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!

Honeysuckle and Smoke

OK, so I am going a little nuts right now with the overwhelming amount of scents around me lately. As a perfumer and candle maker, I want to make every good smell into something I can burn or wear on my skin. Several walks through different Seattle neighborhoods have produced a new inspiration for perfume (always a great thing!). One walk, in particular, through the Capitol Hill neighborhood brought together a mix of scents that took me straight to Summertime. It was one of the warmer evenings we have had lately and people were outside grilling and enjoying their evenings. We walked past a group of incredibly fragrant flowering vines; reminiscent of Honeysuckle and then, poof!, a whiff of someone's wood burning grill. I was overwhelmed by the combination of the wood smoke and the sickly-sweet honey and floral combination. As the smoke permeated our clothing and skin, we would pass another of these white-flowering vines and I would get the combination of sweat, skin, wood smoke and honey florals. Amazing and like nothing I have ever experienced. My obsession is now taking the form of my newest perfume. Name is TBD, but it will be an amazing blend. I am hoping to get it finished by the end of the month in time for some of my Spring/Summer events. If anyone knows the name of the gorgeous-smelling white flower, please let me know. I do not have a pic so it will be hard to identify from my post here (the pic above is Honeysuckle) I may try to take a picture of it on the next walk we take as they seem to be everywhere. Hope everyone had a great Easter and Seder.

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!

Free Shipping on all Solid Perfume Creams

Have you tried my cream perfume solids? If not, now is a great time! All 5 will ship for free until Sunday 3/21. You get almost a full ounce of natural, creamy goodness. Each perfume is in a base of raw, local beeswax, organic jojoba oil and sweet almond oil. These creams are fantastic to wear alone or to layer with another natural perfume of your choice. So check out my Etsy shop for more info on the sale and other products! You can read a review of my Royal Couple Cream Perfume Solid here on ScentHive's Blog.

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.

Meditation 101, Inspiration and Desert

About 6 weeks ago, I agreed to, with my BF, start taking meditation classes at a local Buddhist temple. Being the incredibly restless girl that I am, I knew this would be a challenge for me to just be still and observe life around me. Sitting still, turning the thoughts off that drive me to anxiety at times, and letting things come in and just be....these are thing that do not come naturally. I guess they don't to anyone. Well, last night was our last class (at least for this phase of it) and I left wanting to take this practice to a whole other level. I am inspired to calm my mind and live my life being present. Completely present. Now, this takes daily practice of which I am not certain I will complete, but I am going to try. If I fail, I will try again. This leads me to my feelings of inspiration the past few weeks and finishing a blend that has been in my head for some time. My brain and senses have been working overtime with all the early Spring blooming and the need to create is very strong right now. After coming back to my workshop once class was complete, I had the 2nd wind to put the finishing touches on a Violet/Cedarwood/Cognac blend I mentioned in a previous post. I added some Grapefruit, Sage, Myrrh, Champa and Pink Lotus as well as other oils. Most oils in this blend take me to a place of quiet reflection. I imagine sitting in the Desert taking the sounds of the dry earth in and smelling the bits of dirt, sage bush and blooming desert flowers. So, it made sense for me to call this new GA Essence blend, "Desert". It reflects my new found practice of quiet and being present while taking me to a place where you can do this freely. I will be listing this new perfume in the next week. Look for more new products as well!

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

Some safer ways to kill harmful bacteria in your home

There is a lot being said lately about the germs, bacteria and viruses that surround us every day. From the Swine Flu, to Influenza to the common cold, we are taught ways to fight and rid our lives of them so we won't become sick. If you are like me, you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, but you don't want to surround yourself with harmful chemicals or fill your body the newest FDA approved vaccination. You want to do things a bit more naturally. I encourage everyone to go into Fall and Winter with a new way of thinking when it comes to protecting yourself. One scientifically proven method and also very enjoyable one is to burn candles scented with Essential Oils. Specifically, ones with oils like Tea Tree, Lavender, all Citrus oils, Clove, Cinnamon, etc. These oils are proven to kill some of the most beastly of germs. You can also create non-toxic anti-bacteria blends that are skin-safe for your whole family. There are great resources at the library and book store for coming up with some creative and natural ways to combat bacteria. Check out this link that gives you some further detail on how naturally scented candles can do more than make your home smell good.

WEB MD Article on Naturally scented candles here

Weekend Sale!!!! 20% off in my Etsy shop until Monday!

Run, don't walk! I am having a 20% off sale in my Etsy shop this weekend! Starting today until Monday, August 3rd, so shop away! I have lots of fun summertime scents, new perfume and other lovely smelling things for you.

Just put "weekenddeal" in the notes to seller section and shop away!

Visit my Etsy shop now!

Big thanks for the AMAZING review of my Lemon Bar candle on Smellyblog!

I want to say a big thank you to Ayala Moriel Parfums for writing a wonderful and touching review of my Lemon Bar candle on her blog this past weekend. It is an honor to work with her on her candle collection and to receive kudos from someone I really admire. It is a really fun scent to burn in the Summer and I am so happy people are loving it.

Lemon Bar Candle on Gabriel's Aunt.com