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I used to do that when I was a cake decorator, with no trouble hardly…..but boy is it ever more difficult when it’s your own product, something you’ve created and designed yourself. I’m sure you already know that.
It can also be difficult because there’ll always be those hard cases where people will look at your situation and ask ‘when is she going to get a ‘real’ job?’ Which feels like they’re laying blame on you for the situation, no matter what courses of action you’ve already tried.
I’ve had this response on occasion from my inlaws and it’s such a discouraging thing…..even if both Chris and I both know we’re already doing everything possible, and I have looked into regular ‘real’ employment. I actually am employed as a substitute school cook, but of course I get called randomly, so there’s no guaranteed income there that can be counted on.
I will say that our situation has had some very positive effects as well…It’s the first time in several years Chris and I have had a substantial amount of time together.
The last couple years chris worked for the roofing company, we should have picked up the hints that there was trouble when they kept pressuring him to put in more and more hours on bids, to the point he was often working 60-70 hours a week. And yet they’d complain he hadnt done more. Sometimes salary pay sucks…that’s all I have to say about that…..We never saw each other, and his pay was the same. That was tough in it’s own way.
Another good point is that since we’ve become stricter on our food budget, I have become a much better cook, as well as developing a hobby of growing my own herbs and small veggies in containers on our back porch. The kids also enjoy our back porch garden.
I suppose what it comes down to is just continuing to move forward, and weathering out the current circumstances. I keep telling myself something will come up, either a better job for chris, a full time position for me, or that purplecatcreatives will finally take off and maintain a regular income.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget the key is just to keep moving forward when it looks like you’ve run out of options.
Who’s to say? With the way things go, something else may happen entirely. 🙂
Oh my gosh PC!! I’m super excited about this new venture for you! I can guarantee as soon as I have a bit of extra spending money I’ll be getting some things from you. As soon as I went to your page I made a beeline for the Cheshire Chai – how awesome!! Your soaps also look delicious – literally. If I want to eat the soap from the pictures and descriptions, you’re darn tootin’ that I’d buy it!
Also, I almost squee’d myself into a coma when I saw the hedgehog XD Oh my gosh he is perfection!!!
Question for you – Are you ever planning on producing the dragon sculpt that you have pictured in your image for your Dragon Butter? He’s GORGEOUS, I love his fluffy feet!! I looked for him but couldn’t see him anywhere, so forgive me if he’s already listed XD
The only suggestion I could think of right off the bat was a cherry blossom scent. You may have enough “flower” scents already but if you want to give it a go, I’ve only ever found one product that has ever satisfied me as a cherry blossom scent, and it was a candle! Everything else I’ve ever gotten – from lotion to shampoo to soap – has been too harsh or too musky. When I think of cherry blossom I think of a sweet, light flowery scent. I always go for it first thing when I have a choice of flavors 🙂
Oh and by the way your pictures look awesome! They look colorful, professional and interesting! I was immediately drawn to the text that you use on your products, it’s whimsical and beautiful. I love it!
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Please visit My Webpage to see my art and PYO's that I've done in the past!Ah, that sculpt is my Strider Dragon….and I dont think I’d ever be able to produce her, because approximately halfway through the clay got all brittle and crumbly so I couldnt do any more detailing.
What you see in that shot is the side I nearly finished….the entire back side of that piece is unfinished and blobby. Poor thing…I love that design, and even though it couldnt be finished I baked what progress I’d gotten and kept it anyway.
I wanted a ‘me’ dragon….I’m horribly afraid of heights, so I thought a landbased dragon with some fluffy would be fun. The wings are mostly designed for gliding, not any true flight. She also has a short fluffy tail, which I dont think shows in the pic you’re mentioning.
Thank you for the wonderful compliments on my photos! I AGONIZE over whether the photos look right or portray a product the right way.
I have actually considered a cherry blossom scent!
I dont wear florals as often, so I’m particularly discriminating about how they’re blended. It seemed like I worked FOREVER on the darned Honeysuckle Garland. I love the scent of honeysuckle, it’s also a light and sweet scent, but almost every product out there ‘honeysuckle scented’ is too sharp, or has a chemical tang to the scent (yuck).
That is a common problem with floral blends…and because of this it takes longer to release a floral scent because I often have to try several blends before I get one I’m happy with.
Sooo…the most direct answer is, Yes…eventually I will have a Cherry Blossom smell, especially if I know there’s interest in it (and now I do!) However…it might be a bit of a wait because I’m very picky about florals, they’re notoriously hard to blend right.
I like the pictures for your product. I think they showcase the products nicely. Though not necessary, it might be nice to put for say, something lilac, some lilacs beside the product as more of a visual queue as to a product’s scent, though for some scents, it might take some timing (to get the proper flower fresh or a good look-a-like fake). I definitely plan on putting an order in when I have some spare funds in a little bit (I have a trip coming up and need to make sure I can afford meals!).
I don’t buy a lot of the products out there because my skin is very sensitive and reactive to a lot of chemicals and even some perfumes, so I use essential oils a lot for scents, or very natural things scented with essential oils or natural products. The only mainstream stuff I buy is from Bath and Body Works (their stuff doesn’t seem to bother my skin so much), Lush (just the bubble bath bombs), or other stuff that is handmade, like from vendors at one of the ren faire’s I go to. I used to have really bad eczema growing up to the point of bleeding, and I’d still scratch despite having it bleed because it still itched (I loved using a bristled brush to scratch! Felt SOOOO good!) I had to use some special, clear liquid soap for a while that had absolutely no fragrance (it was super sterile), so I know how your daughter feels! I did grow out of the eczema thankfully, but I’m still really sensitive to stuff. It’s great what you’ve done for her and hopefully it will turn into something more. 🙂
Yeah…Aurora’s skin is pretty severe at times….if she’s having a really horrible breakout, she will get lesions of cracked blistery skin that will bleed and weep.
We’ve found several things that can be preventative, and keep her from having a breakout of that severity. Gentler skin products have been a big key in helping maintain her skin. However, sometimes she’ll eat something, or simply play too much in the grass, or get exposed to something that will trigger a breakout no matter how we treat her skin. Even getting too hot or sweaty seems to cause flare ups sometimes. There’s only so much you can do.
We’re hoping her eczema will become less and less severe as she gets older, and perhaps will only be a dry skin type by the time she reaches adulthood. It’s hard to say, with her being so young (she’s only 4). The first scent ever created, was of course made specifically for her, and was the Chocolate Covered Cherries scent. She loves that one, and the Strawberry Ambrosia, they’re both ‘younger’ smells, having more sweetness to them. She also enjoys the Orange Creamsicle.
I’m really happy we can do this for her, and of course it’s already branched out into a variety of other things. I personally enjoy perfumes, and a friend of mine suggested soaps…and so it’s already developed into more than what it began as just a few months ago. But Aurora loves watching me mix batches of scent, and often calls dibs on smells she likes the best. She always gets first picks out of the butters, usually by what the kitchen smells like while I’m mixing them!
I thought I’d order some body butter to try and tell friends about. The scents are fantastic, by the way. Eternal Lilac is my favorite. There are a couple that I’m not a fan of, but everyone enjoys different scents. They don’t seem to be too heavy, and they’re not so light that the scent disappears in a few minutes. The feel of the body butter is AMAZING, too. It’s not greasy AT ALL.
Oh!!! I’m so glad you’re enjoying them!
Yes…definately, there’s such a variety of scent types, and people that scent preferences vary with every individual! I actually associate different scents with different emotions or memories sometimes, and associative memory can affect how we interpret a smell. I believe this is true of every person.
My husband personally adores the scent of a campfire, or the rich resinous smell of firewood. He also likes the smell of natural vanilla, like vanilla bean. He’s a particular fan of the Twilight Gypsy blend as a result. I actually blended that scent specifically with him in mind, knowing he’d enjoy it when I wear it.
Another example, I’ve had many requests for lavender scented products…but as of yet I cant seem to blend it, because my grandmother always purchased lavender scented mothballs (those things smelled HIDEOUS) and I cant help but associate lavender with mothballs and dusty closets. I know it’s a scent considered elegant and lovely by some, but I really struggle with anything that has lavender scent!
haha….my own personal scent hurdle! There, it’s exposed!
I can be really direct and forthright with people I know…but when it comes to ‘new’ people, I tend to be reserved and more shy. To be honest I’m a bit of a homebody, and rarely socialize at all. I find store owners to be a bit intimidating, and I know a good portion if it is my own fault.
Trust me, I understand! I’m the same way. I realized, though, that no one will sell my work except me. So when I am feeling intimidated or really shy, I try to put on my “retail” face that I learned how to do when working in busy, stressful retail customer service. And then when it’s over I go home and shake for an hour!
Purplecat, I can relate too! Maybe you could have a girl friend or your husband who is confident and has a “sales person” personality to be your manager and speak with store owners for you.
I also agree that when buying scented products (scents are very important to me-my home environment/car/self must ALWAYS smell nice) I’d rather actually smell them first, but I looked over your products and WOW they have a lot of nice names! I’ve found that if you can find the right name and the right color on the product container that conveys how the smell makes you feel-its more appealing.
And also, as you mentioned, let the photos show how the scent smells. A dark, floral scent might have dark red roses (or black ones), light some candles, let some incence smoke blow through the shot-for example. For me, different scents evoke different emotions. If you can capture that same emotion with the use of colors, lighting and other objects, then people will have a feel for what the product smells like-or at least they will like the emotion that the picture evokes and be more willing to buy your product without smelling it first.I LOVE the wide variety of exotic scents you use-like Blood Orange and Pomengranate, and my favorite-Black Berry.
I’m glad you offer Lilac scented things too-its so easy to find Lavender, but soo hard to find Liliac around here! I dont have any memories attached with lavender, but it kind of smells dusty to me too.
When I went to visit GreaterBasalisk in Switzerland a few years ago, I went in May and right across from her house, there was a big bush of purple and white Lilacs blooming! I had never seen them before, and couldn’t get over how wonderful they semlled! I cut a few and brought them back to my room where they made the whole room smell incredible. Now whenever I smell Lilacs I am taken back to Switzerland in the summer. I dont ever travel much, and haven’t even seen barely any of the US, so that trip was definatly a high point in my life and its nice to be able to have such a vivid reminder such as a scent to associate with those nice memories.My skin gets so dry in the summer, especially this year. I’m definatly going to be placing an order for your sampler in the near future. I couldn’t possibly decide on one fragrance, so Im glad you have the sampler. Great idea!
Edit: Here is a list of PC’s avaliable scents with descriptions. Makes narrowing it down easier
http://pcapothecaryscentcatalog.blogspot.com/I looked at your stuff on etsy and think you’re on the right track. Most people love things that smell good! I’m a big sucker for them as well. I’m one of those who love things that don’t have a lot of artificle ingredients in them. The purer the better.
Hi Purplecat,
Seeing your success with your daughter’s skin problems, I recomended your products to a co-worker who’s brother has very bad eczema. I mentionned the sandalwood, redwood and almost naked scents which I though might suit a young man. It made me think, have you considered making a line of products specifically for men, and identified as such on your website?
you know…I have toyed with the idea of male scents, I’ve even purchased a few scent oils with that in mind. I have some leather scent oil, as well as a few wood types…and the oil i use for the campfire smell would be a good support scent in a male blend. However, figuring out ‘manly names’ for these scents has flummoxed me! I’d probably use a different title font on the packaging as well.
I had contemplated doing a scent called ‘Urban Cowboy’…based off the idea that both motorcycle riders, and old west cowboys both wear leather…but I didnt want to sound too cheesy.
Manly scent name suggestions anyone?
For male scent names, I’d stick closer to the main ingredient and not try to be too creative. From my experience, men prefer descriptive and straightforward names. Not too sure about urban cowboy. I remember my ex complaining about perfume names: “What the hell is morning light supposed to smell like?! And what about evanescence?! If it smells like roses why don’t they just say so!!!” :bigsmile:
Meanwhile, of the scents currently available, which ones would you recommend for a young man (early 20s)?
Ah, that sculpt is my Strider Dragon….and I dont think I’d ever be able to produce her, because approximately halfway through the clay got all brittle and crumbly so I couldnt do any more detailing.
What you see in that shot is the side I nearly finished….the entire back side of that piece is unfinished and blobby. Poor thing…I love that design, and even though it couldnt be finished I baked what progress I’d gotten and kept it anyway.
Aww shucks.. I was worried that it would be something like this! Well, if you ever decide to give the Strider Dragon another go and sculpt another master, let me know! I’d love to help you get the supplies if you don’t have enough of them, you’re such an amazing sculptor!!
Also, I’m very excited about cherry blossom 🙂 I totally know what you mean about flowery scents not quite living up to their names too – I’m sure its hard to get something like that just right! Rest assured that you’d have at least one customer though if you decide to go ahead with it 🙂
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Please visit My Webpage to see my art and PYO's that I've done in the past!hrrm……out of my current selection, my recommends for body butters for a young man would be (and keep in mind you’d need to find out if he likes citrus at all)
Fire Topaz
Moonlight Mojito
Redwood GroveNow…I’ve found some scents just translate better in soaps, or butters…these are ones that are specifically awesome in soap, and I’d recommend them in soap form for a man.
Cafe Noir (gonna be making more this week, my husband has found coffee is actually rather addictive in soap form….we were surprised by the sheer awesome of it)
Viva Margarita–Oh god…most awesome soap EVER. I adore this stuff, so does my hubby…it’s only available in soap form, I dont think it translates well as a butter personally, but the soap is just to die for.
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