Chrissannthemum's first event to kick off the summer will be at Cupcakefest 2011 in Rutherford, NJ! This year Cupcakefest will benefit the John A. Bukowski Shelter for Animals in Bloomfield, NJ. At our vendor table there will be plenty of herbs and some new homemade goodies too! 

Please spread the word about this fun filled day for a wonderful cause. This event is free so consider bringing donated items that are needed on the Shelter's wish list. If you cannot make the event please consider donating to the Shelter directly. Every bit counts! not every bite!...well unless it's a bite of Sweet Avenue's cupcakes which are delicious! 

Thanks to Sweet Avenue Bake Shop and Planet Verge for hosting this event!

We hope to see you there! 

Hi all! Sometimes life zigs when you think it is going to zag and this has occurred recently in my deciding to close Chrissannthemum in PA on April 30th and bring my business and myself back to New York City full-time! Those of you who know me already...I can hear you clapping and saying 'it's about time!'. The saying 'home is where the heart is' never rang more true than it has after commuting for both my Art Therapy private practice and then Chrissannthemum for over a decade. Opening the shop in PA was for sure a necessary part of my life's path as the opportunities that are here now and those potentially ahead would not have happened had I not been in Bridgeport, PA - a town I am grateful for and the community who supported me and the shop, special people I will truly miss and already do. <3
 
A main reason why I decided to close the shop was so I could make herbs available to more people by traveling to local farmer's markets. The response received last farmer's market season was incredible so currently I am working on the new schedule and will post to the website, it looks like I'll be making the rounds starting late May so stay tuned! Another main reason for the change was so I could focus more on the agricultural side of herbs and herbal remedies, more specifically to learn more about and help cultivate veganic farming- the use of no animal products or by-products in the planting, growing, harvesting process. I'll also continue to offer herbal and beyond herbal classes in PA with Main Line School Night and in time will offer herbal and beyond herbal workshops in NYC. 

The physical space of Chrissannthemum is the only aspect that has and will change, all else is still alive and well and growing by leaps and bounds! Online shopping will continue as I've set up a fabulous studio space here in NYC that will enable me to serve you better as well as get the many remedies I've wanted to make going. AND last but certainly not least...I am fortunate to be working with a great team on making Chrissannthemum herbal tea blends available at a store near you! I look forward to sharing more about this endeavor as we progress! 

I want to thank everybody who grew an herbal shop with me from the ground up. I am forever grateful to and for you. I look forward to keeping in touch and keeping with our friendships. 

Onward and upward! Whooo Hooo!

Take care,
Chriss

Greetings to you on this cold winter day in Bridgeport. I'm about finished packing up the last round of Holiday orders. Before heading out to do my own mad shopping dash I wanted to post a few pictures of the fun I've been having packing Chrissannthemum goods! As an Art Therapist (my private practice is attached to the shop) I find venturing over to my office to find supplies is working out really well and that many art supplies are versatile and provide an environmentally friendly way of creating snazzy one of a kind packages. With that said I am thankful for my paper shredder! Most of the materials used to package items are recyclable and I also prefer to package gifts in containers that can be used again, again and again! What I like most is how much fun all of this is! So if you received a package from Chrisssannthemum either for yourself or as a gift, I hope that you sense the homemade joyous vibe it was created with. 

I wish you and yours a very HAPPY and PEACEFUL Holiday Season. 

Be well my friends near or far,
Christine 

Lauren and her pup Natalie stopped by the shop. Lauren thought it would be a good idea to help Natalie accessorize her lovely sweater. Lucky for us pup parents, dogs are forgiving. 

Happy Halloween everybody! This week I put together a Chrissannthemum gift basket and some goody bags for the Veggie Conquest Halloween party in NYC last night. Veggie Conquest is like Iron Chef except all the dishes made are vegan. I attended my first VC event in August and it was amazing, the event sold out 10 minutes after tickets went on sale. As always it was a lot of fun putting together the goodies and this time I remembered to take photos before wrapping them up. 

Hope everyone had a spooky Halloween!

Long live in spirit Cassius who passed on recently. He was a friend to Maddy and as you will see below, had excellent taste in herbs and teas. He is terribly missed by his dad Larry who brought him everywhere a dog could go. We wish you peace in your rest Cassius, we will miss your gentile nature and rest assured will be here to help your dad through. <3

Spent my evening listening to the Islander game and Halloweeing the shop's window...or as some might call it...watching Chriss revert to 5 years old. 

On Monday night October 4th I attended a fundraiser for the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (banhdc.org) in NYC and was delighted to help out by donating a Chrissannthemum gift basket and also serving as raffle girl! 

This is the basket created and oh how much fun it was, I love love love making gift baskets! Goodies included were Organic Chai & Lemon Ginger teas, White Sage Incense, custom blends made by yours truly; Chillax (Lemon Balm, Oatstraw, Chamomile) tea, Organic Olive Oil Herb blend, Salt Scrub blend, Organic Clay Mask blend, and Organic Soothing Noggin' Oil, and some shop and beyond shop goodies such as Sweet Squash Flower Shea Butter Soap, a re-usable fabric grocery bag, and a horse calendar. Recycled glass and paper materials were used as containers. Of course I realized it might have been better to photograph the basket contents AFTER I had already wrapped it all up! My mom Marilyn also donated one of her Fall craft pumpkins, thanks mom!

Dimitria was the winner of the gift basket and yesterday she sent a beautiful email that brought me to tears. It's easy in this economy (beyond just being new to proprietorship) to get caught up in keeping focus on the bottom line of owning a business but experiences like this confirm that if I keep doing (ha and for you Ron, keep being!) what I love and believe in, the bottom line will draw itself and support the shop's evolution. 

This past Sunday I loaded up the herbs and headed out to the Whole Foods Farmer's Market in Marlton, NJ. As timing and placement would have it, their pumpkin and gourd display served as a most beautiful backdrop. Mother nature was kind to all of us, just a quick light spritz of rain and that was it. Phew! 

The day was great! I think I sat down twice in between a constant flow of meeting people, chatting up herbs and tea, weighing, and making many custom blends. Whoo Hoo!

A special thanks to Jen at Whole Foods Marlton who oversees the Farmer's Market, she is always so supportive and positive. In general I find the Whole Foods staff is wonderful and some even come out and visit to see how things are going. Now I must confess that I forgot to hand back the customer service stapler than I borrowed on Sunday! Not to worry though it's in my car (although I almost forgot it on the roof of the car) and will soon return to its rightful place.

I'd also like to send out a very special thank you to my mom Marilyn for her help on Sunday, she was cranking out the energy and hung in there will me until the end of what was a long, fun day!

The last Farmer's Market of the season will be on October 24th from 10am - 2pm and I'm already looking forward to it.