JADE'S JOURNAL

CRAFTED Marketplace hosted a Craft Summer Camp last month, where vendors throughout the market offered "camp-themed" crafts for kids AND adults! It was a blast! The theme really gave the vendors some creative inspiration - there were crafts of all kinds, like macrame keychains, friendship bracelets, dream catchers, mini succulents, clay mugs, hand/paw prints... and yours truly hosted aromatherapy play-dough!   I've been wanting to host some kid-friendly workshops for a while now to keep our youth involved, educated, and interested in nature's abilities. I heard about natural play-dough, or "slime" through a friend who makes it at home with...

Jade Dragon Apothecary shared a booth with another female-owned business, Namaslay Co, at Lightning in a Bottle this past weekend... and wow! What a blessing it was to be behind the scenes of a festival I attended for years. For those of you who aren't aware, LiB is a music & arts festival with a great spiritual focus. There are multiple yoga stages, inspirational quotes posted throughout the festival, nutrition & plant medicine workshops, guest speakers, a sacred firepit honoring our ancestors, and so much more! LiB has also won the award for "greenest festival" and has separate bins for...

Sage is being incredibly over-harvested and mass-produced right now, due to a higher demand for smudge sticks or bundles. However, the plant was used traditionally by Native Americans to cleanse the air of negativity - but they did so respectfully. The Native Americans believed in only taking from the Earth what you need and will use. A single leaf of sage is enough to cleanse yourself and your space of negative energy. Burning the large bundles all at once not only produces an unnecessary amount of smoke, it is almost an insult to the plant and Mother Earth. If you...

I believe in the innate power of passion and creativity. It's important to have passion for what you do, because it keeps the creativity flowing. When you support a small business, you are supporting someone's passion. Someone's ideas. Someone's life goals. You are also motivating and inspiring them to dream bigger, create more, and continue striving. Whenever possible, shop at your local small businesses and support their passion and creativity. You will recognize the time, energy, and love put into each product - making it personal and exclusive for everyone on your list. Thank you for your continued love &...