Love the Earth Every Day

I grew up understanding about conservation. I regularly heard basic little things we could do every day to help conserve energy “turn off the lights!” or “dont leave food on your plate” or don’t let the water just run”. Occassionally my mom would go through health food kicks where organic and natural were the way things would be — she even worked in a health food store for a while – which I LOVED to hang out in.


Every Day Earth Day Framed Tile

But now, as an adult, I am understanding the deeper message, the bigger importance, and I hope I can somehow pass the message on to my own children… but it’s not easy. Although conservation and “earth friendly” options are available, it’s not the norm and by no means always an easy option to move forward with. It’s almost trendy at this point… and especially on days like today… to be concerned with the world around us. For many, however, a few weeks from now the good intentions get pushed aside by time constraints, price differences and general motivation. Sometimes we have all the right thoughts, but the options we want just aren’t options within our reach.


Love the Earth Penguin Tote Bag

So I started thinking today… what can we do, what habits can we replace or start new just to begin to make a difference in our own individual little worlds? Thanks to some great conversations with friends and a lot of insight from media today, here are some simple ideas I think we could all put on our list to at least try..

  • Use items that can be reused rather than throw away items whenever possible
  • Don’t buy styrofoam and plastic when there are biodegradable option
  • Buy recycled items whenever possible
  • Carpool whenever possible
  • Know what you are buying…

Some product Ideas that I can recommend from my own collections…

  • Tote Bags – use the canvas tote bags for groceries instead of “paper or plastic”
  • Mugs – carry around the mugs instead of using paper or plastic cups


Peace Love and Earth Sticker (Bumper)

Happy Loving the Earth!

Tuesday's Topic: Fluff and stuff

Today there is good and bad…

The bad first (because I always like to end on a high happy note)

Today is Income Tax Pay Day, National Gripers Day and Titanic Day

Now for the good.. today is also National Take a Wild Guess Day, National Fast Food Day, National Glazed Ham Day and my favorite for the day… Fluff Appreciation Day.

I think I love fluff… yes. Actually I know I love fluff. the soft squishy huggable kind. I also really like the whipped creamy sugary topping on my pie or marshmellowy with peanut butter kind. I think fluff is definitely under appreciated and so today in honor of Fluff Appreciation Day I think I’ll fill my day with fluffy fluffness and smile about it… all day.

laces one can find fluff…
In the lint catcher of the dryer
In the limpy arm of the teddy bear you had at age 3
Under the bed
In your belly button
In the tiny gift box with your favorite piece of jewelry
In Grandma’s pillows
In those bunny slippers you love but won’t admit you wear


Everyone Needs A Little FLUFF In Their Day

By the way, according to my spell check, “huggable” isn’t a word. So I guess I need to squish more instead.

Where is your fluff??

Tuesday's Topic: Celebration

April is a great month for me. It’s my birthday month so its a time that I look back to see what i’ve accomplished in the year and look ahead at new goals. I also share my birthday with my Grandfather. This is an extra special treat for me. So April is all about celebrating in my world.

Birthday Party Penguins

Usually I set up a great birthday sale for the entire month, however this year I am doing something a little different. I’ve set up a registry at DonorsChoose.org. It’s a non profit organization that enables teachers to request financial assistance for things their students and classrooms need to succeed. So instead of spending that $25.00 on a t-shirt, I’d be just as delighted if you wanted to put it towards one of the projects I selected in my birthday registry. It’s going to help classrooms filled with tomorrow’s future – and I’m really excited about that.

So help me celebrate this month, get involved and for goodness sake – Be Happy!

Check out DonorsChoose
and my selected projects for the month

Thank you so much!

If you’d like to learn more about what I am doing to get involved, check out Design for a Cause. I’d love to hear from you!

IF: Save – The Hero Penguin

This week’s Illustration Friday theme is Save. There are a number of ways I visualize the word “save”, but for today I think the super hero penguin does the trick. He’s all about being there to help, but was originally designed as a fun “icon” to represent being there for your family… “Be a super hero for your kids”. Be fun and bigger than life. Be the protector and the motivator. Be a hero!

Superhero penguin

Every day I strive to do my best, but I’m pretty sure I have plenty of room for improvement. My goal is to have my kids think back and remember happiness.

Good People Day

Oh yes it is! April 3rd is Good People Day (according to one of my new found inspirations, Gary Vaynerchuk). I could go on and on about all the Good People I’ve met, all the Good I hope to offer People and all the People that do Good, but there’s no way there is enough room to list every name, and I would be horrified if I left one person out.

So instead I want to say THANK YOU to all the people that have inspired me, encouraged me, taught me or been there when I needed them.

This is to all the people that wake up every morning with an attitude ready to make a difference in the day… ready to conquer the world, no matter how big or small for the moment. To all the people that strive to better themselves. All the people that reach out and help those in need. To all those people that are just darn Good People.

These are the people that I hope to meet, sit with, surround my life with. It’s the Good People in the world that make the world a better place to be… and it’s the tiniest of good that can make a difference…

Try, just for today, to do One Good Thing for one person and see how it can spread. One Good Thing! Then challenge them to do the same. Take just a moment to let at least one person know that they are Good People! 😀

So here it is again, The Do Good Penguin…

YOU ARE
GOOD PEOPLE!
Thank you for being a part of my day

original designs by JGoode at myJGD.com

Some Good People Blogs I recommend:

[tags]jgoode, penguin, good people,GPD08[/tags]

Tuesday's Topic: The Art of Fun

Today is April Fool’s Day and I have yet to personally witness any of the usual mean pranks. I’m not complaining at all. I’ve never been one to like the potentially hurtful jokes. Instead, this year I have seen a lot of silliness and fun and just down right good laughs between friends.

This year, my April Fool’s Day “prank” was actually not a prank at all, but a twist – I joined up with my dear penguin pal to run a contest for the day:

You still have time to add your own comment to win.

I’ve always wanted to figure out a way to give away some of my art without sounding too corny or struggling too much over which art to give. The penguin seems to make everything so much easier! It’s all about creating and sharing and spreading a few smiles, right? So feel free to enter and then pass on the fun and maybe you’ll be the lucky winner!

[tags]april fools day,jgoode,tuesdays topic[/tags]