The email problem has finally been fixed on the site so I should be receiving your emails consistently now, not the hit or miss prior.

Thanks for your continued support of handmade and independent business!  As always I appreciate those that have stuck with me through this transition.

In fact, it’s been so good the last 2 weeks, I’m sold out of most products and decided to close for the rest of the year.  I can’t replace our gift basket stock fast enough nor did I imagine we would ever go through so much Hemp Soap.  So instead of having just a few items, I decided to take the holidays off and make up some new products for the New Year.  I’ll be posting some updates through the coming weeks.  You can always follow my adventures on Twitter or over at Facebook on our Fan page – though I do get behind on that too….come to think of it, that’s a New Year’s resolution.

Again Happy Holidays!

The Totally Indie Coupons program is run by the super talented indie designer Lindsay Landis who also handcrafts adorable dog and cat collars over at Pattern & Paw

And Lillie over at A Planet 4 Creation helps to mail all the boxes to us….plus she cuts everything up which is an indulgence I haven’t taken her up on.  She makes the prettist blue and white porcelain earrings that I just love and have several pairs!

One of the flowers blooming right now are the spiderworts.  I wildcraft these pretty blue flowers and use them in  pocket mirrors and coasters.  I think Spiderworts are so pretty and signal summer is on it’s way.  They only bloom for about a month here so I have to make sure I enjoy them while they are here.

You can find this soap either on Etsy or at the shop.

Now all US address orders (including APOs) have the option of just $5 shipping for any size order.  And this includes delivery confirmation so you can see your order progress too with the Postal Services scan forms they now use.

We offer the option of UPS Ground and UPS 2nd Day Air for those that only want UPS, but these services rates are based on UPS’s prices, not a flat rate.  To receive the flat rate shipping price of $5, you must use the US Postal deliver service.

International orders are shipping using USPS Global Priority mail and I try to find the most economical packaging to save you money.  If I can pack an order and the cost is less than the web quote for your order, I’ll adjust the final charge.

Here’s hope everyone has a happy, safe and healthy holiday season.

debra

So – there’s some changes.  My product line is VERY limited compare to previously.  If you have been a customer of mine in the past and am looking for something, email me.  I’ll list it if you have ordered it prior.  I’m all about what works for my customers and me.  No mass marketing , no wholesale – heck I even let my UPC  drop after 5 years because I am tired of jumping to the tune of big stores.  I want simple, quality handmade products for a wonderful, understanding,  discriminating clientele.  If I don’t feel like making it, I won’t.

There you have it.  If I haven’t answered your email in the last 6 months -  I am truly sorry.  I thought I had people in place to cover the business – turns out I didn’t.  It’s fun now again – new look, new products and no pressure – life is good.

debra

New Hosting Company – I moved Botanical Earth from YahooStores to a woman-owned, carbon-neutral hosting company.  Acorn Host holds my beliefs of “conscious capitalism” and I can say their customer service and support is better than any hosting company I have ever been with in 7 years.  While I lost SEO benefits and exposure by going with a smaller company, their policies and quality of service out weighs any marketing with the big hosting giant.

New Design – Our new looks was created by Purr Design.  Lindsay took my ramblings and turned them into something I felt but never imagined.  No more conforming to what an eco-friendly business should look like.  If I see one more white, green and blue label, website or banner from a company claiming “natural” and their products are nothing but greenwashed synthetics, I ‘ll scream.  Purr Design gave Botanical Earth the push it needed.  I can’t say enough good things about my experience with this indie web designer.

New Packaging – You’ll notice more glass and less plastic in our packaging.  While I used plastics to help reduce shipping costs, I read one too many studies that people don’t recycle plastic as much as they do glass.  With flat rate shipping from USPS, I no longer feel that customers will be impacted with higher shipping by using heavier glass.  Also you’ll notice a lot of bio-degradable clear bags made of organic corn starch to replace the plastic – so now with some orders, everything from our product, packaging and shipping materials will be bio-degradable or completely recycleable.  New labeling is on the way too.

If you may have heard, our little town of Winfield Missouri was hit pretty hard with the flooding of the Mississippi River.  While we are not personally effected, our neighbors are and I have been working with the Humane Society and the Food Pantry to help out.

So thanks for checking in on Botanical Earth – we’re still in business.  The volume of business has increase so much that I had to make so changes in how I do business (thank you happy BE customers!) and needed some time to redesign our shop.