All posts filed under: interview

meet n greet: homegrown collective

Published by chelsea

My favorite mail order box yet! When I first discovered the Homegrown Collective, I knew I had found the perfect solution to homesteading in Puerto Rico. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to find all natural products, and in many cases I didn’t even know what I could make at home to substitute. Until I met Mitchell Rose of the Homegrown Collective! Mitchell reached out to me to sample and review one of their GREEN boxes, so I gladly shared my experiences with the DIY laundry kit (here, here and here) and now I’m thrilled to have them back and sponsoring the Three Year Blogiversary Giveaway! The Homegrown Collective gives back and supports environmental awareness by providing their members with products that foster self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship and sustainability. Their goal was to make green living more accessible and more fun! How can you not want to try these guys?? Some examples of their past boxes include: Home Remedies & Cure Alls | The Beauty of Coconuts | DIY Detox in a Box to name a …

meet n greet: bright & illustrous + yellow bird, yellow beard

Published by chelsea

Today I want to highlight two special blogger friends of mine, who have been reading “sea, field & tribe” from the beginning, and supporting me all the way. I have to admit that I get a lot of inspiration from those around me online – in particular my fellow blog colleagues. We each share a little piece of ourselves here, not really knowing what to expect in return, and sometimes not even really knowing who might be reading and learning from us. I started this blog as a way to share my experiences in Puerto Rico with my family & friends back home (in 2011, it was called Roots, transplanted, which does still exist in cyberspace right now). I then decided to expand the blog because my interests developed; I found that I really enjoyed sharing my photography, my recipes, my adventures and my stories. And folks kept reading. Claire is one of those people. She always has such sweet comments to my posts, and is a woman of great talent in many ways. She’s …

meet n greet: LilyEmme Jewelry & Hubalou

Published by chelsea

I’d like to introduce you again to two awesome companies I’ve shared on the blog in the past (here & here). These women are three of my awesome hosts for this month’s giveaway to celebrate THREE YEARS of blogging. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe that I’ve been online for three years (two as “sea, field & tribe” and one year before that as my personal Puerto Rico blog — in case you were confused).So as part of September, I’ll be showcasing some of these folks I hold dear to my heart, as their friendship and support has contributed greatly to the success of “sea, field & tribe”. Based in Washington state, over there in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Valerie of LilyEmme Jewelry creates handmade pieces from recycled materials. LilyEmme is a constantly evolving business that values sustainability and supports environmentally friendly practices. I love to see her at work in her shop – she posts photos frequently on Facebook – because to see an artist at work is like watching a miracle unfold! …

giving something back: charity finder

Published by chelsea

{source} I receive a lot of solicitations in the mail from various charities – some of them are well known, and others not so much. I love to support causes close to my heart, but I’ve always struggled with believing that my donations actually make it to root of the cause, rather than getting caught up in administrative costs, like paying CEOs (of non profits?) and printing all those cards and letters that they send me monthly. Does this bother you too? So instead of just tossing their letters and free return address labels into the trash without giving them a second thought, I’ve started looking up their organizations on Charity Navigator. A charity itself, this website allows you to look up charities and view how they spend the donations they receive. It’s transparency, and a great way to decide who you want to support. For example, I just received a card in the mail from Water for People, who I have heard of before but have never donated to. So I went online and …

a memoir of life lived boldly

Published by chelsea

I recently read a digital memoir by a lovely young writer – an ebook with videos to accompany the story – sort of a like a play script with snippets of the actual play. Chloe is a woman full of life and energy, passionately accounting her childhood years growing up in a chaotic world with a not-so-average mix of places and faces. Chloe wrote her memoir while spending some time studying abroad in Greece. I asked her to describe this experience: “Basically, I was out of my comfort zone, thousands of miles from home/everything I knew, and as a result of that combined with an amazing group of writers and mentors, I was able to completely let go of any predisposition I was harboring about writing things that I held on to so tightly” She has captured the story of her own life – however influenced by her mother, father, stepfather and siblings. Moving from place to place, making new friends and experiences, struggles, raising a mother, raising a brother and sister, trying to understand …

interview with interesting folks: Basha | kantha blankets part II + giveaway!

Published by chelsea

You may recall the first time I shared with you about the beautiful work of the Bangladeshi women behind the kantha blankets of Hand & Cloth? I have a second installation about these handicrafts and the lives of the women involved, courtesy of Basha – the organization responsible for giving these women the chance to improve their livelihood and feel the love of God in their daily lives. I interviewed Robin of Basha, to ask her to give us a bit of insight into the world of these Bangladeshi women and how their organization came to bring change. 1. How did your organization get started? What inspired you to work in Bangladesh? I was working in a town called Mymensingh in Bangladesh with Mennonite Central Committee and we started a training program for women wishing to leave prostitution. Finding out how many were forced into prostitution in the first place, and then seeing how transformed their lives were while they were on the training programme, we knew we’d stumbled onto something very important. Another program …

guest post: leather binding by telling oceans

Published by chelsea

My name is Madison Hedlund and I blog over at Telling Oceans. I am a wife and student who has a love for all things beautiful and handmade. For as long as I can remember I have been creating, painting, and making projects with my hands. Maybe it stems from my parents who always had a fun home renovation project; all I know is that when I don’t have a project, things are not right in my world. I was fortunate enough to marry into a family of creatives who always stir up new ideas in me. Leather binding is an idea I am happy to contribute to the Hedlund family. This is how it came into our lives: My brother-in-law, Andy, gave my husband a leather bound Bible a few years back that he hand bound and personalized with a wood burner. People were very curious where he got such a great quality Bible, and asked if we could get one for them. Andy lives in Montana, a good 13 hours from where we live. …

Hand & Cloth: Bangladesh kantha blankets

Published by chelsea

Today I would like to introduce you to a wonderful shop with a big heart that stretches across the ocean and back again. Hand & Cloth is an organization that assists at-risk women in Bangladesh by working with the local organizations, like Basha, who provide a safe working environment, a quality pay that averages better than fair trade jobs, literacy classes, free childcare during the day and constant love through Scripture and prayer. Hand & Cloth seeks to show each woman that just as she makes her kantha blanket by hand, God creates her by hand too. Kantha is a traditional blanket made of layers of recycled cotton (or silk) saris. The word actually means “rags” and the skill of hand sewing these re-purposed clothes is passed down from mother to daughter. I love the Indian culture so when Elizabeth and Sarah of Hand & Cloth reached out for support of their shop, I could hardly contain my excitement. I received one of these lovely blankets just recently and each time I pass it in …

guest post: Melyssa of The Nectar Collective

Published by chelsea

Hi everyone at sea, field and tribe! My name is Melyssa and I’m a photographer, crafter, and thinker joining you from The Nectar Collective. I love Chelsea’s wonderfully nature-infused and eclectic blog and I’m thrilled to be sharing my own photos here today. Thank you for having me! I have been living in Japan for about two years, and spent a year of that time living in a very rural area in the Northern part called Akita. Have you heard of it? Don’t worry, neither had I! Today I am excited to share with you some of my film photographs and experiences from living in Akita. Since I’m a very synesthetic person, I recommend listening to this song by Bibio while reading along – it really captures how I feel when I look at these photos. When I first arrived in Japan, I landed in Tokyo’s airport. Coming from a suburban area of Southern California, I was immediately blasted with foreign lights, skyscrapers, and people yelling at me to come inside their shops. A few …

interviews with interesting folks: Tracy Zhang

Published by chelsea

Today I’d like to introduce you to a wonderful photographer and new friend, Tracy – a beautiful young woman with ancestry in Beijing and roots in Vancouver. I asked her to share a little about how she got into travel photography and what inspires her about nature and exploring other cultures. I love her story of how her path originally started in a completely different direction than she is now – I feel like that’s how many of us end up finding what we love, right? 1. How long have you been a travel photographer? Was this always your dream? I picked up my first camera during high school when I needed an Arts credit to graduate and I thought photography would probably be the easiest art course I could take. It definitely wasn’t a dream of mine before then and I didn’t have any idea that I would become so fascinated with photography that I would continue to pursue it to this date. 2. Why did you choose travel photography? Although I had been …