small things

Sweetbrier Farms {giveaway}

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This weekend’s giveaway is from Stephinie of Sweetbrier Farms. I have known Stephinie in this small world of crafting, blogging mamas for many years now and have long loved her creations. She has made some exciting changes in recent months, and I am excited to have her here to share some of that with all of you. Mother’s Day is next weekend, and if you order quickly, I bet you could have a beautiful gift just in time!

honey

In Stephinie’s words:

We are a mini-farm on the south coast of Massachusetts where we keep chickens, honeybees, rabbits and tend a garden. Stephinie (me) is the herbalist in the production and Joe (my husband) is the potter. Everything we offer is made right here on our tiny farm. Our small-batch soaps and herbal wellness products are made with organic or sustainably wildcrafted ingredients and beeswax from our own honeybees. Several of the herbs in our products in grown in our garden. Our pottery is made with stoneware clay and glazed with lead-free food safe glaze. Joe has recently been making some beautiful knitting bowls, there are several in the shop now, and more to come! (Though I must admit, it took me awhile to convince him to cut a hole in a perfectly thrown pot!)

Some of you might remember that I used to dye a lot of play silks (they are still available in our shop!) and sew up children’s goods under the name Gypsy Forest. As my own children have grown, I found myself with time to study herbs formally, even though I had dabbled in herbalism for some time. Now as a Community Herbalist, I feel like I’ve found my calling. I started to fine tune the recipes I had been making for years, friends and family began asking for more, and it seemed like a good time to start offering them in our little shop.

renewal

tincture

I think more and more people are aware of how their products are made and want to trust what is in them. I love being able to chat with someone about skin sensitivities and hand them a bar of our soap that I know is gentle enough for their skin or suggest our super salve. Our soaps are cold-process, gentle, and cured for several weeks to ensure a long lasting bar. We don’t use any synthetic ingredients – no colorants or fragrance – just plants & pure essential oils. We also carry a small line of tinctures made from locally harvested plants and a few herbal tea blends.

spoonrests

The biggest compliment to the shift in my work came from my youngest son last week when he was helping me with an educational event at our local children’s museum. (We brought our chickens to talk about raising hens and also a small selection of our products.) Someone asked him about our soap, which he said was the best, then they asked why and he said, “because my mom would never put any bad stuff in it.” Needless to say, the woman got a big smile on her face and bought a bar of soap from us.

We’re proud of offering goods made with ethical, sustainable and top quality ingredients. Perhaps even more important, is the honesty and genuine communication we offer to our customers. We take the time to answer questions, listen and connect in a very busy world that is often void of this. That is one of my favorite things about our work!

We’d love to connect with you! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, our blog or subscribe to our newsletter to find out about new products and stay in touch.

Stephinie is giving one winner a feather spoon rest, a bar of soap, a tincture, and a travel size tin of super salve. (a $45 value)  In addition, you can receive 15% off your order with the coupon code  SMALLTHINGS15 through 5-14-16.

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post.  Comments are closed and the winner is Laurel, who commented, “What a wonderful giveaway! So many lovely things.”

Thanks, Stephinie and Sweetbrier Farms!

Gypsy Forest

Reader Interactions

Comments

  8. I actually really need a spoon rest because I don’t have one! And I’m totally obsessed with natural skincare, so this would be amazing to try! Thanks for the chance 🙂

  9. We were able to watch a soap-making demonstration a whole ago at a living farm, and my kids were fascinated. What a lovely addition to the play silks, and what a nice new name–Sweetbriar Farms. I love it!

  12. Wow, great story that her son knew no bad stuff goes into what his mom makes. ☺️

  14. I saw this on Instagram and headed right over! I’m all about homemade soap – it’s all I use!

  19. Beautiful things I love the feather spoon rest. I would probably use it for my jewelry though. I can’t imagine putting a dirty spoon on it. It’s too pretty

  21. So much time, effort & knowledge in creating products like these! I would love to try them!

  25. oh so awesome! thank you for the generous giveaway! i have used healing salves before,and that combo is my favorite.wild rose glycerite isn’t easy to find,and i would love some! <3

  26. Oh my goodness, I was just looking for a spoon rest and all of your creations look incredible. Thanks for the chance.

  27. Ginny,
    I have been a happy reader of your blog for a few months now. Very much appreciate your writing and photographs.
    Would love to be a part of this lovely giveaway from Sweetbrier Farms.

  43. We have so many skin issues in our family – my son especially. I am going to try the salve. Thanks for the giveaway!

  44. That’s an awesome giveaway! I’m always looking for good products for my babies, especially my younger son.

  47. Thanks for the giveaway. Wonderful to hear about great people like you doing this wonderful work!