Earth Day - April 22nd

Plant a tree this Earth Day! Make a new resolution to honor the Earth, maybe, involve your whole family in energy and/or water conservation. Or use natural cleaning product and grow organic vegetables in your garden.

There are so many simple things we can do. Donate items for those who need them or repurpose them for a new use. Choose reusable products and materials. Check your vehicle's emissions and make changes if necessary. Try carpooling once a week or even use a public transport when possible. Get outside more and enjoy and respect nature more. It's good for your health and will keep you inspired.

The world will become better if everyone will make some efforts.  After all, the Earth is our home and we should take care of it better!

Here is a small collection of Russian Artists team members items for sale which are eco-friendly. Visit us on Etsy to see more!

How to be eco friendly

This coming Sunday April 22nd is Earth Day. It’s the day when we celebrate the environment and all the things we can do to be kind to the earth.

Do you need some ideas? Listen up (or to put it more literally - read on).

First of all, consider using vintage items rather than buying new things. There are so many great vintage finds out there that you can use in your house.

Choosing vintage clothing is another great idea. You’ll look unique and you’ll be sure that no one else shows up to the party wearing the same dress you are wearing.

You can also consider buying upcycled products. There are many things that talented artists make out of used products. Check out this wall clock. Isn’t it cool?

I personally love jewelry and accessories made out of upcycled computer parts. So modern and stylish!

Even your iPhone or iPod case can be made out of recycled materials.

So look around and make conscientious choices. Go for handmade items rather than factory produced. They are more unique and don’t leave a footprint on the environment.

Choose natural materials that are renewable.

Go for an organic option of whatever you want to buy.

Make it a habit to choose reusable products rather than their disposable alternative.

And remember even little changes can make a big difference. Happy Earth Day!

Story by Yana (WineCountryLife)

Interview with a Star - Sasha and Veronika (Herbolution)

Today, at this beautiful Earth Day we are appreciating all the gifts Nature brought to us and we are happy to introduce you to our teammates who cares so much about environment that they made it their lifestyle. Please meet Sasha and Veronica at Herbolution!

Please tell us a bit about yourself
We are Sasha and Veronika, a couple of Ukrainian origin – owners of Herbolution that is located in Tennessee. From name of our shop you could guess that our products are made from herbs and natural ingredients :) We do our best to provide the purest and most beneficial power of herbs to our customers through our skin care, aromatherapy and household accessories. We are proud to make all products from scratch and input a lot of love and care in every item, even tiny samples :) And we care about environment as much as about our customers. All our products are made with conscious attitude to Earth and care about condition of our soils. Our products are made of 100% natural ingredients and organic or wildcrafted when possible. All formulas are carefully created to experience full potential of Nature's power of herbs and our packaging is designed to give pleasure of feeling proud to support eco-conscious business.

What brought you to this kind of business?

Love of herbs and Nature was seeded in our hearts from early childhood and was growing and maturing ever since. The desire to express our creativity through body care products and everyday household items was just a matter of time. So we couldn't hold that passion inside and Herbolution is what burst out from that need :)

Why did you start selling at ETSY?
Etsy is all about passionate creation and self-expression - exact place for our needs :) We started actively selling on Etsy about year and a half ago and immediately fit in to handmade community. We like the demand for customizations and individual approach to every product and Etsy all about that :) Etsy customers value our hand made products and are generous on descriptive and detailed feedbacks full of sweet words and happy experiences.

What tools do you use to promote your work?
Our passion and sincere efforts do most of the promotion for us, thus we have many return customers, but we also use Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, our website and Etsy's promotional tools like treasuries, showcases, teams, etc, as well as arrange giveaways, promotions, reviews and samples.

Where else can we find your products other than ETSY?
We also sell products on our website at www.herbolution.com, ArtFire, eCrater and few other marketplaces.

Do you make сustom items?
We love customizations! This emphasizes our personal approach and gives us advantage as handmade company over mass produced corporations. Personal attention is the key in our business.

Where do you get your Inspiration from?
Our love of Herbs, sincere care for Planet, our love to each other and desire to create things that both Earth and people can really benefit from and enjoy – are our inspirations and never-ending sources of ideas. Everyday life shows us needs and wants of different people and we are challenged to provide eco-friendly and herbal solutions to ones :)

What are your goals for your shop?

We are currently 88% plastic free and our goal is to become 100% free of any kind of plastic. We also plan to introduce some of our products to more retail stores and spas. But the main goal is to shift the thinking of common consumer to value and give priority to Earth-friendly products, and also to restore the trust in amazing powers of herbs.

How did you come up with your shops name?
We LOVE herbs! We wanted the name to reflect both herbal passion in creation of our products and some new, revolutionary solution with herbal products – fresh, 100% natural and eco-friendly ways to engage herbs in our everyday life. That’s how we came up with Herb+solution+revolution= Herbolution.

Do you both create your products or does one do another aspect of the business?
We try to be both fully involved in every step of Herbolution growth whether it's increasing our products assortment or transitioning to renewable energy. But still, Veronika is mostly responsible for formulation, development and testing of products and Sasha is focused on technical part, labels design, vision and eco-friendly solutions implementation.

What would you suggest to new Etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Be confident in what you make, don't cheat and be honest with you customers as with yourself. Give customer service as good as you never received yourself. And remember to treat your customers with generous sales and discounts, like the following one: for celebration of Earth Day we offer 25% OFF EVERY ORDER until Apr 24 (use code "love4earth"). Be sure that you support earth-friendly business while shopping for natural and delightful organic products.

Sasha and Veronika

Beautiful Spring Contest by Russian Artists Team member shops

To celebrate this year’s beautiful spring one of Russian Artists team members Lena Baymut came up with an idea of a spring contest. Each of the Russian Artists team shops could submit one item that best reflects the mood of beautiful and vivid spring. Depending on where you live the spring might be already in full bloom with pink, white and pale yellow flowers all around you or if you live to the north the spring might not be there yet. In any case March is the perfect month to celebrate clear skies, warm sun and fresh breeze.

With so many talented artists our team has a lot to share with the Internet community! Our craftsmen create amazing items from wool, cotton as well as wood, metal, glass and semi-precious stones. Crafting is something we all support and appreciate. We hope you will see some truly unique and exquisite items hand made by Russian Artists team members exclusively to celebrate spring!

Over 50 Russian Artists shops took part in the contest with a lot of amazing entries being submitted. All of our team member shops create unique and beautiful items. It's always hard to choose the winner in our team’s contests. All our followers and guest visitors on Russian Artists Facebook Page voted for their favorite item. Four most voted for items are featured below.

1. Irises Hand painter silk scarf by SilkMagic


2. Spring Blooming flowers by IrinaPhotography


3. Spring Flower Birch Ring by HansHolzkopf


4. Flowers and Dreams painting by Serdomania


Congratulations to wonderful Russian Artists winners!!!

posted by TonyaUtkina

Landscaping with Alpine Strawberries Alexandria

Have you ever thought about getting rid of your front lawn and creating an edible landscape? You're probably familiar with this plant already, but have never thought about using it as a ground cover. Edible landscaping is one of the best things you can do for the environment.

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

Alpine Strawberries Alexandria Fact Sheet:

• can be grown from seeds ( just follow instruction what seller provides)
• it is very hardy
• don’t produce runners, you can use them as edging plants
• shade tolerant
• transplants easily

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

I love the multi-tasking capability of edible ornamentals! Alpine strawberries provide tasty garden snacks for both me, birds and all kind of animals what trespassing my property.

Their emerald green foliage and white flowers make an attractive, tidy edging along side walkway and you may also use them as "shoes & socks" plants to hide the less attractive bases of lilies and phlox. Especially if your space is limited, you'll appreciate plants that do triple duty by providing pretty leaves, beautiful bloom, adorable berries to admire and the source of inspiration.

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

And don’t forget about medicinal properties of leaves and berries!

Story by Lyudmila (Woolsolution)
Collages by Irina (IrinaPhotography)

Wonderful things wednesday - Winter woodland forest

Now that winter is upon us, how do our forest friends keep warm? They can’t wear warm mittens or coats but nature has given them their own means to stay warm.

Foxes, squirrels and other mammals grow a soft under fur to help them keep warm regardless if they hibernate like squirrels with their little stashes of food or are out playing in a snow like a foxes. Owls and other birds get a thick down under their heavy flight feathers.


One of the things we can do to make the winter easier for them and enjoy watching them, is to put out natural foods in a place that is visible for you. Some ideas are corn, suet, wild bird seeds and other such foods.

A winter forest is full of life even if you can not see it. Just stop and look around!

Our team has taken inspiration from the winter woodland forest and created many craft items for you to choose from!

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Story by Tanya Socksandmittens
Photo collages by Katrin KarisaGraphic