It’s been quiet in the studio for a while, and when it’s quiet I start thinking…a lot. Yes, I usually write about perfume making and aroma profiles but I realise I don’t share much about what’s going on with me. You’ve probably seen a few changes in the last month, so let me share with you what’s been happening in my corner of the world and give you an idea of what’s to come.
New digs – for some time now I’d been mulling over the pros and cons of moving the site from the basic WordPress site to a self-hosted platform, the .org environment. There are a lot of things you can’t do or use on your site if you’re using the WP.com platform so, I made the decision to sign up with InMotion hosting – so far so good – and take matters into my own hands (typical).
New site design – I thought the template I had purchased through WP.com was mine (it wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t free), that I could do with it what I wanted and be able to transfer it to, at the very least, another WP environment. Nein! So. New template (again!). New design. I had to find a new template. Fast! And that brought with it some more changes like the sidebar with a brief intro about me and the search bar, category and archives search that’s sort of hidden, well, you have to click on the little plus sign over to the right to make it visible. At some point I’m going to have to make it more clear that it’s there, but that’ll have to wait. For now, just a heads up that it’s there.
New pages – you may or may not have noticed that I’ve added two new pages to the menu, one where I’ve put all the sites that give me inspiration and motivation, the thing they all have in common is that none of them have anything to do with perfumery at all. The other is the Perfume DIY page and this is where I’ve posted links as a resource to industry blogs, forums and websites. Also, I’ve updated the page to include a list of links to perfume making suppliers from all over the world – from essential oils to bottles to scent strips. Hopefully this helps you in the beginnings of your exploration into the world of scent and perfume making!
Not getting email updates? – I hope you’re still getting your blog updates, because the move made that an issue as well, now I’ve got to ask new people to sign up in different ways. So if you’re not getting the posts regularly, please fill in your email only and I’ll add you to the list.
Preparing for the holidays – The Christmas season is by far my favourite of all and here at our house we go all out dressing up both the inside and the outside of the house, it’s a real team effort, but it’s a lot of work so forgive me in advance if I miss one here or there between now and mid-January.
Projects! – Of course there’s still studying for the course that takes up a great deal of time. Then there is the final perfume project which is a constant work in progress of building and stripping down and re-thinking the approach. It may finally be clear to me that my preferred approach may not be that of building by combining accords, but building my perfume one component at a time, thoughtfully, methodically, researching each chemical component and finding common threads. It’s the way I built my very first perfume 18 months ago and perhaps it’s my personal style. But I won’t know that until I give the accords approach a serious try. Also in the works is a collaboration of interviews that I’m planning for 2015 to be a regular part of the blog. Oh, and lest I forget, during the holidays, sometime in January I have to do some inventory. I’ve been dreading it and putting it off but it’s got to be done. Next year there will be more vials and bottles and materials to order and it’s vital to know how much of what I still have on hand so I’m not wasting precious dollars. Phew! That’s a lot! And as if that weren’t enough, hang on there’s more, a whole lot more but I gotta keep something back for a surprise!
Hope your week is beautiful!
MC
Credit: image by Angelika Mirocha!
Her Two Scents 