Bittersweet and the little soap company

designed to design

I'm just going, to be honest, and declare from the top of the hills that I can't wait for fall! We've carefully curated our fall clothing collection and we believe it is by far the best that's ever been presented. You may not know it, but there's a lot of time that goes into choosing clothes for our shop. Since we're an Apothecary shop and not a clothing store, all of our pieces need to stand out with both quality and content to match the products that we make. We always look for style and originality without being over the top. The clothing industry is fast moving and trends and looks come and go almost as fast as they appear. Bittersweet is fastidious and believes that textile pieces should not only stand the test of time but offer a put-together and polished appearance when on the body. When you wear that new Bittersweet trousers or top and enter the room you're going to get noticed! Refinement and dashing can play off of each other pretty well. Hello, Uptown Girl! 

While my mind is advancing towards fall the shop is wavering back and forth between summer and autumn. We'll soon be switching out some of our perfume fragrances to more warm and spicy tones. Our soaps will be dipped in apple and pear, vanilla, and pumpkin. The wrappings will be beautiful and the transition into the leaf-dropping sweater-wearing mornings. I always hope for an Indian Summer to arrive a bit early. Plum hues and toasty brown fill my head, and the design of fall lines has already been put into motion behind the scenes. 

Bittersweet is honored to have been chosen by the community as Best Kept Secret and Specialty Shop. Thank you for voting for us.  We kind of like our shop being a secret. Meaning we would never be comfortable having our shop in a strip mall or high-traffic spot. We prefer our artisan shop to be quaint and quiet. A place where when you walk in the door for the first time you notice immediately it's different than any other shop you've ever been to. That the vibe is relaxed and peaceful. The nature of our business is designed to stand out.  Our collections are crafted by hand and curated with admiration for the good things in life. Not in a snooty way, but in a natural at ease way. We love that both our shop and business carry this manifesto.  

The last of summer's glory!

We welcome you to visit and discover our aromatic shop. Relax and kick up your heels on our huge front porch! Tour a downtown museum or dine at one of our five-star eateries.  Take the shop tour too, and explore the over thirty boutiques and shops. Our beautiful downtown awaits you! We're small-town America with perks! Summer just got better!

Jill   

 

 

 

 

Peachy!

Have you ever had a week or maybe a day that's just peachy? I know that you have. This past week was indeed "peachy." Our peachy week was not only hunky-dory in the sense of peachy, but there was the scent of aromatic peach flowing through the air. I've mentioned many times how I love the scent of peach. We blended several peach concoctions at the apothecary shop that were, well, peachy! The peach season isn't around for long.  

I wrapped up the book cover design! I'll talk about that more as we travel down the road of book writing discussion at a later date. You might find the information handy if you're considering writing a book. 

Meanwhile at the shop and the studio. 

You might find it difficult to believe, but the studio has been whipping up all things pumpkin spice and pear, apple, and some of your favorite yummy fall scents. If you're new to our blog then you may not know that our method of soap making requires a four to six-week curing period.  We're into September in July. Once September rolls around the action follow.  Actually, it's a pretty action-packed year round, but the golden month of September ushers in down and dirty soap making. It's a good thing we have lots of soap. I'll never forget that children's book that I used to read to Patrick. The sheep crashed their jeep and they said that they needed lots of soap. We used to laugh every time we came to that part of the book. Mom was a soap maker and we did have lots of soap!

Our Scent Station or Scent Your Own Department has been graced with some beautiful souls. It's always joyful to see people create a perfume or cologne. Starting from the ground up and working your way through the world of scent design is mesmerizing.   Being a scent girl my entire life I've always had a crush on beautiful scents. I love sharing my favorite things with all that are interested. That part of living the good life, sharing. 

The girl in the golden glasses. 

Susan dropped by the shop yesterday and as soon as she entered I was taken by her sunglasses. Aren't they cute? She was headed to a wedding and changed her mind about the dress that she was wearing. Instead, she picked out the linen embroidery dress and paired it with a new seed bead bracelet, and turquoise-toned Nickel & Suede earrings. Doesn't she look adorable? The pops of bright red and fuchsia in the dress look amazing on her skin tone! We love the look! Without a doubt, Susan received more than one compliment. We offer a color compliment card at our shop. Everyone looks better in certain tones, colors, and hues. Whether you're a spring, summer, fall, or winter, we are more than happy to assist you in your best foot forward colors. We're anxious to expand our color collections with stunning fall tones. We've already chosen our favorites and they will be arriving soon. Remember September?

The tumbleweed has been getting attention. I guess if our shop was in Arizona or Nevada a tumbleweed would not be that big of a deal, but when it's center stage at a midwest shop it is going to get lots of attention. That puts a smile on my face. I'm also reminded that inspiration can come from anything or anyone. As simple as it sounds it's true. 

My zinnia patch was slow to bloom, but now those candy-colored blooms are popping open! I'm not sure if I love this flower because of its humble beginning or because it was one of my mom's favorites. It is safe to say, both. Typically you start zinnia from seeds. There's a satisfying feeling that one gets when one plants the seed and watches it transform into a beautiful flower. A sense of accomplishment in the garden world, I'd say. You garden girls and boys understand! If you aren't a garden person, zinnias are a great flower to start with. 

We sometimes forget how important it is to treat ourselves with love. Be kind to yourself and always remember you are you, and that is enough. xo

When we look forward to tomorrow we're often disappointed in today. If you concentrate on living one day at a time, you will find yourself a happier person. It takes practice to put this into motion but once you do, you will realize that this method of thinking will add joy to your life. 

Everyone that visits Bittersweet touches that linen apron. What is it about linen? The natural fiber textile draws you in with its soft texture and cool disposition. At least it does me. The colors are amazing on these aprons. They remind me of plant-dyed fabrics. Some of the most amazing colors come from plants! In the olden days, really olden days, that is how they added color to their clothing. The Indians were the originators and knowledgeable about plant-dyed fibers and shared their knowledge with the pilgrims and pioneers. There's another example of sharing. 

Plant-derived dyes

Catechu or Cutch tree (brown)

Gamboge tree resin (dark mustard yellow)

Chestnut hulls (peach to brown)

Himalayan rhubarb root (bronze, yellow)

Indigofera leaves (blue)

Kamala seed pods (yellow)

Madder root (red, pink, orange)

Mangosteen peel (green, brown, dark brown, purple, crimson)

I'm in love with the paper scrolls.  

I've been procrastinating about changing our essential oil and fragrance bottles. The process of switching out the bottles and new labeling is mind-boggling considering we offer over one hundred at our shop.  This will be an all-day project that should have a dedicated time and place. Sometimes those last-minute challenges turn out to be not so challenging, but simply time-consuming.  

Our popular Charcoal soap is back in stock! 

I've been wanting to share our complimentary gift packaging notion. In a time filled with cut-backs and less, it feels right to offer appreciative offerings to our customers. Not to mention we love creating beautiful packaging. 

We're holding back on some exciting news, but we can't share quite yet. This time next week I'll be able to share and the excitement is mounting! 

Keep being you. 

Jill 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

no name

In the last post, I explained the story of the tumbleweed. Here it is! I've been getting all kinds of questions about the giant tumbleweed. Believe it or not, you can order these desert creatures online. They are available in small, medium, and large. This is a large size because when I ordered I thought, bigger is always better. I'm not from Texas, but I have lots of relatives that are! Anyway, after all these years I finally have my tumbleweed! As a reminder as I mentioned in the last post, inspiration can come from anything or anyone. 

We've been heel-deep into book covers! I've always been intrigued by how hundreds of pictures can churn out one good one. This translates into time spent having your picture taken, over and over, and over. Not my cup of tea. I always thought that it would be fun to be a model, but now I'm realizing that it would not be my thing. 

Yesterday our credit card processor went crazy! We have the one that starts with an S. We had to close our shop doors because we could not process any payments. Then later I went back to the store to try and troubleshoot, but it was apparent that the issue was within their system. So I finally gave up and threw in the towel for the night. I did manage to get our backup system running, but our main processing system is down. It will be a miracle if it accepts our password and works! Sometimes when companies make upgrades it causes issues with some older machines. This is exactly what is happening. As frustrating as it is, life goes on.  It's always good to have backup plans. Just saying. 

Moving on to less stressful things. 

Our shipment of linen aprons arrived. I absolutely love the colors! We also ordered linen table runners and kitchen towels. We're gearing up for our cookbook in early twenty-three. 

When I think of summer thoughts of fresh lemon and lavender come to mind. Our Refreshers are an easy way to take in some refreshing and cool scents. 

We've already planned out our packaging for fall and winter. We've used this paper company before and always loved their designs. Without a doubt, we know that you're going to be wowed by the stunning paper!

Soap manufacturing is at full speed ahead! I have soap that needs to be cut and wrapped just waiting, soaps that aren't made, soap that needs names, and soap, soap, soap.

I've been using the minty watermelon scrub, and absolutely love the new formulation! It has a creamy texture while also offering coconut oil moisture.  So good!

I wasn't sure what to name this post. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment, so I've decided the title should be, "no name."

I can assure you that there are many that are experiencing much worse than I. This is my reminder, always no matter what comes my way in this thing we call life. 

It's always good, to be honest. 

Keep the faith. 

Jill 

 

 

 

 

 

follow me

It's a requirement to nourish and admire inspiration that comes from memories. At least I believe that you should. My grandmother Christine lived in Las Vegas when I was a young girl. Every summer my family would travel across the country to visit her. Along the way and once we hit the desert terrain, I remember seeing tumbleweeds scatter across the desert sand. The wind would pick them up and the tumbleweed would scurry along bouncing along ever so gracefully. I remember being intrigued and fascinated by this desert weed when I was young. I'm not sure why, but I was. Introducing, Tumbleweed, a mid-summer soap!

So often I'm reminded of these sweet memories and am able to recreate the memory by naming a product after it and offering it at our store. Always remember that inspiration can come from anything if you want it to. 

A few of your favorite essentials are back! The charcoal Cleansing Bar and Shampoo Bars are stacked neatly on the shelves. 

The early morning lavender harvest started this week! You should have seen all of the bees! Picking herbs early in the morning when the dew is still on the plants is one of my favorite things about summer. Little things.

I shared a How to Make Hydrosol video on our social media pages. The link. 

I mentioned in the video how we made Sweet Grass Hydrosol a few years back. The aromatic grass scent filled our home and it was amazing! 

Rose Clay, or Pink Clay as some call it will be making a return in late August. This popular cleansing bar is considered a facial bar but can also be lathered up and used on toes, fingers, legs, and arms too! Rose Clay is what makes Calamine Lotion pink. You may or may not have known that. It's a mineral that is super gentle to the skin. It is a very gentle and very mild clay that is amazing when used for sensitive and mature skin. Rose clay actually helps to reduce inflammation, remove dead skin cells, tighten pores, fade hyperpigmentation, and it also removes harmful toxins.

I've been working on cookbook covers and during the process of planning, I spotted those soft-hued toned linen aprons. It was love at first sight! First, they are linen, second, the colors are amazing! I'm a fan of soft muted colors. Especially as we head into fall here at Bittersweet. The new aprons will be available at our shop, and my vision was that they will look great sitting next to a cookbook. The cookbook will be hitting the store shelves in early 23! I also ordered linen kitchen towels and table runners, just because I love those too!

The paper collection that Bittersweet wraps their soap in changes constantly and I'm always on the hunt for pretty papers to wrap our soap and make it even more beautiful. Inside beauty is the best, but when it comes to soap bars outside beauty does not go unnoticed. The fall and winter line-up of stunning papers has been drawn up, and I believe you're going to love them all! I know that I do!

We also have a collection of wicker baskets, new baby bottom soft facial brushes, and a hand-picked assortment of other items that fancy the eye. 

As we travel into the midst of summer I'm reminded of just how quickly the seasons come and go. 

We have some exciting news to share as well, but I can't spill the beans until the end of the month. I will just say, my cup runneth over, and thank you!

Jill  

 

 

 

 

 

 

more summer...

The goodness of summer blooms is about to reach its peak! The lavender is buzzing with hundreds of bees. Every time I walk by the rows of aromatic lavender the bees swarm around me like a bee parade. I love it! My hydrangeas are not the bounty that I usually have, but I'm enjoying the pink and blue, white blooms and cutting stems to take to the shop. The pesky Japanese beetles have been seen here and there, and I pluck them off of my zinnias. Ever since I planted the lavender I don't have near the numbers. Before the lavender, there were hundreds eating away, and now that the lavender grows near, I've only had a half dozen or so. So, if you have Japanese beetles attacking, grow lavender. I don't think they like it and will move onto your neighbor's yard. Sorry neighbors. The large pink lilies are starting to wither. I took some cuttings from them too. I ordered these several years ago from a garden catalog simply because the description talked about how fragrant they were. I consider it a perk when a flower smells good and is pretty at the same time!

I wrapped up the last of our summer soap manufacturing on Wednesday by making a fragrant white jasmine soap or soaps I should say. Before that, peach. I love peach soap. It might sound strange but when I was a young girl there was a dish soap that smelled like a peach. My family didn't have it, but whenever I visited my best friend's house they did and I loved the scent. It wasn't a strong peach, but mellow and nice to even a young girl's nose.  It really has been all about scent for as long as I can remember. It makes perfect sense that my future would be entangled with fragrance. 

Usually, a spice soap is reserved for winter, but I'm on this star anise kick lately. The spice is nice blended with vanilla. I even mixed a dry oil with these two fragrances, and I love it! Just as your taste changes with design so too does it change with scent. There are scents that I never liked when I was younger but absolutely love them now. 

I'll have to shout it on the roof! The new Minty Watermelon Scrub smells fresh and very much reminds me of summer. It was a new formulation that I'd never made before, and I quickly discovered that this skincare essential is labor intense to make. It might have something to do with the fact that I double, doubled the recipe, and ended up with an enormous amount of product that was hard to maneuver. There are several steps involved that help you to appreciate and understand the word anticipation as well. I'll make a few minor changes and this new amazing polish will be available as a seasonal offering. We'll continue to offer it but it won't be around all of the time. This big eight-ounce jar should last you the remaining of summer.  I'm already pondering a fall scrub, and I'm leaning towards Pumpkin Spice. Bittersweet pumpkin spice smells amazing! I'm not even a pumpkin spice fan, but I love our pumpkin spice. When? Probably late September, or early October. 

Every summer when the fourth rolls around I find myself saying it's here already! Once it arrives I'm reminded of just how short-lived all the seasons are, and how in turn time flies. 

Our Holiday Soap manufacturing kicks in once the calendar turns to July!  We've already planned our holiday soap scents and have our supply of fragrances sitting in the studio. 

I'm wishing you a peaceful Independence day. America, the beautfiul! Don't ever let anyone say that she's not. Well, they can say it all they want, but it wouldn't be true. Our country is unlike any other in ways that are complex and above all filled with sacrifice and determination. Honesty and grit come to mind as well. If you study history you will have a better understanding, and might even find yourself wanting to learn more. Without our founding fathers and the insight they possessed, we would not be America, home of the brave. I would highly suggest that anyone that feels like America is not a good place to be should study history. There you will find an entirely new perspective, I promise. You will also have a better understanding of how America today has changed. I'm a history lover! I cannot lie!

This rainy morning is quiet and slow the way that I like them to be. 

Three cheers to America I salute you!

Jill