Product Feature : Earthen Tree - Creative, Natural, Handcrafted

"Our aim is simple. Our natural wooden toys are not just that. They are works of art, made from eco friendly materials to create safe toys that have a great story to tell. We believe in keeping our costumers informed and knowledgeable, while making these toys fun and educational for children." - Earthen Tree Toys

Pull toys

Earthen Tree Toys are stunning, natural and exquisitely beautiful toys with each toy having a colorful story to tell. Although the company is based out of Kirkland, Washington, each toy is handmade by an artisan in a community in South India. These toy-making techniques are over two centuries old, and oftentimes artisans have learned and inherited their skills as they were passed down by previous generations of family toy-makers.

Pull Toys

Baby Toys and Rattles

These wooden toys are made from sustainable Hale and Rubber wood trees. They are stained with natural and vegetable based dyes. It's hard to believe how such vibrant colors come out of nature, totally harmless and yet absolutely beautiful. I was quite surprised when i read this list of their natural and vegetable dyes sources :

Dark Blue/black: Extracts from the Indigo Plant

Yellow: Turmeric Powder

Orange: Kanchi KumKum and Turmeric

Red: Kanchi KumKum and Natural Alizarin

Dark Brown: Extracts from the Ratanjyoti Tree

Light Brown: Extracts from Katha

Cool Games

Stacker

Materials used to create each toy are sustainable, lead-free, and non-toxic. A traditional lacquer technique, also safe and non-toxic, is applied to each toy. There is a vast range of toys distributed under different categories such as pull toys, baby toys and rattles, stacker, musical toys, educational toys and some cool games, even key chains!

Keychains

HAPPY THANKS GIVING!!

hope you enjoyed browsing our posts last 10 days as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you :)

if there is anything that you'd all like to see more often on our blog , 

just write to us.

Have a great weekend!

Wish you guys a great family n friends time together, 

lot of good food, lots of fun and good things to remember! 

Love,

The Green Elephant :)

Artisan Group Feature : Palm Leaf Weaving

Bored of the usual mono colored baskets sitting around the table or on your bathroom shelves? Do you find them either just too dark or too light and not bright enough to light up the room with energy? Well end your despair here my friends. Check out these really cool colorful and fun baskets, that are made by palm leaf weaving also known as Kottans. These are made by our artisans from Tamilnadu, South of India. This organisation began as an initiative to income generation and culture preservation in the year 2000. The foundation supports building new markets for Kottans (palm leaf basket) through interventions that assist craftspeople to adapt their traditional weaving styles whilst incorporation contemporary color and design. 

Kottans - Palm Leaf Weaving Baskets 

available at TGE

Multipurpose Baskets

Multipurpose Baskets, Boxes and Pen Holder

Storage Boxes

Multipurpose Baskets, Pen Holders

Tray and Place mats
While we mention this group also check out these cool palm leaf bags. These are one of my own favorites in the entire collection! :)

Handbag

Shoulder Bags

Artisan Group Feature : NAIE

NAIE is a registered fair trade artisan organisation that works in handicraft and towards the welfare of their society. They operate from the Uttar Pradesh region of India towards increasing the artisan's welfare, building capacity, children's education, overall community development and social work. NAIE is committed to work for sustainability through  fair trade and to this end, their products are made from industrial waste such as tires, bicycle chains and tins. Including these reusable materials, they also work with mediums such as wood, enamel, metal, brass, glass, gem stones, beads and textiles. Most of the wood used in these products is bought exclusively from the forest quota given by the government of India that sells only dead trees. 

NAIE products available at TGE : 

 Tire Products 

Tin Lanterns

Bicycle Chain Picture Frames

Artisan Group Feature : Kishkinda Trust

Kishkinda Trust promotes banana-plant based handicrafts with women artisans of Anegundi, thus providing them with a means of livelihood. The natural fibre cottage industry was set up in 1999 and has been using locally available banana fibre extracted from the trunk of the banana plant, Shorba grass, river grass and other locally available fibres. It has been a livelihood means for its 205 women since it's inception. TKT emphasizes the utilization of eco friendly materials that are locally available. The banana fiber is utilized as raw material along with other natural fibers to produce wide-ranging products including bags, mats, quilts and decorative fringes. Over the years these products have secured clients from all over India and from abroad. These women artisans have formed a federation comprising of 15 villages. Regular training workshops are conducted in Design and Technical Development assisting them to upgrade their skills and build their capacity. 

Kishkinda products available at TGE...

Banana Fiber Baskets

Banana Fiber Floor Cushions

All of their hand-crafted products provide an independent income for village women. Apart from providing financial support, the federation has played a major role in empowering and transforming these shy women into confident individuals.

Artist/Artisan Feature : Pure Ghee Designs

I was just browsing through the list of our eco-friendly product producers and came across Aditi Prakash's work. Amongst all her beautiful work, this innovative squiggly twist given to the Sabai grass basket - the material we spoke about this morning caught my eye first. It's an amazing adaptation of the material that otherwise has been used more conventionally than artistically. I had to but share it with yall! 

Squiggly Sabai Grass 

Basket Close Up

Design Alternate

Aditi has established a research, design and production studio called Pure Ghee Designs that aims to deliver exceptional cultural content and celebrate the Indian design aesthetic. Here is a glimpse of some of her other colorful work. 

Bags made from different cloth types

Coin pouches made of Silk and scraps

 Colorful Mobile Cases

Charms made from scraps

Aditi was shortlisted for the YCE Awards this year by the British Council. She says modestly "Did not expect this! Especially because Pure Ghee Designs (the company) is less than a year old." Well, Aditi, you definitely seem very deserving! :) Loved your work!

Artisan Group Feature : Kadam

Happy Monday morning people!! ghrrrr... i heaaar youuuu :) well i've bought you some mid morning snack for thought for you to munch on... for the remaining four days we'l do some home accents in our 10 day countdown to Thanks Giving by thanking our artisans!

Today we're presenting Kadam - an NGO

This organisation aims at tackling the problems of uneducated youth migration to urban cities which lead to the problems of Urban Slums, unemployment, rampant violence and street children being a direct fall-out of this migration at the grass root level. The volunteers and professional try to create viable employment opportunities at the village level for the youth and work towards good education conditions for children. They train the artisans to make finished products using natural resources in order to create balance in the environment using technology for the overall economic development. The ngo rolls the profits for the holistic development of the villages and artisans. Bio degradable products for everyday living is what the company is synonym with. 
Sabai grass and date palm leaves are abundant in Orissa and are used to make rope and plaits which are further converted into baskets or covering furniture.

Sabai Grass Products are available at TGE

Moon Basket

Round Basket with Lid

Sabai Oval Basket

Available in set of 3

Other interesting products made by the same organisation using natural Bark Wood

Cheese Platter, Shell Spoons & Fruit Fork

Artisan group feature : Norbulingka

Keeping Tibetan Culture and Values Alive 

Norbulingka products available at TGE

Norbulingka is dedicated to handing down tradition and restoring standards by providing training, education and employment for Tibetans. It supports an environment in which Tibetan community and family values can flourish. It reconciles the tradition creatively and respectfully with the modern, and seeks to create an international awareness of Tibetan values and their expression in art and literature. They create high quality products using traditional Tibetan techniques like appliqué, woodwork, sculpture and thangka paintings. 

Applique work Shoulder Bags

Gem Boxes

Gem Box details

Applique Cushion Covers

Artisan Group Feature - Dwaraka

DWARAKA stands for Development of Weavers And Rural Artisans in Kalamkari Art. This organisation preserves and promotes the work of kalamkari artisans hailing from different villages in Andhra Pradesh. It was a small group of handful of artisans and their families who continued to believe and work to keep this inherited art alive, although all it bought them that time was hunger and poverty. They were overlooked and their art neglected for a long time, until they met this father daughter duo - a blessing in disguise. Anita Reddy and her father Dwaraknath Reddy have extended their hand to these artisans and now its a throbbing organisation of over a 100 artisans. They now have an amazing catalog that consists of scarves, bags, wall panels, gift boxes,  corporate gifts and home furnishings. 

Dwaraka Products are available at TGE. 

Here is a preview of some of its beautiful products!

Stole/Scarf

Shoulder Bags

Clutch Bag

Cushion Covers

Small note for Kitsch Lovers

If you recall,  we had featured Indian Kitsch by Aarohi Singh some time back. 
Aarohi is having an exhibition of her art at
Page Turners Bookstore, 89 Kannan Building, 
MG Road, Bangalore.

from the 25th November to 28th November 2010.
So, if you are in Bangalore during those days, do visit the 'Art by Aarohi' exhibit.

Meanwhile, here is a small glimpse of the exhibit. Enjoy!

Artisan Group Feature : Dastakar

     Introducing Dastkar Ranthambore 

available at TGE

Pillow Cover

Dastkar Ranthambore works with women artisans in the villages around Ranthambore Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan. Dastkar's distinctive Tiger motif and use of trees and birds and animal imagery demonstates the communities concern for the natural environment and in particular, the endangered tiger species found in the area. Their products include fashion accessories such as bags and home furnishings including cushion covers and bedspreads. 

Tiger Utility Bag - Front and Back Views

Inside Lining for the Safari Bag

Animal Print Bags

Utility Bags

Coasters

Dastkar aims to strengthen the traditional textile arts. TGE wishes to extend a HUGE thank you to Ujwala Johda, manager at Dastkar and artisans who work with her creating products that we showcase today. The success story of Dastkar has empowered entire communities and improved their standard of living. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

If you like these products and are interested in helping out... you can either buy these products from us, adopt a family or adopt a project... Write to us - mailthegreenelephant@gmail.com

Settle down, drink, eat. Lather, rinse, repeat - Mondys @ Mumbai

Cafe Mondegar, also popularly know as 'Mondys' to regulars, is one of the coolest hang outs in Mumbai! On our recent trip back to India, that's where we'd go to cool off from the harsh Mumbai heat! It's warm ambiance - the cool wall cartoons, the popular juke box (that has endless replays of the Eagles song 'Hotel California') and a pitcher of chilled Indian beer... mmmm heaven! 

Mondegar stands at the lip of Colaba Causeway  (a heaven for street side shoppers!) offering blessed refuge to anyone too lazy to bother wading down the entire stretch and being crawled upon by hagglers to sell you cheap stuff. Mondys is more of an all-day cafe than bar; in fact, its alcohol selection is restricted to a selection of beers and now wine. So get a cold one (or a pitcherful of cold ones if you’re in it for the long haul) and soak in the downtown Mumbai buzz. You'l have to squeeze yourself into one of the sardine-like tables and revel in the cafe’s relatively untouched and unchanged interiors, especially the giant mural (loosely about a day in the life of a bustling cafe in Mumbai) by legendary Indian illustrator Mario Miranda. 

Historee

The Yezdegardis, an Irani family, bought the home of a French sailor named called Monsieur Monde in 1925. Inspired by its Hindi reference ‘Monde Sahib ka Gar’ (Mr. Monde’s house) the Yezdegardis soon converted it to a café called ‘Monde-Gar’. It started off as a typical teahouse that also sold tobacco, foreign liquor, wine, breads and specialties from Iran like saffron, almonds, and pistachios. In time the Yezdegardis have developed an assorted menu influenced by Irani flavors. And today, you can choose from a variety of food, everything from kebabs to burgers, bruschetta, chow-mein, grills, and sizzlers. But through the ages, the house favorite has always been the Pepper Steak or Steak Boti. My personal favorite... the caramel custard, yummm!

Enjoy some of the snap shots i took this last visit to India. Am sure you'l notice the humor in each of the illustrations! Visit my flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/amishadesai/5182115683/ for more pics of Mondys. 

The Bar 

"Apple of my eye, Ms. Big Boobs!"

The Taj Mahal

Mondys is among the last of its breed -- the perfect hybrid of Mumbai’s fast-dying Irani restaurants (chequered table-cloths? Check. Netted chairs? Check) and beer bars. Because it’s been there forever. But most of all, because it’s the sort of place you can buy a beer at noon in without feeling guilty. And god knows every city needs more of those.