CONTEST WINNERS!!!

Ok, people...... the winners were picked!

Keepalot and Tenshi won the draw, and Ember won the bonus draw.

So now I need you guys to email me with your addresses and choice of a full size fragrance from the shop so I can get it mailed out!

I will announce the new perfumes tomorrow, because that was a hard decision!!

Congrats, you guys. And thank you everyone for playing. I'm going to do another contest soon. :-)

More internet woes, Puppy Shenanigans, Dexter Revisited, AND The Contest.

When I started this blog, I really never expected anyone to read it. I certainly didn't expect all the love, concern, caring, and just general cool-ness that's come my way. Thanks, you guys - you make my day. 

The @$%!* internet keeps going down. Got it back from the other day, just in time for me to pull an all-nighter and get a bunch of orders out. Then yesterday - nothing. I was on the phone to the company *8* times, and by the end of the day I was really not so nice. The day prior, UPS delivered ALL my supplies to someone else and when I called them about it, they told me to walk door to door and find out who got it. NO, SERIOUSLY. Thankfully, I found my boxes at a neighbor's house and all was right with the world. So I guess my tolerance level for poor customer service yesterday was really low.

Lucy is out of control. If she wasn't so cute -- god help her. She's discovered how to go out the window:

My obsession with Dexter has gotten no better, unfortunately. With so much down time and internet drama, I've had plenty of time to watch ALL of Season 1, and 5 episodes of Season 2. I normally wouldn't admit what I'm about to admit, but we're friends, right? The other night I actually took my laptop into the bathroom so I could watch it while taking a bath. I took the time to invert a laundry hamper, set the laptop on it, got into a dry bathtub to test the angle and everything. SHAMEFUL. If you tell anyone, I'll deny it. :-)

Ok, so the contest ends tonight!!! I've got everyone's name in a hat and will have the kids pull out 2 names when the clock strikes midnight. There's still time to enter if you haven't already. I'm trying to narrow my perfume choices down, but that is the hardest thing EVER. I want to do all of them, but obviously I can't.

I will post the winners here tomorrow and will email said winners to get addresses and all that.

Okay, I MUST get to work now. So many orders to get out of here today.

Stay tuned!!

INTERNET'S BEEN DOWN. PLEASE READ.

Heya. My internet took the proverbial dump on me, so I've been away from Etsy since YESTERDAY! Good gripes. This has really put a dent in my production, so I had to change my turnaround to 3-5 days instead of 3-4. No worries. I plan to pull an all-nighter tonight and blaze through it.

UGH!!!!

The Magic 2000, A Thank You, and Lucy Loo

Thank you everyone for the support and accepting that I have to gripe every now and then. I never wanted this blog to be a business-only "look-what-I'm-promoting" thing, so being able to be a real person is invaluable to me. 

I hit 2000 sales today!! How freakin cool is THAT?? I was so worried when I stopped working at my "real" job. Worried about failing, starving, not being able to pay the bills. Turns out I'm doing pretty well. Of course I still can't pay the bills, but who the hell CAN?

There's a new addition to the family. This is Lucy:

5 months old and a ball of energy. This one's going to take a  lot of work (and I'm going to love every minute of it). There's a sort of Pit Bull Advocacy group here in Portland - they help companions deal with prejudice issues, training, and medical care. Pretty awesome.

Excuse the cellphone quality of the photo, and the bbq & lighter fluid in the background. The back yard needs to be tended to in the worst way. 

Again, thank you everyone, and have a lovely weekend - what's left of it!

Mosquitos, Dexter, and Mean People

Have you seen Dexter? It's my new guilty pleasure. 

I love the opening sequence. Anyone who can make breakfast look like murder is a a-ok in my book! You should go watch it: Dexter Opening Sequence.

+------------------------------------------------- +

I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Seriously. I made a repellent that  worked really, really well until the little buggers got used to it. The infestation is SO bad that when I went to the store to buy itch cream for the kids, the guy working there told me don't bother looking for itch cream, calamine lotion, repellent, candles, *anything* because they were all sold out. Eww.I hate them I hate them!

+--------------------------------------------------+

Okay, so I have a question:  WHY are people so DAMN MEAN???? I will preface this part of my post by saying -

a.) I'm totally aware I'm going to come off sounding like a cry baby

b.) I know I need to have a thicker skin and I'm working on it.

c.) I probably have no right bringing this out in a public forum.

I LOATHE meanness. It's up there at the top of the list with lying and cheating. The kids have never known punishment as bad as when they're just plain ol' mean. I think it's disgusting and is never tolerated in my [physical] world. Unfortunately, living my life on the internet now, I'm subjected to it every day. The relative anonymity of the internet has given people license to act however they please, with no conscience and no accountability. In order to stay ahead of the curve, so to speak, I read a lot of bulletin boards, forums, etc, and am constantly appalled by people's behavior - the bullying, snarky comments and clique mentality - UGH.

Some time ago, I was reading one such forum, when someone asked the question, "What little extras have you received from companies you've ordered from?" Being absolutely *notorious* for adding goodies to my packages, this piqued my interest..... People were so utterly ridiculous in their replies, some even going as far as saying that when they receive a little something extra with their order, it makes them mad. 

MAD??? REALLY???

I think the worst part of it was seeing posts from people who have bought from ME, saying how incredibly stupid it is to receive candy, little toys, etc. I felt so bad, I actually stopped adding candy and stuff to my packages for a while. That probably sounds insanely child-like, but I guess I just felt so STUPID. 

See, something I never get to tell my customers is this: I present my product the way I do because I hope it will make you happy, if even for a moment. I want you to feel special because you *are.* I want you to smile because you got a kazoo with your order, not be mad at me because of it! My customers are part of my world - they're not just numbers or dollar signs to me. I could save a heck of a lot of money (and time!!!!) by foregoing tissue, ribbon, candy, and all the little extras, but I refuse to do it.

THEN - I unfortunately stumbled across a review of my products last night.

Oh. God.

I know that not everyone is going to love (or even like) what I do. That's the beauty of being human - the differences between us. A perfume that's ambrosial to one person may be utter garbage to another. And that's okay. 

HOWEVER, this reviewer was so damn mean when it wasn't necessary. Not only did she rip apart *every single* scent of mine she tried, she accused me of using cheap product and misrepresenting myself. Her entire blog post was peppered with insults and catty remarks. She wrote everything as if it were absolute truth. I think that's what bothers me so much - not that she didn't like my stuff, but that she made accusations that aren't true and presented them as gospel.

Such is life, I suppose. My skin is growing thicker as my business grows. I will continue to treat every single customer of mine like they're the only one, I will continue to make the best products I know how to make.

And that's that!

Thanks for allowing me to vent. Now off to work!

The funniest spam I think I've ever gotten

I NEVER open spam, but this one caught my attention. I wonder why...


The email was titled "We are told you are dead.....is it true"

Attention Beneficiary

We write to confirm the recent information we just heard from a man Named Mr. Peter Oba, this men came to our office This Morning to inform us that you are dead and during your illness you instructed him to claim your warned federal government compensation fund of $3.5 million on your behalf in case you die. So he made things very clear to us that you are dead and he’s the only person you disclosed this matter with and you have instructed him to come and claim the money since you are dead.

Therefore, we want to confirm if you are dead or alive and failure to reply back within the next 48hrs simply means what Mr. peter Oba said was right because he has ordered us to release the Card payment to Dr. David Moore from united states and he has agreed to pay the needed fund valued, but we have not gotten the charge from him yet as we want to find out first if you are dead or not,

So if you are still alive, advisers will need your feel back with your postal address attached bellow for your best interest, so we can stop further communication with Dr. David Moore.

Your full name..........

You’re phone.............

You’re fax number.........

You’re house address......

Your occupation.........

You’re age/sex............

Your ID Adentity.......

Beside if you fail to comply with the needed $149 US posting charge that you re required sometime ago, there’s no way we can post the Card payment to you unles you can come down to Benin and collect your ATM Card in person. 

Looking forward to hear from you if you are still alive.
 

Yours truly,

Mr. Mike Eze 

tel: 0022996466501

fax: 0022996466501

Director of customer service

BOO! A 3-part entry........ and a contest

First, I would like to thank everyone who commented and gave me support during the last 2 weeks. I really needed it. Even thought I didn't respond, please know I read and appreciated each and every one. You guys made me feel like I wasn't so alone. 

Now before I start crying again, on to business!

I'm listing one (and possibly 2) of the Halloween perfumes in the shop today - Saucy Jack - also one of the GEIST lip balms. From now until Halloween, there will be new stuff listed on a regular basis. Yay!

Also, I thought I would share a couple of my thrift store finds with you - 'cause basically I just can't help myself. No taxidermy this time, sadly.....

 

This is Hazel. I know, because it says Hazel on her back. :-) My two favorite things about her:  She's handmade (yes!) and SHE HAS NO FREAKIN FACE. I've placed her above my workstation to "watch" over me. I don't think the kids like her very much.

Then there's THIS guy:

I have a coffee cup addiction. It's really sad. From the cheezy (the rabbit that says "Some BUNNY Loves You) to... well.... please see my Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford mugs in a previous post! 

What caught my attention first about this was the size... it's huge! Secondly, a huge mustache really tickles my fancy. No pun intended. :-)

And he  reminds me of something I can't quite put my finger on... I keep thinking it might my Monty Python illustrations.... maybe Yellow Submarine.... maybe Gulliver's Travels. I don't know, but I am completely smitten with him. And the best part? He's a left-handed cup! So unlike most of my others, when I use it, the face is where it should be.

Now if I could only find the "Hang In There" kitten on a coffee mug, my life would be complete. 

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Okay, now on to this contest thing....

I need you guys to leave, in le comment box, the ONE horror movie *or* ONE notorious person you would most like to see translated into fragrance. ( keep in mind, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Lizzie Borden and Jack The Ripper are already done ). Please no serial killers along the lines of Dahmer, Bundy, Gein, etc. 

I will pick 2 winners, at random,  July 30th @ midnight (this means one of the kids will pull the winners out of a hat). They will receive a full size perfume of their choice from my shop. 

Now - a couple things to remember:  If you are picked, that doesn't mean I will use your movie. It just means you were awesome enough to enter. If I use a movie from a person who doesn't get picked, well.... that's the whole point of this, I think. It's just all fun.

So c'mon - put your thinking caps on and leave some comments!

NEW BOTTLES ARE HERE, NEW BOTTLES ARE HERE!

As I mentioned, I had to go back to the amber bottles in the shop. After much work, I'm actually quite happy with them. Pardon me for saying, but they're like little miniature works of art. :-)

There's more coming!!!

Dahlia Madness

I love Dahlias. They're my favorite flowers. While trying to find perfect flowers for Kira, we came across Dark Angel dahlias. They are all named after movies, which might be the coolest thing ever (besides the fact that the leaves are almost black). Still missing about 5 varieties, but hitting the stores today. I can't rest until I get my hands on "Dracula." Here's what's in the garden so far:

Pretty Woman:

Star Wars:

Taxi Driver:

High School Date:

Dragon Ball:

American Pie:

The old urns in the front are really taking off, too. The flowers are doing remarkably well.

I think maybe planting and bringing new life has helped me cope with losing Kira. Maybe it will help with the nightmares, too.

Off to work.

R.I.P. Kira

You were the best dog ever.

 
FOUR FEET

I have done mostly what most men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can't forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.

Day after day, the whole day through --
Wherever my road inclined --
Four-feet said, "I am coming with you!"
And trotted along behind.

Now I must go by some other round, --
Which I shall never find --
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind. 


~RUDYARD KIPLING