Take a journey with your nose through the USA!  I'm

 

As Helen Keller put it so perfectly , " Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived."

Currently ready are:

Oregon (made with pure essential oils of Douglas fir, sage & coffee with a helping of organic hazelnut and marionberry flavor oils)

Washington (made with pure essential oils of Douglas fir, lavender, & lilac with a generous helping of organic apple flavor oil)

California (nothing reminds me more of California than a fresh, warm, just of the tree, juicy orange- plus, I've added essential oils of Redwood cedar & eucalyptus along with organic strawberry and grape flavor oils)

Pennsylvania (we used to live near Hershey, Pa so I was awakened by the smell of warm chocolate wafting through my window each morning.  Thus, this yummy candle contains: organic chocolate flavor oil along with organic oils of: honeysuckle, cinnamon, and molasses)

South Dakota (after long, hot drives across South Dakota, a stop at Wall Drug for a strawberry shake or some local sassparilla is just the ticket.  Add the essential oils of spruce, pine, and sage from the forests and you've got an amazing scentsation!)

 

Each state comes with a more descriptive story and some interesting facts or recipes from/about the state.

 

Some fun tidbits-

Our American Scent Trip candles have been featured on USA Love List and are one of the founder's favorite items of all time!

The cast of the t.v. show, GRIMM, adore my AST-Oregon candles and wrote a special note to Vance Family Soy Candles to let us know!

The first lady of Oregon is a fan of our AST-Oregon candles!

 

I hope you, too, enjoy our new candle line and they transport you on a trip throughout the beautiful country of America!  - Amy

How exciting it is to see my candles on other websites, in catalogs  and in stores!  Even more exciting is the fact that people are converting to sustainable, petroleum free, foreign material free, synthetic fragrance free candles!  I want the world to be healthy for a very long time.  Just thinking about the here and now doesn't work for me, especially since I have children so everyday I am reminded of what the future may bring.  I know that candles are just a little start, but how wonderful it would be if everything were sustainable and not petroleum based and full of toxins?!  Here are some amazing businesses, run by amazing people, that are devoted to selling only healthy, eco-friendly products.  They sell my candles and two

 

 

 

Sandalwood essential oil soy candles are now available!  I have had so many requests for sandalwood (which I had shunned away from due to the $100 an ounce price tag!) that I decided to see if possibly, sandalwood is so strong that I don't need much.  And I was very pleasantly surprised!  I have no desire to sell candles for $100 each.  After all, I really want people to stop depending upon petroleum based products and to stop using synthetic fragrance.  That isn't going to happen if a candle costs over $100!!!  Turns out, just a few drops of the highly fragrant essential oil is all I need for a  6 oz. candle.  YEAH!!!  Of course, that still means that each drop costs about $1.00, but, at least it keeps it attainable!  The smell is amazing!  Musky, earthy, exotic, sexy, very romantic if I do say so myself!

I also have combined sandalwood, frankensince, patchoulli  and a few other organic  oils, in an organic coconut oil base, to make a wonderful Musk. 

Some more exciting news!  I am in the process of making pillar candles!  I adore pillar candles and often come across beautiful pillar holders which I cannot use because my candles are all jar candles.  The soy I use is not solid enough to be made into pillars.  Once lit, the pillars would melt and create a a big mess!  However, the American company that makes my GMO free soy "wax", has made a GMO free, soy "wax" for pillar candles!  It is extra hard and I can't wait to see how it works!  If it works out well, you'll being seeing them on the website soon!

Ironically, our wonderful ice cream man brought me a box of pillar candle making supplies that he had found at a yard sale.  I was touched that he thought of me and told him how thankful I was.  However, at the time, I couldn't make pillar candles so I have just been storing the box.  I am so happy to be able to use it!  How did he know?  

 

Don't forget!  Tomorrow is First Friday @ Milepost 5!!  Come enjoy the festivities as artists throughout the complex open up their studios and let strangers in.  Everyone is welcome and the retail shops (including mine, JUST THE GOOD STUFF), will often have sales and workshops, while the artists throughout the complex dull out treats and love to talk about their work.  E.A.T. will most likely have a band playing  on their stage and will, ofcourse, be serving their out-of-this-world food.  See you there?

Milepost 5 is really easy to get to.  Just take I-205 to the Glisan exit and go west.  Turn right on NE 82nd Ave.. Go one block and turn left on Oregon St.. Find a place to park.

So, at my store's Grand Opening the Mayor, Sam Adams, came in and said, "This is the best smelling store in Portland!".  Well, he is right about that one!

The Grand Opening of JUST THE GOOD STUFF @ Milepost 5 (NE 82nd, just N. of Glisan) was a lot of fun.  Many wonderful people came in, browsed, oohed and aahhed & bought organic fragrance for their home & body.  If you have the chance to stop by, I also have a collection of upcycled home & garden art (tiki torches, hummingbird feeders, garden art), handmade chocolates, hand painted glassware, fused glass, jewelry, pottery faces made by my son, greeting cards and whimsies.  I hope to see you there! 

Now you can find my organic fragrance candles at Aster & Bee in Portland, OR!  Plus, don't forget to check out my Grand Opening of JUST THE GOOD STUFF at Milepost 5 in Portland, OR April 8th and 9th. www.justthegoodstuff.net