Archive for the ‘Jewellery & Accessories’ Category
Well – with the dramatic weather this weekend there is no doubting that winter is on the way. Time therefore to put away those straw bags that have been so useful over the summer (but can get a bit soggy in the rain!), and find something a little more practical for the winter season.
We’ve been selling Earth Squared handbags for 3 years now and they sell extremely well in our shop. At £30 they are reasonable enough to give as a gift, and aren’t too extravagant to splash out on one for yourself either. With new designs coming each year they are also becoming a bit of a collector’s item – and as every girl knows you can never have too many handbags!
We’ve just added the 2010 range to the green tulip website – click here to see the whole range. The bestselling Grey Spot Lara bag is back for the third time – it must be the timeless elegance that makes it such a popular bag – and there are also two great new colours in the Lara bag – a funky green tweed and a smart grey felt.
Also in the range is a new style for 2010 – the Lola bag – slightly narrower than the Lara bag but with the same functional chain handles as well as a stylish curved design and the very ‘on trend’ contrasting zip! We have two options – a rich Aubergine wool and an elegant beige tweed.
Its also important to remember the other great benefit of buying an Earth Squared bag – the support you know it is giving their workers in Northern Vietnam. After all it’s great to buy a fair trade gift for a women and know it will help other women across the world.
All employees used to make the bags are over 18 years old; are paid 4 times the national minimum wage and working conditions all abide by fair trade criteria. Working as a seamstress or in quality control, for example, a person can earn on average $100 per month which will allow the family to have a reasonable standard of living and also send their children to school and on to higher education. Earth Squared also go a step further and pay national insurance for each staff member which covers medical costs and provides a pension for retirement all of which is above the national legal requirements.
Have you seen our range of recycled glass jewellery? I’m constantly fascinated by the ways in which glass can be reused and recycled. How something that can seem so fragile and so entirely broken one moment can be miraculously turned into something new the next seems inspiring.
This range from Green Glass is made from the pieces of glass that are left over when they make their popular bottle glasses and the beautiful finish is definitely a nod towards the fact that the company is based on the coast in Cornwall! Originally inspired by washed up chunks of glass many of the products also have a mix of a shiny and matt texture – just as real ‘drift glass’ does.
The lovely range of colours is primarily inspired by the sea – the greens, blue and turquoises are the most popular. And with the bracelets £7.00 and the necklaces £11.00 (both come with a gift box too) they make a great value gift, but are also reasonable enough to pop one in the basket for yourself!
Following on from my post about the wonderful Leakey Collection a few weeks ago I have now added the funky Zulusport range to the Green Tulip website. The Zulusport necklaces and bracelets are made from the same mix of vibrantly died grass and glass beads as the versatile single strands, but this time they are made into simple bracelet and necklace lengths.
The great thing about the Zulusport range is that it appeals to such a wide range of ages. I like to layer a few bracelets up, mixing colours that coordinate with what i am wearing, but if I’m honest i find the necklaces a bit short for someone of my age! However they are perfect for teenagers who tend to layer them up over a t-shirt – no doubt in colours that don’t co-ordinate at all with what they are wearing… And my 7 year old daughter loves them too – she chooses a matching necklace and bracelet, preferably in pink, with a heart or a ladybird charm (not that she’s particular or anything!).
Do take a look at the range on the Green Tulip – it’s perfect for sending as a gift because it is so light, and you may also spot something you want to treat yourself to too!
One of my favourite ranges on the Green Tulip website (and one which I wear most days!) has always been the Zulugrass jewellery. Zulugrass is a unique and versatile type of jewellery made from vibrantly dyed grass combined with sparkling hand blown Czech glass beads – all threaded onto a strong elasticated thread.
Jewellery wise is is bright, simple and so easy to wear. But it is the story that makes it really special…
Katy and Philip Leakey came up with the idea for Zulugrass after seeing the effect of the 2001 severe drought on the people of the Kenyan bush, where they live. They wanted to help the local community by providing work opportunities without interfering with local culture, and so came up with an idea that would utilise the traditional jewellery-making skills of the Maasai women whilst their men had to drive their few remaining cattle hundreds of miles away to search for better grazing.
The Massai women like to work with the freedom to come and go as their lives dictate so the work is offered in non-factory settings at “nomadic” work stations which span over 150 miles in the Rift Valley in Kenya. Each woman can choose to work when she wants to, and is paid by the piece. They now provide work for more than 1,400 Maasai women during peak seasons.
The project was a finalist in the BBC World Challenge ’08 awards which recognises small businesses around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass-roots level.
Do visit our Green Tulip website to see the range for yourself and keep an eye on the website over the coming months as we are going to be adding the new funky Zulusport range as well as the readymade ‘Multi-Strand’ Necklaces (not to mention the full 100 colours in the bestselling single strands). The only problem you’ll have is how to choose…!