Five Fabulous Fings on Friday (on Sunday!): Upcycled Accessories

Hello Monstres, hope you had a super duper weekend, I sure did – lots of gardening in the day and parties with good friends and good music at night.  Let’s give a big hurrah for Upcycled Accessories!  Yes, they were once other objects that became obsolete, forgotten, useless; and have been given a new lease of life by those with a little crafty know-how and imagination.  Here is my top five Upcycled Accessories.

#1 Upcycled Leather Car Seat Bracelet by Nikala Jayne



#2 Teacup Bracelets by Abigail Maryrose Clark a.k.a StayGoldMaryRose

 Also love her awesome China statement rings!

#3 Upcycled Fair Isle Knit Floor Cushion by Sarah Hepworth a.k.a Little Miss Loolies

#4 Paper Jewellery Necklace by Devi Chand a.k.a Hippy Kingdom
 


#5 Sevenply: Turning Thrash into Fashion


My absolute favourite!  Lynn Weiler is the genius lady behind Sevenply.  She takes old, broken skateboards and turns them into incredibly cool wearable art.  Her designs are clean and simple, and she makes everything from necklaces and earrings, to belt buckles and even buttons! (I used her skateboard buttons on the Chunky Diagonal Knit Cowl I made).  I love how every piece is unique, due to the different graphics and cross sections of layers of wood. This is the bangle I bought, and wear all the time. I absolutely love love love it!  Follow her on facebook for updates and sneak peeks at new pieces.

Hope you’ve gained some inspiration from these clever people for your own Upcycled Accessories. I’d love to hear about your ideas for turning rubbish into pretty things! xxx

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Conversation: Adam Costa of Trekity and Travel Blogging Academy

Hello Monstres, this month’s Conversation is with a man called Adam Costa who is a full time travel-junkie; digital nomad and wandering entrepreneur.  Since 2009, Adam and his wife Darcie have been exploring the world; writing exciting books and blogs; and building kick-ass websites for people who love to do the same!  Wish you could live a life like this?  Well luckily enough for you I was able to pick Adam’s brains and learn all his secrets for happiness and success!  Read on…


Hello Adam, where in the world are you right now?

Quito, Ecuador. Then we're headed to Peru. 

 
You and your wife both trained in marketing, and have since become successful travellers, bloggers, and run successful online businesses.  Can you tell us about the sequence of events that led you to where you are now? 

We started creating and marketing our own products five years ago as a way to escape the rat race. Both of us hated working in offices, and wanted to travel the world. So we did ;)

After we launched a few products, we got married and spent a year travelling through Asia. During that time we published the book Business In A Backpack and started doing marketing/copywriting for larger companies.  Since then we've applied our marketing knowledge and love of travel to Trekity and Travel Blogger Academy.

 
 
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A late-night talk show host. Now I just wanna travel and write;)  

 
You have a very entertaining post on your site about how people perceive the way you travel.  How do you really travel, and what is your philosophy of travel? 

We used to travel faster, but now we stay in places for a month at a time. It lets us settle in and get work done (plus, it's a heck of a lot cheaper to rent apartments than nightly guest houses!). 

 
Is there a way we can travel the world in a low-impact, yet practical way?  Do you have any tips for sustainable travel, and what is the 'greenest' travel destination you have visited?

I think travelling overland (and slowly) is the most sustainable model. You use a lot less energy and get to see much more of your surroundings. The "greenest" travel destination was probably New Zealand - love them Kiwis! 

 

 
Trains vs.. Planes: One is slow but better has lower impact; one is fast and direct and can be alluringly cheap (on shorter distances)!  What is your opinion on trains vs.. planes for long and short distant journeys?  Is there a compromise we can make between the two to get from place to place without sacrificing the planet - or our own time? 

Oh, I love trains... but we hardly ever manage to take them. We usually take the bus. Sometimes, when we have a pile of work to do we fly for the convenience of it, but I really prefer overland travel. 

 
Have you ever been travelling and realised there is something that you really really really need....but you've lost or forgotten it?  Do you have any examples of DIY travel hacks, or ingenious ways of making do when you can't get hold of something? 

I wish I had a travel hacking story, but whenever you need something, someone is there to sell it you. Gotta love capitalism, right? 

 
I discovered you through your exciting article on Think Traffic, about launching a 50 guest post blitz on one day.  Was this an experiment, or did your marketing background completely inform you of what the results may be?  

The results were very close to what I expected (pats self on back). We did get some traffic from it, but it was to build relationships with key people and gain authoritative links to our new blogs.

Having said that, the best marketers are always experimenting, always testing new methods. There's no silver bullet out there - just a little brains and a lot of hard work.

 
 
 
On your blog you offer a free 24 part free “Travel Blogging 101” course to subscribers; plus together with your wife Darcie you wrote "Business in a Backpack: How to Build and Run a Profitable Business While You Travel the World" and it has nothing but 5* reviews on Amazon - how on earth do you go about writing such amazingly exciting, high quality content all the time?! 

Aw, shucks ;). The key to writing great content is to understand your audience. Then, develop a vision for what you want your content (blog, book, etc.) to be.   

For example, the vision for Trekity is be the best online guidebook for people who don't know where they want to go. We built the whole site around that vision, and - while we have a ton of work to do on it - I think it fulfils that vision. For example, if you plan on going somewhere in July, Trekity will give you a whole slew of ideas for that time of year. All our content supports this vision. 

 
 
 
What advice would you give to someone who is serious about turning their passions into their business? 

Start building an audience that shares your passion. Educate them. Then develop solutions to their biggest problems. Advertising is a short term monetization model, and not worth it in my opinion (though I do make money on ads from past projects, I won't be doing this with TBA and Trekity.)  

  
Could you describe a typical day in the life of Adam Costa?  Does that exist?! 

Wake up. Drink coffee. Write. Write. Write. Go outside. Strategize with Darcie. Network. Have a few cocktails. Read. 

Of course, a lot depends on where we are. I love going out to eat, seeing new things and improving myself in some way.  

 
 
 
In terms of broadening our minds; learning languages, cultures and values; can travel save the world?  What's the most exciting or valuable lesson you've learnt from travelling, or from places you've travelled to? 

Travel has taught me a lot. I've become more patient with others, and thankful for what we have. Perhaps the best lesson was a ten day meditation course in India, it taught me that all suffering stems from craving or aversion, and if we can train our minds not to react to either, we can find inner peace. Still working on that ;

 

When you're not travelling/ writing/ blogging/ promoting.....what do you like to do? 

I'm an avid reader. Seriously. I'll read anything from philosophy to cooking to history. I also enjoy scuba diving, hiking, cooking and learning more about beer and wine (used to brew my own beer).   

 
 
 
What's your most impossible goal?

To go to space.

Now a little quick-fire round...
What are your favourite online hangouts?

Business of Travel Blogging group on Facebook, Copyblogger, SEOmoz and Twitter.

 

What are you currently reading? 

Nothing right now - I'm writing like a madman for a few projects. But I continue to read a few blogs daily just to keep myself inspired (Copyblogger, Entreproducer and SEOMoz).

 

What are you listening to?

A lot of old time soul music. YouTube lets you create playlists, and I listen to a few soul playlists with over 100 songs on it. Good stuff. 

 

Top travel tip?

Just go. Planning is a waste of time. Pick a spot and go. 

 

And finally, What's next for Mr. and Mrs. Costa?  What's your next travel destination, or direction in your businesses? 

We're heading down through Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina before flying home to California at the end of 2012. During that time we'll be building Trekity up as a "hub" to attract travel junkies, then create satellite sites (like TBA) based on their interests. Good times ahead!  

Thank you so much Adam!  I can’t wait to get my nose into the book!  Wishing you guys the most super journeys and adventures in South America this year.  

You can see more of Adam and Darcie's fantastic travel snaps here.  Want to get fresh ideas for a trip? Here's where you can to learn all the tricks so that you can do it all yourself.  XXX

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Make do and Mend

Here’s a little tip to make do and mend:  first of all, every clever girl (and boy!) should have a sewing box at the ready to patch up any little sewing emergencies, and enough thread for all sewing projects. 
My Granny was the queen of make do and mend.  She kept a myriad of threads of all colours in an old chocolate box – which is probably older than I am!  I was lucky enough to become the new keeper of this box of treasures, and it reminds me constantly of her great thrifty spirit.  It doesn’t all have to be disposable fashion: with (very little) know-how, we can sit down and fix our clothes ourselves! 





 Sadly though, the box was becoming raggedy and the tape holding the sides together was disintegrating.  It was time to wave a fond goodbye to this dear old box that had done it’s job; and welcome in a new one.  In the spirit of frugality, I didn’t go out and splurge on a new kitsch paisley sewing box…oh no, I just found another sturdy cardboard box to house all those brightly coloured threads.  I found this little beauty which was the packaging for an (overpriced) pair of limited edition snowboarding goggles.  I am going to give it a new purpose and lease of life!


 It’s exactly the right size, and houses all the threads just perfectly!  You can find a little box like this to house all your haberdashery bits and bobs, or embroidery supplies, or to keep your stray craft projects in.  Shoe boxes are great for tidying up (or hiding!) out-of-control craft habits!


 At the bottom of my Granny’s sewing box, I found a few little treasures.  Well schooled from the days of Make Do And Mend from the war, she learnt to be so thrifty that instead of throwing away loose ends of thread, she would wind them around a piece of newspaper in case they could be used later.  These bits of paper were dated from the 30s and 40s – can you imagine how delighted I was to find them?  These artefacts have been in the bottom of the box all that time! 


 There was a little pencil that I recognised as the implement of choice from when my Grandparents did the crosswords together; a button hole that was from one of my Grandpa’s jackets; a worn corner of dressmakers’ chalk; and a clothing label with my Mum’s name on it, from when she was at school.  This little collection reminded me of some of Lisa Congdon's A Collection A Day project photographs, like the ones that I posted about.



Make do and mend: the humble art of repairing our clothes and make them last longer; matched with a nifty little recycled box to house all the necessary, basic kit to do the job. 

What do you keep your sewing supplies in? xxx

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Five Fabulous Fings on Friday - Tiny Dwellings

I don’t own a house, but I do own a 6 metre long, 4 ton van, converted to live in!  It’s our very own tiny dwelling.  Right at this very moment we don’t live in it, but we have done in the past.  Toby and I lived in it together and travelled all around France.  It gave us the freedom to roam around, learning French and exploring the little places that we wouldn’t normally get the chance to see and we met all sorts of people we wouldn’t normally have had the chance to stop and chat to.  It was truly wonderful!

We built it ourselves, and to us it means the choice to move around with our home on our backs, sloooooowly, like a snail.  It means owning our own home.  It means a small space where you own only what you need.  It means simplicity, low-cost, de-cluttering.  I LOVE tiny living spaces, so for this Five Fabulous Fings on Friday, I have rounded up five of my favourite tiny dwellings.


#1 Tammy Strobel’s Tiny House



Tammy Strobel writes about social change through simple living.  She and her partner Logan have moved into their tiny house, which they saw through from conception to the build.  It’s a tiny 128 square foot palace on an 8 x 6 foot trailer, that they can tow around if they please.  I really love Tammy’s thoughts about living in her tiny home.  It sounds really peaceful, earthy and uncluttered.  They designed the space themselves, and has just exactly enough space to contain exactly what they really need.  The result is a small and perfectly formed home, which inspires them.

About her tiny house, Tammy says:

“Making a dream a reality takes longer than expected and I think that’s a good thing. For instance, we’ve spent the last 4 years dreaming, designing, and saving for this little house. I’m glad we didn’t charge the house on our credit card.

The culture of consumption makes it easy to buy now and pay later. I’ve often bought belongings in the moment because “I had to have it.” That type of process doesn’t offer a whole lot of time for reflection or planning. In the past, I seldom asked myself if an object would contribute to my life over the long-run, instead of just being a drain on my energy.”


#2 The Blonde Coyote’s Teardrop Trailer



The Blonde Coyote a.k.a Mary Caperton Morton is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in a 5 x 10 foot handcrafted Teardrop Trailer.  Her compact home has a full size bed and plenty of storage space.  The kitchen is neatly tucked away in the back, and can be pulled out for outdoors cooking – perfect for balmy summer nights on Mary’s current trip between New Mexico and Alaska.

“This world is too big and beautiful to stay in one place”  says Mary.

You can read about The Blonde Coyote’s adventures on her blog.  Found via Tiny House Blog. 


#3 William’s Floating Teepee



Have you ever seen a floating teepee before?!  William is 21, and decided to weigh up his options for shelter after leaving his university campus, due to an unfortunate incident involving a fire alarm.  He found a teepee design whose cone shape allows the structure to remain quite warm, and is also very stable in high winds.  He sleeps inside the teepee, and his living space is outside, on the raft that he also built.  An imaginative tiny dwelling, full of low-impact, self-sufficiency.  Found via Tiny House Blog.


#4 Greg’s Gypsy Bowtop Caravans



These amazing 15ft length caravans are made by hand by Greg, to his specifications in his Bristol workshop.  The main bed is built into the end of the caravan, with extra sleeping space below.  I am really drawn to the curved walls of the peaceful little pod, which has plenty of space for cooking and storage.  The caravans are built around a poplar wood tunnel, and are waterproof and durable.  They can also be hand painted with traditional Romany Gypsy designs.  You can even hire one of these beauties for homely festival camping!


#5 Dominique’s Narrow Boat
      

            

Dominique is a freelance 3D and spatial designer, who takes empty spaces, and transforms their insides into beautiful interiors.  I love love LOVE her personal project of converting an old narrow boat into a practical, liveable space.  The boat functions as both a home and as transport, allowing her to roam the rivers as she pleases.  It also allows her to live in the midst of a city, away from the mad rush, and without having to fork out for expensive rent on leaky apartments.  Found via Tiny House Blog.

What do you love about your living space?  What would your dream home look like?  Do you live in a tiny dwelling too?  I'd love to hear from you!

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Neon Knitwear Inspiration

How often do you see neon knitwear?!  Not all that often I think.  The fashion-forward footwear queens Miista interviewed the fabulous Nikki from Goodstead.  It’s really interesting reading about Nikki’s role in the shop, and how she goes about choosing her pieces and collections.  This lady is superrrrr stylish, and really knows a LOT about fashion, buying, and what she does.  It really is an honour to have her selling my Hoop-la Scarves in Goodstead.

Oh, and look who is featured further down in the interview?!  None other than little ol’ me!  I can’t believe that my Hoop-la scarves are featured in this luscious interview alongside Nikki and all her great work at Goodstead!  Miista asked me if I made the scarves in neon colours, which I don’t….yet!

I investigated further through their blog and Pinterest pages to see what kinda neon colour schemes they are rocking.

 

 Mexican Flag Source

Elephant Stampede Source

Chameleon Source

Squash Source

Luscious!  I’m using these colours to come up with some new neon knitwear!  Stay tuned, stay colourful! xxx

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Come and say hello!

Hello lovelies, I hope you all had a super duper weekend.

I’ve given Je Suis Une Monstre a little design update, I’m really happy with the way it looks and functions now.

Why don’t you come and say hello! I made my own buttons, using Blog Bling from Pugly Pixel to link to where I can be found in the world of social media.  Check them out – give them a click, let’s link up!

       

On the left hand side, under the snazzy new social media buttons, there’s a list of popular posts, for your perusal.  I’m thinking of making a list of my favourite posts to give new readers a ‘mini tour’ of my little bloglet and get to know me a little more – whaddya reckon?

On the right sidebar I have a lovely long list of wonderful people and their blogs – friends and favourites from around the blogosphere.  I have called them my Friends and Faves, because they’re all people whose blogs I read on a daily basis and have connected with or become friends with in the blogosphere.  I am very happy to have their buttons on my blog, as I love to support them.  You simply must go over and meet them and say hello, they’re all full of wonderful photographs, projects, arts & crafts, small businesses, and brilliant ideas!

I’ve been working hard, and have completed Elsie’s brilliant Blog Love e-course.  I highly recommend it for anyone looking to hone their blog.  I’ve come up with a weekly schedule for my blog posts and their content, and I am really happy that I’ve decided to extend Je Suis Une Monstre to everything from arts & crafts; to simple and sustainable living.  Over this weekend I’ve already connected with so many different people that I wouldn’t normally, and it’s so exciting to find out what everyone else in the world is doing!  I’m hoping this blog will open up lots of great discussions on handmade, sustainable lifestyles.

Coming up very soon on Je Suis Une Monstre…

A little peek at my works-in-crafty-progress; an interview; and the return of Five Fabulous Fings on Friday!
Don’t forget to come and say hello, friends!  It’s a pleasure to meet you all!
Katie. xxx

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Sustainable Living and Handmade – a new direction for Je Suis Une Monstre

 Hello friendly Monstres,

I’ve been thinking an awful lot about sustainable living and the relationship it has with handmade.

I have also been thinking long and hard about the direction I wish to take with the Je Suis Une Monstre blog.  It started off as an experiment, when I left my homeland England in June 2010.  Toby and I rolled off into the French sunset in our van-home that we built, with everything that we needed inside.  And so began an adventure – of travel on land, and also into the world of blogging.  Almost two years ago I started this blog, and didn’t really know what to write.  “I haven’t got anything to write about” I kept thinking. 



Mais au contraire!  I have plenty to write about!  I am a pro-active person with lots of interests and hobbies!  I started writing about living and travelling in France, mostly in the form of rants about how terrible and largely amusing (and most of all, baffling!) French parking seems to be.  As I realised how much I love making things (particularly knitting and crochet) and started designing and finally selling my pieces; it became a blog about handmade, arts & crafts and DIY.  Now I think I would like to re-define it one more time, to give it real purpose and direction, and to broaden the subject that I write and interest myself (and you, my readers!) about.

Yes this blog is about arts & crafts, handmade and DIY; but it is also about adventures, both in the travelling sense (I plan on making many travels very soon!) and in the sense of ways to live.  I am growing a vegetable garden this summer, and one of the things that is very high up on my agenda is living in a way that is simple and sustainable.  I still have a lot to learn about EVERYTHING, but that is awfully exciting to me, and means I have LOTS to write about here!  In fact – you should see my to-do list!  It is as long as my arm (and I have pretty long arms!). 



As many of you know, I live up in the French Alps, in a village that during the winter months is a bustling, touristy ski resort.  By summer, everything changes: it is a blissful ghost town; peaceful in the wild, natural, beautiful alpine mountains.  The snow melts, and the previously inaccessible paths open up.  Tiny villages, perched on the side of mountains become visible, and in one of these is where my garden lies.  I’ve been realising more and more that here really is a place where people know how to grow their own food; make things to keep their families warm in winter; and live active, earthy, self-sufficient lifestyles.  Convenience does not exist up here.  The nearest supermarket is a 20 mile drive away, and so you have to find a way to make do.

From now on, Je Suis Une Monstre shall be about investigating the relationship between handmade; and slow, meaningful, sustainable living…with a whole bunch of adventures, from the mountains and beyond; and endless to-do lists thrown into the mix!  I’d love to connect with more people and broaden my audience – both in the arts & crafts community, and in the sustainable living communities.  I believe they both can, and should collide. 


Making your own things; whether they be clothes, bread, cosmetics, knitwear, your own home…is exciting because you have full control over what materials or colours or ingredients you choose to use.  Knitting, sewing, quilting are all ancient crafts that are so important because they LAST.  They are not sweat-shopped, soluble-in-water, fast-fashion.  You get to see a project through from nothing to something: from a ball of wool into a beautiful scarf, that you know you have created with your own fair hands.  Yes it takes time, but each and every stitch holds a web of thoughts, meditations, ideas and LOVE!  We can choose homemade, ethical practice; save some money; learn some new skills; and perhaps even save the world?!



Sustainable living for me is also about working a meaningful job for myself.  Next month I am doing a TEFL course which will mean I will be qualified to teach English to speakers of other languages.  This is a job that allows (and requires!) me to travel, which will just be a dream come true!  Also, there are endless possibilities out there on the world wide web that, with enough effort, means one can work for oneself.  I would love to sustain myself by being my own boss, and turn this blog and the creations in my shop into my full time job.  I have many things to learn, and lots of experiments to carry out, but with trial and error; making lots of blog friends; and above all, GREAT CONTENT, I would like to see if I could make this possible!  I wrote about this before, and I think, just perhaps, that now I might know enough; have enough time; and be focussed enough to do something super here.  I’m going to work my little socks off on this blog this summer, and see where it gets me.  I’d be very happy to have you all on board!  At the very worst, I would love some of my vegetables to sprout, so that I can sustain myself by eating delicious, free, organic food for the rest of the year!

Do you want to know more about all of this?  Do you do this yourself already?  I’d love to hear from you!  Why not come and say hi, drop a line into the comments section, and do please come back again and read more of my plans and ideas – I’ve got plenty of them!

Well that’s all for now mes amis, thank you ever so much for reading.  I hope you all have a really brilliant weekend - I’m off to dig my garden!  See you next week.  Katie. xxx

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