Blog Contest - Week 9

At Nature's Gift we have been pleased and excited about hosting this week's contest. The hard part has been trying to decide what to offer as the prize!

We chose Deluxe Personal Inhalers from our new shipment, filled with the winner's choice of several healing synergies.

We'll ship one of these pretty purse-sized inhalers filled with your choice of our SineEase Synergy, for easing sinus pain and congestion, Happy Morning Synergy, recommended for easing the nausea of morning sickness, but also helpful for motion sickness, etc., or our research based depression fighter "Citrus Smile."

To be entered in the contest, respond to this post, here, and at all the blogs listed below. BE SURE WE CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN.

And to make the contest even more exciting, ONE lucky entrant, drawn from one of the listed blogs, will receive a signed copy of Marge's Book "Essential Oils and Aromatics". You may check these links for some of the reviews. From the Journal of the Northeast Herbal Association, or from The Massage Therapy Journal.

Remember all of the blogs below are participating, so visit all of them and post to increase your chances of winning.

Torchsong Studio Our final contest - to be announced next week
The Essential Herbal magazine subscription
Garden Chick - fairy cookie kit
SunRose Aromatics - facial exfoliant and liquid soap
Herbs from the Labyrinth - tea sampler
Patti's Potions - lip balms
PrairieLand Herbs - healing wand
Aquarian Bath - lip balm and soap
The Rosemary House - Bertha Reppert's "Twelve Month Herbal"
Nature's Gift (winners will be posted May 1)

We're getting down to the wire with some wonderful prizes! Be sure to keep playing to the end.

Herbal Blog Contest - Week #8

Bertha Reppert (1919-1999) was the founder of The Rosemary House and our mum. She was a Renaissance woman ahead of her time when she opened a herb and spice shop in a conservative East coast town in 1968. Convinced that once everyone learned about herbs they would love these plants as much as she did, she became an avid educator about the secrets of herbs. Lecturing, writing and always promoting herbs, Bertha Reppert became a mentor to many. This weeks prize is a copy of her last herbal and one of our very favorites.
Bertha Reppert's TwelveMonth Herbal features 365 herbal essays one for each day of the year. Written like she is speaking to a friend this book is fun, informative and easy to read. Many folks have told us they reread the book every year and make their own daily notes in the margins. Be sure to leave a comment to this post and at the other participating herbal blogs (see the links below) for your chance to win this clever book
(an $18.00 value) filled with herbal lore, recipes and crafts (priceless). Sisters Susanna, the herbalist, and Nancy, the culinary artist, continue to share their Mother's love of all things herbal at The Rosemary House, the herb and spice gift shop, and at Blog Contest - Week 8 tea room.
The following blogs are also participating, so stop over, post a comment on these blogs for additional chances to win this weeks giveaway AND the chance to explore some cool blogs.

Nature's Gift to be announced (next week)
Torchsong Studio to be announced (two weeks)
The Essential Herbal magazine subscription
Garden Chick - fairy cookie kit
SunRose Aromatics - facial exfoliant and liquid soap
Herbs from the Labyrinth - tea sampler
Patti's Potions - lip balms
PrairieLand Herbs - healing wand
Aquarian Bath - lip balm and soap
The Rosemary House (where a list of winners will be posted on the 24th)

Check back we have a couple more weeks of give-aways!

Inspiration

Sometimes I wonder where to find inspiration ... and then I take a walk in the woods.
The woodland path changes with the seasons and right now, it is just starting to "green up" with spring.

Along the path, we find lots of plants pushing their way through the sticks and dead leaves of years past. These are May Apples just starting to unfurl...
All this new growth and unfurling served to inspire a new vessel... Bright green tendrils unfurling around a gray base... It reminds me of jungle growth on ruins, so I called it "Tulum". If you've ever been there, you know why.
While I was in a "jungle" mood, I made some Tiger beads. I tried doing them more free form than I usually do and I think I like them. They're just waiting to be made into a bracelet.
And then, still in the jungle mood, a tiger vessel wass the result.
I found a pack of glass that I had never tried before. The rods looked much more orange, but the glass came out this lovely soft peach color. It's a color I have tried to find, but always been disappointed in until now. I made this on a hollow mandrel, not intending to attempt to blow it, but when the end slipped and uncovered the hole, I thought it was time to give it another try.

It turned out much larger than my usual vessels and it is quite "free form" and "organic". I like it and will probably keep it for myself since it was more or less a happy accident. The salmon frit looks great with this glass - I'll have to do more with it.
So, that's how this particular group of goodies came about and you've seen a tiny peek at how my mind works... Believe me, that's enough!

Week 7 - Blog Contest

Welcome to week 7 of the herbal blog contest! This week we are featuring Aquarian Bath your source for all natural gentle soaps, herbal balms, salves, deodorants, and spa pillows. Aquarian Bath's soaps, balms and salves are either unscented or lightly scented with only pure essential oils. This week, enter to win you choice of a Lavender Spearmint Lip balm in a 0.15 oz tube OR a Lemon Lime Lip Balm in a 0.25 oz slide tin, and 20% off on your next order with Aquarian Bath.

The Lavender Spearmint Balm is made with Extra virgin olive oil, Shea butter, Beeswax, Castor oil, Spearmint and Lavender essential oil.



The Lemon Lime lip balm is made with Coconut oil, Shea Butter, Castor oil, Beeswax, Jojoba, Lime and Lemon Essential oils, and Zinc Oxide, a mineral used in sunscreens.

To win one of these lovely balms, enter by posting a comment in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning! Entrants must include their email address to be eligible to win. US and Canadian residents are eligible. You can receive additional chances to win in the following ways:

* Tweet about this blog contest on twitter.com including @aquarianbath in the tweet. Come back and log your tweet with a comment to receive 1 additional entry.
* Visit and join Aquarian Bath's fan page on Facebook. Leave a comment so we know you joined to receive 1 additional entry.
* Make a comment about your favorite item from Aquarian Bath's etsy or 1000markets stores to receive 1 additional entry.
* Make a purchase with Aquarian bath to on etsy or 1000markets to receive 3 additional entries.

*The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win AND the chance to explore some cool blogs.
Aquarian Bath
Make a purchase from one of these 9 host blog's online stores to receive 2 additional entries and leave a comment at the host's blog's contest:
The Essential Herbal
Herbs from the Labyrinth
Patti's Potions
PrairieLand Herbs
The Rosemary House
Nature's Gift
Torchsong Studio
SunRose Aromatics
Garden Chick

One lucky winner from one of the 10 host blogs will be contacted to receive 2 free soaps of their choice along with their lip balm and 20% off coupon, so be sure to visit and enter at all 10 blogs.



The winners will be announced at the Aquarian Bath blog when the results are in from all participating blogs. Enjoy.

Keep coming back and keep entering. We have some great prizes coming up, and we'll be having the contests until the middle of May!

Out of the kiln

BTW, You can still win the healing wand in the least post by commenting here or there..

So, I finished up the last of the "production beads" I've been working on and as my treat, I made a few just for fun.

The first one is Wild Blue:I like the way the multicolored wisps move around the vessel. It is translucent in the middle where I used transparent glass.

But the best thing I pulled out of the kiln today is this one, I call it "Stormy Moonlight":
This shows both sides. There is layer after layer on this one including a little bit of dichro inside. The moon just floats calmly in this wind swept, starlit sky.

Yep, I'm ready to get back to the kind of thing I enjoy!

Week 6 - Blog Contest

Welcome to week 6 of the herbal blog contest! This week, enter to win a .15 oz. Healing Wand from Prairieland Herbs! These healing wands contain herbally infused certified organic olive oil, locally produced beeswax, vitamin E, essential oils of tea tree and lavender, and are the perfect size for your pocket, purse, or diaper bag. They work wonders on cuts, scrapes, rashes, burns, dry skin, hangnails, etc.

To win one of these useful and natural healing balms, simply enter by posting a comment in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning!!! Don’t forget to include your email addy so we can contact the winner! The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win AND the chance to explore some cool blogs.

Prairieland Herbs
Aquarian Bath
The Rosemary House
Natures Gift
Torchsong Studio
The Essential Herbal
Garden Chick
SunRose Aromatic
Herbs from the Labyrinth
Patti's Potions Visit Patti's Potions to see last weeks winners.

Keep coming back and keep entering. We have some great prizes coming up, and we'll be having the contests until the middle of May!

Blog Contest - Week 5 - LIP BALMS

This is Week 5 of the Herbal Blog Contest. Friday March 27th to Thursday April 2nd.

Featured this week are moisturizing Lip Balms from Patti’s Potions Natural Soaps, Ltd.
Did you know that most lip balms contain petroleum products that are NOT eco-friendly? This is your opportunity to experience fine natural oils in your lip care experience. Ingredients: calendula infused olive oil, shea butter, natural beeswax, jojoba, castor, & vitamin E.
To win TWO of these luscious lip balms, simply enter by posting a comment in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning!!! Don’t forget to include your email addy so we can contact the winner!

The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win AND the chance to explore some cool blogs.

PrairieLand Herbs
Aquarian Bath
The Rosemary House
Natures Gift
Torchsong Studio
The Essential Herbal
Garden Chick
SunRose Aromatic
Herbs from the Labyrinth- Where the winners from week #4 will be listed
Patti's Potions

Keep coming back and keep entering. We have some great prizes coming up, and we'll be having the contests until the middle of May!

Spring is almost here and my husband, Bob, is more than ready!

This is always a difficult time for him because while the weather looks good and he can get outside, it just isn't time to really be doing anything yet. He's already planted the trees for the year, but we need a little rain before he can start to dig any trees.

So, while he has time, he finds things to do. I was surprised to see this going up the other day:
Years ago, we had a heated plastic greenhouse built out the front of one of our outbuildings. When Bob took it down, he saved all the materials. He decided we need a seed starting area and so, he built a nice sized cold frame. The thermometer inside registers 70 degrees most of the day when it's around 30-40 outside.

I went inside and looked around. He has a nice little bench set up on the sunny side of the building:
Another project was to clean out the beds that we use for our gardens in the summer. So, their permanent home is ready for the little seedlings he's planting now:
It seems that we're still in winter, but before we know it, the trees will be green, the tulips will be blooming and we'll be planting those veggies and anxiously awaiting the first ripe treasures of the year!

Shards! (and enter the contest)

Yes, you can enter the contest by commenting on this post too!

I purchased these shards some time ago, but hadn't had time to work with them. I finally made a couple of focals using them and am thrilled!

This picture shows both sides of the first bead I made with them:
Lots of silvered ivory and reflective dark silver plum shards... This bead is probably about 35-40mm tall (I don't have it here to measure.)

And then, I got out the raku and this was the result.....
I think it's the most colorful reaction I have ever gotten from raku and then the oil slick look of the shards just combine with it perfectly! This one is about the same size as the one above.

Take a Chance - Win a prize

Welcome to week 4 of our Herb Blog Group Contest!

For the week between Friday, March 20 and Thursday, March 26, you can enter simply by entering a comment and your email address in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning a sampler of hand-blended herbal teas from HerbsfromtheLabyrinth.com, including one each of the following: Moontime Tea, Lover's Tea, Spring in My Step, FemininiTea, Dandy Lion Tea, Hush-A-Bye, Strong As Nails, SereniTea, SmarTea, DigestiviTea, Nursing Mother Tea, Endo-Liver Tea, Love Your Liver Tea, and Mid-Summer Tea


HerbsfromtheLabyrinth.com has a wide range of herbal products to choose from.

The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win AND the chance to explore some cool blogs.



Patti's Potions
PrairieLand Herbs
Aquarian Bath
The Rosemary House
Natures Gift
Torchsong Studio
The Essential Herbal
Garden Chick
SunRose Aromatic- Where the winners from week #3 will be listed :-)
Herbs from the Labyrinth

Keep coming back and keep entering. We have some great prizes coming up, and we'll be having the contests til the middle of May!

Herbal Blog Contest - Week #3

This week (#3) our herbal blog contest swings over to SunRose Aromatics, where Roe whips up the most delightful of aromatherapy and pampering products. For the week between Friday, March 13 and Thursday, March 19, you can enter simply by posting a comment and your email in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning!!!


Here's the prize:


Facial Scrub w/ Organic Liquid Soap Set:

Pamper your face with all natural ~
* apricot kernel meal 
* organic liquid castile soap
Mix in the palm of your hand & then apply to your face. A wonderful exfoliate!



The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win AND the chance to explore some cool blogs.



Herbs from the Labyrinth
Patti's Potions
PrairieLand Herbs
Aquarian Bath
The Rosemary House
Natures Gift
Torchsong Studio
The Essential Herbal
Garden Chick - Where the winners from week #2 will be listed :-)
SunRose Aromatics

Keep coming back and keep entering. We have some great prizes coming up, and we'll be having the contests til the middle of May!

Last Weeks Winner!

The winner of the 1 year subscription to The Essential Herbal Magazine is (Drum roll please!):

Crystal (Gnightstar)

Congratulations!

Now, everyone post here or in the last post to win this weeks prize, the cookie set from Gardenchick!

Week 2 Blog Contest - take a chance!

Welcome to week 2 of our Herb Blog Group Contest!

For the week between Friday, March 6 and Thursday, March 12, you can enter simply by entering a comment in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning Fairyland Cookie Cutter and Fairyland Recipe Card.

Each cookie recipe comes with 1 "friend of the fairies" fairy cookie cutter and fairy sprinkles. Cutters include bird, dragonfly, fairy, gnome, flower, butterfly – she’ll choose one for you!

Garden Chick has a delightful selection of products that are either created by Karen or something she found on her adventures and loves enough to share!

The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win, the chance to explore some cool blogs and maybe get a preview of things to come in the contest.

Garden Chick
SunRose Aromatics
Herbs from the Labyrinth
Patti's Potions
PrairieLand Herbs
Aquarian Bath
The Rosemary House
Natures Gift
Torchsong Studio
The Essential Herbal

We'll be posting the winner of last week's contest shortly!

Mystery Solved!

So, for me this has been a huge mystery and I have been trying to solve it for months... This blog entry showed a plant that we found outside our Post Office in Mt Joy. No one knew what the plant was, but it had some amazing berries.

The mystery has been solved. It is an Euonymus bungeanus Maxim. winterberry euonymus.

What a relief! I have a friend I can't wait to tell because I know she was wracking her brain just as hard as I was.

New earrings - and you can still enter the contest

You can still enter the blog contest I talked about in the last post. Just Comment on this or that post and be sure to leave your email so we can get in touch if you win!

We had a little snow storm last night and this morning and although I didn't make these then, I photographed them this morning.

Although I don't make these beads, I love this style of earrings. They are pretty dramatic and make a statement.

The two pairs I have here are both very springy with bright greens and pearly beads on one pair and creamy blue green leaves and golden beads on the other.

The remaining pair are made with some little healing hands charms. I love putting things like this together.

Any of these pictures can be enlarged by clicking on the picture so you can get a better look. To come back to the blog just click on the back button.

Thanks again for looking and don't forget to leave a comment to win the magazine sub mentioned in the last post.

Win Stuff - Blog Contest!

Welcome to our Herb Blog Group Contest!
For the week between Friday, February 27 and Thursday, March 5 you can enter simply by entering a comment in response to this blog entry and take a chance at winning a full year's subscription to The Essential Herbal Magazine! The Essential Herbal is written by, for, and about herbie people and the things they love. It is a grassroots publication that talks about the things you want to know when it comes to herbs.The following blogs are also participating, so stop over to enter with them for additional chances to win AND the chance to explore some cool blogs. If you are already a subscriber, we"ll just add the free year on the end. Be sure to leave an email addy in your response so that we can reach you if you win!

Possum Creek Herb Farm
Blessings of an Herbwyfe
Garden Chick ***
SunRose Aromatics ***
Herbs from the Labyrinth ***
Patti's Potions ***
PrairieLand Herbs ***
Aquarian Bath ***
The Rosemary House ***
Natures Gift ***
Torchsong Studio ***
The Essential Herbal ***

*** These blogs will be taking turns having contests for the next 10 weeks for their own products. Be sure to come back!

My treats!

I know I mentioned the big project I am working on and so I am working on the torch much more than I have been. It's kinda wonderful because I feel like I have to complete a number of the required pieces every time I sit down. After I have done my "must do's" I treat myself by making something I really want to try or do... Yesterday, it was mostly vessels, but I did have one set:
I call it "Winter Wonderland" or "Winter Whites". It is pretty simple, but it is a great color combo that seems to go with everything in the winter time and was probably one of the first successful organic-style bead sets that I ever made.

My first vessel was "Golden Tea":I call it that because the top and bottom are made of a gold luster glass and the center is clear glass called iced tea. It is interesting because some of the luster actually turned gold, but it also fumed the iced tea glass. It is see through, but there is a sort of oil slick look to the whole thing..

Next, I tried a different combo and came up with "Gold Depths":
This was a different gold luster glass that seemed to behave a bit better. I used it with a veiled olive green glass. The bubbles in the glass along with the aged gold look makes it look like something that has been pulled from the depths of the ocean.

Finally, I think this is one of my all-time favorite vessels, "Blue Luster":
I don't think I ever used this glass since I purchased it a year or so ago. I just seemed to discover it yesterday. The top, handle and bottom are blue luster and the center is a veiled blue gaffer glass. There is a strong iridescent or metallic effect all over the dark blue while the center is clear, threaded with blue. In person, it is very much like a shimmering blue soap bubble.

Signs of Spring - and beads

In February, we're always looking for signs of spring around here. This picture shows a few of them. First, you can see two scooters parked in front of the shop. We had a little break and the temp actually got up to the 60's over the weekend and the guys immediately got the scooters out and went on a short excursion.

Then, there's Bob working on the tractor, getting things ready to go as soon as there's a real break

And, of course, there are the chickens... They're traveling in packs now. Little harems. Lots of squawking and chasing going on, so I guess they believe winter is soon coming to an end!

While we're waiting, I've been getting in some torch time. Mostly I'm working on a large project that I'll be revealing in a couple of months(!) But, I am getting a few things done here and there and doing a bit of experimentation.

I haven't made any "nebula beads" recently and I love them. Everyone who sees them seems to love them too as they disappear almost as soon as I make them!
And then, this is an interesting little collection that has grown through various experiements with new colors and techniques as well as a couple older ones. The beads were all together and I realized they would make a great set/bracelet just as they are.
I'll be making the bracelets up soon and getting a bunch of stuff up on the web site as well as probably taking some to Radiance in Lancaster.

Winter beauties

So, it looks like the groundhog has thrown us a curve ball this year! I'm sure it's just temporary and we can fully expect our usual 6 more weeks of winter, but today, you could hardly believe it.

A couple of days ago, we narrowly missed a real "dumpage" of snow. A rare band of heavy, isolated snow showers covered a good part of our county with 12" of snow. We had a few flurries earlier in the day and when the reporter came on TV that evening talking about the amounts in Lititz (15-20 miles away from us) I found it hard to comprehend.

When the newly inaugurated automatic phone call system for Lancaster Country Day School woke me the next morning AT 5:30 AM (!) to let me know there was a 2 hour delay, I was still confused, especially since my son graduated from the school in 2004!

So, the next day, when we took out a few deliveries, it was interesting to see all the snow within miles of our house.

We had stopped at Landis Valley Farm Museum and were greeted with different vistas than usual. A couple of the buildings really stood out in the white background, much more than in the usual lush greenery I am accustomed to.

This yellow building is right across from The Weathervane (the gift shop) and I had never noticed how bright it was until this day, seeing it framed by the bright blue sky, the bare branches and the snowy ground.
As we were climbing in the car, I thought a shot of the newly painted Weathervane Shop would be in order too. This is really a lovely place to visit. You might want to think about it if you come to visit our fair county and have never have been there. The museum is full of nifty old farm equipment and lots of interesting stuff for kids and grownups as well!
The other thing I wanted to share today was a charcoal drawing I did, probably 30 years ago. I had just finished a drawing from life class and was pretty pleased with how my skills had progressed.
One afternoon, I set up this still life and started drawing. It has always been one of my favorite pictures and it is framed and hangs in our living room. A new forum I frequent has a thread right now of people's artwork and although I don't think I'll share it there, it inspired me to take a picture of it - just in case something should someday happen to it.

We've just realized that orders are starting to come in for spring (despite the groundhog) and we are sadly in need of some soap on the shelves... Today will be spent getting a couple of orders out and then preparing to make soap: weighing fats, preparing molds, etc., etc.

Murrinis & Focals - Yummm

So, I mentioned Murrinis yesterday on Facebook and this is what I was talking about.
It isn't a food, but it is glass and it is a cane that is built by forming a glob of glass, a large version of what you want the smaller "cane" to be when it is pulled. It winds up as a long "cane" which must be cut into sections to be applied to beads. This is a VERY simple version of a murrini. Some are extremely complex, for instance I believe someone made a Mona Lisa murrini.

I applied it to a bead yesterday and this is the result:
I was really happy to see the result because I was sure it wouldn't form the pinwheel, so when it did it was a happy surprise. I had fun making the base bead, just because it is such a departure for me. I've been collecting some really nice corals and pinks, so had the chance to use a few - along with some pale lavender and a bit of silvered ivory.

After that little triumph went into the kiln, I started playing with some other colors. There was also a complex stringer used in the next bead, but it disappeared in all the various layers. Oh well, I was happy with what the silver and "magic" did all by themselves:
So, I spent a good hour at the torch and the two beads about were the result. both of the focals are about 25mm long, about 18 mm wide and about 10mm thick. A nice size for a pendant.

I promise to get busy finishing up some of the vessels and pendants so I can post them for sale soon and get my website updated.