Great Gifts I Sachets

This will be the first in an intermittent series of items we have found that make nice or fun inexpensive gifts.

First in this series are these scented botanical wax sachets. They can be hung in closets or placed in drawers, but they're so pretty you may not want to put them away In fact we are going to put them on our Christmas tree!

Each sachet is strung with a suede cord and sweetly packaged.

You'll love these heavenly scented botanical wax sachets. 

You'll find all the best fragrances, making this collection a must have for you and yours.

Beach House

This Beach House sachet set will have you imagining the perfect summer day spent shell collecting at the beach. The fragrance reminds of a soft ocean mist blowing across delicate seaside flowers as willowy sea grass dances in the warm salty breeze. The botanicals in the wax include shells and starfish. Each sachet is strung with a suede cord and enclosed in a charmingly packaged box. Set of two.

The Black Vetiver and Oak fragrance offers a warm and luxurious fragrance that will envelop you in a velvet cloak of exotic saffron, rich cognac, green woody vetiver and sensual patchouli. This pairs nicely with hints of geranium, cyclamen flowers and tree moss, highlighting the earthy richness. This is the perfect fragrance to warm your spirit on wintery nights. The botanicals in the wax include birch branches, coral bell stalks, cosmos flowers, and oak leaves.

A festive blend of sparkling mandarin oranges, deliciously tart cranberries and succulent red currants delightfully underscored by fresh ground ginger and frosted cedar. Made with: : birch twigs, cones, pepperberries, pine needles, essential and high quality fragrance oils, proprietary wax blend. 

The Spicy Apple fragrance is simply amazing, which is probably the reason it is always the best seller from Rosy Rings. It offers fresh, juicy and crisp Macintosh apple mingled with a spicy blend of cardamom seed, ground nutmeg, fresh cinnamon and clove bud. Sweet tonka bean, vanilla extract and forest balsam softly chime in, but the stars in this scent are apple and cinnamon. The botanicals in the wax include apple slices, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks.

The Petal and Vine sachet offers green stemmy notes giving way to a sweet, flowery body of hyacinth, trumpet flower and wild orchid. The botanicals in the wax include calendula, cosmos flowers, and gingko leaves. 

We have a lot of beautiful scented gift ideas on our website!

Barking Spider Bells and Ornaments

Our Christmas ornaments and decorated eggs are a departure from our traditional stoneware. They are available in a glossy snow white color featuring bright reds, blues, purples and greens, with silver and gold accents. Because they are handmade, no two are alike, and all are very lightweight for hanging on a tree. Our friends have told us that these ornaments have become cherished family heirlooms that will be passed on for generations. We hope you will feel the same.

Rebecca and Jon have been working together as Barking Spider Pottery for nearly forty years. Their passive solar studio and home is built above the Toe River in the mountains of Western North Carolina. 

They have twin twenty-seven-year-old sons Alexander and Christopher.

Rebecca was born in 1951 in West Chester, PA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and has taken classes at West Chester State, Alfred University, and Penland School of Crafts. Together with Jon she has exhibited in numerous local and national shows.

Bells are $24 and are 2" tall

Ornaments are 4" and are $30

Jon was born in 1941 in Brooklyn, NY. He was trained as an engineer at The Cooper Union and holds a PhD from Columbia University. After working on the anti-ballistic missile project at Bell Laboratories and teaching engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, he took a ceramics class at Penland School of Crafts, where he met Rebecca. He’s been a potter ever since.


They live just down the road from Penland.

Notecards at Carolina Creations by Printmaker Rigel Stuhmiller

I am a Bay-Area based printmaker and illustrator. In my work I try to capture the beauty, curiosity, and wonder I see in the world.

In addition to doing freelance illustration, I also have created a line of notecards.

A healthy community is important to me.  A portion of my time each year is donated to select non-profits that build a strong community.  Sales of my artwork have raised over $10,000 for charity. When designing my products I choose environmentally friendly options sourced as locally as possible.

The Printmaking Process 

To create a block print, I first start by drawing an image on a block of linoleum. Linoleum is a material made from linseed oil and wood or cork dust. The image must be drawn backwards, as it will leave a mirror image when printed.

Next I carve out all the negative space in the image. The linoleum that remains will catch the ink and form the final image.

When all the negative space is carved away, I ink the linoleum block with a roller, or "brayer".

To print the piece by hand, I place a piece of paper over the block and rub the back of the paper with a wooden spoon. This transfers the ink to the paper.

The final print is revealed.

 To print the piece on the press, I place the inked block on the bed of the press and place a piece of paper on it. 

Then I cover it with press felts and roll it through the press. 

The metal roller of the press applies a large amount of pressure to the paper and plate, transferring the ink to the paper.

To make a multi-color print, I use a few different techniques.

One involves carving multiple linoleum blocks, each of which will print one area of color. 

In this example, I have carved five different blocks. One block can be painted with multiple colors, which can result in a more complex and painterly print.

Here are some of the beautiful cards we have at Carolina Creations by Rigel.

Stop in and check them out!

Thought for the day

Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future... a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for."

Maya Angelou

This is a painting I did on one such day.

Readers Choice Award Times Two

Once again we were chosen as

We are grateful to our loyal customers for contributing to our success. Soon we will be celebrating twenty five years in Downtown New Bern!

Its time for the pumpkin patch

This year we have added the work of Drew Hine, beautiful!

We also have pumpkins by Paul Lockwood....

and Lisa Oakley...

Check out some more on our pumpkin patch page!

New Bern Neighborhood Candles

We've just had some candles created for Carolina Creations!

And they smell heavenly...

 Inner Banks Essence - Mandrin orange and Vanilla

Carolina Christmas - Cinnamon and Nutmeg

Carolina Creations Glow - Bamboo, Teak and Black Currant

Union Point Breeze - Sea Mint and Jasmine

Light Up the Season - Cranberry, Mandrin and Clove

Pollock Street Spyce - Pumpkin, Ginger and Clove

    Order online by clicking here! 

Made by Julie Tassy, these soy candles, offer a clean burn of up to sixty hours from American-grown soy, and an impressive fragrance "throw," even when the candle isn't burning. "It's amazing how a fragrance can alter a mood, create an environment or just make you happy!" she says.

 

The REALLY neat thing is that we can private label any of the 28 scents available by ordering in groups of 4. So for Christmas we might do a special candle for your Family, Bunco group, Book Club or whatever!  The only caveat is that the 4 candles must have the same label. Please limit your number of letters and spaces to 20.  

2014 Ornament Union Station New Bern NC

This years ornament is the Union Station in Downtown New Bern. The Historical Society is spearheading the restoration of it!

As you can see my 1st sketch is VERY rough, just getting the idea straight in my mind.

Next a line drawing

Then I indicate what I want cut out in red

Then I send it out to some folks in Rhode Island that make them for me.

I see they didn't put the smoke in, oh well!

To purchase click here!   $14.50 each.