Holiday Shopping Dates and Goodies...Hey free shipping for all orders!

Here's everything you wanted to know about holiday shopping but were afraid to ask:

Here's the biggie:
Free First Class Shipping for all holiday orders.

Here's the one to make you feel good:
10% of all sales from now 'till Dec 31st will go to Habitat for Humanity

Here's for all you procrastinators:
Shipping Deadlines:
Free First Class: Order by December 15th
Priority Mail: Order by December 17th
Overnight Mail: Order by December 20th


If you have any questions...give me a holler.

Enough to make a rock dork drool!

Have you seen the latest National Geographic Magazine? Well, they've found Superman's Lair. Those are giant gypsum crystals that they found in the Crystal Cave in Mexico. The photos are just phenomenal. They're as big as telephone poles...I was watching the documentary on it last night...super cool. Well, maybe not cool. It was like 115 degrees in there. Amazing, huh?

Toby Joins the 21st Century

Hi Guys, I just put up a page for tobyDESIGN on facebook.

Better late than never, right?

Become a fan, or even better, add me as a favorite, and I'll send you a discount code for your holiday shopping.

Happy Surfing!

Did you notice I snuck some new stuff in here?

I snuck in a whole bunch of new pieces...while you weren't looking. Lots and lots of necklaces...lampwork and otherwise. And an unbelievably cool lampwork bracelet. Check them out!

Blah Blah Blah...I'm sure you voted today

Halleleujah! The nasty commercials are over. So, I was reading a post by my favorite marketer, Seth Godin, and the end of his post was just great:

We get what we deserve. The lesson that society should take away about all marketing is a simple one. When you buy a product, you're also buying the marketing. Buy something from a phone telemarketer, you get more phone telemarketers, guaranteed. Buy a gas guzzler and they'll build more. Marketers are simple people... they make what sells. Our culture has purchased (and voted) itself into the place we are today.

That's why I abstained from the nastiest commercial fight here in Oregon. Read the whole article here

Meet Tinkerbell

Ok, I've figured out how to upload video. You're in trouble now!
Meet Tinkerbell from Toby Graham on Vimeo.

This will get you ready for Halloween

Devera singing 5 little pumpkins from Toby Graham on Vimeo.

More picture jasper goodness

Here's the latest custom feast for your senses. I swear picture jasper is the coolest stuff known to mankind. If you were contemplating getting a custom piece for the holidays (and you know, you're allowed to give yourself gifts too) I'd recommend getting in touch with me sooner than later. Yummy, huh?

Blogs take action on Poverty

I really like how the internet makes grass roots organizing so easy...

So, today is Blog Action Day...a day when...let's see what the count is now...11,704 blogs are going to post on a topic pressing in the world today. This year's topic is Poverty.

So, I'm going to use my post as an opportunity so share what some great organizations are doing. My philosophy has always been to teach someone to fish...and here are some great groups that are doing just that.

Kiva: the super cool micro lending network. My next two microloans are well on their way to paying off. I'm so excited. Maybe this post will guilt my Dad into using the credit he's got sitting in his account.

Habitat for Humanity: You know about them already. Again, they're who I'm going to be helping out this holiday season. 10% of my profits between Nov 1 and Jan 1 will be going to them.

And a couple local Portland ones that are doing great work:
Children's Relief Nursery: The more you read about their approach, the more they make sense. Address the problem earlier than later.

And, here in my neighborhood is Neighborhood House: These guys have grown exponentially in the last couple of years, and its really exciting to watch them grow. They've turned into a soup to nuts social services group doing some great work.

Ok, here's your homework...what's the pressing issue in your neighborhood, and what nonprofits are working to fix it? Knowledge is power.

One of the best lines I heard from the Daily Show lately was when they were talking about protesters at the WTO meeting in Seattle a couple of years about (that the movie "The Battle In Seattle" is about) they were commenting about how surprisingly well organized the anarchists were.

Another sneak peak?

Ok, this one's too cool to keep under wraps...it'll be making its way onto the site soon. Want first dibs on all the new pieces? Join my mailing list >>

Sneek Peek - new stuff coming soon

Here's a nibble of what's coming on the site soon. Jump on my mailing list to get a peek at all the new goodies before everybody else does.

Are you on my mailing list?

If not, jump on quick? I'm not an every 2 week spammer (you're lucky if you hear from me 4 times a year!) But every one who is on my list gets first pick from all my new pieces. I'm getting ready to add some more pieces (and they're good ones...lots of cool new lampwork, and a couple new stones). But you won't get first choice unless you sign up. Oh, and take a look...new rocks from my latest rock dork expedition! They're beautiful! I think it's a toss up between #2 and #12 as far as my favorites go. Which ones do you like?

Wow, that was a long vacation!

I wish I had taken 3 months off and spent it at the beach...boy I'd be really refreshed. Nope, the reality is that I've been so busy, I couldn't even keep up on the blog. Oh well. On the rock dork front, though, I just got back from the Portland Gem and Mineral show. Yes, again, I was 50 years younger than everybody else there. Saw my favorite rock vendor...and stocked up with new goodies. I'll take some pictures and share them with you shortly.

Hi Guys - I'm taking a vacation

I'm out on vacation until July 28th. I'll catch up with you after I get back. Talk amongst yourselves.

Calling all newsletter subscribers...

What? You're not on my mailing list? Well, you'd better jump on it fast. I'm adding a whole slew of new pieces this week. And if you're on my mailing list, you'll get pick of the litter. Once these new pieces are ready for prime time, I'm giving my newsletter subscribers the first chance to snatch up the glassy goodness. And not have to pay shipping to boot! So, quick quick, join my mailing list! Oh, and here's Devera watching her first firework being let off in the street. I don't think I've ever seen eyes so wide.

I'll call him Lazarus

Because he's back from the dead. Butterfly, that is...Devera's pet fish. I was sure he was a gonner. He hadn't moved in a week...Dave and I have been performing the fishy version of CPR, all quietly and behind the scenes so that Devera would never catch wind of the ER happening in her bedroom (I need 30ccs of activated charcoal, STAT!). There he sat at the bottom of the tank for over a week. Dave and I had even negotiated who was going to have the talk, and where we were going to bury him (in the backyard pet cemetery, where Herbert the hedgehog also lies peacefully). But we weren't going to do it until the last gill stopped moving. So, I'd finally made peace with it yesterday. I just happen to peek in the tank, and lo and behold, he has risen! He's swimming around the top of the tank! Not with all the swishy vigor he had before, but he's getting there...he's upright, and he's moving. It's a miracle!

Wow, how cool is this one!

Oooh, aaah...ok, this is one of the nicest ones I've made in forever. It's an Atherton Picture Jasper, a fun custom order where she sent me the stone to set. Turned out nice, huh?

I love happy customers!

Here's a note I got from one of my happy brides in Australia...

I just picked up the package from the post office, the tiara is even more amazing than I imagined and the hairpins are so delicate and beautiful, the dragonflies are so much better than the pictures. It is all so perfect, thank you so much. Now I will look and feel like a princess on my big day, what more could a woman want?

I LOVE getting notes like that...they so make my day. We need more princesses in the world, don't we?

Froggy Central

My audio's not the greatest, but here's what my back yard sounds like right now: Happy Frogs The frogs are just going bezerk in my back yard. It's pretty cool. Devera thinks they're singing her a lullaby to help her go to sleep (well, I might have put that thought in her head, but it's a sweet one nonetheless) I think there are 4 or 5 of them out there. And they sound happy...I just imagine them paddling around in the koi pond. Amazingly, none of the neighbors have complained. It's really loud!

Microlending Maven - Kiva Success!!!

Yay! I got an email today letting me know that the two women I lent money to in Samoa both paid back their loans in full. How cool is that? So yeah, there are two women with some money smarts in a super poor country that were able to grow their small businesses just a little bit more. So I got my 50 bucks back (you don't get interest on the money you loan...so don't think you're going to be a captain of industry yourself by joining), and I've found two new businesses to support.

Las Estrellas de Atipiri

and the Upper Kawuga Group

I'll keep you posted on how these guys do.

Wahoo! New Rocks!

Ahh yes, rock dork me, I could dedicate my life to searching out the coolest rocks to come out of the ground (or not...read on). Well, here are the two latest ones for me to hold in my hand covetously (is that a word?) This first one is a Horse Canyon Moss Agate, which comes from California. Moss agates are so cool...they're a combination of translucent and opaque stripes that look like blades of grass floating in the breeze. Next...and I've been obsessing over this type of "stone" for months now, is called a Detroit Agate. Any guesses to what this is made out of? Yeah, car paint! Some brilliant rock cutter decided it would be really cool to scrape some stuff out of the spray booths in car factories and see what they could do with it. So the bands of color are from changing the color they were painting the cars that day. Looks like they were big on blacks, whites, and grays during this geologic paint period. Cool, huh? When you think about it, there are all kinds of neat places to mine materials from, not just dig them out of the soil. Enjoy your day! Oh yeah, these two pieces are up for custom orders...if you're coveting them as badly as I have, I can turn them into something cool for you. Just shoot me an email.

Want to see another custom piece?

This is a piece of Marra Mamba from Australia. The sad thing is that the photo still just doesn't do the stone justice. If you've ever seen tiger eye and you've seen how it flashes in the light, well this stone has that going on as well. It's stone # 28 from here. I've got one more piece of marra mamba if this tickles your fancy, #27, and again the photos just don't do the stones justice. Sigh.

Wahoo! Fair Trade Gemstones

You've probably noticed that the stones I use aren't the average, run of the mill stones you find at the jewelry counter of say, Macy's. I've really steered away from using them because as I researched a little more about where these beautiful stones all come from, there was a long trail of social and environmental destruction hiding behind them.

So I decided to go with stones where I knew where they were coming from, I've met the people cutting them, and I know that they're doing as little damage in their mining process as possible (yeah, if you look into the mining process for a lot of this stuff...ooh it's not pretty. Makes you want to wear nothing but bamboo). But, I really miss working with the standards like Amethyst and Moonstone. But I've found a great source for the oldies but goodies. I pay a premium for them, but I assume if you're shopping on this site, you're not really someone who picks up their jewelry from WalMart. Now I need to find a greener source for my silver. I'm not sure if you've ever seen a silver mine, but man they are not pretty. At least there's a very high re-use and recycle rate for it since it's a precious metal. If you'd like more info on fair trade gems...shoot me an email. Happy New Year! Toby