swap-o-rama-rama

"There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness." Gandhi

i can not wait for december 16th, the swap-o-rama-rama is coming to el lay!! i discovered the sorr a few months ago when i was researching re-made clothing and came across their website which featured images of not one, but two of my very dearest girlfriends! so i knew that this was something that i needed to know about!

say hello to my dear friend maryann (aka orange) who worked with me in the environmental consulting world in sacramento when i first moved to california. she introduced me to the n street co-op that eventually became my home in davis. that's the fabulous amy in the background. this photo is from the san francisco sorr.

and my sweet kristy who went through landscape architecture school with me at penn state. she is crafty beyond comprehension and a very green lady indeed. this is her sewing up her masterpiece at the brooklyn sorr.

sorr is basically a huge clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops that help participants unleash their creative genius. the following is from an email that i received recently:

It's easy to move from consumer to creator! At Swap-O-Rama-Rama you'll find talented indie designers and DIY stations where you can learn traditional crafts like embroidery, beading and appliqué. These include sewing stations with sewing machines run by knowledgeable clothing and costume designers; silk screening, and decoration stations for working with beads, buttons, and a variety of accouterments. This year we'll have a team of LA's best volunteers ready to help you find a new recycled look. But of course the core of the swap is the gigantic piles of free clothing sorted into categories: pants, shirts, skirts, sweaters etc. These piles are the collective total of each guest’s contribution of one bag of unwanted clothes. Take home as much clothing as you can carry. Remainders go to Out of The Closet Thrift Stores.

so start decluttering your closet now (i already have a bag of clothes ready) and join me at the swap-o-rama-rama el lay...

december 16th, 11am to 7pm
$5 plus any size bag of unwanted clothing
$10 without clothing
once inside all of the materials for creativity and all the clothes you can carry are free
all ages welcome!
join the list: swaporamarama-subscribe@gaiatreehouse.com

location: shrine auditorium expo center
700 w 32nd st, la 90007

back! from outer space

sorry for the gap in posts...i've been up to my ears in moving and working the past days. i have been clearing out the non-moving energies in the process and have found myself with a pile of stuff to hand over to the donation gods...

i have to say though that i'm loving the new digs...and for good reasons...it's a co-op!! yay, i love co-operative living! i haven't been in one since n-street up north, so i was stoked to come across such a sweet situation here in el lay. whereas n street was a grouping of 16 individual houses that broke down their fences to form a community, my new co-op is a 10 bedroom house and each roommate has their own room. there's a large communal living space and big front and back yards with a food garden :) we also have 1 chicken, 1 duck, and 1 piglet. the house gets together on tuesday evenings for meals and meetings and i have a weekly chore to keep up on. aside from that, i get a great room in a sweet house and an amazing support network of 9 other fabulous and conscious roommates...yay!

i took a walk around the new hood thursday night to check out my neighbors and get a bite to eat around the corner. on my way back home, low and behold, i ran into something that i have dreaded being sent to: reform school. i was relieved to discover that this reform school is a crafty little shop with a focus on indie artists who "reuse creatively." it's full of sustainable goodies. here you can find local art, recycled pencils and sketchbooks, re-used skateboard purses, and their children's section is a-dor-a-ble! the woman working told me that they had just opened the store about a month ago, so we welcomed each other into the neighborhood, and i assured her that i would be back to see them soon...and you should too!!

get edumacated at reform school:
4014 santa monica blvd. (@ sunset blvd. in silverLake)
los angeles, ca 90029
(323)906-8660