SUNLIT MORNING: THE STORY BEHIND OUR MAKER COLLABORATION

There is something wonderful about local makers coming together. Over a year ago, an idea started forming, what if we combined handcrafted ceramics with handmade blended fragrances to create something new and wonderful?

Fast forward to this summer, and the vision finally came to life! I teamed up with the wonderfully talented Victoria from Vesna Aromatherapy to launch a limited edition reed diffuser set: Sunlit Morning.

There is so much that goes into bringing something like this to life and I wanted to give you a little behind the scenes at how two makers turned a market chat into a glowing summer collaboration.

A MEETING BY CHANCE

I first met Victoria back in the spring of 2025 at the Bath Market, and over the following months, I kept spotting her at other local events including the Frenchay Flower Show.

I was immediately struck by her passion and work ethic. At just 16 years old, she had already been running her business for a few years, crafting candles, melts, and diffusers that smelled incredible. Since I was already making ceramic diffuser pots and she was developing stunning scents, bringing our two crafts together felt like the natural fit.

We briefly floated the idea of collaborating that summer, we kept in touch but life and busy schedules took over. However, by spring of this year we got back in touch, picked the idea back up, and decided it was finally time to make it happen!

CREATING THE VISION: GLAZES, SCENTS AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Starting this collaboration we knew we wanted to focus on reed diffusers but we wanted this collaboration to feel exclusive, so we settled on a limited edition concept featuring a custom fragrance paired with an exclusive ceramic glaze combination. With summer fast approaching it only made sense to focus on the season with a summery feel - and it also gave us a firm deadline to work towards!

We met up to talk through the details. Since my existing diffuser pot shapes were already tried and tested our main focus was discussing the perfect glaze aesthetic and a perfect summer scent. We looked through my many glaze tests and some of my popular glaze combinations and my spring speckle was some inspiration but with the suggestion of adding yellow/orange tones to match the summer vibe, that gave me some things to work with which I could take forward to begin some further testing. With some colour palettes as a starting base it was onto fragrance. We decided it couldn’t be summer without a citrusy tone but the options are endless and feeling inspired Victoria went away to play with some options.

INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY

I then spent a few weeks making some pots - making ceramics is not for the impatient (it's any wonder I keep at it...) it is a time consuming process. To make the bases I had to throwing them all indivdually on the wheel, allow them to dry enough to trim. Once trim I need to put through their first firing, then comes the glazing and firing again. I decided to roll with three potential combinations. All with similar colours but applied differently.

Firing takes about three days (load in afternoon, fire in evening, finish the following morning then a painful wait for 24hours for the kiln to cool before opening). Glaze testing is pretty fun as you never know what they will come out like the before is vastly different to the finished product as you can see in this image here, so as you can imagine we couldn’t wait to get them out of the kiln. 

Luckily all glaze tests were a success but even narrowing down to the three It was so hard to pick just one - so much so we decided we couldn't and that we should open it up to our respective communities!

• 

• 

• 

We ran a poll on our instagram letting everyone vote on their favorite finish. Two contenders were neck and neck for a while, but one final push crowned the winner: a gorgeous palette of soft yellows, pinks, and green hues (last image in this gallery above)

THE SCENT

Meanwhile, Victoria was busy developing the scent and designing the bottle labels. She landed on a combination of three individual fragrances for a perfect pairing starting with the citrus we knew we needed. Sweet orange seemed the perfect option for a sweet summery scent. This was then paired with May Chang and Bergamot. When she suggested the name Sunlit Morning even without smelling, I knew immediately that was the one!

WRAPPING IT ALL TOGETHER

Collaborating isn't just about the end product, it’s also about the boring bits and logistics! One of the less exciting but essential parts was figuring out the packaging. We wanted to offer this as a complete set, which meant finding boxing that could look good as a display while being sturdy enough for postage. Victoria did an incredible job designing a custom outer sleeve that wrapped the box together, giving it a polished feel.

I continued working on batch making my ceramic bases. This bit was a little tense as the "kiln gods" can be unpredictable, and waiting to see how a large batch of glazes turns out is always a bit nerve wracking. Luckily, the batch came out of the kiln just great!

SWEATING OVER PHOTOGRAPHY (LITERALLY)

My favourite stage was the photoshoot day. We had the fragrance and base altogether and it was time to bring it altogether. We were in the middle of a glorious heatwave, using beautiful sunny weather and the lush greenery of my garden as our natural backdrop.

It was so hot however that my phone kept overheating and shutting down between shots! But despite the heat, capturing the summer sun highlight the colours of the glaze and shine off the fragrance bottles made all the sweat entirely worth it in the end.

When it was all finally put together everything clicked into place. The purple and golden tones of her bottle paired seamlessly with the multi tonal glazes on my ceramic bases.

• 

• 

• 

LAUNCH DAY AND GOING FULL CIRCLE

We brought the story full circle by officially launching Sunlit Morning at a market we were both attending and one where we had crossed paths a year prior at this year’s Frenchay Flower Show.

Juggling my pottery with my other job meant life was pretty hectic leading up to the launch and we didn't have room for error, but having a partner like Victoria to share the journey with was amazing. It kept us both accountable, inspired, and excited.

Seeing a project go from a casual market chat over a year ago to a finished product for sale is the best feeling in the world. A massive thank you to Victoria for being such a brilliant collaborator, and to everyone in our community who voted on the glazes and supported our  partnership!

Have you managed to snag one of the limited edition Sunlit Morning Diffuser Sets yet?