Sea Glass Designs June 23, 2008

  WOW!  This necklace from Sea Glass Designs is so stunning!!  The color of this piece of sea glass is eye popping.  I love it in combination with the oxidized sterling silver.

In browsing through the  Sea Glass Designs shop on etsy, I am amazed at the incredible combinations of colors and silver the artist has forged.  I never realized that sea glass could be found in such stunning colors.  Vibrant blues, reds, yellows and greens are all just waiting to be discovered in this talented artist’s shop.  I also love her castings of natural found objects like twigs and starfish.    Visit her shop to find the nature lover in your life a little something special!

Lessons from A Child May 13, 2008

Yesterday, my 10 year old had a playdate with a friend from school.  Usually when these hook-ups happen, the friends are happy to let my eight year old tag along.  Unfortunately, yesterday, when the boys went down into the basement, I could hear the friend telling my little guy he could not play.  Of course, he was heartbroken and came up the stairs in tears.  Now this presented me with a dilemma.  Do I force the older boys to include the little one or do I allow them some time to themselves?  On this day, I opted to give big brother some “big kid time” by trying to engage my little one in an activity with me.

I had just received over two pounds of vintage buttons from someone on e-bay.  I had been anxiously awaiting these buttons… hoping I would receive many fabulous, unique buttons to create rings.  When I opened my package, I was so bummed to see what looked like a lot of just plain, old boring buttons!  I thought, however, that I could occupy my little guy by having him help me start to go through the buttons to look for anything that might be special.  He was skeptical at first but then after watching me start to put a few combinations of buttons together, he started to do the same.  Pretty quickly, he was out pacing me in creating combinations and surprisingly, his future rings were beautiful!     

I was amazed at what he was creating and watching him taught me a few lessons:

Don’t be afraid to try different or unusual combinations.  Often buttons he put together or the order of how he put them together would never have occurred to me.

Also, he reinforced the old adage. “Never judge a book by its cover.”  I looked and saw yucky, boring buttons.  He looked and saw beautiful creations.  (Checkout his beautiful ring at the top of this post or go to 2monkees to see more of our creations.)

As the dinner hour approached, it became necessary to stop.  We were both sad to put away our creations and found ourselves making “just one more”.  It was gratifing to spend time with my little one in a quiet, creative pursuit…..and it was nice to be reminded of the joys and creativity of a child.

Studio 410 May 8, 2008

For years, I have been seeing artists create beautiful and useful items from old silverware.  However, it was not until I came across the unique jewelry from Studio 410 that I felt compelled to actually feature these creations on Our Great Green Globe.  I absolutely feel in love with this rustic looking necklace.  The combination of the oxidized silver, handmade or recycled charms, and the inspiring saying, SEEK BALANCE, FIND HAPPINESS, is perfect!  This necklace is so beautiful, it would be difficult to tell that the main piece is actually a vintage sterling silver spoon.

Susan Richards, the artist behind Studio 410, lives in Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada.  She is a multi-talented artist who likes to create with her two dogs and cat in her studio.  (In fact, you need to checkout Studio 410 Pets, Susan’s new etsy store featuring eco friendly pet beds, felted wool tug toys and felted wool balls.)  Even your beloved furry friend should be lucky enough to be treated to one of her creations!

And the Winner Is….. May 3, 2008

The winner of our soap-on-a-rope giveaway from Ananya Studio is Michelle B.  (My eight year old son helped pick the winning number.)  Congrats and Enjoy!  Thanks to everyone who left a comment to enter and keep checking back because we will be starting a new contest sometime next week.

Ananya Studio is also now offering 40% off all our fair trade sterling silver and semi-precious stone jewelry.  We are trying to clean house a little bit to make room for new stock.  Just enter csale in the coupon code box at checkout to receive your discount. 

Don’t Forget!!!! May 1, 2008

  Mom’ s Day is quickly approaching!  Don’t forget about Ananya Studio’s 30% off sale for Mother’s day.  Just enter mom in the coupon code box at checkout and receive 30% off your entire purchase of beautiful sterling silver and semi-precious stone fair trade jewelry.  (And this discount doesn’t only apply to Mom’s day gifts, feel free to pick up a little something for yourself!)

Also, don’t forget!  Today is the last day to enter the Bath Products giveaway.  Just leave a comment at the Giveaway post to be enter to win a cool, hip soap-on- a-rope. 

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! 

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.   

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. 

30% Off Mom’s Day Sale at Ananya Studio April 4, 2008

 As a child, my mom taught me the joy of the hunt for a good bargain.  She is the ultimate bargain hunter- frequently traveling from store to store to find the best deal on each item on her shopping list.  One of our favorite family stories is about mom’s free chicken.  When I was in high school, my mom found a coupon in a pack of chicken she bought that allowed her to get her next pack of chicken free.  She took the coupon and got another pack of chicken.  Of course, this chicken had a “Next Pack Free” coupon in it also.  You can imagine where I am going with this.  Suffice it to say that we soon had a freezer full of chicken.  All this free chicken sounds great!  However, what my mom did not know when she was making all these trips to the store is that the chicken was like rubber.  You absolutely could not chew through it!!  We would be sitting at the table, trying to chew the chicken and then discretely spitting it out in our napkins.  My mom was not one to give up on all this free chicken so for months she would pull one of these packs of chicken out of the freezer and try to disguise it in some sauce, stew or bar-b-que.  My sisters and I would gamely sit down to dinner only to start the whole chewing and spitting process again.  Eventually, she gave up but unfortunately for her, this family story has never died!!

In honor of all those bargain hunting moms out there, Ananya Studio is offering 30% off all of their beautiful sterling silver and semi precious stone fair trade jewelry through Mother’s Day.  At checkout, just enter mom in the coupon code box to receive your discount.  All jewelry will be shipped in a gift bag.

Today’s Creative Blog

Today’s post is taking a little different tactic.  Instead of featuring one specific artist, I wanted to talk about a fun, imaginative blog that helps me drool over all the possible creative outlets I would like to explore if I had a creative bone in my body.  Today’s Creative Blog is a blog that features everything creative-  from housewares, decor, jewelry and yes, even green artists.  The author is “a crafty, over protective mom who teaches fitness.”  She has a good eye for all things creative and a witty voice for relaying her stories. 

One of my favorite features was entitled A Year of Crockpotting and shares the adventures of a mom trying to use her crockpot for 365 days.  I love my crockpot so I was very happy to see this feature.  (I  know, crockpotting is sooooo 1950’s mom but with our crazy sports schedule it makes having a hot meal for the family a lot easier!)

Recently, while perusing this sight, I found a feature on Alexa Lott, an amazing artist who creates one of a kind pieces of art from items she recycles from the trash heap.   Look at this beautiful piece of art (pictured below) fashioned from estate sale finds.

So if you are feeling like you want to get your creative groove on but just need a little inspiration,  Today’s Creative Blog is a great place to see what other inventive types are doing!