The Earth and Its People

As part  of this year's Earth Day Celebration, here are some picks of products or initiative that for us  truly speak sustainability,  hand-crafted; in other the people creating from scratch to preserve and value the Earth.

1. Indego Africa is a non-profit organization that promotes entrepreneurship amongst African by enabling to design, create and sell accessories, artifacts...and more.

2. JEM Looking for the finest and most beautiful fair trade bling, look no further, JEM offers all this and beyond. The Paris studio based promotes fair-trade materials refined with some of the most advanced techniques.

3. Sawa Shoes are shoes made in Africa (Egypt, Ethiopia) by Africans!

4. The Body Shop's Wood Positive As part of an effort to promote a greener lifestyle, The Body Shop just  started Wood Positive, a new initiative that aims to plant and protect more trees than it uses in its supply chain. Consequently, as of this month, consumers will be able to support this initiative by purchasing those product bearing the Wood Positive logo.

5. Mast Brothers Chocolate bars, handcrafted in Brooklyn these sweet treats are as yummy as they look. Enjoy with very little moderation.

Wooden Lurve

We love these amazing wood signs hand-crafted in Minnesota by architectural designer William Dohman

Order yours on Dohman's Etsy store here.

Peace & Gold

Gotta love the Interwebs for always bringing forth the most refreshing talents. Created in 2008 by multi-talented designer Camille Peace, PeaceImages Jewelry offers original, gorgeous and affordable handmade jewelry for bling lovers (and more...). Here are some of my favorite pieces, you can shop them here.

Sam

Epitome of Cuteness

Sanrio's latest collaboration with neivz takes the word 'cuteness' to another level. The California based jewelry house teamed up with the Japanese company for a line of products made our of a wood, silver and acrylic paint and featuring some of Sanrio's most iconic characters namely Hello Kitty, Chococat, Keroppi (...) Each piece was handmade at neivz studios in California. We love!

Ankara & Lace

One can have never have too many accessories and after discovering these ' Bold and beautiful' handmade gems by Ankara & Lace, we're sure you guys will agree with us.

Hand Made by Sammy

Love these  pieces by sammy: hand made in Ethiopia a company that specializes in quality colorful accessories hand-crafted by local Ethiopian artisans.

Penguin Threads

Penguin recently teamed up with illustrator Jillian Tamaki for a series deluxe edition of some literature classics.
Each original cover was hand each stiched by the artist and  Penguin chose to offer its  readers  sculptural-embossed covers to better reflect of that one of a kind technique.

Multicolor

How original are these beautiful and colorful handmade 'clutch-purses' crafted by Jennifer Ladd.
Shop these and more on her Etsy shop.

Brooklyn Delight

On a recent visit at a Whole Foods Market, our eyes stumbled upon these stylized chocolate bars by Mast Brothers.

Mast Brothers are a team of Brooklyn based chocolate artisans that make delicious handmade chocolate in their Williamsburg atelier.

Using beans from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Madagascar and Venezuela, Rick and Michael have found a winning a formula with a packaging that is esthetically enticing and a product that is real delicacy.

Curious about their creative process, check out these superbe pictures by Todd Selby

Welcome to the Garment Factory

Welcome to tati b. and the garment factory, the beautiful universe of sisters Tatiana & Cassandra that specializes in porcelain and other goodies. Using ink & felt-tip pens Tatiana create pin-ups inspired, multi-hued illustrations that certainly give a refreshing twist to the oh-so-classic tableware.

And that is not all, tati b also offers hand-painted silk pillows, totes, placemats, magnets and the cutest passport holders - for all you jet-setters.

The duo just recently opened their on-line store, so if you don't have a chance to visit their gorgeous boutique-atelier, indulge yourself here.

Baby, I'm yours

Song: Baby I'm yours

Artists: Breakbot feat Irfane

Directors: Irina Dakeva  Christophe Deroo

Director Irina Dakeva hand-painted the 2000 (!) water color sketches that you see in the video. Some of those paintings can be seen at Colette - until July 3.

Photoshop in real-life

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Photo: Art Snob Solutions via drawn.ca
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