Interview with mother

A year of new beginnings. I will align myself fully to my creative power and welcome abundance within my life. 

What will be 2020 for you?

Picture: lavender bags. The lavender comes from my mother garden, she handsew the bags using some cotton strips that was gifted to her from Korogo residents in ivory Coast. They pick spin and weave cotton. As she sew she meditates on colonisation, nature and progress. So much in a mixed ish items. She then had a leather string and a wooden bead. 

Week 1 - 7 Update
What Happened this week

• I sold two headphone, a art case and a top
• I hared my blogpost with everyone I know
• Kajal is more than happy to collaborate with me
• I have relisted some items
• close some cases as well
• I have asked on waste not want not if anyone got some plastic bags or envelops for packaging. Kajal responded to me letting me know that she may have what I am looking for.Great news.
• I have learnt about parcel2go because of a nice customers who happened to buy quite a lot of items through my shops
• I also ask for people for a lot of different items for my packaging and there are happy to give it to me for free.

What do I need to do

• I really need to actually to get the suitcase from M. car

Week 25-31 March Update

What happened this week?

• I have packed all my items and made some card to go with it.
• I finished my thesis. I am not ready to bring it all in.
• I sold quite a lot of items: a suit, skirt, saree, the washing machine bolt, the bodysuit, the pair of jeans, a t-shirt, my linen dress, a saree, the art case
• I took all the pictures of the items I want to sell on one day only
• I started to fill eBay up
• I have decided for the fabric to do a bundle and get people to come to my house to check the fabric out and make their pick instead of taking pics for each one of them. only the nicest pick have its own post. 
• I also bundled up the clothes that need upcycling
• I receive a bid for my sister shoes.
• I added a commission tool onto my phone.
• I am thinking that for my update I keep on one topic only. One significant thing that happened. Then maybe run the rest through my twitter to create traffic onto my blog.
• I sold for £23
• I went to Market Harborough with Jill from Megan Makes Good

What do I need to do?

• It means that I can put everything online as quick as possible.
• Then I will be ready to look for a job hehe
• at the moment I am doing things incrementally but I could and I can if I want to share the words further with people. I am thinking to do so.

People I talked to

• I had my cousin on the phone she gave me a lot of advice in relation to my shop. she advised me to do some dropshipping and possibly get to publicised items from other people and if I get an order to let them know so I can get a commission on selling the item. she said that I could do it with friends a well as family. people like my mum. it was very good advice for her., she also said that I should not hold back but actually share as much as I can. I think it is a good idea,
• I told Kajal about my shop and that I was happy to sell her cd if she wanted to through my eBay shop
• I received a call from sue about doing a presentation at the Quaker house this is exciting. I could feedback onto Bazarheureux
• Jill advised me to improve my write up 

Always Expect the Unexpected - Purge Update

Message of the week

Always Expect the Unexpected

What happens this week with the Purge?

1. I sold a lip butter set, a suit and a skirt.
2. I received a bid on a T-shirt, a trouser and a dress.
3. I received a warm message from Jill, owner of MeganMakesGood about the shop. She found my blog through my FB. It warmed my heart. First, because it is nice to receive some feedback from you do, Two, I did not know anyone would read about what I do on FB.
4. I packed my good and made on more cyclop card for it and went to the shop.
5. I spoke with my friend designer Zosia about developing the visual design of the shop
6. I received a message about purchasing one of my dress and send it to Mauritius - Oulala I smiled, can you imagine me selling a £1 dress and send it to Mauritius...
7. Total sale this week: £19
8. Number of Visits on Blog: (I Don't Know) The total page view of the blog is 12,747

What am I going to Improve on?

• How can I organise my packaging better?
• Create a space in the office for packaging
• Cut off plastic bags for reuse
• How can I promote the shop better and be more confident about it?
• Share the message with other about the shop. I am still a bit shy to actually share it to people around me. 
• Write up a script to let people know about the shop so I can feel more comfortable
• First fill up the different platforms with your goodies and then start talking about it with people once you are ready
• Reconvert Ms.Cyclop to be the shop?!?
• What can I share with people that are valuable?
• I was thinking to write a book and sell it. I came across the owner of Electric Kitty who wrote a beautiful children book about child bereavement. It is such an important message to share.
• The other thing I was thinking was to share plants. I can easily grow them...I can easily share them. 
• When do you start taking a beautiful pic of you and your stuff
• M and I we have been discussing taking nice pictures of the item I want to share with people. He is a great photographer and I would like to look like Beyonce... 
• Who would you like to collaborate with and what would it look like?
• I really want to. I was thinking to create a small community of people who help each other with swapping 1 hour a week of time to promote each other shop... Let's see who I could talk to.
• What do you want to do about creating the visual of your shop
• I am still thinking. I am thinking though to maybe start first with filling all platform with the good I want to share and then if I have more money coming in, I can start talking with Z about making my shop better. 
• What do you want to do about the blog?
• I am still figuring it out. At the moment, it is just for me to keep a track record of what happens week to week. Eventually, it will be nice to write proper articles about sharing and caring about one another and everything that there is around us. 
• I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Maybe once I have filled all the different platform with the things I want to share. I can go back to the blog and figure out what exactly I want to write about.
• Something unexpected is going to come and I will figure exactly what I want to write about on this blog.

What are you grateful for?
The gift and surprises I receive everyday.


For you, reader!
Check MeganMakesGood Shop if you want ssome handmade Goodies
Check Zosia if you interested in graphic design
Check Eletric Kitty book in the Stars
Do you want pictures taken for Wedding, My husband is a photographer... Get in touch for more info
For Beyonce... well you know....
Do you want to feature? Let me know
If you want to give me any suggestions on how to move forward with some of the questions I am asking myself, please do not hesitate to let me know

Little by Little, the bird learn to fly - Purge Update

The message of the Week

• Petit a Petit, L'Oiseau apprend a voler
• Little by Little, the bird learn to fly

What went well this week?

• I sold 9 items.
• I relisted 124 items which are for grab NOW
• I reorganised my inventory at home so everything I am currently selling is in a wardrobe, ready to grab.
• I also brought together the items I am planning to photograph and sell next month.
• I tried to put a card in all my parcels.

What are you thinking to improve?

• I am thinking to improve the message on the card
• At the moment, it is just ''Thank you for your order it is greatly appreciated'' 
• Now I am thinking to write, ''Thank you for your order this week, it caused me to realise how much I love selling on eBay, packing the item and sending it knowing that someone somewhere is going to make use of it. As a result, I am going to post even more items in my shop. Keep on watching my evolution! Thanks again.''
• For the drawing, I make little cyclops. 
• I am wondering if I could make a little stencil of the Cyclops with written Bazar Heureux. The cyclops could be part of the logo.
• Eventually, it will be good to have an address to this blog onto the card. I am not at this stage just yet though. Until I have found an item to sell that people want
• For the packaging, at the moment, I am using plastic bags that I have at home. 
• I was thinking to maybe talk with Stacey to see if where she buys her bag and maybe get some in bulk with her. I will probably do that once I do not have any more bags. The other option is to grab materials from the hackspace, or maybe try to find on freecycle and waste not want not people who are giving them for free.
• For the listing, I will add items next months onto my listing
• I have been talking to my mum about getting some stuff from her. She is at the moment slightly reluctant so I am not going to force it.
• Eventually, I want to get an item that I can sell over and over again that people want. I am not sure what it is yet. It will be great if it is something which produces minimal waste. Something that is valuable enough that people want to retain it for a long period of time. Something that makes them happy.  Something I can sell in high volume with the effort of packing them up. Small enough that I can have to pack them from home. 
• I could sell an item with some cyclops branding on it in the future 
• I also thought that maybe Zosia could make me some skirts and tops with the fabric I have got left but we could sell it all from Sandrine Nyota page.
• For packing and posting, I am not sure yet how to proceed. 
• I am thinking that from the moment I receive a bid on the item, I will pack the item straight away.
• Then once I receive the payment, I can write the address on the item straight away.
• Otherwise, it will be good eventually to print the slip order.
• I need to get some tape from the hackspace or see if I can get some from free from somewhere
• For Pinterest, I completely deleted by mistake or not all the items I had on it. I am not sure how to proceed.
• I will probably leave it for now. I will see next month what is the best way to proceed. it seems anyway I receive more visitors from twitter so maybe I should focus on that for now.

What are you grateful for?

• I am very grateful for all the people who have visited my shop and made a purchase.
• I am grateful for investing time and energy into making bazar heureux reality.

The Purge Continue - From Mariella Burani to Peep Eyewear

The first phase of Bazar Heureux is on the way. 

It is the PURGE where I let go of things so I can give place to something NEW and this new thing is YOU.

For this first week, one item got sold on my eBay shop.

It was an unexpected item. My Mother in  Law used Mariella Burani Sunglasses Case. 

The Mariella Burani brand does not exist anymore, so I figure that the buyer may be upcycling this item into something new or it may have value in some market I do not know exist. I am kind of looking forward to see what they may come up with. I put a note in the package letting them know that if they transform the item, I want to see what they come up with.

I have seen different ideas on Pinterest for upcycling items - Thebuyer may be inspired by some of those ideas. I know that I personally am. hehe Click on the image for more info

I do not have any sunglasses to put in this box, so I thought best to give it to someone else. In the future, I want some Peep eyewear - they upcycle vintage frame with new lenses. This is quite an idea isn't https://www.peepeyewear.co.uk/

Until then, the purge continues

Who would I like to encounter through my ebay selling experience?

I have to trust in God that anything is pushing me to do right now is the right pathway for me.

In January, I started to sell more seriously on eBay

I enjoy posting items on eBay. 

I have approximately 147 items currently listed.

I sold 27 items in total

I feel particularly good when knowing that someone is going to make use of the items I do not need. 

I enjoy making my packets, going to the post office and knowing that it is gone in the universe.

The person on the other side will open the parcel and a new story will begin for the item.

I could easily flog all the items at a charity shop.

Yet I feel it is so impersonal.

I came to learn that a large proportion of the sale of items in charity shops tend to help with the running of the shop itself as opposed to the people.

I am not really sure where all this is going to lead me to.

Like my friend says to me, it is not about where you end up, it is about the people you encounter along the way.

Who would I like to encounter through all my selling experiences:

I want to encounter artists who will be upcycling some of the items to give it to people they care about.

I want to encounter people living where I live.

I want to encounter tinkerers and repairers

I want to encounter collectors.

I will be more specific as time passes by.

In regard to my sales, not accounting for the shipping fees etc.

January: £108

February: £80.14

For my store : here

I am grateful for it all.

The Bata Shoes, Comfortable Interview Partner, ready to be worn or upcycled, your inspiration

I cannot remember when I purchase those pumps.
I remember to have worn them for job interviews
They are associated with feelings of awkwardness and being tight in a suit.
Once their deed was done, they were back into the cupboard.
I must say they are terribly comfortable.
I could keep them for the comfort.
The knowing that I have some shoes for my next interview.

Shall  I keep them for comfort?
Shall I keep them for the next awkward interview in a suit?

I have great comfort with the shoes I currently wear every single day.
I am planning to have job interviews wearing comfortable clothes and no heels.

A decision has been made.

I have been thinking to maybe transformed them so I could keep them for longer.
There are so many ways to embellish a pair of shoes
Yet, I thought, I have already working on one art practice at the moment

So here it is, in the spirit of transformation - some pair of shoes for you

Cluttered house - The list

I have made list of 20 things I am currently choosing to ignore:

• my need for laziness
• my need for peace
• my need for flexibility
• my need for escape
• my need for laughter
• my need for sleep
• my need for dancing
• my need for travelling to places
• my need for movement
• my need for telling my truth
• my need for drawing and arts
• my need for visitors
• my need for money
• my need to share my crafts and arts
• my need to communicate with others the way I feel.
• my compulsion to distract myself from the environment I am in
• my feelings, my emotions
• my need for collaboration and support
• my need for care and compassion
• my need for change

My five top one are - my need for laziness, my need for escape, my need to communicate with others the way I feel, my need for support and collaboration, my need for sleep

I feel that I am tired. I am overwhelmed with tasks to do, this creep up in my surrounding environment, I feel slightly overwhelmed and cannot sleep anymore properly. it shows in my house as I just want to be lazy and more flexible in what I do. I need to share that with others so I can get better support and delegate!

Cluttered House - What are you choosing to ignore?

Your house is currently cluttered and messy.

From your perspective, clearing it out is far from being your current priority as it stands, you are too busy taking over the world.

Yet, the people around you are starting to feel the brunt of your lack of presence in space and time.

You do not even notice the mess around you because you only think about what needs to get done in other aspects of your life.

How can you possibly rectify that so people around you can focus on supporting you in your scheme as opposed to the mess that they can see around you?

It appears your level of tolerance is far higher than them.

You just feel things are going to get together eventually or maybe you are in denial, who knows.

You may be choosing to ignore critical issues to protect yourself.

And so, here is the question to answer

- What are you choosing to ignore? list 20 things

Once you have answered those questions, rank them in order of importance. Pick the 3 top one and focus on resolving it!

Feeling ungrounded? Bring a plant in your space

If you are feeling a bit dizzy, anxious, spacey and ungrounded for most of the day. In other words, if you are feeling like all your problems are in a cloud above your head and you cannot be fully present where you are, get a plant in the room, look at it and remind yourself that you are rooted in the current space and time ready to deal with the task ahead. Your problems of yesterday are gone until then...

You feel that there is enough to get around - well there is a treasure in your house

Have you ever heard about the girl who had a messy house and used to complain all the time because she did not have enough money, she did not have love, she did not have anything to go about. She fights with everyone to let them know how horrible life is and that we all have to fight to get what we want.
Victim mentality at its best.

She meets a woman with clairvoyant abilities. The woman tells her: ''there is a treasure in your house''.
To get it, the girl got to clean her act and deal with the messy house.
Before she knows it, she sells all the clutter and in her pocket find the treasure...

The moral to the story is : You know what the solution is to your problem,
maybe it is time to see it, if you can't, clean the stage and your act.

Minimalism & equality

Equality is a topic dear to my heart. The mental-ill of our society caused by the widening gap between rich and poor sickened me.
Minimalism is a lifestyle I am passionate about. I want to believe that embracing it by letting go of the things that do not bring any value and focusing on what does, rich and poor can find a place for themselves... each one of us can build their own fish tank where their true self can shine through.
i don't think gandhi jesus buddha, mohammed will disagree with me. (here)

Benefits of growing your own fruits and vegetables

There are many benefits to start growing your own fruits and vegetables.

For you and your family, the benefits are as follow: 

• Fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables from your own garden are higher in nutrients than the ones that have travelled several thousand miles to get to your grocery store.
• Having your children assist you in the garden can increase the chance that they will eat more of the fruits and vegetables they have helped to grow
• Growing your own fruits and vegetables can offer you the opportunity to reduce the amount of pesticides that you use in your garden, making them healthier.
• Growing your own fruits and vegetables will save your money at the grocery store.
• Gardening increases physical activity. It is a great way to engage the whole family in physical activity and lets them help to take responsibility for the garden.
• The fruits and vegetables grown in your garden will promote health because they are rich in nutrients, especially in phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A and folate.
• Gardening gives you’re a real sense of appreciation when you can see the bounty of your efforts.
• Growing a garden gives you a new appreciation for nature when you can have the opportunity to see how things grow.
• Gardening may stimulate many new interests. You may want to learn more about botany, landscape architecture, photography, nutrition, and farmer’s markets.
• Gardening gives you the opportunity to give back. If you have an abundant garden, you might give some of your produce to the local soup kitchen or food bank.
• This can be a great time to create memories with your children, memories that can last a lifetime.
• Your garden can lead to new skills, and knowledge for you and your family, your child may have a new found interest to become a chef

Society and Community 

• Gardens can foster a great sense of community through parent to parent connections, teacher to student or student to student.
• Schools and community may decide to build a community or school garden. This is a tremendous learning tool for all involved as well a providing a source of nutritious fruits and vegetables.
• A community/school garden can help to foster and motivate future leaders (e.g., 4-H afterschool programs).
• Neighbourhood Community Gardens beautify the landscape, support local farmers, can create a food secure community where residents do not need to rely on vendors to supply fresh produce.

Environment 
• Tall fruit trees provide shade.
• You can use less pesticides or use natural pesticides and this will be less contamination to the environment.
• Produce peels and waste can create a lot of green waste and takes up a lot of space in the garbage can. Recycle them to make your own compost. It is less expensive than buying fertilizers.
• Turn unsightly lands into attractive landscapes.
• Get creative. There is a potential to grow an innovative garden like futuristic horticulture gardens that are very cost-effective and require substantially less space.

Ormen villa - Marle feeds

Everyday, I log the activities I engage in to make my home - Ormen villa - a productive space.
I have been wondering whether this should be kept undercover or shall I share it in order to help others in their homesteading activities.
I have been asking myself whether I should create another blog to write up all the feeds on my home activities, keep it as it is, or changing my blog name to Marle's feeds.
Well, i am keeping it as it is. What matter is what I feed you with a blog post at the time.
What do you reckon?
Leave some comments to let me know your thoughts on this move.
Merci xo

Selling or Giving?

I feel a certain temptation to remain in the money economy or to strive fully in the giving/sharing economy. It has been something that has been fluctuating in my mind.

Every time I feel negative about my financial stability, I want to sell my stuff.
When the outlook are quite good, I want to give and/or share my stuff.

I am signed up on freecycle, I gave plenty of my old marketing books.
I signed up on Streetbank and even organised a meeting to expand its reach.

Unfortunately, when I became a student again, a fear factor blossomed in my mind.

I am going to struggle financially 

Off I was again on ebay and before i knew it,
Nothing got sold and ebay charged me £2.

My story joining the Permaculture community

I was alone... In my big house.
My garden was a mess and little did I know that the dream of making it beautiful will bring me to join the Permaculture community in Leicester.

I put a message on Facebook: ''would anyone help me design my garden?''
Someone responded: ''I can, I need to add a design to my portfolio, I can help''

We've met and she told me about the Permaculture course running in my town.
I was taken.
I gave it a go and I met wonderful people there.
My garden transformed, further
My skills and knowledge on how to grow food too.

New Relationships made me evolved.
Few years later, I met Rose from the Crop Club and advised her to join the course too.

All happened for a reason that goes beyond our understanding

The Jackal & The Giraffe

The jackal barks and makes a lot of noise. It wants to be heard. I wants to be understood. The bark is high-pitched, repetitive and forlorn. It stands guard letting me know that there is something going on within. It barks to get through the barriers, to be noticed 'Come give me the love, acceptance and appreciation that I so want'. Instead of coming closer, people run away or bark back.
'That's not what I want' say the Jackal. The disappointment turns to anger.
'How could I be so stupid to ask for friendship? I should have known better' bark the Jackal.

The giraffe stretches its long neck and views the whole picture. It can see the filters through which we talk, it can see over the filters through which we listen. The giraffe listens and talks with its big heart. When the giraffe talks it has kindness and compassion. 'I understand that I am trying my best, I can see the need I have for intimacy, I respect my feelings of insecurity. From here I can see where people are coming from, where they would like to go. I can see their need for quiet and time alone' say the giraffe.

Extract fron Looby Macnamara - People & Permaculture

Missminimalist , Thank you

I was hooked to missminimalist blogs in the past four days, reading approximately 16 pages of individuals testimonies on how they started and enjoyed their minimalist journey.
It opened my eyes on the endless minimalist lifestyles that any of us can implement.
I admire the traveller, the spiritualist, the true materialist (as opposed to consumerist), the mindful, the artist, the mum, the dad, the designer who with intention choose to keep the things that add value to his/her life and get rid of the frivolous.
Beyond just getting rid of things, there is not participating to our current wasteful society, it is recognising that we are all equal regardless of what we own and finally it is embracing freedom. It is why I love it.
I encourage you to have a read/rid, I hope it will inspire you: http://www.missminimalist.com/

Notebooks - Minimalism

For some reasons, I have an extensive number of empty notebooks.

From those I bought for projects I have never completed, those I made out of old envelops and those that were offered to me, I have at the moment 25 of them which are eager to be written on.

My Options:
- Give/Offer
- Sell
- Write Loads
- Recycle (not an option)

and this should be in combination with

- asking friends, colleagues and family - 'I do not want to have anymore notebooks'
- refusing notebooks
- Never ever go again inside Paperchase (beautifully evil boutique)

Give/Offer
To be honest, i am not sure if I really want to give or offer them to someone who in the first place does not need it. It will feel as if I am offloading my things I do not want to someone who has already a clutter life. My option are therefore to put a notice on StreetBank and Freecyle.

Sell
My competition is high. Paperchase, WhsSmith but there is some nice outlets for selling them such as Amazon and Ebay. I will consider doing that. To be honest, I think I am quite attached to all those notebooks and have yet to separate myself fully from the object. I love the feel of the empty pages, the possibility to write all my thoughts within them and finishing them. Furthermore, why selling if I have received them for free in the first place.

Write loads
This is my last option. Just write, write, write... Instead of procrastinating in front of my computer, going from pages to pages in search for entertainment, I will turn it off and write.
I made a small mindmap of all the things I could write about and came up with the following lists

1. - Life Goals
2. - Today To Do list
3. - Blog Articles
4. - Review (blog,books,articles)
5. - Facebook Twitter Status
6. - Current Project 1
7. - Current Project 2 
8. - Current Project 3
9. - Current Project 4
10. - Volunteering
11. - Future Plans
12. - Couple meeting (diaries, social events, holiday plans, family matters children's issues, concerns work related issues, household requirements, financial matters, health, others
13. - Things to get rid off
14. - Shopping lists
15. - Contacting old friends
16. - Love Letter
17. - Photo project
18. - Poem
19. - Drawing
20. - Recipes
21. - Diary of the day

The list is far from being minimalist. Rightly so... 

Nevertheless, let's give it a go.

My idea is that the notebook will combine in each section 'to do list' and notes writing. 

I used a double page for each various sections. As I spend time away from the computer, I fill the pages and when it is time, I off load my thoughts here, on twitter and/or Facebook :D.

Once I have finished them all, I am hoping to just go paperless and invest in a new technology. By the time this happen, I will probably get a tablet for quite cheap haha

Good idea?

How many empty notebooks have you got?

It might be time to count them

What are you planning or did with them?

Leave me some comments

-

Dealing with shoes - Declutter - Minimalism

It is now 6 weeks, I have been in the process of decluttering my home and achieve a minimalist lifestyle.
The project 333 is going well. I still appreciate the emptiness of my wardrobe. Apart from all the stuff that has been given away or sold, I also purged my digital life. I feel freer from all the subscriptions coming in my inbox and do not watch TV no more. Calendar are also less filled with stuff and I can appreciate more time at home with those I love.

Yesterday, I have done some positive procrastination reading missminimalist blog and it struck me...
There is still... A problem....Shoes
I am using currently 3 pairs of shoes for the project 333 but I have still so many of them in bags in the shed. They have been there since we moved in the house as we did not have enough space to put them inside.
I haven't counted them, there are many. It should be as easy to just chuck away the bag but I find difficulty to do that. I am thinking 'in case I need it for an outings, a wedding and/or any other parties'.
So what shall I do to part from them?
Any ideas?