Thanks to all our buds on Facebook for the song suggestions… happy 2011!
New Year’s Eve 2010 Playlist by soulflowerbuds at MixPod.com
Inspiration
Holiday playlist…
To help celebrate the season & keep our holiday spirits bright, us buds here at soul flower put our heads & music taste together to create this eclectically beautiful playlist of christmas tunes….
Holiday Music 2010 Playlist at MixPod.com
Best of Summer Fan-Made Playlist!
Soul Flower on mixpod
Help us make a playlist!
We’re making a playlist of our favorite songs from the summer and we need your help! New or old, any song can all be included. If you had to pick ONE song – your favorite – from this summer, what would it be? We’ll share the collective list next week!
For the Love of Trees….
Hi Buds…I think you all know how much we love trees (a quick search for tree on Soul-Flower.com brought back 43 different treehugging, branch-loving, leaf-hearting items…) And since today (April 30th) is officially Arbor Day, we thought it a good occasion to celebrate our love for trees & tell you a little bit about our efforts to help with reforestation here in the good old U. S. of A….
Soul Flower has partnered with the Arbor Day foundation to help offset our paper use. We know we use it often in our business – invoices in packages, mailing supplies, and of course there is that one biggie -our catalog production. We always work hard to make sure we recycle & reuse paper. But specifically related to our catalog – we felt that since we were using so much paper, we should do something to offset that production. So starting in 2008, we began planting two (or more) trees for every one tree we use in catalog production. It just makes sense to replenish what has been taken – and the restoration of our natural forests is not just important, it is necessary.
In 2009, we continued our efforts with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant these “offset” trees by helping with an amazing project to plant 125,000 total longleaf pine trees in the Manchester State Forest in South Carolina. This longleaf restoration project is an effort to restore longleaf pine to its former natural range. Approximately 1/4 of the 258 acres was replanted in the winter of 2008-2009 & the remainder is scheduled to be replanted this year.
To find out more about the Arbor Day Foundation & its programs, go here. And have a happy tree day <3.
p.s. (added 5/6/10) Hi again buds! We just found out that our last contribution in 2009 went to Pine Plantings in the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest, an awesome replanting effort in south central Florida…check out details here.
Not all who wander are lost.
LouDog’s Cool Nomad Sandals….
Hey there Soul-Flower pal’s. It’s loudog reporting to you today on the great Two Tone Highland Sandals, made by Nomadic State of Mind. If you have been to any large music fest in the greater US of A you have probably encountered one or more of the nomadic state crew – they happily promote peace, love and good times. And they feel that if you insist on wearing shoes, you must try nomadic sandals.
So if you think they look cool, but wonder how they feel on your feet, they feel great! These shoes are very light weight. It’s literally like your walking on air or nothing at all. They are the best at festivals, the mall, walking the animals, around the house, right out of the shower or at the beach and in the water! Plus they float. How cool is that?
These shoes are made of the best poly pro rope material and made thoughtfully . Which makes them so soft and easy to care for. No matter how dirty you get playing in them, you can hand wash or machine wash them. I would suggest just setting them in the sun to dry. They are held together with glue, so no dryer. They run true to actual size, so if your a half size, you can round up to the next size. Anyplace I were mine I always get compliments. Remember as well, Nomadic means Wanderer so wander away. Thanks again Soul-Flower for bringing us another great product!
Your Bud Loudog
A few of our favorite things…
We hope you can take part in finding your faves on soul-flower.com – we will even give away a favorite this week. Simply go to our facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/soulflower) and post a photo & link on our wall to your favorite fall product on our website. Be sure to include a little reason why it is a fave…then on November 4th we will pick a random person who will win their favorite item. So start checking out the site – in the meantime, here are a couple of our favorite fall things to inspire you.
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Our first fave is this mosaic reversible skirt.
Our first fave is this mosaic reversible skirt.
This skirt is so versitile, it is hard to know where to start…
Is it that it can be worn on either side, mosaic or black? Or possibly that you can turn down the top waistband to give it a sweet lowwaist banded look? Or how about the fact that you can roll it into a ball, throw it in your backpack & still wear it that night without a wrinkle in site? No matter how you look at this one, it is a must have for this season & beyond.
Click here to check it out.
And now our second fave, the Big Easy Tie Top.
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This top is soooo soft & fun to wear. The artwork is intricate and so beautiful…when we designed this one we really struggled to name it so that y’all could tell how cool the artwork is. There is so much to see in it, it has a graffiti quality to it with a big of hieroglyphic Egyptian coolness plus the N’Awlins voodoo funkiness…maybe it is just one of those you have to see (AND FEEL) in person. So number two is the big ez tie top.
This top is soooo soft & fun to wear. The artwork is intricate and so beautiful…when we designed this one we really struggled to name it so that y’all could tell how cool the artwork is. There is so much to see in it, it has a graffiti quality to it with a big of hieroglyphic Egyptian coolness plus the N’Awlins voodoo funkiness…maybe it is just one of those you have to see (AND FEEL) in person. So number two is the big ez tie top.
Click here to check this one out.
Trying to pick just one is the hardest part, right? So just jump on soul-flower.com, do a little window shopping & let us know your fave. That’s it, then you will have a chance to win on 11.4.09.
Blissful Pictures – Our Customers
Hey Hey Buds, We have received so many great entries for the blog contest, we just want to share a few of our favorites here. Thanks so much for the great stories & the fabulous pictures (especially those kiddles). We are here because of you & just love the vibe of all these photos. Our winner will be announced tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures:
Meet Lucy, the grandaughter of our bud Gloria. She is wearing her gauza dress, looking out “at all the wonderful sites that await her to discover”.
This is Nolan, right after his mama voted for the 2009 election. He is sporting his not too young for peace shirt. (along with his I voted sticker).
Not all our pictures we received were of kids, some were of our buds too – here is on on Jam Cruise. Wearing the Kingston Roots tee.
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From Glen –
“Here is a pic of me in your pants … hmm that didn’t come out right !!
Peace and Love
Glen”
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Adorable Siena twirling in our twirler skirt. This was one of our favorite skirts we carried….and so cute on her.
And here is our bud Kim at Hueco Tanks State Park in El Paso, TX.
I will post more pictures & announce our blog winner tomorrow.
Follow Your Bliss
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Are you hitting the road for a festy or two this season? Do you have your soul flower threads packed & ready to go? We are so glad you are taking us along. But also be sure to bring your camera & join in our brand spanking new blog contest.
We want more of our buds’ smilin’ faces on our website. Wearing Soul Flower threads. So, email us a photo of you in your kindest of threads, along with a story of the photo, and you can win a $50 gift certificate. We will publish the winning story & photo right here on our blog in June. Be sure to get us those pics by June 18th & we will inform you via email if you win. We are going to add to our collage of customers using all the entries. Check out our current images here: http://www.soul-flower.com/feedback.htm. Now email your photos & stories to [email protected].
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Three Songs
Hi friends –
It’s 3:30am and it’s the crickets and me that appear to be the only ones up right now. I really don’t mind, it’s a great time to let the thoughts just pass through my head. However, there’s this one thought that just won’t let, go so here I am writing…
Being in an introspective mood, this idea came to mind to try and define myself via music. Specifically, if you could pick three songs that define who you are what would they be? I’d imagine that over the course of several years the songs would change as your circumstances in life change – but wouldn’t it be insightful if you could keep a list that from time to time you could go back and reflect on?
So, here I go – if you feel like sharing your list feel free – this is an exercise that hopefully will bring you closer to who you are – a reflection in the mirror type thing. Anyways, here’s my list:
Song #1 is Bruce Cockburn’s Wondering Where the Lions Are. This song has always puts me in a good mood and it’s always had this sort of spiritual, uplifting, the world can’t get me down kind of message that I think is great. This song has been on my list all along and I don’t really see that changing.
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Song #2 is John Lennon’s Watching the Wheels:
This song is a reminder to me to live my life the way I see fit, and not get caught up with what others are thinking. I need to be reminded from time to time – we’re not hamsters on a wheel or cogs in a machine. Jump off, reflect, take a break, blaze a trail, just be…
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The third song is Bob Dylan’s It’s Alright Ma (I’m only Bleeding). To me, this is probably the yang to Bruce Cocburn’s Wondering Where the Lions Are. There’s as much darkness as there is light (in this world) – it’s how we choose to deal with it that defines us. Not everything in this song I relate to – but to me it’s like Nirvana’s Teen Spirit. It’s angst, rage, cynicism – but it’s also saying hey, I’m going to be okay.
lyrics
So, there you have it – probably know more about me now than you care to but that’s where I’m at right now. ‘It’s alright ma – I can make it!’
Peace and positive vibes to you all. I can’t believe it – I just finished this at 4:20 – some things never change I guess.
-Mike