Archive for the 'Thoughts' Category

top 5 blogs: a designer’s well-rounded assortment

Published on January 20, 2010 in Thoughts, Trends and Tricks. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

We asked Katherine Rodriguez, one of our talented designers here at Chesapeake Bay Candle, to share her top 5 favorite blogs and she got back to us with a well-balanced mix.

1. In the Market
http://www.brandweek.com/
Though this isn’t a blog, I still like to know what’s going on in the industry. With articles about targeting demographics, rebranding that has and has not worked, which companies are spending what money where on advertising, and new methods of marketing, I feel connected to the design world. Just seeing what has worked for some companies and how we can apply their methods to our product and retailers is key to design.

2. Packaging
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/
Being a packaging designer, this blog, features packaging, was a no brainer. There’s a great balance of design, from food to soap, from around the world. The descriptions behind the design are a great way to further appreciate the designer’s message he/she is trying to communicate. Also, I like the student spotlights showing what talent is coming out of some of the top design schools.

3. Home Décor & Fashion
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://decor8blog.com/
http://ohjoy.blogs.com/
These are mostly driven by product and home décor, but there’s some fashion mixed in. Any of these blogs are a great way to see various styles of design. I love Design Sponge’s “Before and After” for home furnishings and Oh Joy’s “This and That”, translating trends across multiple means. Such a great way to be exposed to all kinds of home décor goods, fashion accessories, patterns and great product. Also amazing images for trend boards!

4. Design
http://www.designworklife.com/
A friend from college started this blog and I think its great to see a fellow designer blogging. While great product is always good to see (like design sponge, print and pattern, and decor8), I like the entries about typography, new typefaces, and other designers.

5. Wedding Blogs
http://www.swsmag.net/
http://bklynbrideonline.com/
Recently being married myself, I discovered the joy of wedding blogs! They are great for color inspiration and DIY projects, along with amazing photography. Beautiful patterns, trends, and ideas come out of these creative brides. And Brooklyn Bride’s studio tours are great to take a peak inside workspaces for more inspiration.

Scent YourSELF

Published on October 1, 2009 in Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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SELF magazine has an awesome article in the October issue about aromatherapy. Here’s the gist:

For energy: Think citrus! Surround yourself in the aroma of these bright fruits for a quick wake-up call.

For peace: To take it down a notch, take a whiff of light “powdery” notes. SELF recommends apple, cucumber and tea.

For umph: You’re bad, you know it. Pump up your confidence and make others take notice with sultry notes like amber, musk and vanilla (delicious!).

For heart-thumps: Stop and smell the roses – literally! Floral scents evoke feelings of “compassion and kindness” and are a lovely way to spark your own romance.

Get the whole story at: http//www.self.com/beauty/2009/10/aromatherapy-slideshow#slide=1

Hot tip: Fall Trend Report

Published on September 10, 2009 in Thoughts and Trends. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
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Baileys Home and Garden

I’m always on the look-out for the next big trend.

Every year a group of us goes to gift shows all around the world. This year I had a chance to attend both the Atlanta Gift and the New York Gift shows. As a designer, it is both exciting and inspiring to be exposed to all types of trends, colors, products, fragrances, and packaging. It gets my blood pumping and my mind fresh and ready to be put to work!

Part of my job when attending these shows is to see what is new and exciting and also to observe what the common trends are amongst the different areas in home fragrance, home décor and packaging. You never know what will catch your eye next. We are always on the look out for something new and different.

One of the trends that stood out the most on both shows this year was the elements of nature. With these tough times people want to go back to the basics, in this case nature, making one remember those simpler days. This beautiful and yet simple trend comes together with effortless grace, with a wide variety of delightful earth-tones colors such as whites, beiges, taupes, greens and browns.

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HomArt

Key motifs include unfinished, untreated wood and ceramic, branches, vines, bamboo, rattan, dried leaves, fruits and horns. This looks is rendered in everything from metal, fabrics to fragrances and packaging. This natural trend is both very serene and elegant, making it one of my favorite trends in the current market. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Corina Heymann
Senior Designer

Not-so-happy Feet

Published on August 24, 2009 in Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
CBC Booth

Chesapeake Bay Candle Booth

The New York International Gift Fair: packed. The Chesapeake Bay Candle booth: breathtaking. My feet after the first day: killing me.

I should have known that something was wrong when I strode up to the Chesapeake Bay Candle booth at the New York International Gift Fair and was met with: “Child, what do you think you’re doing?!”

Aimee Dorsey, our CBC booth mistress who is usually a smiling angel, looked like she wanted to shake me.

“What?” I said, perplexed. She pointed down to my feet.

shoes

Bad idea...

My happy feet weren’t clad in their usual ballerina flats – I had decided to be daring for my first day in New York. I was towering in 3” heels.

Apparently, as Aimee went on to vehemently explain, if you didn’t wear heels normally, you couldn’t just start wearing them all of a sudden. I had chosen poor footwear for a day filled with scampering about NYC, she said.

It was 9:30 a.m. and my soles felt fine, so I waved off her concern.

Noon rolled around, and I was still feeling fine.

By five thirty, I was beginning to understand why my good friend was so alarmed. The heels were gorgeous, yes, but those puppies hurt like no other. The balls of my feet were throbbing and my hips (of all things) felt unaligned.

We had a press event that night, so there was no way I was getting out of them anytime soon. Aimee had given me a dire warning that morning: don’t take my shoes off until I was ready to leave them off for the night. So I didn’t.

I made it through the event, and I don’t think anyone noticed me shifting from one foot to the other, so I considered it a success.

As soon as I hobbled into the cab though, I whipped off the heels and put on my trusty Old Navy flops. Too late.

It took three days for my feet to feel normal again, but I’m thrilled to say that I’m sitting here at my computer wearing my comfy flats – feet fully returned to normal operation.

Some people say beauty is pain, and you have to sacrifice sometimes. I say tell that to my not-so-happy feet.

Stephanie

PR & Marketing Assistant

Bringing Sexy Back

Published on July 22, 2009 in Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

sexy back blogCandles and dating. When my boss asked me, the twenty-something marketing assistant, to write about romance and candles I was nervous – stumped even. What to write? It seems to me that with tough times and tight wallets we let romance slide by the wayside in the name of cutting back. Shame on us.

Romance isn’t dead, people, it’s just a little comatose. Here’s how to revive it (even on a shoestring budget):

Step 1: Obtain some candles. Buy them, make them, swipe them from your mom, we don’t care how it happens, just get your paws on them.

Step 2: Create a flame source. If cavemen can do it, so can you. Hint: matches.

Step 3: Light the candle. Votives, pillars, filled jars…anything works.

Step 4: Dim the lights. Or turn them off, your pick.

Voila! Instant ambiance and romance with the flick of a match. Now couple it with a bottle of bubbly and you’ve brought sexy back.

An Exceptional Nose

Published on July 2, 2009 in Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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For me, having an exceptional nose for fragrance is like having an exceptional singing voice: I admire the talent in others, but I am realistic about my own abilities.

I work in an office full of people who can distinguish fragrances too nuanced for me to even detect – people who can sniff carefully at something, then pronounce with confidence, “There’s a bit of charred Siberian Fir shavings in that, isn’t there, and perhaps a touch of spiced kukui nut oil?” My reactions are far more basic – “It smells like cupcakes! I like cupcakes!” – but I’m comfortable with this; I like what I like (usually anything vanilla-based), whether it’s considered sophisticated, or not.

That’s not to say I don’t appreciate complex fragrances, and maybe my attraction to most anything containing vanilla has less to do with my lack of a sophisticated nose, and is more like how I love Chanel No. 5, not because of the fragrance itself, but because that’s what my mom wears. Sure, everybody finds vanilla comforting – big duh, right? – but maybe I find it more so than most for a simple reason: I am a huge lipstick junkie freak (you don’t even know). M.A.C. puts vanilla in all their lipsticks and Lipglasses, and so M.A.C. and its vanilla has been on my lips (and so, under my nose) non-stop for years, so now there’s all these good memories that are, for me, inextricably linked to that smell.

Silly as it sounds, I can be in an awful mood, but if I just smell a tube of Lipglass, it helps. (If you think that sounds silly, imagine how it looks – people walking past my desk as I’m hunched over and snorting at this little plastic vial. That’s a conversation with HR waiting to happen.) Which is why, when we get a new batch of candle samples here at the office, while others are remarking on the sophistication and complexity of this floral, or that ozonic, I’m the one who has grabbed the Vanilla Amber or Vanilla Riceflower candle, and started inhaling for all I’m worth.

So yeah, when it comes to fragrance, I’m a simple girl, with simple tastes, and proud of it. Power to the people!

However, should you ever want to have an in-depth conversation about the nuances of difference between Ruby Woo and Russian Red lipsticks – well, on that subject matter, I am totally Jennifer Hudson, and ready to break it down for you.

I guess we all have our talents like that.

Ahhh…spring!

Published on July 2, 2009 in Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

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My favorite time of year…a time to begin again…revive, renew, rearrange, reinvigorate…a time for a fresh start…which I must say…we all would welcome right now!

And the best part of the season is the awakening of fragrance in the air…earthy scents, the lovely fragrance of blossoming flowers and trees, the fresh scent of new grass or the first balmy spring breeze. It inspires you to open your windows and feel this sweet tonic of renewal blissfully blow through the rooms of your home. And once you start the intoxicating experience…how do you keep that flourish going?!

…By treating yourself, family and friends to beautiful, inspiring home fragrance and the captivating glow of candles.

Spring welcomes a number of holidays and the opportunity to re-engage after the long winter.

PhotobucketThe combination of beguiling bouquets and fragrant candles, reed diffusers or scented pomanders and sachets create a treat for the senses and add sparkle to your gatherings, entertaining and celebrations.
Whether placing decorative votives and pillars together to create a magical environment in a dining table centerpiece or escaping to a spa experience in the privacy of your own bathroom with mini tea lights and reed diffusers…or refreshing your closets and drawers with the gentle scent of sachets, the pleasure of fragrance and candle glow lightens spirits, transports your mind and renews your energy!

Light a citrus scent in your kitchen to keep the beautiful bounty of spring fragrance glowing throughout every room of your home.

Shake off those patio cushions and add festive lanterns to your outdoor space…or larger candles, which we refer to as “grand pillars,” to create random height and plays of light…and extend your living space for great entertaining.

So…use your imagination to captivate, entertain, surprise…and welcome this season of renewal…happy spring!

Hello and welcome!

Published on July 2, 2009 in Thoughts. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Polaroid - MareikeEvery week we receive hundreds of emails, letters, and phone calls from you, and we appreciate every compliment, comment and the occasional constructive critique (thank you!).

When Mei and David created the first Chesapeake Bay Candle collection in the basement of their home in Annapolis, Maryland back in 1994, they would have never dreamed their little venture would become one of the most popular candle companies in the country. And they know they could not have done it without your support and involvement.

There are many talents behind the Chesapeake Bay Candle brand – from our designers, to our fragrance “noses” and our quality experts. We all share your passion for candles and home fragrance, and we thought it would be fun to create a forum where we could share and exchange our thoughts and ideas with you…
A place where we could talk to you, and you could talk right back.

And so we are launching the Chesapeake Bay Candle blog!

Our creative minds cannot wait to share their secret decorating, entertaining and gifting tips. They also look forward to revealing their design obsessions (the things that inspire them) – may it be fashion, photography, fine art, or something they’ve discovered on the streets or at a hotel.

Look out for something new from us every other week – our goal is to surprise you with fresh and exciting ideas. We hope you will share your feedback as you have always done (please, please keep talking to us!).