Use What You Have

I don't throw anything away. Craft-wise, that is.

This whole crafting journey began with candles. My husband loves burning candles and even though we recycle, I always felt bad about the glass jars left over.

Fortunately I love anything wax, so as a cost-cutting strategy, I learned to make cotton-wicked soy candles scented with essential oils. Which led to massage candles, which led to lip balm, which brought on the whole doggone Farmacopia.

Back in my Actors Theatre of Louisville days I met a wonderful man named Fred Rochlin who was performing a one man show called "Old Man in a Baseball Hat". I think you can get the ebook on amazon, it's an amazing story of his experiences in WWII.

Anyhow, he gave me a nice compliment and said I was pretty. I thanked him but told him that I didn't have anything to do with being pretty, it wasn't a virtue because I didn't learn it or earn it. He laughed and gave me some of the best advise I've ever heard, "Use what you have."

Fast forward 15 years (mama mia). Guess where the labels I'm using on the prototypes of Okamura Farmacopia's best selling Bawdy Balm came from? Candles, baby. The economy crashed, the salon hit a speed bump and I didn't use those labels for 4 years. But I saved them.

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to have new labels printed in bulk all shiny and pretty and new-like, but I'll channel Fred first and use what I have.

Fred is no longer with us, blessed be fine sir. Blessed be, and thanks.