Summer Specials

I already have a lot of specials going on in my Etsy store to celebrate the abundance of some of my plants, and I will be posting them to Hyenacart and Indiemade soon.  I have great deals on all of my comfrey products including the hydrosol.  And all of the comfrey oil based products are double infused with fresh comfrey so they are really strong!  If you have been reading my blog and FaceBook page you know I'm also distilling peppermint like crazy.  Soon I'll have a big run on Lemon Balm hydrosol and I'll have special Summer pricing on that.

I will be doing some special distillations too as my flowers bloom, including some co-distillations.  I have buds on my helichrysum and lavender plants and I have had one bloom on my rugosa Roses.  These are supposed to put out tons of fragrant blooms so I will be able to distill my own good quality rosewater!  There will not be any special pricing on the rosewater though since my quantities will be limited and I will reserve some for personal use throughout the year and for use in my perfumery projects.

I have seen NO signs of any elder flowers as of yet but I think everything is happening later than usual this year so I hope to have more elderflower water done by mid-June.  I have very little of last years left so if you want to order some, go ahead.  It still has at least a year before it goes bad (if stored properly).  I am also thinking about a big distillation of catnip.  By big, I mean a quart.  I think it would make an awesome base for an insect repellant spray, and of course a treat for your kitty.  This may also be a good training tool if you have a cat clawing your furniture.  Buy your kitty a scratching post and spritz it with catnip hydrosol.

I am also thinking about making a version of Jeanne Rose's Bruise Juice, which is an all purpose medicated oil.  Helichrysum flowers will be amazing in there!  I have tons of blooms on these plants so I will be making some more oil with them (infused in fractionated coconut oil) and will probably have enough to put up for sale.  It makes a wonderful replacement for the very expensive essential oil and can be used as is, or in ointments.  Helichrysum and Lavender are 2 of the greatest and gentlest healing plants and Heli is my absolute favorite for healing bruises.

I dipped into the Florida Water a bit and it smells incredible already!  I may get another batch going this weekend along with some Orange Blossom cologne and Eau de Cologne.  I LOVE PERFUME!  Especially when they are natural and therapeutic.  I am going to offer these for sale-domestic ground shipping only.

I'm freezing but My House Smells good

This has been a kinda weird weekend.  I was supposed to meet up with EtsyLex friends for lunch but got some horrendous tummy troubles at 9 AM so I spent most of the day in bed and in the bathroom.

This morning I got up early, feeling much better (thank goodness) to take my daughter's best friend to a class at Locust Trace.  That place is very interesting-the only negative plus in the country for energy use.  They not only are self-sustaining on energy they actually SELL energy to the electric company.  Anyway, she took a class to get certified as an animal rescuer.  It's near our largest park in town so I took a look around there to see if they had any of the elusive white cedar trees and, sure enough, they did.  So when I went to pick her up this afternoon I went back out there armed with clippers and a shopping bag and loaded up.  Now I don't have to use the stuff I got from Gretchen so sparingly.

I also trimmed our overloaded double knock-out rose bush.  I do love that plant but the canes are not strong enough to support the weight of all the leaves and flowers it produces.  Needless to say, I am on my second rose distillation.  I still can't believe the mild, sweet smell from knock out roses.  I need cold cream soon so it will be made with some homemade rosewater.

This still was SO TOTALLY worth the money!  It so satisfying to be able to make my own hydrosols.  It helps me get better use out of my garden and has inspired me to explore native plants more than ever.  Not to mention the money I save!

Roses and Specials

My anniversary specials are still going on.  I'm starting to feel unloved :(  I have gotten lots of orders but no one has used a coupon code yet.  That's more money for me but I do like to give deals too!  And there are several chances to win some free stuff so go check it out here.


I have just started a distillation of roses.  I gathered up all the roses I could find in my garden and crammed the still with petals.  I won't be selling this-not expecting it to be particularly fragrant.  And when my aromatherapy roses bloom this summer i will have a limited quantity of that so I will be hoarding rosewater unless my rosa rugosa bushes produce lots of roses the first year.  I need to go outside and work on my garden but it looks like rain and the forecast says scattered storms. 

Tomorrow I will be pulling up thyme and making a distillation from that.  I think that would make a pretty good household cleaner.  maybe a small spritzer bottle of the hydrosol in my purse to disinfect toilet seats at least.

Ginger Root

I ran a distillation of fresh organic ginger root this morning.  This is yummy!!!!!  The fragrance is straight up ginger and there were little beads of essential oil floating on top.  The flavor has all the zing of ginger root and is warming and leaves a mild sweetness on the lips.  This would have been wonderful to have on the cooler days to stimulate circulation and warm my blood.  I may give some of this to my Dad to rub on his sore joints-he loves the essential oil so he should love this!  So far the PH is 5.8 but I'll keep checking it so i can get a final reading after it "settles".

Hydrosols and PH

I purchased a good PH meter to test my hydrosols to make sure they are good quality.  I am slowly testing all of my finished ones and testing new ones as they are produced.  I made a distilled version of the famous Queen of Hungary Water today and when all was said and done the PH was 4.7.   Everything I have tested so far falls within the proper range so, I guess, I'm doing this right.  I have loved them on my skin so I would have been devastated if the PH was wrong.  Here are my findings so far:

Calendula-6.0
Sandalwood-5.8
Queen's Water-4.7
Witch Hazel-4.2
Cucumber-4.7
Lemon Balm-4.8

I'll keep adding to the list as I test but so far, so good.  I now feel more comfortable listing these for sale-most will go on Hyena Cart and Artfire where I can offer a variety of sizes.

I will attempt to harvest Lemon Balm tomorrow and do it, I have an organic ginger root in the fridge waiting to become fabulous water, and I have roses on the verge of blooming (no this in NOT and April Fool's Day joke!).

Champa Hydrosol

I ordered some hydrosols from Nature's Gift Aromatherapy and they arrived yesterday.  I had to try the Patchouli and also ordered Golden Champa and Owyhee.  The Owyhee smells much like the essential oil with some more medicinal undertones-this is a a nice first aid and relaxing hydrosol, which can be used for disinfecting wounds or as a pillow spray and is a good replacement for Roman Chamomile.  The Patchouli smells just like the frsh plant I had last year, which did not survive the winter inside my house (it had suffered some abuse by my husband, but that's another story for another time).  The Golden Champa...............WOW!  I am madly in love with this one!  So much so that I ordered a 4 ounce bottle this morning.  This will go into perfume blends and makes a lovely perfume in it's own right.  I spritzed some on my right hand at around 6:30 to sample the aroma and even after a handwashing I could still smell it at 9:30 when I went to bed.  I have no idea if there are any therapeutic applications for this one and honestly, don't care.  It's worth the money just for the fragrance.

Frankincense

I have been making hydrosols in the background while I work on orders so today I am going to make a codistilled Frankincense and Myrrh.  Both are great for aging skin, especially frankincense but I prefer the aroma of Myrrh so I am throwing some in there.  This would be a great spritz for prayer and meditation.  I will spritz myself down with this before I pray my rosary and I would love to see how a Bible study group would do with this sprayed in the room!

Happy Holiday

I am up early, as usual, but getting some work done.  I am working on some perfume materials again.  I have some Tonka Beans soaking in pure grain alcohol-I started this yesterday and the alcohol is already quite aromatic.  I also am working on some amber oil.  I had some benzoin stashed away that was the most fluid I've ever purchased.  I decided to work it into some fractionated coconut oil with the help of a crock pot hot water bath.  it actually mixed very well without the heat but I figure some mild heating will really help the benzoin and oil to blend.  Actually, it's a good thing because it turns out the labdanum needed some additional heating and of course I have already added the vanilla.  I am getting 2 ounces of amber oil out of it-a 50/50 mix of absolutes and FC oil.  This is going to be an awesome base for my oil based perfumes.  I may attempt to infuse the remainder of the Tonka Beans in oil when there is enough sunshine and mild weather to put it outside.

I have also discovered a VERY reasonably priced copper still thanks to Gretchen over at ADKaromatherapy.  Money's a little tight right now but by the time Spring is here to stay I will have one.  In the meantime I will daydream about all the local and garden plants that I can distill.  We have red elder trees everywhere around here.  They have the most toxic berries but also the most aromatic flowers.  From my garden-Lemon Balm, Roses, Peppermint, Rosemary, Lavender, Basil, Calendula, Chamomile and hopefully Helichrysum.  If I can talk the hubby into it I would love to buy a Rosa Rugosa bush from Horizon Herbs, too.  I LOVE that essential oil and having the hydrosol on hand would be a dream.  For now, I have an aromatic climbing rose and my Jackson&Perkins Aromatherapy rose that would make some dreamy rosewater.  The AT rose bush makes HUGE flowers so I could get a good distillation with 3 flowers.

Just checked the amber oil again and it has clarified and turned an amber brown instead or soupy tan.  Some stuff settled out and I stirred and stirred and ended up pulling out a sticky chunk of sediment about 1/4 teaspoon sized.  I will strain the rest through cheesecloth but this is looking ans smelling good.  I'd say I've gotten all the funky stuff out from the solvents that were used to make the absolutes.  This was worth the trouble.  I love benzoin but it's just so difficult to work with and so is labdanum absolute.  I usually dissolve them in alcohol but it difficult to incorporate into oil based perfumes and leaves sediment in alcohol, so I couldn't use much.

I'm excited!

December Sales Incentive

Rather than having a normal sale I have decided to do a lottery of sorts for the month of December.  On the 31st I will draw names from everyone who has placed an order between Nov 30th through Dec 30th.  The lucky winner will have the cost of their order refunded back to them via paypal.

Also, I am nearing 500 sales so I will have an extra special gift for my 500th customer!

And here's a special coupon code for my blog readers.  GBHBLOG for 20% off your orders until December 23rd.  This coupon will be good in all of my stores.

Cyber Monday Sale

I have extended my sale through today-use Coupon code TURKEY to get 20% off in all of my stores!

HerbalCandy

I made my first batch of herbal candy yesterday-elderberry.  I really can't believe I never thought of this before.  I think I thought it would be more complicated than it really is, but I am going to keep doing this.  I made the elderberry with my Dad in mind.  I usually keep him stocked up with elderberry extract because he loves it.  It is pretty tasty and it protects you againt flu viruses, but it also helps heart health and strengthens blood vessels-like all berries.  I used a 2 cup sugar recipe so it was just sticky enough that I dusted the candies with powdered sugar to keep them from sticking together.  We have all sampled it (and some of my daughters friends) and everyone loves them.

Now I have an infusion of Swedish Bitters herbs on the stove and I am trying a recipe with less sugar and corn syrup.

What a great way to take medicine-even kids will take medicine like this, or even picky husbands.  I will also make some with Hawthorne berries and some with German Chamomile.  Just for fun I may also do Lipton Tea and Dunkin Donuts coffee. 

For now I have tons of orders to do and I have to get items together for the big November giveaway from Teambluegrass!

Any other herbal candies you might be interested in?  Just leave me a comment below.