Studio Closed - just a few days

PLEASE NOTE:  The studio will be closed from Wednesday, May 1 through Sunday, May 5.  All orders, inquiries, etc. will resume on Monday, May 6th.  Thanks for your understanding.

Hi all!  That little red note there - that's what I just put up on all the pages of the web site.  I'm taking just a couple of days off before the whole summer newsletter and hoopla hits next week.  A quick break before the madness begins.

So I won't be shipping orders or available by phone or email until next Monday.  Beginning Monday, May 6, everything will be open for business.  Back on track.  And in full swing mode.  The summer stuff on the website goes live.  The newsletter gets mailed.  The email version gets sent too.  I'll have a copy of the announcement here on the blog.  And I'll start right in with a show next week too - my Mother's Day sale at the Group Health Central spot on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Until then, however -- just taking a quick breather.  See you soon!

Invited Back

The summer show schedule is up.  People have been asking me when they see me if I'll be at one festival or another.  And I'll be at pretty much everything I've done before.  Except Bellevue.  I'm taking that weekend off for my birthday this year.

I wanted to give a special shout-out to the Anacortes Arts Festival.  They are always, truly always, my best show of the summer.  And I've been invited back again this year.

That means that they liked my products (and my sales) enough to specifically invite me back to the show this year without going through the usual jurying process.  It's a great honor - and not many people get that distinction.  I'm lucky enough to have been invited a number of times over the years - last year too.

They have a special page up on the website to showcase us "invitees" and I wanted to include a link so that you can check out all the other amazing artists on the list.  They also have a few pre-festival events going on - an art show and a run.

Very much looking forward to seeing so many of you at this show - but pretty excited about the other ones too.  There's lots of good ones on the list, including my little Group Health shop for Mother's Day next week.  I'll post more details about that one here next Monday - but if you need any last minute gift ideas for Mom, I'll have a whole shop full of great stuff on Capitol Hill Wed through Fri next week.

Mother's Day is next Sunday - so get cracking!  Oh, and I wanted to mention that the summer newsletter is hot off the presses and getting mailed out next Monday too.  So I'll have all the new summer stuff at the Group Health sale.  Yippee!  Summer baby!

Half Price Bath Salts! What?!!

Showers, Showers, Showers . . . but what about the BATH?!

The month of April is all about the showers.  "April showers . . ."  blah, blah, blah. All anyone ever talks about is those darn showers.  The BATH is getting short shrift! And with all those chilly rain showers and blustery winds, it's a perfect time to soak in a nice, hot, bath tub.  Relax, unwind, and leave your cares at the door.

To give the bath tub a little love, I've put all our Dead Sea Bath Salts on sale this weekend.  A huge 16 oz bottle of Dead Sea bath salts, regularly priced at $8.00, will be the steal of the century at only $4.00 each - this weekend from Friday through Sunday.  So economical too because just a little of these salts goes a long way.  Just a quarter cup or small handful will infuse your whole bath with heavenly scent, detox away stress and aches, and nourish your skin with loads of minerals, leaving you soft, silky and smooth as a baby's bum.

Oh, and did I mention I've got a new flavor too?  It's called "Wildflower" - very softly floral, but mostly fresh-cut green leaves and grass, which smells like summer and freedom and wide-open spaces.  My new favorite -  deelish!

Fill your shopping cart HERE!

Save Big!!! There is no fine print.  Just place an order online, prices will be marked down on the site from Friday, April 26 through midnight Sunday, April 28.  As always, orders are not charged while you are online, but rather processed here at the studio when we get your order information.  That means that your online confirmation will most likely appear slightly incorrect.  We add the volume discounts, adjust shipping charges, and calculate taxes on our end when we finalize the transaction.  The corrected final invoice will arrive in your shipment.

Offer expires midnight Sunday, April 28.

Oh, and if you want to receive these announcements right in your email box so that you will be the first to know when another sale is starting, sign up for the email list HERE.

Tulip Festival Street Fair - This Week

I was just sitting down to write up a blurb about the Tulip Festival yesterday when I heard the news about the Boston bombings.  I was just too disturbed and distracted to do much more.  So gruesome.  And pointless really - what was the message?  It's so confusing - the targets, the timing, why? why? why?

Anyway, back to the topic of today:  Tulip Festival!  My tulips at home have already bloomed, so I'm assuming the fields are full of blooms also, and hoping that they have not had to harvest and dead-head too many of them already.  The display gardens are always in bloom anyway, and they will be lovely.  The actual festival is well under way - starting April 1st and going through the end of the month.  All the details for visiting the tulip growers part is HERE with maps, directions, etc.

The town of Mt Vernon has a street fair that coincides with the whole tulip mania in Skagit County, and it is happening this coming weekend.  Friday through Sunday, April 19-21.  Hours at Fri and Sat 10am - 6pm, Sun 10am - 5pm.  It runs right through the downtown area main street - several blocks from Kinkaid at the south up to the bridge at the north where the Skagit Valley food co-op is.

My location is just outside the front  door of the co-op, in that little bunch of tents at the intersection, but facing the other side of the street.

Web site for details:  HERE
Map:  HERE

I've got all the spring seasonal products, plus a special Tulip Fields soap, just for the occasion.  Looking forward to the first outdoor show of the year!  Hope the weather holds up for us . . .

I'm Paying Your Taxes!

(Cross-posted from my email customer list)

Save some moolah this week!

It's tax deadline week and pennies are tight.  We can save you a little extra cash this weekend - we'll pay your sales tax for you!

Here's the BIG print: order anything, order any amount, have it shipped anywhere - we will pay the sales tax amount on your entire order.

Offer good Friday, April 12 through Monday, April 15.

Fill your shopping cart HERE!

There is no fine print.  Just place an order (or several!) on our website any time between Friday, April 12 and Monday, April 15.  You will not be charged sales tax on your order(s).  As always, orders are not charged while you are online, but rather processed here at the studio when we get your order information.  That means that your online confirmation will most likely appear incorrectly.  We add the volume discounts, adjust shipping charges, and calculate taxes (none this weekend!) on our end when we finalize the transaction.  The corrected final invoice will arrive in your shipment, Capiche?

Gray Barn Nursery - New Show

Just posting a new show I've added to my summer list.  And it's a completely new show. It's called 1st Annual Art at Gray Barn.

Gray Barn Nursery will host Cisco Morris for a live broadcast of his radio show, which airs on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, plus local artists share their garden-themed art.

Saturday, June 1st

9:00am to 4:00 pm

Gray Barn Nursery

20871 NE Redmond-Fall City Rd

@ corner of Sahalee Way NE

Redmond

Gray Barn

I've got almost all of my summer schedule confirmed at this point.  I think I'm only waiting to hear back from one or two - and may still add a couple of dates too.  But the majority of it is set, and it's all posted on my website on the Show Schedule page.  The next one up is the Tulip Festival street fair in a couple of weeks.  Gearing up for a terrific summer!

April Fool

Did you notice Google's April Fool's joke today?  Google Nose (in Beta).  Dubbed "smelling is believing."

The new scentsation in search

• Coming to your senses: go beyond type, talk, and touch for a new notation of sensation.
• Your internet sommelier: expertly curated Knowledge Graphs pair images, descriptions, and aromas.
• Take a whiff: the Google Aromabase - 15M+ scentibytes.
• Don't ask, don't smell: For when you're wary of your query - SafeSearch included.
• • Google Nose^BETA leverages new and existing technologies to offer the sharpest olfactory experience available:
  • Street Sense vehicles have inhaled and indexed millions of atmospheric miles.
  • Android Ambient Odor Detection collects smells via the world's most sensible mobile operating system.
  • SMELLCD™ 1.8+ high-resolution compatible for precise and controlled odors.
• Oh how I wish that was true!  Imagine how cool my website could be if only we had the equivalent of smellivision for the internet!  I could have little thumbnails of fragrance for each of the soaps.  You wouldn't have to guess what the new soaps smelled like - you could just click on it and infuse your room with the latest scent.
• I'm not sure I'd be using the Nose search engine to find horse manure or wet dog, but it would be nice to search a certain gorgeous flowering bush that my neighbor is growing and I don't know the name of.  Some day I'm sure we'll get there - technology is always amazing me.  But for today, sigh, we don't have the scent-ernets ready just yet.

Dont' be a fool - stay safe with all your pranking today!

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