A Few Confessions...

I really want to see "Eat, Pray, Love"

I love when a new semester starts, because I can go to the campus bookstore at the school where I work and buy used copies of all the books the English dept is teaching

I went to Panera Bread not once but TWICE this week

Last comedy I watched on Netflix: Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.  Last movie in general: Cocaine Cowboys.

Oink

I remember, as a kid, reading Charlotte's Web and then crying my eyes out because i wanted a pet pig so badly. Strangely, I still pretty much feel the same way. I would never follow through on this desire -- I don't think i'm equipped to own any sort of animal -- domestic, farm or otherwise. I'm never home, I'm totally flakey, and not very clean. Plus, I don't think that pigs (including those mutant "tea cup" pigs) are meant to be pets.

Still...... I watched this video and by the end I was almost in tears. Wahhhhhh. I still want a pig!

How Green Is METAL?

Lately, it seems more important than ever to be a "GREEN" company.

Every time I am contacted by someone in the media, or if I'm applying to a craft show, it seems that a question about my company's eco-friendliness is always popping up.

When I started Queens Metal, my biggest concern was, "Is anyone actually gonna BUY this stuff??"
When I went full-time with the biz, my biggest concern was, "Can I actually do this 24/7 and survive?" (The answer is "Yes" --- but only if you do it literally 24/7).

Now, a few years have passed and it's not so much about just trying to survive anymore. I've got a little more room to play around with questions like, "Am I green?" (Actually, to answer that, these days I'm looking more and more like the color of a roasted coffee bean)

Anyways, in the past few months, I've been taking some steps to make Queens Metal more earth-friendly. Here's where I'm at in the green-ification of my company:

• I've been actively sourcing the majority of my metals from earth-friendly vendors who use pre-produced metals to minimize the impact of mining on our environment. Silver is a finite resource, and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain through mining. Luckily, scrap silver can easily be melted down and reused. Awesome!  
• Jewelry is packaged in gift boxes made from recycled materials. I found these beautiful Kraft jewelry gift boxes made with recycled cardboard. Earth-friendly and fabulous, too!
• My shipping processhas been streamlined to eliminate any unnecessary and wasteful packaging materials. No oversized boxes, packing peanuts, wadded up papers or receipts. Just a business card, a "thank you" message and the product. 
• I've  forged partnerships with other local, independent vendors so that many of my supplies and materials don’t have to travel from far-off places. Plus, it's great for me -- if i need something, I don't need to wait for-e-ver for it to arrive in the mail.

Making these changes hasn't been a cake walk -- it's been a lot of hard work. But, as a wise man once said, "It's not easy being green."

 

 

 

 

Thanks for that

Hey all! Want to be stupid, but don't know where to begin? How about heading over to Diesel and handing over some of your hard-earned cash in exchange for a pair of their overpriced jeans. Then they can use your  money to put up more bullshit ads like this one.