Green Options

CONGRATULATIONS to Tina in Boston for winning our giveaway of Sewing Green! Be on the look out for an email from us for further details.

Thank you to everyone who entered. We here at CAGW have been rejuvenated and inspired by all of your upcycling ideas! Don’t forget your other chances to win this beautiful book, you can find out where to enter here.

I know you’ve waited with bated breath so here it is, your chance to win a copy of Sewing Green, the latest and greatest book by Betz White, author of Warm Fuzzies.

Sewing Green offers 25 cute projects made from repurposed or organic materials. Learn how to make aprons and wallets from dress shirts, and sandwich wraps, and lounge pants from organic and thrifted fabrics. The projects are are direct and easy to follow even for this crafter who likes to skip ahead and tweak things. I especially like the sandwich wrap project and the use of PUL - a material that is not vinyl and one that I need to look into more.

White’s favorite project from the book is the woodland draft buster, a much more refined version of the draft catcher that I created a while back. This version looks like an adorable tree branch that helps you save money on your heating bill. White wanted everything in the book to have a good purpose without being preachy. She wanted everything to be fun and easy and show that any one can do these projects and be eco-friendly. “You don’t have to suffer,” she said. “Suffering is not involved.”

Continue reading to enter the contest!

Mark Montano affixes an urban corsage on actress Anya Monzikova

The Sundance Film Festival kicked off on January 15th and wrapped up yesterday. In amongst the films and snow, celebrity attendees participated in green crafting at an event called The Green Lodge with Mark Montano author of The Big Ass Book of Crafts. The craft-a-thon was sponsored by Amazing EcoGlue from Eclectic Products, Inc.

The Green Lodge focused on eco-crafting by using products that can be recycled, upcycled and restyled. Celebrities including KayCee Stroh of High School Musical cast, Aubrey O’Day from Making of the Band 3, actress Anya Monzikova from Tropic Thunder and a Deal or No Deal alumna, and Alice Greczyn from Privileged and Lincoln Heights, were were inspired to create eco-chic and sustainably stylish projects and gifts alongside the expert crafter and designer.

I confess:  I am a craftaholic.  Yes.  It’s true.  [Just ask my wife and she'll tell you ALL about it.]  The strange thing is, I don’t limit myself to just one ‘craft’ or medium.  I run the whole gamut.  From fabric to fiber to paint to rubber stamps to card-making … the list goes on and on.

On the bright side, I’m very proud of the fact that instead of running out to my local craft store to buy my supplies, I scour the local thrift shops and Goodwill stores to find items that I can buy (for next to nothing) and convert them into something with new life.  Example:  a pillowcase, in good condition, can be turned into a tote bag, a pencil case, a crochet hook keeper or a travel-size tissue holder.

Think twice before you put your recyclable items out for pick-up.  You may find that many plastic or glass containers can have multiple uses.  I’ve found several crafty ways to use some:

Individual serving sized yogurt containers make great paint pots for the kids.  They can be used to hold water or paint.

Peel off the label of a pickle jar.  Wash, rinse and allow it to dry.  Now, fill it up will all those stray buttons you have.  Jars also make great containers for glue sticks, embroidery floss, ribbon and craft sticks (recycled frozen treat sticks).  They can also be used as a way to keep your paintbrushes, colored pencils and other tools neat and tidy.

ExtremeCraft.com has a contest going but, as they say in the infomercials:Time is limited! Act now!

From the Web site:

We are seeking submissions for 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, an upcoming book by Garth Johnson of ExtremeCraft.com, which will feature 21st Century craft and design, all made with recycled, upcycled, repurposed and reused items. We are looking for the best examples of paper and book arts, jewelry, clothing, home and personal accessories, furniture, art,

[...]

I have about a gazillion journals. They can be found stashed all about my house, so as to be within easy reach when an idea strikes (at least that’s what I tell myself). In truth, my journal collection stems from my inability of locating the journal that I had last put pen to paper. I can never seem to find one when I have an idea that needs to be written down or sketched out. I figure the more journals I have, the better my chances are for finding one when needed.

During my last creative brainstorm I relocated a favorite journal of mine (pictured). I acquired my cowboy journal at the last large indie craft fair in my area called Crafty Bastards. The journal, by Ex Libris Anonymous, is made from an old library book. It is hand made and one of a kind. Snippets of text from the original book are sprinkled throughout the blank pages of acid free paper.

I recall that Ex Libris Anonymous’ booth at Crafty Bastards was constantly packed that day. I elbowed my way in to sort through bins and bins of great vintage book covers. After coming back twice, I finally settled on a small journal with the shell of the Spiderweb Trail by Eugene Cunningham.

The vintage books that make up Ex Libris’ journals are cute, charming and have a kitschy vibe. The hard cover is a perfect writing surface and the spiral binding makes it easy to flip to the next blank page and the select passages can make for quick inspiration. I use mine to jot down notes and make quick sketches.

New online knitting mag MetaPostModernKnitting arrived on the internet last week with the fashion forward in mind. Complete with great patterns, blog and articles, MPMK is a welcome edition to the online world.

In their first issue, The Knitting Bully contemplates recycling as a fashion trend. The article questions the use of new clothing repurposed right out of the box, and marketed as “recycled,” and rightly so (take a look at that sweater/skirt.) Other outlays in the article are also easy to get behind; ensuring proper use of reclaimed materials and creating an end product that will be worn. But the larger question that isn’t as easy to get behind, is the premise that recycling is detrimental to style.

The Knitting Bully asks “…have we thought about what [recycling] is doing to our style?”

The answer is a million times, yes!