfectly alone or layered with other natural perfumes. As with my other blends, the raw beeswax adds a lovely depth and honey note. The old votives are almost gone and the labels for the 2 ounce tins are in the works. I am excited for the new size as there is less packaging involved and less to throw away! They will be super portable and refillable. So, mid-Summer is packed with new goodies. Stay tuned for them coming in the next 2 weeks!

Some improvements!

After feedback from customers over the past year, I have decided to discontinue my 1.5 ounce votives (seen above) for more practical 2 ounce travel tins. While the votives have been a good seller for me, I think you will enjoy being able to just light these candles and go. You won't have to search for a holder that fits or worry about an uneven burn. The tins will be a bit bigger in volume as well so you will get more candle! I will be phasing out the votives in the next month and introducing the tins at the end of the summer. If you are interested in buying the remaining votives I have a nice discount, then email me at info@gabrielsaunt.com or leave a comment here. I have 50 or so votives in stock in various scents. I am excited to make this improvement and think you will love the new size option!

Spring Shopping Event this Saturday Courtesy of Etsy Rain!

I don't know about you, but I am all about Spring right now. The smells, the plants, getting out there and getting your hands dirty (if only I had a garden right now). Oh, and SHOPPING for stuff! For those of you in Seattle, you get a great opportunity this Saturday to grab some amazing stuff for Mother's Day or just to celebrate Spring. If you have an Etsy addiction like I do, you have will be able to experience a ton of Etsy sellers for the big Etsy Rain show Saturday, May 8th from 11am-5pm. Come to the Intiman Theater at the Seattle Center for amazing products and art. This is the time and place to shop! I will be there with all my newest candles and perfumes plus all the favorites. Look for me in the downstairs lobby. The first 50 people in the door Saturday receive a SWAG bag filled with Etsy goodies! Bring your Mom for a fun-filled day of shopping or just come pick up some great stuff for yourself. Happy Spring!

A great event!

Thanks to all that showed up at the NorthWest Cellars Trunk Show this past Saturday. It was a lot of fun and I can still taste the amazing wines and chocolates! I was really excited to debut some new candles and perfumes there: "Currant" with Currant, Vanilla and Yuzu, "Lokum" with Lemon, Rose and Mint and "Torte" with Almond, Frangipani and Amber. They went over so well! Thanks to Betsey with EllieBluebell for coordinating this event with NorthWest Cellars. I had a great time. I have posted some pics from my table so enjoy and see you at the Etsy Rain event on May 8th!

Another Round of April Sales and Specials!

Get your Spring on this weekend! I am offering Free Shipping on all orders from Friday, April 16th-Sunday, April 18th in my Etsy shop. Try my new Spring and Summer scents, like "Torte" perfume or candle with Frangipani and Almond or Summer Love Perfume with Orange Blossom, Jasmine and Magnolia. Freshen things up a bit and stop by!

Going Loco for Local Artists

If you follow me on Twitter, then you know I have started Tweeting almost daily with New and Random Etsy Shop Local finds. I open up the "Shop Local" section from the front page of Etsy and just click on a shop that looks new and interesting to me. I have found some AMAZING local artists I never knew existed. So, this will be a weekly (sometimes daily) thing from now on. I want to support my fellow local artists all over Western Washington. I am also hoping to do a weekly or monthly feature here on my blog of local artists. If you are a Western Washington artist and would like to be featured here, then let me know. If you are not following me on Twitter, then do! Would love to have you!

Turn The Lights Out

Tonight, people all over this planet will take one hour to give our planet a much needed rest from electro-magnetic waves. Turning off lights, computers or unplugging electrical appliances or devices are all ways we give Planet Earth a nice break. Being a candle maker, I definitely enjoy this time to light my candles, meditate and just enjoy the quiet darkness. I encourage you to go through your house and turn off everything you can, light a naturally-scented, 100% beeswax or soy (or unscented) candle from your local natural foods store (or.....from me if you have one) and turn things off tonight!

Moms, Dads and Grads!

Join NW Cellars and me, Gabriel's Aunt, for a Moms, Dads, and Grads artisan trunk show on Saturday April 24th from 12-5pm! The winery will host local craftspeople so you can get your spring and early summer gift list taken care of.

Taste NW Cellars wines, sample bites from Hot Buns Bakery, and shop for local, handmade goods from Ellie Bluebell Designs paper and herbal goods, Handcrafted Carolyn jewelry, and Gabriel's Aunt candles and scents and more!

NW Cellars will be featuring their Rescue Red (2005 Merlot). 20% proceeds of this wine goes to the Seattle Humane Society.

So spread the word and come to Kirkland for some great shopping and amazing food and local crafts.

You did it your way!

OK, I have finally listed a custom candle option on Etsy. If you want the chance to create your own candle blend, now you got it! Pick 3 oils from the list and make a special blend just for you.

All candles will be in my round 8oz. glass holders that will burn for around 60 hours. So, go do it your way!

Three is a magic number, Yes it is, it's a magic number

Wow, lately there have been so many great giveaways via Facebook and the Blogosphere. I love connecting with my fans via these mediums and, heck, want to give something away too! Well, my fan count is going up every week, little by little and getting ever-closer to 300! So, to celebrate this forthcoming goal, I will give away a $30.00 gift "card" to use on my website or Etsy shop to one lucky Facebook fan. So, tell your friends. Tell your family! Just become a fan of Gabriel's Aunt on Facebook and you are entered.

You like me, you really like my stuff!

OK, with any business, you cannot survive if you have a bad product right? Well, you also cannot survive trying to make something that everyone will like. Your company would go bankrupt at some point and your employees (and you) would become frustrated and lose focus. When you are a small business owner like me and make your products with your own little hands, well, customer satisfaction takes on a whole different meaning. Why? Because we want everyone to love our products to the point of fanaticism or our worlds come crashing down around us. OK, maybe that is just me, but I think you get my point. Artists/Crafters take all the feedback, good and bad, to mean that you don't like us or our stuff or you do. It is very hard to separate and only seasoned business owners realize the difference. There is no way to please everyone. Even if your product is flawless! So, this brings me to my point. How, as a customer or business owner, do you like to obtain or give feedback? Surveys? Asking for feedback after a purchase with an email? Etsy gives you the option with every sale or purchase to leave feedback as well as Ebay. How important is feedback and is it always constructive? Would love to hear your comments.

Check out Scent Hive's Reviews of my products

One of my very favorite bloggers, Trish with Scent Hive, has written two lovely reviews of my candles and perfumes. Royal Couple (with Rose and Jasmine notes) candle and cream perfume solid plus Venasque perfume with Cocoa, Jasmine and Lavender are all reviewed there. Trish also has her own OpenSky shop where she sells natural perfumes and natural products she, herself, uses and stands behind. Check out her blog and leave a comment there if you have tried my Royal Couple or Venasque.

Getting back to Blogging!

Hi all! It's been since October since I have blogged and now that my lovely friend Lena has fixed some snaffoos on here, I am going to be blogging again!

So, a quick update: I have a couple of new products in the works as we speak getting ready for an early Spring release. (1) My Violet/Cedar/Cognac perfume blend is getting closer to done. I am really excited about this one. It is so earthy, dry and takes my senses to a base instinct place. (2) Working on a cherry blossom/honey/almond accord. I have wanted to do this for a long time and after a few requests for this type of scent (plus the fact that I adore almond/cherry blossom); I am getting things in motion. (3) Frangipani candle will be the next Just For Fun blend. Gorgeously floral, intensely sweet and perfect to get Spring started. I estimate that by Mid-March I will have 2 of the 3 items ready to go.

I look forward to releasing more products soon and getting your feedback!

Glad to be back and blogging!

BLOG IS UNDER SOME CONSTRUCTION FOR NOW

I am working on getting the blog re-done and so I won't be posting here. For all updates, please visit my Facebook Fan page. I will post all new products, sales and Holiday show info there.

I do have my Holiday scents listed: Under The Tree and Harvest are now available. Time to shop for your Holiday candles folks!

Will post here shortly!

Nikki

ArtFire Studio is now open!

All you ArtFire lovers out there can now shop for my products! I just opened up my ArtFire Virtual Studio today and hope you will come and visit me. I only have a few products listed for the moment, but hope to get more up there soon. Do you have an ArtFire Studio? Do you shop on ArtFire.com? Let me know by posting a comment here. I would love to know!

Check out Gabriel's Aunt now on ArtFire.com

Come join my Gabriel's Aunt Facebook Page

Hi everyone! I just created a Gabriel's Aunt Facebook page so stop by and become a fan. I will be posting special discounts and news there (as well as here) so check it out.

Bohem is now ready and listed in my Etsy shop!

I am finally finished with my new Parfum called Bohem.  Bohem was inspired by incense, woods, and other earthy notes.  A few notes in this blend are Tobacco, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Allspice, Cassie and Davana.  This is a really long lasting blend that just seems to get better as the hours go on.  The earthy notes on the skin are so prevalent, but the Cassie and Davana round it out so that it isn't too intense.  I only have a sample listed now, but will have the full size 1/4 oz. roll on listed soon.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.  I also just got some gorgeous Amber resin in and will be working on an Amber based blend over the next few weeks.  Enjoy!!!

Check out Bohem in my Etsy shop

Three Little Words

Well, it is officially that time of year again when the New Year has begun and we are all trying to keep resolutions and then possibly blow them be the end of the month. Oh, it also that time of year for thinking about the ones that you love. St. Valentine's Day is just over a month away and so that means I am bringing back my very popular trio of sensual and aphrodisiac oil filled candles.  "Three Little Words"™ is the trio candle gift set I created several years ago hoping to create a different and unique way to confess or express your love. So, I started with finding oils that helped convey that emotion by stirring our passion, aka, aphrodisiac oils.  I created 3 candles that each contained at least one of these oils and knew I was on the right track. Then I needed a clever phrase for the package and since I had created three unique blends at that point I focused on three words: I Love You. Well, that makes sense! What could make it better? Well, burning them together and having each one symbolize those words and the phrase as a whole. Each candle can be burned separately, of course, but are so much better together. Here are the three blends originally created for this package:

"Slow Dance" for "I" with Sandalwood, Patchouli and spices

"Afternoon Nap" for "Love" with Black Pepper and Lavender

"Sweethear" for "You" with Ylang Ylang and Nutmeg

All three candles come poured in a 3oz. glass holder and will last 30-35 hours each. They come wrapped in a white gift box and are ready to give to your loved one.  Each one of these scents is available in all my regular sizes year 'round and available on my website and in my Etsy shop.

Check out this gorgeous package

OMG! Chocolate Bar is here!!

Now, I have been trying for years to figure out a way to create a chocolate candle that would compete with those synthetic ones out there in strength and uniqueness of scent.  Well, "Chocolate Bar", my brand new candle with Cocoa, Coconut and Mandarin is a hit!  I have been burning one on and off for a week now and just walking in the room when it burning is a treat to my nose and makes me smile. There is no bitterness in the scent like you will find with synthetic chocolate fragrances; just sweet and buttery chocolate with sweet Mandarin making it even yummier. I just listed the 8oz. candle in my Etsy shop today so check it out, tell your friends and stock up on them for the holidays.  It will be a crowd pleaser and comes guilt free! 

Also, a reminder to sign up for my newsletter (click on the logo to the left) and watch for some great deals and coupons coming your way just in time to shop for holiday gifts.