Newly Added One of A Kind Items

image from reciprocityimages

We are so excited to have a collection of one of a kind items from the Shipibo tribe of the Peruvian rain forest. The ritual process of embroidery is considered sacred among the tribe and these handmade pieces showcase the beautiful work and vision of these talented individuals.

This gorgeous sacred cloth full of intricate embroidery could be used as a table cover or wall hanging...it's perfect to place sacred items upon.

We've got several amazing bags full of colorful and fun embroidery work, this slouchy shoulder bag being one of our very favorites.

How could you not feel groovy wearing this awesome tank top?

Check out all of the new items at the One of A Kind Collection section of our website.
 

Much love from your friends at Blue Sky <3

Greetings Friends!

The Monkey Temple of Kathmandu, Nepal

In the interest of creating the grooviest line of clothing out there, we have been traveling the globe and opening our eyes, minds and hearts to everything around us. 

The Himalayas of Nepal

Over the past month we have traveled to India, Nepal, and Thailand. We met so many lovely people along the way and visited some of the most beautiful places we could ever imagine.

Koh Samui, Thailand

We feel so closely connected to our worldwide human family after such a wonderful journey, and are filled with positivity, enthusiasm and the ever present desire to give back to our planet and its fellow inhabitants.

Koh Phangan, Thailand

We encourage all of our Blue Sky friends and family to do whatever you can to help the planet. It all starts with one person.

Kathmandu, Nepal

 We are proud to support the following organizations:

The Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research

Emoto Peace Project

Environmental Defense Fund

Trees for the Future

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Oceana

The Monkey Temple of Kathmandu, Nepal

We know that it's not always an option to donate money, so here is a link to a post we made a while back with 10 easy ways to give back to your community. Namaste'

Much love from your friends at Blue Sky :)

Fall Into A New Skirt

It is that time of year...time to ditch the mini skirts and break out the long ones. What is a more classic look than a long skirt on a bohemian babe?! We've chosen our favorite fall skirts to help ease the transition into cooler weather.

Our Cinched Up Overdye Skirt works for ladies of all heights. Simply pull and tie the cinches on the bottom of the skirt to whatever length suits you best. It's also great for rainy days when you definitely do NOT want to drag your gorgeous skirt in a puddle.

Our Thermal Tie Dye Skirt is perfect for that time in between seasons when it's hot one day and cool the next. Pair it with flip flops on a warm day and boots on a cool one.

From the grocery store to Trey lot, our Ziggy Panel Skirt will keep you looking majorly groovy and feeling comfy.

We love, love, LOVE our Raw Edge Romance Skirt! This super feminine skirt has detailed all over embroidery to keep you looking like the gorgeous goddess that you are!

This one brings the comfort! Our Tie Dye Maxi Skirt, made out of a viscose knit, could possibly be the most comfy and cozy skirt we've ever worn.

Save the best for last. :) Our Diagonal Cut Skirt has a little weight to it to keep your warm on a cold day.

We hope that as the seasons are changing, you are all making positive changes in your life as well. We are so grateful for all of our supporters. 

Many thanks and much love from your hippie friends at Blue Sky <3

Amazon Dream

Blue Sky is pleased to partner with ACEER on our Amazon Dream line of handmade jewelry. We are now offering this line of products produced by Shipibo artisans in the central Peruvian rainforest, where ACEER has been working since 2008. 

One of our favorite pieces in the collection, this bracelet is comprised of hand painted shicapa seeds that are sustainably gathered in the Amazon. The painting represents worms nurturing the soil of the Earth.

With each item purchased through Blue Sky, you are making a real difference in the lives of the Shipibo-Conibo peoples of Amazonia.  Each piece is unique, hand-made, and reflecting the sacred wisdom and symbols of these native peoples.  Every item represents a part of the rich traditions of the Shipibo that go back thousands of years, demonstrating in a powerful way that the culture and natural resources of the Amazon can be protected. Not only that, but the jewelry is super groovy!  Proceeds from your purchases will allow ACEER to supply badly needed educational materials for Amazonian children, essential teacher training in conservation education, and funds for sustainable community development projects.  Thank you for making a difference!

This gorgeous necklace is a staple in our wardrobe! Made out of acai seeds that are sustainably gathered and hand dyed by the Shipibo, the colors match almost everything and at 52" it is plenty long to wrap around your neck more than once.

We love to wrap the necklace around our wrist to get get that chunky bracelet look.

10 Easy Ways to Give Back to Your Community

Here at Blue Sky we are all about saving the planet. When we started out so long ago, we felt it was our responsibility to be conscious of the way our operation is run in every step of the process. We have always provided a peaceful work environment and fair wages for our employees; we are so proud to be a Fair Trade company! Our clothing is made by happy hands and filled with good energy, how groovy is that?
We also donate to organizations that we feel are really making a difference. There is nothing that gives us more of a sense of fulfillment than donating our time or money to help out those less fortunate. We know it's hard to find that extra time or money sometimes, so we have created a list of 10 easy ways to give back on a local level. Remember that it only takes 1 person to make a difference, and that person can be you!

1. Donate your groovy old clothes to Goodwill instead of throwing them out. Not only are you providing someone with affordable clothes that allow them to express themselves, but Goodwill uses the profits from their stores to help out your community directly.
2. Pick up trash off the ground and dispose of it properly. If you don't pick it up, a bird might!
3. Support your local farmers and buy your organic produce from the farmer's market. Not only will the food be more sustainable, fresh and delicious than imported produce, but you get to talk to the people growing the food that is providing your body with nourishment. What a beautiful thing!

4. After you go out to dinner downtown, give your leftovers to the homeless. Provide someone in your community with a healthy meal who may not have the money to buy it themselves.
5. Adopt a pet from the Humane Society in lieu of going to a breeder. There are so many homeless pets who need a loving owner like you to take care of them. Don't support the inbreeding of man's best friend!
6.  Pick up cigarette butts off the ground and dispose of them properly. We see cigarette butts everywhere, and we get so upset thinking about a precious little critter swallowing a filter that can swell up in their stomach and cause major issues. If you're worried about the cleanliness of picking them up, then carry around some hand sanitizer to keep you germ free.
7. Shop at locally owned businesses. When you shop at a mom and pop boutique you are providing a little girl with ballet lessons, when you shop at a huge corporation you are providing a CEO with a third vacation home. By being conscious of who you are giving your money to, you can make a huge difference!
8. Plant some flowers! You'll release oxygen into the environment and have the pleasure of watching a product of your creation blossom; gardening is proven to cure depression! Eckhart Tolle claims that birds, crystals and flowers are the 3 most fantastic things found on Earth.

9. Walk to local shops instead of driving. You'll get exercise, and be emitting less pollutants into the air; it's a win-win situation!
10. Teach a valuable skill of yours to those who don't have access to it. We like to volunteer at the YMCA's 'Loop It Up' program that teaches less fortunate children how to make art. Watching how proud the kids are of the art they produced is magical!

We encourage you to give back to your human family and spread your love and kind soul unto those who need it.

Throw Down Your Heart

We've always loved the way Béla Fleck plays the banjo, but after seeing his film, Throw Down Your Heart, we are taken aback by the beauty of Béla's trip to Africa. In the documentary, Béla brings the banjo back to its' birthplace. It's so funny that we usually associate the banjo with a southern, country music sound when it's roots are in Africa. Once we heard the banjo accompanied by some of the best musicians in Africa, we could hear how well it fit in with these instruments that it's not typically played with in America. Béla even found a young man who plays the instrument that the banjo is believed to be derived from. Watching the reaction of the locals to Béla's playing, as well as his reaction to the different instrumentation and vocal range of the locals was so fun. The collaborations Béla has with musicians around the continent are jaw dropping. We were so moved by Béla's collaboration with Oumou Sangare that we were brought to tears. Watching 2 people communicate so clearly through music is so powerful! Check out a clip from the documentary above where Béla plays with Ruth, the only female thumb piano player in Jinja.

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream

image from sfweekly

We love when successful businesses use their power to help make a difference in the world. Ben and Jerry's ice cream has always been one of our favorite tasty treats, but our love for them goes beyond the ice cream. Ben and Jerry moved to Burlington, VT in 1978 because it was a college town with no ice cream parlor, they figured no competition would help their business blossom. The pair held social and political events at their store aimed at the college crowd, and business began to boom. In 1980, they began packaging their ice cream for sale in a stores. Once Ben and Jerry began to taste success, they did the unthinkable for young businessmen...they held a public auction of the company's stocks in Vermont. Their idea was for their community to 'get a taste of the action,' as their business was beginning to succeed as well as gaining capital to invest in more equipment for producing ice cream. In 1984, Häagen-Dazs tried to limit Ben and Jerry's distribution by threatening to pull their product out of any store that would carry Ben and Jerry's. As you can imagine, this did not settle with the pair. They immediately launched the "What's the Doughboy Afraid of Campaign?" and became the faces of the little guys getting squashed by big business. The media storm that followed helped the pair gain recognition not only because of the Häagen-Dazs ordeal, but also allowed them to share their important philosophies and ideologies of how a business should be run.  In 1985 the Ben and Jerry Foundation was created and received 7.5% of their annual pre-tax profits to go towards community oriented projects. In 2000 the pair sold the company to food giant Unilever under one condition, to keep going with their mission to give back to the community through the Ben and Jerry's Foundation, as well as sourcing all milk from Vermont cows. Though they don't oversee the company anymore, Ben and Jerry are both active in the Ben and Jerry Foundation. Ben lobbies in Washington to increase funds for education by taking a minuscule amount of funding from the military. He uses cookies to demonstrate how much funding the military is getting vs. how much funding education is getting.

Click here to see what Ben and Jerry are fighting for these days and what you can do to help. What's your favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry's? We like Phish Food, but you probably already knew that! :)

Happy Earth Day!

 image from colorfulgypsy

We love our mother Earth here at Blue Sky and invite you to celebrate Earth Day 2012 by checking out some organizations we support that help protect this amazing planet we are so lucky to inhabit.

The Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research

Emoto Peace Project

Environmental Defense Fund

Trees for the Future

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Oceana

Blue Sky partners with the Shipibo-Conibo people of the Amazon Rainforest

image from treeborne

Blue Sky is pleased to partner with ACEER.    Blue Sky is now offering this line of products produced by Shipibo artisans in the central Peruvian rainforest, where ACEER has been working since 2008.
With each item purchased through Blue Sky, you are making a real difference in the lives of the Shipibo-Conibo peoples of Amazonia.  Each piece is unique, hand-made, and reflecting the sacred wisdom and symbols of these native peoples.  Every item represents a part of the rich traditions of the Shipibo that go back thousands of years, demonstrating in a powerful way that the culture and natural resources of the Amazon can be protected.  Proceeds from your purchases will allow ACEER to supply badly needed educational materials for Amazonian children, essential teacher training in conservation education, and funds for sustainable community development projects. 

Click here to check out Blue Sky's Amazon Dream collection.