Garbage of Eden April 30, 2008

  Every once in a while, I feel the need to add a little bling to my life.   I found these cool, bright colored bangles from Garbage of Eden on etsy.  An armful of these skinny bangles made by wrapping recycled plastic around a brass bangle is the perfect summer accessory!

Stephanie, the talented artist behind these cheerful bangles, strives to ”design useful and good lookin’ new objects out of materials that would otherwise just sit in a landfill, the streets, or your backyard.”  All of the bags used in these bracelets have been donated to the artist from friends, family or strangers who responded to a post on Brooklyn Freecycle.  What a great way to get the community involved in recycling! 

Not only are these bangles good for the enviroment and the community, but Stephanie donates 10% of the price of your purchase to one of these charitable organizations: Just Food (www.justfood.org), Added Value (www.added-value.org/), Time’s Up (http://times-up.org) and others. 

To learn more about this unique artist, visit her blog at www.garbageofedendesign.blogspot.com.  She offers tips about running a craft business, recycling and shares her love for all things creative!  It is an informative read! 

Emmy Lou Helmuth April 29, 2008

  Despite that the fact that it is suppose to be Spring here in the great Northwest, I still find myself longing for a nice warm cup of something to get myself ready to face the day.  When you live in a 100 year old house and Spring is just refusing to actually break through, it is nice to have something to warm the bones in the morning.  Try as I might, I often forget to bring my own reusable coffee mug to the local coffee shop and with the baristas making the drinks so scorching, I then find myself reaching for a drink sleeve.  Of course, environmental guilt then ensues.  For this reason, I love these hand knit drink sleeves by Emmy Lou Helmuth.  They can be stuffed in your purse, making it a snap to reduce guilt because they are always around.  

Emmy Lou offers many different beautiful hand knit products including coasters, hats, headbands and this purse that looks like a bright explosion of color.  It is soooo funky and fun and I love that it is made with recycled silk yarn.  This gorgeous yarn  is manufactured by a women’s cooperative group in the Himalayan mountains.  During production, the women cut off the ends of saris and then spin the scraps into yarn.  It makes for a beautiful bag!!!!

To find out more about this talented artist, visit her blog at http://emmylouhelmuth.blogspot.com.  It is filled with positive stories about the knitting community and interesting posts about Emmy Lou’s creative process. 

Walmart Coke Bottle Shirts April 28, 2008

Usually I try to focus on small companies or individuals who are doing their part to impact the world but today I wanted to explore an ad I heard on the radio.  While carting my two boys around, a commercial featuring two teenage sounding girls came on.  These two girls were talking about the new t-shirts from Walmart that are made from recycled Coke bottles.  (I have to admit, when I heard the ad, I did not realize the shirts actually advertise Coke on them.  I thought they were just made from soda bottles.) 

 Coca-Cola Drink 2 Wear T-shirts are produced from blended fabrics containing recycled plastic bottles and cotton.  Each t-shirt features a neck tag that tells the consumer the estimated number of bottles that were recycled to produce that particular shirt.  The ad girls go on to say that if every Walmart customer bought one of these shirts,  21,000 tons of plastic waste would be kept out of our landfills.  Obviously, that is a lot of plastic.

In the interest of disclosure, I will have to admit that I am fairly anti-Walmart anything.  I think it is VERY important to support small, local producers and shops to create a vital, thriving economy.  It is hard, however, to argue with the impact of those kind of numbers.  I have heard that Walmart is trying to improve their green standing but have little specific information to judge.  The cynical side of me wonders if big corporations are realizing that being “Green” can translate into big dollars and this knowledge is driving their changes.  I guess then you have to ask if it matters what the motives are if the action is making a big impact?   Tell me what you think.  

Heidi Leech April 25, 2008

The other day, I stumbled upon my old journals from when I was in high school and college. Oh, the teenage angst and drama that was recorded in these old, ratty spiral notebooks. It was interesting and maybe a little embarrassing to see some of the stuff that I had going on. What is shocking to me is that I entrusted all these valuable thoughts and feelings to a boring old spiral notebook…….. what lack of style. It seems my life musing deserved to be housed in something a little more hip like these beautiful journals from Heidi Leech. The Washington DC artist behind these amazing designs is a former aerospace engineer, now working as a web designer. Heidi creates these one of a kind journals covers from an original stitched collage created from shapes and pieces that are are punched, torn and cut out of recycled books, magazines and catalogs. The paper pieces are arranged, then glued and machine stitched together. The collage is then securely glued to the front of the journal. I LOVE all of her various designs……the colors and subjects really draw you in! It seems this woman is a multi-talented artist. In her etsy shop, she also features unique handcrafted jewelry, handmade cards and other stitched collages. Do yourself a favor and visit her shop to see all her unique offerings!

Bath Product Giveaway April 24, 2008

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite nostalgic items from childhood is the old bath time favorite of the soap on a rope.  I recall when my parents  bought my first one……. it was a bright blue turtle hanging from a woven white rope.  I loved it!  It just seemed so cool to have a shaped soap that I could wear as a necklace.  (Boy was I easy to please back then!!)

The Enterprising Kitchen has resurrected this old favorite with a more socially conscious, green twist.  The Enterprising Kitchen is non-profit organization that enables lower-income women who have been unemployed and underemployed to gain valuable job and life skills while creating beautiful bath and spa products.  The women of the Enterprising Kitchen create their products using only the finest ingredients and purest essential oils. All products are manufactured in small batches onsite at their Chicago facility and they sell to over 300 stores across the US and are available online.  The Enterprising Kitchen is a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

Ananya Studio (And don’t forget Ananya is offering 30% off all their fair trade sterling silver jewelry.  Just enter mom in the coupon code box at checkout.)  is beginning to stock a range of the incredible products from the Enterprising Kitchen.  (As soon as I can get them loaded up on the website.) To kick off this product offering, we are pleased to do a giveaway of their fun, new take on the soap on a rope.   The Enterprising Kitchen crafts their soap on a rope using the recycled, odd shaped scraps from their bars of soap.  Each piece is knotted to create a yummy smelling, colorful line of soap.  To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post.  The winner will be drawn on Friday May 2nd.

Trillium Artisans April 23, 2008

On days like today, when Portland is weighted down under depressing, cold grey clouds for what seems like the thousandth day in  a row, it is difficult to remember why I love Portland and choose to raise a family here.  Then, however, I stumble on something like Trillium Artisans and my love for Portland all comes rushing back. 

Trillium Artisans is a Portland group with a primary purpose to help small, low income crafters form sustainable, profitable businesses for themselves.  As part of the program, Trillium artists have access to product reviews, retail and wholesale opportunities, small business counseling, peer networking, and guest speakers.   Also, artists agree that of the products they sell through Trillium,  the items will be constructed of at least 50% recycled or reclaimed materials.    I love this program because it is supporting independent artists who are committed to helping our environment!!
 

Trillium began in 1999 as Eco-biz  and eventually combined with a business-planning program called the Entrepreneurial Training Program.  Trillium is currently funded by the City of Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development, New Belgium Brewing Company, and the Oregon Arts Commission through the National Endowment for the Arts.   This innovative program has grown so much that artists now have their own retail store in Southeast Portland.   If you are not blessed enough to live in Portland (I guess I actually do love Portland), you can also purchase products through their website or on etsy.  Both the store and their website offers a range of beautiful, creative crafts that reflect the diversity of this group of talented artists.  When you visit their shop or website, you will find garden art, jewelry, scarves, clocks, hair accessories and too many other enchanting products to list.   

Don’t Forget Mom! April 21, 2008

 Mother’s day is quickly approaching.  Do you know what you are getting your Mom?  Don’t forget about Ananya Studio’s bargain hunting Mom’s day sale where they offer 30% off all of their jewelry.

Ananya Studio features quality sterling silver and semi-precious stone fair trade jewelry.  Each unique piece is lovingly handcrafted in rural workshops in Sri Lanka by artisans who are paid a fair price for their work.  This model allows the artists to create sustainable businesses for themselves and their families. 

So if you want to give your Mom a gift that is helping to change lives, visit Ananya Studio and enter mom in the coupon code box at checkout to receive your discount.

Organic Clothing Blog April 16, 2008

Just a quick shout out to The Organic Clothing Blog.  This blog is an extremely well written and in depth blog about all topics related to the environment.  Michael Lackman one of the owners of Lotus Organics is the author of this informative blog.  One of his recent blog entries focused on The Diversity of Green Jewelry.  In this entry, he writes a very positive review of Ananya Studio’s fair trade jewelry.  We were so honored to be mentioned in this wonderful blog and were pleased to see all the options for responsible jewelry that are available!  To feed your hunger for more knowledge about green issues visit the information packed Organic Clothing Blog. 

On The Inside April 15, 2008

I am sooooo EXCITED!!  My husband and I are planning an adult only trip to someplace warm and sunny.  I cannot wait!  It has been a VERY long time since we have gone on a vacation without the kids………oh, the pure decadence of not having to go to any baseball or soccer games for a whole weekend,  sleeping to whatever time we want and dinners out without worrying about what is on the kid’s menu.   I cannot believe it is actually happening!

Thoughts of this trip have spurred me to start thinking about my unmentionables.  It is always fun to pick up a little something new for vacation.  On The Inside has beautiful handmade, sexy  lingerie that can be made to order to met all your sizing needs.  I love this Sweetspire camisole made from organic cotton.  It looks so soft and comfortable….. I can see putting it on and never wanting to take it off.  (And you can even order matching panties.)

I am also drooling over these super sexy boyshorts.  They are crafted from a soft black organic cotton embellished with delicate white embroidered flowers.  I am drawn to boyshorts because they are so flattering.  They help hide some of the bumps and lumps that come with motherhood.  And if you are a set kind-of girl, you can pick up the matching organic cotton camisole to compliment the panties.

On The Inside uses organic cotton panty liners on all of her panties because as the artist says, “I know your precious pink parts would be environmentally conscious, if they could express a point of view.”  She also uses recycled boxes for shipping.  What a great way to dress-up your “precious parts” while helping save the environment!!!

Vintage Fern April 14, 2008

I would hate to add up the number of hours I have wasted drooling over all the cool works of art on etsy.  It would be impossible and embarassing to calculate.  However, I don’t seem to be able to help myself because I am always amazed at what the talented artists are able to produce.  I love looking at all the colors and materials the artists use.   Recently, while surfing around, I saw a really ingenious idea from Vintage Fern.  The creative force behind Vintage Fern is using vintage pillowcases to fashion dresses for little girls.  These adorable dresses have adjustable shoulder ties to create  a perfect fit for your little angel.  They come in a variety of vintage colors and patterns and are perfect for stretching your tight budget because they can be worn on their own in the spring and summer and then can transition into  winter by pairing them with leggings and turtlenecks.  I love this idea!!

Vintage Fern features many different types of products including purses, wallets, dish towels and pillow coverings.  Take a look at this cute Spring Purse made from a bright green and yellow vintage fabric.   It has a vintage green trim and she has appliqued a very hip and stylish green bird (more…)