Our Story
Recycling is not just for trash anymore!
I have always had a brain filled with ideas but no time to execute them. While I was busy juggling work, college, chronic health problems, a husband, a home, family and friends (all of which I am a better person because of) it left nothing left for me. I never made time to get passionate about exploring these ideas until the time came in which my body finally had enough and began to shut down on me. I was forced to stop working due to severe anemia and I was having to receive blood transfusions every two weeks in order to stay alive. I was living on recycled blood, recycled body parts (I already had a kidney transplant and now I need another), recycled hormones (blood building injections derived from pigs), and recycled plants (medications and vitamins). This was when the concept of my Second Chance Creations and Resale was born.
I initially started crafting my key chains mainly to relax and calm my mind, plus it felt good to be making something out of things that would normally have been tossed out. I gave some away for gifts and was told that I should explore selling them to help with my ever-accumulating medical bills. Once I started that I just kept finding more and more things that I could reuse and give new purpose. It's become a goal of mine to keep growing this idea bigger and bigger until my recycling efforts can make a real impact.
A lot of my work you may notice has a theme or a specific design and there is an explanation for this. After I was diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease at age 16 and had to start hemodialysis I felt that my life was over. I was a kid raising myself (I was already living out on my own) and I could not wrap my head around anything else besides being attached to a machine that cleaned my blood until I finally died. This went on for 9 years before I got my kidney transplant and there were so many times that I wanted to give up but I found inspiration and hope in the music of the Dave Matthews Band. The design on some of my items is my interpretation of a Dave Matthews drawing of what is referred to as a Firedancer. I have this design permanently inked onto my body as a symbol of my gratitude and admiration of the band whose values best which represent mine. The overall concept is peace, love, respect, compassion, and appreciation of everyone and everything as a living, vibrational entity. Each piece that I create is made with the love and light with which I intend it to be thereby creating a custom piece that is inspired by all that is good and right in the world.
My intention when I achieve a point in which I can give back is to contribute all of my profits back into the communities and programs that need it most. I am a philanthropist at heart using the means that I have at the current time to give back when I can where I can. I volunteer regularly with the National Kidney Foundation, the American Association of Kidney Patients, LifeLink (a Donate Life organization), the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL, the American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, Brooke’s Legacy (an animal rescue center), and I have a section of adopted highway on I-75 and Dort Hwy near Flint, Michigan; where I'm from originally.
The Dave Matthews Band's music and it's members inspire me to encourage everyone to "Leave only your footprints" and "Shine your light while you've got one" because that is what they have done for me. It not only makes me feel good to be doing something that I love, that makes me feel good, and that reduces waste but it also satisfies my desire to inspire change or make an impact on others. Even if you only buy one key chain you have made a difference by preventing the various pieces of your selection from becoming more waste in a landfill somewhere. You have recycled, you have made an impact on the future, and you have ensured that these re-imagined creations are still serving a purpose in the world. ♥
