Avast!

2009-07-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

And so the new collection is coming together- here's a quick look book of what we can expect in the coming months in The Dark Woods!

The Justified Sinner

At World's End

Skingraft

Gypsy Moon (why do their models often look like they're about to cut your throat?)

KMRii - I love these belts, they look like dragon hide!

A stranger in these parts

2009-07-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

When the brownies rule Bartertown

I have neglected these dark woods too long. But not for much longer- I've been working on a collection for the new shop that often comes out more sparkly than I'd like it to and so it becomes Dark Wood fodder.

Fairy flies

It seems a hard lesson for me to learn that minimalism is an option. Darn natural maximisation tendencies!

Midnight creatures

2009-05-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Inspiration- Eco Warriors

2009-04-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

I was born wild- from a young age I would refuse shoes and underpants, run away to the trees the minute mum's back was turned, always dragging home some odd branch or leaves or mushrooms- 'anything naturey' in Mum's words. I never did belong to the polished and pretty and princess.

Lights and Shadow

When I was in my early 20s I met my first real group of friends. I'd had friends before that of course, but no one who I really felt 'got' me. The new people I met moved into a house my brother moved out of, and I just gravitated toward them. They accepted me into their circle right away, no questions, no queries. They accepted and embraced everything about me- every secret thought I had never told others was suddenly warmly welcome. After a very short while I became like them- I always was rather like them, but they helped me to nurture and bring forward that part of me that I had kept hidden.

That part was the wild part, and those people were called Ferals.

Catina Jane

Ferals is a uniquely Australian term- most other countries use it to describe domestic animals that have gone rough in the countryside and overthrow the originally occurring wildlife. I suppose we adopted the term because we all felt to be domestic souls, going back to the wild. We wanted to overthrow the status quo, make people take notice. All over the world we're known as travellers, crusties, rainbow tribe, bush punks or eco punks.

Mike Brodie, from the Flickrstream of grrrlhammer

We tangled our hair in dreadlocks, made our own clothes from thrift shop cast offs, adopted vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic and Hare Krshna style diets and made our own everything- furniture, houses, even sanitary products. We raided neglected orchards outside town and made jam, grew our own veggies, shopped for groceries in large groups- sometimes from the large dumpsters behind the supermarket where food waste existed in sickening levels. We held up home-made banners and protested the wrongs we saw around us. We almost never wore shoes.

Prickly Fish

Almost all this is gone in my life now. People still do it, marvellously, but I am no longer in that inner circle. Exactly why I can't say- I tried other things I suppose, I got bored with the daily thing and explored other parts of me. I was never an extremist- I knew that the world must and always will go on as it pleases, and that not everything is 'greenable'. The majority of my friends 'sold out' and now work in call centres, fancy resturants, etc. Almost no one I know still treads the path of the feral.

(unknown artist.)

Today was apparently Earth Day- millions of people all over the Great Green Mother went about their token ways of pretending they care about the future of Gaia (ooh, there's my sarcastic side).

(I'm in there somewhere!)

So this post isn't just an inspiration post, it's a thank you post. Thank you to anyone who ever made the decision to live their life for the planet, not the planet for their life. To anyone who ever sat in a tree and shouted at log trucks, to anyone who started a recycling program in their town, to anyone who ever changed anything in their life for the future of this rock we live on.

(image taken by me on a trip to the mountains this week)

For the record, here are some tips to really live green- if you mean it that is.

1. Become a vegetarian- or better yet, a vegan. The industrialisation of our meat and dairy (particularly in the US) is the number one worst thing we do for the planet. You can drive a hummer all you want if you don't eat meat.

2. It's not what you drive, it's how you drive it. Limit your use of the beast, take out extra weight when not needed- the lighter the car the less petrol/gas you use in driving it. Do without the AC if you can, it uses extra petrol. While the jury is still out on the 'Prius is bad for the planet' line of thought, at the end of the day a car is still a car. Trying to be green with one is like walking into a coal mining company and setting up an in-office recycling scheme. It's a nice idea and every little bit helps, but it's still a coal mine.

3. Eat local? A better option is to eat seasonal. it's all very well and good to buy local tomatoes, but if they're grown out of season in a big greenhouse with lots of chemicals...that's not exactly green is it? In fact they might just be using more energy and resources as the in season ones grown in the next state.

4. Wear layers. When it gets cold just pull on another jumper, or a hat, or a scarf...it's been quite chilly here the last week and we've all done without the central heating (mostly because it needs a service and I won't let anyone use it till that happens!)

5. Wash your clothes in cold water- it uses 80% less energy that a warm/hot water wash. And don't wash anything until you can get a full load in there! Same goes for the dishes- we only wash the dishes once a day, if that. And we use the sink!

6. Turn off everything in your house that has a little red 'standby' button. Even when it's 'off' these appliances are still using electricity.

7. Use post-consumer recycled toilet paper. I don't want to go into the grizzly details of what is destroyed to make virgin paper tissue- suffice it to say I don't think we need to wipe our bums with 10,000 year old trees. Post consumer means the recycled paper has already been through the system- ordinary recycled is usually just off-cuts from the virgin paper production, and therefore is still technically virgin source.

8. Assess your waste- beyond the now ubiquitous recycling of paper and plastic, think about how you could cut down your waste. Try thinking about packaging before you buy something- it's nice to recycled but it's better to not have it at all. Re-use jars and containers to store left overs rather than cling film. Get a compost bin- if you have a bit of yard there's no reason why you can't have a compost bin. Use leaf tea instead of bags, etc. We're a household of 3 here (and a 4 year old!) and we only throw out a supermarket bag every 3 or 4 days. And lately to be honest- we're not even trying!

9. Kill the junk mail- I nearly forgot about this one because it doesn't exist here in this house. Our letterbox has a huge (rather arty) sign that states 'no un-addressed mail'. We don't belong to any paper mailing lists, get any catalogues or send off for free samples.

10. Spend more for organic. The reason organic is more expensive is not because it's 'fancy', it's because it takes more effort to grow, the yields are less (more natural levels), so there's less of it. So many of us complain about the price of food and opt for the cheapest brand- yet how much money do we waste on buying a coffee in the morning rather than making one at home, or on pointless trips to the cinema, or trinkets at the mall, or beer, or cigarettes? There are places in everyone's budget where dollars could be better spent.

I think that's enough lecturing for today. :) What do you do in your everyday life to help the planet?

Pentangle- Hunting Song

2009-04-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not usually a Youtube poster, but this is wonderful. 1970s medieval rock 'n' roll!

Good things come...

2009-04-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

...in the mailbox.

Irresistible vintage style beads from fivesisters on Etsy, taking a rest after their travels on some works in progress. The Milky Opal beads have such a fire inside!

The gates are opened

2009-04-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Dark Woods shop is under way! I have 3 things listed already, but to tell you the honest truth my little campers, I'm not that happy with my photos. They look gorgeous but from an Etsy thumbnail point of view they don't stand out much. I may have to experiment tomorrow. I have a new camera you see, and it's taking me some time to adapt to the little beasty. It is a lovely beasty though, and I am enjoying the upgrade of features!

I did advertise to have a giveaway here tonight, but my mind was distracted by the festivities of my birth anniversary and I forgot to make up a prize pack! So I shall have a giveaway tomorrow.

Inspiration- Count Olaf's house

2009-03-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Though I never (yet) made it through a single Lemony Snickett book without losing my temper, I did adore the film, totally and utterly. I didn't take my eyes from the screen the entire time.

It's rather lucky I was watching it myself, so I could sit far to close to the screen and pause it to better study some of the sets.

It was Count Olaf's house that set my heart a stir, though. (And as frightfully arrogant as he is, Olaf himself was much more attractive than I'm sure he ought to be!)

The dark, intense colours, the ragged appearance of everything, the eyes in every hidden place..I'm sure it would be no great task for me to live there.

Summer was a maiden bold...

2009-03-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sneak peak at what's in store at the Dark Woods..!

The shop will be launching on April 4th, 9pm- Melbourne time. I'll be giving away something on this blog in celebration and the first 13 orders in the Dark Woods store will receive a packet of organic incense, handmade in India from natural materials.

While you wait, why not pop over to my other blog? I'm having a giveaway there now to celebrate my one year Etsyversary. And there's currently 25% off all stock in the sparrow shop!

Stray from the path...

2009-03-25T08:53:00.001-07:00

...and join me in the dark woods!