I wanted to write a post about how I became inspired to start this blog. In the fall of 2013 my daughter and I went to Portland, Oregon for several days. My daughter, Emily had been telling me about Portland for years and finally it just seemed like the time was right. We made arrangements to stay with a friend while we were there and we had a great time.

I felt like I was twenty five again for the few days I was there. The shops, art and music scene reminded me of Greenwich Village and Soho, in New York in the eighties. There were so many small business owners with unique shops and a creative vibe was so very alive there. I was also struck by the experience of being in a place that more than any other place was a reflection of my personality. That was a feeling that hit me even before I had the chance to really get around. Therefore I was very excited to be there and we set out walking long distances pretty much every day that we were there.

There were numerous vintage shops in Portland and my favorite was the House of Vintage. It was so large it was as if we were in a department store for just vintage! The store had fifty five vendors spread throughout 13,000 feet. It was a really fun experience to see all the various vendors sections and explore. We also went to Powell’s City of Books which is a huge book shop. I found a copy of Cut Up Couture about upcycling there and looked at several other books about upcycling. We went to a large craft fair and I also saw several vendors there selling upcycled clothing. I was so incredibly inspired by all the art, cafes, and wide open space it was just wonderful.

I wanted to make sure we got to go to Japanese Botanical Garden so one day we took a bus, then hiked up to that.  It was beautiful and relaxing to be there. We also went to the forest one afternoon with our friend Sarah. I had never seen such a mystical looking forest! I had been in forest in Colorado, New York, Vermont and other places in Europe such as Germany, France and Italy but I had never seen a forest like this! The sides of the trails were so steep and full of moss and long branches with sharp scraggly branches reaching down, also covered in moss. I felt as if we had entered a mystical land, like something I had only seen in movies. Now I know what my friends meant when through the years they had said I had to go far out west and see the trees and forest. I was in awe of the lush beauty. One of the pictures here is of Emily sitting in a large tree trunk in the forest there.

Anyway after our vacation there I was so full of creative energy I could barely contain myself. I threw myself into upcycling projects as often as I could. I had already been crocheting like mad for about a year and I have always been very creative but somehow  I got the idea that I should start a blog. I didn’t even read blogs regularly. I just felt I had things I wanted to express and through the years people have always noticed I have had a knack for knowing how to find nice clothing on a real shoe string budget. So amidst my excitement about the trip to Portland, Oregon and all this creative motivation that came as a result of the trip the idea was born. I also wanted to express myself since I really like to be real about sharing my interest in shopping at thrift shops, garage sales, antique or vintage shops, etc… I have been told in the past that “Oh, you should just let people think you got that new” by some people and I just don’t relate to that. I see nothing wrong with sharing that I happily found something further down the chain from mass production, that was perused and I am not only happy but proud to give that item a longer life. I also know from past experience that shopping this way allows me the opportunity, when my work is steady to travel a bit and visit my family, which is spread out all over the country. As my mother has often said “In our family we are more concerned with when are we going to buy our next plane ticket!”

Actually I learned many of my thrifty ways from my mother. When my parents were saving to buy a house when I was fifteen was the first time I was ever told we needed to buy some of our clothes at a thrift shop for a while. Once we moved into the house my mother woke us up at five or six am so we could go out and help her look for furniture on the day the trucks came by to gather other people’s discards. We helped our mother haul home many items. She bought antiques at fairs or markets and brought them home and refurbished them. Through the years, even after my mother became head of her department at work she still would go to the thrift shop to buy certain things. I learned a lot watching her and I am thankful she taught me those things. As a result I go through my life buying certain things new and many others I prefer to see what I can find through thrifting or buying at vintage or antique shops instead. I find it also keep things fun and more original.

My grandparents were all creative people also. I learned a lot from them and inherited their love of handmade items and crafts. My ancestors were farmers until my grandparent’s generation and then my grandparents became engineers, carpenters and sales people. Both of my grandmothers loved to sew and my mother sewed a lot when I was very young.

I also wanted to be a voice to encourage people to develop their own style and be unique. Life really is more fun when we are true to ourselves and reflect that in our own style. So much of the time we have to go to work and conform to the norm. Yet especially in our own free time, it is important to keep our uniqueness and celebrate it.

Much of the inspiration for the blog also comes from my love for nature and concern for the environment. It comes from the trees, creeks and mountains. From the silence that nature speaks and the ground which celebrates when we till the soil and plant with nurturing care seeds that grow and bloom in time. It comes from the songs of birds that are joyful when spring arrives. When I lived in Boulder, Colorado, I saw animals of the wild pretty much every day. Rabbits scurried around the grassy lawns and it was not uncommon to come upon deer while walking, hiking or even driving. I once came upon a family of deer while walking down from a hike. Making eye contact with a mother deer while she stands with her children behind her is a beautiful thing. I had to silently convey to her that I would yield and cross the road once the traffic passed, so that she and her family might continue on the side of the road back to the mountains. I saw raccoons daily as they often ran from one corner to another, or hid behind the trees and bushes at the end of our apartment complex’s open grassy area. I saw foxes, hawks, crows, gecko’s, salamanders and many other animals. I once saw a fox which ran out as I was driving and when he passed he looked back at me with mischief in his eye, showing me the egg he had stolen as if to say “Look what I got!” After all those years of living there I came to really care about preserving the environment, not only for myself and other people, but for them as well. Grey wolves, for instance are constantly under threat due to congressional debates that could mean the end of protection for them as an endangered species. Maintaining open spaces for animals to live and thrive is not only healthy for them but for our environment as well. The wolves have a role in our ecosystem and therefore supporting them is supporting our environment. I am a big fan of Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit that is concerned about speaking for the animals, since they cannot speak for themselves.

As the writer, Elizabeth Cline brings up the topic of mass consumerism in her book ‘Overdressed’: The High Cost of Cheap Fashion, and that there is a point when many of us feel we need a change. To get away from the mass consumerism that has become so common in the US. I realized I had kind of started to get sucked into the frenzy. I wanted to back up, slow down and really be more aware of buying less, buying better quality and making sure I removed myself from that consumerism, mass consumption frenetic energy. I seriously cut down what I buy, am more aware of how I buy it and enjoy upcycling items when I can. I wanted to share and express the joy in doing this. I also watched a video called the Story of Stuff which is available on YouTube. I had found it through Eco-Cycle, a Boulder, Colorado site but it is on YouTube and if you would like to watch it, it explains the cycle of mass production and really assist in making one more conscious of what is going on behind the scenes of mass consumerism.

I don’t know how many of you have seen the work of an artist named Gregg Segal. He is a photographer who photographed people with a week’s worth of their own trash. He also photographed himself and his family with their own trash. These photos are so thought provoking. It really is something to think about what we consume and toss.I just added one of his pictures below.  For more either go to Flickr or this article has several: http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2014/07/08/gregg_segal_photographs_people_with_a_week_s_worth_of_their_trash_in_his.html

Several of you have asked me how I technically started the blog and about my theme. I chose TD Persona theme, which is a WordPress theme. I had no idea how to set up a blog however I found Court Tuttle’s videos very helpful on getting started. Here is a link to his site: http://www.theblogbuilders.com/how-to-start-a-blog/?gclid=CKHggZOf8rsCFUtp7AodPgwAfQ

Other than that I have used the free WordPress videos and YouTube. So far it has worked out fine and I believe that using Blue host as a host has helped.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post and for quite a while I felt like I was blogging to just a few friends and family members. Since I know I have a larger audience now I wanted to share with you my thoughts on how I became inspired to start this blog. I appreciate all of you who stop by regularly to read the posts and share them with your friends or family members.

Picture from Flickr- Paul is the photographer

You may also like:

Over-Dressed The High Cost of Cheap Fashion

Climate March

 All material written and other photos taken by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2014.  “All Rights Reserved.”

The wolf photo by Paul and Gregg Segal’s environmental photo of people with their trash.