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!

You’ve Won! May 19, 2008

Sorry I have been so absent lately at the old posting thing.  It has been a hectic week!  I think I am ready to get back to it.  The exciting part is I get to start with a bang by announcing the winner of the organic earth monkey t-shirt from 2monkees.  Congrats to Stefanie from focusorganic , the lucky winner of the monkey t-shirt.  I am excited that Stefanie was the winner because she is a woman with a similiar philosophy to that of Our Great Green Globe.  Here is a great quote from her About Page, “In learning to be more eco-friendly, we can better ourselves, our lives, and the planet.  Implementing even just small changes into your daily living can help to make a big difference and my hope is that with this site, you may learn something new, and decide to make your life more green, as well. ”  This quote embodies Our Great Green Globe’s philosophy about trying to shine a spotlight on small producers and artists who are doing their part to change the world.

Checkout her informative blog and store where she has partnered with many retailers to offer organic and earth friendly products.  Her blog offers advise and tips for people trying to live a green lifestyle.  Focus Organic  is a great resource for all us “greenies” out there!  Congrats to Stefanie and enjoy!!

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.

Cool Green Mom’s Day Present May 12, 2008

Look at this cool Mom’s day present my boys got me.  It is hip, stylish messenger bag from Ecologic Designs.  This bag is made from recycled billboards and the bottom is a recycled inner tube.  How green is that?  It has tons of room and functional pockets- perfect for carrying all my stuff!  I can’t wait to load it up!!!

This company was founded by hardcore outdoor enthusiasts who began to question the impact of all the gear they purchased to enjoy the wild, wild world.  Out of this concern for the environment, Ecologic Designs was born.  Under their Green Guru and Green Goddess lines, this environmentally aware company offers surf board bags made from billboards, messenger bags made of billboards, hemp and inner tubes and clothes crafted from bamboo…………and this is just a short list of the functional, green products they carry.  Next time you are on the hunt for gear for your active lifestyle, check out Ecologic Designs to lessen your impact on the environment.  

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!

Sanguinaria May 7, 2008

WOW!  Look at this beautiful, bright, cheerful reclaimed mirror.  I love the vibrant colors and intricate pattern of this handpainted mirror from Sanguinaria.  The mirror frame was saved from a death in the landfill  and then painted with previously discarded paints. Ribbons from old pieces of scrap clothing decorate the edges and  recycled electrical refuse wire also makes an appearance!  What an unique creation from a bunch of old trash!!

Sarah, the talented creator of this work of art, features many  different products in her shop- hand dyed yarn, recycled tags, paintings, and recycled envelopes.  It seems that most of her art features bright, bold colors with amazing detail.  Sarah donates 50% of the proceeds from the sale of her yarn toward the scholarship program for a wonderful girls summer camp in Maine.  Check her out to bring a little color and sunshine into your life.

Vivienne Strauss May 6, 2008

It was somewhat of a wild weekend this weekend.  Both my parents and my in-laws were in town to celebrate my son’s First Communion (or so I thought!).  We had two baseball games and classic soccer tryouts, First Communion rehersal and a surprise birthday party for me.  (And yes I was totally shocked!)  All of these activities, while very exciting and lots of fun,  left very little time for sleep and/or relaxation.  (It doesn’t help that we live in a hundred year old house and any time any one moves anywhere you can hear every footstep!)  So today when I woke up, I found myself feeling a little like the unfortunate woman, Betty, in this original collage on a vintage reading card by Vivienne Strauss….. a little disconnected and strung out.   Hopefully, unlike this poor glamour Betty, my feelings of being disconnected will be cured with a little nap. 

This talented artist from Portland likes to start her one of a kind creations on some type of recycled material.  I love her bright colors and unusual, somewhat retro looking compostions.  Her etsy shop features her original collages, pen and ink drawings and original watercolors. Learn more about Vivienne, her creations and her vintage collections at www.vivienneart.blogspot.com.

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! 

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.