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March 2009 E-zine |
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Turquoise Décor LLC |
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From Drab to Fab! |
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425 463 8415 |
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Proudly serving clients from the following communities: Seattle, the Eastside, King County, Snohomish County, Pierce County, Tacoma, Bellevue, Renton, Seatac, Shoreline, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish, Kent, Auburn, West Seattle, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Woodinville, Kenmore, Fife, Federal Way, Edmonds, Brier, Bothell, Lake Forest Park, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Normandy Park, Greenlake, Carnation, Duvall, Everett, Monroe, Lake Stevens, North Bend, Snoqualmie, Copyright © 2008 Turquoise Décor Newsletter.
Photography © by Skedonk.com |
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! |
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Issue 5, March 2009 |
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It’s St Patrick’s Day - time to go seriously green, wish your loved one’s good luck and have a shamrockin’ time! St Patrick’s Day and Ireland conjure up the vibrant color green, and in that vein, we have devoted this newsletter to environmentally-friendly things. Consider some easy ways to recycle your old towels and sheets in our Tips & Tricks section. Read about ways you can ensure your home and business are green, healthy, and uncluttered on our Featured Articles page. Plus we have a bunch of environmentally conscious Hot Products this month - from beautiful decorative items all the way through to cleaning products - that will shamrock your world!
We’ll be at the Northwest Women’s Show at Qwest Field Event Center, Seattle, WA March 27 - 29 (Fri & Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5). Admission is $15, but visit any Bartell Drug Store & purchase tickets at $2 off plus get free parking for four or more in a car. Stop by our booth for a pretty and useful free gift and a chance to win one of several prizes - we will be having a drawing on each day of the show so your chances of winning are tripled. But that’s not all: mention this email and receive our Remote Consultation Package entirely FREE - that’s a $250 value! We hope you’ll join us for this fun event! Until then, we wish you a rainbow for sunlight after showers and miles and miles of Irish smiles for golden happy hours! |
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n Turquoise Décor will be participating in the 21st annual North West Womens Show on March 27th-29th at the Q-West Field Events Center. Celebrities will include “Dante” from Sex & the City! |
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n Join us at the amazing networking and seminar series called Work Smarter Forum on April 9th. Elizabeth Bowman of Innovatively Organized will be presenting a workshop entitled Gain Control - Techniques to Manage Your Inbox, Your Office and Your Life |
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n Don’t miss local glass artist Barbara Sanderson of Glass Gardens NW who will be exhibiting at the Northwest Perennial Alliance Spring Plant Show™ on April 19th. |
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Contributors to this edition: |
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Professional Organizing: reclaiming your time and space
Linda Deppa linda@nwinteriors.com |
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Giving Back: The Big Brothers Big Sisters 2009 Little Lunch with BIG Impact Support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel on Thursday, March 26th at 1 pm.
Hopelink’s Employment Program Hopelink has launched a new employment program to provide services including: job coaching, resume building, interview preparation, counseling on attire and conduct, job development and placement and post employment support. Go here for more information.
Free Business Seminars by Maria Marsala of Elevating Your Business Business building expert Maria Marsala of Poulsbo is offering free seminars to help businesses thrive in the down economy. The seminars are being held by conference call and are limited to 100 participants. The format starts with 15 minute online networking, followed by a 30-40 minute workshop and Marsala will answer the participants questions on the topic. Areas covered include business development, business management, marketing, leverage, Web site traffic, pricing, and more. The teleclasses are held each Monday from 12:45pm to 2 p.m. Each call will be taped and registrants will be able to listen to the audio online for 48 hours. Go to ElevatingYourBusiness.com to register. |
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Remember that our referral program enables clients and friends to earn money by referring new clients. For every new client that you refer to us, we will give you 10% of the project's value (up to a total referral bonus of $1,000). |
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March Trivia Challenge
St Patrick chose to incorporate traditional Irish ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also superimposed a powerful Irish symbol onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish.
Which Irish symbol was incorporated into the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross? Was it:
(a) The sun; (b) A snake; (c) The moon; or (d) A shamrock.
The first correct answer emailed to Nicole@TurquoiseDecor.com will be this month's winner of a $10 Starbucks Card! |
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Famous Quote
To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now. - Samuel Beckett |
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Hot Products March 17th is St Patrick's Day - the Irish holiday celebrating the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick. Because Ireland is known as the emerald isle, we thought it would be fun to put a green spin on our hot products this month. Log Bowls from Loyal Loot
Bring a slice of the Canadian wilderness into your home with these log bowls from design collective Loyal Loot. Using unwanted waste wood from storms, development, and re-landscaping, the ladies at Loyal Loot have taken nature’s leftovers and made these colorful eco-friendly bowls. Working with local crafts people, a tree is sliced into various lengths, and then turned by hand on a lathe until a smooth and even depression has been made. The dish of the bowl is hand-painted in a high-gloss acrylic and sealed with a water-based sealant. The smooth, glassy depression of the bowl complements the rustic bark base. The result is a series of bowls that come in a rainbow of colors, and a variety of sizes and shapes. Available from Rose and Radish. Agate Serving Plates from Viva Terra
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Eco-Friendly Cabinet Pulls
These stylish cabinet pulls from SpectraDecor are manufactured from eco-resin and lead-free pewter. |
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Glass with Class Great for countertops, floors, fireplace surrounds, even tabletops, Vetrazzo recycled glass solid surfacing is heat resistant (up to 750°F), stain resistant, and as smooth as marble. If none of the 50 stock patterns thrills you, Vetrazzo can be custom-ordered: mix and match the colors of ground-up windshields and soda bottle shards to create a combo you can feel at home with. |
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Coffee, Tea or… This is a fabulous little piece of recycling ingenuity: retired airline service carts reborn as compact (and sturdy) bars for the home or water coolers for the office. And banish thoughts of the dinged-up gunmetal-gray exterior. Cologne-based Bordbar offers stylish storage in a choice of contemporary cover designs or you can design it yourself. You also choose shelving or storage bins for within. |
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Cut and polished from raw Brazilian stones, these exquisite agates form when water flows through lava holes, depositing silica that adds to their shimmering beauty and stunning luminous colors. These agate serving platters from Viva Terra with the original stone edge intact, are ideal for cheese, sushi, or any hors d'oeuvre needing exquisite elevation. Accompanied by a set of four ring-slab coasters, all have rubber feet to protect surfaces (colors will vary). |
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Top 5 Ways to Recycle Your Old Towels and Sheets
1. If your sheets are still in good condition (and you still like them!), make them into curtains. A printed cotton topsheet would be an easy and lovely way to cover your windows.
2. Use your old sheets to make gift or shoe bags. Just cut the size you need, sew a one-inch seam for the drawstring, and then sew the bag together.
3. Use your old sheets to make a tablecloth, table runner, placemats and napkins.
4. Use old sheets and blankets to make new ironing board pads and covers. Thick blankets make ideal ironing board pads. For the blanket pad, cut just the size of the ironing board top. Then, lay the old ironing cover down on your sheet and cut out, cutting extra to cover the sides of the board. Place the blanket pad underneath the sheet cover and fit to the ironing board.
5. Make your own dishtowels by hemming the edges to prevent fraying. |
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March 2009 Featured Articles A Healthy Home - Green Interiors By Heidi Helgeson
The news is buzzing with the words “green”, “sustainable”, and “environmentally friendly”. There is so much information in the media that it is hard to know where to start learning about this new era of creating energy efficient, healthy homes.
We spend much of the time indoors, but pay little attention to what we put in our homes that affects this indoor environment. Chemical sensitivity, asthma, and other health issues have been on the rise. Careful decisions on the products we use inside our homes can greatly affect the air quality in our homes.
Paint: If you are remodeling or just need to freshen up a room, choose a low or zero-VOC paint. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) are emitted from paints and other materials and can cause a variety of adverse health effects. VOCs can be found in paints, cleaning supplies, and other finishes. Most major paint manufacturers carry a line of low or zero-VOC paints that can be used in replacement for standard paint. Not only do these paints emit fewer VOCs, but they also have less odor. It is recommended to use this type of paint in homes where chemically sensitive people or small children are living.
Hardwood Floor Finish: There are several options for finishing or refinishing a wood floor: oil based polyurethane finish, water based polyurethane, and OSMO Polyx Oil. Oil based polyurethane finish, typically called Swedish finish, is a toxic process of finishing which results in requiring the home’s occupants to move out for a least a week following application. Some people can be sensitive to the chemicals months after the finish has been applied. A water based polyurethane finish dries much quicker and typically emits less odor than the oil-based finish. This finish is just as durable as the oil-based finish. An alternative to the polyurethane finishes is OSMO Polyx Oil which is made from plant based materials and has low-VOC emissions. It can be used on hardwood or cork floors and can easily be touched up in areas of high traffic without having to refinish the entire surface.
Carpet: Carpets can be another source of unwanted VOCs in your home. A testing program has been developed to identify and label carpets that have lower emissions. Look for the CRI Green Label or Green Label Plus which certifies carpets, carpet backings, cushions, and adhesives for low-VOC emissions. Other materials such as furnishings, upholstery, manufactured wood products, and cleaning products affect the air we breath everyday in our homes.
For more information on creating a healthy indoor environment, please refer to the Healthy Home Institute. A local company, the Ecohaus, has a wide selection of environmentally friendly products and finishes.
Heidi Helgeson is the founder of H2D, a residential architectural design firm. If you would like more information on how to increase the energy efficiency of your home, please contact heidi@h2d-llc.com. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Rethink Your Ink! By Charles Grimmett
For years consumers have recognized that generic products (i.e. soda, medication, etc.) perform the same as name brands, only cheaper. Today remanufactured ink and toner products provide an opportunity for consumers and businesses to save money while maintaining the quality and yield of name brands.
In today’s economic times, cost saving is critical. Major OEM manufacturers sell their printers at a loss and make nearly all of their profits from the sale of ink and toner. Over the years, they have continually found ways to make the consumer pay more and more, for less and less ink. When you choose to use alternative ink you can save 30%-50% off OEM pricing. This could mean hundreds of dollars of savings for your family and thousands for your business.
Keeping ink and toner cartridges out of landfills is good for everyone. In North America over 300 million cartridges are discarded in landfills annually. The toxins those cartridges release into the soil are dangerous to our planet. We only have one earth; we must take care of her before it’s too late.
At Rapid Refill we don’t want you to give us your business, we want to earn it with our commitment to service. We also offer a free delivery, free pick-up service for empty cartridges, digital photograph printing and notary services.
Charles Grimmett is the owner of Rapid Refill situated at23535 NE Novelty Hill Rd, Suite D-306, Redmond, WA 98053. He is committed to environmentally friendly practices. To learn more, contact Charles on 425.868.3200 or email him at redmond350@rapidrefillink.net. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Too Much of a Good Thing? by Linda Deppa
Are the good things around you keeping you from being your best? Do you struggle with getting rid of items because they are still in good condition or they could still be used “someday?”
Sometimes too much of a good thing is not a good thing. We as Americans live in a world of excess, may it be food, clothes or just “stuff” in our lives. We have become so use to our overrun schedules, homes and offices, it becomes a normal part of the way we live. All the things we do are good, but when you do too many things or have too much it becomes no longer a good thing, but a burden and keeps you from being your best.
As a Professional Organizer I have gone in many clients’ homes to help them become their best and see the vision they have for their homes and lives, helping them achieve those goals they have for themselves. I do this by looking at the things they are surrounding themselves with, helping them decide if their good items can be donated to help someone else, sold on the secondary local market or discarded. By taking this step we are able to clear out excess items from their lives, freeing up their personal space and life to allow more room for those items that can help my clients become their best.
Spring is the perfect time to start examining our lives, homes, and offices to see what we can get rid of. An item may still have a lot of life or use left in it, but if it is not useful for your goals it just becomes clutter and more “stuff” to take care of. Consider passing it on to someone else. It might be exactly what they are looking for in their life to reach their goals or dreams.
Recycling not only helps you by freeing up your space for your ultimate goals or vision in life, it also benefits the environment at the same time.
As spring arrives, take the time to look at the things around you and see if they are ultimately helping you focus on your goals in life. Don’t let the good things in your life keep you from being the best that you can be.
Linda Deppa is a professional organizer and the owner of Northwest Interiors Unlimited, a professional organizing services company. She has a passion to help individuals and families reclaim their time and space in their homes and lives. Visit www.nwinteriors.com for more information.You may also contact Linda directly at 425.478.4664 or by email at linda@nwinteriors.com. |