Hello February

February already and I know that I’ve (or I should say Wylde Ivy) was very quite in January. I’ve been working behind the scenes recovering form the chaos that is the holiday season and gearing up for the spring season. My business was exceptionally busy this holiday season….thank you to all out there! I was actually caught off guard a little and of coarse the holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without me trying to accomplish more then is feasibly possible for a mere mortal. I worked very hard but the holidays this year were magical. How could they not be with two “almost three year olds” in the house.

I took about a week after the holidays to recoup and change gears a little. Since then I’ve been working in the shop, still revamping my work stations to flow better with my work style now. I’ve been really looking hard at how I work and trying to find ways to make better use of my time. This means reorganizing my equipment and supplies, setting up my work stations a little differently, and of coarse purging some clutter that has been in my way. By clutter I mean the dribs and drabs of old packaging that I no longer use, soap mold in sizes that are no longer needed, old paper work and such. That is the thing about owning your own business. You must constantly evolve. Evolving means leaving behind what doesn’t work and reaching for new ideas and inspiration. I leave behind clutter when I evolve. It’s just me. I’ve been working at decluttering for a long time. Actually it was part of my resolutions for 2010 believe it or not. I’ve done really well at decluttering my personal life, but business life if a little harder for me. It is hard for me to admit that supplies I invested in are no longer needed and even harder for me to let them go. Oh I could go on and on about that subject, perhaps I’ll will later on. Right now I just wanted to do a quick catch up for the new year.



I had quite a few custom projects that I worked on in the beginning of the month. They are done and shipped or the soaps are curing and now it is time for me to start planning and getting ready for the upcoming spring season. I love saying that. SPRING! As I type this, we have piles of ice crusted snow on the ground and temps have been in the single digits at night. The sun rarely shines in January here. Our days are gray. This is the time I year I like to start thinking about sparkling fruit scents, dewy florals, and airy breezy scents as I envision lush wildflower meadows and gentle floating butterflies….perhaps even an old wooden swing hung from a giant Oak tree or a majestic Weeping Willow tickling the edge of a pond with it’s long tendrils….a place where everyone carries fresh farm eggs and produce home in wicker baskets and woman where grand floppy brim hats. Yep, that is how I get through the freezing months here, with sun soaked fairy tale like visions and run on sentences. Clearly watching Howards End the other days has not influenced my daydreams in the least.



Ok, out of Edwardian England and back to my workshop where the first order of business is to plan which scents I’ll be retiring next month and which scents will return from the spring and summer season last year. Keep your eye here for the retiring list coming in a few days. Most of the winter and autumn scents will have to be put away to make room for the new season scents. I have a few new scents that are in the works too, but it is just a little too early to be able to talk about that.

Soap is also in the works. I'm restocking my shop and getting ready for the new season of soaps scents! Today, my shop smells like Sandcastles and my beloved Shine soap. I restocked a few soaps today like Violetta, Rhassoul Glow, Sweet Oat, Black Tea Jasmine, and Sweet Alpine.