Sidenote… Pinterest!!! Seriously… hours gone… *poof*. SO addicting. Add me, if you like… I’ll add you back ;)

And have I mentioned that I’m selling said greeting cards in bulk, to retailers at wholesale prices, too? ;) Well, I am… in case you are interested… and how can you not be interested with the happiest Irish cupcake you’ve ever seen declaring its love for its mother country right there? In frosting. No pressure. (send me an email!: wholesale AT violetcottage.com!!)

end plug.

(But honestly… I sort of love the happy green cupcake nestled in the emerald hill framed with a harp-shaped-ish frame surrounded by thistle, lily of the valley and the greenest plaid I’ve ever seen.)

I did the production design on one of the shoots (Which I blogged about earlier), starring the wonderful Michelle Bonfils. I’m hoping to have a finished film at some point… (this was a great start, at least, and it looks great with his other work!)

Check it out! :)

Free shipping on any order over $15.00 over at www.violetcottage.com!

We giftwrap for $2.00 extra, too! :)

Merry merry!

We’ve been working night and day to get the new Violet Cottage website up! Yay :)

We also have been working on a new line of cards featuring my art… lots of birds, cupcakes owls and tons of flowers. All hand painted reproductions that come with a color envelope. You can get them plain, glittered or REALLY glittered with glass glitter and rhinestones! I’ll also be selling these in larger quantities at wholesale prices. So, if you are interested in a bunch of them, give me a jingle :)

Here they are… please let me know what you think :)

Card #1 – Turquoise, olive Happy Birthday with bird	Orange, gray and blue Happy Birthday with bird
Card #3 – Red, blue, green Happy Birthday with bird	Card #4 – Yellow, gray and black Happy Birthday with bird
Card #5 – Blue, green & gray Happy Birthday with bird	Card #6 Blue & Green Cupcake Happy Birthday
Card #7 – Purple, turquoise & green cupcake Happy Birthday	Card #8 – Pink, white & gray with cupcake Happy Birthday
Card #9 – Pink & yellow chintz cupcake Happy Birthday	Card #10 – Pink, yellow, green cupcake Happy Birthday
Card #11 – Purple & blue Happy Birthday owl	Card #12 – Yellow, gray and green Happy Birthday owl
Card #13 – Fern & wood Happy Birthday owl	Card #14 – Coming Soon Placeholder (Happy Birthday black, gray and green with dog)
Card #15 – Tiny cluster flowers in black, gray, blue and pink Happy Birthday	Card #16 – Red, turquoise & pink Thinking of You with bird
Card #17 – Gray, brown & pink Thinking of you with bird	Card #18 – Black, white, green & light blue Thinking of You with owl
Card #19 – Kelly green, black & white Hello Friend	Card #20 – Watercolor yellow, green & gray Thinking of You
Card #21 – Thinking of You hydrangeas	Card #22 – Watercolor green, blue, purple Hello birdie
Card #23 – Coming soon (placeholder… Bonjour black and pink flowers)	Card #24 – Hello There – dense flowers in green, gray and blue
Card #25 – Coming soon (placeholder Hello Friend flowers)	Card #26 – Orange, gray and black with wood Thank You
Card #27 – Coming soon (placeholder – Thanks owl with trees)	Card #28 – Yellow, gray & black Thank You
Card #29 – Blue, white and green With Gratitude	Card #30 – Coming soon (placeholder – Thank you fern, frame and flowers)
Card #31 – Duckies – Welcome Sweet Baby	Card #32 – Baby in tree with bird Congratulations
Card #33 – Whale Ahoy Baby	Card #34 – Canary with tea cup Get Well Soon
Card #35 – Coming soon (placeholder – Get Well floral arrangement)	Card #36 – Art deco blue, yellow Best Wishes
Card #37 – Pink & orange flowers Best Wishes	Card #38 – Coming Soon (placeholder… party Celebrate elephant with peanut)
Card #39 – Coming soon (placeholder – Congrats daisies)	Card #40 – Coming soon (placeholder – Congrats award)

We decided to go for a drive and enjoy the afternoon. We stopped at Lake Crabtree park and were pleasantly surprised at how much there was to do there.

Got some fantastic pictures of Meg with all the gorgeous yellow daisies…

The gentleman renting these boats was super friendly and stopped to talk to us and pet Meg. He told us about another couple who frequented the park and canoed regularly with their golden retriever. “Their dog is SO good… she just lays down as they paddle all over the lake!”

In my mind, all I heard was “you have a challenge afoot”. A ‘who has the best dog’ competition. I hear “they have a good dog” and I think… “no, MEG is the BEST dog. I must prove this to the world”.

Somehow, this conversation ended with us getting in a canoe, wearing life jackets. With our dog… Who has never been on a boat before. She’s been on a small train at Travel Town. But never anything in the water.

Did you know that canoes tip easily when there is any movement? I grew up riding jet skis… something without a motor, that has a very low center of gravity and requires paddles to propel… totally foreign to me.

So, as our new friend pushed us out into the water, he had a very concerned look on his face as we were trying to paddle while holding the dog down and yelling “STAY!” every few seconds. The boat was wobbling all over the place. It must have been pretty comical to watch. I had my deer-in-the-headlights face on while I was thinking that I had just made a huge mistake.

It took a while to get Meg to relax, and because she was behind me, I had no idea what she was doing. So, I would paddle, then say “stay”, then say “good girl”, paddle, “stay”, paddle, “stay”, paddle, glance, “stay”. It wasn’t the best start to our nautical adventure. Nathan had to give me updates on what she was doing and how she was handling it all. Sheer panic on my part finally turned into calm enjoyment as Meg laid down in the canoe as we paddled along the edge of the lake and got to explore. The water was calm, planes were taking off overhead and it was really an amazing experience.

I’m happy to report we arrived back safe and dry… and I can’t wait to go back! Best seven bucks we ever spent :)

Some of you may remember them from the shop… in that back room where you could scoop your own…

Since we can’t bring the jars to you (unless I get that bath products truck that I want!), we’re now selling our salts by the bag.

We’re starting with the following 7 scents…

Blossom: Our Blossom scent is a mix of green apple, red apple, raspberry, red currant, a hint of strawberry and a touch of a light floral scent. Smells like summertime fruits and their delicate blossoms.

Cupcake: Our Cupcake scent smells just like it sounds… just like sweet vanilla & butter cream frosting with a tiny hint of lemon.

English Garden: English Garden has top notes of tuberose and jasmine mixed with freesia, sweet pea, lilac, lily of the valley. It also has a subtle hint of powdery vanilla. It smells like spring in a faraway garden.

Island Floral: Island Floral is a tropical mix of pikaki, plumeria, osmanthus flower, and jasmine.

Lavender: Our lavender is a little sweeter and a lot less medicinal-smelling than most… we start with Provencial lavender and add a touch of vanilla, brown sugar and the slightest hint of lemon. The result is a sweet, warm lavender scent.

Orchard: Orchard is a mix of pomegranate, pear, red apple, red currant, fig and a hint of pink grapefruit. It’s a scent that is slightly leafy, yet sweet and tart.

Seashore: Seashore is a very light aquatic fresh scent that starts with a watery aquaflore scent mixed with a clean marine scent, a hint of rain and a hint of citrus.

Can you tell I’m excited about the custom bath salt idea? I love matching party favors to the invitation to the cupcakes to the centerpieces to the… (and on and on).

And here are the health benefits of soaking in epsom and sea salts…. it relieves stress, removes toxins from the body, regulates your electrolytes and works like an antiseptic to help heal wounds. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, discovered the therapeutic qualities of seawater by noticing the healing affects it had on the injured hands of fishermen. Click on the epsom salt link to read more!

Oh, and after you soak in the salts… your bathroom will smell fantastic ;)

You can find these salts in our etsy store :)