valentine winner !

rachel wins !   

she was the 6th post.

thanks to all & i hope you all had a nice valentine's day!

Purple Valentine Blog Hop Giveaway

For The Love of PURPLE

WELCOME to HAPPY HERBS SOAP 

at TWO CROW COTTAGE!

My name is Nina and I am participating in the 

PURPLE VALENTINE BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY

hosted by DEAN DESIGNS!

My prize is a HEART SHAPED BAR OF LAVENDER/NETTLES HAPPY HERBS SOAP in a wonderfully embellished PURPLE PAPER SACK made by hula~la, a covered matchbox filled with 6 of my "FRIENDSHIP" INCENSE CROWS made from all natural herbs and resins to impart the warm cozy feeling of online strangers becoming blog friends, included is an INCENSE BURNER from the natural clay found by the pond at TWO CROW COTTAGE, and lastly 2 PAPER FLOWERS embedded with wildflower seeds given to me by a wonderful library friend...

just plant, water and watch them grow!

Oh, and of course, included though not pictured, is a PURPLE POUCH FILLED WITH LAVENDER BUDS...
a sweet purple sachet!!!

To enter:

1.  Become a follower 

AND

2.  Leave a comment

Winner will be randomly drawn on Friday, Feb. 15th!

Please be sure you are linked, to be notified for your mailing address!

Please take a look around at my lavender garden 

and see the progress of the pond.

 Oh, and MEET PLUM, the newest addition to our home!

plum

Meet Plum

the passionate perfumista review !

..a must read  !!!   thanks so much, heather. you have a mystical way with words!    thanks, also, to my many good friends  who have always been my inspiration.  passionateperfumista.blogspot.com

mystical heather...

 ......"the passionate perfumista" is also a member of the natural perfumers guild.     she will be reviewing my "woodland spell" incense .    it is the newest project for the guild called "home for the holidays".    this event highlights ambient scents for the home-- scents that create a surrounding, "themed" atmosphere, such as candles, tarts, sprays, incense,etc.   for this project , it is focused on holiday time.

 here are pictures of the 
"crow-shaped" cones..



along with some of 
the raw ingredients.

 it is so fun to experiment!!!






the packaging is a real "challenge"....
(i won't use a negative word!)

 here, i think it turned out well.  test tubes!  love them! (right, flavia fans???)







12 crows to a tube; a random variety of gems & cording; lashed, with a loop to hang.

 

next i will try to put this on my etsy site, & i'll try to link up with 
heather's review on her blog.

'TIS.....not so sweet

as you may know, i'm a member of the
natural perfumers guild--great group of people
working hard to rid the world of synthetic
scents. a serious force of professionals; educated & dedicated to
protecting the art & craft of perfumery.

WHERE do I  fit in....
you ask????

(don't be funny)

no, really---i do strongly believe in this.
wish i could do more to get involved.
i know some day i will.

(anya has a great course
that i hope to take.)



in the meantime,  (hope the other perfumers don't "cringe"), my good friend , vicki ---my alchemy accomplice--- and i , came up with a 'TIS perfume.  in other words--"'tis what it is!  we go out to my gardens  ---pick what's available ---& distill!!!!

'TIS a rainy day"  perfume---or 'TIS a thursday in october" perfume----etc. you get the idea.

well, this past summer we tried 'TIS sweet"!  beautiful flowers aren't they?
peony, rose, sweet william, hawthorn, honeysuckle.
should smell even better than our other great scents we made, right?

It was fun.  it sounded like a good idea...
but it was awful.
guess i have alot to learn.....and will
enjoy the process!!!!

august..gone.

summer was unbearably hot----good "bug" season, though (as in, lack of).
 not lacking in animals-- as the previous blog post showed.



luckily the fawn did have a mother, not so lucky was  that the raccoons did not.
managed to get them down to the pond where there are lots of frogs to eat. they did prefer eggs, bread & milk. found this out when i tried to "wean" them.

though i never handled or bonded with them, they came looking for me at the house---climbing & eating all the grapes that cover the porch.---there are plenty in the woods!

made alot of progress at the pond with the plantings, but also had
some failures. the hemlocks didn't make it. the deer, rabbits,
chipmunks took turns eating or just digging up the strawberries,
raspberries, elder,etc. etc.   took this picture before they were eaten, too!

the weather was perfect for this year's fair at grahamsville!
thanks to the arty tea party girls for helping me make a great display!

best booth at the fair