Zachary Smith and Sevenly

Although I don't get to wander around the internet as much as I used to, I still manage to come across some cool, shareable stuff every now and then.  Today's share is via designworklife.com, and features the art of Zachary Smith.  Zachary does hand lettering and typographic art.  I do love the swoops and swirls of hand lettering, and that it makes the words as beautiful as the thoughts they express. Zachary builds one more layer on this by merging his lettering and inspiring phrases with his photographs to make some beautiful images, many of which he features on his Instagram account.

Zachary also contributes to Sevenly, an online store that sells t-shirts and prints of artist-made designs and gives $7 of each purchase to charity.  The designs are more than pretty; they seek to help raise awareness for the different organizations that Sevenly supports.  Each week Sevenly introduces a new charity partner and a new design. To date they have raised over $4 Million for various charities.

I love this business model!  Support artists - check.  Create beautiful, quality merchandise - check. Make a meaningful contribution to change - check.  Raise awareness of deserving charities - check. Make money and build a successful business - check!

Why not build a business around making a difference?  Why not shop and give to charity at the same time? I bristle at the idea that somehow these things should be kept separate, that giving to charity is simply a marketing gimmick to sell more merchandise.  I instead see a business with a soul, but that's not to say the former isn't out there as well.

How do you feel about "capitalist philanthropy"?

Shopping for a good cause: Invisible Children

Invisible Children and its campaign against Joseph Kony attracted a huge amount of media attention earlier in the year, not all of it positive.  In my mind, it was a powerful and effective use of social and traditional media to not only bring specific African atrocities to light, but also to successfully engage and mobilize people in a 'new school' grassroots effort to make change happen.

The organization continues to work hard towards its goals, and this holiday season it has launched an online store selling artisanal African goods, including beautiful jewellery, bags, scarves, and shoes, with 100% of the profits going towards supporting Invisible Children's mission.  100% - astounding!  Now, having worked in many a non-profit organization, I know that there are many ways to explain the distribution and allocation of funds, and it is easy to nit-pick a claim such as this.  However, it beats the pants off buying pink nail polish and having 2% (or sometimes 0% - see "pink-washing") go towards fighting breast cancer.  And the products are both gorgeous and affordable!  I call that a win-win-win.  Now let's look at the pretty:

So many beautiful things - I don't think there is one thing on there I wouldn't love to have (with special love for bracelets).  The scarves, bags and shoes are equally awesome (and the shoes are produced in collaboration with Canadian-based Oliberté Shoes).  So if you have anyone left on your holiday list...start shopping!

Hand in Hand

I love this bracelet from Kate Spade - all the more knowing that 25% of sales will be donated to Women For Women International, which helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives.

If you visit the Women for Women site now, you can send a very meaningful Mother's Day Card to your mom, or any mother you admire, for a small donation.  Brilliant.

Giveaway - Frankie Ferragine's new book!

Recognize this guy?  If you don't live in Toronto, the answer might well be no.  But if you DO live in Toronto, you probably recognize Frank Ferragine aka Frankie Flowers as the weather guy from Breakfast Television (he has been Toronto's Favourite Weather Personality 6 years running).  He also has a gardening segment on Breakfast Television, is a contributing garden writer for Canadian Living and Canadian Gardening, is the gardening expert on CityLine, writes a weekly column in the Toronto Sun promoting local food, farming, and cuisine, and has just launched his new book, pictured above: Get Growing.  And now, most importantly, he and his garden design teammate Beth Edney of Teamscape have signed on to our George Herman House Project.  I can't quite believe how big this project has gotten, with Frankie and sponsors like Ikea Canada, Tonic Living, Bona Vista Pools, and Mastermind Toys on board.  It is amazing - I am so happy to see such a great cause get so much support.

So here is the cool part for you, and the terrifying part for me: the giveaway.  See, I have never done one of these...(what if no one comments?)...  However, for the good of the cause, and because it is the exciting start of gardening season, I am thrilled to squash my inner-wimp and give one of my lucky readers a copy of Frankie's new book!  To enter, simply leave a comment below describing your gardening skills.  Could you have written this thing, or are you confused by all the greenery pictured above?  Do you speak fertilizer (25-10-10...huh?), or have you been known to melt plastic flowers?  It's ok... no judgement here... :)  If you tweet about the giveaway (and use #bloggersgiveback) leave another comment for an extra entry.  Good luck!  To inspire you to "get growing", I leave you with some photos I took this weekend -such glorious weather!

Blogger Smackdown

OK, that might be false advertising, there will not actually be a smackdown.  However, Miss Lindsay has done a fabulous montage of all of the mood boards contributed to the George Herman House project and now there is a wee contest on to vote for your favourite.  The winner gets to be called the winner, and isn't that the best prize of all?  I just loved seeing how 13 different people imagine the perfect garden, they were each so different and amazing.  I would happily spend my days in each and every one!  Head on over and check them out and leave comment with your pick.  And anything you feel you could donate is of course most appreciated - we have decided to accept anything up to April 1 and then assess what we have the means to accomplish, so if you are thinking of helping out, you now have a specific date to aim for! 

Click here to donate!

George Herman House update

 

 

Lindsay has been working hard on the George Herman House garden project.  She has taken some more photos and measurements in order for us to get a better idea of the space, and suggested we might want to take a crack at some mood boards to get the creative juices flowing.  She also found Tonic Living to generously offer outdoor fabrics. Meanwhile Jen has secured a fantastic donation of all the outdoor furniture from Ikea Canada, and Tim wrangled a wealth of donated plants.  We also have Bona Vista Pools/ Landscapes donating some accessories, and a cash donation of $500!  Not a bad start, right? 

With all that in mind, I hopped on Olioboard to try my hand at this mood board thing.  Ooooh golly it is addictive!  Can I have a career in this?? 

I am no garden designer by ANY stretch of the imagination, but just put together some of the Ikea furniture I liked, with fabrics and pillows from Tonic Living. You can't go wrong with a big, comfy sectional to stretch out on, with a big ottoman for snacks.  My idea of an easy, low-maintenance garden is to use potted plants and I love the look of Boston Ferns outside. Believe it or not they adore our southern-Ontario summers. And red geraniums are favourites of mine - simple but with a hint of Europe (they make me think of Italian window sills and terraces), and such cheerful red colour. (I also like the red mixed with the hot pink colour!) And for fabic colours, you can't go wrong with a bright grassy green, sunny yellow, and red accents. Cheerful, easy-going, and low maintenance!  Add some lemonade and a good book, and Bob's your uncle.

What do you think?  Does this ever make me excited to get outside this summer...

To help with this projects, please feel free to visit the bloggersgiveback.com site, where there is a PayPal button to make it easy.  Any other donations - of time, supplies, advice, etc. - are happily and gratefully accepted as well.  Thanks for reading!

Japanese Disaster

This footage is terrifying and illustrates the deadly speed with which the tsunami destroyed towns and cities in Japan.  The internet is full of way to help but here are a few from cbc.ca that can be used by Canadians:

Humanitarian Coalition

Under the banner of the Humanitarian Coalition, four aid agencies —CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada — have joined together to raise funds for Japan relief operations.

Phone: 1-800-464-9154

Website: www.together.ca

Canadian Red Cross

The Canadian Red Cross is also encouraging Canadians to support relief, evacuation and emergency response efforts with donations to its Japan Earthquake/Asia-Pacific Tsunami fund. Wireless users can text ASIA to 30333 to donate $5 to relief efforts.

Phone: 1-800-418-1111

Website: www.redcross.ca

Doctors Without Borders

Medical and logistics teams from Doctors Without Borders were racing to the worst-hit areas in Japan's Iwate and Miyagi prefectures by helicopter, as roads are blocked by flooding. The organization relies mainly on donations to support field operations for medical assistance.

Phone: 1-800-982-7903

Website: www.msf.ca

Federal government

Canadians can also find out how to provide assistance to Japan through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade website, where there is a list of experienced humanitarian organizations. 

George Herman House

As you all may have figured out by now, I love blogs.  I find them endlessly inspiring and interesting, from my mommy blogs, to my design blogs, to my marketing geek-out blogs.  To all my non-blog-following friends and family, who wonder what on earth could keep me on the computer for so many hours, I equate them to online magazines - lots of pretty pictures and articles to peruse.  But the great thing about blogs is that they are written (for the most part) by one person, and by following their posts, links, projects, and even tweets, you really feel like you get to know the author.

I have discovered in the last 6 months or so that there is an incredible community of like-minded blog-lovers in Toronto, who share amazing ideas and have loads of personality.  One of these writers, Lindsay of Little House Blog, mentioned that she was going to volunteer with the George Herman House to spruce up a sad and forlorn garden for their residents, and wanted to know if anyone else would be interested in helping out.  I looked up the George Herman House and found an amazing transitional house helping women with mental and emotional troubles learn to respect and care for themselves, and signed up to help in any way I could. When I think of the hours of enjoyment I get out of my garden, I can't help but imagine how a lovely and tranquil space would help these women out.

This, however, is not going to cut it:

So how are we going to help?  Well, I certainly intend to get my hand dirty, and I am sure more volunteers for that would be appreciated.  But there are also the supplies, the plants, the materials, the skilled labour, and of course the fundraising.  We are working on all of the above, and if there is any way that you feel like you could contribute, we would love to hear it!  You can leave a comment or any advice here, or head over to Bloggers Give Back to find out more details or make a tax-receiptable contribution.  To follow our plans on twitter, search the hashtag #bloggersgiveback.  I can't wait to share the after photos!