Fresh Bet Bits, Claire Burke Original Memories, Home Fragrance Product Updates and Commentary

Enchanted Meadow does a beautiful job with their potpourri. These gorgeous bags of botanicals are all lovingly hand-assembled at their Canadian plant near Vancouver. Last year they discontinued a long-time favorite called Fleurs de Provence. This year they have introduced their new scent called Prima Fleur which is similar.

Prima Fleur is a romantic and feminine blend of pink botanicals fragranced with complex floral notes of greens, muguet and white jonquil. We are starting out with the bag potpourri, reed diffuser oil refill and refresher oil.

Click here for Prima Fleur by Enchanted Meadow.

2008 has brought us several new Peach fragrances for the home and bath. Peach has been out of style for the past 6-8 years and seems to be making a comeback for 2008. Leave it to Enchanted Meadow to put together 2 tasty scents of Mango and Peach for an absolute fruity delight!

We now have their bag potpourri, reed diffuser refill and refresher oil available in this yummy summer blend of Mango, Key Lime and Georgia Peach!

Click here for Mango Peach by Enchanted Meadow.

WOW, Wade & I had a hectic trip to Atlanta for 2 days to attend the huge January Gift Show to order new merchandise for Spring. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we left. Here is a brief recap of what we have planned for Spring/Summer 2008:

* New WoodWick candles and Reed Diffusers.
* New Old Virginia Tarts.
* More new WoodWick car scents and Home Fragrance Oil scent choices.
* New WoodWick Fusion art-glass Candles & Reed Diffuser - simply stunning!
* New WoodWick Reed Diffuser oil refills w/new Reeds.
* NEW Olive Oil Organics in travel tin candles and large 22 oz clear glass. AWESOME scent!
* More new Hillhouse Farm Naturals tin candles and new Pomegranate Reed Diffuser.
* Hillhouse Good Dog Linen Spray and tin candle.
* NEW Greenleaf Reed Diffusers and refills. These are ceramic and so charming.
* Greenleaf has introduced a new scent called Evening Twilight which is a powdery soft scent that will be available in Aroma Decor Diffuser Oil.
* 2 New Greenleaf Aroma Decor Diffusers: Yellow Vase, Shanghai
* Greenleaf has also reformulated their lotions to include Jojoba making them even better!
* Greenleaf has a new Spa line which we will be adding soon: Bath Salts, Scrub, etc.

We are optimistically guarded that we will soon be selected to become an Aromatique retailer. They gave me their new Peach Pizazz candle to burn and it is phenomenal! We are excited to report we have ordered:

* The Smell of Spring
* Summer Sorbet
* Fresh Fig
* Citrus Plum Berry
* Peach Pizazz

Thanks to the feedback from Sandy Wood who was kind enough to share her thoughts with me regarding Aromatique!

We have also ordered several other new lines which will be arriving over the next few months:
* Baekgaard leather purse accessories in bright colors.
* Scentier Parfum Fragrance Lampes and Oils
* Lastly, we are expanding our Caswell-Massey lines due to your comments and strong interest to include: Men’s Verbena & Tricorn, Ladies: Almond & Aloe, English Lavender.

I also visited the Enchanted Meadow showroom and will be ordering a few of their new lines as well. So, it was a busy market and we expect Spring to be very busy at Freshbet. As always, if you have comments or suggestions, please email Bet.

Our Rep has just informed me that the Enchanted Meadow Factory has decided to drop their Chai line of Zen for Men. This is sad news for us because Chai has become a best seller with our clientele and is also loved by the ladies as well.

We will attempt to stock up on this scent for winter, but when the Factory inventory is depleted there will be no more. So, if you love the Enchanted Meadow Chai scent, stock up now!

Sadly with today’s high fuel prices UPS is raising our costs by 5% for 2008 for all ground shipments. These new rates will go into effect on December 31, 2007 for calendar year 2008. Below is an excerpt from their notification:
************************************
As 2008 approaches, all of us at UPS would like to express our appreciation for your continued business. To help you plan for the coming year, we want you to know about new UPS rates and services that will take effect December 31, 2007.

UPS published small package Daily Rates will change as follows*: UPS Ground and UPS Standard to Canada services will increase 4.9%. Air and International express services will increase a net 4.9% through a combination of a 6.9% increase in rates and a 2% reduction in the air and international fuel surcharge.

Changes will also be made to accessorial charges. Delivery Area Surcharges and Residential Surcharges will increase by $0.10. The Additional Handling charge will increase by $0.50 and the charge for Address Corrections for UPS Ground packages will increase by $1.00. The charge for Declared Value will increase by $0.05 per $100 of Declared Value, with a minimum charge of $1.80, and you, as the shipper, will have the option to bill Declared Value charges for Freight Collect shipments to your account. To see the complete list of accessorial changes, please visit ups.com/rates.
**********************************
Please know that I absolutely HATE having to raise our shipping costs to our customers. But, we are a small business and we try to keep our rates evenly matched to our actual costs. Therefore, we will most like have to increase our shipping costs as well.

Fresh Bet will continue to shop between the US Postal Service, UPS & FedEx to try to find the best shipping rate for our customers. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this area.

We had a Rebate Program in 2006 that was so well received, I thought we should repeat it again for 2008! The basics are the same. The result is essentially a 10% rebate for our loyal customers who choose to make Fresh Bet their home fragrance retailer of choice.

Here’s how it works:

* You will receive a postcard with your next shipment that explains the program on the front of the card.
* On the back of the card you simply record each purchase by Sale # and dollar amount.
* When you reach the desired level, simply mail it to us and we will mail or email you a rebate coupon. Simple enough!
* The program will end in the 4th quarter of 2008, so be sure to mail your postcards back to us by November 2008.

Now you can accumulate your purchases with Fresh Bet Home Fragrances over the next 6-12 months and use your Rebate Coupon towards FREE Stuff!

Here are the rebate levels:

* $200.00 - $249.99 - $20.00 off Coupon
* $250.00 - $349.99 - $25.00 off Coupon
* $350.00 - $449.99 - $35.00 off Coupon
* $450.00 - $549.99 - $45.00 off Coupon
* $550.00 or more - $55.00 off Coupon

So keep an eye out for the lavender Rebate Postcard in your next order! As always, thanks for shopping with Freshbet.com.

Bet

This year we are offering more Enchanted Meadow holiday scents and items:

* Spirit of Christmas Potpourri, Refresher Oil, Reed Diffuser & Refill
* Whispering Pines Potpourri, Refresher Oil Reed Diffuser & Refill

Enchanted Meadow makes fabulous potpourri that is highly scented, very large and chunky with beautiful natural botanical accent pieces. We sell lots of their reed diffuser refills that can be used with our bundled reeds in any decorative container. Their refresher oils are very concentrated and perfect for use in any lamp ring.

Click here for Enchanted Meadow Home Fragrance Collections.

Here is an email I received from Rick Grimes on Friday 26 October 2007 7:29:03 PM:

I have been advised by local retailers here in FL that Claire Burke is going out of business. Can you recommend something similar to Christmas Memories oil. I saw you carry a couple of other companies such as Greenleaf. I have been using the Christmas Memories potpourri refresher oil for years and years, I will miss it…it was a Christmas must here.
**************
My response:
Hi Rick - Thank you for your inquiry. Claire Burke has recently been bought
out by new management. They have cancelled many Christmas items for this
year. Typically, all the new Claire Burke refresher oils come in a spray format which
doesn’t work for lamp rings. We will be getting some Christmas Memories bag
potpourri with refresher oil included sometime in the next few weeks. For Christmas Memories Potpourri with Oil, click here.

Because of these cancellations, we have decided to offer other alternatives
to our customers. We have Enchanted Meadow Spirit of Christmas Refresher Oil
with dropper. Click here for Enchanted Meadow Spirit of Christmas.

We will also have Greenleaf Christmas Traditions Refresher Oil in the next
few weeks. This item is not yet uploaded to our site; however, you can
easily pre-order it by calling us. Simply ask the ladies for GL941473, these
are $5.40 each and also include a dropper. Click here for Greenleaf Christmas Traditions.

I hope this helps. Please don’t hesitate to email us whenever we may be of
further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Mrs. Bet Haugen Law
Fresh Bet Home Fragrances
Central, SC
1-800-322-0525 (9-6 EST M-F)
www.freshbet.com
www.freshbetbits.com
www.homeandbathscents.com

We love Enchanted Meadow Reed Diffuser Refills. They are one of the only companies who provide refills at such a reasonable price. Last year we offered Spirit of Christmas and Whispering Pines in both the reed diffuser refills and Reed Diffuser Set. They are great holiday fragrances and they sell really well.

Leia says Spirit of Christmas reminds her of “Big Red” chewing gum…it’s super cinnamony! (I know - that’s not a real word.) Whispering Pines is a wonderful evergreen scent that’s sure to remind you of being around freshly cut tree boughs.

Typically I do not offer similar scents in various brands. However, due to the shortage of Christmas Memories and Oh Christmas Tree by Claire Burke this year; I am going to do just that. So, I have ordered quite a bit of Enchanted Meadow’s Spirit of Christmas and Whispering Pines in Potpourri, Refresher Oil, Reed Diffuser Sets & Refills.

Because everything is hand-made at the Canadian Enchanted Meadow Factory, it will be early November before these arrive.

Remember, if you use a lamp ring, you should be ordering Refresher Oil in non-spray format like the kind we sell by Enchanted Meadow or Greenleaf.

Click here for Enchanted Meadow Home Fragrance Collections.

Several years ago we had some great scented pine cones for winter by Claire Burke that were very popular. This year for Fall/Winter 2007 we are offering two wonderfully scented bags of pine cones that are coated in wax to help start your wood burning fire.

There is Pine Forest for a fresh green clean fragrance reminiscent of a trip to the woods. Hearthside is nice spice/citrus blend that is perfect for the holiday season. These large bags of scented pine cones are perfect to display in a large bowl on the mantel. Or, for quick and easy room fragrancing, throw one or two into a wood-burning fire and enjoy the scent.

Click here for Enchanted Meadow Pine Cone Fire Starters.

This past visit to Market in July, we saw the brand new “Fire & Ice” Lamp by Enchanted Meadow. Leave it to Barbara to come up with such a stunning new design! Sparkling and Shimmering Ice Effects in glass with a glowing dancing flame!

We are starting out with the 7″ size in the Inverted Obelisk design. These are in the “Pure Energy” line and thus have the removable fuel cartridge. The wick assembly includes a patented grooved ring that will hold several drops of refresher oil to fragrance the room. Or, simply burn it unscented for added ambiance in any setting.

Click here for more information.