special and unique handmade and upcycled jewlery

As a big fan of eco-friendly anything, as well as handmade items, I wanted to share a group of items from another Southern California etsy seller. Kim at Circles are Forever features unique and handpainted pins, buttons, earrings, ornaments, rings and pendants in her etsy store.http://www.circlesareforeever.etsy.com . Panda pirate one of my faves, can be worn as a pin or pendant (Im actually making an upcycled felted bag he is going to be part of) and when I can decide which to give and which to keep, the rings are an early start on my Christmas gifts. They are shiny, adjustable and amazing in detail in the painting. Plus, it is keeping bottlecaps out of landfills and channeling creativity and unique design and expression. She has many great styles in her shop and even her packaging is repurposed. Check out the box everything arrived in.Custom made out of cereal boxes for a fun and colorful treat. That itself is a great gift box and specially sized for her products.

About to read a book - mixed feelings already

Ok, so this has nothing to do with knitting, or etsy. I work a few blocks away from the public library, and go in to check out what new dvd's they have and books on breaks. Today, while getting some movies to throw in while working on some knitting, I walked by a book related to Chinese Medicine in the sustainability section.

The book is "Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn" two substances used in ancient medicine for herbal properties. It addresses the black market trading of endangered animals / species which unfortunately exists - even though the substances are actually illegal both to prescribe and purchase.

Anyways, the cause for venting is on the back of teh book, several comments brought up the attention getting things like the traditional uses are not known to be effective, etc..... and some of the stuff that counteracts the steps forward alternative and traditional medicines are making in acceptance in medical community. I am curious enough about how they perceive and discuss the use of acupuncture and herbs that I will be starting to read tonight - since seems like the type of thing patients and potential patients could ask about. However, I was not exactly looking for a serious book to read since also have several knitting relates projects that I am working on, as well as going through my recipe collection.

blogspot vs typepad

Okay, so I admit it. I have two different blogs for different businesses. That is common these days. However, I am finding pluses and minuses of each account. I would love to hear others experiences with different blog hosting services and fees. Because, although I love the way my other blog is formatted, and how great it looks for what I am doing with it (promoting a pilates business and using it as platform for website), I am also looking at places to cut expenses and seeing that I get traffic, but have not gotten any business from it in the year it has been up. Here is the link http://www.pilatesformindandbody.com

plus have lots of content ready to add, and realizing concernef about taking the time, and not actually promoting business. hmmmm