About Me

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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Friday, August 6, 2010

The Boxes Are As Nice As What's Inside

This is one post I don't expect TAG, Senior Hiker, BilboCynical Bastard , Asphalt Blogger, or Brad to comment on, but I've been surprised before...

I don't frequent malls as I don't really enjoy shopping.  However, lately I've been doing a bit of browsing on several on-line sites where I've been able to purchase the filters for our HVAC unit,  liquid hand soaps we love that Trader Joe's (and everyone else) has stopped carrying, Clorox floor cleaner refills, a wonderful green tea-scented diffuser from Botanicus  (the diffuser is not so sickeningly cloying as many are -- it smells very light and refreshing), and lately several pairs of earrings on Overstock.com.  I happened onto their site accidentally --at least that's what I'm saying...anyway  I purchased several pairs, three of which were featured by Novica about which, until that time, I'd never heard.  I like the idea of supporting local artisans - this was a real win-win situation.

Novica is a group that works in association with National Geographic to encourage master artisans in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  The photos of the  jewelry I purchased did not do the products justice.  The earrings are exquisite and I should have had an inkling to the quality when I saw the handmade boxes in which the earrings arrived.  The earrings in the white boxes (the paper is pressed from sustainable wood as the trees are not felled to make the paper, but are pruned instead) are from Thailand; the black box is from Bali.




  And just a note, I have not been remunerated by anyone for mentioning any of these products or retailers.

11 comments:

TAG said...

I agree with you about supporting artisans. The thing is I like to support the local artisans when I can. Nothing against those in Asia, Africa or LA.

As for the quality of the jewelry, I'll have to take your word. I know little to nothing about such things.

Yep, I am a guy (sans any sort of jewelry).

TAG

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

I've bought quite a few things from Overstock.com and have been pleased with everything. Were the earrings in the Worldstock section?

Mage said...

...and I am charmed. Charmed that you have shown us the boxes too. :) Thanks for all the supportive notes lately.

Bilbo said...

I frequent malls less because I enjoy shopping than because I enjoy people-watching, which is tough to do online. Nevertheless, there are a few online stores I love to visit, among them ThingsYouNeverKnewExisted.com, Cafe Press and Think Geek (all of which are marvelous sources of gifts for the person who has everything). And for cheap books, you can't beat Hamiltonbooks.com, where you can get remainders and overstocks for up to 80% off the retail price. Did I surprise you?

Lena said...

I guess I will have to check out overstock.com now. Love the earrings and boxes.

Lena said...

Now I will have to try Overstock.com. Beautiful earrings, and boxes, too. I have always had a liking for boxes, not sure why.

Seth M. Ward said...

I'm gonna be tried going back out on the road. One of the things I loved the most was coming home to all the things I would order online! lol It's time to buckle down and start some serious saving.....so I can do some serious spending next year! Nice post!

Gilly said...

I've been a fan of Novica for many years! Long time ago I bought some place mats - padded cloth - from Zimbabwe. they came with a card from the artisan, with a lovely message on, hand written. The mats have only just been replaced! I also bought some place mats from Peru, and got a lovely Llama bottle opener as well!

Trouble is, postage to the UK tends to be a killer!

Your earrings look fantastic!

Rick Rockhill said...

Overstock is good actually, nifty site. I have not been there in ages actually. Now about those liquid soaps that disappear...makes you crazy, doesn't it?

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Kathy, What a gorgeous blog.... Thanks for coming and wishing me a Happy Birthday...George (Sr. Hiker) did a fabulous job of surprising me with a fantastic trip this year. You'll have to come back to my blog to hear all about what this wonderful man did for me!!!!!

Thanks again.
Hugs,
Betsy

George said...

As soon as I saw that you didn't expect a comment from me, I knew I just had to say something. I like the fact that you are supporting artists associated with National Geographic. The boxes are pretty neat!