My Locket Giveaway at KindOverMatter

Don't miss the amazing Amanda and the amazing Jenn's amazing blog (you definitely want to follow this one- total inspiration here!) KindOverMatter where you can enter to win one of my Polarity Artist Lockets! Ends Wednesday, Sept. 2nd!

Rain, Rain Don't Go Away

Rainy days (particularly when they occur one after the other) really can bring me down (and Mondays, too, of course- damn that song!)

Seeing the rain as nourishment for the plants and animals, and obviously for us, makes it a little easier to bear those washed out weekends.

According to the American Water Works Association, we use 150 gallons of water per person in the U.S. everyday (how is this possible?) and almost 60% of that is used for ... landscaping! On a planet where 1 in 6 people do not even have clean drinking water this is a real tragedy.

How can we reduce our water usage? There are many ways- but an easy way to reduce the 60% used for landscaping is a rain catchment system. A rain barrel is a great way to collect and store water that runs off the roof - which is an average of six gallons of water per square foot for every inch of rain.

What would you do with this free source of extra water? Well, even though rainwater is natural, it isn't safe for drinking unless it's been filtered and treated. All that rainwater washing off your roof is carrying pollution with it, not to mention bird droppings and parts of dead bugs (yum).

It's still great water, though- plants love it. You can water your pots and flowerbeds, your grass, clean off your siding and driveway and wash the car.

You can also use it to water your thirsty vegetables, but not in the same way as you would use tap water. When watering your veggies with rainwater, keep the water flow at ground level, away from the stuff you'll actually be eating, and don't use rainwater within a couple of days of harvesting your veggies. After harvesting, always wash your vegetables thoroughly with tap water.

Keep the top of your barrel firmly in place. Exposing rainwater to sunlight and open air will encourage algae growth. Make sure the screen is secure to keep out water-loving bugs, like mosquitoes (you will probably need mosquito dunks).

I've also heard you can keep goldfish in the barrel (sans lid) and they will eat the larvae, but I could never keep a goldfish alive in my house and can't imagine how this would be possible in my rain barrels (love the idea though, but wouldn't want to sacrifice any of the little cuties to try it out).

Clean the filter regularly and inspect your rain barrel every once in a while for leaks. Keep your roof gutters clean and make sure that water is flowing freely to and through the downspout when it rains.

A pump makes it easier to water your large areas (one pump can be used for multiple barrels), although depending on the size of your lawn or garden area, sometimes just gravity will do the trick. They have to come down in the winter, but you won't be needing this water during the off-season anyway.

It is a bit of work, but really not as much as I have made it sound like here (ugh!) and harvesting water will give you a really good, warm and fuzzy feeling and make those rainy days (maybe not Mondays though, sorry) less likely to get ya' down...


1. Beautiful Girl Under Umbrella Dress by Foxlor
2. Bumpoershoot Umbrella Earrings by CleverGirl (who really is!)
3. Adorable Umbrella Couple Dish by TheBrickKiln
4. Mint Cameo Umbrella Pin by the amazing OhHelloFriend
5. The Umbrellas Digital Art Print by LittleBranches
6. The whimsical Rainy Day by TummyMountain

Some Hump Day Honey from NotCot

These hump day goodies come to us courtesy of the amazing uploaders at Notcot.org. I was once lucky enough to have a cork necklace featured on their site and it definitely got me some attention. I don't know who uploaded me- but if you are reading this- Thank You!

I have submitted quite a few links to them and gotten a few cool finds on there. So here's a few goodies from their first few pages:

Mixing glass to light, Belgrade Aleksandra Stratimirovic work is midway between mosaic and stained glass and made from thousands of medical vials filled with colored liquids.

Build your own fiberglass chair at Modernica.

Clothespins become clothespens- modern version of the geeky bic and a pocket protector.

Animal tattoos for your hands - how flippin' adorable are these?

Dennis Belenko teak teabag press for any size glass or mug

Nate Page Beautiful Decay series- we love those celeb pics without make-up, right?


George Petty's wonderful 40's pin-up girls.

A clever Lego rolling cookie cutter.


Simply pretty's Pretty Pretty bird cookies look amazingly yummy- can you tell I'm hungry?


Urban Outfitters brings back a few Polaroid camera sets- there is an entire Polaroid movement afoot!

Swedish Hasbeens pure awesomesness for fall.


Recycled crate shelving - why aren't we all painting our crates?

GIVEAWAY Mudpuppy Baby Head- CLOSED

AND THE WINNER IS (closen by random.org #141 out of 396)= Melissa Nucera.

Melissa is an amazing artist and has a stunning Etsy shop called ThisYearsGirl- make sure to check it out!

Mudpuppy is the totally amazing ceramic work of Colorado sculptor Michael McDowell.

Michael has a problem though. Michael needs a coffee table. After a hard day of sculpting and casting and glazing and firing he really needs a place to rest those tired tootsies.

Luckily for Michael, his amazing baby head planters are in a modern furnishing contest on ModLiving.Com and the prize is, you guessed it, a coffee table!

I am not above begging for your votes to get Michael's well-worn loafers (did I tell you he is a size 12) off the back of his tired pooch Rusty, well- not really sure he has a tired pooch named Rusty, but he really, really needs your vote and I have heard that all is fair in love and war and coffee table contests, so I thought I'd throw that out there.

This is an easy contest to vote in- just go to this link Modlivin and vote for #42 Mudpuppy (circle left column) and then hit VOTE on the bottom of the page!

Mudpuppy (and Rusty and Rusty's massage therapist) would be so grateful!




And here's HOW TO WIN your very own Mudpuppy Baby Head Planter:

Leave a comment below with your contact information

For additional entries:

(5) Follow my blog
(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:

MIDNIGHT on Sunday, August 30rd!