Touch the Earth Review & Giveaway!

A couple of weeks ago I came across this wonderful Etsy store called Touch the Earth Graphic Design Studio. Touch the Earth creates beautiful items meant to help calm and reside in meditative spaces. They make a wide variety of items such as banners (similar to Japanese tapestries), prayer flags (single and 3, 5 & seven group), mobiles, night-lights and Shoji Candle Lanterns. Many of the items that Touch the Earth carries have beautiful Japanese fine art calligraphy called ‘SHODO’ on them. Most of the Shodo is created by Cathy’s good friend Kyoko Hunt, an artist who lives in Kyoto, Japan. In addition, another dear friend of Cathy’s, Yumiko Freeman who lives nearby in Oregon, completes some of the Shodo. One reason I feel that I really connect with the items made by Touch the Earth is that when I was just entering high school, I went to Japan as an exchange student for 3 weeks. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. Ever since, and even before, I have been fascinated by art with Japanese influences.

Here are some of the lovely items that you will find at Touch the Earth:

Silk Banner (Bamboo)

1 Little Prayer (Blossom)

Shoji Candle Lantern (Tree)

Cathy, the owner of Touch the Earth was kind enough to tell me a bit about herself and how her store got started:
“My name is Cathleen Coulson-Keegan, and I started Touch the Earth Design Studio in 1972, the year of my daughter's birth. Inspired by the Oregon environment where we live, I create original designs with my husband and partner Bill. We strive to make many products to light and fill your quiet, meditative spaces. We test all of our outdoor products by hanging them year round, through sleet, storm, and the dark of night. This way we can honestly tell you about their durability. Many friends and customers have also shared delightful stories about where our products now reside. One such example is about an apple tree that is home to several of our lanterns and another where in a Northern California redwood forest there is a lantern hanging year round with moss growing on it and they report a lovely pale green glow when lit at night.

Here is our web site: http://www.earthsteps.com/ You may find some useful info there. Here is our booth at the Oregon Country Fair: http://www.earthsteps.com/ocfbooth.html This festival is the most fun and amazing event, happening each July, and Bill and I have had booths there for over 20 some years, joining our work in 1994 at my booth that became 'our' booth!”

Here is a picture of Cathy and her husband Bill hand painting Shoji Candle Lanterns:


Review
Cathy offered to send me one of her seven group prayer flags (Earth) to review. When I received it, I was very impressed that what was sent to me looked exactly like the picture shown in her shop. I really liked the 'Story' cards that came with the package because they told me a bit about each of the designs and their meanings. Another thing that I thought was great about the seven group prayers flags is that they are doubled sided. This is great for people who want to hang them somewhere that will show off both sides. For me, I put them up against a wall and over a window. The nice thing about the two different sides for me, is that I can flip them over occasionally to enjoy something fresh and new.

The quality of the product was great. It looks like Cathy took a lot of time to ensure that the flags were both beautiful and durable. The stitching looks to be quite strong and I can imagine it will hold up for a very long time. Another thing I loved about these prayer flags was that they were all hand printed and painted to ensure that each one is of the highest quality. Cathy told me that by hand printing it helps her to examine each piece as she works. She then goes and fills in any 'pinholes' on the surfaces of her products by hand to make sure each one comes out clean and sharp. Lastly, I really loved the sweet little bells that were in between each prayer flag. This is an especially great feature for people wanting to hang these prayer flags outdoors. After reviewing these prayer flags, I would be pleased to order from Touch the Earth in the future. They have excellent products to choose from and they offer wonderful workmanship.

What can you win? The winner of the giveaway will have the choice of any one item that Touch the Earth carries.

To enter, please visit Touch the Earth and take a look at all the beautiful items that they carry. Then, come back here and tell me what your favorite item was and what you liked about it.

Earn up to 4 extra entries by:
-Subscribing to my blog (by email or reader. Please keep in mind that I can check to see if you have actually done this.)
-Adding my button to your blog sidebar.
-Posting about this giveaway on your blog. (Please make sure to leave a link to your blog post in your entry.)
-Making a purchase from Touch the Earth before the end of the giveaway.

For each of the above actions you do, you will receive one extra entry into the giveaway. Please leave an additional comment for EACH thing you have done for an extra entry.

You can have a maximum of 5 entries in this giveaway.

This giveaway will end on Sunday, November 2nd at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to Touch the Earth), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of Australia, Canada, and the United States!

Touch the Earth is offering my readers a special 10% discount code that will be valid on any purchases made before the end of the giveaway (Sunday, November 2nd, 2008). In order to receive this discount, please say you came from ‘Everything Up Close’ in the notes section. Touch the Earth will then send you back a revised invoice reflecting the discount. If you are already thinking about Christmas gifts, this store offers many wonderful choices!

Good Luck!

This is a Bloggy Giveaway Carnival Giveaway. If you’d like to enter more great giveaways please visit: http://www.donttryit.com/bloggy_giveaways/