the green gal

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: Howies

I heart Howies.

dress, jacket, cardigan

The thing with Howies is that I want it all. The clothes, the lifestyle, the rugged outdoor, the cosy indoors, the hairstyles… it's so aspirational while also feeling totally achievable. But it's not just about how good it all looks, the clothes are made with as little impact on the environment as possible and they're made to last. Organic cotton is used for jeans, shirts, t-shirts, dresses, tops and skirts, the jacket above is made from 100% recycled polyester (the stuffing is down so it really would feel like you're wrapped up in a duvet!), and that beautiful cardi is 100% lambswool. 

When you have clothes as beautful, as eco-friendly, as well made and as long-lasting as these, why buy cheap, sweatshop-made clothes that will last one wash before falling apart? 

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: Love Eco

I first came across Love Eco years ago and bought my mum one of their chicken doorstops. One of the things I love about this online store is that you can always find ethical and eco goodies that you don't see anywhere else, the three pictured are perfect examples. 

T-shirt, vinyl record clock, socks

The T-shirt looks so comfy and cool and is made from a new eco fabric called Eucalytus Tencel. It seems there are lots of uses for vinyl records, besides listening to the music on them, but this record clock can be sat on a desktop with its folded edge or hung on a wall. And as for these socks, they come in several gorgeous colours plus, when you buy one pair another pair is given to a street child in Mongolia. Feels pretty good to me. 

I know what's going on my Christmas wish list…

Early Christmas bird offer at the green gables

Why wait till December and have a mad rush to get all your Christmas present shopping done when you can take advantage of this special offer and be finished before the end of November?! 

I'm giving you £5 off when you spend £20 or more at the green gables for the whole of November. Plus, as always, you don't have to pay for postage and packaging on orders over £30. Just use the code NX5 at the checkout before 30 November to receive your £5 off.

You're a lovely bunch and have been so supportive of my new business, especially since I made the giant leap to work full-time on the green gables, so I hope you can take advantage of this offer. And, if I can spread out the Christmas order rush a bit more evenly over November as well as December my life will be a smidgen less crazy stressful – this way we all win! 

So, pootle on over to www.thegreengables.co.uk and have a wander around. And if you're still at the gift and wish list writing stage, this free printable might be useful…!

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: EcoCentric

I'm writing this week's pretty and planet-friendly find post while it's 0º outside and with a roaring fire inside, so it's safe to say I'm feeling quite wintery. And that's probably why I'm drawn to the warm, cosy products on today's gem – the web shop ecocentric.co.uk. This website has so many fabulously stylish items it was a real challenge to narrow down the choice to just three:

tea light holder, blanket, wallpaper

I love snuggling under a blanket on a chilly evening and EcoCentric has several pure wool beauties to choose from. The one above is made from rare breed Jacob wool using traditional looms in Scotland, and as each sheep's colouring is unique, so is each blanket. I'm really rather taken with this mustardy yellow wallpaper, it would look fab as a feature wall, plus it's printed with eco-friendly inks on PEFC paper. And what's a firelit evening without a spot of candle light too, would you have guessed it's recycled glass?

Stylish and sustainable, I love it.

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: People Tree

I'm on a mission to prove that pretty can be planet-friendly and green can be gorgeous. Every week I will bring you an artist or business that creates items that are not only eco and ethically produced but are also beautiful, you can read my first post which explains a bit more here.

This week I give you People Tree. If you're not already familiar with the company I can tell you they design and produce stunning clothing and accessories for women, men and children AND have inspirational ethics. People Tree have collections by Emma Watson (yes, she of Harry Potter fame) which has helped bring their ethical clothes to the discerning teenager's attention. They meet the fair trade standards set by the World Fair Trade Organisation, you can read more about their policies here. 

And quite frankly, their clothes are just plain gorgeous:

dress, pyjamas, cardigan

It was tough to only pick three items, especially when they make such great ranges for men and kids too, so I stuck to women and went for my favourite pieces. Check out People Tree online and you'll see for yourself how stylish and cutting edge organic and fair trade fashion can be.

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: eco-eco.co.uk

The long-held belief that eco-friendly products are unattractive and over-priced is one that I am trying to dispel. The view that a product to be made from recycled materials must be of a lower quality, that fair trade means 'foreign-looking', that organic fabric is dull-coloured, and that for all of these a sky-high premium is automatically slapped on the price irks me enormously! There may be some high street chains who think eco and ethical products should scream greenness by looking worthy and lacking in design but they're not representative of the beautiful stationery, housewares and fashion available.

So, I plan to bring you pretty and planet-friendly products from around the www, to prove that you can have gorgeously designed, top quality, fairly priced items that don't compromise on standards – visually, ethically or environmentally.

I'm starting this week with a gorgeous trio from eco-eco.co.uk:

Lolita hand-painted cups

Eva & Lolita hand-painted jugs

Eva hand-painted cups

I love this set of matching jugs and cups, I can see them sitting comfortably on kitchen tables with their timeless quality while looking on trend. 

I'd love to know what ravishing and responsibly-made treasures you've found on your travels so hook me up!

FSC Friday special offer

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Today is FSC Friday. What might that be? Every year this day promotes and celebrates responsible forestry (ie the planting, growing and harvesting of trees while caring for the surrounding environment and communities). FSC stands for the Forest Stewardship Council and they are the organisation who check that forests all over the world meet their high environmental and social standards (you can read more about FSC here).

Put simply, FSC paper is produced without detriment to our planet and people.

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As you probably know, I am a big fan of FSC, all the paper products I design and create for my business, the green gables, are made with FSC and recycled paper. All the paper products I use in my work and personal life, whether it be printer paper or toilet paper, are FSC and recycled too!

So, to celebrate FSC Friday, for today only you can get 10% off all paper products – decorations, stationery and framed prints – at thegreengables.co.uk. Plus, because it's the last day of September my FREE P&P offer is still valid – so that's a double whammy of bargain eco-friendly buying! Just enter the code FSCFriday at the checkout to receive your discount.

The Challenge is over

In February 2010 I set myself the challenge of not buying any new clothes for a year. I allowed myself to buy secondhand clothes from charity or vintage shops, or make my own (that never happened), you can read my original post here. 

So, a year and a few months on, how did I do? Well, since the official end of challenge on 23 February 2011 I have bought a pair of tights. Yep, that's it. And that was only because I felt I should buy something (why I don't know), plus I fancied wearing plum coloured tights. 

A year of not going in clothes shops and recycling catalogues without opening them seems to have retrained my brain to just not think of clothes shopping. I don't buy the usual women's mags so I don't get tempted from that direction either. 

So, what have I been wearing the past year? I won't bore you with numerous snaps of jumpers and tops and dresses, but I thought I'd show you a couple of nice little outfits I found secondhand, just to show I've not been walking round looking like a slob the whole time:

The dress, belt and cardigan all came from charity shops, the leggings are a few years old, the boots were a brilliant find in a Monsoon sale about seven years ago (not sure how many more times they can be resoled), and I bought the vintage necklace at the Bath handmade and vintage fair I had a stall at last Christmas. The dress was too big and needed taking in but this is now one of my favourite outfits to wear.

This is a piccie from last summer. The belt is from a charity shop and my lovely friend, Kirsty, found the dress in her local charity shop and kindly redonated it to me. A little bit of adjustment to fit and it's a perfect summer frock.

And lastly, a little bit of glamour (I know, I'm trying and failing to pull of the Audrey Hepburn look)! I found this 1950s shift dress in my local vintage clothes store, called Shrewd, and it fits so perfectly I just had to have it. The brooch was found in a charity shop, as were the shoes – I had to have them because they're green and they fit but the heels are a bit scarily high for me. I love this outfit, even if I struggle to walk in the heels!

Thanks for your support and encouragement over the past year, it definitely helped to know that the wider world knew about the challenge I set myself and would hold me to account over it! If you're thinking of doing something similar I say go for it! If, like me, you're not a big new fashion buff you probably won't find it too hard. 

The challenge has really raised my interest in vintage clothing and, knowing I've given a second life to some really lovely clothes that also only cost me a fraction of their original cost, and that I've saved them from possibly being landfilled, has made me smile a lot over the past year. I'm sure I will end up buying the odd item of new clothing but my attitude towards clothes shopping has definitely changed for good.

Ready for my close-up

Yesterday was not an average day at the green gables. I spent the morning tidying and beautifying my garden studio and the afternoon being photographed in it. 

A few months ago I was contacted by Sian Berry, writer and green campaigner, as she was interested in featuring me as a case study in her new book, Junk for Joy. After I got over the shock I agreed, of course. We had a lovely chat all about the creations I make, in particular those made from recycled materials, such as my Remade service where I take treasured pieces of clothing and remake them into new pieces to use or display or give as gifts.

find it here

Junk for Joy is a follow-up to Mend It!, all about helping you to fix an item rather than automatically binning it. Junk for Joy focuses on recycling old into new and I think there are three other people featured as case studies as well as me.

So then I come to yesterday. Sarah Cuttle, the photographer who worked on Mend It!, and her assistant, Issy, arrived to take photos of me (only a few of those, thank goodness) and lots of my handmade products. They were quite taken with my shirt cushions and wildflower paper bunting. 

It is universally agreed that a quite nasty shirt can make a quite lovely cushion cover

They were so lovely and friendly and made me feel at ease in front of the camera, no mean feat I can tell you! It was fascinating to watch them at work on the still life shots, I hope I've picked up a trick or two to improve my own photography skills.

I think until yesterday I didn't really believe it's happening – that I am really going to be featured in a book! For my career to date I've been the writer behind the scenes so to be the subject, all be it a small one among many, feels quite different and v exciting!

Junk for Joy is published by Kyle & Cathie in September and I'm really looking forward to getting loads of ideas and tips from Sian as well as reading about the other featured folk. I'll be sure to tell you all about it as soon as I get my hands on a copy.

Wedding fever

It can't have escaped your notice that a certain event is taking place in a couple of months' time. Members of the royal family have had weddings since Prince Charles and Lady Diana in July 1981 but none of them have been as talked about or as looked forward to as much as the forthcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Sorry, Catherine, we're supposed to call her that as that is her actual name, plus she'll be Princess and one day Queen Catherine, not Kate.

I'm not a royalist but I do quite like the royal family, they have their uses to say the least, plus I just really, really like William and Kate (I'll call her Princess Catherine when she is, honest). They seem like two lovely people who are very much in love and that's lovely to see, whoever they are.

So, I decided to join in the festivities and make a special length of bunting, purely to celebrate the happy occasion. This is also my first foray into drawing and creating my own patterns, and I have to say, I like it a lot! This is just the start, there will be more to come!

Made from FSC-certified, thick paper, the royal red, white and blue paper heart bunting will only be available for a limited period, as it is designed especially for all the fab street parties and gatherings which will be taking place all over the country. I'm offering it in a extra long length of 5m as well as the usual 2.5m length. I've already promised to take some to a royal wedding brunch party a friend is having on the big day. You can find it here at the green gables shop. Hope you like it!