Spring Foraging Fever

The snow in northern Vermont has turned to sloppy piles of brown and grey slush and there are still a lot of these piles around – but it is melting, sort of.

I’ve been wearing my mud boots the past few days, relishing in the squish of thawed earth beneath my feet. It’s a mess, but I am beyond excited because this means that soon there will be buds on the trees, new shoots poking through the leaf duff in the woods, fiddlehead ferns will begin unfurling, and wild flowers will begin to paint the world in my favorite colors. Simply said, I cannot wait! I’m eager to begin foraging for natural elements to use in my jewelry making this spring and summer.

In the fall I fell in love with the art of using dried and pressed foliage in my window necklace jewelry. I intend to forage for many more things to incorporate into jewelry windows this year including ferns and flowers and who knows what else! I’m not sure exactly why I am so in love with these little windows – but they are the perfect way to showcase a piece of nature around your neck. Check the Nature Inspires shop for more of these delights as spring gets its bloom on!

Nature Inspires Botanicals

Some of you may have noticed I have recently created another part of Nature Inspires. Ideas had been brewing in my mind for several months about things I wanted to make: lip tints and shimmers, bath salts, essential oil perfumes and others…not to mention, after my whole fiasco with recreating labels, I still wasn’t 100% satisfied with the look of the lip balm labels. So, I decided to give this area the appropriate attention and started my second etsy shop for Nature Inspires Botanicals. The shop name for this is ‘NaturesBotanicals’ since the full name was too long!

So far, I have recreated the lip balm labels to my satisfaction and yours too hopefully! I got rid of any of the scents that weren’t all natural (now I only use essential oils to scent) , created four unique blends of essential oil perfumes and two varieties of bath salts which come in 100% recycled glass corked bottles!

I now also sell sheer lip tints for those that like a little color, but don’t wear lipstick: Poppy and Lingonberry, and what I am calling Pink Orchid Lip Silk. Originally, I was trying to create a shimmer, and it does have a slight shimmer, and very light pink tint, but what I didn’t realize was how absolutely silky the orchid extract would make this lip balm! I use it daily!

I hope you enjoy these new botanical bath and beauty items. They are all made with plant extracts and essential oils that are beneficial to your body, mind and spirit.

I will be be showing them off at the spring craft show in Somersworth, NH on April 16th!