Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Very Special Giveaway from a 30 Minutes of Fame Member!
Irridescent w/Metallic Gold Overlay Czech Glass Ring
Peridot color Swarovski Button Two-holed Faceted Ring

Peach Polymer Clay Floral Print Ring

Janet Galla of Galla15, and Trinketsandwhatnots jewelry shops on etsy, is offering a giveaway for your choice of one of any of her  wirewrapped rings. Yes you heard that right; ANY one you choose!
Sapphire Blue Swarovski Two-holed Faceted Ring

Help her win this
More Meaningful Gifts 2ND ANNIVERSARY CONTEST;

and you could win one of these rings! The ones pictured here are only a small sample of the styles and colors you'll have to choose from!
Lemon Yellow Faceted Swarovski Marquise Two-holed Ring w/Gold-filled Wire
Blue Topaz Color Swarovski Irregular Faceted Nugget Two-holed Ring
Black Czech Glass Flower Button Ring

There are several ways you can get entries;

1. Leave a comment in this Etsy Storque Article stating something to the effect that Galla15 showed you the article and you are entered into the giveaway.

2. You can also pop into this thread on Etsy and say Galla15 referred you for a 2nd entry into the giveaway.

3. If you buy from someone on the list in that thread you will get 5 more entries into the giveaway. There is no minimum purchase requirement.

4. If you blog about this giveaway you will get 2 more entries into the giveaway.


and her shops;

and let her know which of these entries you've completed.
Rootbeer Brown Swarovski Oblong Ring w/Gold-filled Wire
This offer is valid for only 2 days
ending on September 30th at 11:30pm EST/Etsy time,
so don't delay!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Help A Fellow Etsy Seller and Her Dog

Debbie of Debs Crochet has been crocheting for almost 30 years and can crochet almost anything (see the cute penguin in her avatar, for istance).

I was reading and promoting tonight in the Etsy forum and posted in a thread about blogs when I clicked on hers and saw that she is having a health crisis with her dog, Max.

Debbie recently had to put her other dog to sleep because it had terminal cancer. She is very concerned about Max because he needs medical attention but she doesn't have the money to take him to the vet. No other clinic has stepped in to help as of yet. He's whining and rubbing his face and has started losing weight. She thinks there may be something wrong with his teeth.

People have helped Carmella by featuring her story on their blogs, so I thought I'd pay it forward and see what I can do to promote this woman and her dog.

The Fall and Winter is coming so I hope you'll consider purchasing something warm and cozy for yourself or for gifts from one or both of her stores;

Etsy:
http://www.debs1967.etsy.com
Artfire:
http://www.artfire.com/users/DebsCrochet

If you can't purchase right now, please tweet, put a message on facebook and/or your blog and pass her links along to anyone you think may be interested.
Here is the link to her blog; http://debs1967.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Atlanta Man Penalized For Going Green At Home
I've been watching Channel 5 (Fox) News over the past few days and this story just floored me so I had to write about it! Channel 2 and other news agencies have also picked it up,
http://current.com/1brr74c
and it has now also hit the blogosphere!

Steve Miller, a man who lives on Cimarron Drive in Clarkston (a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia) has been cited by Dekalb County Code Enforcement for growing too many vegetables in his home garden. Yes you heard that right!

Apparently he'd been growing these vegetables for years and nobody had a problem with it, and he has even given away some of what he grows to friends and neighbors, and sold some to local Farmer's Markets. Now all of a sudden some unknown neighbor reported him to the county Code Enforcement Office and he now finds himself being charged about $5,000 in fines, although he has since gotten the proper zoning for his property. Most of his neighbors support him and feel the county is misguided and should be helping him rather than attacking him.

The bone of contention Dekalb County is hinging their charges on seems to be the financial aspect of the situation rather than just the number of vegetable plants he has.

During the time that Miller got his property rezoned the charges had been put on hold, but afterwards the county proceeded with their prosecution of the old charges using the excuse that he was in viloation before the rezoning. He's received 8 citations since January, and estimates all this will cost him $27,000-$30,000 before it's settled.

Citations claim among other charges that the workers he hired to help maintain the garden aren't "properly licensed".

Interestingly County officials refuse to talk about the case citing that it is still pending; slated to be heard in Recorder's Court later this month.

Miller's attorney, Doug Dillard says, “It should go away. I think it borders on harassment,” and I agree! This man hasn't hurt or endangered anyone, in fact he is doing something really good for the environment. In keeping with the concept of moving back towards a greener lifestyle I would personally rather buy my produce from small local operations that use less toxic pesticides, don't genetically engineer their crops, and have more direct contact with them and control over how they're managed from seed to table.

In the current difficult economy alot of people are using creative ways to make extra money, and if someone can do that in a way that also helps others and is eco-friendly society should support them!

If Counties are coming up with desperate and bogus ways to make money by piggybacking off innocent citizens and invading their private homes then that's just wrong and maybe instead those officials innitiating such frivolous cases should be investigated and prosecuted!

I have to wonder; who on earth wrote such an idiotic law anyway, and why do they care? It seems to be a sign of the times that when somebody does something particularly creative and different as a way of adapting somebody wants to knock them down and profit off their misfortune to boot! Whatever happened to "Life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness" afforded all Americans in the US Constitution? Steve Miller was only doing what he loves, and he was making lots of others happy around him by sharing his goods with those who would appreciate them.
 
I hope this man gets everything restored and then some! He not only should get to grow and sell his crops but really should get paid punitive damages from the county for malicious prosecution.