Incredibusy

Let us exist responsibly ~ consciously ~ sustainably

Flourish – a photo challenge on instagram for sgiew – so good in every way

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Flourish – a photo challenge on instagram for sgiew – so good in every way #sgiew_FLOURISH

We’ve all had wisteria hysteria right? I’ve just not had time to share mine!
This was an amazing house we stumbled across on an epic bike ride, when the skies were blue and we thought it was nearly summer – what happened to the sunshine TODAY?!
Did you catch our winners of #sgiew_SPRING over on @sogoodineveryway last week? All so beautiful, and so many entries to thumb through – If you click the link in my bio, you can find out who won the overall prize and why x
So now on to the next theme! Thanks for all of the messages asking me when I’m going to get my act together to start a new #SGIEW project – and here it is = #sgiew_FLOURISH – So add the tag to join in.
 We welcome Mel Wiggins to be our guest judge for our instagram photo challenge following such an amazing success with #sgiew_SPRING (read more about that here).

Mel explains why she would love you to join in with this photo challenge:

“Such a beautiful abundant word. “…to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way” isn’t that beautiful? 
 
With Winter behind and Spring coming to an end, we are in the throes of this time of flourishing all around us. In nature especially: peony heads bursting with heavy petals, fields full of crops, big full leaves dancing as the warm breezes wade through the trees. Abundance all around. 
 
Maybe like me, you also feel like this season or time of the year is when you come alive a little bit more creatively – the longer days bring with them a little more energy to get stuck into the work or hobbies that you love. The fog of the Winter seems to lift and bring with it new clarity and purpose.
This month, we would love for you to share the areas of your life that you see flourishing – it could be work that you are creating, seeds that are sprouting in the garden, flowers in full bloom, children who are wild and free in the long evenings of early summer. Use this as a way to capture the abundance of the season you are in, whatever that may be.”

A post shared by melwiggins (@melwiggins) on

So – to enter:

  1. Follow @incredibusy, @sogoodineverway, @melwiggins and @willowdaygram on instagram
  2. Add #sgiew and #sgiew_FLOURISH to your post.
  3. Go check out the other people using the hashtags and also #sgiew_SPRING as they sometimes overlap!

More about Mel Wiggins:

Facebook: /melwigginsblog
Twitter: @melwiggins

Update – the nine selected for the WINNERS’ grid are as follows:

1 – @brigittegita Brigitte
2 – @stateoflibertyco
3 – @netta.ruth Meadow
4 – @snapdragonstudiouk Jane
5 – @gingerandpippin Tash
6 – @thepennyslane Penny
7 – @coldatnight Sian
8 – @mybearhut Billy
9 – @gatheredthreads Janice
Many thanks to the hundreds of you for taking part during the summer months – now we’re in Autumn, yes, there is no denying it, let’s start a new theme! FOLLOW us over on https://www.instagram.com/sogoodineveryway/
sgiew_flourish

Wonderful spring – a celebration on instagram with #sgiew

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Wonderful spring – a celebration on instagram with #sgiew

So, spring came, and then, as quick as a flash, spring went… and summer – well, we had to go and check on that…

When does summer in the UK start?

There are two different ways of looking at this, as it depends on which calendar you follow – the astronomical summer or the meteorological summer.

Meteorologists believe in keeping the exact same three-month pattern each year, whereas the astronomical season is based on the position of the Earth in relation to the sun – and is therefore subject to change.

According to the meteorological summer, the season will start on June 1 and will come to an end on August 31.

Meanwhile, the astronomical summer starts Thursday 21 June – on a day which is known as the summer solstice – and will come to an end on September 23.

So, officially, we are going with the astronomical summer (because we like how that sounds!) and will be waiting patiently for summer to ‘start’ on the 21st June!

Meanwhile, remember #sgiew? (you know, so good in every way – the instagram photo challenge you all love so much!) it’s time to tell you who has been selected for the grid of nine for #sgiew_spring.

What a LOT of beautiful images, thank you so much to every one of you for brightening up instagram by adding the #sgiew theme these last few weeks, and as ever to Gina @Willowdaygram for supporting, and Sophie Warren Smith for being our guest judge.

And the winner for #sgiew_spring is – Rebecca from Ivy Cottage – congratulations!
Sophie says : “@Ivy.Cottage perfectly depicts the weird start to spring we had!”

And this is the beautiful grid and the wonderful photos from the following selected people who added #sgiew_spring to their posts.

1. @talesfromappletreehouse
2. @brigittegita
3.  @dananicolephotography
4. @sarahbecvardesign
6. @niki.at.the.cottage
7. @jamieeilts
8. @cakeandmoss
9. @shaneen_rosewarnecox

A post shared by Rebecca (@ivy.cottage) on


So delighted to have spent time checking out all of these instagram accounts, really lovely feeds – and their websites too, it appears our winner this month is renovating her cottage, you can enjoy her blog posts here,

And do make sure to check out not just these nine beautiful accounts, but also click on #sgiew_spring to browse over 3000 wonderful contributions to the #sgiew community project. Here’s to looking for the ‘good’ in the world guys – because after all, LIFE is So Good In Every Way {#sgiew}.

square spatone orange

 

 

A big thank you to Spatone UK, for such an amazing prize of two months’ supply of Spatone liquid iron – enough to put a spring in anyone’s step! – Ali writes for incredibusy.com, funcraftskids.com, po-zu.com, kidschaos.com 

You can check out Gina’s blog here: Artist + Mom to 3 kid thinkers,makers+movers in international family who inspire me daily between city+sea in Sweden. SHOP + Commissions:www.willowday.net/2015/06/diy-felt-banner

And Sophie’s blog here: An interior stylist with a passion for flowers & colour #inspirewithblooms visit Dahlia below for her free guide to displaying beautiful blooms ?dahliaonline.co.uk/2018/02/26/dahliastyle-inspire-with-blooms-a-free-ebook

Denim Bunting DIY – No Sew

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Denim Bunting DIY

Well, who knew that No Sew Denim Bunting was so easy to make!

Denim-Jeans-Bunting-DIY-in-a-pile

I visiting the studio of friend and sometime partner in crime Jennie Maizels for a brainstorming session last week, and came away with lots of inspiration, (and stuff from her store cupboard) – and decided to have a go at this super cute idea for upcycling old denim jeans, a Denim Bunting DIY which was pefectly timed for a street party.

Jennie-Maizels-Denim-Bunting-Studio

Denim-Jeans-Bunting-DIY-against-wall

And with lots of growing boys in the family, and the propensity to chopping the legs off the bottoms of their old jeans to make them last longer, we often have off cuts of denim we just don’t know what to go with – RB once made a little denim jacket for his ‘Doggy’ soft toy, but that’s another story.

Needless to say – if you want to have a bash at making this Denim Bunting DIY, all you need is:

MATERIALS

Denim

Scissors

String

Glue

Patches (optional)

Denim-Jeans-Bunting-DIY-in-a-pile

Denim-Bunting-DIY-cut-jeans

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut the denim jeans off for a good length to leave them the perfect short length for the warmer weather, or, indeed buy some old jeans at a charity/ thrift store
  2. Cut open the denim and lay it flat
  3. Make a template, diamond shaped, which folds down to make the perfect bunting size for you
  4. Place the template on the denim, and fold over for cutting out
  5. Cut out several of these ‘diamonds
  6. Position the string across the centre of the ‘wrong’ side of the denim, leaving a good arms length at the start of the string to tie up when you hang the denim bunting later
  7. Glue and fold to adhere
  8. Move along the string, and REPEAT
  9. If you have patches, add these
  10. Job done!
  11. (oh, leave a good length of string each end to allow for tying to hang)


DIY-Denim-Bunting-steps

Do let us know if you have a go at making this – A No Sew Denim Bunting DIY that’s SO easy yet really effective – and if you get time, and have embroidery thread, you could even make these super pretty for a child’s nursery – what a sweet gift idea that would be!

Thanks for listening

 

Ali

x

 

Denim-Bunting-DIY-glue

Read about Jennie Maizels here:

If you’ve seen the PADDINGTON 2 film, you may like to voice your support for Jennie – as Studio Canal seem to have wronged her.

Comment on her instagram post to support HERE

And share her tweet HERE.

#NaughtyPaddington

DIY cat cave with old sweater

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Having a pet doesn’t need to cost the earth

How about this super cute DIY cat cave??

We’ve established that cats like to get inside boxes – seriously, a parcel arrives and guaranteed Kipper the kitten will try to climb inside, and we thought – how he would LOVE  a DIY Cat Cave.

DIY-Cat-Cave-steps

We have several boxes dotted around the house, and Kipper just climbs in and makes himself comfortable!

He has made a bit of a nuisance of himself at bed time – creeping into the boys’ bedrooms and pouncing on them in the night, so we decided to look into the DIY cat cave and maybe even making our own DIY felted cat cave using a time-consuming felting process – but BOY did that look labour-intensive – and I’m just a bit busy with other projects sadly – but we didn’t want to give up on the idea – instead we decided to improvise – what do you think?

 

 

Why do cats like boxes?

Checking out boxes, and confined spaces in general is instinctive behaviour for cats. Move a cupboard, and sure enough, Kipper will be straight in the gap, waiting to pounce on passing naked toes!
In the wild, these areas allow the animals to both hide from predators and surreptitiously stalk prey. 
Boxes also provide cats with a cosy, safe place to sleep, which is incredibly important given that the cats sleep for up to 20 hours a day.

Want to know how to make one of these?

How to make a DIY cat cave

Kipper-in-a-DIY-cat-cave

You will need

  1. an old sweater
  2. a cat sized box
  3. about five minutes!
  4. to study and share this blog post once you’ve made the DIY Cat Cave – and tag us on instagram to show us yours! (honestly, it’s almost impossible to catch the cat actually IN the box, on camera, but looks seriously cute right?!)

Instructions

  1. take a box
  2. and an old sweater/jumper
  3. moth holes a bonus
  4. open the flaps of the box
  5. slide the jumper over the box
  6. so the open end lines up with the jumper neck
  7. position the sweater opening in the centre
  8. turn the box over
  9. tie the sweater sleeves in a first knot
  10. and tie the sweater sleeves in a second knot
  11. tuck the loose ends in under the sleeves
  12. ready for action

We popped an old T-shirt into the box to make a cosy cushion (a T-shirt that smells of his favourite human being) and in Kipper the Kitten climbed! et voila your DIY cat cave!

 

DIY-Cat-Cave-stepsThanks to Maggy Red Ted Art for saying ‘oh blog about that Ali’ – and having the best selection of DIY cat toys!

Read more about Kipper the kitten here:

And don’t forget to pop over to find us on instagram.com/incredibusy and instagram.com/sogoodineveryway

DIY Cat Cave

 

Pinch pots made from air drying clay

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</p> <h1>Air Drying Clay pinch pots</p> <h1>

Pinch pots made from air drying clay

“Hey, kids? How about we make some Pinch pots made from air drying clay?” I suggested this pre-holidays to the boys… and it transpires, it’s not about the craft, it’s about how you PHRASE the craft…

Try – “Hey kids, how about we make some funky pots for your new cacti?” and that seemed to work…

My older boys aren’t quite as keen as crafting with me as they were when they were little… however, they do have a NEW hobby… and that is – collecting Cacti – (yep, that’s the plural of Cactus, and probably all I can tell you about these little prickly plants – apart from the word ‘succulent’ which, it turns out, is a very popular hashtag on instagram…)

So we ordered some air drying clay off t’internet (it’s heavy and I’d have struggled to carry it back from the art shop without a wheelbarrow).

And we had a go at making some pinch pots!

Pretty easy… and you don’t need any fancy tools either.

So – you’ll need some clay – and to follow these instructions, to look as cool as me with your pinch pot!

Instructions-for-Pinch-Pots-page-1

  1. obtain some air drying clay
  2. cut off a slab of clay – make sure to wrap up the open clay, as obviously, ummm, the air, will umm dry it…
  3. start to squish the clay in your hands to just taller than the pot height you desire
  4. squish the slab to make it into a squat, cylindrical shape
  5. roll the cylinder to smooth it
  6. push your thumb into the ‘top’ of the clay
  7.  push your thumb whilst pinching all around the edge
  8. smooth and pinch a bit more
  9. check it’s the right height for your cactus
  10. smooth off any cracks with a bit of water and your finger
  11. keep smoothing
  12. trim off the top if you’d like a flat level lip on the pot
  13. Leave to dry for a couple of hours before you add any decorative marks, to avoid cracking.
  14. Leave to dry thoroughly for a couple of days before you paint your pots, if you prefer, you can leave them naturally unpainted!

Air Drying clay is not food safe or waterproof, however, applying a waterproof sealer or couple of coats of varnish will help it to be more waterproof. Fortunately cacti don’t need as much watering as other indoor pot plants, so a light misting or small drops of water shouldn’t penetrate the air dried clay pot.

So let me know if you’ve ever made any of these yourselves?

Tag me on twitter or instagram, I’d love to see what you’ve been up to with clay!

I’m @incredibusy over on twitter, insta, pinterest and facebook too….x

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Image for Pinterest

Hibernate – the new photo challenge theme for #sgiew

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Hibernate – the new photo challenge theme for #sgiew

And it’s November, what’s not to love – let’s HIBERNATE and launch the next #sgiew theme – yes, guess what?

hibernate-sgiew

#sgiew_HIBERNATE it is then… With BIG thanks to @alfiesstudio for such a lovely theme, and for some AMAZING British-made prizes  – Alfie’s Studio is ensconced in a valley between the northernmost Peak District and the south Pennines, a place of awe inspiring landscape and some truly epic weather. The surroundings serve up a daily reminder of how magnificent our planet is and to make considered choices to buy less, choose well and make it last.*

Alfie’s Studio ‘custodian’ Nicole, (also @adventuresingreyandgreen) says of the #sgiew_HIBERNATE theme:
“Hibernation is certainly on our minds this time of year, there’s so much potential for our insta-friends to express all the ways they hunker down for winter. It’s not just about getting cosy – It could be making preserves and stocks and stores of foods, wood piles for winter warmth, hunkering down under blankets and duvets to read that abandoned book you started and didn’t finish, or just a general celebration of Winter!” 
Alfies-Studio-Hibernate-Kit-3

THE PRIZE: – (see link in my profile for all the deets and Ts and Cs)

A hunker and hibernate bundle:
Recycled wool blanket
A bar of Ocelot (the most divine chocolate that is made in Edinburgh)
A set of cards to catch up with correspondence on during the long winter nights
A notepad for planning spring adventures
A wildflower candle by Earl of East London for a hint of summer on a cold misty day and
A “Let the Adventures Begin” card (I have one on my wall, it doubles as a nice mini print).
All British made. and WONDERFUL… WE NEED IT ALL!

So, join in for December, and we can arrange delivery in time for Christmas anywhere in the UK

This is how to enter:

1) follow @sogoodineveryway, @alfiesstudio and me @incredibusy (plus @willowdaygram who represents #sgiew over in Scandinavia, check out her gorgeous feed!

2) show us your HIBERNATE photographs here on instagram over the next couple of weeks – we’ll find them if you….
.
3) add the tags #sgiew and #sgiew_HIBERNATE for a chance to WIN a bumper hibernation PRIZE 🙂

. so you know, join in!)
Sounds fun right? Let’s go!

*words by Vivienne Westwood

Instagram #sgiew challenge #sgiew_WARMTH

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Launching another so good in every way instagram challenge – #sgiew { #sgiew_WARMTH }

OK – so we spent the afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch, 14yo wanted a giant pumpkin to carve … “not this one son? at 80p per kilo this one will be much cheaper?”

Needless to say, we loved our last theme #sgiew_autumn so much that we wanted to keep those warm colours going – so add #sgiew_warmth to your photos over the next couple of weeks for a chance to WIN…. a wonderful prize from our guest judge and sponsor this week Sara at @castawayknitting – the prize will be a £25 gift card for your choice of goodies from her Etsy store – so get those ‘warm hues’ onto your instagram feed, follow us all and tag us

This is how to enter:

1) follow @sogoodineveryway, @castawayknitting and me @incredibusy (plus @willowdaygram who represents #sgiew over in Scandinavia, check out her gorgeous feed!

2) show us your WARMTH photographs here on instagram over the next couple of weeks – we’ll find them if you….
.
3) add the tags #sgiew and #sgiew_warmth for a chance to WIN a £25 gift card to spend

. so you know, join in!)
Sounds fun right? Let’s go!

Oh and… a nod to @robertsonandrhodes, one of our grid winners from #sgiew_autumn – told you we’d have a go today!

UPDATE
I’ve posted the winner!
November 16th 2017

What a lovely grid… top left to right:
@trish.sweetnellie
@capturebykaye
@coldatnight
@freshairwildhair (please send us a DM with your details)
@fareisle
@early.bird.post
@blowyinthewind via @lewesmapstore
@charissharpe

WIN an ethical winter wardrobe – with Thought Clothing

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It’s been an excellent summer – it’s been SO good in every way!!

Our Summer, as it moves into Autumn, – in one line? – Fun-packed, full of travel, seeing friends, visiting different places, and seeing (and making) more friends.

I’ll tell you a bit more about some of my late summer/early autumn highlights (scroll down) – meanwhile however, it’s time to introduce this fortnight’s “so good in every way” { #sgiew } instagram challenge (and a chance to WIN an ethical winter wardrobe – with Thought Clothing)

It’s AUTUMN!!

(yep, I know that some call it FALL – however, I’m in London so let’s go with a new theme #sgiew_autumn).
And we have two lovely judges – Hannah and Emma from sustainable fashion brand THOUGHT clothing.

Thought Clothing have kindly offered a £100 gift card prize for one lucky winner. If you’d like a chance to win, this is how to enter:

1) follow @sogoodineveryway, @thoughtclothing and me @incredibusy (plus @willowdaygram who represents #sgiew over in Scandinavia, these are her gorgeous autumnal apples pictured below…)

2)  show us your autumnal photographs over on instagram over the next couple of weeks – we’ll find them if you….

3) add the tags #sgiew and #sgiew_autumn between now and the 20th October for a chance to WIN a £100 gift card to spend on the Thought Clothing Autumn/Winter Collection.

Sounds fun right? Let’s go!

willowday autumnFor those of you who don’t know about “so good in every way” { #sgiew }  – here’s a brief history:

I started @sogoodineveryway in 2016 as a fun, featured account on Instagram. I can’t believe how much it has grown! As I write this, 31,309 have joined in with the #sgiew hashtag challenge, and that makes my heart sing…

I always love a good positive happy post. And I am delighted by how people interpret the #sgiew themes – so let’s get started with #sgiew_autumn, Enjoy! x Ali x @incredibusy.

AND – let’s talk about the location here

For the last week in August, I took my family off to Wales – to fforestgather.co.uk a wonderful new kind of holiday – it’s our second year there and totally fits with the #sgiew ethos – everything about it is GOOD.

These photos (of me) were taken ‘on location’ at fforest, by Silkie Lloyd also pictured here from theforgebristol.com.

Silkie is the one with the camera; Also in the huddle – Sian Tucker (who you will know as @coldatnight, and founder of fforest, and our dear friend Lizzie Everard, Ted Talk-er extraordinaire.

I totally LOVE this group photo – makes me feel so happy. It really was such a great week.

Ali-Denim-dress-dreamcatcher

Myself and Kate Power (co-author of The Illustrated Guide To Dyslexia and Its Amazing People which you’ll know from last week’s #sgiew_bookworm challenge) chipped in at fforest gather this year and ran some craft workshops. Such a fabulous way to meet some incredibly lovely people.

We got busy with tree trolls and dream catchers (pictured above) and have a lot of love and admiration for Sian and her team of fforest elves who make this such a special break in the country.

Anyway, needless to say, back to my Thought ‘outfits’ – which I have literally worn non-stop – So, I’ve been a massive fan of Thought Clothing from way back when they were known as Braintree clothing.

Ali-Clifford-wears-Thought-at-fforest-gather-landscape I love their sustainability ethos, and easy to wash and wear styling (I’ve never been one for ironing). I’ve a couple of pieces from their AW17 collection, featured here – I do like my stripes, and this copper coloured tunic, 100% organic cotton, I wear ALL the time – anything with pockets – and patch pockets, gets my vote. And bonus, it goes with my hair too (which incidentally has been chopped a LOT shorter now, and I’m pining for my plaits!)

So if you are looking to build an ethical winter wardrobe – and becoming more of a conscious consumer –  check out my faves:

Outfits: ROTHKO STRIPEY ORGANIC COTTON POCKET TUNIC £39.90

HILMA ORGANIC DENIM SHIRT DRESS (also has pockets, perfect for your mobile phone!) £59.90

NARA Striped GREY BAMBOO LEGGINGS £29.90

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And a reminder to join in with #sgiew_autumn
If you’d like a chance to win a £100 gift card prize for one lucky winner, this is how to enter:

1) follow @sogoodineveryway, @thoughtclothing and me @incredibusy (plus @willowdaygram who represents #sgiew over in Scandinavia)

2)  show us your autumnal photographs over on instagram over the next couple of weeks – we’ll find them if you….

3) add the tags #sgiew and #sgiew_autumn between now and the 20th October for a chance to WIN a £100 gift card to spend on the Thought Clothing Autumn/Winter Collection. (and there is also a special incredibusy20 20% DISCOUNT code you can use too, so you know, join in!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ali-Clifford-wears-Thought-at-fforest-gather-landscape-laughPhotos: Silkie Lloyd from theforgebristol.com

Location: fforest, Cardigan, Wales

Check out fforestgather.co.uk a wonderful new kind of holiday. 2 family friendly week-long adventures in nature, music, culture, creativity, making, growing & simple pleasures. In 500 acres of bliss.

 

 

 

so good in every way – win tickets to the good life experience

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It’s time for so good in every way

Hurrah! It rained! I have such happy things to say about rain, the main one, in my Mum’s voice? “It’s good for the garden”…

Let’s not let the rain stop us from getting ‘outdoors’ though as THAT is this fortnight’s theme for #sgiew – yes #sgiew_OUTDOORS – and I KNOW you’ll want to join in and add the tag, because – whohey! There’s an ACE prize – a weekend for two at the @goodlifeexperience!

Just ask @RubyDiamonds who won tickets last year with her entry to #sgiew (and took this wonderful photograph) – and she and I will be there again this year 15-16-17 SEPTEMBER 2017.

So –  how would you like to WIN a pair of tickets to The Good Life Experience worth £268? A festival of music, food, books, ideas, craft, and the great outdoors, for the whole family. Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, Flintshire. 15-16-17 September 2017

As we loved this amazing festival so much, I’m giving you the chance to win TICKETS Worth £268. If you would like to be in with a chance of winning, then simply follow the rules below:

 

Terms and Conditions for the Incredibusy giveaway

  1. Tag your own ‘outdoor’ photo on instagram with #sgiew_OUTDOORS and of course #sgiew too
  2. Follow me @incredibusy on Instagram by clicking this link.
  3. Follow @goodlifeexperience on instagram here.
    Bonus points…. just nice things to do 🙂
  4. Follow me on Twitter by clicking this link.
  5. Follow me on Pinterest by clicking this link.
  6. Tag a friend in the comment section of my Instagram post dated Tuesday 11 July 2017 to spread the word…

And that’s it. Your entry is only valid if you have completed at least the first three of these steps. The giveaway is for entry tickets and NOT travel, and as guest judge, The Good Life Experience will choose a winner at random on the 23/07/17. Good luck!

 

So good in every way – #sgiew_SlowLived

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So good in every way – #sgiew_SlowLived

This week’s so good in every way challenge {#sgiew} is about rethinking the way we live and act as consumers, and to understand our impact on people and on the planet.

people tree slow living

Every other week on instagram, we have a photographic theme – so on #sgiew-uesday (Tuesday) for this theme we are celebrating a spot of “slow living” – asking you to use the hashtag #sgiew_slowlived as an antithesis to #fastfashion, so who better to be our guest judge than @safia_minney – founder of People Tree and MD of @po_zu ethical shoes.
The prize this week will be one of Safia’s newly released (& signed) books Slave to  Fashion @slavetofash – so get sharing your photos!!

We are slowing things down, and looking for your hashtags #sgiew and #sgiew_SLOWLIVED – Let us see how you slow your life down, take stock, and look at the bigger picture.

(pictured, me, wearing People Tree, with our part-time-pet Pickle – my cousin Angie’s dog who spends some of her time with us as a family here in London, so that we don’t have to get our own dog and therefore adding to the carbon paw print – ps – methane-producing we know, yet we still love her – she gets us out into the countryside, away from screens, and mobile phones – and out into the fresh air…)

Extracts from Safia’s Slave to Fashion book – explaining more about Slow vs Fast Fashion:

“As founder and CEO of People Tree, the Fair Trade company I set up in Japan 25 years ago, I was able to make sure that at least some garment workers in Bangladesh and India could escape the horrors which are widespread in our fast fashion profit-driven clothing industry. I developed the first Fair Trade supply chains and helped to create social and organic standards to improve the lives of over 5,000 economically marginalized people in the developing world. 

Working on this book has given me the chance to take stock of what we have achieved as a Fair Trade and social justice movement, the extent to which we have helped to shape current business practice and thinking, and what more needs to be done to finally end modern slavery. There have been some significant gains recently: Britain’s Modern Slavery Act, which came into force in 2015, and which you can read more about in Chapter 1, was inspired by the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act and by three decades of campaigning for Fair Trade, social justice and ethical consumption… It is much harder now for brand owners and boards of directors to turn a blind eye to the conditions in which their clothes are made….

In China’s context, modern slavery means forced labour…… Factories that are producing garments for fast fashion brands are pushing workers to do 12-hour days, with only one day off a month. In some extreme cases, factory workers were starting at 7.30am, working through to 2 or 3am, getting a couple of hours’ sleep and then starting all over again….”

Further reading:

Slow Fashion – Aesthetics meets Ethics, by Safia Minney

Slave to Fashion – Safia Minney

Melanie BarnesSlow Living Retreat (free e-book) 7 days to slow down and reconnect back to yourself available from Geoffrey and Grace – Melanie Barnes’ wonderful website.

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