Thursday, September 06, 2012

Big Reveal Party - Day 3

Today I have a several surprises.  One of them is a new scent reveal.  Shall we get to that one first?

Wanderer
An old soul and a young heart, familiar yet distant.  She keeps the sun at her back, always moving.  Keep your feet light and your heart open, they once told her.  It has taken her all these years to know what they meant. 
Airy top notes of fresh bergamot and orchids, a warm base of dusty amber, cedar wood, smoked vanilla pods, and aged musk.
Wanderer goes on as aged amber vanilla and and it mingles on the skin, more of the top notes of bergamot and orchid peek out.  Wanderer is a mellow, warm sweet musk.

Wanderer will be available (with many more new scents) on September 17th in perfume, lotion, cream, scrub, and body oil.

More Returning Scents
Now onto the next bit.  I've barely been able to contain myself over this news.  Do you know how long I've been keeping this project a secret?  Forever it seems.  It has taken a long time to get them just right.

I have reformulated three previously discontinued Wylde Ivy scents.  These three were all discontinued after I lost the suppliers for specific components used in the scents.  All three were much beloved scents and I'm sure the loss of these scents has affected your daily well being.  Ok, ok...too far, too dramatic I know but that is sure how it felt to me when I had to put them away!

I've tinkered and toyed with these.  I made up version after version.  I scoured suppliers all over the internet for just the right pieces of the scent puzzle.  I am finished!  These scents are back and dare I say.....they are even better then before.  Truely.

So here it comes....I'm not telling which three scents these are today.  Sorry!  I'm going to make you play a little game to guess.  You get three guesses.  Submit your guesses as comments below (one guess per comment please).  In three days I will take all the correct answers and enter them into a drawing.  I'll draw three names.  See a three pattern?  It wasn't intentional really!  Each of those three winners will receive a perfume, lotion, and body oil trio in a scent of their choice.

Obviously, if you've been with Wylde Ivy for awhile you're probably harboring some suppressed angst over a discontinued scent so you'll have some to choose from.  No?  Oh yeah, I'm the one that has issues with discontinued scents. If you haven't been with Wylde Ivy for very long but would like to play, you can still make some educated guesses by perhaps, searching old blog posts...cough, cough...just saying.

Contest ends Sunday,  September 9th at midnight EST.  I will announce the winners and the scents on Monday.  Limit three entries per person.  Contest open to those within and outside of the United States.  Winners will have three days to contact me or the prize will be forfeited and offered to another winner.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Big Reveal Party - Day 2

It seems you can't step into a store anywhere without coming across some Halloween decorations.  Because of this and because I have two four year olds, we've been decorated for Halloween for about two weeks now.  Wiggling, smiling, metal spiders peek out from my massive hosta plants in front of our house.  We have styrofoam skulls and tiny resin skeletons all over our living room.  A beautiful, but creepy Victorian clad skeleton watches, slightly arrogantly, from a high shelf by our front door. I feel that she does not approve of my housekeeping skills as of late.  Sorry ma'am, I have perfumes to create, the dust can wait.  The girls are completely obsessed with bones and xrays right now so naturally they are loving the Halloween skeletons.  These are just the decorations that we've picked up this year.  They've been pestering to get the rest of our Halloween paraphernalia out.  Soon girls, soon.  All the early Halloween merchandise certainly fueled the completion of my next two projects.

This year TWO new monsters will be joining the Monsters In Love Collection!  I'm really excited about these!  For those of you who were not with me last year, my Monsters In Love Collection is a fun Halloween project I do every year.  I create scents based on famous monster figures.  Not just any monsters though, monsters in love.  The idea struck me when I was reading a silly short story about zombies called This Year’s Class Picture by Dan Simmons.  Basically it is about a school teacher who survived the zombie apocalypse and now teaches (or tries to teach) a fourth grade class of zombie children which she's found out wondering around.  Of coarse teaching a class full of forth grade zombies is about as hard as....well, teaching a fourth grade class.  This teacher is allowed to chain the kids to their desks, however, something that I think is frowned upon in today's education system.   Antics ensue and the story ends with a profound revelation about society and social acceptance.  No, not really...but it is a fun little story which can be found in The Living Dead Anthology.  I amused myself  by thinking about zombies in situations other than the usual pack wondering, brain craving way.  Thus the thought of a zombie getting ready to go on a date popped into my head and of coarse, being me, I had to envision it in scent.  I think we tend to forget that monsters have normal every day lives.  They brush their teeth (well some of them anyway), get dressed, and go to work like everyone else.  Lets face it, monsters are people too.

The New Monsters
Wrapped Up in You (Mummy)
Older man seeking a fresh young woman for long term relationship...
He is warm and sensuous and loves comfortable nights at home.  His last relationship went a bit stale, so he is getting out in the dating scene again and looking for a new love.  This is one guy who doesn’t mind waiting for Ms. Right.  His courtship ritual is quite that, a ritual.  He’ll draw you a nice bath of warm milk swirled with golden honey.   After a good long soak he’ll provide you with only the finest cuddly cotton to dry you.  The mummy loves lavish scents (anything to cover up that pesky scent of  packing dust).  He will adorn you with myrrh and frankincense and perhaps the faintest touch of spice.  The Mummy is one guy who is not afraid of commitment.  Once he’s found the right girl, he’s in it for the long haul (and so is she).
Notes of: Myrrh, warm milk, golden honey, frankincense, rosewood, old world spice, dried tobacco leaves, and incense smoke.  Wrapped Up in You goes on sweet and comforting and dries down to a more complex dry honey scent.

Stuck on You (The Blob)
You may not like The Blob at first.  In fact, he can be downright annoying.  But there is just something about his guy.  He sort of grows on you after awhile.  The Blob loves to cuddle, he’s a bit “touchy feely”.  In fact this guy doesn’t know the meaning of the words “personal space”.  While at first you may find the clinging a bit off putting, after a while you will start to relax into the arrangement.    You will see that The Blob can be quite sweet once you give him a chance.    He is one guy who will never stray far from you…or at least you will never stray far from him…ever.
Notes of: sticky, melted fruit candy, dried cotton candy, a touch of strawberries and sweet musk.  Stuck on You goes on candy sweet and melts beautifully into a smooth, mellow sugar musk  




The Rest of the Monsters

A Little Lighter the Usual (Ghost)
She was happy once, very happy. Newly married to the love of her life, happiness and a world of possibilities lay ahead of them. They say that you never know what you have until it is gone but this was never the case with her and her love. They cherished each other, lived for each other. The lay in the dark just talking for hours about nothing and everything.

They had given their entire selves to each other…but life has a funny way of rushing on without when you are so absorbed in love. So it seemed that they lost their happiness quickly as well. They now passed each other, two ships in the night, seeming to never speak a word. In his eyes where she once found warmth and passion now only lay emptiness and regret. Even the air around them seemed heavier. At times it was hard for her to catch her breath. It was as if she was moving against an invisible tide, like being caught in a waking dream. She’d see him sitting quietly in deep contemplation and she would so desperately want to speak to him, to say anything, but the words just never seemed to come. She’d want to reach for him but something always made her keep her distance. He never even looked at her anymore. His eyes would drift in her direction at times, but it was as if he just didn’t see her.

She so desperately needed to know what came between them, how things changed so drastically. She struggled to remember anything, any tiny detail but it was just so hard to think. The only images her mind could conjure were of the driving rain on the windshield that black night, a blur of light and sound, and finally the image of her bare feet dripping water onto cold cement of the porch as she sat alone on the creaking swing waiting for him to open the door. Perhaps it was only her who had changed. She did feel strange these days, not quite herself…almost a little lighter then usual. If she could just somehow find her way back to him she knew they could be happy again.

A haunting and sheer fragrance, both beautiful and a little sad.
Soft notes of white musk, vanilla orchid, raw vanilla beans, tonka bean, bergamot, vanilla infused sugar, lily of the valley, and wet blackberries


Zombie went a Courtin' (Zombie)
Ah, the zombie. They are neither witty nor smart, and about as charming as a cinderblock. However, what the zombie lacks in charisma, he makes up for in devotion. When a zombie falls in love, there quite literally is nothing in the world that will keep him away from her. Slow and steady, he will make his way over walls, around burning cars, through muddy trenches until he is finally at his love’s side. Sure, he may loose an arm or the flesh from his torso, but what is that really in the grand scheme of things?
The scent of undying devotion. Notes of earth, heavy frankincense, black pepper, and crushed chocolates (that he so thoughtfully brought with him).

Eye of the Wolf (Werewolf)
Werewolves are quite creatures in their human form, for they have many secrets to keep. They are forever hunted, forever on the run. Though they have immeasurable strength, there is a tender loyalty about them that makes them gentle when they are truly happy. If you catch a werewolf’s eye, you just may find yourself whisked away, deep into the forest. This is where he feels the safest. Here you will be kept, where he hopes one day you will see what lies behind his wolf eyes.
The scent of brooding strength. Notes of cedar wood, vanilla, warm musk, and small woodland flowers.

Lovesick & Undead (Vampire)
Vampires are old things. They've walked the earth for centuries but in trade, lost everyone they've ever loved. They tend to build up walls, and no one can really blame them. Their greatest gift of immortality can also be their greatest pain. It happens however, at least once, to even the hardest of vampires...they slip, they fall in love. It may be the sun flecked highlights glistening in her hair, or her summer sky blue eyes. She reminds him of his lost life, his lost humanity, his lost sun. Once it happens, he falls in love fast and hard. He loves her warmth, her delicate body, the passion and fear of life that all mortals possess. He loves her mortality too much to turn her and as happens with all fragile humans the light of her life vanishes one day. So he sits, locked away in the damp and dark pining for his lost love. He obsesses over her memory, etching the details deep into his mind. The days roll into years, years to centuries, and he walks on, alone and grieving for his lost love and lost sun.
The scent of long lost love and mortality. Notes of earth, decaying wood, and leather with just a hint of orange blossoms and wildflower honey.

She Deviled (Devil)
She had a very good job once. She was a shoulder angel. You know those tiny voices that whisper to you when you are stuck between choosing right and wrong? There is always a good voice cheering you on telling you what you need to hear and there is always the sinister little bad voice planting those dark little seeds telling you want you want to hear. Don’t laugh, it is a real job…and a highly respectable position at that. She was a good shoulder angel and she loved it. She was great at it. She prided herself on having over an 85% success rate in all of her centuries of employment. She’d whispered to literally 1000s of men and women, even children. She was given some of the most difficult cases. She was always professional always polite and never, ever did she let herself get attached to her clients. Never, until that last one.

She fell hard for him. To this day she doesn’t know quite what it was. Perhaps his deep slightly raspy voice, or the way he smelled after a shower, or the way her ran his fingers through his hair when he was in deep thought. She found herself completely defenseless with him and completely obsessed. She could not leave him even after she had been given her reassignments and ultimately her unceremonious discharge from duties.

She stayed with him, desperately trying to win his love. If only she could make him see her. Her obsession turned into resentment. She began to see that she’d never had him the way that she wanted him. Now, she works pro bono whispering into the ears of women giving them the tiny little pushes they need to get themselves noticed. So if you ever feel just slightly devilish, it just may be you own personal she devil on your shoulder.

She Deviled is fiery and rich. This is the color of red, invoking visions of red leather boots, smoldering black lined eyes, and a confidant smirk.
Notes of cinnamon leaf, dried black currants, wood smoke, dying embers, aged vanilla, blackened cedar, and amber resin

These scents and more hit the shop September 17th.  Tomorrow continues with Day 3 of my Big Reveal Party.   I have more exciting news to share tomorrow...as if anything could be more exciting then a fun Halloween collection!  Just follow me here on my Blog, Facebook, and Twitter and you won't miss any of the excitement. 

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

The Big Reveal Party and Flash Sale!

So I've been missing in action here for many months.  I'll have more on my latest adventures soon.  I just want to get some important shop new out here first.  This is an exciting month at Wylde Ivy!

The HUGE New Collection
It's that time of year again.  Time to put away the Spring and Summer scents and break out the Fall and Winter Scents.  This year I'm bringing back many of your favorites from last year as well as releasing an all new seasonal lineup.  This is an amazing collection! There is a beautiful range of scents....truly something for everyone.  I must be feeling particularity festive this year because this release is huge.  Between the past scents that I'm bringing back and the all new ones, I think it is my biggest release ever!  I didn't even mention the Monsters in Love Halloween collection which I'll be releasing this month as well.


Release Date
My projected release date for the new scents is September 17th.   This release is so big, I want to allow for a chance that there will be a delay do to unforeseen circumstances.  I'm still putting the finishing touches on the collection, like tweaking the names, polishing the descriptions, and putting together the label art.


Collection Reveal Party
I'm going to tease you a little and draw out the excitement, while giving myself time to finish everything.  The scents will be revealed little by little over the next 12 days.  Along the way I'm going to surprise you with giveaways and flash sales.  It will be like a Collection Reveal party!

Don't worry, I won't fill your inbox with daily emails.  I will send out one more newsletter at the end to recap all the information so you can be sure you didn't miss anything. 


I'll be holding the Reveal Party here on my Blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  Just follow me on at least one of those and you won't miss any of the excitement. 



Retiring Scents
For now, lets get the not so fun business out of the way.  With all the new scents I'm bringing in, I have to put some away.  These scents will be going into retirement on September 30th.  I have to mention however, that some of the scents are limited in quantity.  If they sell out before the retirement date, I will not be restocking them.  The scent denoted with a star are of limited availability.


Retiring Scents
Azure
Creamy Coconut
Crush*
Dragonfly Blue
Dreaming of Violets
Green Grass
Island Beauty
Pale Vanilla
Olive Leaf and Lemon*
Sandcastles
She Sells Sea Shells
Bronzed*
She's So Flirty

Where's the Soap?

September is all about scents.  October will be all about soap.  I just can't do it all at once.  I share more details about the Fall and Winter soap lineup as soon as I can.

Today's Reveal

Today I'm revealing which previous Wylde Ivy scents are coming back this year.  Are you ready? 

Amber Chai
Alas, Sunflower
Ember
Ginger & Brulee
Gingered Vanille
Kiss Me in the Park
Mystic Amber
Neroli Creme
Not Falling
Pumpkin Creme
Pumpkin Masquerade
Starling
Sweet Earth
Vintage Honey
Winter Cranberry
Woodland Cider


The Party Continues
Remember the party continues for the next 12 days with more new scent reveals and some fun surprises!  Be sure to stop back here, Facebook, or Twitter for all the details.  I won't be sending out daily newsletters.  You will receive one more newsletter on the 17th, officially announcing the Fall and Winter release and recapping all the new scents.

Scent of the Month
Spa Soap As if the news above wasn't big enough!  September brings you not one, but two scents of the month!  The first Scent of the Month is an old favorite, one of the very first scents that Wylde Ivy carried...Spa Blend!  I'm excited for this one as it is one of my personal favorites. You can find these two scents on their own Scent of the Month page.

Spa Blend

Spa Blend is a delightfully complex.  Sliced grapefruits sweetened with fresh peach nectar, crushed blood orange, and wildflower honey on a bed of rose and neroli blossoms sprinkled with crystallized ginger.  Spa blend is fresh, sweet, invigorating, and upscale.  You just have to try this one.

Of coarse I couldn't say goodbye to summer without releasing a scrumptious fall scent.  Fall Mountain Festival is a delightful fragrance commissioned by one of Wylde Ivy's very own customers. 

Want to win a chance to create your own Wylde Ivy scent?  Stay tuned for news on that later on during the Reveal Party!

Fall Mountain Festival

If you travel deep into the heart of the mountains on a beautiful autumn weekend you are sure to find at least on fall festival celebration.  Kettle corn and woodsmoke mingle in the air along with the scent of dried oak leaves and hay bales sweeten with crushed Granny Smith apples, a touch of vanilla, and caramelized sugar.  Autumn at its very best.

Flash 15 Sale
 if you stuck with me through all that reading, here's a little surprise for you!  Use coupon code FLASH15 to take 15% off your order.  Stock up on any retiring Spring and Summer scents you can't live without and try a new Scent of the Month! 

Coupon valid for 24 hours only!  Offer expires September 5th at 4PM EST.    Coupon is valid in my main shop at www.wyldeivy.com as well as my Etsy shop at www.wyldeivy.etsy.com.  Code must be entered during checkout to be eligible.  Offer cannot be combined with previously completed order that have already shipped (orders still in house will have the discount applied to them).

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Apple Blossoms

We have an enormous apple tree in our backyard. I do not know how the tree has grown as big as it is, but it is the largest apple tree I've ever seen.  Our little ladies collect apples all summer long. Each spring I wait for the explosion of white and pink petals to pop new life into the stark branches. Their sweet, demur scent lingers in the air. There is not many scents more lovely then apple blossoms. 



Wednesday, March 07, 2012

5 Reasons I May Loose My Mind Today and 5 Reasons I Probably Won't

 Five Reasons I May Loose My Mind Today
1. I feel way behind since my surgery...both in work life and home life. Now that I'm back up and around, I see how much I let go while I wasn't feeling well before my surgery (which was for quite awhile). I'm trying to get back in the routine and back on track with so may projects, it's ridiculous. I need to slow down and take it a few projects at a time.

2. Taxes. Math and I do not play well together. True, I have my taxes done by an accountant but I still prepare and log all of my purchase, expenses, sales, etc for her. Because I leave way to much of it go until the last minute, the past few days have been been filled with too many numbers and spreadsheets. I'd rather be making something then working in excel.

3. The girls are on a Peter Pan kick. All of their tv time (which is a bit more then usual right now because of the weather) is Peter Pan. If it isn't the original Peter Pan movie, it is Peter Pan Returns. If it isn't Peter Pan returns, it is Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Yay, something different. Oh wait, no, it is the Jake and the Neverland Pirates Peter Pan Special. Darn.

                   
An Instagramed photo courtesy of my four year old daughter.  She took it with my iphone while watching Peter Pan Returns, processed it, and uploaded it herself.  What was I doing at four years old?  Oh yeah, probably eating paper or listening to my mom's cool 8-track stereo.
          
4. After the three floods we had last year, I'm really nervous about this spring and summer. I want to get my shop prepared in csae we have a bad fluke year this year like 2011. Ideally, I would like to be able to be uber-orangzied so that if we do have to move the contents of my shop again it isn't such a big chore. That means a lot of dead weight has to be purged. That goes along with the decluttering I've been trying to do in all aspects of my life. I've really been drawn to the minimalist way of life and have been slowly working towards it...or at least towards a semi minimalistic life. I'm a realist. With two four year olds and a husband who still can't part with most of his boyhood treasures, I know the best I can do is hope for a semi-minimal life.

5. The girls will be going to preschool this fall. School. It is starting. I'm loosing my babies. We attended an education fair last weekend to get some information on different preschools and the various private and charter grade schools in the area. It made it real. I think we've chosen our preschool. That feels good. I'm just going round in circles as to what the best option is for the girls when it comes to kindergarten and grade school.

 Five Reasons I Probably Won't Loose My Mind Today
1. The sun is coming. I've been looking forward to turning the clocks ahead ever since we turned them back. This makes me so happy, I think I'll bake a cake for the occasion.

2. I've been making our summer vacation travel and trip plans. It is exciting to have something to look forward to. We will be going to our usual vacation beach spot this summer again. I do a lot of fancy talking about trying new places but it does feel good to have a usual vacation spot. It is like a second home.  We know the best places to eat, where to get the best ice cream, the best grocery store to shop at, the best bakery for overpriced cupcakes.....wait, why do all my fond vacation memories revolve around food?  I think the girls are old enough now for a mountain/hiking/lake vacation this year so I'm looking into some various cabins and state parks that are close enough for some short getaways.

3. I'm just about fully back to my self since the surgery. That means I don't need to watch how I move anymore. I'm free! I still can't lift the girls all the way up to hold them at my hip, butI can lift them enough to move them if I need to...like if I need to physically remove them from each other.

 4. I should be able to finish my taxes today! Then, all I have to do is get my husband motivated to prepare his and no more numbers for a whole year!  Well, not quite, but a girl can dream.

5. There are buds on the Bradford Pear in front of my living room window. This makes me think of shaggy green grass, falling white petals, chirping birds, puffy white cloud filled skies, and the scent of spring flowers on the breeze. I love spring with an absolute passion.