In our color trend Style Series, we talked about  how the Pantone Color Institute, the world-renowned authority on color, forecasts color trends that provide the key color palette for each season’s fashions.  But did you know that colors can be symbolic?

Take, for example, the color blue, commonly associated with the sky and sea.  The cool tones of blue can symbolize trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, and truth. It is considered to be beneficial to the mind and body producing a calming effect.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility and has great healing power.

It is no surprise that shades of blue and green work in harmony. We have combined Turquoise Viper, Azure Sea Blue and Green and you can too in our Summer Trend Collection.

Working for the Leakey Collection has helped my  children understand that each one of us has the power to make a difference.

This week, at my daughter’s prompting, her best friend and I experienced a new kind of cut- one that has a purpose.  After months of growing our hair to the required 8 inches, the three of us spent the morning at Ubuntu Hair Salon so that we could donate our hair to a cancer patient in need.  Thru Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program, we donated 5 ponytails, enough to make 1 wig.

The  gift of opportunity can sometimes reside in nurturing our children to participate in making the world a better place.

Here’s a short video we made about our wonderful  experience.

We think our review in Groovy Green Livin is… groovy. What do you think?

Read our latest review in Sierra Club “The Green Life“.  What was so amazing is that  Avital Binshtock is the lifestyle editor for Sierra Magazine and  writes the Sierra Club’s Green Life Blog.  In addition, she also posted her article to the Huffington Post. We had an incredible response from this article and thank Matt Lowe at INK inc for sharing our story with Avital Binshtock.  INK  has been a long-time partner in helping us to spread the word through the media and we thank them for all their hard work.

Papa, Do You Love me is a wonderful story of a Maasai father who reassures his son that his love is unconditional and endless. He explains to his son that he will protect him from the dangers of the Serengeti Plain, and he will teach him how to survive in the harsh environment.  Papa teaches his young son about the importance of cattle in the the Maasai life, medicinal uses of the Greenheart tree, and the role of a herd boy.

The beautiful bright, stylized watercolors  reflect the beautiful warm hues of the Serengeti, and the details rendered allow children to visualize a culture different from their own. This book is filled with love for a child but also shows us the love of a father.

Speaking of fathers, not only do we wish Papa Philip a Happy Father’s Day, we also have several amazing fathers that we work with in Kenya. One is Sabit, our manager that we couldn’t do without. He has 1 boy and 3 girls.  His eldest, the boy, is one of the top students in the country in his grade.  His son, Ngure, loves science and wants to become a doctor.  Sabit’s second born, the first girl, is equally as bright, and she loves school.  The younger two aren’t in school yet.

Photo of Sabit

Plus we have some pretty amazing ones that support the team of  The Leakey Collection and who stand behind our passion in creating change in the world. Introducing our husbands/fathers who are part of The Leakey Collection and work behind the scenes with their love and support.

There is Katy’s father, Robert Moodey, without whom she would never have met Philip, as he cofounded The L.S.B. Leakey Foundation in the early sixties and thus set her life on its course forever.  He is now 87 and still living on his own.  Married 61 years,  watercolorist, banker and business man.

Photo of Robert Moodey

Lloyd Syvertsen (husband of Jan) helps us set up and take down our trade show set in New York twice a year.

Chrystal Corcoran’s husband Brandt is very supportive of The Leakey Collection’s mission and her work there.

Jennifer Bonynge’s husband Bill went on the tradeshow to Chicago and became a new dad there.

Jen, Bill and their 3 children

and of course my hubby, Dave who has supported me from day one leading our wonderful sales team…

We would also like to thank John Moodey (Katy’s brother), wonderful father, our tech guru and husband to Gloria, our bookkeeper.

Happy Father’s Day to all the supportive and loving Dads out there!

Ever wondered who or what influences the colors in your closet? The Pantone Color Institute, the world-renowned authority on color, forecasts color trends that provide the key color palette for each season’s fashions.  In our color trend Style Series,  we will explore this  season’s colors which present an “interesting marriage of unexpected warm and cool tones:”

Honeysuckle – a playful pinkish-red

Silver Peony – a delicate pinky silver hue

Russet – a soft deep mix of pink and beige reminiscent of the color of Spanish clay

Whether you’re craving a new tank in Honeysuckle, the deep pinkish-red hue that we think is flattering on any one (think about the warm glow that candlelight has on your skin), a flowing summer dress in the romantic tone of Safari Silver, or a scarf in the spicy, sophisticated  shade of Cinnamon Sugar, Zulugrass has just the right shade to complement your apparel.

These shades are designed to not only work in predictable combinations but to also play off each other in unexpected ways this season. Explore and check out our Summer Color Trend Selection, and come back and check out our next color choices in this series, or explore and make your own.

The Leakey Collection was the featured eco-chic product today on Pocketchange.com

We particularly loved Kim’s quote: “With Katy Leakey’s “design your own jewelry system,” you can pick and choose single or multi-strand beads in different designs to create the density and texture that you want. Zulugrass jewelry is versatile because the beads are strung on elastic: a single jewelry piece can be a multistrand beaded necklace one day, wound multiple times to form a chunky beaded bracelet, or broken down into fewer strands of beads for a headband.”

To read the full review: http://pocketchange.become.com/2011/06/featured-product-eco-chic-beaded-necklace.html

Thank you Pocketchange for making a difference to the Maasai women in Kenya!

What do you get when you put two women together who are passionate about making a difference?

You get a site full of consumer conscious choices driven by its founders Melinda and Justine who care deeply about the environment, the health of women and the future of our planet. They created this site for all of their women friends, social entrepreneurs, leaders, students, fellow moms, and fashionistas (men too!) who also do not want to compromise on style and wish to create a more conscious and less toxic world.

We were thrilled when they chose Zulugrass as a launch day fashion piece and we love the way they use product signals to indicate how eco-friendly  a product is.

3% of net proceeds from today’s offer will benefit Village Empowerment to help create a “Model Village” in Malawi with a community center, classrooms, water pump and solar powered electricity system.

Please drop by and give them a warm welcome and check out their many products including The Leakey Collection.