Since I began this journey of expressing myself through jewelry and fabric, I have been on the hunt for good resources for materials that are either certified fair trade, organic, handmade, or eco-conscious. In the world of jewelry materials, it is extremely difficult to find materials that are not mass produced in a sweat shop, imported or that “rape” our earth’s resources. I’ve found in my research that I can’t always get all of these qualities in one, that I will typically have to pick one of “green and socially responsible” qualities to support. But, at least that’s better than none. Small change in baby steps, right? Sterling silver is one of those materials that is hard to replace with an alternative. If I could find the variety and quality of findings, beads, and charms in stainless steel ( a renewable, reusable material) I would be in heaven. However, I am super psyched to annouce that I have discovered SHIANA. Shiana is a certified Fair Trade Federation company based in Thailand, so of course they work in the world’s finest and sought after by many jewelry enthusiasts Thai silver industry. The difference here, is that Shiana employs families of silver artisans who have been creating these masterpieces for generations. The artisans work out of their homes, each piece is handcrafted in small batches, and the families themselves actually recieve the wages they deserve (fair trade) the pieces are reasonably priced and not inflated to boost the seller’s profits. There is no middleman. This is a company that is dedicated to social change. I was doing flip flops!!!! I snatched up a few of my favorites and about died when they arrived in the mail! I went right to work with these beautiful gifts. You can just see the beauty, the time, and the pride that went into these. They are inspiration on their own. I have such pride in knowing I support such a company and in turn can offer the consumer this same pride in knowing the materials are part of change, the jewelry made from them (my handcrafted, unique, inspiring ) pieces is all part of a chain that is making a huge statement ! We want social equality, we want a healthy planet, we are willing to support that change with our hard earned money! Anyway, here’s a peek at a few pieces that are new at The Zen Tree.

And there is more brewing in the studio……………….to be listed soon!