10.21.2015

herbal goodness :: a giveaway!




Recently I was given an opportunity to test some products that dear, sweet, immensely creative and inspiring Stephinie (of Gypsy Forest and now Sweetbrier Herbs!) crafted herself as she worked to create her own line of herbal goodies.  She has studied herbs extensively and now, along with being an art teacher and wonderful photographer, generally crafty, and knowing her way around many things homestead-y, she is also an herbalist.  And lucky us, she is offering some of her own custom blends for sale in her etsy shop.  I tried her Moonflower Women's Tea, and her Super Salve.

The tea was delightful~ a medicinal and mineral-rich yet still very tasty brew that I enjoyed both as a tea and as an infusion.  The rose petals and calendula added such nice color and flavor, I admit I'm a sucker for roses in tea..... it always makes it feel more special to me... almost like an 'event'.  And truly I welcome anything that gives me pause to stop and savor the moment, but especially if it's also something good for me, body and mind.

The Super Salve is great.  And this coming from a girl who has made my own salve, been gifted homemade salves by others, and purchased a fair amount of the balm as well.  What I like so much about her salve, this Super Salve, is that it seems to strike the 'just right' balance between 'balmy' and 'oily'.  Many salves I find a bit too greasy, feeling like they linger forever and don't quite absorb the way I'd like for them to, and certainly too slick to use as a lip balm.  This one has found a nice little home in my purse, where I dip into it often to soothe my chapped midway-through-autumn hands and to use as a lip balm as well.  I often find salves to have a bitterness that doesn't make them well suited, for me, as a lip balm, but Stephinie has used such a nice blend of herbs and oils that are very healing and soothing and also... well, tasty (know I'm not recommending you eat her salve, just that it feels and tastes good as a lip balm as well as a general purpose skin balm).

Stephinie has so very kindly offered to share an herbal gift with one of you as well!  Just leave a comment below letting me know which herbal tea of hers that you'd like to try (visit her shop to look over your options).  Be sure to leave a way for me to get in touch with you.  I will leave comments open until 10pm Saturday evening, when I will randomly select a winner.  Honestly, I don't know anything about the 'random comment generator' or whatever it's called that other folks sometime use- so you'll just have to trust me when I say it'll be random.  I'm gonna write out numbers corresponding to your comments and put them in a jar and let the little one dip her eager hand in to select one and ta-da! A winner!

Good luck, and happy salve-smearing and tea-drinking!

31 comments:

  1. How lovely Amanda! I would love to try the Woman's Moonflower Tea!

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  2. OOO. What a treat! The Woman's Moonflower sounds lovely, but the Lemon Hibiscus sounds right up my alley! (Email is the same as always, or the blog.)

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  3. The Moonflower Tea sounds lovely.

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  4. I am a fan of lemon tea so would love to try Lemon Hibiscus if you are shipping to UK, you didn't say. I will also be away for over 2 weeks as I fly out to USA on Monday.
    mamasmercantile1@gmail.com

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    1. Stephinie is okay with shipping it to the UK!

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  5. I would love to try the Women's Moonflower. I've tried holy basil and nettle, but never combined with the other ingredients. Congratulations with your herbal products, Stephinie. I've enjoyed your blog for many years.

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  6. I think I may need to purchase some of the Bear Cub Soothing Tea...my children enjoy a little cup of tea before bed some nights, and I think it would be the perfect blend for all of us to share. Thank you for the lovely giveaway! (heykristi123 at gmail dot com)

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  7. Thank you for the giveaway! I think I would try the Moonflower Womens Tea. A natural way to balance is a beautiful thing!!

    Janet
    jbaehrel@hvc.rr.com

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  8. such a lovely giveaway :) I'd say Moonflower would be my top pick :)

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  9. Oh how fun! I'd love to pick a tea for ME, but if I won I'd have to choose the Bear Cub blend for my own little cubs to have as part of our bedtime rhythm. Thank you for the chance!

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  10. The lemon hibiscus tea sounds delicious! She has lots of wonderful things for sale on her etsy site!

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  11. This sounds great. I would love to try to Moonflower tea because in the past I've had a moonflower plant, & it had the most gorgeous smell! Thanks for this generosity. I enjoy your blog. Mary Ann e mail nanamacc@aol.com

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  12. The Bear Cub Soothing tea sounds wonderful. I'm into anything that can calm my nerves. :)

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  13. I would love to try the Moonflower tea. Thanks for the chance to win!

    kjramstack at yahoo dot com

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  14. Those teas are so beautiful to look at. I'd love to try the bear cub one.

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  15. The bear cub tea please! my e-mail is carlinrae at hotmail dot com
    Thanks!

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  16. I think the Lemon would be amazing served hot during our long Minnesota winter! 😊
    borowski at prtel dot com

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  17. I have no idea how to use one of those random generators either ;)
    I would love to try the Moonflower tea, sounds yummy.

    1tims at embarqmail dot com

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  18. They all look lovely, I'd have a very hard time choosing. I think I'd probably want to try the bear cub tea or the moonflower -maybe the moonflower to be selfish?! Thank you for the chance!

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  19. I love her fabrics! I'd love to try the Bear cub tea, chamomile is one of my favorites.

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  20. Having followed Stephanie for a few years, I was pleasantly surprised to see her branch out into herbology. A wonderful occupation, to be sure! As for which brew, that bear cub tea sounds perfect! I have three little ones and a 4th on the way, and I love the idea of sharing some herbal goodness with the whole family!

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  21. I would have to say the Lemon Hibiscus tea surely.
    thefiggtree@yahoo.com

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  22. Lemon hibiscus would be lovely to try. I love tea!

    C_lowles @ yahoo dot com

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  23. The bear cub tea sounds yummy and I love a tea that I can share with the kiddos!

    steim99@yahoo.com

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  24. Would be lovely to try the Moonflower tea. BTW - I so enjoy your blog and am a faithful reader. I too love, love, love your little town. My knitting group will be traveling there tomorrow for a fun day out. cstanley29@embarqmail.com

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  25. I'm still working on becoming a tea drinker. I've only found one flavor that I really like but I think the lemon hibiscus sounds like something I'd enjoy.
    blessings
    ~*~

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  26. Oh wow! Thank you to both of you for offering this wonderful giveaway. I think I would love any of her tea mixes. The Moonflower sounds especially good though, or the Bear cub too. What a treat. Thank you!

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  27. I would love to win, thank you.

    Sheila64@bright.net

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  28. The moonflower women's tea looks wonderful! Thank you! :)

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~