{ Photo by pixe77 }

In case you were wondering about why I'm closing the shop for the month of June, it is because we are going to Russia on our honeymoon! I am terribly excited; I studied there the summer of my Senior year in college - St. Petersburg, specifically - and have a fairly open love for all things Romanov (see Anastasia if you want a public example).

We got our visas approved today and have booked a cute little apartment just off of Vostannya Ploshad right near the City Center, and will be there for ten days!! We will be gone from June 3rd - June 18th, and I plan to use the last week of June to catch-up and start prepping the shop for our Urban Craft Uprising debut in July.

I truly appreciate all your well wishes and patience with our current turnaround times! We are so busy - mostly thanks to you! - and your kindness really keeps me going!

If you are at all concerned about a current outstanding order, would like to reserve an order for July, or just want to say hello - please don't hesitate to leave a comment or drop me a line. I cannot promise to answer mail while we're away, but I do promise to bring back loads of photos and inspiration.

And by the way, if you're in the Seattle area this weekend, it's beautiful outside. You'll have the perfect weekend to go see lots of fabulous crafters at the Etsy Rain spring show! I plan to show up early for one of those awesome goodie bags! Heck yes!

As usual, I'm too busy to blog. But I'm not too busy to tell you about some really terrific perfumery events coming up in Seattle over the next couple of weeks.

1. Moms, Dads, and Grads Trunk Show: Featuring local natural perfumer and fabulous candle-maker Gabriels Aunt as well as jeweler Carolyn Buss and wines from NW Cellars, what's not to love? — April 24th, 12-5 PM at NW Cellars
2. Mandy Aftel at Essenza: Love perfume? Love chocolate? Then you don't want to miss this. Besides the fact that Mandy Aftel paved the way for modern perfumers to continue to work with natural ingredients and raised awareness about everything that we do (whether we're a strictly natural perfumer or not), this perfumer/teacher/chef/creator/designer/rockstar will be talking about her book, Essence and Alchemy (ask basically any perfumer and they will tell you this is their Bible), and showcasing new fragrances as well as some chocolates from local sweethearts Theo Chocolatiers which she concocted the flavorings for. Not to mention, if ever I had a happy place, it is Fremont's lovely little Essenza. — April 24th, 4-7 PM at Essenza
3. Last but not least, the third annual Girls Gone Glam! shopping event is slated for next Thursday, April 29th. If you've been interested in trying some of my new Spring fragrances but haven't ordered, this will be a great event to do it at. Other vendors include Clementine (shoes), Glam.spoon (upcycled fashion), Sweet Petula (soaps and such), The Finerie (fashion), and Zavida Gemstones (sustainable jewelry). There will be lots of giveaways and the $15 entry fee includes a raffle ticket and proceeds benefit Dress for Success Seattle. You could even win a bespoke session from us. — April 29th, 5-7 PM at the Alexis Hotel.

Alright. Go out. Get your glam on. We'll see you there!

I wish I could say I have a much more glamorous excuse for not blogging within, oh, the last month. But it's the same: the busy! Oh dear lord have we ever been busy. Between retail web orders, Etsy orders and lots of promo, custom, and private label work, I am basically out of time... all the time! Not to mention... we'll be at the Vampire Masquerade Ball in Portland next weekend (along with our good friends at Haus of Gloi)!

I am particularly excited because we will, with any luck at all, be debuting our gorgeous new 2 oz EDTs sprays featuring some fantastic vintage Victorian style to dress up any vanity. We're starting them in 6 scents and will continue adding the line to this format.

And I realized the other day that I never launched a Spring collection this year and that it's been awhile since I've added any new real permanent catalog scents, so please bear with me as I continue to mull that over. Expect some new offerings by Summer at any rate!

Delivery schedule for spring holidays

A few other things to mention, with the holidays coming up, please be aware of the following delivery deadlines for moms, dads, or grads:

• Mother's Day: April 1
• Father's Day: May 1
• Graduation: Please order at least 2 weeks in advance to be safe.

We will then be closed from June 3 — June 21 for our wedding and honeymoon! My lovely fiance and I booked a small apartment in my favorite part of St. Petersburg, Russia, and I am so excited to be going back. I missed many things my first time around due to my schooling, and I've already started up a giant list of must-see and -do's.

Speaking of springtime, if you have any requests, please let us hear it. You guys have the best ideas sometimes! 'Til then, see you in PDX!

Our good friend Sweet Petula is having a studio sale this Saturday and graciously invited us along for custom perfumes! Stop in for great deals on soap, glass candles, jewelry, bath salts, fizzies, and fragrances! This is perfect for a little last-minute Valentine's day shopping, so come on in and get your love on! (Or something like that.)

We will have our full custom perfumery set up, along with our Madeline cupcake fizzies (as seen on today's edition of Poppytalk Handmade) and our latest limited edition fragrance, Amelia (plus all of our usual ladies in waiting). Yes, portions from Saturday's sale of Amelia 1/2 ounce bottles will still go to Haiti.

Hope to see you there, lovelies! Stay tuned tomorrow for an interview from Jeanee Duval (seriously, for real this time) and our weekly blogged edition.

Stop in from 11-5 pm at 208 S. Jackson St. in Seattle, WA.

Like many of you, we've been scratching our brains for a way to help those in need in the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake. We're still working on a way to do something here at Sweet Anthem (so watch for that), but in the meantime please head over to our good friend Jen Wallace's blog, Indie Fixx, and participate in the online auction to raise money for the Red Cross International Response Fund. There's a great selection of goodies from many talented indie crafters up for grabs, and you get to help people who are really in some dire straits in the process. Win and win.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved, both in the earthquake and in the relief efforts.

I'm one of those who strongly believe that Fragrance is not subjective & not personal (plus the beauty is NOT in the nose of the beholder) and that we should always make a distinction between we/our tastes & personal disposition and what we smell. The nose is never wrong, only the words/associations might not be precise. Of course, the perfumer like any artist should forget about any known or learnt rule to "reinvent" the scent and our evanescent universe.

Perfumers learn to smell, recognize and "see" beyond the obvious facets of a material but, beyond any artistic interpretation of a material (or if you put cyclogalbanate in the green or fruity family) the truth "belongs" to it.

Now, it seems that there is some science in that and it's less about "artistic" speculations.
— Octavian Coifan, 1000 Fragrances

We have had the most amazing weekend so far. The first day of the Etsy Rain Holiday Craft Show went off with only a few minor hitches. Show-stoppers so far have included the D.I.Y kits, Madeline, Anita, and Ayn, who I think is making a seasonal come-back since she's so darn Christmas-y. We made a few custom perfumes today and saw a few familiar faces from past Show & Smell events. I have enjoyed meeting a lot of fellow Etsians I have only thus far known via Etsy and/or Twitter. I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings, and hoping I'll be much less delirious!

On that note, I'm off to an early bedtime and to mull over some formulas. I have big week ahead after this in preparation for Indie Banditas, I <3 Indie Holidays, and our Bust magazine featurette! Hope to see you soon!

If you've been wondering where I've been, it's because we've been busy busy busy getting ready for our holiday shows and trying to fill the recent demand from early bird holiday gift shoppers.

We've been inundated with custom work and private label requests lately and I'm doing my best to keep the retail side turnaround time under two weeks, but it's a very structured process that doesn't leave much room for error as it is (and don't you know I'd love for every perfume that goes out the door to sit on my shelf for three weeks for me to monitor). I'm doing certainly better at multitasking this holiday season than last year this time, so I'm thankful for that, but I'd rather our turnaround be two weeks than me turning around haphazardly slapped together perfumes (and I'm sure you would too).

In the meantime, mark you calendars because we've got THREE big events coming up:

• Nov. 21 & 22 - Etsy Rain, 11am - 5pm
  The Intiman Theatre - 201 Mercer Street - Seattle, WA


• Nov. 27 & 28 - Indie Banditas, 10am - 5pm
  Woodward Middle School - Bainbridge Island, WA


• Nov. 29 - I <3 Indie Holidays, 11am - 6pm
  Lake Street Grill - Kirkland, WA

We've got a coupon going in the mail for $3.00 off any full size custom perfume at any event listed above, so if you're in WA/OR watch for that postcard and keep it safe! If you think you'll attend but haven't bought from us before, feel free to e-mail us to be put on the mailing list.

Also, our D.I.Y. kits will be featured in Bust Magazine for the Dec/Jan issue, and we've been working on gearing up for that press launch. We've got about 20 kit boxes ready to go to good homes, though a few are definitely already spoken for, and are working on more every day. Bust hits the stands 11/24, so be sure to pick one up! A major thank you goes to Jenn of Indie Fixx for posting my perfumery tutorial; it's generated a LOT of buzz and I really appreciate it!!

That's about it. More coming soon as events draw closer, but since I finally had a free moment in time I thought I ought to take advantage of it. Our Yule perfumes will be launching sometime soon, so I'll be back for that. Stay tuned!

I know. I am a horrible blogger, but we've been SO busy lately. Between retail picking up for holiday orders, lots of wholesale requests, trying to finish our apartment move, and, oh, visiting my family in the mountains, there just isn't much time in the day for online endeavors beyond Twitter at the moment.

But our first of FOUR SHOWS this month is tomorrow: from 2-8 PM at Sweet Petula (208 S. Jackson, our Show & Smell home base), you'll find me with TWO perfume organs ready for your custom perfume creations. I'll have a lot of ingredients with me - and a lot of strange stuff, too - everything from apple to yuzu, and kumquat to seashore. To boot, tomorrow is Pioneer Square Art Walk, so get out and support some fantastic local artists.

Custom perfume sessions this time are appointment only; but if you show up & someone is already sniffing, just stick around! There are a few slots still open and surely we can squeeze in a few walk-ins. If you want to call today, please call Cory Smith at 206.246.3488 to reserve your time.

I'll post the rest of our show schedule soon, and some of you will get postcards in the mail. I had meant to send them before today, but again, I blame the busy!

Hope to see you tomorrow! Lots more fun stuff coming up this November, so stay tuned.

October's Show & Smell (a recap)

This month's Show & Smell at Sweet Petula's little shop in Pioneer Square was a roaring success. I was, quite frankly, floored with the turnout and loved every single minute of it. From meeting a few returning customers (and one all the way from Portland!) to working with quite a few folk to create some really lovely custom perfumes, I am already anticipating the next one.

Speaking of the next one, Cory & I decided that with the demand of the previous one that we really need to do custom perfumes by appointment only. We had such a fantastic turnout that I was nearly overwhelmed. This way, we'll both know what to expect, and I'll know how much to bring with me up front. It will be the easiest way for everybody! We've already had quite a few bookings, so if you're interested, head over to the Facebook event for more information — stat. (Yes, we'll have the regular cast of characters there, as well as some yummy cocktails & such. Oh, and it's the same evening as Pioneer Square Art Walk on November 5th, so there will be lots to do.)

Fall Break (a reminder)

It's been awhile since we've done a mid-season break, but the time has come that I absolutely need one at the moment. Our next mid-season break will be from 10/29-11/2, a bit of a short & sweet one, but well worth it.

While my order load isn't insane yet, we've been so busy with relocating in the last two weeks as well as unpacking and all of the madness that is involved with moving. While my studio itself only moved a few feet and down the hall, painting and cleaning and etc. shut me down for a week. So every waking minute lately has been spent playing catch up on shipping. I'm nearly there! Very very nearly! But there is much to be done besides shipping before Fall Break can happen. (Cue flailing.)

For this Fall Break, I'm extremely excited because we're going ghost hunting in New Mexico. Actually, we're mostly going to meet my family at one of my favorite spots from my childhood — a little town called Cloudcroft, nestled high in the mountains just south of Alamogordo. It is the setting and inspiration for our first-ever limited edition perfume, Rebecca, whose ghostly being haunts an actual mountain inn there.

By the way, for those still waffling on making a ghostly purchase, Rebecca will only be available at our craft shows this November, after November 3. We'll post our schedule soon. Trust us, it's huge.

Holiday Deadlines (an announcement)

In an effort to make our lives a little easier this holiday season, we're posting our delivery deadlines as soon as possible. When the Design*Sponge spotlight went live last year, we were completely overwhelmed as most of you remember. We didn't do everything right, but I personally have been doing everything I can to step up the turnaround times and really streamline our process. But, just to be safe, you might want to consider ordering before the following dates to get your Christmas gifts:

Holiday Deadlines:

• Custom work, Custom D.I.Y. kits: Nov 25
• Stock Perfumes, LE Perfumes, Prepicked D.I.Y. Kits: Dec 10

Any orders made after those dates cannot be guaranteed for Christmas delivery.

Lastly, a new Sweet Anthem web site is on its way. At least, it's in our heads that it's on its way. I've been jonesing for some design time for quite awhile, and we've had a lot of requests to offer the custom & DIY kits here as well as Etsy. So we're going to try to make that happen and focus on our bespoke services here on this site. Stay tuned!

It's been awhile since I posted (and I was doing so good, too), but I've been tremendously busy lately with all the goings-on. This weekend, which is particularly exciting, is our first Show & Smell of the Fall season! Please stop by Sweet Petula's in Pioneer Square this Friday & Saturday for a too sweet handmade trunk show featuring yours truly along with other local crafters Sweet Petula, My Little Sunshine, Haute Goat, and Gabriel's Aunt.

I won't be there in person on Friday because I am finishing up my current design contract this week (by the by, need a designer?), but on Saturday I will have one of my traveling organs with me to make custom perfumes on the spot (as well as custom DIY Kits). Both days, you'll be able to find a wide selection of our scents in both 1/4 oz and 1/3 oz sizes as well as our muchly-touted and instantly-popular Do It Yourself Perfumery Kits.

As if you needed one more reason to go, the first 20 visitors will get fantabulous goodie bags with free samples and products from each designer.

You can get more deets on our Facebook event or check out this lovely write-up in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine's style blog.

By the way, if you want to show more of your crafty pride this weekend, Handmade Nation is making its Seattle premiere at NW Film Forum Saturday and Sunday. A slew of us Etsy Rain-ers will be there, and it'll be the perfect way to round out your weekend of handmade goodness.

We're officially engaged... officially! We don't have engagement photos, but my sister-in-law snapped this one at my cousin's recent wedding back in Texas, and it's pretty darn good of both of us (though now my hair is back to black), so it'll do :) Yesterday, we went for what I thought was "just a hike" to a waterfall in the nearby rain forest, and he blew me away by proposing right at the top!

I posted all the detailed shots on my Facebook, and will to Flickr eventually. For now, have a gander at my gorgeous ring from Barbara Michelle Jacobs (he knows me well enough to know that I would not have accepted a ring from a seller off-Etsy) and a bit of a peek at our setting :) I took some product photos while we hiked as well, so they'll start trickling into the listings here soon.

Today's bonus fun fact: Tucker Oil Company is my dad and uncle's business in our hometown in Slaton, TX, that sells propane and propane accessories. The business has been around since 1932, and was started by (I believe) my great grandfather, with one pickup truck and a barrel. I've decided I'm borrowing the moniker for the line that was supposed to be Queen of Good Smells — I love the name Sweet Anthem but I'm kind of kicking myself for not thinking about the legacy name already in place. Hah. I'll be setting up on Etsy with five inaugural blends in the TOC line-up, and Sweet Anthem will continue to operate with the name theme. More on that soon!

It was a really tough decision, but I've decided that I won't be vending at Urban Craft Uprising this summer. I apologize profusely for anyone who was looking forward to getting their sniff on, but I just don't have the stock (let alone the energy for a two-day crafting extravaganza) right now. Everything has been spoken for by outstanding featured seller spotlight orders, and every time I think I finally have enough stock of something, I run out. Good golly. I never expected this, at all.

That being said, I'm still hard at work cranking out packages and I have really appreciated everyone's patience. All of my customers and supporters have been fantastic and I cannot thank you enough. It is just me around here, but I did also have a little bit of help from my boyfriend, at least, helping me to tag and label and drag stuff to the post office, and keep me sane when things got a bit rough the last couple of weeks. So, we're getting there. I think I am down to the last 50 packages with only 25 orders remaining to produce. PHEW.

I have a couple of other things on my plate, too, which is kind of making for some interesting exercises in time management. I am hard at work on a DIY tutorial for Indie Fixx, one of my all time favorite blogs. Additionally, I have a few graphic projects, including a logo for an old bandmate of mine who is now the Director of Comedy at Breakthru Radio (how rad of a title is that?). And lastly, I'm attempting to streamline my processes further so that when massive rushes like this arise in the future (one can only hope?) I am much better prepared.

To that end, there will be some changes around here when we reopen in September (I am taking the ENTIRE MONTH OF AUGUST off of retail - yay!). I won't be removing any fragrances, but some will be sold in limited supply only. We'll have a few new formats, and I'd like to start doing more one-off, limited edition runs, and focus more on custom and DIY perfumery and events.

I'll have more details as I know them, of course, but that's the weather as it is now. Speaking of the weather, it is STIFLING in Seattle and the heat is making it difficult to melt wax properly. I'm hiding out in corporate America as long as I can afford to today.

So, I realize I owe a few blog posts, but I have to get this out of the way or I may not have time to. I've been EXTREMELY busy with work, trying to get orders from the featured seller spot out the door (sorry, I'm still in June but have also started trucking on July), and now, prepping for next weekend!

Come by Urban Craft Uprising Aug 1st-2nd (holy cow, is August really next weekend??) at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall next weekend for "100+ of the BEST DIY vendors". Admission is free, and we'll be in fantastic company with the likes of Matthew Porter and Sublime Stitching. There will even be crafty demos and yummy food!

As for us, stop by booth #33 for to be the first to get your hands on our two new top secret products, find most of our available perfumes in a variety of formats, and we'll have our entire custom perfume setup for you to play with.

Despite how hectic the next week will likely be, I am actually looking forward to this show a lot. :D See you there!

(Note: After this, we'll be taking a real vacation for awhile. The end of August is always hectic and quite frankly, I'm not sure we'll be releasing four new perfumes until the holidays this time around. But I will keep you posted, of course!)

We had a fantastic time at the Punk Rock Flea Market this past weekend, and had a wonderful time talking up the brand and spreading the word -- especially about our custom perfume services.

I don't have a lot of time before my NYC trip so I thought I'd leave you with two things: first, a taste of some of our new item photos from the always-amazing Angel Ceballos, and last but not least, some wonderful reviews of my perfumes from Beth, who we've now seen at a couple of craft shows this spring. Thanks so much for the feedback, Beth!

Until next week, enjoy the photos!

It's almost that time! Lori (yes...that Lori) and I have been gearing up for our tent at the Punk Rock Flea Market #6 which happens to be next Saturday, June 6, at the Belltown Underground. Please stop by and see us!

There's a lot more to any fragrance launch than meets the eye, and it's that "lot" of things that has been keeping me too occupied to blog lately. Apologies, as I know I've been meaning to post about some things, but it's just how it is.

We launch four perfumes every quarter and I'm beginning to wonder if I really am a masochist. Four fragrances. That's four bottles. So everything that ordinarily comes with a fragrance launch -- you know, brewing, decanting, bottling, listing, writing copy, spinning the theme, creating the artwork, gathering the packaging materials, testing, sniffing, resniffing, retesting, rebrewing, redoing sometimes some things entirely -- is multiplied by four. I can't even imagine how many hours of actual work it boils down to. Why yes, I guess I am psychotic. Thank you for noticing.

And it is not lost on me yet that I haven't actually worked on the final two perfumes for summer. I know it. I own it. I'll work it. But the fact is that two are still conceptual sketches. Two are complete (well...mostly...): Lori, a tea/jasmine combination that may or may not evolve further than that (and probably will...as is the reason for the previous qualifier...), and Elliott, the first of our men's fragrances, an oakmoss, labdanum, rain, and pine number that I'm particularly satisfied with. I should mention that Rare Device has the initial version of Lori on their shelves already because they are special.

I admittedly wrestled with the men's line, not wearing a lot of men's fragrances myself and not having dated anyone in awhile who does. I created quite a few before deciding Elliott finally, truly worked for me...and worked in a grand way. The others were all too powdery, too purple, or too...something. Angelica, ambergris, grapefruit, saffron things that were so very much not men's fragrances despite my insistence on throwing in a little black pepper. They were all bent on some sort of bluesy hues jazz number, and came on too powdery instead of smoky blue like I'd hoped. Too darn feminine, I suppose. So when Elliott was done and strong and brooding on bottom and yet somehow clean and crisp on top, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Victory, at last.

And that's not all that's been going on, either, because it's not like with four fragrances to launch that the daily wheels stop turning. For instance, last night, after completely cleaning out my closet and gathering five bags of clothes to donate, I made 65 solid perfumes for regular retail everyday orders. Sixty five 3ml solid perfumes in one sitting. That means of the containers I ordered last week, I am already low again. That means that business is great, which also means I don't slow down. I am even out of soy wax. That means the precarious dance of reordering supplies just in the nick of time continues. Occasionally, we get ahead, but it really is wonderful that we have so many local suppliers or we'd be truthfully screwed.

Other things are crazy as well. We have our photography quarterly update scheduled next week so the prop gathering has been relatively crazy (cue typewriter theme!). Signage making is in full gear. Some screen printing needs doing. Taggage needs to be assembled, checklists need to be made, and products need to be future-proofed. Other new lines are being developed. And we're still continuing to expand our stockists list, locally and afar.

So you might imagine that I'm insanely excited to be taking a couple of weeks off here shortly, as is our quarterly tradition. I'll be doing it early this quarter, which I realize sounds crazy but that's why I'm busting my butt right now to try and get ahead at all if possible. Directly following the Punk Rock Flea Market (more details on that soon), I'll be heading to New York for what should have been my four days of networking at the Perfume Expo America, which I won't be attending since they changed the conference dates just directly after I booked my flight. (Thanks for that. A brief grumble: if you cite swine flu as the excuse, it would be more prudent, in my opinion, to postpone the event until much further than three weeks later.) Besides, I know enough people in the city to have a good time without having to sit through 8 hours of industry lectures.

If I don't get a chance to post before then, see you smelly cats on the flip side! Our quarterly launch begins June 20th and will last throughout July.

For the followers wondering where Brianne, one of the original four perfumes offered in this shop, had wondered off to, she's back. Through the end of this month, you can find her on Etsy as a limited edition fragrance for an early summer launch. Unfortunately there just isn't enough local dewberry to go around, and we're darned picky about our dewberry, so for now this is all we have left of this popular and hard to find perfume of ours! It's just too good to hoard with the summer weather finally starting to embrace the Northwest.

In other news, the Whos Your Mama? craft show this weekend was a roaring success, and we had such a pleasure (even if I am red from head to toe, thanks, elusive Seattle sun!). I have photos to post at some point, but you know how that goes... many thanks to Gretchen, Emily, and Dakota for inviting us!

Who's Your Mama Show

When: Saturday, May 9th from 11am-5pm
Where: SPACE -- 7601 Greenwood Ave N, Suite 103, Seattle WA (map)

As it usually happens, last-minute-like, that is, I'll be participating in an event at SPACE in the Phinney neighborhood in Seattle. And if you're looking for last-minute gifts (there's that word again...) for Mom, this is the perfect one-stop-shop.

I honestly don't know what I will have on hand since this is, indeed, very last minute for me. That's why I'm opening up reservations again: if you're dying for a particular perfume for mama (or yourself), simply email me your selections. You'll pay the day of the show and pick up your perfume at SPACE! (You'll save a little on shipping this way!) 1/4 oz perfumes (and their solid counterparts) will run at $15.00 as usual.

Be sure to check out Who's Your Mama? on tumblr to see who else will be in attendance, and start making your wishlists! See you there!

I'm a little late to my own party. In fact, I never really posted about my event in Pioneer Square's Sweet Petula shop because I got so busy directly after fulfilling a wholesale order & the slew of V-day sales, and I never really got any fantastic pictures either. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Anne-Marie of Brambleberry fame posted this picture on her blog, Soap Queen. We were thrilled to meet her that day, as her company supplies both Cory and mine's shop with more than a handful of essential oils and we admire their ethics & crazy diligence. She had this, in particular, to say about your truly:

Because it was my lucky day, the enchanting perfumer Meredith was at Sweet Petula's shop when I got there. She had a wonderful grasp of perfuming and a commanding presence when speaking about her passion for blending scents.

Thanks so much, Anne-Marie! By the way, if you do visit Cory's shop looking for my goods, you'll notice that they do have the updated, non-factory labels on now. Tell me what you think, if you drop by!

Some other things are going on, which is why I'm still awake at 1 AM on a weekday without even having touched my skincare routine yet. My family coming to town this weekend, that guy I'm occasionally seen with and am known to call my sweetheart and I are planning a potential trip to Italy (why no, it has nothing to do with this natural perfumery course posted recently on Perfume Shrine, why would you think that?), and trying to get more orders out the door tomorrow. I also had a rather full day at work, followed by an adventure in the rain down to Sodo to visit my new best friends at Specialty Bottle, who might have solved my vial leaking issues once and for all. Polyseal caps, ftw.

I swear that soon I am actually off to bed, despite having tweeted that about one hour ago.

Good grief, was it ever a glorious weekend, and I'm a little sad to see it go (even if this coming weekend poses some very promising fun as well). Let's see if I can briefly recap, as it warrants one.

Besides the weather being phenomenally 70 degrees and sunny (which never happens in April), we had a few adventures. Friday night we ventured to Greenlake to eat at Beth's, our favorite punk rock diner. (If you watch Man V. Food, you might have seen him attempt the 12-egg omelette there.) I had a breakfast burger and we split at $6 shake, which I have to say, was well worth the $6. I did feel a little guilty though, after all the chocolate I'd had that day (leftover birthday cake at work, what?). After we meandered in Scarecrow and ended up bringing home Rocky Horror Picture Show (which, to my horror, I had never seen all the way through) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (to keep with the theme), which was absolutely amazing.

Saturday I spent a good chunk of the afternoon at Sweet Petula's putting new labels on the stock she had and picking up some overstock. As always, it was fun to chat with Cory & we had a good time gossiping and talking shop and catching up.
 
But Sunday was the big day. We had our ritual late morning latte at Kaladi (our favorite coffee shop around the corner from my apartment), and sat outside basking in the beautiful morning tinkering with our game boys before walking down to the convention center. We met up with some good friends we don't see often enough, who are also some of our usual PAX compadres. I had a lot of fun walking around the Comic Con, meeting artists, looking at really pretty work, and trying not to buy everything in sight. I have to say that while I love PAX for what it is, I think the Comic Con is way more my style -- I loved flipping through all the comix (independently published comics) and I got to meet Matt Kint from Super Spy  who signed my book for me, the guys at Two Percent Solution, one of whom is Rouge's husband, and last but not least, Phil Foglio from Girl Genius/MTG art fame. We stopped by the Topatoco booth and I grabbed a Dinosaur Comics shirt and some Cat & Girl buttons, as well. And lastly, I nabbed me a Pink Godzilla plushie from a local gaming store of the same name that had just the best marketing idea ever. Too freaking cute.

After we made it home, I finished up a wholesale order that will be on its way to Rare Device in San Francisco. Once Rena's received everything, I'll add their information to the stock page.

This week, I've got some reviews as well as an interview from the lovely Loreto, so definitely stay tuned!
 

The event

Here's one reason we needed a quarterly break so badly. We have been furiously bottling & packaging for our spring preview event at Capers, on West Seattle (4521 California Ave. S.W. Seattle, WA). Capers is a classy home furnishings and accessories store and we'll be having a trunk show! Join us and Susan Goodwin, local jewelry designer, for an evening of champagne, hors d'oeuvres, and come smell our new spring line-up in person before it hits the website.

Our stock

We'll have the new 2009 spring collection (Caroline, Corrin, Molly, and Pauline), as well as past favorites in both 5ml bottles and 10ml solid perfume sizes. Additionally, we've created a cool DIY Perfume Kit that includes everything you need to get started in perfumery, plus a small book we put together detailing the process, the math, and the olfactory adventure. All 5ml bottles will retail at $12.50 (we are evening out the prices on this site as well), and 10ml solid perfumes at $15.00. Kits will range from $30-40.

Reservations

As always, you're welcome to make reservations for items to be picked up at our events. Just e-mail us by Friday @ 10 AM so we know what to have on hand! Hope to see you ther!

Oh, has there ever been a better beginning to a month than this? I realize it's been rather quiet here on Essais, but it's been an insanely busy month and I can finally, finally breathe. The lack of reviews (and posts at all) in the last short while was due to a wonderfully busy time offline for February, plus a lot of research & development that gets put into the new perfumes launching next quarter.

The biggest news of all is, of course, the redo of this website. This has been my life for the last month since the design first appeared, mystically, in my Photoshop window. I was not even planning a redo, but I found myself bored one afternoon and this is just what happens. (The best design happens when you least expect it.) So, what's new?

Continue reading We climb the wired fences.

5 reasons to visit our Valentine's Day show tomorrow and Saturday:

Ginger Blossom Olive Oil soap (by Sweet Petula)	Shea Butter Moisturizer Hand and Body Balm Provence Scent (by Sweet Petula)
Cleansing Body Wash in Mediterranean Mint (by Sweet Petula)	2ml Travel Size Perfume - Maureen (Far East Tea Time) (our own) 2ml Travel Size Perfume Sample - Ayn (Blackberry Tart) (our own)

Not to mention, Salumi (you know...famous Seattle deli...owned by the Batali family...?) is around the corner and a perfect spot for a long lunch.

Please stop by and see us all day Friday and Saturday for a special studio celebration hosted by Sweet Petula, located at 208 S Jackson St in Seattle, WA. It's not too late to reserve your order to be picked up in store! Just e-mail us and we'll add your items to the reservations list.

See you there!