We pour our love, time, and intention into GWBW creations, and, like any proud maker, we'd like to share a glimpse behind the scenes of how they came into being. 

This week’s Behind the Scenes is all about the GWBW Essential Oil Deck. I captured Sarah for an impromptu interview about the origin story of this beautiful collection of cards. 

When did the idea of the Essential Oils Deck first occur to you?

The desire to educate children about essential oils came about 10 years ago, when I was using them on my own children, and talking to them about what the oils were doing for them so that they could program their mind to work with the oils’ powers. When I started the school and began implementing holistic tools and the diffuser in the classrooms, I wanted to teach the students about the powers of essential oils, too. The idea for the actual cards came to me because we had to find a format that was fun and easy to use. 

Does the final version match up to how you first imagined it, or did it change a lot along the way?

Originally, we were going to create animal characters and the essence of the animal would align with the energy of the oil. It soon become obvious, however, that that would be confusing for the children. So then we switched to the idea of thumbprint art for the characters which led to the drops that we use today. That allowed us to use illustrations to better characterize the oils.

What is your hope for this product?

My hope for the card deck is that every person on earth can learn the powers of the essential oils and plants.

It’s my understanding that you, Sarah, created the essential oil characters. How did you come up with them? What was the process like? 

Every day for many days, I sat on my deck at home with the oils.  I went outside to get inspiration from nature and I would have the oils with me. I’d go through them one by one. First, I’d close my eyes and smell the oil, then I would meditate with it and I would receive guidance from the oil. In a sense, the oil would talk to me and let me know how it wanted to be portrayed.

What is your favorite essential oil character?

Cedarwood’s my current favorite because I want to give a shout-out to the Sasquatch that inhabit this planet with us. After Cedarwood, I love the characters for Ravensara, Pine, Palmarosa, Sweet Basil, Oregano, Lime, Niaouli, and Black Spruce.