It's been a long time

Wow, I haven't updated this blog in ages. My apologies to anyone who's come here using the url on my biz cards to try to find me! I am no longer actively selling my jewelry items online. My bath & body products have pretty much taken over my life, but I'm working hard to get them under control so I can once again offer both for sale over the internet. I am still making jewelry, I haven't stopped, nor do I intend to, I just haven't had the time to get items posted anywhere in order to sell them.

In the meantime, you can find my jewelry for sale at Brazen Betties, a boutique in Torrington, CT. This is a nice option for local folks to be able to check out the good in person- Julia, the owner, is also playing around with online sales, so anyone not close enough to be able to stop in to her store should be able to purchase WFD goods, eventually. I recommend you follow Brazen Betties on Facebook, as Julia's really good about posting pictures of new deliveries- that may be the best way to keep tabs on what I'm up to, jewelry-wise.

You can find my B&B goods, and eventually, my jewelry, in my Artfire shop, One Hand Washes The Other. Artfire is like Etsy but without the humongous fees for sellers; I quite like it there :)

You can also follow me on my OHWTO blog, where I post on a less-than-regular but more-often-than-here basis.

Lastly, I am moving out of the state in less than a month. You can follow my progress on that on my OHWTO blog, linked above :) I am hereby resolving to post here more often, even if it's just a couple crappy cellphone pictures of my latest work, so stay tuned!

-B

CT Places: Talcott Mountain

Talcott Mountain state park is located on Rt 185 in between Simsbury and Bloomfield. It's only 1.25 miles from the trail head to the tower, but it's a difficult hike, not for the beginner or people in less-than-ideal health. I believe there may be a back way to get to Heublein Tower which doesn't require as much walking, but I don't have any knowledge of where it is or if that shortcut even exists. I just know I've seen cars up there, and women with strollers up there, when there were no other cars besides mine in the parking area below O.o

Anyway, the trail starts off nicely, then quickly turns into a nearly-vertical rocky slope- there are a couple of benches to sit and rest at on your way up, but it's rough going. Here's some pics I took from the top of the trail, looking down over the Avon valley- my camera battery died before I could get to the tower, so I'll have to go back again and shoot some more pictures another day, but I'll include a stock photo from the DEP website so you can see how cool it is.

CT Places: Fisher Meadows

This is one of my favorite places to go in the Farmington Valley area. There's tons of walking trails, a small playground, picnic tables, some with coverage from the sun, and lots and lots of sports fields, aka, wide open spaces. On the property is a small lake (or maybe it's just a pond?) you can go canoeing or kayaking in, and I'm not sure how the fishing is, but I've seen plenty of people having a go at it. Fisher Meadows is a great place to spend an afternoon, alone or with a group- there's pretty much something here for everyone.
Located right near Route 10, on Old Farms Road in Avon, it's adjacent to the Farmington River, and even has a few trails which will lead you to it. It's officially open from dawn to dusk, though the town of Avon website says that, with permission, you can use the property for camping as well! Check it out if you get the chance- here's some pics from my most recent walk around the pond, where I saw a snapping turtle laying her eggs!! She let me get REALLY close to her- I guess she was too preoccupied with the task at hand to chase me away :)

CT Places: Enders

(This is the first in a series of mostly pictorial posts I'll be making, showcasing many of the mainly natural areas I frequent in this state. I love a good hike, and I imagine many of you might as well. Enjoy!)

Enders State park is located in West Granby, CT on Rte 219. It's like a 15 minute drive from my house and well worth it- the scenery is gorgeous, the uphill/downhill hiking is great exercise, and on hot days it's fun to go swimming in the natural pools at the base of the many falls along the trail. Check it out:

Sweet Anthem: My stash & a mini review

I'm gonna show you guys the awesome perfume collection I have from Sweet Anthem. Sweet Anthem is an artisan perfumery run by Meredith Tucker out of Seattle, Washington. Her fragrances are 100% vegan, and come in either oil or EDP (alcohol-based) spray form. Most of my collection is oils- I've been collecting these for some time now- check out this little stash:

It's really cool seeing the packaging changes she's made over time. The big bottle on the left is Rebecca (my namesake, yay!) from the Autumn '09 collection- it came with the tag tied on with twine, but I took it and ran it through my Xyron sticker maker to make a stick-on label :) The other big bottle is Esther, which I got at the end of January this year after using up almost all of the sample I'd purchased in like 2 weeks' time (I seriously LOVE Esther). You can see how in just a couple months' time the packaging changed, in my opinion, for the better. The tie-on tags were cute but not permanent- I very much prefer the pre-stuck on labels. The sample bottles are all different ages- those really haven't changed much, and that's fine by me.

I'm not going to go into details on each of these scents, at least not today, but feel free to ask if you have any questions about any of the scents you see and I'll do my best to give you my impressions of them. My favorites from above are Esther and Madeline, and of course, Rebecca- I actually have 3 bottles of that LE fragrance stashed away, so I'm set with it for awhile. Oh and Elliot, which is supposed to be for guys but I think it's an awesome women's fragrance :D

Today I got in the mail another package from Miss Meredith, well ahead of the super-long delivery time I had anticipated- her shop announcement, at the time of my purchase, warned of a 30-35 day wait period. I don't mind waiting for an order, so long as I have advance notification, and Sweet Anthem's goods are well worth that kind of wait.

This time I got some EDP sprays, which are a new(ish) addition to her line. They're the cutest little 2mL sprayers (I have these same bottles in my shop, too, I LOVE them) which come with colored labels on them, nestled safely inside the awesomest little slider boxes, tied up with custom-printed "Sweet Anthem" ribbon. The boxes were accompanied by 2 different business cards, placed inside a glassine envelope and sealed with a sticker.

I got: Emily, Corrin, Madeline, and one of the new Spring 2010 fragrances, Lizie. They are all awesome (I already knew Madeline was great but I wanted to try her in an EDP).

• Emily smells like cookies, but grown-up cookies, probably thanks to the sandalwood note. She may be next on my list of scents to buy in a larger bottle, I'm not sure yet. 
•  There's Corrin, which is more of a "perfumey" scent- I detect mainly rose petals and tea after awhile, but the wonderful thing about Sweet Anthem's perfumes is the way they change during wear. At first, Corrin is a sweet berry-like scent and with wear she evolves into something much more, I don't know, mature, I suppose. It's a gorgeous feminine scent for sure. 
• Madeline is a bright, cheery scent that always makes me happy- I love this one. It's citrusy and winey but tempered with woods and a touch of smoke... she's playful but sort of sexy, too. Madeline's a must-try if you're buying from Sweet Anthem, if you ask me.
• Lastly, there's Lizie. I was SO excited when I saw Meredith tweeting about her new spring line and the use of tomato leaf. I LOVE the smell of tomato plants, and tomatoes in general, really. I knew I'd have to try this perfume, and today, I got to. It's herbaceous and green and it blooms into something a bit flowery after awhile- it doesn't smell like tomatoes or tomato plants, which I guess is a good thing, though honestly that wouldn't have bothered me :) As with ALL of Sweet Anthem's perfumes (or the ones I've sniffed, anyway) Lizie has so much more to her than one or two notes and the way she smells when you first apply is a bit different from the way she smells an hour or two later.

One thing I feel I should mention is the fact that I am super-sensitive to perfumes based in alcohol. I can't usually wear them- most give me headaches or burn my skin or both. These 4, in my limited wearing of them today, hasn't hurt my head at all, but my skin is a little irritated where they were applied. I knew that this could happen going into this purchase, and I bought them anyway- I was hoping that I wouldn't react to whatever it is that gets put into perfumer's alcohol that my skin just cannot stand. Plus, the price on the little EDP sprays is lower than it is on the oil samples, so I looked at this as a way to test a few scents without having to spend as much money. Would I buy the EDPs again? Yes- but only as a means to test out new fragrances on the cheap. When I go to buy Emily and Madeline (and Lizie and Corrin...lol) in large bottles, I'll be ordering them in roll-on bottles of perfume oil. Now, I don't want to scare anyone away from trying these, because they're really great. If you can walk into Nordstrom's (or Macy's or whatever department store is near you) and wear any of the mass-produced designer perfumes you find on the counter, these EDPs from Sweet Anthem will be perfectly fine for you. I just have stupidly sensitive skin, and if you do too, then you'll want to start by ordering her perfumes in oils- click here for a link to her oil samples which have, incidentally, never irritated my skin. I'll either fashion myself a perfume locket to use to wear these 4 EDPs with, or I'll just spray them on my clothing instead of directly on my skin. And then when Meredith gets back from her honeymoon and reopens shop I'll grab myself an oil or two in larger bottles because these scents are just amazing.

That's all for now- again, you can feel free to ask any questions about any of the fragrances you saw here in the comments section- or check out her website at http://www.sweetanthem.com/perfume for descriptions and customer reviews. Thanks for reading!

Oh hi

If you're looking for that other post that was here, I moved it. I didn't want it to be the first thing new visitors saw when they came to my blog. If they were only coming here to read that, then they most likely were clicking on an external link which will still bring them right to it anyhow. If you're here looking for it, wondering where it went, go back through my older posts- I backdated it just so it's not on the front page at the very top :) I'm not going to delete it, as I feel the truth should be told, but I don't need to see it every time I come to my blog, either.

I'll be updating this space more frequently now with reviews on stuff I buy- hopefully I'll be able to post only positive things! :D

Movin' out

Heh, too much soapy stuff on this blog as of late, so just as I did when my smelly goods took over the WFD Etsy shop, I've moved it into its own e-space. Look for this blog to return to jewelry-and-accessories related posting, with an emphasis on steampunk couture, and maybe some other fun stuff that's awesome.

If you're here looking for my OHWTO fragrance list, or updates on anything related to that shop, it's here now: http://ohwto.blogspot.com/ (I'll be moving the customer appreciation giveaway post to that blog shortly). See you there!

SNEAK PEEK- New stuff coming soon to OHWTO

That's all for now! I washed with that last soap this morning, by the way- it's a new recipe, with oatmeal and cocoa butter and I actually honestly noticed a difference in the softness of my skin once I toweled off. I had forgotten that this was a different recipe than my usual, and couldn't for the life of me figure out why I felt so SOFT- till I went back through my notes and found that this was the cocoa butter soap recipe I'd come up with a few months ago. Can't wait to add it to the shop!

One Hand Washes The Other= 100 sales and climbing!

In order to celebrate my 100th sale on Etsy, I've decided to have another giveaway! This time, though, it will be a great big THANK YOU to my customers, who have supported my little shop. To enter, all you have to do is add to my shop's sales. Let's see if we can get to 200! Or, dare I say it, 300? Buy a lip balm, buy a year's worth of bath & body stuff, it's up to you. Basically, every purchase from OneHandWashesTheOther on Etsy in the months of April and May will enter you for a chance to win- anyone who's already bought from me this month will be entered automagically, so don't worry about having to buy more stuff just to get a chance to win. You don't even have to read this blog to be entered for a chance to win- just be a recent customer and you're in!

The prize: A USPS Priority Mail $10.95 flat rate box full of goodies from OHWTO, and maybe some other stuff I have from other lovely places (I've been hoarding makeup samples lately and might just share some of my unused ones with you guys) I buy from. Unfortunately, due to the insane costs of shipping internationally, this prize will only be available to my US customers. However, if you live outside the US, don't fret- I thought about it, and since I have SO MANY loyal customers who reside outside the US, I don't want to leave you guys out, so, I will be offering ANOTHER prize, just for non-US residents!! It will be the smaller Priority Mail box, the one that ships outside the US for $13-16, and it'll be packed to the gills with stuff (sadly, my jarred goods just won't fit into one of those boxes, so there'll be no scrubs or whips *sad face*). So, there will be 2 prizes in all, one going to a destination within the US, and one to a foreign land. These boxes are going to be chock full of soaps and whips and scrubs and balms and smells and who knows what else- they'll be prizes worth winning, that's for sure.

So, make sure you tell everyone you know, and make sure to stop by and check out the shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/1HandWashesTheOther No need to comment here for an entry, or tweet about it, or add me on Facebook or Myspace, or any of that stuff, but please, feel free to say hi in the comments below, and spread the word if you're so inclined! Winners will be chosen at random sometime in early June; each individual item listing purchased will count as an entry (sets of solid scents, soaps, etc will count as 1 item), so the more items you buy, the more chances you will have to win. I'll announce the winners' first names and countries here on the blog when they have been selected, and leave it up to them whether they want to say "hi" to you all or not. Since I'm awarding prizes to customers, I won't have to worry about getting email or delivery addresses from anyone, which is going to be mighty convenient. I'll try to post pics of the stuff I"m giving away, just so you guys can see ;) Deadline for qualifying purchases is 11:59:59 pm EST May 31, 2010. This give you guys plenty of time to shop and pick out some awesome stuff. Good luck, and thanks again to all of my lovely customers, without whom this wouldn't be possible- you guys rock!!

Oops, I did it again

So, I've been on a buying spree lately, buying fragrances left and right. I know I keep mentioning my need to CUT BACK on the fragrances I have, but when I read these awesome descriptions I can't help but want to try them all!! So, here's a shortlist of the new scents I've got (and the ones I have on order). I'm still discontinuing the ones I listed before, and will be expanding THAT list soon (in addition to revamping the way my fragrance list is set up), but in their places I've got more olfactory awesomeness, so nobody's going to even miss the scents that are going bye-bye :) Check these out:

- Soft Sandalwood a very true sandalwood scent, it's soft and woody and sensual, perfect for men and women

- Froot Loops this one brings to mind one of our favorite breakfast cereals, it's citrusy and sugary


- Wineberry (a replacement for Berry Wine) a grownup version of a berry scent, the wine note adds a depth to the sweet berries. It smells like you could drink it

- Honey Bee a very sweet honey and powder scent, it's got a strong honey note but there's more to it than that- it's absolutely delicious


- Mango I was going to come up with a clever name for this one but decided against it; it's a true overripe mango scent in which one can almost detect the pit as well as the juicy orange flesh


- Amber Dawn a sensual scent for the ladies, with notes of amber and sandalwood and ambiguous florals


- White Chocolate Raspberry smells just like the name, this one is just plain delicious


- Pineapple a fresh, juicy scent, this is a cross between a real pineapple and an artificial pineapple scent, so you get the tang of a freshly-cut pineapple but the strength in scent that only synthetics can bring; it's yummy


- Peach Nectar this is not the overripe fake smelling peach that most peach-scented products use; this is a true-to-life peach skin and flesh scent, tart and sweet, without being sickeningly sweet.


- White Tea not to be confused with White Tea and Ginger, this is a scent all its own, floral and oriental and soft, very feminine without being one of those overbearing "perfumey" scents


- Chocolate Truffle like a rich chocolate truffle, this is a great chocolate scent for chocolate lovers everywhere

- Orange Peel not just the orange juice, this has the zesty "skin" note you get when cutting into an orange

- Vera Wang Princess (type)

- Blue Sugar (type)

- Nag Champa Renowned for its earthy scent, it contains Juniper, Patchouli and Vanilla. Rose Geranium and Jasmine are also present to give the blend a sweet note.