Kickstarter
Kickstarter first entered my vocabulary about two years ago when an acquaintance at a birthday party was telling me about her latest project and how she intended to fund it. Kickstarter is a website where entrepreneurs and artists list details about a project plan and investors have the opportunity to fund it. Everyone can pledge to get an innovative new product or a creative arts project on its feet. You can start your own project or search for new and creative ideas that inventors are hoping to launch. Kickstarter states on it’s website:
Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.
It’s a great concept and it’s truly amazing to scan through the creative vision of so many talented, pragmatic and smart people. It really helps highlight what the world is thinking, planning and developing for the new, next thing. The interesting twist is that you must post your budget, then a countdown begins. You have a limited period of time in which to capture the attention and wallets of benefactors. If you don’t reach your funding goal then no money exchanges hands and the project is canceled.
- Why is Kickstarter funding all-or-nothing?
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On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. This way, no one is expected to develop a project with an insufficient budget, which sucks. Remember you set your own funding goal, so aim to raise the minimum amount you’ll need to create your vision. Projects can always raise more than their goal, and often do.
In addition, the developers often offer bonuses of everything from promotional materials like free tshirts or the product itself signed by the inventor or other enticements to those who are willing to support their dreams.
I particularly love that you can search by region to help support local artists and artisans. You can also search by project type (fashion, music, theater, etc) or even recommended, popular or recently launched. It gives consumers the power to vote with their wallets before a project even gets off the ground and that seems like a very good idea indeed. I’ll be searching and pledging my support to great designers who focus on recycled goods because that’s where my passion lies. Who or what will you find to kickstart? Leave your thoughts in the comments below including links to any really cool projects that you’d like to recommend.
Filed under Activism, DIY, Products | Tags: benefactor, creative, design, DIY, donation, eco-friendly, Kickstarter, projects, recycle, refashion, sustainable | Comment (0)
Doing Good: Free Wheelchair Mission
I was perusing my favorite guilty pleasure today, http://www.fark.com/, when I stumbled upon this heart-warming story about a man who, upon seeing suffering, immediate set the intention to help releive it, and in the process developed a low-cost solution and then dedicated his life to creating the Free Wheelchair Mission. As someone who participates competitively in sports, and a mom, I know how important mobility is to our everyday lives. As painful as crutches have been many times, I cannot imagine the pain and indignity of being forced to drag myself across the ground to participate in my family life. Unfortunately there are many for who this is their life. They cannot afford or do not have access to a wheelchair. The Free Wheelchair Mission wants to help change this:
It has been estimated that 100 million people living in the developing world suffer with walking disabilities yet have no access to wheelchairs due to poverty and economic isolation. Denied this most basic means of mobility, some crawl on the ground, subjecting themselves to dangerous, unsanitary conditions in order to maintain their independence. Others spend most of their lives in isolation, confined to a single room, and dependent upon family members’ help to meet their most basic needs.
To learn more about the mission, please read their FAQ’s here. The wonderful news is that Don and Laurie Schoendorfer have already designed an economical and functional wheelchair, and built a distribution web that allows them to deliver each of these life changing wheelchairs. The only thing left for you to do, to make a difference and help relieve the suffering in someone’s life is to help spread the word and support their mission. Please consider donating and encouraging your friends, family and community to provide support as well.
If you would like to join my team to help raise funds to help support the Free Wheelchair Mission, you can join here.
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
-Buddha
Etsy Shop Feature: Sweet and Dirty’s Emporium of Good Stuff
This next shop feature is special because we are both members of the same Team on Etsy: The Etsy Recycler’s Guild Team. However, I noticed and marked a few of their items as favorites before I even realized that they we were teamies. So, without further ado, it has been my pleasure to interview Sweet and Dirty’s Emporium of Good Stuff.
ICouldSewDoThat (Serendipit): First, let me thank you for taking the time out of your busy designer schedule for this interview. Second, let me say that I love your stuff. I’m so inspired by it every time that I browse your shop. In fact, the rowdy girls bag is on my wish list right now; I love it!
What is your inspiration for these wonderfully unique items?
SweetandDirty: I was always encouraged by family to make sure that I love what I do, and I really think just knowing that I get to do that everyday.. wake up, be with my kids, and sew… that is all the inspiration i need to keep on keeping on. Of course coming across some good vintage fabric is pretty motivational too 
ICouldSewDoThat (SerendipiT): Wow, that is so cool that you had so much support from your family and you get to really enjoy what you do; congrats! I love vintage fabric too, for many reasons. I typically use vintage fabric because it’s eco-friendly. Do you consider yourself “green”?
SweetandDirty: Very much. My entire shop is made from vintage/recycled/repurposed materials… it’s so nice to give new life to something instead of discarding it. It all carries over into my home life too – compost pile, garden growing (soon to be canning this summer), crazy recyclers.. it’s true, my husband has been known to go get and give recycling bins to those we know who don’t!
ICouldSewDoThat (SerendipiT): So, now we know that you are an eco-friendly artisan, who enjoys crafting with your family, tell us a little more about yourself.
SweetandDirty: My name is Logan and I live in the wonderful mountains of Tennessee. I am a stay at home mom to two sweet babes (Harvey and Ruby) and wife to a super encouraging husband. I went to college and got a BFA in painting, worked a silly retail job for way too long, then decided to take what I was doing for my loved ones and try to sell it to a larger audience… so far so good. It’s amazing to be doing what you love. In my ‘free time’ i can usually be found putting on impromptu dance parties and concerts with ruby, she’s two.. Harvey is only 5months so he hasn’t joined in just yet. I also love to cook!
ICouldSewDoThat (Serendipit): Wow! Well you sound like one very well-rounded and equally busy lady who really lives life to the fullest; good for you! I always find talkign with other artisans who have taken their craft full-time to be so encouraging. I hope that one day I can too. There are so many great artisans on Etsy who really focus on the quality and good design; I find a new shop that I love every day. Do you have any favorites?
SweetandDirty: oh my goodness there are so many sellers i love, if you take a look at my favorites it justifies that!
a few off the top of my head…
http://www.etsy.com/shop/necessityisthemother
http://www.etsy.com/shop/spinthread ( i have one of her lovely necklaces and wear it all the time, love it)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/chelebert12
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ziazia
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sohomode
http://www.etsy.com/shop/blackbirdtees
ICouldSewDoThat (SerendipiT): I will definately be checking those shops out; thanks for sharing! So, besides creating and shopping on Etsy, what else do you really love?
SweetandDirty: I love it when my little Ruby gives me random hugs, Harvey smiles my way, I get a date night with my husband, I find “new” fabric, seeing someone happy with something I have made, oh and a good batch of gravy and biscuits works real well too!
ICouldSewDoThat (SerendipiT): Well, you are a woman after my own heart. I lived in Tennessee for a spell myself and I have to agree that it’s the simple pleasures in life that really make each day special, especially time with loved ones and the chance to express yourself through craft. The biscuits always help too.
Well, to close out the interview I always love to get at least one totally random fact about each person that I meet. Can you share an interesting tidbit about yourself?
SweetandDirty: Let’s see… I can’t drive a stick.. I have an unhealthy obsession with sweet tea…I know the words to lots of obnoxious rap songs…and I can weld!
ICouldSewDoThat (SerendipiT): Those are some really fun facts; thanks for sharing! I’ve always wanted to weld, maybe I can trade you for some lessons in driving a manual. So, now that we know how to find you on Etsy, where else can we keep up with you?
SweetandDirty: I do a lot of local festivals in my area.. the two largest being The Big Crafty in Asheville, NC (it’s in July and December) and Rhythm and Roots in Bristol, TN/VA (it’s in September). I’m looking forward to doing a lot more here this next year though!
Sweet and Dirty on Twitter, Facebook and Blog.
Thanks again for sharing your story; I really enjoyed learning more about a favorite teammate of mine.
Filed under Environmentally Focused, Featured Seller, Featured Seller, Products, Uncategorized | Tags: clothing swap, design, eco-friendly, Etsy, Etsy Recyclers Guild Team, Featured Seller, interview, product review, recycle, refashion, sustainable, thrifty | Comment (1)What I’ve been up to on Etsy
Hey, here’s a peek at both my personal shop (Serendipit) and my team’s shop (Fashion:Remix). Please keep us in mind for your personal wardrobe updates and gift giving. We all make and sell eco-friendly refashioned or recycled clothing and accessories.
Filed under Environmentally Focused, Products, Shopping, Uncategorized, Website | Tags: crafts, design, eco-friendly, Etsy, fashion, gifts, refashion, SerendipiT, sustainable, thrifty, vegan, vegetarian | Comment (0)The Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the London College of Fashion
I so want to go back to school right now. Yes, I know that I just graduated and I already have an expensive enough hobby, having collected several unrelated degrees that are of no use in the real world. However, should I ever have my chance to fulfill my dream of learning fashion design, I am so going to this school! What makes this school so unique is that it focuses on sustainability in the fashion industry. They are askign designers to think about what fashion really means to society and then distilling those notions and paring them down through more earth-friendly practices including, but not limited to: factoring in the true cost of production (rather than just pumping out, cheap throw-away styles and continually innovating and sharing the knowledge gained through new approaches. The section of their vision that I find most interesting reads, “Put human well-being at the heart of fashion production and consumption. Changing fashion practices to improve well-being of workers, consumers, designers, and producers is central to a more sustainable future.” This is an admirable goal and one that I hope, for all of our sakes, can be taught to the forward-thinking design students who will shape the goals of our collective fashion future.
Filed under Environmentally Focused, Uncategorized | Tags: clothing, consumption, design, earth-friendly, eco-friendly, education, fashion, future, industry, production, school, sustainable | Comment (0)Enter the Inhabitat Spring Greening Competition
Inhabitat, a blog devoted to sustainable design, wants you to make something awesome out of old junk and share it! They are hosting the Spring Greening Competition, where you can compete for praise, recognition and $250 gift certificate to be used in the Inhabitat Shop. The Inhabitat shop has everything from worm composters to fashionable pumps, so you’ll have no problem spending your new loot. So…find some old junk, make something rad, take a bunch of photos and enter the competition already!
Filed under Environmentally Focused, Events, Website | Tags: competition, design, DIY, eco-friendly, Inhabitat, nifty gadgets, recycle, refashion, sustainable | Comment (0)