Treedom: Luxury Eco-Friendly Tree Houses

Photo courtesy of Lost At E Minor

These eco-friendly luxury tree houses are unbelievable. I would love to throw a party in one of these - or just hang with family - anything really as they pretty fantastic. Click here if you want to see more.
I found them on one of my favorite sites - Lost At E Minor. They are built by a company called Blue Forest. 

Not even sure if this would this be downsizing.

A New Oeuf!

So we recently did this sweet baby announcement (via Luscious Verde), it's fuchsia and wasabi green with chocolate ink and the little birdie is an additional layer of paper, providing more texture (which I love). And, it is all recycled paper to boot. Yummy. A new little baby, a chickie ... eggs. Yes, this announcement made me think of a fabulous dish - of eggs - that I had when we were in Paris last May. And, I don't mean for breakfast.

We were out for a true Parisian dinner at a little neighborhood spot near the Eiffel Tower with our friends, Natalie and Tom. They live in Paris - Natalie is French born and Tom very well could be given his gift for the language and the ease in which he lives life there.  Tom recommended to me a dish that I never would think to order - oeufs meurettes. What? Eggs at night? Cooked in red wine? Lots of butter? Are you kidding me? It sounded so heavy and so not my style. But Tom assured me that I would love it despite my claims to the contrary and, honestly, he challenged me. Never one to back away from a (reasonable) challenge, I ordered it in butchered French. Well, he was right; I was practically licking my plate - how "Ugly American" of me. Here is a link to make these fine oeufs yourself. Bon Appétit*

*To be clear, in no way am I suggesting eating our offspring and I probably would not be cooking or eating these in the current 100 degree summer weather we are having - have some cold grapefruit sorbet instead.

Fashion Diary Eco-fashion has gone in and out of style - latimes.com

I want to share this a link -
Fashion Diary Eco-fashion has gone in and out of style - latimes.com

I think this exhibit sounds really interesting  - take a look. The exhibit, "Eco-Fashion Going Green" is NYC at Fashion Institute of Technology now thru November 13th. It looks great - I will let you know.

In the meanwhile, what's going on in your closet? What are some of your best and worst Eco-fashion pieces? Please share them in the comment section below.

I love the double breasted cream wool coat with burnt orange/brown trim  and matching belt that my Grandma Vikki gave me when it got too small on her. I am guessing it is from the 1960s. Upcycle, recycle, vintage, used - whatever you call it, it has new life and I don't see it coming and going. I am also loving a recently acquired new summer dress from ecoSkin - it is so soft, made from organic cotton in the USA (and made with attention to the environment and safe labor practices).

Have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

Using Recycling - Even for Halloween

So the prep began a few weeks ago. What to be, what to be? Store selections didn't grab us. And all you do with that brand new prepackaged costume is wear it once and put it away in the closet hoping a younger friend or relative will ask to borrow it for next year. And that rarely happens.

Wasn't there anything we could make? Anything we could use from stuff we already had? We had an idea for a costume. Then I heard about Tony; a man with years of experience with costumes for Broadway shows. Tony is a man with a barn 3 stories high filled with costumes and accessories. Fabulous! Maybe we could find something that would look like a coffee mug/container/cup; something already made and just waiting to be used again.

When we first went up to see Tony it was a little spooky. The door to the inside porch of his house was left open and it was filled with years of memories. We knocked. We rang the bell. We called from our cell phones and heard his land line ringing with our call. Nothing. We walked across the way to the barn. We pushed open the old door. Wow. Old file cabinets, draped tables, pirate jackets, band outfits, maiden gowns, lace, and webs. Still no Tony. Was he up in the rafters? Could we just walk up those creaky, steep and narrow steps? We had an appointment. Where was he?

"Let's just get out of here" spoke a little voice (yes, my daughter). We called again. No Tony. "Can we please just go..." At that point we did have to leave but our friends could wait a bit longer.

A few minutes later the call came in from Liz - "they have some tea cups and a majorette costume - I think it could work."

A few days later we went back. We combed through the top loft filled with head gear. White fluffy feathers...? An option. But, I am a bit weary of used or shared headgear. We left without a whip cream topping accessory but we had the makings of a coffee cup. Man hours later we had Starbucks branding our Halloween and we were gluing marshmallows to felt hats.

The best part - happy smiles and the delight that we were, for the most part, able to "recycle" a costume.

Happy Halloween!

And, more on branding next week.

Recyclez s'il vous plaît

Look at this recylcing bin - located all over the streets in Paris. It is huge.

Look at this Smart Car - they are all over the streets in Paris. It is so small.

Hmmmm... I think this car might fit in the recyling bin.

I Love Being Social with Smock

A big box arrived in my office today and it was filled with Smock's fabulous new social papers. I have been looking forward to this for a while!

Here are a few samples to look at and enjoy.

Thick bamboo paper, letterpress, fabulous colors and great design. Of course, these are spring boards for your

own creations.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Green With Envy for Green on Green

A recent Bar Mitzvah invitation we did for this Labor Day weekend. Recycled layers and a modern look from our Luscious Verde line.

School Lunches and Love Notes :)

And, it's back to school! Did I say "finally"? Just kidding. I could go another few months at least. But now that we are back to school I will be packing my kids' lunches pretty much everyday. I like to know what they are eating. They joke that "losers" take the bus and bring their own lunches but they rarely forget to grab it on the way out.

Truth be told, it would save $ if I let them buy lunch tomorrow but until our school lunch offerings change ala the "Renegade Lunch Lady" (/www.chefann.com/blog/ ), my girls will be schlepping their reusable soft colored bags (no vinyl or pvc used) and my son will take recycled paper brown bags (not great as they end up as trash). Our goal is also to have the lunches contain as much nutritious, locally grown food and "non-waste" materials as possible. To be sure, any notes I might embarrass them with will be written on pretty, recycled stationery/papers!

All in favor of updating The Child Nutrition Act and giving our kids real food raise your hand!

See this recent article: www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/dining/19school.html

A Box of Water Please

A new twist on drinking water packaging is here. Boxed Water Is Better has a really cool looking carton made from 85 percent trees from certified forests. For every tree that gets taken a new one is planted. Good for the planet.

Shipping the cartons flat to the water company takes up less space than other more common water packaging (plastic bottles) so fewer trucks are needed. Fewer trucks needed means less gas used and this means a reduced carbon footprint in the trucking process. Good for the planet.

The company also donates 10 percent of its profits to world water charities and another 10 percent to reforestation foundations.Good for the planet.

Oh, and we like the design.

How Does Paper Made From Elephant Pooh Save Elephants? And, Does it Smell?

A few years ago when I first saw stationery made from elephant dung (pooh), I thought it was a funny gimmick. I didn't know that this process could really help with saving the lives of these beautiful animals. But, it does. Mr. Ellie Pooh is saving elephants in Sri Lanka. ( My cousin lives there by the way - small world - but she is not collecting elephant dung and making paper - she is saving the world in another manner.)

The story basically goes like this - there are about 4,000 elephants out of the estimated global total of 40,000 Asian elephants living in the wild in Sri Lanka. They are running out of space to live. They are being killed off or forced to move along to other areas, not for their tusks or for meat, but because they are encroaching on farm land. The goal of Mr. Ellie Pooh is to make the elephants valuable to the local economy by using their dung to create an artistic and useful product. Because elephants are herbivores, plant eaters, their pooh is really great for making paper. Check out the video for more info on the process and take a look at a recent invitation I did that uses Mr. Ellie Pooh paper (green and orange in this case; the marblized paper is made from plant leaves). Who knows, next time I send you a note, it just might be made from elephant %&*!@. And no, it won't smell!

Is Anything More Pressing?

I don't know about you but I have a TON of summer birthdays to celebrate, thank yous to say - MERCI - and just old fashion hellos I want to send out. I love these letterpress greeting cards and notes from Smock; they come with hand-lined envelopes and are sustainably letterpressed on bamboo paper. (FYI - Smock is wind powered - cool). This is one of my favorite lines - just a small sampling - and yes, I can get you some!

Our New Website

Well, it is finally here! After many months of designing, testing and editing (and life in between), our website is up and running. It just went "live" today and I want to thank Rich Zimmer, and Kevin too, of ZDI Design Group for getting this all together. ZDI is located in Deer Park, New York (on LONG ISLAND).

Julia B. and Jim S. were great as my focus group. I thank them as well. Check it out and know that we will be updating our gallery often. You can visit our favorite lines and see how we work...

orrganics.com