Seed to Table

Instead of growing more and more of our own food, my hubby and I seem to be growing less and less. Partly because so much of it ends up in the bellies of the rabbits and groundhogs that get past any fencing we devise and partly because although our heads and hearts are green, our thumbs have not caught up. But this year we are determined to improve our output and get more home grown goodies to our own table.

We are hoping to get at least some of the the seeds into the ground this weekend. I am also planting a large cutting garden of zinnias. Having flowers to bring in each night with the veggies will make the effort more worthwhile for me.

When we can't grow our own it is often worth it to buy organic especially if the foods you eat most often are ones that tend to be the most heavily treated. More pesticides are found on apples than any other fruit (36!) - if you can't find organic- rinse them well, peel them and look for little produce stickers that saw New Zealand (they use about half as many pesticides as the United States).

You should also choose organic grapes, because grapes ripen quickly and tend to mold, growers hit them with multiple applications of various chemicals. The worst are Chilean grapes which are treated with as many as 17 chemicals (90% of the grapes eaten in the U.S. this time of year are Chilean). The key is always a very thorough rinse in cool or warm water.

You should even rinse your cantaloupes before cutting since your knife can drag exterior residues through the fruit as you cut it and cantaloupes often contain five of the longest-lasting chemicals including one banned in 1974 that still persists in soils and is taken up by the fruit. When you can - choose local and 100% organic.

Here's a few "organically" grown Etsy beauties:

1. Xenotees - Good Luck Fork T-Shirt
2. afiori - 4 Mini Pictures Il Giardino Segreto
3. SpoonerZ - Fork Top Family Necklace
4. Kootsac - Reusable Food Bags
5. BCStoneDesign - Mushroom Planter
6. CustomEyes - Vintage Egg Beater
7. BovineBubbles - Assorted Jams and Jellies

Newest Artist Collaboration Lockets

This week I am so fortunate to add four more amazingly talented artists to my Polarity locket artist series!


GollyBard - Holly's paintings represent a whimsical and peculiar narrative of both an everyday and make believe world. Watercolor scenes painted with detail and exactness, though filled with ambiguity. They are jumbled, untidy stories inspired by anything and everything that she is infatuated with for the moment.

Fricdementol - Ana lives in beautiful Portugal where life is her inspiration. She loves simple things like a smile, her dogs or cooking. She uses all her senses to live! She listens to alot of music and she also watch movies. She has no car so she rides a bike. Ana is fascinated by people's portraits and expressions. Portraiture is her obsession.

zJayne - Jane enjoys creating art with meaning. You’ll find her salvaging an array of found objects, metals, once loved jewels, costume and semi precious treasures to create one of a kind defining images. Jane has learned that being authentic and owning your talent brings a form of peace of mind that is well received and encourages her to live in the moment.

Brief Moments - Maribeth has always been fascinated by an artist’s ability to capture a brief moment of time, whether that moment was of clarity, of joy, of disappointment, or even chaos. All of her photographs and paintings strive to capture the brief moments that are quiet and sometimes overlooked, moments that she hopes speak to you as much as they have spoken to her.

Check out their amazing shops. The purchase of any locket from my new locket series gets a FREE set of extra lids this week!

This week's giveaway is at the amazing blog of Helene's Dreams for the gorgeous Dilkabear locket. This giveaway ends on Earth Day 4/22- so get over there and get entered! Also check out Helene's gorgeous Etsy shop!

These Little Girls Are Having a Birthday!

The amazingly adorable Kirsten Cram of Tollipop fame is celebrating her one year anniversary on Etsy with a SUPER GIVEAWAY.

The Grand Prize is three Tollipop original paintings in pretty blue frames, ready to hang! Kirsten is also giving away 3 more prizes of a Polarity Tollipop locket and a Tollipop print of your choice from her shop!

counting down ....

UGH, It is almost April 15th- there I have said it out loud!

My hubby and I each have a business and neither has an accountant so even though Quickbooks and Turbo Tax make it alot easier than it used to be, it is still a stressful few days (also because we procrastinate it until those last few days and hours and minutes).

Actually, most of the stress in my life has come through my incredible ability to procrastinate - this is almost a lost art in these hectic times and I pride myself on being a bit of a master.

I am offering 15% off in both my Etsy shops Uncorked and Polarity - now through April 15th- just note April 15th or Tax Day or some such something or other in the comments to seller section and wait for a quick refund!

Now let's just take a deep breath and relax ........................................

1. crystalindumentaria - yoga top
2. aprilhl - peace wall art
3. mountainmamaskitchen - yoga in a can
4. allthosethrees - traveling soul necklace
5. irenesuchoki - simplexity
6. hypnotransformations - relaxation hypnosis
7. uncorked - just breathe bracelet

Getting Ready for Show Season

Spent a rainy Saturday recently making two Polarity Locket display cases for the upcoming show season.

Since the lockets are made from little car parts I wanted my new displays to be industrial but totally practical and amazingly cool (if would also be best if the display surfaces had some magnetic areas).

I like to set up 'stations' within my 10X10 booth space that flow from one to the next cohesively but are at the same time eclectic and very visually interesting.

I decided to use metal toolboxes and incorporate my customer mirrors (recycled truck sideview mirrors) into the metal lids. I covered the inner drawer areas with some foam covered fabric and my little Craftsman/Craftwoman is almost ready for show time. I will get some pictures at my first show and post these babies stocked with lockets!

New Artists for Polarity Locket Series

This week I am so fortunate to add five more amazingly talented artists to my Polarity locket artist series!


TinyArtByJMullin - Jennifer is a high school art and art history teacher by day and collage and watercolor artist by night. Creating art keeps her sane and happy and she is thrilled to be able to share her passion on Etsy! We are so lucky to have her beautiful I Will Be Blue and Floral Improv. No. 8 artwork for your locket!

f2images - Emi and Mark started f2images as a way to share their photography with others. Their ambition is to capture and present images in a unique and engaging way. Although they enjoy fine art photography, the technical aspect of image capture is equally important to them. We are so lucky to have their beautiful Lazy Summer and Mare photographs for your locket!

blackoutwell - When she was young Amy wanted to be a mad scientist but quickly decided that her path in life would be accompanied by a notebook and pen, a yellow flask of semi sweet tea, a small orange fox, a slightly bent but empty birdcage and a rusty red lantern she found in the street. Unfortunately she has only 2 hands so she carries the leftover items in her backpack, alternating from time to time and picking up treasures and inspiration along the way! We are so lucky to have her beautiful Stripey Fox and Suspicious Cat artwork for your locket!

somethingwhimsical - Vinnie is an amazing artist who wanted to have some fun and walk on the wild side of things for awhile, well, on the whimsical side at least. His little alien lifeforms known as BOBs (bunch of bolts) have recently been leaving some marks and symbols that we will leave it up to you mad scientists out there to decipher. You can check out Vinnie's other, slightly more serious side at http://www.corona-evans.com We are so lucky to have his little BOBs language for your locket! He also happens to be my amazingly talented brother....

Deadpan Alley - Liese loves to work with all types of media. Paint, ink, copper, beads, fabric, you name it. She shows work in a traditional art gallery but when she gets pen in hand nothing traditional seems to come out. Etsy is her outlet for the illustrations that like a hysterical giggle, she can't seem to suppress! We are so lucky to have her beautiful X-Ray, Devourer of Nations and The Innovator artwork for your locket!

Purchase any of these amazing lockets and you will receive a FREE set of additional lids.

I will also be doing a giveaway with each locket from now until the end of June- the first giveaway is on Andrea's awesome Anything Indie blog for the Jessica Doyle Locket shown here!