Studio Updates for 2010!

with the new year came new changes for our studio! we spent most of the month between orders, working on getting our studio set up to be effective AND a beautiful place to work each day! so...we set out to take over the dining room.....we have several tables, a rolling 'wrap' desk, a huge picture window....and most of all~plenty of room! We have a smaller room off to the right of this where we have shelves and selves full of bottles, lids, packing boxes, envelopes, wrapping paper....and lets not forget...ribbons!

we rent...so, we had to do something to spruce up our lovely {translates to ugly} walls....so we decoupaged wooden letters in a pretty black and ivory damask. {we actually do have a photo tutorial for those of you not decoupage~inclined sometime in the near future!}


we find it very important in high volume times, to stay incredibly organized....it helps so much in keeping inventory straight and it helps with supply ordering~not to mention, getting the orders scooted out the door!


and, this fabulous closet between the dinning room and kitchen....well, this is where all the magic happens! we found a fabulous kitchen island to store all of our bulk ingredients under, and it sits just to the left of this closet....

this closet holds all of our fabulous oils! it really is probably my favorite place in the whole house....a great mix of form and function! perfect little nook to get lost blending fragrant oils!

hope you have enjoyed a look into the apothecary! we definitely enjoy sharing it with you, and feel its important for you to see where your products come from! blessings, ophelia

Vintage Finds!!!

We finally made it out of the house today in all the winter wonder we have had! We couldn't wait to get outta here! lol. We've been averaging a day out and about every two weeks....and today's venture took a bit longer than expected as it took us along with a couple of neighbors to get the car un~stuck! But, we did it....and went for a nice lunch to celebrate our 1oooth etsy sale! yippee! then, to further celebrate, we hit our favorite thrift store where we found many vintage wonders for our shop. sooooooo.....over the course of the next couple of weeks, you can expect some fabulous finds in the little apothecary.....along with supplies and destash, and maybe a tad more vintage over in our sister store.... ophleliasarmoire so so exciting to have lots of newness!

sorry, no pics for today. unless you would like some puppy love....maybe a pic of the baby! she's not at all spoiled. not one bit!

That which we call a rose,By any other name would smell as sweet

hello lovelies! So, today's blogpost is all about how we got our name. it's sortof a long story....but, i'm sure you will find some of it rather entertaining! When i was young, about 5 years old, my parents gave me the barbie perfume maker....and thank goodness for google, i found a pic for you! Now, this really was the beginning of crafty little me! how it worked, you put the perfume bottle into the yellow tulip in the middle, then placed a little fragrance stick...those are the heart and round shaped things on each side, into the notches on the tulip. then, there is a little button that you would press that would cause the tulip to rotate back and fourth, thus mixing the fragrance into the 'fragrance blending solution'....ok...i made that part up. it was blended into water! I would then take a huge funnel i snagged from my mother's kitchen, and funnel it into her previously full avon bottles. i say previously, because i dumped them down the bathroom sink. i'm sure the fumes i inhaled in that little project were just one notch this side of toxic! anyway....i then took my newest fragrances and sold them at recess at school.

this didn't go over well. but, as you can see, it never deterred my pursuit of entrepreneurial endeavors. years later, in highschool we read Hamlet. oh how i was in love with Shakespeare! I was even more entranced by his lovely character 'ophelia' and it was even more cool that she had her own little apothecary!

so, fast forward another 20 years.....and here we are. i recently described our little apothecary in an exchange with a client~friend....and i would like to share this vision with all of you! ...'in my head, 'ophelia's apothecary' is in a small, coastal town....with white washed walls, and beautiful herbs hanging from the rafters drying. the cobalt blue bottles line the walls, and a little bell over the door rings to announce your entry. its a simple little store...but, its filled with love of all things nurturing and balancing.'

we hope you enjoy our little apothecary as much as we do!

New Lip Tints in shop NOW!!!

Hello my pretties! we have taken a bit of a blogging reprieve for the last *ehem*....week. but, we haven't been totally hybernating! we did some baking, some movie watching, some laundry....and we rested. we have also been working on the destash stuffs for our other shop. so, today starts a new week, and with the new week, we have new products! yay!

Our buttercreme lip balms have quite the following, and we've been getting many requests to offer lip tints. well, now we have them, and we will be adding more colors soon. *translates to....when we can make it out of our snow and ice packed driveway to get more tint....i might just have to resort to shopping online. ~ now there is a whole 'nother vice of mine we have yet to address!

Anyway, the lip tints are an all vegan blend of oils and yumminess. they have vanilla icing flavor...not quite the decadent buttercreme, but we will be switching over to the buttercreme with the next batch! our supplier of all natural, vegan lip oils is having a hard time keeping up with the buttercreme demand! lol. to check out these lovely little lip tints click here

Love....

We are in the process of going through a bunch of old supplies to destash eventually....sort of a New Year's Clean Up and Reorganization. Anyway, we came across this rubber stamp that said...'let what you love be what you do' and I was in the middle of trying to figure out what my next blog post was going to be about! So, viola....here we are!

This stamp really has us thinking about our goals, both personal, and professional for the New Year. 'Time' is so valuable...that we really want to spend this year doing the things we LOVE to do. Not things we feel we have to do, or things we feel reluctant, but somehow obligated to do....but things we LOVE to do and things that bring more love into our lives. I know this little apothecary has been a dream for years and years....and we are so proud of all our work and efforts building it out of, well, really...nothing but love and passion for it. We hope that in this new year...heck, new decade....that it is filled with health, happiness, and abundant love. blessings, ophelia

My Current 'ME' project!

I always feel the need to nest in the winter....and with the several layers of snow we have, no time like the present to work on a crafty project that doesn't get pushed to etsy! I just taught myself to knit a couple of years ago, and have many, many scarves to show for it....along with several unfinished projects...that we won't talk about here...lol.

My project this winter is to knit and crochet a throw for our living room, once we actually get our sofa, and get the living room situated. Which, at the current rate, may not happen until next winter...but, ya know, at least i have awhile to work on my throw!

My project is to knit several 'scarves' and then crochet them all together, making stripes from different textures of yarn. Once that is done, I plan on sending some left over yarn to my friend Jennifer at Iwunder to make some fabulous flowers for one corner of the throw....

I cannot wait to see my finished throw...but for now, you all will just have to see pics along the way. I don't have one yet of the progress, but, we will see what the next post brings....

In the meantime, please check out Jennifer's shop, and my other friend Celeste, who recently added Luxury Throws to her etsy shop CricketsCreations

Hope you find a nice cozy project to settle in with this winter....it's important when your hobby becomes a business, that you still find a hobby to balance that creativity out with!

Baking is a Cure for being Snowed In!

ok, so this is day four of being snowed in during the blizzard of 2009. granted, we did make it to the grocery store today....which is why i'm bringing you this recipe....but, still...you can't beat having 9 inches of snow for having an excuse to be lazy and BAKE! most of you know that i love to fill my house with cozy fragrances...especially during the bitter cold days of winter! i like to bake pumpkin bread, brownies, cinnamon muffins...you name it! when i ran across this recipe for one of my favorite desserts...well, i just had to put a spin on it to make it all mine!

for todays baking pleasure...Delish Vegan Carrot Cake feel free to take the recipe and make it your own!

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup brown vegan sugar
• 3/4 cup vegan sugar
• 3 eggs worth of Ener-G egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 1/2 cups carrots, shredded
• 1 cup water (if too thick)
• Walnuts, couple hand~fulls of coconut, and a handful of Craisins.
  

Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, spice, salt) in one bowl. In a second larger bowl, mix Energ-G egg mix and water (according to package) and mix in brown sugar and sugar and apple sauce until creamy. Add in the previously mixed dry ingredients. You may need to add some water if the mixture is too dry. Mix in the carrots. Pour into greased or floured dish. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting: {or sprinkle with confectioners sugar}

• 1 package vegan cream cheese softened
  
• 1/3 cup vegan soy butter (like Earth Balance), softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups vegan confectioners sugar
  

Beat cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla, then add sugar.

I like to put frosting in a bag and pipe it onto muffins, cakes, and brownies...you can, of course, do either!

you can find my carrot cake lip balm at Ophelia's Apothecary on Etsy ...its a great calorie free alternative...and it too, is vegan! Hope you have fun trying the recipe...feel free to come post comments afterward, I would love to know if you liked your carrot cake!

Sweeet Swap 2009! How Fun!

We belong to a super group on etsy called 'bittersweeets daily challenge'....and the whole idea of the group, is to create and list something new each day. The group is going on about two years now, and just filled with lots of talented artists!

This holiday season, we decided to do a Sweeet Swap where we each had a secret friend to gift to...our sweeet swaper was Kim from ChloeandMaddy and kimbrowndesigns

We met in the forums several months ago, and formed such a friendship! She is incredibly talented! This Cherry Blossom Tree has been in our faves for months!...so you can imagine the squeal of excitement when it arrived in my sweeet swap box of prezzies!...along with an awesome pin cushion for my pin cushion collection, some of my fave white chocolate truffles, a fabulous print of a pink sofa to go with my pink chair, and some great notecards. Just wonderful additions to my handmade office!

So so blessed for our etsy friends and family! Thank you so much Kim for making this such a memorable Holiday!

Tonight is Saturday Night Specials on Etsy!

ok, so to help our customers spend that extra pocket money they have from Christmas, we are participating in Saturday Night Specials on Etsy! Tonight's deals are some of the best we have had in awhile!

First up, our Buttercreme Lip Balm, as seen in The Storque and Etsy Finds Email, will be on sale for $1.50. This lip balm is normally $3.50 and this special price is for this flavor and only for tonight. Its a rich, and creamy, delicious lip balm...tastes just like buttercreme frosting but has none of the calories! so so yummy!

Also on Sale, are our perfume sampler kits. We've made several collections sure to break the 'cabin~fever' and give you a sense of the spring to come! Each collection comes in its own tin and you get five fragrant oils....perfect for trying new ones that you may not even have thought about trying in the past! The samplers are on sale for $4.00

And, finally....our new Sugar Scoops Sugar Scrubs are on sale for tonight only, for $5.00 a jar. You get 10 wonderful little scoops wrapped individually in foil. They are a fabulous, single serving size to take straight into the shower. We are totally hooked on them and believe you will be too! We have four fragrances to choose from tonight....dreamsicle, peppermint, jasmine vanilla, and pear quince. We haven't made many, so at this price, its only while supplies last!

So Much Going on In the Apothecary!!!

Wow, the holidays are over! The Apothecary has been alive with deliveries, and shipping, and us just trying to keep up with the demand! As 2009 is ending, we are really trying to take time to sit down and prepare a game plan for 2010. We have so many ideas we want to bring to you, our loyal followers and friends.....and to the friends we will be making in the new year.

Some things to be on the lookout for in the new year....a new website off etsy...at opheliasapothecary.com, many new fragrances, more saturday night specials, lots of free samples in your packages, an email newsletter, and taking our show on the road....just to name a few.

Season's Greetings and loves and hugs!