Our Berkshire Hills had a slow start to a mostly gray spring. Here is a little bit of sunshine to keep spirits up! Memorial Day is right around the corner along with all sorts of parades, festivals and picnics. Oh sunshine, soak it up, don’t burn.

Baby Sun Bonnet IslaRoseDesign… $19.95	GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE- worko… True2theHeart $25	Sunshine State Handmade All … StarboardSoapC… $5	Handmade Linen Rose Bifold W… JuliRu $61
Sunshine Yellow – Long, Thin… EclecticShop $12.5	You are my sunshine 8×10 Pri… yellowbuttonst… $20	1960′s dress/ 60′s y… LivedIn $46	GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE Necklace … FeelingWild $22
Sunshine Bow AmeliesBowtiqu… $6	Rag rug from recycled t-shir… TheSomedayHous… $70	Wooden Sunshine Puzzle Imaginationkid… $13	Ceramic Clay Textured Button… CaliforniaMudS… $8
Good Morning Sunshine 24×16 … SensingMajesty $74	Sunshine Pixie Bonnet Size … Pitterpants $22	Felted Flower Brooch Pin Cor… softadditions $12.6	Sun Umbrella Wedding Parasol… MyDreamsMatter $75

Every week we gather a handful of treasures around a theme, from Etsy - an online marketplace featuring handmade wares, vintage items, and supplies for making. Weekly treasuries are normally featured here on Mondays. (This week there was some sort of cyber glitch with the code generator I use so Tuesday is the day!) You can click on the images above and be taken to a place on Etsy where there is more information and pictures about that item. Crispina’s online shop is located on Etsy along with a whole ton (like over 800,000) of other handmakers, vintage resellers and material retailers. If you have a minute, leave a comment about your favorite featured item – it is always so nice to hear from you!

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

I feel it is our job to seek out and support natural foods in any way we can.  Shop at Farmers’ Markets.  Grow gardens.  Buy a share in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Wild harvest what you can.   Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every public school across this great nation had to grow and preserve the food they served? Think what a wonderful skill set that would impart in our students.  Think of the ripples.

Dandelion Jam

Tools:

Blender or Food Processor (a big knife and elbow grease works just fine too)

10 ½ Pint Canning Jars (or 5 Pint sized jars) with covers

Measuring Spoons and Cups

Grater

Large Soup Pan or Equivalent

Small clean dry cloth (washcloth will work)

 Yeild:

10 half pints (or 5 pints)

Ingredients:

1 Pomona’s Universal Pectin kit

4C. Dandelion Blossoms

6C. Water

4C. Sugar

1C. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

4TBSP Freshly Grated Ginger Root

Wash the jars and covers in hot soapy water and let dry.

Rinse Dandelion Blossoms in cold water and measure them into a blender canister.  Add water and blend just enough to break up blossoms.  Pour that inot a large saucepan.  Add Lemon Juice, and 3 tsp. calcium water (from Pomona’s Universal Pectin kit).  Stir well.

Measure Sugar into separate bowl and stir in 3tsp Pectin (from Pomona’s Universal Pectin kit).  Stir well to mix evenly.

Heat Dandelion Mixture to a boil.  Add Sugar Mixture and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes to be sure the Pectin has completely dissolved.  Continue stirring and return to boil and remove from heat.

Fill jars to ¼” of top.  Wipe rims clean with clean dry cloth and screw on lids.

Put filled jars in a pan full of boiling water that completely covers them and boil for 10 minutes.  Remove jars from water and let cool.  Jam will continue to set as it cools for up to 24 hours.  Check seals to be sure lids are sucked down.  Jam (preserves) will last for months on the shelf and about 3 weeks in the fridge once opened.

Butterflies embody beauty, metamorphosis, change, and magic. My mom, daughters and I went to a butterfly garden over our April vacation. It was the last outing we had before my mom unexpectedly crossed the great divide into the next realm. Wheeeeeeeee~

Lemon Yellow Butterfly … reneeanne $12	Butterfly Terrarium Kit… TheAmateurNatu… $22	Real Pearl Morpho Butte… HouseThatCrowB… $40	7 butterfly VINTAGE AME… PartsForYou $69
Two BLUE Butterfly wing… NewellsJewels $9	Butterfly Letterpress E… greengrasspres… $2	Handmade felted brooch … TildaSFelt $24	Gold Earrings As Light … FreshJewelryDe… $32
Itsy Bitsy Mini Edible … SugarRobot $10.5	Butterfly, Wall decor, … Tibi291 $11.99	Colorful butterfly hair… RubyRobinBouti… $10	Butterfly Study Necklac… PoPkO $46
Leather Butterfly Journ… ZenfishLeather $67	Fairy wings, simple but… UrsulaGlassGod… $35	15 3D Wall Butterflies,… SimplyChicLily $25	Butterfly Specimen Post… BySamantha $7

Every week we gather a handful of treasures around a theme, from Etsy - an online marketplace featuring handmade wares, vintage items, and supplies for making. Weekly treasuries are featured here on Mondays. You can click on the images above and be taken to a place on Etsy where there is more information and pictures about that item. Crispina’s online shop is located on Etsy along with a whole ton (like over 800,000) of other handmakers, vintage resellers and material retailers. If you have a minute, leave a comment about your favorite featured item – it is always so nice to hear from you!

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Did you know that food is the most highly packaged consumer item group in our culture? Single-use plastic is something we all need to recognize and avoid. Here’s a treasury list that will help – while making your lunch room and dinner table stand out!

Bull BBQ Flipper Grill … DeschutesIronF… $40	Bird’s Eye Maple Ch… DavinandKesler $25	Perfect for Mom Cake Se… BlueSkyPottery… $25	Hand carved wooden half… KitchenCarving… $26
Red Gum Spurtle Cooking… DavesWoodShop $19.99	Nested Mixing Bowls MaggyAmesHandm… $125	One Piece Chef Knives w… ironjohnlogan $350	Handmade Wooden Biscuit… MaineJewelryan… $20
Meat Tenderizer and Rol… steelewoodwork… $102	Right Handed Spurtle – … smithave $20	Snaksaks Bamboo Cutlery… SnakSaks $12	Kitchen Utensil Set Sal… DesignsbyBaerr… $45
DeNatura. Three Small S… DeNatura $21	Large Wooden Ladle – Ki… WOODENMIX $15	Walnut kitchen utensil(… Blackdogwoodwo… $12	Handthrown Pottery Croc… VonderheyPotte… $24

Every week we gather a handful of treasures around a theme, from Etsy - an online marketplace featuring handmade wares, vintage items, and supplies for making. Weekly treasuries are featured here on Mondays. You can click on the images above and be taken to a place on Etsy where there is more information and pictures about that item. Crispina’s online shop is located on Etsy along with a whole ton (like over 800,000) of other handmakers, vintage resellers and material retailers. If you have a minute, leave a comment about your favorite featured item – it is always so nice to hear from you!

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

This is really exciting!  A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to interview an old friend, an, or maybe THE icon of social responsibility, Ben Cohen, of ice cream renown.

He agreed to be Freak of the Week – so here goes, a transcription of our conversation based on the usual FOW (Freak of the Week) questions.  The first few minutes of our recorded chat were lost in cyberspace so let me just say this:

Since the company he founded, with his best friend Jerry, at the age of 26 in Vermont has taken on a life outside of Ben’s everyday, he has been working hard at getting big money out of our political system.  His mission is to amend the constitution.  Visit StampStampede.org to learn all the details about that.

This is what we talked about:

1.  How did you and Crispina meet?

We met through Ragamuffins and expanded into Blankets.  We appreciate each other and our work.

(Cff: I think we connected first, at a Social Venture Network Conference at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY.)

2.  Who/what has been most influential in your work?

I’m mostly focused on social issues, poverty and economic disparity.  Culture is a big influence – working to address, ah hate the idea of people getting screwed because they were born on the wrong side of some invisible line.  I’m painfully aware that there is more than enough to go around if we only spent it on the right stuff.  I am driven to try to get us to spend it on the right stuff.  The key and root cause of sssooo many misplaced laws and budget priorities is that corporations and the .01 percent essentially own the politicians.  I feel like in order to make any headway on any of the particular issues like housing or health care, education or anti poverty initiatives, we need to first get money out of politics.

3.  How far are we from accomplishing that?     How far away is an amendment?

Its pretty amazing, this movement has really only started up two years ago and already 12 states have voted in favor of passing an amendment to get money out of politics.  The last one was just last week in NH.  There are campaigns that are currently running in about 5 or 6 more states this year. There’re about 500 municipalities that have voted to pass an amendment and about 150 members of congress that have signed on to an amendment.  So it’s growing quite rapidly.  It is really encouraging.  Just recently some major national groups that have never been involved in this area, have decided to commit significant resources and time to it, which is the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the NAACP.  They realize they are never going to accomplish what they are trying to do until they get money out of politics.

A big part of that is The Stamp Stampede, which is a petition on steroids.  It is kinda economic jujitsu.  It is using money to get money out of politics.  80% of the population wants to get money out of politics if we can get 10s of thousands of people stamping a few bills each day because each bill gets passed around 800 times when it goes into circulation, the number of impressions and the presence that this will have is kinda incomprehensible.

It is sustained visual acceleration visual support unlike when you sign on a petition it is a one-off thing or if you go to a demonstration it is a one-off thing but this builds on itself.

4.  Have you ever gotten one back?

I have been getting them back, as a matter of fact, Jerry and I were at a restaurant in Burlington today and paid with stamped money and they said Oh Yeah! We’ve been getting a bunch of these!

What town are you located in?

Cff:      Pittsfield, MA.

Oh yeah!  You could become one of these towns that we’re using as an experiment to focus on this.  You know, like in Northampton, we are setting up stamping stations at various retailers.  We have just been doing it there for about a week and we already have 17 retailers who have signed up to have a little stamping station at the counter.  We set up in coffee shops, bars and bookstores to get critical mass in a few small places.  You could become a Stamp Stampede Ambassador!

Cff:      That is JUST what I want to be!  Yay!

Send me some pictures of what you set up!

5.  When and how did you know to follow the path you have chosen?

Well ah in my high school and college years I was kinda focused on the idea that I didn’t have a path in my life and I really wanted to have one.  Then I discovered pottery.  That became my life’s path when I was maybe around 19 or 20.  I worked at a residential school for disturbed teenagers as a craft teacher.  I was pretty much on that path until I was around 25 or so when I tried to make a living as a potter going to craft fairs and selling my stuff.  Nobody would buy my pottery and it was kinda the most discouraging disheartening time.  I was a failure at my chosen path and I was talking to Jerry who was trying to get into Med School who was a failure on his path cause no medical schools would accept him.  That’s when we decided to start our own business.

Cff:      So you and jerry were already friends?

Yeah, We were friends from junior high.  We met in gym class.  We were the two slowest fattest kids in the class.  We started the ice cream shop when I was 26 and we figured we were just gonna have a the ice shop for a few years and then we’d sell it and become cross country truck drivers. One thing kinda led to another, the ice cream really took off.  Not really sure when I knew when to follow the path.

What we discovered was that – What all of us had always been told – What business had told us before was that its not possible for business to have social concerns and make money at the same time.  Ben and Jerry disproved that and showed that it was possible.  Once people realized that it was possible they demanded it and people who ran businesses realized there is another option here.

6.  Aside from working, how do you spend your time?

I hang out a little with my dog.  I mix work and play.  I’m definitely working most of the time, it’s kinda like, ah, being an artist or doing crossword puzzles.  This is my hobby, what I choose to do, this is what I love and enjoy and find incredibly challenging and gives meaning to my life and it’s a creative outlet.  I just do it all the time, every once in a while I go for a bike ride, every once in a while I go for a walk in the woods. Every once in a while I kayak.  I’m going to go to New Orleans to the Jazz Heritage Festival, that’ll be fun.

7.  What is one of your fondest memories?  Why?

I have one memory of going down and visiting with a guy named Maurice Purpera, who was this old eccentric restaurateur in Brattleboro Vermont.  He was just, had so much energy and love and ah you know a real twinkle in his eye and was really creative and was doing beautiful things and I remember feeling like, I’d like to be like this guy when I am old.  He was also the guy, who, when Jerry and I realized that the business was becoming kinda a big thing and we felt like it was just becoming another cog in the economic machine that oppresses a lot of people spoils the environment, that takes advantage of its community and takes advantage of its workers, we were thinking of selling the business.  He was the guy who convinced me not to sell it and instead to do business differently.  He was saying if there is something you don’t like about business why don’t you just do it different and that hadn’t really occurred to me before.  That is what started us out on this, path.

8.  If you were able to prepare a meal for anyone – dead or alive, who would it be?  What would you want to discuss with       that person?  What would you serve?

My hero has always been Martin Luther King.  I’d want to spend a little time with him.

9.  What is your favorite color?

I like a light cantaloupe color,  and some of the new hip green colors that are comin’ around too.

10.  Do you eat ice cream?  If so what is your favorite?

I have actually been eating a little more ice cream than I probably should lately.  No, I don’t make it myself, I buy it – oh, no actually they give me as much as I want.

Well,  What IS my favorite flavor?  I guess my all time favorite is Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt.  That is the one that I tend to eat the most.  I also really like Coffee Almond Fudge, which is no longer with us; I liked Coconut Almond Fudge, also no longer with us.  I liked Mocha Walnut, also no longer with us.  Ha aha hahahah.   Well it’s Easter, maybe they’ll be reincarnated – yeah!

11. What place is your favorite travel destination?

I like San Francisco and Oakland a lot. Great consciousness there. I like Paris and I like Belize.  I don’t travel out of the country much.

12. What is a goal or focus for your next 12 months?

It is going to be a few steps to get this amendment passed.  At the moment we are about one fourth of the way there, in terms of the number of states and the number of congress people we need.  We are about to go on the Crosby Stills and Nash tour with the Stamp Stampede Amendomatic Stampede Mobile which is 12ft high by 14ft long – Rube Goldberg type money stamping machine that is mounted on the back of a flat bed van.  It is impressive.

 Thanks for your time Ben!

Let’s all show Ben and his noble mission some support!  Come by 40 Melville Street on May 3 from 5-8pm!  We will be kicking off our newly renovated space with a ‘Spacewalk’ in collaboration with Pittsfield’s First Fridays Artswalk.  Included in the evening will be our inaugural Stamp Stampede Stamping station!  Bring all your currency to stamp (and spend – hee hee!)

I will have a rack of my newest designs for sale, Judy from Berkshire Poster has a new batch brewing and Matty and Kyra of Overmeade Greenwood will be here selling the worlds best (and Berkshire’s own) wooden spoons, chairs and little fan tailed birds.  CSA shares from our neighbors at Brattle Farm will also be availble, and we’ll have live music and beer.

Always on the look out for helpful ways to maintain the lifestyle I/we love while reducing the pile of waste at the end of the day, this weekly column showcases my findings to inspire our collective strive for a diminishing footprint. What do you use, or do, in your life that helps reduce the waste you create in your day? Suggestions welcome!

Earth Day, a day founded in 1970 to bring environmental issues into the spotlight, was no milestone yesterday – policymakers around the world continue to make decisions that hurl us closer to the two-degree global temperature increase. The majority of the world lives in a culture of denial or non-responsibility.

But Earth Day yesterday was a good reminder about the importance of continuing to raise awareness and develop alternative ways of living that favor the Earth. Our ReconsumerEyes see hope as more and more organizations and individuals accumulate towards a massive wave of transformation. Slowly but surely, the modern world is learning to redefine it’s relationship to the natural world.

This week, one such example of a group of people endeavoring to spread awareness about environmental issues caught our attention. Global Water Dances is an international network of movement experts creating one day of synchronized dances around the globe to shed light on water issues. Through movements that evoke the quality of water and reveal what life is like without safe access to water, the group – composed of hundreds of movers and shakers – bring attention to how the seizure of public water supplies by private bottling companies has deprived 780 million people worldwide of this vital substance.

Global Water Dances will be launching their second global performance on June 15, 2013, and you can join! Each action is a drop in the ocean, making every other action more plausible, more likely, more hopeful. Our global and national institutions aren’t up to the task of facing climate change, but in communities everywhere, people are finding ways to defy and disrupt the culture of denial and inaction. The culture of responsibility is growing. It rocks, and we are part of it. Find more ways to dance, paint, and sew your way towards a solution!

Earth Day is a day to remember why we need to protect our planet from overuse and misuse. We need to be aware of how our everyday actions affect this beautiful planet of ours. Here are some easy ways to celebrate Earth Day everyday in your home.

Primary colors rag rug…. GladRaggz $79	Cleansing Pads – Super … skindeep $12	Star Wars Repurposed Vi… BagAgain $40	Reusable Eco-Friendly W… UrbanTimberWoo… $25
Natural silk bulk food … kootsac $13.5	Vintage 1960s Set Of 4 … LaGypsyYaya $16	Beeswax food wrap. Natu… suzysbeeswraps $7	Crochet Reusable Coffee… quitecrafty $3
LARGE Upcycled Eco-Frie… GlassRedux $25	Farmers Market Bag – Re… KnotaGeek $15	Stainless Steel Straw R… MulledMind $3.75	Organic Whole SOAP NUTS… MORTARandPETAL $1.85
VINTAGE PYREX: Gorgeous… percolatedgood… $73	Repurposed Glass Insula… RizBerry $129	Upcycled and Felted Woo… MontanaSolarCr… $18	Beautiful Prairie Star … LeasAtticSpace $450

Every week we gather a handful of treasures around a theme, from Etsy - an online marketplace featuring handmade wares, vintage items, and supplies for making. Weekly treasuries are featured here on Mondays. You can click on the images above and be taken to a place on Etsy where there is more information and pictures about that item. Crispina’s online shop is located on Etsy along with a whole ton (like over 800,000) of other handmakers, vintage resellers and material retailers. If you have a minute, leave a comment about your favorite featured item – it is always so nice to hear from you!

Treasury tool supported by the dog house