My name is Amrita Cottrell Jackson and I am the creator and owner of this shop and everything in it. I have spent many hours digging through piles of discarded items to find just the right resources for my creations. I thoroughly clean each item and deconstruct it into its basic form and then begin the creation process from there. It is time consuming, but somehow to me, it feels right to at least do my little part for the environment.

Have you ever considered how many resources it takes to create a piece of clothing or how long any one piece of clothing stays in someone's closet, or how bulky that item might be when it ends up in the landfill? Well I have.

Here are some interesting statistics.
1) On average each American discards 68 pounds of clothing each year, which amounts to 14.3 million tons or 5.7 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generation.
2) According to a 2009 study, Californians alone use 19 billion plastic bags every year.

I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the picture.

All of my creations utilize items that otherwise would have ended up in the landfill. I love seeing how something that has had one use can live on in another way. I personally have had many careers in my life...sometimes I feel like a cat with nine lives. Maybe that is why I love what I am doing so much.

You can see from the pictures above a bit of how the process works. Instead of buying new materials to create, I deconstruct the materials I find and then reconstruct them into a different form...which is the quintessential definition of upcycling.

My studio is my sanctuary. My husband and I live in beautiful southern Oregon. Our home has a large daylight basement that has been transformed into my workspace. It is warm in the winter and cool in the summer so creativity is alive year-round. Half of the space is the inventory room and the other is the actual studio space where my inspirations arise and the creations are born.

If you can feel just a little of my passion for being gentle on our planet an enjoy my creations then I have been successful. If my vision inspires you, please pay it forward by sharing my work with others.

I love creating custom projects, so if you have an idea and/or some materials and you want me to create something for you, let me know.

Have a wonder-filled day.

Amrita (which means nectar of life)