Dwell With Dignity

Just heard the most amazing team of designers from Dwell With Dignity www.dwellwithdignity.org I am very motivated to help this organization. They service recently recovered homeless families by designing and decorating their new living spaces. The thinking is that if someone feels good about the space they live in they have a better chance at success and the audacity to dream. I just love it!

cheers!

Here we are enjoying the champaign

More champaign at the conference!

Wow! What a conference! A second tasting of champaign from our host! I can't complain.......cheers

Design Bloggers Conference day two under way....

Bunny Williams, the keynote speaker for this conference has so much good advice and is so inspiring....I am so excited to get back home and apply these lessons to my work.....here is a shot of us right before she went on stage

Day one of the Design Bloggers Conference almost done....

I can not WAIT to start using all of the amazing tools I have learned in just one day-more to come tomorrow. Another full day. This has been so great

Design Bloggers Conference 2012

Just sitting down to the design bloggers conference in LA-so much great new information to learn and so many inspiring designers and bloggers to meet! More to come later......

Happy New Year! A list of twelve things you can do to be "greener" this year

I found this great article about how to be more environmentally friendly this year...a list of twelve things. How about trying one each month to make it feel less overwhelming? It is a great reminder for all of us. I am going to give it a go......hope you do too! Here is the link below
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-nierenberg/going-green-12-simple-ste_b_1173059.html?ref=green&ir=Green

Clothing made from recycled thrift store finds and work room scraps-you won't believe how amazing this stuff looks!

 Patti Popovich, owner of S and Patti Designs, saw a sweater in a high end catalog one day and thought that instead of paying $300, she would try and make it herself! Seven years and dozens of successful craft fairs later, Patti's "reconstructed textiles" are causing a stir. She has grown her business to include women's clothing, children's clothing, pillows, stuffed toys-her famous one eared dog is a top favorite-hand made button and trims, and a lovely Blue Angel that is meant to sleep with anyone who needs some comfort in life. To really appreciate her work, you have to see it in person, but I will include a few photos here just so you can see how amazing the product is. Her products are made from 99% recycled fabrics that she gets either from the thrift store or from scraps that upholstery workrooms have laying around ready for the dumpster.

The price range of her one of a kind women's sweater are from $69 up to $200, a steal when you consider that they are hand made and each one is unique.

And it gets even better; Patti's long term vision is to use this skill to teach youths at the Conservation Core how to create their own clothing that they can then begin their own businesses with.

You can contact Patti at patti@poppydesignservice.com to find out about her next show.

                              Children's sweater made from recycled sweater and old pajamas from France

                                                            Hand made button detail

                                                        Patti at one of her craft shows

                                                                       Craft show

                                                                    Blue Angel

This year I dared to be the mom who did NOT give out gift bags at my son's birthday party!

Tired of the trend of having to give out gifts at my own child's birthday party, I did the unthinkable....I did not give any out. I even when a step further and asked for no gifts for my son either. He is four so I can still get away with it. We had a bowling party and the kids and parents had so much fun, we all forgot about gifts all together. One parent even thanked me for not doing gift bags so she would not have to bring home more useless junk that will just eventually break and be in a landfill. See if you can break that tradition too-I bet no one will think you are cheap or odd, they will probably be grateful for the "out" themselves!

The Christmas Dilemma

This year my son turns four-in a few days-which means his birthday and Christmas are just two weeks apart. I have been trying to figure out how to keep the volume of gifts down but still make the days special. What I have come up with for his birthday is one gift from me, one from the grandparents and one from the cousins and a party with friends with no presents for his birthday. Christmas is the same plus a stocking. Just wondering if any of you have an idea that seems better? Finding the balance of making the holidays fun and exciting while also teaching your child to appreciate less "stuff" is such a challenge in this commercial economy and culture!

Story Of Stuff-Thoughts on Black Friday

A great point of view about what Black Friday means to this planet!
Read Below:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-leonardridgeway-blackfriday-20111125,0,2159130.story

Back from vacation

I just had one of the best vacation ever in the Pacific NW-a must for all nature lovers!
But, back to work now so I want to get right to it and tell you about a great FREE event happening next month in Berkeley. The Ecology center is having a talk and slide show Thursday the 8th of September discussing how cities can follow the many examples from around the world on how to create communities that do not rely on automobiles for getting around. Walkable, bikeable, and good public transportation are all keys. You will leave with solid, concrete ways that you can implement into your life as well as ways in which you can encourage your city to take the needed steps towards becoming more eco-friendly. Check out the following site for further information:
http://www.ecologycenter.org/calendar/event.php?title=From+Auto-Cities+to+EcoCities%3A+Examples+from+Around+the+Globe&eventID=36171

An organization you should know about

I have recently discovered a wonderful non-profit called Generation Green that works with local Contra Costa County officials to help to create green practice examples for the city and their local businesses. They hold workshops, informative movie nights, seminars and work with both QUEST and PG and E to help cities benchmark their progress and communicate this progress to other cities in their district. Is sounds a bit dry,I know,  but what they are doing is really remarkable....city by city, they are helping to eliminate greenhouse gasses emitted in the Bay Area.  check them out at www.cccclimateleaders.org

Confessions.....

ok, so these past few days have not been such a fine example of successful purging. To be sure, I have been purging, but also, have made a run to Target and fallen prey to a few trinkets I surely did not need! Combined with the VERY kind neighbor who gave Carter about 20 super cool new construction vehicles that his son no longer plays with....well, we are in the net positive on "stuff" for sure. So, I have to double my efforts next week and get really tough-a lot of things are on the chopping block! I hope those of you who are trying this out had more success then I did this week.

Exciting FREE three week class on how to decrease your ecological footprint, foster community in your neighborhood and promote political action to defend the environment

The Ecology center in Berkeley, CA is have a free three session seminar starting Tuesday August 16th and going through Tuesday August 30th. The seminar is from 7-9PM and will offer tips on improving your eco-footprint, getting involved in your local community and helping drive political will towards laws that protect and improve the environment. This sound AWESOME! I almost want to postpone my vacation to go to it.......but you could go!
Check it out at:
http://www.ecologycenter.org/calendar/event.php?eventID=36131

week two, tossing things while others consume through "extreme couponing"

I know many of you have heard of the recent craze to extreme coupon, saving hundreds of dollars each week on groceries, getting thousands of rolls of toilet paper for free etc.....I just have found that so funny to witness as I work to SHED my stuff. Don't get me wrong, I think being price savvy is great, we could all do it a bit more.  But what strikes me as odd, is the COMPULSION to purchase in order to save. Seems a bit odd, right? Stockpiling things that you got for cheap. It just seems like a new name is being given to our culture's need to consume. Anyway, I think I will just stick to getting rid of things for now and leave the coupon clipping to the new experts....

Another way to reduce what is on your home:

I went out to get the mail the other day, and.....nothing. At first I thought for some reason the mail did not come that day. But I saw that both my neighbors had mail, so what gives? Then it hit me-all that effort to call catalogs and other such sinners of blast mailings to get off of their lists-had paid off! I really only get the local coupon flyer, which I can not figure out how to get off of, and, well, bills. And sometimes a check from a client:) There are great sites like www.catalogchoice.com that have all the tools you need to get your name off of everyone's list. It does require a bit of effort on your part up front, and to be honest, you have to get back on it every now and then. But think of all that paper that did not have to get printed, sorted, mailed to your home, only to go straight into the recycle bin. And don't fool yourself; just because you recycled it, does not mean energy of all variety was not spent to produce and deliver that "junk" to your home! So, make a a little promise to yourself to finally get off of everyone's mailing list and one day you will run to the mailbox and rejoice at finding NOTHING!

tossing one a day.....thoughts

ok, so I am five days into getting rid of one thing a day and it has been more interesting than I thought. I think of myself as being really good at not keeping things that I don't use with some sort of regularity. But when it comes to things I spent a lot of money on or that seem REALLY useful, even though I haven't used them in years, I gotta tell you, I hesitated. BUT as soon as I talked myself into putting each of those items into the donate box, it was like I never owned it! The actual decision was hard, but the aftermath....a piece of cake! Crazy how our minds work. I'll keep ya posted on how it all goes, but I think I like this!

Shedding the extra stuff challenge

I don't know about you, but I look around my house and often wonder.."how did I end up with so much stuff?" I guess having a three year old, a husband who won't get rid of things and being an ex-mega consumer...well, it all adds up. So, I have decided to challenge myself to get rid of ONE thing EVERY day for a month. It can be large or small, but it has to go. To make the challenge more substantial, I also have decided that if I bring anything new into the home, then I have to get rid of the one item PLUS something to make up for the additional item brought into the house....this is gonna be interesting. I invite you to take up the challenge along with me-good luck!

Up and running with solar....

Doesn't feel any different yet-perhaps when we get the itty bitty bill!