Green Options

You have to love a two-step tutorial. I wrote a while back about how I made gift tags from greeting cards–all vintage, all from people we only hung out with, um, pre-divorce, all awesome, and it took all of about five minutes.

My other big obsession (as if I have only two!) is comic books–not just the big players, but also the less popular ones. Lately I’ve been getting really into scrapbooking, while also being completely turned off by the insane amount of consumerism embedded in this one craft (a subject of another loooooong post to come, I’m sure), and I’ve been looking for ways to both recycle and incorporate some of my less mainstream fangeek loves, like comic books, into my scrapbooking and card-making. Crafting a green scrapbook, indeed.

If you’re also into utilizing some cool paper in your work–comic books, magazines, wrapping paper, foreign language newspapers, vintage books–check out this quick and easy way (not two steps, but still quick and easy) I make sturdy gift tags and scrapbook embellishments out of flimsy comic books:

It is certainly a challenge crafting a green scrapbook, but K & Company has kept sustainability in mind by introducing two eco-friendly scrapbook collections.  Each collection is printed with soy-based inks, on recycled paper, with recycled and reusable packaging.  The Lotus Collection features the hypnotic floral designs of Amy Butler, while the ReMake Collection meets basic needs for colored paper and chipboard embellishments.

If you love Amy Butler’s fabric designs you will swoon over her paper line.  The Lotus Collection, by the famed fabric and surface designer, is printed with soy-based inks on post-consumer waste recycled paper.  Lotus products come in recycled pakaging made from 95% post-consumer waste.  What’s more is the packaging is reusable.  The back card stock of the paper pads is printed with cut-outs that can be used as embellishments.