Did you know that Europe is only recycling 24% of it's textile waste?  

"On average, Friends of the Earth says, 40 to 50 percent of waste textiles can be recycled into garments. For every ton of cotton T-shirts reused, the equivalent of 12 tons of carbon dioxide is saved." Many people don't realize that there are a lot of textile recyling programs out there.  

Companies like Patagonia started the common threads initiative where you can actually drop off your used Patagonia clothing in a drop box in their store.  Each peice of clothing will be recyled and broken down to be used into making a new piece of clothing.   

Do your part and start recycling or upcyling your used clothing rather than dumping it into the garbage! 

Here is a little insight on how and why I name my accessories.  I love the environment, and I believe we need to celebrate and learn about the all the beautful animals that are living in our planet.   My current love is the hummingbird, and all of my scarves are named after different types of hummingbirds from around the world! These hummingbirds have inspired me in my design process and I hope they inspire you too! 

"The hummingbird symbolizes many different concepts. Because of its speed, the hummingbird is known as a messenger and stopper of time. It is also a symbol of love, joy, and beauty. The hummingbird is also able to fly backwards, teaching us that we can look back on our past. But, this bird also teaches that we must not dwell on our past; we need to move forward. When the hummingbird hovers over flowers while drinking nectar, we learn that we should savour each moment, and appreciate the things we love."

1) Azure-Crowned Hummingbird

2) Oasis Hummingbird

3) Andean Emerald

Just incase you forgot how to wear your Braided circle scarf, don't fret!

There are 2 ways of wearing it:

The first way to wear it is by placing it around your neck and the second is looped around your neck once. See below for pic's:

First take your circle scarf like this pic below and put it over your head.

Once it's over your head, you can adjust where you want the braid, higher, lower, or right in the middle.

Once your scarf is on, you can also loop it once, as pictured below over your head so it can be closer to your neck.

Lastly it should look like this:)

* note, you never want to pull the braid apart.  Keep it as is, and if you want to tighten the braid, lightly tug on each side as pictured below to keep in place.  Remember, only hand wash/ and hang dry your scarf! 

You are all set! Please enjoy!

I'm starting to work with fish leather! Yep! Fish leather! Fish leather is an amazing leather to work with because it's just as soft as suede, it's waterproof, and the process to tan the leather is actually more eco than you would think.  Fish leather isn't anything new, it has been used with the eskimos, and in other nordic countries for centuries.  What has changed is instead of the fish industry throwing away the skins as a bi-product, they are reusing/ re-purposing them into leather.  

The leather is not only odor free, but the process lends itself to environmentally friendly and sustainable practises. Since only scales need to be removed from fish, the tanning process does not require all the polluting chemicals that are used for removing hair in traditional tanning. Now the skins are not being thrown back into the ocean, or tossed into landfills.

Vegetable dyes are used to actually get the vibrant colors you see below.  The most typical fish skins used to make leather are salmon, carp and cod.

I'm excited to work with this new fish leather I just purchased!

LLA & Free Bohemia teamed up at UniqueLa over the weekend!  What an amazing experience it was to be surrounded by so many talented artists.  I am so grateful to be apart of such an inspiring and creative flowing event!  Keep you updated on if we do this event next year!!!