Sunday, July 31, 2011

A Busy Day and a Calming Treasury

Yesterday was insanity. Per usual, my sister slept over on Friday night and we went to yoga on Saturday morning. There's a cool Bed & Breakfast a few minutes away called Turquoise Barn, where they have their own farm and offer raw and/or vegan food to their guests. In keeping with this theme, the owner teamed up with a local yoga instructor to offer classes on Saturday mornings, so my sister and I have been going together the past few months. I've been doing yoga for awhile now, but I always look forward to getting out of the house and practicing outside or in the neat, refurbished old barn at Turquoise Barn (hence the name!!). Anyway, I've managed to ramble now...

After yoga, we showered and headed out to Avalon Moon in Delhi to pick up some of my beloved essential oils because I have an upcoming craft fair and will need to make some more of my aromatherapy candles. After that we drove to Hamden so that I can replenish some of my candles at an adorable farm store called Lucky Dog. (That's right, folks, Candles By Nature is all over the place now! haha.) After we hit the more local spots it was finally time to make the trip to New Paltz to drop off some stock at American Craftsman. The shop is now under new ownership, so this was also a chance for me to meet the new owner, Cat, who was really sweet. What's also really exciting is that American Craftsman is now carrying my full Aromatherapy Collection, so I'm super psyched about that  :)

After American Craftsman, my candle work was done and my sister and I had some time to roam around New Paltz and check out the shops. There are a bunch of really neat stores in the town, but my all-time favorite is a clothing store called the Groovy Blueberry. I literally would wear everything in that store and their prices are reasonable, too!

We had such a long day and I didn't end up getting home until about 9:30 after driving for hours, but it was so worth it. We got in some quality sister time and I introduced her to a cool little town. Oh, and of course, I also got more of my candles out there which is always a great thing!

In stark contrast to my crazy Saturday, my Vanilla Amber candle was featured in this great Treasury entitled Slow Sensual Saturday. Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Treasury: Moon and Stars

I have this funky little ring with moon and star designs, which I absolutely love. This Treasury was inspired by that ring. Check it out here and let me know which is your favorite ;)

I Would Give You the Moon and the Stars

Check This Out!

I just got my copies of Sashay a few days ago and, as promised, I took some pictures of the ad to share with you guys ;)




I read through the entire issue the first day I got it and I enjoyed every article I came across. It's a refreshingly honest and down-to-earth publication and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to team up with them. Check them out here!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Candles By Nature and Sashay Magazine

Sashay is a magazine for "rugged, real, and refined" women, with an emphasis on eco-friendly practices and an appreciation for all things beautiful. Because of this unique perspective, I was so excited to have the opportunity to work with them in placing an ad in their magazine.

I'm expecting my copies of the magazine soon, so I'll be sure to post some pictures as soon as they come in, but in the meantime you should mosey on over to their website, where you'll find Candles By Nature on their Boutique-ish page. While you're there, click around--there's lots of fun and interesting pieces to peruse!

Thanks again to Shirley and everyone else at Sashay for making my candles look more beautiful than ever!

Monday, July 18, 2011

New York Faerie Festival

Okay, so this isn't officially candle-related, but going to events like the Faerie Fest always inspires me in one way or another, so I thought I'd share it with you all anyway. Plus, it's always fun to pretend to be a faerie for a day and I hope these pictures can give you a taste of that as well ;)


There was a couple there who makes faerie furniture, which my boyfriend and I decided will be the theme for our bedroom once we get our own house. Their pieces were absolutely stunning. The detail was difficult to capture in the photos, but the more you looked at them, the more intricate details you would notice. Just looking at their pieces made me feel like I was in a faerie forest!

Sorry, you'll have to turn your head for this one...I couldn't get it to upload correctly :(
 Then we went on a faerie walk, complete with stones with magical inscriptions, sitting areas for little faeries, and a vine gateway.




After the faerie walk, we came upon a fire-thrower/eater named Paolo Garbanzo. Not only can he juggle flaming pins, but he's also hilarious while doing it! Paolo was such a kooky, nutty character with some really impressive juggling skills. Towards the end of the show, he called for some volunteers and of course, my sister was more than willing (that's her in the last picture throwing him a flaming torch).
Isn't this gypsy wagon amazing? Forget a Winnebago, I want to get one of these and travel the country!!


Part of the theme for the Faerie Festival was the ongoing rivalry between the faeries and the trolls. These next few shots were taken during each group's parade, in which they urged the fair-goers to take their side.






Because my sister and I both went as faeries, we were obviously on the faerie side, but halfway through the Festival, my sister was kidnapped by a troll. Shortly after, they were married, went their separate ways and we then later caught him cozying up to another of his captives (typical trolls!)

In addition to faeries and trolls, there were also lovely mermaids enjoying some time in the river that ran through the park.

...And of course, if you're going to have trolls, you must  have goblins, too!

She wasn't a faerie or any other magical creature, but this lady could juggle crystal balls like nobody's business. I only wish you could have seen her in action! And her dress was gorgeous! One day I plan on getting an elaborate get-up like that for myself  ;)

At the end of the Festival, the crowd gathered for a good, old-fashioned joust between the good knights Oak and Holly. The faerie queen introduced the two knights while seated atop her unicorn and then the fighting began. We were on Oak's side, who unfortunately was not the victor (but at least he looked cool!)

Sir Oak

Sir Holly

This was our first year at the Faerie Festival and it will definitely become an annual tradition now. We had so much fun, and it was really neat to be transported into a magical realm of woodland creatures. If there is a faerie festival in your area, you should definitely check it out...you won't be sorry!