It's strange that when you start thinking about ethical brands, they start to pop up all over the place. For example, an email from Pelcor dropped into my inbox a little while ago.

Pelcor use cork. Yep, cork - a material that I wouldn't have thought of as being suitable for fashion accessories. However, cork skin is waterproof, lightweight, hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly - it's biodegradable and recyclable.

Pelcor source the cork from forests of Portuguese cork oak trees. The trees are nurtured for nine years before the thick layer of bark is harvested. This doesn't harm the tree, it continues to grow and forms another layer of cork, making it a renewable source. Cool huh?

I've picked out my favourite (purse friendly) pieces - iPhone Sleeve, iPad Sleeve and Coin Purse. They come in a variety of colours but I love the pop of the orange! I can imagine each piece being tactile and warm to touch and very, very smooth. I'm very, very tempted to dent my bank balance in their e-shop*.

What do you think? You like?

This is not a sponsored post, I just found it interesting.

* Between writing this and publishing it I gave in to temptation and ordered the iPad sleeve - I'll share my thoughts with you when it arrives.

Love

Hello, how are you? I can't believe that it's Friday again already!! The days are zipping by at the moment. I'm full steam ahead with setting myself up as a freelance Graphic Designer and honestly, I can't tell you what I do all day but I'm sure as eggs doing something! It does feel great to have a purpose again, to have real, genuine, enthusiasm for something.


Dear Alex, You made me think about notebooks (loving your new blog design btw).

Dear Salisbury's, You had a 50% off sale on notebooks (I stopped myself at two but could easily have bought more). Thanks.


Dear Tinker, Please stop sitting on my keyboard as I try to type. I love you but it's just not helpful. Although you do make me laugh when you sit on the table and watch the cursor moving across the screen. I'm waiting for the day that you decide to pounce!

Dear Tripod, Sorry I dropped you and snapped your head off.

Dear Self, You're an idiot, why did you drop your tripod and snap it's head off - how are you going to take outfit shots now? Huh? Huh?

Hope you have a fab weekend! I'm off to a clothes swap tomorrow, not one I've organised this time, so I'm hoping for some good finds and to pick up some tips for my next one in early April. I did find a few good bits at the last one I held - I'll try to do a post soon!

On Sunday I have my brother and his family coming for supper. Last time I cooked lasagne and youngest nephew sulked and refused to eat because it wasn't chilli. So I'm cooking chilli. I guess that's a compliment, right?



Love

I've often thought that it would be wonderful to have a quick reference guide to the ethical practices of high street brands.

A tweet by @OxfamFashion lead me to this article, that ultimately lead me here - to measureup.org.uk. The site is exactly what I'd been waiting for - a quick reference guide to high street stores using a traffic light rating system. You can check out stores, rate them against each other see how they measure up.

Unsurprisingly People Tree got green lights across the board for everything from paying a living wage to unannounced factory checks. George at Asda and Zara also did pretty well.

Happy shopping!
Love

At the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to discover more ethical fashion brands. I shop second hand a lot of the time but I felt my knowledge of ethical fashion brands was somewhat lacking.

So, when I saw Ceri (a lady that could certainly teach me a great deal about ethical fashion brands) had entered the Johari Style Challenge, and I'd discovered more about them, I was keen to get involved.

Please excuse the copy and paste but here is what Johari is all about...

'Johari is an ethical fashion brand, our philosophy is simple; we passionately believe that fashion should be ethical, stylish and beautiful. Johari, which means ‘something precious’ in Swahili, makes stylish beautiful clothing and accessories. Every item is handmade in Kenya by Social Enterprise Johari Designs. 100% of the profit made by Johari and Johari Designs helps to fund the Johari Foundation’s Miale Programmes that supports children and young adults towards a better future by helping with education, vocational, social and basic needs. Buying Johari products helps to empower vulnerable young adults to build a living for themselves and their families.'

To participate all I needed to do was choose an item from their online shop, which they then sent to me, for a week, so I could style it and pop it on this here blog.


Outfit 1
With snow on the ground I decided to layer up for a daytime outfit. The dress sits nicely over skinny jeans and looks great with a long sleeve t-shirt underneath and a scarf to finish. Of course, you could easily swap the jeans for thick tights for a slightly different look, but I have to admit I was wearing tights for warmth underneath anyway!

Outfit 2
For something smarter, I added a bright cardigan, black opaques and wedges. I considered a belt but I didn't want to obscure the gorgeous Masaai face print on the front.

Outfit 3
As an evening option I opted for red hoisery, metallic sandals and a structured jacket. I think this is my favourite outfit of the three as the print gives an unusual twist to the LBD, making for an altogether more interesting outfit.

The dress arrived beautifully wrapped in tissue and a bow, inside a handmade and recycled bag.



I'm a big fan of what Johari have set out to do and the clothing range, whilst limited, is lovely. I also really like the range of accessories, in particular the Tabaka Necklace, which I think would look great with the Neema dress.


Which is your favourite piece from the collection?

Love

Hello! I'll start with a huge 'thank you'' for the lovely, supportive comments on my last post. It certainly had been a very stressful time. Setting up as a Graphic Designer is going well, I have two clients and several projects on the go and all that work nonsense already seems like a long time ago.


I'm joining in with Inspiration Monday over at Two Birds today. I'm glad Dianna Agron is sporting a coat, we had snow over night, not much - certainly not enough to bring the country to a stand still - never-the-less a coat is most welcome and this doesn't get worn nearly much as it should!


I hope you have a lovely week, have you had snow?

Love

During the first of week of January, everyone in the department I worked in received the news that we were all facing redundancy. This was not surprise for any of us.

A week passed before we were each told of the final decision.

The MD wanted to move me to another department. I couldn't do it. I knew it was a role I wouldn't be happy in, a role I wouldn't be able to put my heart and soul into. I knew from past experience (I'd been at the company for almost 10 years) that I would encounter obstacles and any grievance I had would not be addressed, so I decided to decline the position.

This in itself felt awful, there where guys in my department that would have given anything to stay, and there I was turning down a role and choosing to leave. True to form, they were really supportive and totally understood my position.

But then there was a twist, someone was interested in buying the department. This led to confusion, uncertainty and some very awkward situations that continued for two weeks. By the end of the third week I'd had enough and suggested my own solution, which was accepted. And so, finally, at the beginning of week four the matter was resolved.

It's been an exhausting few weeks, I've cried buckets, felt sick most days and haven't slept or eaten properly. But now it's all over I feel happy, relaxed and excited and my plan is to start working as a freelance Graphic Designer. It's something I've often thought about but the time never felt right. Until now.

Wish me luck!

Tinker in a calmer moment...