Sunday Spotlight - D'Lites by Dorene

Welcome to the Sunday Spotlight!

I love great smelling candles, and today's spotlight is sure to offer just that --  D'Lites by Dorene.  Dorene's shop offers a candle scent sure to please everyone!  But don't forget to check out the body products too, in many of the same great scents!

Doesn't the fragrances of the month sound great -- orange blossom, and lily of the valley.  great spring scents!

Orange Blossom Tealights

Let's find out more about Dorene, and D'Lites by Dorene

Dorene - tell us about yourself.  Do you have any other hobbies?

It seems I've been creative most of my life. I remember learning to knit and to crochet at six, and I haven't stopped! When my day job ends, I spend a good amount of my time working on my garden, playing with my puppy, and running or doing yoga. Unfortunately, my "boys" do not live with me right now, and I don't cook as much as I'd like to do.

 Tell us about your shop --

My initial motivation to start a business was purely economical. Having my child move on to college meant a loss in income related to child support.  Additionally, my child’s moving on meant I had additional time available.  About the same time, I had started making candles as a hobby and found I had too many to burn myself or to give away. Opportunity presented itself, and I decided to take advantage of it!

I’ve now been in business for two years and have found my creativity for this business has only grown over time! There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything!

D’Lites by Dorene is your source for highly scented, hand poured candles and home fragrances. Candles range from 7 oz and 12 oz container candles, votives, tealights, and fragrance melts, and are complemented by products available in diffuser oils and fragrance sprays. My candles are a custom blend of paraffin and soy waxes. Paraffin is used to hold the strong colors you see and scents you smell. Soy is used to create a product more eco-friendly to our environment. Together, a quality product is created and tested to be the best possible for you and your home. Additionally, many of my fragrances are custom blends from core fragrance oils.

 What are your favorite items and top sellers?

While also create unique gift items such as rose petal soaps, all natural hand & foot balm, body sprays, and pine cone firestarters, my favorite products to produce by far are candles. I've recently started to focus on creating custom blended fragrances which may be familiar, yet unavailable in most retail locations.

My top sellers are tea lights, and my best selling fragrances in 2012 were Lavender, Cinnamon & Balsam, Cranberry Pomegranate, Home for the Holidays, and Stormy Weather.

Here are a few of Dorene's awesome creations ---  clicking on the caption will take you to the listing on Etsy.

Coconut Green Tea 12 oz. candle

Strawberry Jasmine 12 oz candle

Blueberry Muffin 12 oz. candle

Indian Healing candle 12oz

Key Lime candle 12oz

Catch up with Dorene and D'Lites by Dorene here:

D'Lites by Dorene on Etsy 

D'Lites by Dorene on Facebook 

D'Lites by Dorene on Twitter

D'Lites by Dorene's Blog

D'Lites by Dorene on Pintrest

Thanks so much for stopping by the Sunday Spotlight! Want your shop featured here? Click here to find the application -- i'd love to check out your shop and feature your great items! 

Be sure to sign up for my newsletter -- click the tab at the top of this page.

hope to see you again -- happy stamping!

 

Sunday Spotlight on Salt City Chains

I'm so excited to be bringing you the first in my series of Sunday Spotlights -- a look at some great Etsy shops!

Lets get right to it -- our first shop is Salt City Chains.  Beck and I are on the CNYetsy team together -- i love her stuff. 

This is one of my favorites -- looking at the intricate work -- hooking the little loops all together - makes my eyes crossed!  Beck makes it look effortless, and so cool.

Chainmaille Statement Necklace - Collar Style

Beck, tell us about yourself -- do you have any other hobbies?

I have too many hobbies!! I call myself a “Jill of all trades”. I am a voracious bookworm, and I’ve been prone to checking out up to 20 books at a time recently (I’m reading through the Sookie Stackhouse series right now, but they’re mostly reference books for sewing or jewelry). I dabble in paper crafts and love making origami – especially origami boxes, since they double as storage for my jewelry. I also love cooking and baking, wood working, and I play around in the garden now and then (though I can’t say I have much of a green thumb).

Tell us about your shop, how did you come up with your name?

Salt City Chains was not my first choice – Believe it or not, I found a lot of other cool chainmaille artists by searching names I wanted, but they were already taken. A lot of chainmaillers use medieval style names at times but I wanted something more modern and urban, which is the direction I think my designs tend to lean. Eventually the name I came up with is because I started my shop when I lived in Syracuse – aka the “Salt City”. Its descriptive, without being too obvious.

What is your favorite item to make?

 I’m not actually sure if I have a “buzz item” that I’m known for – Surprisingly the item I’ve sold the most in my etsy shop is my Rosebud Belly Ring. And at shows the most popular would be the “Stepping Stones” bracelet.

Rosebud Belly Ring by Salt City Chains

Stepping Stone Bracelet by Salt City Chains

Here are a few of Beck's awesome creations ---  clicking on the caption will take you to the listing on etsy.

Chainmaille Ball Pendant - Porcupine in Blue and Black

Copper Chainmaille Necklace

Chainmaille Pot Scrubber Aluminum Dish Cloth

Chainmaille Box Chain Bracelet

Chainmaille Rosebud Pendant with Amethyst

Catch up with Beck and Salt City Chains here:

Salt City Chains on Etsy

Salt City Chains on Facebook

Salt City Chains on Twitter

Salt City Chains Blog

and on Pinterest 

Thanks so much for stopping by today -- be sure to check out Salt City Chains, and tell Beck you say her on Serenity Lane Designs!

To get your shop featured on Sunday Spotlight, click here for the application form.  I'd love to be able to check out your shop and showcase your stuff!

happy stamping!  hope to see you again soon!