WANTED: UGLY LEATHER

Motorcycle chaps, blaze orange pants, skirt & blazer suit sets... You wouldn't believe the degree of hideous stuff that is made out of leather. I've seen it all and I've cut it all apart.

Now I could use your help gathering the fugliest of the fugly.

Hand over a leather garment and I'll hand you a tassel. For real. All I ask is that it meets these requirements:

👉 Must be genuine leather (check the inside tag to confirm)

👉 No suede, please! (Smooth like baby's bootay, no peach fuzzy texture)

👉 Bonus points for bright colors

👉 Slight wear & tear OK, but must be approved for "use-able" condition

How to donate:

In the Twin Ports area? Cool! Get in touch to coordinate a pick up.

Non-locals can get in touch to ship. Please send a photo of the garment + fiber content tag to confirm that it meets the requirements.

What you'll get:

One 4" tassel keychain will be given as a reward for your generosity (1 per garment donation). Pick color of choice upon time of swap, or receive a tassel made from your donation (just pay shipping charge).

Thanks for your help!

#coolstuff #upcycling #whatsnew

THE UP-CYCLING SAGA

Turning garbage into glitter- some people are weirded out by it, others are intrigued, a precious few think it's freaking awesome, but everyone always wants to know how the obsession began. I usually mutter off some hodge-podgey story in my socially awkward stupor, and finally figured I better just put it eloquently in writing.

I was fresh out of college & didn’t know what the heck I was doing with my life. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to make stuff. The trouble was, I didn’t know where to buy the supplies I needed to make the stuff I wanted to make.

That’s when I bought my first leather jacket.

I took it home and cut that baby to smithereens.

Now-a-days I’ve been in touch with countless leather manufacturers, tanneries & suppliers but I still reach for the coat, pants, vest or skirt 9 times out of 10 {actually more like 99 times out of 100}.

It nearly happened by mistake, but my eyes have opened to realize how much STUFF I have, how much STUFF I buy & how much STUFF I throw away. So now I’m trying to make small & simple changes where I can: re-purposing, repairing, re-using whenever possible instead of instinctively throwing it away.

It becomes a challenge, a creative exercise & a new way of looking at the world that has led to several failures, a few eBay sales {+ a TON of purchases} & a growing line of products.

So tell me… What cranks your creative chain? What are you uber passionate about? Or what project are you procrastinating? Share your story in the comments.

#upcycling #behindthescenes

DEEP THOUGHTS ON SHOPPING SMALL

Just because Small Business Saturday is over doesn’t mean the opportune time to #shopsmall has passed. Small Biz Sat was a success, but this year its success almost made me a little bitter. The fact that this new found holiday was created and sponsored by some corporate giant spending thousands and thousands of dollars on marketing & producing free shiz to hand out made me a little upset at first.

However, if this credit card mogul didn’t do it… who would have?

It’s only took about 5 years to really catch on and become nationally recognized. Had a small business itself deemed the holiday it would’ve taken much longer to make the same impact.

Also, I hope this is just a small stepping stone in changing our mindsets towards what shopping local really is. It’s not just one day out of 365- it’s making a conscious effort every day. You’ve seen the statistics and the cute graphics explaining how dollars kept in the community are uber helpful. But unfortunately you can’t bottle up the feeling that comes when hoards of people support the baby {I mean business. No, actually I do mean baby} that you’ve built from the ground up.

That’s priceless.

#whatsnew