PotW 7/25/12

Hi Everyone--

Are you getting ready for the opening of the London Olympics?  We have all become accustomed to the merchandising that goes along with most major sporting events these days.  Apparently, the Olympics are not immune to the big money lure of commercialization.  

In recent months, weeks, days, I have seen a marked increase in the offerings of "British"-themed merchandise....from coffee mugs to clothing to re-usable shopping bags.  Among these items I have spotted the frequent appearance of the slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On"---and I found this odd because when I visited London and toured around the English countryside I never saw this posted anywhere.  I certainly never heard anyone say it. (I didn't hear anyone say "Pip pip, cheerio!" either.)  But I've been wondering what the history of the saying is, so I looked it up:

The History of the Keep Calm and Carry On Poster The British Ministry of Information created the Keep Calm and Carry On poster in the spring of 1939 to allay the fear of the English population should Germany invade Great Britain. The poster was printed but never issued. No one seems to know for certain why the poster was never issued, but a look at the history of the British Ministry of Information gives us some clues. The British Ministry of Information was created in 1918 by Lord Beaverbrook, a newspaper owner. He wanted it to be a central office for news, censorship, and propaganda but it was primarily used to disseminate propaganda to other countries during WWI and it was therefore disbanded right after the war. In 1935, when the British observed the power of Germany's propaganda machine, spearheaded by Goebbels, they decided to ressurrect the Ministry. A combination of civil servants, advertising and public relations experts were recruited but the efforts were said to be quite disorganized at the beginning. This may explain why the Keep Calm and Carry On poster was never issued. In fact it is amazing that the Keep Calm and Carry On poster was even created. Apparently the history of the agency from WWI was that it generated posters that were "rather drab in color, short on humour and sex appeal, and with a tendency towards wordiness and over-full explanations." Quite the opposite of the simple and colorful Keep Calm and Carry On poster. It was not until June 1941 when Churchill instructed all public relations officials to work as a team for the Ministry that things shaped up. In July 1941, when Churchill's advisor, Brendan Bracken, was hand-picked to become the Minister of Information, that the department was said to start to meeting its objectives. It was said that Bracken had excellent press relations, a very close friendship with the Prime Minister, bustling confidence in tackling the Ministry's adversaries, and scorn for the exhortations of the British public.  Perhaps if the Keep Calm and Carry On poster had been created a few years later, it would have been as well known during the war as it is today.  (keepcalmandcarryonusa.com) So--there you have it, and now you know.  File this little factoid away for your next round of pub trivia!  In the meantime, check out the Piece of the Week, made with Labradorite...a stone believed by the original inhabitants of the Labrador peninsula to "increase energy and reduce stress and anxiety".   Or, said another way: "Keep Calm and Carry On!"  Until next week-

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 7/18/12

Hi Everyone-

Here we are in the middle of July already.  In some places, the kids will be heading back to school in just about a month!  Do you remember when as a kid, summer vacation seemed to go on FOREVER?  How each day seemed to last an ETERNITY, and you just kept running and playing with all your friends until the street lamps came on and you had to head home?

Truly, time does seem to speed up as you get older.  Unless you're listening to the Beach Boys tune or watching the classic surf movie of the same name, as grown-ups we realize with some sadness, that there is no "Endless Summer."  The street lights come on too early.  Labor Day gets here too soon.  Youth passes too quickly, autumn and winter (both meteorological and metaphorical) will be here before we know it.  Nothing is endless.

Except a Mobius strip.

Did you ever make a mobius strip?  It's one of those activities, like catching fire flies (or lightning bugs, depending on where you lived) that you probably did as a kid.  If you've made one, you know what it is.  If not...here's a quick lesson:

Take a strip of paper (just tear a piece about 2" wide down the length of a piece of printer paper).  Put a single twist in the paper, and then join the ends with a piece of tape or a staple.  Now...take a pen, and starting where the ends are joined, draw a line down the center of the strip, all the way around the strip.  You'll see what happens.........It's ENDLESS!!

There are lots of mathematical explanations and calculations that explain why the line you draw on your Mobius strip, if measured, is 2 times the length of the strip of paper itself (because you drew on both sides, without stopping).  The math is mind-boggling.  The uses in physics and engineering are confounding.  I just think it's cool.  

So I made one in silver!  Pretty cool, huh?  It's the Piece of the Week.  Check it out on the website (link below).

Until next week- I hope your summer days are infinitely enjoyable and create memories that will last foreternity.

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 7/11/12

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful stretch of weather wherever you are.  I have people on this distribution from the Pacific Northwest to the Sunshine State and across the glorious nation that lies in between.  From what I see on the National Weather Service website, it looks like we are all having some wonderful summer days.

As I write this to you, I sit here listening to Pandora---my new favorite internet addiction.  I've always loved music and spend most of the day with something playing in the background.  I have a lot of CD's.  I patiently loaded most of them onto my iPod.  A select handful are on my iPhone.  I pretty much stopped buying CD's a couple of years ago and converted to iTunes (Apple is in control of way too much of my life).  Then, a month or so ago, someone told me about Pandora.  Now, if it weren't for the fact that my car has an auxiliary port for my iPod, I really think I would be looking at it the same way I look at those bootleg 8-tracks of Springsteen concerts that I just can't bring myself to throw away.  Really...when am I ever going to listen to THOSE again?  Anyone out there even have an 8 track player that still works?  Confess...I dare you.

Anyhow...back to Pandora.  Do you know about it?  It's a FREE music-sharing site.  It uses all kinds of I-will-never-understand-them-and-don't-care-to algorithms to build playlists of music you will like, based upon you asking for a particular artist.  Put it "Earth, Wind and Fire" and you will get all kinds of grooving 70's and 80's tunes and be able to drive your country music-loving husband crazy (as in 'annoyed', not 'aroused') while you dance around the kitchen, wine glass in hand.  Put in "James Taylor" and you will get all kinds of mellow, easy-listening, you-know-every-word-so-go-ahead-and-sing-along songs.  You could probably even put in some country artist and get all kinds of pick-up truck and beer songs.  The day Andrew figures out how to open Pandora on my computer, I suppose I'll find out.

Interesting how far the music distribution/access process has come, isn't it?  It was just 12 years ago TODAY that Metallica's Lars Ulrich testified before Congress about the evils of Napster and other free music-sharing sites.  And yet today we have Pandora, up and functioning for anyone who wants their own private radio-station with all their favorite tunes.  You can't download any of the music on Pandora, but really, who cares?  It's there to replay whenever you want.  Yes, there are short 30 second ads every so often and you have to hit "I'm still listening" after an hour unless you want to pay $4/month, but it's not a deal-breaker for me.

So---before you go over to the website to check out this week's featured pieces, click on the link below to listen to a tune that was released 42 years ago TODAY---The Who's "Summertime Blues"   www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea0759BeJ2U

Then, head for the website (link below my signature), and take a look at the "Summertime Blues" Earrings and Pendant!

Until next week---I'll be rocking out with the "The Who" station on Pandora!

Kim

Two Willows Jewelry

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

PotW 7/5/12

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a safe and fun Fourth of July holiday.  It kind of threw me off having a holiday on Wednesday...I sure wasn't thinking about the Piece of the Week as I cruised around on the Kennebec river yesterday, spotting bald eagles (2), sturgeon jumping (2), a huge striped bass jumping (where is a fishing pole when you need it?) and 2 playful seals cavorting alongside our boat.

But today is back to what passes as "normal" routine here--laundry, mowing, and the PotW message.

Given that we are now in July, I thought I'd start off with the birthstone for the month, which is RUBY.  However, this is ruby with a twist.  Read on:

In 1949, at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, English prospector Tom Blevins thought he had made a discovery that would make he and his partner incredibly wealthy.  It was not to be. Though the ruby deposit at Longido exceeded millions of carats, much of it was coarse, opaque, and encased in a green matrix stone that turned out to be the mineral zoisite. While it was not fine ruby, the beautiful, multi-colored stone eventually became popular for use in carvings, ornamental objects and cabachons for jewelry. The combination of green zoisite, black hornblende and red/pink rubies was uniquely attractive and came to be appreciated as one of the most colorful gemstones in the world.  Unfortunately for Mr. Blevins, the abundance of his find also meant that the stone would remain extremely affordable.  It took a number of years before Blevins could find a true market for his find.  In fact, he had tons of it just sitting in his garage, not knowing what to do with it.  He and his partner gave up trying to sell the stones and turned to mining meerschaum which was then carved into the famous "Meerschaum pipes". The mineralogical name of ruby-zoisite is actually "Anyolite", said to be derived from the Masai tribal language's word for "green" (anyoli).  But is is most commonly referred to as ruby-zoisite or ruby-in-zoisite.  Very rarely it is called Tanganyika artstone, reflecting its Tanzanian origins.  To this day, the Longido mine in Tanzania is the sole source of ruby-zoisite in the world. The mineral zoisite was named after its discoverer when it was first found in the Austrian Alps in 1805.  Other members of the zoisite family are thulite and tanzanite (which is also found only in Tanzania).  The mineral zoisite is a component of today's mineral-based make-up products. Ruby-zoisite is difficult for gem-cutters to work with because of the differences in hardness of the composite stones.  With the rubies being the hardest of the 3, cutters usually work to emphasize the ruby portions of each piece.  Such is the case with the faceted pillow-cut stones used in this week's feature. See a photo at http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com Until next week--Happy Birthday, July girls! (I'm one!) Kim

PotW 6/27/12

Hi Everyone!

In honor of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, commemorating our nation's independence, I present to you, the Constitution of the United States of America.

Many of us can recite the Preamble...we had to memorize it in school.  Many of us can rattle off certain articles from the Bill of Rights and cite which Amendments relate to particular important topics.

Few people ever read the whole thing.  Everyone should do so. 

A little refresher on how our government was intended to operate might be good for each of us to keep in mind as we hear get ready to head to the polls in November.  

And then...check out the Piece of the Week, just in time for the Fourth of July, with a special price.  Patriotic and Made in the USA.  Order yours and I'll ship/deliver them asap.

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

Until next week--

Kim

Here's the link to the full text--

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.txt

PotW 6/20/12

Hi Everyone!

Can you believe that it is the summer solstice already?  Summer officially arrives at 7:23 tonight, and this evening will be the shortest of the year, giving us over 15 hours of daylight today/tomorrow.  But take a step outside today and you would swear that summer has already settled in here---it's a toasty, humid 88, heading well into the 90's for the next couple of days.  Insta-summer.  Welcome to Maine.

The summer solstice was a time of ritual significance in early civilizations.  Early people planned planting, harvesting, and many other activities according to the phases of the moon and the lunar calendar. Within these rituals they used gemstones to which they had attached special importance. One such stone was Smoky Quartz, the National Gem of Scotland.

Smoky quartz is one of the rare brown gemstones.  It can range in color from pale gray-brown to dark, almost black-brown. It was popular with many ancient civilizations, and for a time was thought to be solidified water or ice.  Because of this connection to water, smoky quartz has been used in rainmaking ceremonies in parts of the Pacific, especially among the indigenous people of Australia and New Guinea. Smoky quartz was a favorite stone of the Druids, and was thought to be lucky for foresters and gardeners, making it an important stone for summer solstice celebrations.

Because smoky quartz was easy to cut as a gem and could be shaped for both ornamental and practical purposes, smoky quartz artifacts have been found around the world.  Native Americans used smoky quartz to magnify the power of the sun and start fire from wood chips. In China it was used to make small bottles for medicines.  The Romans used smoky quartz to make ring seals, and other civilizations carved it to make impressions in clay, for decorative items and to make stone tablets with a written record of events.  In Egypt, smoky quartz was turned into beads, scarabs and other decorative jewelry.

This week's design features Smoky Quartz.  I saw these stones a while ago (can't remember where, exactly), and had to buy them because of their unique shape AND the way they are drilled.  They are truly some of the more unique smoky quartz beads I have seen anywhere. That's all I'm going to tell you...head to the website for a photo and details!

http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

Until next week-

Kim

PS--I have silver in stock for stamped cuffs right now, but it's been going fast.  If you have been thinking about ordering a cuff and it is at all time-sensitive, please order early.

PotW 6/13/12

Hi Everyone!

I have written before about the history of Mother's Day.  In brief, Mother's Day came about as a result of the peace and reconcilliation campaigns of the post- Civil War era, when mother's of both Union and Confederate soldiers came together out of desire to heal a divided nation.  It veered toward the more commercialized holiday we now know in 1908, when the Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia sponsored a service dedicated to mothers in its auditorium.  A mere year later in 1909, 45 states were observing a "Mother's Day" holiday, and in 1914 it was declared a national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson.

But when and how did Father's Day come about? (excerpted from History.com)

The campaign to celebrate the nation’s fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm as a celebration for mothers--perhaps because, as one florist explained, “fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.” On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday. The next year, a Spokane, Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19, 1910.
   
Slowly, the holiday spread. In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day. However, many men continued to disdain the day. As one historian writes, they “scoffed at the holiday’s sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products--often paid for by the father himself.”

During the 1920s and 1930s, a movement arose to scrap Mother’s Day and Father’s Day altogether in favor of a single holiday, Parents’ Day. Every year on Mother’s Day, pro-Parents’ Day groups rallied in New York City’s Central Park--a public reminder, said Parents’ Day activist and radio performer Robert Spere, “that both parents should be loved and respected together.” Paradoxically, however, the Depression derailed this effort to combine and de-commercialize the holidays. Struggling retailers and advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father’s Day a “second Christmas” for men, promoting goods such as neckties, hats, socks, pipes and tobacco, golf clubs and other sporting goods, and greeting cards. When World War II began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution.

In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday at last, 58 years after the first official Mother's Day.  Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.  (No count has been kept of how many ties and soaps-on-a-rope that represents)

So--for some unique (like Dad), personalized (because he deserves it) and utilitarian (because Dads are practical) gift ideas, check out the website:http://www.twowillowsjewelry.com

Until next week--Spoil Dad a little, even if he says he doesn't want you to!

Kim