Hi friend,

Ever feel like summer’s sun and hustle leave your skin—and spirit—begging for a break? Let’s hit reset together with a soothing herbal ritual, a gentle journaling session, and a moment to breathe deeply.

Nourish Your Spirit

This Week’s Podcast: Reducing Inflammation Naturally
Discover how calendula, comfrey, and oats can calm summer-stressed skin. I’m sharing a 5-minute face mask recipe you can whip up from your pantry—perfect for redness or irritation.

🎧 Listen here on Substack

​Listen here on YouTube​

​Listen here on Spotify

Nourish Your Skin

Ayurvedic Soothing Body Scrub Powder

Your skin deserves a tender reset after summer’s heat and chaos. This Ayurvedic-inspired scrub is like a hug from nature—calming, restorative, and oh-so-simple to make. Why It Works:

• Oats: Soothe irritation and soften skin.

• Calendula: Reduces redness and inflammation.

• Comfrey: Repairs tired, stressed skin.

• Sandalwood: Cools and adds an earthy glow.

• Rice Flour: Polishes gently for a smooth finish.

You’ll Need:

• ½ cup finely ground oats (calming and softening)

• ¼ cup calendula petals, dried and ground (soothing + anti-inflammatory)

• ¼ cup comfrey leaf, dried and ground (restorative for tired skin)

• 2 tablespoons sandalwood powder (cooling + gently aromatic)

• 1 tablespoon rice flour (for a smooth, polished feel)

To Make: Blend into a fine powder using a coffee grinder. Store in a glass jar.
To Use: Mix 1–2 tbsp with warm water, milk, or rose water to form a paste. Massage gently onto damp skin in small circles, then rinse.
Pro Tip: Warm your rose water for a luxurious, blooming scent. This dry scrub keeps for months, making it your go-to for a quick, skin-loving reset.

Unlock More Rituals

Ready to deepen your self-care? My Course Library is your cozy space for herbal skincare workshops, seasonal self-care guides, and creative journaling lessons. Find your next favorite ritual—whether you have five minutes or an afternoon.

Whether you have five minutes or an afternoon, you’ll find something to inspire your own gentle renewal.

➡️ Join The Course Library today and start exploring. Your next favorite ritual is waiting for you.

Nourish Your Soul

Ink & Wildflowers: Reset

Our Word Garden this week centers around reset — that quiet, intentional pause that lets us start fresh. It’s not about rushing or reinventing; it’s about returning to the things that bring life, joy, and peace.

Some weeks feel like they carry too much weight, don’t they? That’s when I remind myself: it’s okay to press “pause.” To reset. To begin again, even if it’s 2:37 in the afternoon on a Tuesday.

A Word Garden is like a little bouquet of language — words and phrases you collect, plant on the page, and tend to in your journal. They’re not there to “do” anything. They just bloom quietly and remind you what matters.

Word Garden:
reset · renew · restore · refresh · breathe · begin again · clear space · soften

Scripture:
“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:3 Just as God restores our souls, this week’s rituals restore our skin and spirit. Pause, breathe, and let’s start fresh.

Quote:
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis

Creative Invitation:

• Make a Reset Ritual page in your journal — draw or paste images that make you feel renewed.

• Write about a time you gave yourself permission to start fresh.

• Create a “Reset in Five Minutes” list for yourself — tiny actions that help you feel clear and calm when life feels noisy.

• Make a two-column journal page: On the left, write down what you want to releasee. On the right, write what you want to welcome in.
  Decorate the page with colors or images that feel fresh and calming to you.

Reply & Share: What’s one word in your Word Garden this week? I’d love to hear!

Radiant Things I’m Loving

Your Self-Care Menu

Your gentle reset plan — pick one or two each day:

🌸 Morning Reset: Stretch by an open window and take three slow breaths.
💧 Skin Reset: Use the Ayurvedic scrub above or a simple oatmeal soak.
📔 Mind Reset: Write one page of unfiltered thoughts (morning pages).
☕ Rhythm Reset: Swap one cup of coffee for an herbal infusion.
🕯 Evening Reset: Light a calming candle and read before bed.
🚶 Nature Reset: Take a 10-minute walk and notice five beautiful things.

Sharing your light keeps this community growing! Reply with what’s bringing you joy this week—I read every note.

Free Gift: Subscribe to my newsletter here, and I’ll send you my course Ageless Glow: Formulating Herbal Cleansers, Toners, and Moisturizers for Mature Skin Care.

With gentleness and herbal hugs,
Carrie
Carrie’s Handmade Essentials

P.S.: Loved this newsletter? Share it with a friend or leave a podc ast review—it helps other women discover natural, faith-filled self-care.

Your Gentle Guide to a Week of Self-Care & Simple Pleasures

​

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer. My oldest is now a freshman in college and we’re getting him ready for the next exciting adventure. I’d love to hear about your summer adventures!

From the Podcast

🎙 Summer Skin Repair Rituals: Infused Oils + Exfoliation​
After a summer of sunshine, swims, and barefoot days, your skin may be craving a little extra love. In this episode, I share two deeply restorative rituals:

• Herbal-infused oils to nourish and repair sun-kissed skin
• Gentle exfoliation to encourage fresh, glowing renewal
  It’s like a summer sunset in skincare form — warm, calming, and full of promise for what’s ahead.
  ​🎧 Listen Here on Substack , here on YouTube, or here on Spotify​

Recipe of the Week

Calendula & Oat After-Sun Body Polish​
​For soft, soothed skin that’s ready to welcome autumn​
​Ingredients:

• ½ cup finely ground oats
• ½ cup sugar (or salt for a brisker scrub)
• ¼ cup calendula-infused oil
• 1 tsp raw honey
  ​To Make: Mix all ingredients in a jar. In the shower, gently massage onto damp skin. Rinse well and pat dry.

Introducing: The Course Library

Want to create your own personalized herbal skincare rituals? Inside The Course Library, you’ll find my complete collection of DIY skincare courses — from essential oils for mature skin to building your own seasonal skincare ritual.
✨ Learn at your own pace.
🌿 Access all past and future courses.

​Join the Course Library​

🌿 Ink and Wildflowers: Word Garden

This week’s word is Renewal — like the soft unfolding of petals after the rain.

Scripture​
​"He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." — Psalm 23:3

Quote​
​"And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings." — Meister Eckhart

Creative Invitation​
In your journal, let “Renewal” be your seed word. Write about a time you felt restored — body, mind, or spirit. If words feel too heavy today, try sketching or painting your idea of renewal, or press a flower between the pages as a quiet reminder that beauty blooms again.

How to Create Your Own Word Garden

A word garden is like a little creative sanctuary—part poetry, part inspiration board, and part self-care ritual. Instead of growing flowers, you’re cultivating words that inspire, comfort, and delight you.

Whether you keep it in a notebook, on index cards, or as a collage on your wall, your word garden can be a beautiful place to visit when you need encouragement or fresh ideas.

Step 1: Gather Your “Seeds”

Your seeds are simply words and short phrases that you find beautiful, comforting, or inspiring.
You can collect them from:

• Books you’re reading
• Scripture or devotionals
• Favorite poems
• Lines from songs
• A conversation that lingered in your heart
• Words you make up yourself (Sure, why let Shakespeare have all the fun?)

Step 2: Choose Your “Garden Bed”

Decide where your words will live. A few ideas:

• A journal dedicated just to your word garden
• A bulletin board or magnetic board for rearranging words
• An envelope or box filled with slips of paper you can pull from like seeds
• A digital version in a notes app or Pinterest board

Step 3: Plant Your Words

Write your collected words down, one per card, sticky note, or journal line. Arrange them however feels natural—by theme, mood, or simply in the order you found them.

You can also pair words with pictures, pressed flowers, or colors that match the mood you want to create.

Step 4: Visit and Tend Your Garden

Your word garden is meant to be alive, so keep adding to it. Remove words that no longer feel like they belong, and make space for new ones.

You might “visit” your garden:

• In the morning, to start the day with inspiration
• Before journaling, to spark ideas
• As part of prayer or meditation time
• When you need comfort or clarity

Step 5: Let it Bloom in Your Life

Use your word garden to inspire:

• Journal entries
• Letters or cards to friends
• Creative writing or poetry
• Artwork or crafts
• Affirmations for your mirror or desk

Your word garden is more than a collection of words—it’s a living reflection of what’s beautiful and meaningful to you. Over time, it will grow into something uniquely yours, a quiet little haven you can return to again and again.

Here is a printable with this info for you to download:

​Download on Substack​

​Download from my Pensight Page​

Radiant things I’m loving

A week’s worth of gentle, soul-nourishing ideas to make your days sparkle.

Sip

• A warm cup of chamomile-lavender tea before bed
• A refreshing glass of lemon-mint water in the afternoon

Soothe

• A calendula + aloe hand massage
• Ten slow, deep breaths while listening to soft music

Savor

• Reading a chapter of a favorite book under a cozy blanket
• Enjoying a slice of seasonal fruit, noticing the color and taste

Stretch

• Gentle morning stretch
• A sunset walk to unwind from the day

Scent

• Diffuse sweet orange + frankincense for an uplifting evening atmosphere
• Dab rose hydrosol on your wrists for a midday refresh

Create

• Press wildflowers between the pages of an old book
• Write a short poem or three sentences about today’s beauty

Let me know if you try the recipe—or if you start your own Word Garden. I’d love to hear what words you come up with this week.

Have a lovely week!
Carrie 🌼

P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, would you please forward it to a friend? Thanks!

​To subscribe to this newsletter, click here.