Getting Ready For Fall

Yup, it's heading toward that time of year again: Hunting Season!

I have been elbow deep in terra cotta clay the past two weeks, desperately trying to fill a few boxes of Hunter's Helpers before I get slammed with orders. I don't want to be caught off guard when the kids are back in school because it was really not fun last year. So I'm taking the initiative and getting a great deal of work done during the summer. So far so good. I've got one box full!

Now ask me how I've managed to keep my cat away from the skein of sisal twine while getting the orders together. hehehe...  Bribery! Yes, it's true. Straight out bribery. He gets one long length to run around the house like an idiot with and I get to work in relative peace for a little while. 

Here's the little brat himself. Totally incorrigible. An unrepentant comedian.

 

This Treasury was a real treat to trip across a while back. It contained one of my terra cotta diffusers(in the red box). It was called Freshly Southwestern. Cute, eh? What a wide variety of objects! You've got everything from jewelry to cookware and photography, all the way down to stone carving, soap, and photography.

Featured in Treasury!

I discovered today that a Celtic inspired design of mine made its way into a Treasury! 

In Red highlighting, there is my Celtic brown and tan terra cotta diffuser. Surrounded by plaid and terriers.... that diffuser seems right at home, don't you think? 

New Nature Photography

Top to bottom, here are some new items available in TerraScents: October Sunset, Broken Spine, and Floral Mandala. The third photograph is offered in either color or black-and-white.

New Additions To The Shop

It's been quite a number of months since my last update here. I've been holding off and crossing my fingers, praying desperately for certain things to change in the economy. Alas, it's only gotten worse. This is one of those Good News/Bad News sort of updates.

Some craziness going on in Africa and I'm guessing Italy as well has led to a complete lack of olive butter here in the USA. (Let me clarify that-- REPUTABLE olive butter. Not the cheap watered down stuff that I refuse to use.) What does that mean for TerraScents fans? I can't make Boo-Boo Cream OR my Anti-Frizz Hair Balm!! Nada. Zero. Zilch. No more can be produced. 

The last jar of Boo-Boo Cream is in my own refrigerator and is already half empty. I shipped out the last jar of Anti-Frizz Hair Balm to a loyal customer a while back and all these months of crossing my fingers and holding my breath have resulted in failure. I've searched high and low for another reputable butter dealer and none have surfaced yet.

It's not just a matter of my dealer not being able to get it anymore--they also went out of business! I'm so frustrated I could scream. I can't find anyone with comparable quality that has reasonable prices.

The only natural oil based product I can make right now is my Coconut Cookie Scrub. The oils and other ingredients contained in it are able to be obtained locally without compromising the quality in any way.

My Neemzuki and Amla Clay face & body products are also pulled from the cyber-shelves due to such drastic inflation on the price of natural grains and clays. Or the grains I use in my formulations just simply aren't able to be obtained easily anymore! There's some real supply issues going on lately in the USA with natural bath and body ingredients. This has led to the more economical "pre-made" formulations you see out there now in which a person simply has to add a scent to and then sell. But if you're looking for something withOUT all those cheap fillers and you want the real deal..... that's going to be more expensive now. And I just plain don't have the cash to do it. And I don't think I could keep a good customer base with the products, unfortunately. There are too many cheap imitations out now and so quality goes by the wayside. If I'm going to put my name on something then I want to be able to say that 100% of the finished product was inspired by and created by my own hands.

OK, so now that I'm done with the Bad News let's get to the Good stuff already and see the New Additions the title of this post implies are in the shop. 

There are three ballet themed photos currently in TerraScents: Balance, Crossed Pointes, and One Pointe, all shown below.

These photos were all shot in the summer of 2007 before I had to quit dancing due to illness. I'm quite fond of black and white photography and also the 'near black and white' style of selectively adding and subtracting color for a certain feel. 

In the same category of black and white but backing away from athletic sports, there is a certain feline who is making his debut this weekend: my tuxedo cat who is appropriately named Killer Kitty. He loves to hunt three things: naps, my raggedy smelly pointe shoes, and deer. Thankfully, he is now domesticated and the local deer are no longer in danger. The first two on that list, however, are always in danger. He tries to cram his face into my pointes as far as he can and then fall asleep. He's a royal terror when it comes to satin ribbon, too. 

With Killer's photo I wanted to offer something a bit different to my customers: customization!

 

 

Here's the original look of his eyes in the pure black and white version of the photo. And then here he is again with Gold, Blue, or Green eyes! 

I am currently hard at work on getting test samples printed on dozens of other artistic photos taken over the past few years. When I am satisfied with them then they'll be listed. Just check directly in the shop at www.terrascents.etsy.com or you can glance back here and look to your right----> to see a random selection of the goodies available. 

TerraScents terra cotta diffusers and Hunters Helpers are still in stock and ready to ship! Hunting Season is creeping up again and I think I'd better get my hands dirty with some clay sometime real soon to increase my stock of the Hunter's Helpers.... I remember being quite overwhelmed with orders last year right before Christmas and staying up a few nights until well after midnight.

I hope everyone is having a lovely summer so far. Stay hydrated and stay safe!