by Carol | Nov 20, 2019
The most startling thing about heartbreak is
…noticing that the world didn’t actually end. *
After my dear friend died I’d sit and look at the mountains and wonder why they were still standing. Why the sun came up and went down without her. Why the world’s still there. She died Dec.27, 2015 and I last saw her that Christmas Eve.
It was snowing like crazy that Christmas Eve in 1999 we buried my mother, so cold I wished my grief would freeze and I could break it apart like ice. But I couldn’t. It stuck with me a long time. It’s still there, really. Holidays are difficult.
This is the hard truth about life: it’s full of loss and loss means heartbreak. Parents who have lost children. Children who have lost parents. Widows and widowers. Everything with a beginning also has an ending, says Jack Kornfeld, and our peace of mind comes from being ok with that.
Easier said than done. Grief holds on tight, sometimes for a very long time. Our feelings remain long after our living loved ones want to hear about them.
Holidays are hard for many who grieve even if they didn’t lose loved ones at that time.
And that’s exactly why I wrote the Guided Journal Through Grief: to provide a safe place to share all the feelings that remain. Our grief, our guilt (if any), our regrets and also our happy times together.
Each page has a prompt that you can respond to by writing, drawing, painting or even do a mini collage. Or it has a simple activity or a meditation.
For years I searched for a condolence gift that was supportive but not complicated. That didn’t have a shelf life, like flowers. Or didn’t seem celebratory like a fruit basket. I couldn’t find one, so I created it.
Our large condolence gift includes the guided journal, a deck of 50 gentle grief “affirmations” meant to help transform grief (because it never goes away), a pretty heart shaped mini-candle and an Apache tear grief stone, which has helped me tremendously in my own grief. $34.99
Our small condolence gift includes the 50-card deck and the heart-shaped candle. $19.99
Both are gentle, supportive, affordable and those who get them say they really do help.
This Christmas it’s my mission to get these helpful tools in the hands of those who really need them. So if you know someone who is grieving, why not send them this gentle support? We ship and provide your short message on a gift tag.
Find them and more at our gift tab.
Quote from Bloom for Yourself by April Green and this is an affiliate link.
by Carol | Oct 30, 2019
Here’s a question:
Can you make someone feel like they are the most important person in the world at that moment?
Can you give them a lift that will brighten that moment or even their entire day? It happened to me the other day and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was. I realized that I do this often for others–and it made me wonder how often others do it.
“Here’s what I love about you.”
“You have the most beautiful smile!”
“Thank you for always looking on the positive side.”
“You are always the first one to reach out when I need help.”
So.
How about making it your mission today to tell someone in detail how fabulous they are. Validate someone.
You’ll lift them up–and yourself at the same time.
And don’t forget our beautiful best friend candles–telling your BFF that they’re your person is HUGE validation–and a wonderful gift. Especially with the holidays coming up soon. Here’s how to do that.
But really, any kind of validation works. It’s all good. All of it.
by Carol | Jun 13, 2019
FALL UPDATE! Summer is really over–already! and you’ve probably got an entire list of things to do–especially if you’ve got kids. So maybe we can help make it a bit easier with our one-stop-shopping guide:
SPECIAL BIRTHDAYS AND EVENTS
Some special and affordable gifts:
If someone you adore is having a birthday or just needs their spirits boosted: consider “You’re My Person” candles–you can now add that cute pendant to any of our candles for just $5. For a maid of honor?? Sister? BFF? Cute cute cute!
OR add the cute metal Happy Birthday Cake & Candles Pendant–which is larger– to any gift for $6. Thread it through the ribbon for your gift wrap for an adorable look. It’s also a fun stand-alone gift when you just want “a little something!”
Find all the pendants under the gift tab.
If you’d like your kitchen to smell sugar-lemon fresh this fall/winter, try one of our limited edition Lemon Drop Kitchen Candles. The lemony-sweet fragrance and pretty flower petals make it a super gift at super pricing: introductory price for the 4 oz. Lemon Drop Kitchen Candle is $11 per candle (four for only $40!), and customers say they burn for a very long time. I do love these.
Summer Cocktail Candles would be a lovely reminder of summer—-in yummy fragrances like Pina Colada, Sparkling Sangria, Pink Lemonade or Tropical Coconut Mango and in 10 oz. frosted glass containers of pink, blue, yellow and green. How about a bridesmaid gift?
People who receive them respond, “They’re gorgeous!”
TOUGH TIMES
It’s always tough to be sick. Or to be grieving. How well I know this. Our gentle, supportive gift packages for healing and/or grief start at $19.99.
Or buy just the helpful affirmation decks for only $14.95 or the guided journals for $15.95. Check the tabs Healing Toolkit or Grief for details or to see more.
by Carol | Apr 5, 2019
A 4 oz success manifestation candle for a customer.
Everywhere I look, someone is manifesting. They’re manifesting for success, health, wealth, love–if there’s something to manifest for there’s someone doing the manifesting.
There’s an abundance of spiritual wisdom brought down through the ages that say things like “if you seek, you’ll find” and “what you sow, you’ll reap.”
The folks who brought forward the Law of Attraction have made sure that we all at least try to manifest something. And then, there are vision boards. They’ve gained popularity in recent years but I’ve been doing them for at least 20 years if not more. Mostly because I love collage; I don’t think I was sure about this manifesting stuff back in the day.
But now, even I offer manifestation tools: beautiful, manifestation and ritual candles heaping with herbs and crystals to help make your intention reality. But do they really work?
Well, not all by themselves. I know, you’re shocked, right? Not. 😉 Here’s the missing piece: an action plan.
Very few people can simply set an intention and then, poof! They get their dream. They need a plan of action that details the steps that must be taken to get there.
There’s another piece, too: action. Yes, we absolutely can’t achieve our intention without acting on a plan. Doing something. We can’t sit back and wait.
By all means set your manifestation goal. Make a vision board. Light your manifestation candle. And then, every day, meditate on it.
Because the real secret of manifestation is that we get what we focus on. If we do what needs to be done to manifest our dream, it’s likely to happen. Candles, vision boards and meditation all provide the necessary focus. And we alone can take the action.
I’d love your thoughts in the Comments. And of course, you can get your manifestation candle to help you focus on your goal right here!. I’m making April candles this weekend so if you’d like one of any kind, and there are some beauties, order right away!
by Carol | Apr 3, 2019
When I look at these products I never fail to think of the friend who inspired them. Which means I think of her every day, although I have not been able to hug her since she transitioned three years ago. She battled cancer and I do mean battled. Determined. Wanting to have every chance. Every tiny advantage.
So when I hand-drew her some healing affirmations, she used them. She believed they were helpful. And she told me that I needed to make and sell them. So, a few months after her death, I did. I must admit that there have been days when I’ve looked to the heavens and said, “Really? You made me do this at MY age?” But yes, she did.
Our many discussions about her journey with cancer were the source of the idea for my Guided Journal for Healing. Because she needed to express her feelings about her disease and she did it all the time in our alone time. I saw how healing it was for her to have an outlet for her frustrations, her sadness and also her joyful times. It is in her honor that I offer what some customers have called a “cancer survival kit.” Really, though, it is useful for any tough health challenge.
The basic products are the guided journal and affirmation deck. The journal is a workbook that allows you to respond to questions and prompts or do simple activities to help express your feelings about what’s going on with you. The affirmations are a thought a day, a meditation, a way to set a healing tone during treatment or at any time. And then another option is one of the gift packages: I’ve put them together with some other pretty things to make a lovely gift. All super-affordable.
I’m not silly enough to think anyone’s going to cure cancer by using these products. But customers tell me that they are helpful. The guided journal, itself, allows free expression about your condition– with no judgment. Over on the Journal’s page is a short video that shows exactly how to use it. the pages aren’t blank, they ask questions or give you a thought to respond to. Write, draw, paint or even collage your responses.
If you’re going through treatment, consider these aids to treatment. If a loved one is facing a hard health challenge, please consider gifting one of these gentle, supportive tools. Or one of the gift packages.
They’re quite affordable. I have been told I should charge more. Other tools of this quality do cost more. But as with all of my offerings, I want more people to benefit. So you’ll see that my prices are more than competitive–they’re lower.
Take a look at all of my products that support healing. Thank you.
by Carol | Jan 23, 2019
There’s so much doom and gloom in the world that I relish having something to celebrate. Especially here, where I deal with difficult and sad subjects.
So let’s light up the week with this great news: truly something to celebrate!
A number of my friends, both online and local, have been battling tough cancers. And I am thrilled to report that more than a few are living happy lives even while having various forms of treatments. Because their cancers are being held at bay by new treatments that allow them to have a good quality of life–and even travel–while still in treatment.
Several are past the three-year mark and doing well. Several have had post-treatment pet-scans that show absolutely no sign of a type of cancer that not too long ago killed within the first year.
I think that’s something to celebrate!
Now, I know, you don’t want to tempt fate and neither do I. But there’s no denying that advances in cancer treatment are buying longer, quality lifespans for patients in treatment. And that is something to light up the world about.
I hope there’s a day when cancer is as insignificant as a common cold. Until that day, though, I’ll take the fact that we do have something to celebrate.
Won’t you join me in praying that all those with cancer find effective treatment and flourish?
And if you’d like to help someone in their battle, I hope you’ll consider one of my thoughtful, gentle healing gifts. Or–and I know you will LOVE this: a beautiful Hearts & Flowers candle that comes unscented or scented: see our candle shipping schedule.
