Here's wishing you all a little bit of peace in the middle of this hot, hot summer. Rest, relax, recharge and enjoy your weekend.

handmade organic cotton yoga pants from niluh

naturally-dyed organic wool and silk shawl from lizetfrijters

handwoven linen scarf hand-dyed with organic pigment from AMIZANTI

organic snickerdoodles from AllCatsBaking

handknit cotton slipper socks from RGsocks

As I have mentioned before, travel, and seeing cultures and people in situations very different from mine, has become a huge priority for me in my life. Cambodia is one of the places at the top of my list to get to in the next few years (especially after going to Thailand last year—I am itching to get back to that side of the world), so when I read this article on Ecoteurre last month about a Cambodian fashion collective for HIV-positive women, I sat up and took notice.

KeoK’jay employs nine HIV-positive women—generally widows and the key supporters of their families—by training them to produce fashions in their own homes. Working form home allows the women to work at their own pace in case their illness flares up, and to care for their children and families while earning an income. KeoK’jay works in conjunction with Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE, which provides free health care for these women and their families.

All of the products are designed by US based designer Rachel Faller. Faller provides the patterns to the women of KeoK’jay, but often they take it upon themselves to add their own touches—creating a line of unique, hand-crafted clothing and accessories. In addition to being fair trade, all products are produced with ecological impact in mind. Recycled paper and plastic bags are used in stationery lines and wallets, and the clothing lines are crafted from repurposed men's clothes or naturally low-impact-dyed new fabrics. In fact, 80% of the dyes used are made from edible materials!

KeoK’jay also presents a great degree of transparency. They are a social enterprise but are not funded by charitable support, so the price of each product reflects the full cost of production. There is an openly presented breakdown of their expenses on their website.

Products are curently only available via email and in a select few boutiques, though I hope they will soon be more readily available, as they are truly lovely designs.

I am absolutely enchanted by the work of Nicole from BabongoHome. Each mobile she crafts looks as though it would be wonderfully magicaly to live with—butterflies or leaves floating in the slightest breeze, or woodland creatures that look as though they have just stepped out of the world's most colorful forest.

The shapes on each mobile are created from fused plastic bags, giving each animal his own unique coloring and turning those icky used shopping bags into something truly beautiful. Animals are cut out, strung together in strands and hung from a fallen branch—all ready for a nursery or playroom.

While perfect for kids, I  love that these designs aren't babyish. They would be lovely in a child's room, but would add a bit of sophisticated whimsy to a home without children as well. The animal shapes have a vey modern feel — especially the reindeer above — that would work in any contemporary home. All in all, I am smitten. How about you?

Here'a another fun find, and the timing couldn't be better. It is wedding season, after all.

Star House creates little lovelies and custom cake toppers from locally-harvested sustainable poplar wood. Pick a grouping of figures—two adults, add some kids or pets—and send over some photos of yourselves. In a few weeks you will have some lovingly crafted wooden figurines of your family or you and your honey. Details are burned into the wood, and color is added using US made non-toxic watercolors and then each piece is finished with local beeswax and organic jojoba oil.

What I love most, aside from the wonderfully sweet illustration style, are the samples shown in the shop. The couple on a tall bike, the two brides plus parrot, the family with a wandering luchador... how amazingly amazing are they all?

recyled sports jacket vest from the awesome createchange; hat crafted from salvaged material by Flipside Hats of Trillium Artisans; 100% recycled leather bag from 14xbags; wallet made from reclaimed lawn chair webbing from Rosewebs of Trillium Artisans

I'm loving these chunky recycled beads from TwistedPlanetBeads. Rather than the typical paper beads, these are crafted from cardboard cereal boxes. (You know, all that cardboard that my municipal recycling frustratingly refuses to accept?) Chunky, bright and fun—perfect inspiration for a monday morning!

upcycled fabric dress from quarks

upcycled gift tags from carnival tickets by saratops

recycled notecards from levansphotography

repurposed vintage lucite jewelry from urbanlegend

recycled magnetic locket set by depuis and polarity

I have been wanting to write a post here about my grandmother, Emma, ever since I dug up these old photos from the 1930s and 40s. (Wasn't she a stylish thing?)

She was an incredibly strong, independent lady, even back when maybe ladies weren't supposed to be so independent. I believe she inspired me in many ways, from my green ethos to my artistic skills to my ability to go out and stand on my own two feet and start a business.

She would fit right in here in the DIY renaissance. In fact, "Do-It-Yourself" really could have been her personal motto. Having been a teenager in the Depression, she knew the value behind the idea of "Make Do and Mend," and later studied clothing construction at Pratt. She continued to make clothes much of her life on the side, including a leopard-print coat and pillbox hat for my Barbie Dolls (oh la la...). In her later years she took up painting, and bought me my first box of oil paints—not that I knew what to do with them at the time—when I was maybe twelve.

She was always the one to deter me from ever saying "I can't" and the first one to encourage me to learn as much as possible from every situation, good or bad.

I had been hoping to write this while she was still with us. In fact, I had been excited to show her how far cosa verde had come in the past year and a half. But she was very old—nearing 92—and unfortunately she died Wednesday morning. It is a big loss for me, but not a wholly unexpected one. I'm not a religious person, nor a particularly superstitious one, but I like to think that maybe she'll help keep an eye on things over here as we set out on our new ventures.