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Home / Archive: August 2007
I should use the professional looking stationary for Botanical Earth when writing customers notes, but I just love the designs of Nut and Bee’s Sprout Sprout. And now, Annette has come up with an adorable new collection…so get ready to see the cute little Bluebirds and Windflowers – I just placed an order this afternoon. The design is brand new along with several other adorably cute new characters that you can see on her site, Nut and Bee. Shipping is really fast too even though she’s in New Zealand and I’m here in the US.
It just dawned on me, if you have kids going off to school, the Letter Sets would be perfect hints to write home….or to send thank you notes, or do people do that any more with cellphones? They should because there’s nothing is better than a handwritten note on original indie art work.
Till the end of the August, our signature fragrance blends are on sale at 10% off. This is our popular Brown Sugar Body Glow in lavender floral, patchouli citrus, blue geranium or patchouli ylang ylang.
With shea butter, hemp, avocado and apricot kernel oils, skin feels soft and moisturized right out of the shower without the need for a lotion
Now with every order, you’ll receive a pack of Totally Indie Coupons loaded with discounts from 40 different indie designers. We’ve participated previously and this time around Botanical Earth will be in both sets – so beside this first set of 39 designers (plus us makes 40), we’ll have another set of coupons for 39 other designers as we are in both Round 6a and b!
Shortly the entire list of participating indie businesses will be listed on the Totally Indie Coupon site. Only by ordering from one of the stores involved will you be able to receive a pack. I can say there’s a 20% off Botanical Earth coupon in there that’s good till August ‘08!
The clever woman behind this coupon co-op has a store of her own at Lindsay Designs – there you’ll find THE most adorable pet collars and ribbon accessories for people.
A friend was over the other day and had never seen this done. I clean my copper bottom pots like this all the time with salt and lemon juice around the house.
#1 – Start with something that needs to be cleaned. I’m using one of my sauce pans. Since I do this all the time, the build up isn’t too heavy. I do wash the pan first with soap and water to remove any grease film or burnt build up – so it’s a clean pot with a tarnished copper bottom.
# 2 With a freshly cut lemon wedge, or a splash of lemon juice concentrate, cover the copper area. I use the actual lemon to do the washing – just squeeze the juice and smear it around.
You’ll start to notice a reation right away the fresher the lemon juice. The photo was taken about 3 seconds after the lemon hit the pan.
Some people even use ketchup because of the acid, but lemon works so much better. The lemon will also help brighten brass too if you have some items looking dull.
#3 – Now use simple table salt as a mild abrasive. Sprinkle just a bit to start and if you are using the lemon wedge, just smear it around again. Use a soft cloth or sponge too if you prefer. Do not use wire scrubbies, and I don’t even like the plastic nylon scrubbys for this – gentle the better. Focus on any tough areas. You don’t need fancy salts – they don’t work any better.
So there you have it – clean and uncleaned with just a bit of lemon juice and salt. Repeat if necessary for tough spots. Rinse with water and dry with a soft cloth.
Don’t throw the lemon away! Fill a small bowl with water, drop the lemon in, and place in your microwave for a minute or two. The moisture for the water will help loosen any splatters in the microwave, and it will smell lovely from the essential oil in the lemon rind!
Now, compost your lemon rind, you’re done cleaning.
Monday is my big cleaning day for the week. While I wash dishes every day, vacum and all the normal stuff around the shop and house, Monday is the day I take care of things like ironing, pantry, and deeper cleaning. I take a lot for granted and a friend mentioned I should post how I clean things since a lot of the methods are eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic cleansers. So now, Mondays will be posts on cleaning or house tips - in the Tips and Tricks category.
Whether you vote for us or not, check out all the different businesses listed on the National Green Pages! You’ll find screened businesses (here’s the screening process) from printing services, legal, pr, body care, foods, clothing and so many more industries that all have been pre-screened by the staff at Co-op America.
Botanical Earth has been a member for over 3 years now, and I usually go to the National Green Pages to source vendors or services we need first – that’s how I found Marion from ClearVision Copywriting who wrote a lot of our press releases!
So again, whether you want to vote for us or another favorite business – vote and checkout all the different companies on the National Green Pages!
Do you need to give some gifts or perk up the ol’ home decor? Check out the whimiscal, witty and crafty items in the Wonderland Retreat store on Etsy. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sales goes to help Elijah Wyman’s family with medical bills. The true indie community really does help one another out in times of need….I like to think of it as a really big co-op of friends I have never met….anyway, more about the store. There’s all sorts of goodies from some amazing indie designers. But hurry, the Wyman’s Benefit ends on Sept. 15th. Prices range from $6 – $65 so there’s quite a variety of unique indie gifts.
A plus for you - if you buy our Botanical Earth products on the Wonderland Retreat Etsy store?? I am covering the shipping to any domestic US address – so *free shipping for you! All you do is pay for the basket and the shipping is free. Now do be aware not all the items in the Wonderland Retreat Store on Etsy are offering free shipping, so read all the product descriptions carefully, or just email Alison and the gals at the store and ask if you have questions – they are super nice! I was contacted a while back to see if I would donate items to help with a fellow crafter’s medical bills. Now that she’s up and going well again, I decided to leave our Lavender Gift Basket and Thank You gift on the Wonderland Retreat Store to help Elijah’s cause.
There’s lots of different goods in the shop all donated by other indie designers too. I personally love the Vintage Obi Wallet by Kimono Momo and you’ll find paintings, necklaces, cards and much more. Remember though, a lot of the handmade goods are one-of-a-kind pieces so if you like it, you better not wait.
Now don’t you want to feel good inside and out, plus get free shipping?? Go shopping at http://wonderlandretreat.etsy.com today!
If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all is basically the motto I’ve been trying to stick with regarding my blogging.
A couple of our readers have sent me emails asking “what’s up?” with the no posting….so here’s a run down;
I became dishearted with “organics”…from organizations that claim to support organic standards, to suppliers that talk the talk, but don’t follow through on the important paperwork. I’m not going for organic certification any longer because so much of the “organic” hype is a joke….naturally grown, local is better in my view any day. We still use certified organic ingredients when I can verify where the source truly is…more on that later.
- Greenwashing – so much hype on the words “aromatherapy” and “natural” I want to scream.
- Sites we use to sell our products on that claim to support local, small scale farmers and business, being out for $$ and offering products composed of questionable sourced ingredients ….so sad. Businesses want on the eco/green bandwagon these days because of the trend and not because they believe in it.
- Trying to have the site redesign only to have nothing but drama…let’s not even go there.
- Wholesale nightmares, the list goes on and on.
So that’s my “why post” excuses…..so now I should post my “why not posts” list;
- Botanical Earth has GREAT customers that write the best letters and actually want to know what’s going on with us – I am so lucky!!
- I’m changing our soap formulas to eliminate palm / palm kernel oil for enviromental reasons.
- I’ll be adding liquid soaps….by November is the new plan.
- Fun new artwork from indie illustrators located around the world for our promotional items.
- There’s a lot of great events we are involved in that I haven’t been posting about.
- I’m moving the blog address shortly back to our old one, so there will be a new format that is hopefully easier for everyone to find information and post comments.
So, I thought I’d do my big “why not posting” and get back to talking about all the good!
If you check out our on-line store, you’ll see the start of our new look at 