You - Raheem Devaughn by Niknik78

Little Star - Fair Trade Eco Recycled Handbag

These handbags and beach bags are made by women who live in the slums areas of Chennai India. Many of these women are widows or have been abandoned by their husbands and many have children in their care.

The objective of the fair trade organisation is to support these women economically and socially to ensure that they are self sustainable and self confident. The fair trade organsation also provides vocational training and education facilities for young slum dwellers, in particular young girls and drop out children.

The bags that these women weave are both ethically produced and ecological. They are made with polypropylene strands which are derived from recycled plastic bags. The bags are weaved with brightly coloured recycled plastic bag strands resulting in beautiful bags perfect for everyday or the beach.

Beach Bag - Fair Trade Eco Recycled Bag

The women who weave the bags are paid a fair wage, up to double that of the market price, ensuring that they earn at least $2 a day. Yes, $2 a day, for us in the western world this seems unbelievably low. You may be surprised to learn that in India, 30% of its citizens live on less than $1/day.

The bags will be available for custom order now until February 20th, 2009. Delivery will be in March, in plenty of time for spring/summer fashion.

Big Star - Fair Trade Eco Recycled Bag

To order, one of these custom made in your colour preference click here:
Fair Trade Eco Recycled Bags

The bags are available in 5 different styles and many bright colour combinations.

Little Bo Peep - Fair Trade Eco Recycled Handbag

Untitled by vibeska

I love the big flakes that float and flutter to the ground. I love the way the flakes collectively create a sparkling crystal like blank over the ground. When the sun shines on the blank and the tree branches are layered with the snow, nothing is fresher and prettier.

Here are the only two times that I hate the snow. First I hate driving in it, especially when I have somewhere that I have to be at a given time. Last night it took me 2 1/2 hours to get somewhere that would normally only take me 35-45 minutes.

The second time that I hate the snow is when I have to shovel the driveway. Last year we had so much snow by the end of the winter I’d lost all romantic appreciation for the glistening white layer covering my driveway each morning. It had me wishing for the hot sun in a tropical land somewhere.

I also love winter fashion. Bundling up in a warm sweater, a scarf and a great pair of boots! Imagine living somewhere where you couldn’t wear boots because the weather is too hot! Not for me, I love my boots. I too like the rich winter colors, the deep reds/burgundys, greens etc. Winter fashion just has such a level of classic sophistication.

If you are in the GTA or anywhere else that has had the winter snow storm, try to remember how beautiful it is and pull out those hot boots and get out and enjoy the fresh air.

Cheers!

I don’t need to tell you that the Spring/Summer 2009 fashion weeks happened already in September and October.

New York fashion week started September 5th. One source I like to use to see all the shows since I don’t always have time to go is Style.com. I find this site to be excellent. You can look at the shows via video or sideshow.

Here are a couple of my observations for upcoming trends for Spring/Summer (just in case you are already feeling sad that summer is over, fall is here and winter is just around the corner.

Colours
Yes white, we expect this for spring/summer - but also pretty soft colours such indigo blue, pastels such as pink along with bright colour like yellow and red. Black too had it’s time on the runway.

There was a lot of red and yellow on the runway.

Leggings/Tights
The leggings/tights trend doesn’t seem to be over, we’ve been seeing these for several seasons now. For spring/summer 2009 the fun factor has been dialed up. We’re starting this fall to see tights worn like socks and this continues into spring, with lighter colours and sheer styles.

Modern Hippie/70s
Flowing frocks with 70s style prints, long, multi strand bead necklaces, long hair, partially tied back with a string hair band, mixed with modern pieces like ankle boots.

Textures and Patterns
From flowing sheer to silk to sequins to techno fabrics. Plain solids to ethnic prints to architectural designs.

Jewelry
Armful of jewels - bangles and layers of jeweled bracelets that go three quarters of the way up the arm to the elbow. Long multi strands of beads, chunky bib jewel style necklaces (continued from this fall), ethnic/African style necklaces, chunky chains, chandelier earrings/shoulder dusters, arm bands, chunky Lucite/acrylic necklaces, bangles and rings.

Now once we get through winter we’ll be looking forward to these beautiful spring and summer fashions.

I had planned to write this blog a couple weeks ago after returning from San Francisco and area however you know how it is, time slips away. In this post I’m going to write about wine tasting in the Livermore area.

While in the bay area I was staying with my husband who is on a contract in the Tri Valley area (Pleasanton, San Ramon, Danville, Walnut Creek cities). About 20 minutes from where we are staying is a small wine producing region called Livermore. There are a number of small wineries and a couple of larger more well known wineries such as Wente.

Joe and I have appreciated Wente for many years but don’t find it so accessible here in Ontario any more.

On a Friday, Joe had to work in the morning but planned for the afternoon with me so we decided that a visit to Wente would be a good plan short drive and free tastings.

Wente Patio

Long intro to Wente - here we go.

At the time we visited there were three flight choices.
1. Estate Grown Flight - Free
2. Harvest Flight - $5
3. Winemakers Flight - $10

Pretty good value considering that Napa wineries often start at $15 for a flight. More on Napa tastings without breaking the bank in a future post.

We decided to give the free tasting a try and thought we could go from there. Surprise, we liked all five wines in the free tasting. Not all of them would become our favorite or on our regular shopping list but we enjoyed all of them.

Here are the wines we tried:
2007 Louis Me Sauvignon Blanc
2007 Riverbank Riesling (we liked it so much we bought a bottle)
2005 Smith Bench Zinfandel
2005 Charles Wetmore Cabernet Sauvignon

The Sauv was my least favorite, there are many other Sauvs I like much more but all were very drinkable.

My suggestion is if you are in the area give them a try. There is also a little Italian winery right next door that also offers Free/Complimentary tastings.

The area is not as pretty or charming as Napa/Sonoma but it is definitely worth a visit in my opinion.

Amusing Myself by Saphyra Runa (away sewing)