How It All Began...

For many of you fine souls that have made your way here, we've no need for introductions.  You've been along for this interesting ride with me from the very earliest of beginnings... or you found your way to my humble little Etsy abode at some point along the way and have stuck around. 

For those of you who are new to this little venture of mine, let me tell you about who I am and what I do. 

I live in the wilds of Wyoming on 80 acres with the love of my life and our sweet little love child, who just officially became a teenager a few days ago (have mercy!). We are surrounded by horses, cattle, a plethora of farm kitties, a handful of chickens, one lovely canine companion of the German Shepherd persuasion named Freya, two budgies by name of Comet and Gadget....  and the spectacular views of no less than four different mountain ranges.

This adventure began a decade and a half ago with, of all things, a ring.  Yessirree.  A ring.  It was just a random picture of a wirewrap ring that I stumbled onto out there somewhere in the tangled up threads of the worldwide web, but I fell in love with that little treasure and wanted one for my very own.  In my desperate search to find this coveted jewel, I stumbled upon a website offering tutorials on wire wrapping. Since I was unable to unearth the location of the so-desperately desired bauble in order to make a purchase, I decided to order some supplies and try my hand at creating one my own darn self.  

Well, the next thing I knew, one thing led to another and my kitchen table was consumed with tools, beads, wire, and other miscellanea in such a quantity as to make a mountain of adornments for a multitude of people.  After this went on for about six months, my husband informed me one day that he was impressed - nothing had ever held my attention so long as this particular obsession was currently managing to do.

Anyhoo, as it has a habit of doing, time marched on and I found myself selling my pretties at local consignment shops and merchant fairs...  til one fateful day I stumbled onto Etsy as I was galavanting about the interwebs. That was long about 2008, at which time I promptly set up shop there on Etsy and have never looked back. 

Now, true to form for the restless spirit which occupies my humble human form, I eventually began to branch out into other areas of craft and soon found myself teamed up with a kindred spirit concocting perfumes and bath and body sundries which grew to be quite popular. We opened a bath and body shop on Etsy together and things were going swimmingly.  Alas, the mortal coil can be a cruel trickster,  life happens, and circumstances change.  Thus brought about an end to the bath and body partnership with my kindred spirit, and I returned to my baubles.

While the baubles were flying off the proverbial cyber shelves, I couldn't help but miss the excitement of concocting perfumery potions.  I'd been obsessed with them since my formative years playing about in my great grandmother's Victorian era home and her treasure trove of beautiful clothes, costume jewelry, and all manner of feminine pretties.  After a year or so, I finally gave in to my innermost whims and started dabbling about with making perfumes once again.  I created one in particular to be my first offering alongside the jewelry, then another, and another, and so on and so forth.  Next thing I knew, I had a shop full of perfumes that had overtaken the jewelry in demand.

Over the years, I've added a multitude of other goods to the cyber emporium. Loose teas, incense, crystals, even offering divinatory services by way of my trusty tarot and oracle decks for a time.  While I still maintain a presence on Etsy, I finally ventured out and staked a claim to my own location on the world wide web just this past springtime.  You can visit me there and take a gander at my wares at  Traveling Vardo. 

I had the good fortune, thanks to my fantastical fans and their continued support of my endeavors, to branch out into a bona fide brick and mortar retail location in the heart of beautiful downtown Powell, WY in the summer of 2017.  We are located, of all places, in the historic old bank building where the infamous shootout with the "Tarzan of the Tetons" himself,  Earl Durand, played out.  The vaults are still in place, as are the beautiful old tin ceiling tiles, along with a ghostly apparition or two who like to make themselves known on occasion. 



It has been a wild and interesting adventure thus far and I plan to continue it for as long as I'm able.  

My deepest heartfelt gratitude to those who've tagged along for the ride, and the warmest of welcomes to the neophytes.