Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

There’s a saying that mighty oaks from little acorns grow. Some of the highest altitude oaks in the world grow in Nepal, which is where Danusha began in 2008.

I remember the first time I stepped into the workshop at Lalgadh Leprosy Services centre. It was an incredibly moving experience as I watched women whose fingers had been lost to nerve damage manipulate stones and thread to make objects of beauty.

As well as training in jewellery making we provide adult literacy lessons, decent wages, good food, basic health and hygiene education and we’ve sponsored compost toilets too - very important in the fight against pollution of drinking water. Childhood diarrhoea is one of the main causes of death in children under the age of 5, simply because people don’t have access to clean water.

I’ve always been concerned about issues like poverty, equality and human rights, and think it’s important for us all to do what we can to make the world a better place for everyone. Along the way I’ve been inspired by ordinary people who work to get the job done. You won’t read about them in books but many of my friends work really hard for the benefit of other people.

My Danusha experience has been life changing for me. I think far more carefully about what I buy and opt for fair trade whenever possible. I spend a fair amount of time in south east Asia and have seen first hand some terrible working conditions.

Take a moment to look around. What can you see? If you’re reading this I guess there’s a computer, phone or tablet not too far away. Imagine all the people involved in making it. It’s impossible to know just how many pairs of hands it’s been through on its journey to your home, but it’s a fair bet there’s been some exploitation along the way. I’m not saying ‘don’t have stuff’, simply that we should all do what we can to redress the balance from time to time, and buying fair trade is a good first step.

At Danusha, highlights have been working direct with the women to develop new designs, and watching them blossom as they gain in confidence. In their society any association with leprosy is a one way ticket to ostracisation so it’s fantastic to see them regaining the respect of their families and being accepted back into their communities. This is what skills training does. It gives people back their dignity and I love it! I also love the light and life and colour of Nepal. Being there is like fire for the soul. 

You can find and find a wide range of Danusha pieces of jewellery at both www.facebook.com/ConfusedArt and www.con-fusedarts.co.uk

From Alli of Danusha,

www.danusha.org

Dress for A/W 2013!

Hi,
the seasons are changing and if like us your nights are drawing in and it's getting cooler, you will be thinking of changing your wardrobe. This month, we are bringing you a quick guide to some of the hottest colours this coming season!

Nothing says autumn more than rich sumptuous colours from deep purple and midnight blue to mustard and burgundy. So it is no surprise that Tomato Red, Cobalt Blue (see bracelet left, £24.99 www.con-fusedarts.co.uk),  Chocolate and Purples featured strongly on the catwalks.  A couple of surprises included a subdued lime green and dusted rose pink.  Oh and don't forget the obligatory Christmas parties, office parties and New Year Balls. Let's mix in a splattering of metallic including gold, silver and bronze.

If you are feeling brave, you could wear them in large block colours such as dresses or winter coats. If are you not wanting too much colour, why not add a splash of gorgeous colour with a scarf, shoes or jewellery. Hmmm, jewellery I hear you ponder... well this is where Con-fused Arts can help you!

Here at Con-fused Arts, we are excited to be introducing a new gorgeous range of luxury ethical jewellery with richer tones and colours and also some different designs perfect for autumn/fall and winter. Keep your eye on our Facebook page for announcements on when this jewellery has arrived in stock. 

Look good and feel good with Con-fused Arts :)

Love Pam

SPRING INTO COLOUR

Well, spring officially sprung last week, what with the spring equinox on the 20^th and British Summertime beginning next weekend, and I got to thinking how lovely Spring feels after a long winter (and oh boy, has it felt like a long winter!) and what it is about the season that really seems to inject a new sense of life into us at this time of year, and a lot of the changes in the way we think and feel eventually come down to light and colour.

During winter, we suffer from an absence of both light and colour in our natural environment, which means that even the colours that do occur in our lives are often muted thanks to the grey days, dark cloud and early evenings, which encourages us to cuddle in and hibernate.

But spring brings with it lighter mornings and evenings and shoots of colour peeking out from unexpected places. The sky starts to seduce us with bright blues, snowdrops peek shyly through the grass and the bluebells dance alluringly on the woodland floors. The light seems brighter and everything seems to have more impact.

Our clothes seem more vivid and leave us feeling more vibrant, our décor seems just a shade more vivid than it did before. It all seems lighter and brighter and that tends to wake our brains up and become more aware of our surroundings, especially now that we can see more of it!

The colours of spring can all be thought of as fresh. They’re light, bright and invigorating. They have the same effect on our psychology as sorbet has on your palette. They induce feelings of revitalising, freshness, brightness, and energy. So what sort of colours are spring colours?

Sky blues dominate the spring landscape as we start waking up to skies where we can see the sky instead of waking up to cloud cover, rain, snow or fog. Blues traditionally inspire comfort and a sense of continuity, reliability, loyalty and constancy, and within the context of the vivid colours of spring, those traditional colour traits become representative of life continuing on, of the dawn of a new season and the cycle of life.

Tender greens are the colour we traditionally associate with spring, as we begin to see shoots of new life coming through the ground, and plants beginning to slowly bloom. Whilst greens are traditionally representative of nature, interpretations of the colour green run the gamut from emotional stability to healing to nature. In Spring, however, we seem to predominantly focus on the tender, fresh and more vivid shades of green to represent life and renewal.

Primrose yellows and nectarine oranges often come with the new blooms like daffodils, black-eyed susans,  shasta daisies and honeysuckle and offer a cheeringly optimistic bloom of colour after a stark winter. Both bright, but strangely delicate colours, they provide a positive accent to the greens and blues that surround us and remind us of the warmth that is seeping back into the world around us, giving us energy to begin new things and push forward towards to a sense of being able to thrive in our environments once again.

White is a colour that we often see during Spring, though rarely associate with the season. In fact, Spring is often heralded by a blazing display of white through the snowdrop. When we see white in winter, it can seem very bare and stark, but when we see it amongst the fresh and positive shades of Spring, it appears as a blank canvas, an offset for all the colour that surrounds it, making them and itself all the brighter for the contrast.

This time of year is a chance for you to spring into colour, inspired by nature.

Enjoy yourselves!

Sarah Clive is an Inspirationalist from Sarah Clive – Life’s Too Short where she helps people to follow their dreams and live life outside the box, on their terms. Sarah's a specialist in thinking outside the box and uses her unique skill and enthusiasm for life by helping people find ways to make life work for them so that they can focus on doing what they love. She can be contacted through her facebook.com/sarahclivelifestooshort, twitter.com/inspired_sarah or website: sarahclive.com. Or you can always get in touch the old fashioned way and give her a call on the phone on 01228 513134