Elysian: A Woodshop, a Northern Forest, and the Memories Between
Some scents remind us of a place. Others bring back the person who made that place matter.
For me, Elysian does both.
This candle smells exactly like my uncle’s woodshop in Ely, Minnesota, where I spent time with him learning to craft bird feeders, mill wood, and work with my hands. Beyond the shop, we kayaked, canoed, fished, and cut trails through his forested property outside the Boundary Waters.
Those memories are the heart of Elysian. Not simply the smell of the northern woods, but the feeling of being there with him. Learning something new. Spending time together. Discovering how much a place can teach you when you slow down enough to pay attention.
Where the Story Begins
My uncle’s woodshop was a place where making things and making memories happened together.
Building a bird feeder meant more than finishing a project. Milling wood meant more than turning a tree into something useful. These were opportunities to learn beside him, to watch, try, and begin to understand the care that goes into crafting something with your own hands.
That same sense of discovery carried beyond the workshop.
There were days on the water, kayaking and canoeing. Time spent fishing. Trails we cut through his wooded property, making our way into the landscape rather than simply looking at it.
When I smell Elysian, those experiences return together. The woodshop and the forest. The things we made and the places we explored. Most of all, the time I spent with my uncle.
I wanted this candle to hold a little of that.
The Scent of Elysian
Elysian is a woodsy fragrance centered on birch and cedar, with a progression that feels like moving from fresh northern air into the warmth of a woodshop.
It opens with greenery, mint, and citrus: bright, crisp notes that give the fragrance a fresh beginning.
At its heart, cypress and pine bring a deeper woodland character. Resinous and steady, they draw the scent toward the trees and the forested landscape that shaped its story.
The base settles into cedar and smoke. Warm, quiet, and grounding, these notes are what bring me back to the shop, to wood and craftsmanship, and to the comfort of a place I knew through time spent with someone I loved.
Together, the fragrance feels both outdoorsy and intimate. A northern forest, but also a personal memory.
The Essential Oils Within the Fragrance
Elysian’s fragrance is infused with natural essential oils from fir needle, cedarwood, orange essence, cedarleaf, and patchouli.
Fir needle and cedarleaf echo the evergreen character of the scent, connecting its fresh opening with its woodland heart. Cedarwood complements the warm, woody foundation. Orange essence lends a bright counterpoint, while patchouli adds an earthy dimension to the blend.
These oils are part of Elysian’s broader fragrance composition, layered with its greenery, mint, citrus, cypress, pine, cedar, and smoke notes. The result is not a single-note forest scent, but something with depth: freshness, wood, earth, and warmth held together.
For me, that complexity feels true to the memory. My uncle’s property was never just one thing. It was a place to make, explore, learn, and spend time together.
A Candle Rooted in Craft
We handcraft Elysian in small batches using our coconut-beeswax blend and a wood wick.
There is something especially fitting about a wood wick in a candle inspired by a woodshop. Its gentle crackle gives the experience another layer, a small sound to accompany a fragrance rooted in working with wood and spending time in the forest.
The connection matters to me. A candle made with care, inspired by memories of learning to make things with care.
Bringing a Little of Ely Home
Elysian is my way of sharing a place that means something to me.
It is a tribute to my uncle, to his woodshop in Ely, and to the days we spent on the water and among the trees outside the Boundary Waters. To bird feeders and milled wood. To fishing and paddling. To trails cut together through the forest.
You don’t need to have been there to make the scent your own. Perhaps it will remind you of a workshop, a cabin, a walk beneath evergreens, or someone who taught you something you still carry.
For me, it will always bring me back to Ely.