Chica and Jo: In Their Own Words April 6, 2009

The other day, I discovered the amazing arts and craft blog, Chica and Jo.  This fun, creative blog offers tips and projects for all the do it yourselfers out there.  Some of their recent posts include tips on making homemade gelato, making your own office supplies and even how to make a card from an old Barbie dress.

The most exciting thing is that right now, in honor of Earth day, they are hosting a green craft contest.  Chica and Jo have written a lot of posts on being greenin the past.  And as you can  see from the interview below, they love trying to think of new ways to use things that would otherwise be thrown or given away.  They have issued a  challenge to their readers:  ”Submit your best recycling projects to our contest.”   Just email them (contest@chicaandjo.com) a picture of your finished project or a link to it.  They have exciting prizes for the best projects from some of their sponsors.

To find out more about these talented and fun women, read the “In Their Own Words” interview below. 

Introduce yourself.

We are family-oriented, fun-loving women who enjoy life to the fullest. Part of what allows us to do that is our creative minds and our clever solutions to everyday problems. Some of these solutions are quick and easy and help us save time. Sometimes they are affordable alternatives that save us money. Sometimes we come up with neat ways to track and organize things in our lives, so that we can focus on the important things. Then there are the times where we do outlandish things simply because we can and we want to. But no matter what the purpose, the outcome is always clever and our friends can’t stop talking about it.

Tell us about why you started your blog. 

We started our blog because of our friends.  Every time we did something really neat for an event or around the house, they wanted to know how to do it themselves.  This made us think that more people might like to be inspired by our projects.  We consider ourselves “Renaissance Women”, we like to dabble in just about every medium we can find.  It’s fun to try out a new craft and then pick what you really like and really hone the skill.  We enjoy taking old things that we would otherwise trash and turning them into fun and useful objects.

Tell us about what inspires you.
We are inspired by our every day lives.  We like to look at common things in our environment and figure out how to make them spectacular, more organized, more fun or just plain useful.  We are a great team because we each have different strengths to our creativity.  This melding of two similar but distinct minds inspires almost all of our projects.  Even if one of us does something alone, we can guarantee you that the other one had some creative thought involved in the process.

Tell us about your favorite green craft project. 

Our favorite green project that we have done involved turning two old bridesmaid dresses into slipcovers for a table and chairs (http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/01/08/upcycle-bridesmaid-dresses-into-chair-covers-and-tablecloth/).  We used every last scrap of those dresses, including the linings to make matching napkins, and the result was beautiful and useful.  Everyone keeps bridesmaid dresses in the closet but no one actually wears them again.  We wanted to find a way to use these gorgeous fabrics instead of letting them take up space in our closet.  We couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

What is one green thing you do on a regular basis? 

Chica is a huge recycler and her husband experiments with bio-diesel.  Jo quickly embraced the reusable shopping bagidea and now uses them exclusively.  Chica even figured out a pattern for us to make our own: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/03/21/make-your-own-reusable-shopping-bags/.  We believe that by making small changes in our own lives, we can help foster larger changes in our environment.  Lead by example is our green motto.

What is your best tip for green living? 

Never throw anything away without first thinking of another life for it.  It’s surprising how many items you can craft into something useful.  We also try to make do with what we already have on hand before we go out to buy something.  Often, with just a little effort, you can transform items you already have to suit the purpose you need.  Just think outside the box the next time you go to toss a broken book shelf or even an empty pickle jar.

Squish April 2, 2009

OUCH!!!  Today I had the displeasure of having my second mammogram.  As a woman with not a lot up top (I think technically I am an A minus) , I can tell you it is difficult to find enough flesh to pancake out on a clear piece of Plexiglas.  I am almost 41 and I had my last mammogram right after I turned 39 so it was well overdue.  And even though the technician was very friendly and gentle, I now remember why I put it off.  I know I am suppose to have one every year but time just seems to pass.  My goal is to be more diligent about my health.  (You know it is a bad sign when you call your doctor to set up an appointment and they don’t even have your chart on site any more.)  So I am making a late New Year’s Resolution to take better care of myself.  Hopefully, I do better with this than I have with my resolution to write regular blog posts!!

Sparrow Tracks March 31, 2009

In my crazy holiday season, I had the pleasure to do a two day show with the talented artist behind Sparrow Tracks. 

As the hours wore on in this VERY slow show, one of the few bright spots was to  listen to all the customer’s responses to the many journals she had created using old books.  This industrious artist takes the covers from old books, removes their pages and then rebinds the book with blank (often vintage) blank pages for journaling.  I was amazed at the variety of different books that she had given a new lease on life.  It seemed that her customers had very personal responses to the subjects of the books’ covers that they chose.

This artist has also been very generous with her journals- donating two journals to the Portland Baby Blues Connection Auction (an organization very near and dear to my heart) coming up on May 3rd.  Check out this generous and talented artist in her etsy shop to find the perfect journal for you.

Wow! It has been Awhile! March 30, 2009

Well, I have sort of fallen of the face of the Earth for a while and totally lost my mojo on the New Year’s Resolution to blog 3 times a week.  I sort-of got distracted- but I am going to try to get back to it. 

One of my major distractions has been making jewelry.  I seem to get really sucked into what I am doing.  My latest thing is precious metal clay.  It feels and looks like regular modeling clay but it is filled with tiny pieces of pure silver recycled from old photograph negatives. 

You can shape and mold it into anything you want.  Then you have to fire it.  When you put it in the kiln, all the clay burns off and you are left with 99 % pure silver.  (It is more pure than sterling.)  It is very cool.  Check out the photo of my latest creation.   

Sew Sew Suck Ur Toe February 3, 2009

Just when I found myself dreaming of my trip to Mardi Gras with my boys, I stumbled upon these eco friendly voodo doll pin cushions fromsew sew suck ur toe.  These little cuties are constructed out of felt made from recycled plastic bottles.  These guys are perfect to take out your frustrations when that special project doesn’t go exactly as planned!  Check out this etsy store to see the talent artist’s other creations, including Frida Kohl dolls, Valentine goodies and beautiful repurposed slip dresses. 

Winners! January 31, 2009

Thanks everyone for taking the time to search through my 2Monkees shop and thanks for all the nice comments.  It is always great to get postive feedback (and I am sure it had nothing to do with the potential for chocolate!).   The winner of the Pink Posies Pewter pendant is KtanjaTK and Jenna is the lucky winner of the two organic chocolate bars.  Congrats!  I will be contacting you shortly!

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act Blog-In January 28, 2009

Pink Posies Pewter Pendant Giveaway January 26, 2009

 Well, it is time for another Bloggy Giveaways Carnival…. talk about a festival of beautiful, unique prizes!  The readers of Our Great Green Globe have two chances to win.  First, one of my VERY popular pewter pendants filled with beautiful Japanese Chiyogami Paper and resin is up for grabs.  A second lucky person will recieve two Dagoba organic Chocolate Bars.  Just visit my 2Monkees shop, find your favorite item and then come back and leave a comment on this post telling me which item you just can’t live without! All entries must be posted by 12PM PST Friday, January 3oth.  Please be sure to leave me your e-mail so I can contact you with your winnings.  Don’t forget to visit the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival site to see all the hundreds of other giveaways currently happening!

Bargain Hunting 101 January 23, 2009

I know everyone is feeling the pinch on their wallet these days.  Even people  who are lucky enough to still be employed are wondering if tomorrow is going to bring a trip to the unemployment line.  It seems no one feels secure! 

I am finding, however, that even though the economy looks pretty bleak, people are still talking about wanting to buy a little something for themselves or their  loved ones.  Well,  just in time for Valentine’s Day, comes Bargain Hunting 101.  Over 50 boutiques and vendors will set up shop on Feb 1st from 12-6 in McMennamin’s Crystal Ballroom (disregard the info on the pic at the top of this post- it has last year’s info).  Everyone has pledged to bring screaming deals for the shoppers.   Gypsey Chic, Frock, Foundation Garment, Mink, Moxie, Cecily Ink, and Ella are just a few of the amazing vendors that will be there. (And of course, 2Monkees will also have a booth where I will debuting my new belt buckles.)

I wasn’t there last year, but I heard from multiple sources that it was crazy busy so arrive early with your wallet in hand!

Gnocchi January 22, 2009

As part of my New Year’s Resolution to eat more healthy, I have been trying some new recipes on my poor guinea pig of a family.    As surprising as this might seem, most people you ask would tell you I am a pretty good cook.  I learned at the hand of my mom, an amazing Cajun cook.  However, yesterday, I think I had one of my biggest kitchen disasters ever!

I had discovered this very yummy recipe for brown butter gnocchi with spinach and pine nuts.  Last time I made it, I bought regular white potato gnocchi from the store.  This time, I wanted the gnocchi to be a little healthier, so I decided to make them from scratch but substitute sweet potatoes for the regular russets.

When I saw my friend picking up the kids at basketball practice, she warned me that, “Making gnocchi is hard and it requires certain techniques.  Do you know what you are doing?”  I assured her I did and if not I could figure it out.

When I got home from practice, I knew immediately that something wasn’t right with the dough.  It was VERY sticky and gooey.  I could tell that I wouldn’t be able to roll the dough into logs and then cut it like the recipe called for so I decided to improvise and roll the dough into small balls.  I proceeded to roll the whole sticky mess into walnut sized balls while I started the water boiling.  Once I had it all rolled, I dropped the heavy “balls” into the boiling water.  Unfortunately, they immediately started falling apart.  Not one to give up, I continued boiling the gnocchi for the required amount of time and in the meantime, proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

As you can see from the photo above, all of my efforts culminated in one big, sticky, gooey, colorful  mess.  Since this was all I had planned for dinner,  my brave guinea pigs sat down to feed on this pile of mush.  If you could eat without looking at what you were putting in your mouth, it actually tasted pretty good- in fact, my family managed to eat the whole skillet of “Brown Butter Gnocchi”.