BLACKBIRD’S LAUNCH

This is an exciting week. Tomorrow is the big party to celebrate Olympic Orchids third anniversary and the launch of the perfume I made for the Blackbird store. It’s a big day in a lot of ways because it marks several important transitions. For me, it marks the transition from the first, experimental, years of establishing my business to the realization that it’s here to stay. Something has been created out of nothing, and now there’s the task of polishing and perfecting every aspect of the operation and allowing the natural growth process to take place. 

For Blackbird, it’s the last event before they move out of their Ballard clothing and perfume stores and into a mostly online retail and wholesale format. It’s possible that the brick-and-mortar Apothecary will be reinvented in a new way, in a new place, but that’s for the future to decide.

For the Northwest Indie Perfumers Circuit, it’s also the last event in the Blackbird space. I hope the circuit will continue in another venue but, again, that’s for the future to decide.

Every end is a new beginning, so I hope that all of the new beginnings, whatever they are, will be successful.

My first-ever screen-printed bottles came from the printer day before yesterday, and a batch of them are filled and ready to sell. They look great! It’s really different just being able to grab a bottle from the box and not have to spend time putting a sticky label on it, trying to get it centered. The labels aren’t the final version, but they’re good enough to make me believe that printing on the bottle is the way to go.  All of the merchandise and props have been delivered to Blackbird, and I just went shopping for snacks. We’re good to go!

I would like to invite every reader in the Seattle area to come to the party tomorrow evening. Once again, it’s from 6:00 PM until it finishes, at 5404 22^nd Ave NW, in Ballard. There will be food, drink, good company and some nice door prizes!