Pretty, pretty shoot!

Posted on | Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | No Comments

I just received this pretty photo yesterday from local Portland stylist, Rebecca Westby. Photography by Cully Wright.

See more HERE.

Lovely young lady...

Posted on | Monday, October 4, 2010 | 1 Comment

Elizabeth Messina's lovely daughter:

Photo credits: Elizabeth Messina
Headpiece: Twigs & Honey
Backdrop: Drop it Modern
Necklace: Anthropologie

New Grey Likes Weddings site + Twigs & Honey Giveaway!

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I've been loving the new Grey Likes Wedding blog and if you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely add it to the blogroll! Summer Watkins, the creator of Grey Likes Weddings, is an amazingly talented stylist and always finds the perfects bits of inspiration to share on her blog. She also has a beautiful BABY site and NESTING site, so be sure to visit them all. To celebrate the newly relaunched blog, she's doing giveaways this week including a big Twigs & Honey giveaway right now! The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate for Twigs & Honey piece and a 1/2 bottle of Rumpledcake eau de parfum from the new Twigscent line. The entry period is from now until midnight tonight so not much time but nice because you don't have to wait very long to find out the winner! Enter HERE!

Little Winter :: November 6-7th

Posted on | Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | 5 Comments

The wonderfully talented Abby Powell Thompson and Chelsea Fuss have organized the most amazing group of designers, artists, jewelers and more for a handmade market called, Little Winter, which will be November 6-7th at the Ace Hotel in Portland, OR. I'll be one of the vendors so definitely stop by if you are in town and say "hi"! Even if not to say hello to me, come by and support the lovely handmade community and be prepared to find some delightful buys. I am actually really excited to have the opportunity to meet the vendors who I have admired for quite a while. I'm predicting that I'll be walking away with some treasures.
For the last few weeks and probably until the night before, I've been and will be developing some new goodies for the event. New pretties that haven't yet been seen... actually, I'll be enlisting the help of my hubby to help make some of these things. Many of the new products will be at much lower prices than most of the Twigs & Honey pieces you see online - nice things to treat yourself with and maybe loved ones during the upcoming holiday season? ;) I can't wait to show you what I've been up to. Very exciting! Very new! I will also have Twigscent products available AND popular Twigs & Honey styles at deep discounts, so if the new stuff wasn't enough to draw you in, perhaps the latter will be? Lots of everyday pieces! I hope to see you all there! Just a few of the vendors:

Twigscent on Etsy!

Posted on | Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | No Comments

I forgot to mention but I opened a little etsy shop for Twigscent for all those who love to buy on etsy. :) You can find it HERE or http://twigscent.etsy.com.

Oh! And has anyone recognized Twigs & Honey on the Etsy FrontPage up top these past few weeks... you might need to refresh. Yeah! Top front and center! Thank you, Etsy. Model: Megan Hodge; Photography: Lisa Warninger.

More on Twigscent fragrances :: Why jojoba oil as opposed to alcohol?

Posted on | Monday, September 20, 2010 | 1 Comment

Most perfumes on the market use alcohol as the "carrier" for their fragrances. Twigscent perfumes use 100% clear organic jojoba oil for the carrier. Why? Because jojoba oil is natural, and behaves very similarly to the oil our own skin produces so it is well tolerated by most skin types. It is also nearly odorless and has a very long shelf life if properly stored. Alcohol can be drying for some and may cause skin irritation for others and although grain alcohols may be natural, they are often "specially denatured", as in, chemicals and/or additional ingredients are added to render the alcohol undrinkable. Why do they do this? If they didn't, then people who made and sold perfume would be essentially serving liquor, so they have to alter it to make it poisonous to drink. You should never drink perfume, ever, but when you see the ingredient "SD Alcohol" on the ingredients list, you'll now know that "something" else was added.

Current Likes & Oktoberfest recap

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Matt and I look forward to the Mt Angel Oktoberfest each September. This year, I unfortunately didn't bring my camera because of the on and off rain (sometimes torrential!). We really loved the food and went for dinner on Thursday and Sunday of this year. Deep fried twinkies, baked potatoes, strawberry lemonade, corn on the cob... everything yummy. I snagged a few treasures. See below along with some other new favorites:

Have you met Kiwi?

Posted on | Thursday, September 16, 2010 | 15 Comments

Last week, I had all these grand ideas that I would have all these lovely posts for you daily and then I got super busy with Twigs & Honey AND Twigscent and haven't been able to blog like I'd wanted to. I will try to have more posts soon, but for now, I thought I'd introduce you to Kiwi, our lineolated parakeet. :)

Twigs & Honey finally on Twitter!

Posted on | Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | 3 Comments

I kept avoiding it, but no longer... Twigs & Honey is now on Twitter! I know, I know, it took me forever. I'm really new so forgive me if I don't do something right here and there. :) Please follow Twigs & Honey on twitter by clicking HERE. Thank you!! p.s. Just got the hang of FB! So you know where I stand. ;)

More on Twigscent fragrances :: Why the Amber colored bottles?

Posted on | Thursday, September 9, 2010 | 2 Comments

So why are the bottles amber colored?
For starters, I knew I wanted to bottle all the Twigscent liquid fragrances in glass. Plastics are not the best vessels for fragrance. Plastics are more affordable but glass does not dissolve or breath like plastic can, so glass can help preserve a fragrance longer. Essential oils can dissolve plastic, so stay clear of plastic containers for fragrances. The applicator for the 30 ml and 15 ml is also made out of glass (glass rod - also has an old world charm about it!).
The amber color is to help prevent light deterioration of the delicate ingredients. Sunlight can deteriorate the integrity of delicate ingredients including essential oils. Think of beer bottles. Many are amber colored because of the same reason - keep out the sunlight. Many big designer fragrances are bottled in lovely clear glass. I think that they are quite beautiful, but really do nothing to protect the fragrance. When you see a clear glass stored perfume, it is usually an indicator of a) a chemical fragrance or partially chemical fragrance OR it is alcohol based or made with preservatives; b) it might be "natural" but the perfumer doesn't realize that the clear glass is allowing sunlight to ruin their fragrance; OR c) the perfumer doesn't care about the quality of their product or protecting their fragrance.
These might not be all the reasons, but some red flags when purchasing a fragrance. Keep an eye out and you'll see it happening everywhere. Twigscent fragrances will be bottled in amber glass or other safe vessels that are darkly colored.
And now you know. :)

Twigs & Honey on NBC's TODAY Show!

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I was thrilled to see little ole Twigs & Honey pieces on NBC's The TODAY Show yesterday morning. Matt and I started watching early in the morning for their Modern Wedding Accessories segment hosted by The DailyCandy. If you missed it, you can watch HERE.

Woohoo! Thank you! :: Travel size sold out!

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Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support opening day of Twigscent! Even though we bottled a ton in preparation, the travel size has sold out. I've been getting inquiries about pre-ordering and now you can pre-order the travel/sample size and it will ship on September 21st. You can PRE-ORDER HERE. There are still a few 30 ml remaining and some 15 ml bottles. We also have sold out of the buy one 30 or 15 ml get a travel size free. THANK YOU to everyone!!!! Also, a special thank you to the following: Oh Joy!, Creature Comforts, Honey Kennedy, and Brides.com! Definitely checkout their lovely blog posts on Twigscent!

Free special gift from Twigscent!

Posted on | Wednesday, September 8, 2010 | 2 Comments

As a grand unveiling celebration, the first 20 orders of either the 15 ml or 30 ml size bottle of Rumpledcake eau de parfum will receive a complimentary travel size bottle ($12 value)! The orders have been coming in this morning so they are going fast! Once this batch is sold out.. it is sold out, but you'll be able to pre-order the September 2010 batch. :)

Introducing Twigscent by Twigs & Honey

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Finally! After nearly a year of development, the new product line, Twigscent, is here! Thank you to everyone for your support and patience. I will have posts throughout the week sharing some of the special qualities of Twigscent.

Twigscent by Twigs & Honey is a line of all natural fragrances made with ingredients including essential oils and jojoba oil. The line is currently debuting with its first fragrance, Rumpledcake eau de parfum. New fragrances will be added seasonally with additional products being added with time. Visit the new website HERE for all the details. For a much more detailed description, read below. :)

For today's introduction post, I'd love to share with you how it all came about.
The conception of Twigscent was a true labor of love. Most family and friends and followers of this blog know I suffer from migraines... severe migraines. They are debilitating (I've tried more than 1 prescription and every remedy in the book). There's a list of "triggers" but throughout my life, one of the most significant has been perfumes/fragrances. I liked some perfumes initially, but more often than not, they would leave my head aching after just a little sniff. I actually started to really despise perfume and would avoid it whenever possible. All the while, I figured that it must be a sensitive nose or something similar and I was resolved to the fact that I would never be able to wear perfume.

Through the years, I've continued to learn more about natural ingredients, organics, and essential oils. The more I learned the more I realized that it wasn't that I couldn't wear perfume, but it was the chemical fragrances that were causing my migraines and sickness (not limited to though). I began removing all chemical fragrances from our home, from air fresheners to body lotion. I just got rid of it all. People often say to me, "You are really sensitive, aren't you?" OR "You're kind of weak and get sick all the time." It wasn't enough that I had to suffer from migraines and nausea, but I grew up this way and couldn't help it so it was a bit insulting. I began to take a more proactive approach by minimizing chemicals and began to realize that yes, I may react more easily to chemicals, but in all reality, isn't that a good thing? I often tell my husband that I'm his canary in a mine shaft. I can often detect undesirable ingredients far in advance of company. Feeling sick is no fun, but as a result of my sensitivity to chemicals, I've avoided many harmful ingredients and products for years before really knowing why. My body is not sick... it's healthy and it's telling me that it doesn't want chemicals on or it it by rejecting them - hence the sick feeling.

So where does this lead us? Well, I finally decided that I wanted to help myself and help others by creating a line of fragrances made with natural ingredients (I'll discuss this in detail soon!). And that is essentially how Twigscent came to be. Just this year alone, I've discovered so many individuals suffering from the same symptoms as I do with chemical fragrances. You probably know someone who can't stand perfume, yes? Do they know why? Maybe you, yourself can't wear perfume? Even if you have no reaction to chemical fragrances, you might want to try an all natural fragrance if only to help minimize the chemicals that you come into contact with. Many of the most prolific chemical ingredients in perfumes have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney and liver damage, allergic reactions, reproductive problems among other damaging effects. Isn't that enough to make you want to switch to a natural fragrance?

Are you ready?

Posted on | Tuesday, September 7, 2010 | 5 Comments

Come back Wednesday, September 8th for the big reveal! Think outside of the box... I hope you'll be totally surprised!! :)
Psst... September 8th just so happens to be our 3 year wedding anniversary and our pup, Indy's, 2 year birthday. What a big day! ;)

Lovely Real Bride :: Jenna

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Stunning. Just stunning! Isn't Twigs & Honey real bride, Jenna, just gorgeous?

Congratulations!!
Jenna is wearing a Twigs & Honey feather flower: Awake