Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Just a few thoughts...

Signing in for a quickie!  lol  Today I'm working on some upcycled clothing designs in the workshop.  I hope to have them in production for this year's spring/summer season.  I also want to move my little business to a point where I only use recycled materials... that would be awesome!  Oh yeah, I guess I should give a bit of background here... Reader's Digest version?  Ok, here goes...

In 2006 I moved from Quebec to BC with my sugardaddy (aka. boyfriend).  For the previous 4 years I had been a barmaiden (or bartendress) and needed a break from that scene.  When we got to Vancouver Island I took the first job I could get... in the housekeeping department at Pacific Trails (?) Resort in Parksville.  As it so happened, it was the end of June and the weather was fucking insanely amazing!  I also had a really bad cold.  (Be patient with me... it's all gonna come together...).  My boss was a control freak (but a really nice gal otherwise) and perfectionist, too.  We had also bought tickets for the Vancouver Island Musicfest, which started on a Friday and ran through Sunday.  I had already asked for the Sat and Sun off but I would probably have to work on the Friday and miss half a day of the festival... oh no!  Anyway, all these different events and forces created an alchemic mixing pot the resulting climax of which was me quitting my job (a first!), basking in the sun, feeling much better, and enjoying the entirety of the Festival (more on that another time) at which I bought a large reversible bag to carry my shit in.

The Bag.  It was a nice bag, kind a thin cheap fabric, but I really liked the general shape/size/funkiness/reversability, etc.  My mom even gave me money to buy her a bag at the festival. Mine was brown and yellow.  Hers was turquoise and pink -- perhaps not her first choice for colours, but they didn't have much left by the time I bought hers.  My mom said something like "hey, these would be easy to make".  So, we made up our own version of the bag and the beast was born... Hobo's Designs!

Okay okay, so maybe this wasn't so much the Reader's Digest version, but it was compelling and a real page-turner nonetheless, non?  lol  So I became my own boss and bag lady.  I've managed to eke out a living making bags, but I'm the first to admit that I stink at valuing my time and charging appropriately and quite often end up working for nothing.  People can change.  hahaha!  I'm getting better, partly because of an informed self-respect for the work that I do and partly by the necessity in order to continue working for myself.  My clothing line will really be the test of what I've learned in this department.  I'll keep ya posted...

To get a better idea of what I do, check out my Facebook and Etsy...

http://www.facebook.com/thehobotrain
http://www.thehobotrain.etsy.com
Twitter:  @thehobotrain

I don't have a whole lot of product out there, but that's a gonna change over the next few weeks or so. 

Okay, so not much on raw food today.  I will be dehydrating apples for the first time this week.  I'm still maintaining a majority level of rawness, eating lots of salads.  Last week I made 3 different dehydrated cracker recipes and they are almost all gone!  I won't say too much more about the raw because I want to do a proper blog entry introducing my raw plans.  Coming soon!

All for now... hope you are all having wonderful days!!!

Renee

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

HANDMADE SWAG + RAW FOOD... The beginning.

Hey wait a sec!  Crafts and food don't go together.  Oh yes they do.... 

And so it begins, here is my new blog that will embrace handmade artisan products (my own and those of others) and curious adventures in raw food.  I've been an artisan for 6 years now designing and making purses and a few other crafty things.  I appreciate the work, time, attention, love, sweat and originality that goes into making things with your hands, as well as the joy and despair that goes with being self-employed.  I support handmade as much as I can and think that it's a great way to develop community and human connection (I guess that's kinda the same thing, non?).  The root values of this way of thinking have to do with knowing where your purchases come from and paying a fair price.  This means making an effort to be accountable for what your dollars are supporting.  It's kinda like voting with your wallet.  It also means not taking for granted the stuff that you buy.  I don't know about you guys, but I seriously sometimes feel like a prisoner of STUFF... a mule to my things.  What the hell is all this shit?  It's in boxes, on shelves, in drawers, under the bed, collecting dust in the corner, etc.  You get the picture.  So, yeah, I'm a work in progress...  lol 

And so what does this have to do with food?  Well, I enjoy eating and I'm trying out this accountability thing with my food.  I know, I know... can't I just buy and eat what I want when I want?  Yeah, that's a very westernized way of thinking and I'm totally guilty of it and being responsible is kinda boring.  lol  But really I've found that the consumerist mentality in general just doesn't make me feel good as a person.  It makes me addicted to things and self-centered, too.  And when it comes to food and blind consumerism, the consequence is not feeling good as a body.  The effects of eating whatever you want whenever you crave it will always come out in your health.  So what does it mean to be accountable for what you eat?  Well, for me it means being aware of where your food comes from and what your food is.  It's kinda like voting with your fork.  The long-term picture for me is to eat an organically-grown (as locally as possible) raw food vegan diet.  Yikes!  Sounds daunting.... it's even scarier when I see it written down.  What does it all mean???  lol  How I got to this conclusion for myself will have to be saved for a later posting.  I'm not there yet, but that is the path I'm on.  I've played around with raw food for a couple of years now and have been a 99% vegan for 3 years.  I do believe that raw food veganism done properly is the best way to achieve optimum health.  (Of course, I'm no doctor, so don't take my word for it).  More on the goods and the bads of all this stuff later.

Hopefully you've enjoyed reading my little introduction.  Feedback is welcome.  I intend to use this blog as a casual conversation (assuming people answer me; otherwise, it will be more of a casual soliloquy) about the main things that interest me: handmade swag and raw food.  Please join me if you share these interests.  There always room on The Hobo Train... all aboard!!!  TOOT!  TOOT!  (Kinda cheesy? lol)

Thanks!

Renee

p.s.  By the way, here are the links to my handmade world:

www.thehobotrain.etsy.com 
www.facebook.com/thehobotrain
Twitter:  #thehobotrain
Pinterest: under thehobotrain