Grand Opening Party TOMOROROW! ...

It's hard to believe it was just a little over a month ago that we heard that Citizen Video was closing it's doors and that we might have to move. But after careful consideration, I decided to take the plunge into retail shop ownership, so now it's my space - so weird, huh?

Colleen, Rebecca and I had already been selling our handmade wares in the Citizen Video shop by trading space for work hours and had already fallen in love with this little corner of South Park. We realize that there is a huge appreciation from our customers about how careful we are in handpicking the best resale clothing we can find and then hand-making our recycled/upcycled goods, so we are so glad that we are going to stay in the hood.

One big change is that since the space is so large, I've been able to add all the Handmade Revolution girls AND many other local designers, craftsmen and artists to the Make Good shop, so there are lots of fresh things coming into the shop right now. And we will be adding more daily, so it's good to check in often. Also for my friends afar we will be offering selected items for purchase online, more info on that coming soon.

Well I'm off to get some sleep (a luxury for me the last few weeks), we've all put in a lot of time getting the shop ready and it's so cool to see it's turned out great. And in case you've not been able to stop by yet, no worries. Even though we've been open a few weeks, our Grand Opening is tomorrow Saturday May 29th from 6-9 pm, maybe you can make it to the party. I've got some great tunes, tasty treats, awesome sangria and lots of handmade goodness!

Check out more details and to learn more about the shop at the new website; www.themakegood.com

So there you have it ... The start of something "good". So goodnight all. No overnight crafting this time, I've learned my lesson. I don't wear 2 hrs sleep very well :-)

Starbucks Recycling? ...

I just bought some coffee beans at my local Albertson's and got all excited at first thinking that Starbucks was finally going green with their coffee bean bags because they had an offer for a free tall if you return the used bag to them, BUT no, they are just doing some smart (albeit sneaky) marketing.

So here's the deal. If you buy the 12oz bag of coffee at a grocery store there's a code printed on the bag for processing a free tall, the code is rung up at the register as "514". The SM's (store managers) tell the employees that when a customer redeems the bag, they can just throw it away because they don't have time to bother with recycling the bags.

The truth is there is no recycling going on. The airtight plastic/metallic bags that coffee is often packaged in is very carbon-intensive and not recyclealbe and will last up to 500 years in a landfill. The plastic comes from petrochemicals, and the metallic components are often aluminum, one of the most energy intensive metals.

I remain hopeful that Sbux will do the right thing and hire a company to develop more sustainable packaging for their product. But until that day, I'm going to continue to make purses, wallets and such out of them to save them from being in a landfill and contaminating the planet.

The reason I think it's smart marketing is because if you buy a bag of coffee from anywhere BUT the grocery store (such as at a Sbux store, you CANNOT bring it back for a free tall coffee). There is no code on those bags. The idea is to get you to buy Sbux coffee over the other bags that are sitting on the grocery shelf. Smart marketing with faux green-ness.

And in case your wondering, here's a peek at what I make with the used coffee bags. In this shot I have a purse, a few women's clutches, a guy's wallet, a checkbook cover and an eyeglass case. If you want to buy something just stop by the next Handmade Revolution Show on April 24th, more details here.



So all that to say, this particular bag is not going back to them to put in the trash. Even though it has the code I'm turning it into a wallet where it will have many years of usefulness. So if you come across one of these bags, don't take it to Sbux to put in the trash. Maybe you can mail it to me and next time you're in San Diego, stop by and I'll make you a free cup of coffee =)

Follow Your Sign ...

I'm a big fan of Etsy. And on today's "Quit Your Day Job" feature is a story of overcoming hurdles. Colleen of loopyboopy makes these beautifully sad and amazing dolls and is a great example of someone who, with the help of Etsy and hard work, has turned a basket of metaphorical lemons into a sweet pitcher of lemonade. Colleen previously owned and operated a barber shop, but after a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis she found herself unable to continue with the position she had on her feet. Colleen took the circumstances as an opportunity to work out of her home by making and selling art dolls and fulfilling her artistic passion. She's once again bringing in the second income her family needs, says she wouldn't change a thing, and advises that her best marketing strategy is in being true to herself in what she creates. I just love inspirational stories like this and thought you'd like it too. Enjoy!

To read the whole story click here.

On The Edge? ...

Since it's Monday and you've probably got a packed week too, I thought it was appropriate to share. I say, "Bring It On!"

How Many Shoes??? ...

I shot this picture last week with my cell phone. These are NOT my shoes. These aren't anyone's shoes. They are part of an abandoned estate that my mother in law is having to sort through. The woman that moved away had to abandon all of this, let's just say it's a "riches to rags" story.

This woman left thousands ... yes, thousands of mostly new items in the house and in the front and back yard as well. In the back yard were hundreds of wet soggy boxes (it's been raining on them for months) containing family albums, brand new linens, fur coats, vintage camera's and so much more. At first, I was saddened by all this but then I moved on to gratitude. Truly, I'm grateful that I'm not bound by what I own, or what used to own me. I'm so glad that I already did my own massive purge when we moved from OC to SD about 18 mo ago. This was a surreal reminder to me of what could happen when you look to "things" to make you happy. Seriously, most of this stuff didn't even have the price tags removed yet. I think it was just the shopping high that led to this sad ending.

I suppose if you have a bunch of stuff and you're not really attached to it and can easily give it away or use it for good, than it's OK to keep some stuff around. But if you have way more than you need, and then you let it go to waste and don't help anyone with it, then that is tragic. That's probably one of the biggest teachings of Christ that makes so much sense ... He tells one guy "Great, you want to follow me. Sure, just go sell everything you own, give the money away to the poor and follow me", the man went away sadly because he was a man of great wealth. The reality is there's a bit of this guy in all of us.

So, in my quest to digest all the "stuff" that I saw being trashed, dumped and given away. I found myself thinking about another person that had a bunch of shoes, actually way more shoes. Her name was Imelda Marcos. Remember her? In case you don't, Imelda Marcos is the widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos who was ousted in 1986 and the family exiled to Hawaii. Outside the Philippines she is often remembered for symbols of the corrupt extravagance of her husband's dictatorship and political reign, such as having over 3000 pairs of shoes.

The story of Imelda's shoes has something to teach. She could never wear them all. And when she had to abandon her palace, these 3,000 were tossed and it was discovered that the money that bought them had been stolen from the poor people of the Philippines - what an injustice. But really, Isn't this one of the great mysteries of life? Why do we always want more? ... more money, more power, more of everything.

I don't have the answers but I do know that I should be asking myself this question everyday. I need to remind myself to be grateful and use what I already have. We already have all we need to be happy, we just need to chose to believe it.

Oh, and as usual I have a few things that I came across while researching all this. Here's my favorite Imelda Quotes. She definitely was drinking her own Kool-Aid.

"Filipinos want beauty. I have to look beautiful so that the poor Filipinos will have a star to look at from their slums."

"I hate ugliness. You know I'm allergic to ugliness."

"I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty."

And the grand finale, here’s a video for the Santigold track "Please Don’t." It contains some actual news and archival footage of Imelda. Most of the lyrics on this one are from her interviews and quotations. Imelda believed that she could help Philippine interests by charming world leaders into seeing things her way. She called it “Handbag diplomacy”. I guess it's how she rationalized that she needed all those shoes. Enjoy ...

ps. If you are viewing this via Facebook, you'll have to visit my blog to see the video

Lost Things ...

Happy Saturday everyone! I just stumbled across this amazing little video and I just had to share it with you.

It's a brilliant short stop-motion film, written & directed by Angela Kohler and starring the gorgeous and talented Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy.

I really LOVE stop motion and envy people that have the kind of creativity and patience to make something this beautiful. Hope you enjoy it!

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ps. If you are reading this on Facebook, you'll have to go here to watch it

Happy Birthday to my friend Sharon ...

Hi Sharon! I hope you are having a fabulous day. I figure I could have just emailed you OR post a birthday greeting for you here. But since I'm pretty sure you've probably read every post I've ever done, and for sure you've commented the most, I decided to go public with my message =)

And for all those times that I wondered if anyone out there was reading my random thoughts, I thank you for commenting and especially for telling me what your really think, I love that about you and I consider myself fortunate to know you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MI AMIGA!!!

ps. Couldn't resist posting this cute picture of you and your little one, that was such a fun day in Barrio Logan, que no?

Oh, and of course I'll end with a little video ... Enjoy!