Earth Day 2015

I stumbled across a great Pinterest board a few days ago with plenty of ideas and events geared towards celebrating Earth Day brought to you by Keep Texas Beautiful. You don't have to live in the Lone Star State to find a pin there with something you can do for Earth Day, as not all of them are TX specific. At least one of the pins includes a reminder about using reusable grocery bags. Everyone should try this suggestion out.

I have gathered a small collection of reusable shopping bags. I like the insulated bags from Central Market and Target for frozen or cold foods. Also in the first photo are two clever bags that I received in a conference goodie bag. (one expanded, one stuffed) They have a pocket inside each bag that you stuff them into when not in use for compact storage and they have a small carabiner for ease of carry. The second photo includes a bag I got on a trip last summer and one that was a surprise holiday gift from Etsy last year.

I must admit I'm not the best at always using them because I don't tend to remember my bags until I am at the grocery store and the bags are still safely stored at home. However, I have gotten better at making sure I have at least a couple in my car after finding myself in Austin, needing to grocery shop, after they instituted their plastic bag ban. Luckily my purchases stacked fairly well and I made it to my car without dropping anything. Several Texas cities have followed Austin's lead and passed ordinances banning one time use plastic bags, so putting a couple of reusable shopping bags in your car just in case you find yourself in the same situation I was in would be prudent and good for the environment to boot.

Please check out the Keep Texas Beautiful board to see what you can do to celebrate Earth Day and do your part to protect Mother Earth. All of the things we do, big or small, do matter.

Earth Mother Gifts

Mother's Day is less than a month away. If you will be buying something and having it shipped, I strongly suggest that you order it at least a week before you need it to arrive. USPS has been rather slow since the first of the year and destinations that previously would receive their items by first class mail in 2-3 days have been taking a week on average. (USPS is closing and consolidating sort centers and has created a real slow down in mail service. Even priority mail has been slowed down from its norm. Enough of my rant, you have been warned, whether you are purchasing from me or somewhere else.)

If you would describe you mom as an earth mother, then she is likely to appreciate a gift of jewelry made with gemstones born of the earth. One such gemstone is quartz. When you think of quartz, the first thing that pops into mind is probably a clear crystal point. That is a very popular form, however there are other gemstones that would have also been clear quartz (SiO₂) if not for mineral impurities and inclusions.

I have several earring and necklace options available that are made with several gemstones in the quartz family. You can see jewelry in the image below that, as I am writing this, is available and ready to ship. I have many other quartz components available for custom creations too. Gemstones seen in the photo that might not come to mind right away when processing the word quartz are amethyst, citrine, tourmalinated quartz and rose quartz. Some of these creations are currently listed in my EDCCollective Etsy shop. If you are interested in any that are not currently listed or in a custom order, please contact me about availability.

(Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Happy New Year 2015

May your goals

for the New Year

come to fruition,

and may you have a

prosperous and peaceful 2015.