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Fabulous Creations, New Items, and Events - oh my!

From the archives!  Originally posted August 2015.

Friends!
My little Linden Tree Herbals journey is moving along like a birch bark canoe on a little river after a hard rain!  This year my personal goal was to have just one item invented, tested, and ready to sell.  Now it is August, and I have dried herbs, seeds, lip and body balms, salves aplenty, infused oils, elixirs, tinctures, and herbal seasonings.  In the works but not yet finished testing are three herbal bath soaks, two herbal mouth rinses, and lotion bars.  Wow!  

Willow twigs & leaves in 75% alcohol

Harvesting Feverfew

Part of the reason for all this productivity, aside from the fact that I just really like to invent new herbal goodies, is that I'll be a vendor in the Herbal Marketplace at this year's inaugural Great Lakes Herb Faire, September 11-13 in Chelsea, MI.  This event is organized by a handful of local herbalists, including my teacher jim mcdonald, and promises to be an excellent weekend of learning, sharing, and herb-geekery that I am super excited about.  More info can be found at the Faire's website, www.greatlakesherbfaire.org.  I am especially excited to learn from Leslie Williams (Maine), Leslie Alexander (Pennsylvania), and Linda Conroy (Wisconsin). 
Then, I received an invitation early this week to be a vendor at the 4th annual Gilded Gear Festival, a fun-looking steampunk gathering hosted by The Rivet Fleet, a group of steampunk folks in and around metro Detroit.  This event will be on October 10, at Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills.  I am not a steampunk person myself, but am a big fan of the steampunk look.  Kind of a mix between Victoriana and Wild West, airships and technology powered by steam.  Retro and futuristic at the same time, with some great outfits.  There is more information about both these events on the Linden Tree Herbals website (www.lindentreeherbals.com).
Depending how these two events go, I may also be at the DIYpsi holiday event on December 12-13 in Ypsilanti.  A friend and I went to their summertime show at the Corner Brewery in Ypsi last month, and it was excellent.  I noted that they could use more local vendors...like me, perhaps!
Here are a few more of the things I've been cooking up lately:

Organic St. John's Wort oil and salve

Clockwise from upper left: Huron River salve, Calendula Simple Salve, St. John's Wort salve

Coconut lemongrass lip balm

Chopping wildcrafted willow bark for storage in the apothecary

Raven Antiseptic Trio salve

Oh, how I love crafting up new herbal goodness!