Taking the road less followed ...

The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world ... are the ones that do.

Ya'll have heard a bit about my new obsession with Sseko, a company supporting women in Uganda, free trade, improved working environment and safety for the 50+ women who work for Sseko and the 19 young women who it has sent to a Ugandan university just last year! Over the past few weeks, I have come to appreciate this little Northwest company and feel very inspired by it's story. I feel compelled to join this small group of entrepreneurs to give back to the wonderful world that we share. 

Not only has Sseko inspired me, but has also set a flame under my youngest daughter and a friend of mine. We have decided to take on this new adventure together! My daughter will take a collection with her to the University and share the story with her new friends. My friend and I will be creating a buzz on this side of the mountains with public markets and trunk shows. This handmade products will create quite a stir in our little "do-good" area of the country.

I have decided to take a step back from Chloe + Isabel and turn my attention to this new adventure. I will continue to sell C+I, but will begin hosting Trunk Shows for Sseko as a "Sseko Fellow." For those of you loyal C+I customers, I will still be available for pop ups in your home, and will be happy to take you through the latest and greatest collections. I will keep you appraised of sales and promotions - and of course I will happily give personal styling advice!

Sseko designers have created the most beautiful fine leather bags, purses, small leather goods and big, beautiful travel cases. In addition, they create many of the most comfortable sandals I have ever worn with leather and ribbon that are fully customizable. They've partnered with a swimsuit designer to create one-size-fits-all clothing and scarves. Finally, they have trendy, simple jewelry with interchangeable charms and bold designs. 

Everything I have seen and felt is so finely made with care by each of the Sseko tradeswomen. Each and every piece is signed with love from an inspirational woman on the other side of the world - and you can find she and her story on the webpage and see who your purchase has helped.

If you would like to see how a trunk show works and buy your first pair of ribbon sandals, I will be hosting a trunk show of my own with the help of my Sseko Fellow Monique on May 18th at 7pm. She is in Texas but we will be hosting a Facebook Group event so you can see just how much these beloved pieces need to be part of your everyday.

I've attached some of my favorites and invite you to request your invite to the Trunk Show, support women of the world and kick your summer off with a bang! I'm feeling mad-inspired by this little company and I can't wait to share the products with my friends!

Bunkhouse neeeearly done!

Our little group completed 97% of the bunkhouse this past weekend and I'm super excited to see that 8-month project completed. We laughed and laughed and laughed because that's what we do when we work together.

The total cost of renovating the bunk house from a storage shed to a functional room that sleeps 4-5 people/kids was $60. We used recycled wood, wood from under the deck at our Kent home, decking from Papa's neighbor and the useless decorative bridge on our CB property, wood my old employer recycled from his family's Cashmere farm ... you name it. It went to make the bunks a line the walls. It's all been whitewashed and cleaned up for company!

The steps still need a bit of work, but it was a great recycled find by Dave from Second Used in Seattle. He paid $25 for this great chunk of wood! All we need to do is cut some 2X6, stain them dark and screw them to each step. A curtain for the window and some cord maintenance.

I'm so happy it's done.

We only have a door to install, padlock for another door, a little spot painting in the house and we're ready to rock and roll.

Completing the Bunkhouse

Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to myself, but looking back will be much more fun with “in the moment” thoughts from our journeys.

This coming weekend we’re headed back for a long Easter weekend at SunDaze. We’ve chosen to take on completion of the bunk house. We ended last year with the bunks made, mattresses and bedding in, and about 1/3 of the raw wood on the walls. Perhaps it would’ve been lots easier to put up Sheetrock and call it a day, but we had all this free wood laying around, and thought it might be more fun to create the shiplap look. We’re moving out the refrigerator and finishing up the walls. So on Dave’s to do list (before he leaves on Monday morning following Easter) is to get the wood up, the ceiling light changed out and the outlet turned around to the outside so we can plug the refrigerator in the space between the house and bunkhouse. 

Here’s our thinking, we have this 4 foot space between the house and bunkhouse. The back side has a screen door, but since we’re going to Airbnb, we need a space to lock up our property and a place to hold some food when we’re not there and expecting company. So we’re adding a door to the front side of the “space in between”, shelves and the refrigerator to the area to lock it up. What’s nice about this is it will also free up the bunkhouse for a chair and shelving. 

Once this is completed this weekend, my daughter, her friend and I will paint everything white! Hopefully get the mattresses and bedding back in before we leave a few days later. 

So that’s our plan of attack for our March SunDaze work. I’ll post before and after pics next week! I’m a bit of a work horse when it comes to getting jobs done, even cutting boards and screwing them in long after the boys have wandered off on breaks. 

I’ll have to come up with something fun to do with my daughter and her friend so it seems a bit more like a REAL spring break. LOL and since my daughter has accepted her invitation to a Eastern Washington university, we’ve discovered there is a incoming freshman day on April 7th, so back over I go next Friday so I can drop her off at the dorms and do a little more painting on Saturday. 

And the hits just keep on coming!

Macrame Wall Hanging

I have this large white wall in the living of SunDaze that expands nearly the entire length of the home. It also has a stupid window right in the middle of it that looks into the kitchen. Oh, and my husband's huge tv sitting on a long, low white custom shelves we made for our Seattle home about 15 years ago, and have now transferred to our vacation home. Our first thought was to cover it with raw wood,  then realized how much raw wood we'd actually need. Then I thought about hanging old, white washed windows from it. Again, FREE is always better, and those windows are difficult to come by. Then, inspiration struck from the Pottery Barn catalog! A beautiful macrame wall hanging on a brick wall! Well, my walls are white, but a natural piece of 1980's artwork with it's gorgeous texture and ability to create the exact size I need fits the bill. AND, 200m of it was only $16 off Amazon! (The branch I can get from my yard.) 

The string was delivered this week, so now what? I've watched YouTube videos and I believe I found my design. This weekend I'll have my husband follow me out to the yard with a saw and have him help me hang it from a wall so I can start my design. 

I can actually see myself getting into this macrame habit. I can't knit, or crochet, or sew, or paint, or draw ... but I can make knots and braid. Also, rather than sitting around at SunDaze, I can be doing some busy work I enjoy.

I'll post some blogs as I get things started ...