Feature Fest

The kiva team over at etsy is having a feature fest to spread the word about all of our wonderful members.  

All of the members of the kiva team loan at kiva.org, a microlending site where anyone can make a small loan to an entrepreneur anywhere in the world.  Those small (starting at $25) loans make a huge difference in the lives of the business owner, their families, and their communities!

I decided to feature thesquarepeg, partly because I love her name and her fun and whimsical picture!

I wanted to get to know her better, and I thought you would too!  Thesquarepeg is Cathi Newlin, an artist experienced and trained in a variety of media, who is now using her talents to produce lovely Japanese inspired ceramic pieces.  Her art has been a developing process in technique and style.  

I can honestly say that my ceramic work is only now being informed by my 2 dimensional training. I spent so much time trying for that perfectly thrown, utterly symmetric bowl, that I was very tight and narrowly focused.

Now, I'm comfortable enough with my skills, and influenced by other potters' work enough to bring some looseness and fluidity into my clay - its becoming less like rendering and more like life drawing at a big ol' easel.

Her functional pieces have a lovely calming and natural aesthetic, with muted colors and organic shapes.  Any kitchen lucky enough to have one of Cathi's pieces gains a tranquil and creative addition.  Cathi hopes that her pieces become integrated into people's everyday lives.

I hope my customers get from my pieces something that they *want* to use well and often. I love fine art, and its in my blood, but the thought of someone using one of my pieces as an everyday item - as part of their every day life, well, holy cow that's awesome!

Cathi is very thankful to everyone who has appreciated her art and supported thesquarepeg

First, to anyone who's ever plopped down hard-earned cash for something I made, thank you. I'm still amazed every time someone does that!

If you decide to plop down that hard-earned cash at the squarepeg, know that Cathi supports 2 wonderful causes.  First, kiva.org 

As we ask every member of the kiva team, why do you loan?

I'm a fortunate soul - I'm a white woman born and raised in the richest nation on Earth. I have the luxury to own pets, call my art my vocation, read a book and watch my children grow old. Kiva is, in my opinion, the best way for me to be an active part of a global village. EVERYONE should be able to feed and educate their children. The world becomes a better place for everyone when there is less poverty, more education and stronger communities.
And since I'm not wealthy by any means, Kiva is the best bang for the buck ;)

Cathi also supports another cause that you know we love, dog rescue!  
my other conviction - purebred dog rescue. I've been active in Boxer rescue for more than 15 years.
You see a few items in my pottery shop from which money is donated to the cause, and in my photography shop (theSquarePegToo), 20% of all sales are donated.
And no matter what your pet, you can help the cause too just by neutering your pet.

Two wonderful causes, from a great talent.  You can purchase ceramic pieces from Cathi at thesquarepeg

Handmade Laundry Detergent

I hate buying laundry detergent because it's incredibly expensive, especially if you get the good stuff without the nasty ingredients and fragrances.  I've been playing around with the idea of making my own detergent, and I finally took the plunge.  It's actually quite simply and amazingly cost effective.  There are only three ingredients - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, Borax, and soap.  I used my own unscented cold process soap I made back in January.  Even if you have to buy the soap, your total cost could be around $8, and this makes a lot of detergent: I would estimate about 100 loads.  Plus, you'll have tons of washing soda and borax left over for your next batch.

Ingredients:  

1 cup Arm&Hammer Washing Soda $2.50/3.9 lbs

1 cup Borax $3/4.75 lbs

2 cups Cold Process Soap* $2.50/~4.5oz

1 tsp Essential oil or fragrance oil (optional)

*When choosing your cold process soap, make sure it's vegan and doesn't contain tallow or lard.  You don't need conditioning oils, so look instead for cleansing oils like coconut oil and palm kernel oil.  

Step 1:  Grate your cold process soap.  I used the medium grade so that the soap didn't get stuck in the tinier grates.

Go ahead and use up the whole bar.  You should have approximately 2 packed cups - if the measurement varies a little bit, that's okay.

Step 2:  Add the curly, grated soap bits of soap to a food processor.  

I don't think this step is completely necessary, but it will ensure that the soap dissolves easily in your washing machine.  It does turn the soap into smaller bits that mix better with your other ingredients.  I also added a bit of the washing soda so that the soap wouldn't stick together as it was getting shredded.

Step 3:  Mix your 2 cups soap bits with 1 cup of A&H Super Washing Soda and 1 cup Borax.  If you would like to add fragrance, add 1 tsp essential oil or fragrance oil by droplets to the mixture.  I recommend mixing in a large, lidded container.  I used a 1 gallon container with a snap top.  All you have to do is shake it to mix.  If you don't have something similar, you can always stir the ingredients in a large bowl. 

Step 4:  You're done! Use 2-3 tablespoons per load.  I've also heard you can use vinegar in the rinse cycle as a fabric softener, but I've never tried it.  Let me know how your detergent works, if you have a different recipe, or if you've got other laundry tips to share : )  Enjoy!

Rachel

Giveaway Winner!

Our giveaway ended Monday, and the winner is Chandler, commenter #33.  Chandler was picked using a random number generator.

Chandler has won her choice of yummy treats from ajoeynamedroo.  Thank you to everyone who entered; we truly appreciate all your support.  Stay tuned for more giveaways and tutorials, and in the meantime.....

.Love.

Rachel

 

Earth Day Tomato Tutorial

Happy Earth Day!  To celebrate, I planted my tomato seeds.  I know it's really late to start them inside, but ya know, sometimes life gets in the way.  Anyway, I decided to try upside down tomato planting this year.

Last year, we planted heirloom tomatoes and they looked gorgeous until late June, then they got a nasty late blight, which I've heard is getting worse along the east coast.  The leaves turned yellow and fell off, and by fall, most of the plants were dead.  We tried Serenade, an organic fungicide, but it didn't seem to help.  The cucumbers and watermelons didn't fare so well either.

Anyway, it was my hope that by planting this year's tomatoes far away from the garden and in the air, maybe they wouldn't get the blight.  After all, summer isn't summer without tomatoes!

To be frank, I couldn't really afford a topsy turvy.  Plus, the reviews on amazon are actually quite horrible. Instead, I made my own upside down planter from a regular old pot.  After I finished planting the seeds, I realized I should have just turned it right side up and had tomato hanging baskets, but I was trying to mimic the upside down topsy turvy.  

1.  First, I found two old planters.  They already had holes in the bottom, but I cut them with scissors and made them a bit larger.

2.  Next, I flipped them upside down and filled them to the top with potting soil.  It's a good idea to leave about a 1/2" of free space at the top.

3.  I covered the planter with a scrap piece of wood.  It's not exactly pretty, but it works.  Once I had the wood on the top of the planter, I flipped the pot back over.

4.  Lastly, I planted the seeds in the top of the container.  I sprinkled about 5 seeds in each hole, covered them with dirt, and lightly packed them down.  Later I'll see which seedlings start out the strongest and pull the others out.

5.  And we've got a taker!  The first little seedling makes an appearance.  Some of the other seeds are starting to sprout too.  Once the plants get around 5"-10" high, I'll flip the planter over so that the plants are growing upside down.  I'll use the hooks from a hanging basket to hang the planter on my porch.

6.  I started some more seeds inside.  I'll probably transplant some to the ground, and the others into planters.  I hope to also have a few tomato plants in hanging baskets (the right way up, not upside down!).

I really hope some of these tomato plants produce.  I'll update this post as the plants progress.  In conclusion, happy Earth Day!  Go plant something!

: )
Rachel

Spring Giveaway!

Spring breaaaaaaaak! One of the perks of teaching is that you do get a (much much much needed) break from the kiddies. The week leading up to vacation was incredibly long: Wednesday felt like Friday, Thursday felt like I wasn't going to make it, and Friday was numbness from such a long week. And then there was nothing but relaxation (finally!). Having a break from teaching school has given me time to think about what's going on at ajoeynamedroo. I am going to be phasing out some of the more "wintery" products, as well as those that don't get as much love, in favor of brighter, more spring appropriate picks like the Lemon Meringue Pie Body Butter.

Many of the balms in the black recycled tubes will be going on sale. They are especially wonderful for boys with chapped lips; toting around a manly black lip balm tube is very cool, trust me. My favorite of these flavors is definitely the Root Beer balm. I'm also thinking of discontinuing the Wild Mint & Ivy scented scrubs. I love the fragrance, but it doesn't sell as well as some of the other scrubs, most notably the Strawberry Shortcake and the Cafe Mocha scrub. Between these two, Strawberry Shortcake is my favorite (though I did read somewhere that coffee can help reduce cellulite. I don't know if it's true, but it smells great anyway!).

So - things to look forward to. I'm going to start making VEGAN pigmented balms using mica. You've got to watch out for colored lip products: many of them contain carmine, a pigment made of crushed up beetles. Yuck! Anyway, mine will of course be free of all animal product, including beetle bodies. I'm also going to add watermelon to my lip balm flavors. I've also got all the ingredients for a lemon poppyseed sugar scrub. It's going to have real poppyseeds in it for exfoliation, in addition to the sugar. I'm a little obsessed with lemon fragrance right now - I think it's the weather. Until the scrub is ready, you can always grab the deliciously scented Lemon Sugar cuticle cream. It's one of my favorites.

And that brings us to the giveaway! To celebrate new beginnings and new products, you can enter to win a $20 gift certificate to ajoeynamedroo.  You may leave a separate comment for each entry.  Please make sure we have a way of getting in contact with you if you're the winner.

1. Mandatory entry: follow our blog and leave a comment telling us your favorite item from ajoeynamedroo.

Additional entries:
2. Fan us on Facebook
3. Follow us on twitter

4. Tweet about this giveaway and mention @ajoeynamedroo for one entry
5. Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back to it here
6. Heart ajoeynamedroo on etsy

7. Comment on any of the other posts on this blog, then come back here and tell us which one.

The contest is open internationally and will end May 2nd.  We will choose the winner via random.org.  Thank you for supporting ajoeynamedroo. While our giveaway is active, you can also use the coupon code SPRINGCLEAN for a whopping 20% off everything at ajoeynamedroo. Happy shopping!