Happy Easter!

How cute is the squirrel vase? I bought it on etsy from Pretty Random Objects. I'm spending today decorating, unpacking, and cooking! I hope everyone enjoys their day.

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Sneak Peek! New upcycled items!

This cheerful cloud was made from the lid of a take-out container! #6 plastics behave exactly like commercial shrinky-dinks. The blue catseye beads are from a necklace I no longer wear, and the umbrella charm is vintage brass. He's so cheerful, raining over England. This guy is getting a backing that will allow him to be worn as a pin or pendant.

How is upcycling different from recycling?
Easy! Recycling means you're remaking an item into a similar item. I.e.- recycled newspaper becomes a different type of paper. Some properties change, but you end up with a product of similar value. Upcycling can radically change the purpose of an item, and increases its value. In this case a useless piece of plastic that many communities do not accept for recycling (#6) went from being a takeout lid to a piece of jewelry.

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Environment & Crafts, crafting green, upcycling, etc.

April is a mixed month for me as an environmentalist. Earth Day drums up a lot of good press, and with it comes recycled products, art ideas, etc. While these are all great I hope the momentum will carry it further than one month and help people realize there are lots of ways to be more friendly to the environment year-round. All month long I'll be focusing on recycled and green crafting methods and products. Please let me know if you have any questions about my art or experiences that you would like me to share!

I'll start with a "do want"- Recycled Cotton Yarn!

Wow, just wow. I am so impressed with Lion Brand right now. When thinking of Lion yarns my mind immediately goes to acrylics, or scratchy wools like Fisherman's, but it seems like they're keeping up with the times with more earth-friendly products.

Not only have they been making Organic cotton for a while, but I recently found out about Recycled Cotton! From their site:

"Made from cotton fabric pieces that would otherwise be discarded when fabric is cut to produce tee-shirts, our Recycled Cotton yarn reduces waste and conserves resources. These clippings are sorted by color, minimizing the amount of dyeing needed for the final yarn. The sorted cotton fiber is then blended with acrylic for enhanced performance."

It comes in with an impressive recycled content of 72%. I'm really liking the Seagrass colorway, and hope that my local craft stores are carrying this! Organic is fantastic, but I really like that this product takes fiber that is a byproduct and makes it into something new. Don't get me wrong, I love the Blue Sky Alpaca organic cotton I bought from Purl last year, but at $10+ a skein it's really only for special projects. In the past few years organic yarns have made their way into the big crafting stores, it will be great to see this trend expand and continue!
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Mark your calendar! Celebrate a {NewNew} Season with the Spring Handmade Cavalcade

Spring is in the air, and with it come the social affairs that take advantage of this beautiful time of year. With this in mind the {NewNew} heads to the Bell House in Brooklyn on May 9th and 10th to host the Spring Handmade Cavalcade. This two-day shopping affair will feature gifts for grads and moms, fantastic housewares and pretty paper goods for hosts and hostesses, and apparel and accessories for any occasion.

The local focus extends to the event's collaboration with charity partner St. John's Bread & Life, which addresses the issues of hunger and poverty in Brooklyn and Queens.. A limited edition artists' book will be available for sale to benefit the charity. In addition, shoppers who make a donation will receive a surprise handmade gift.

***Free, limited-edition tote bags*** are available to the first 200 visitors who RSVP on the event's website, and can be picked up by visiting on either day of the event up until 1pm, Sunday May 10. And everyone who makes a purchase at the event will be able to participate in a raffle for one of ten artist-embellished totes chock-full of handmade goods.

What: The Spring Handmade Cavalcade

When: Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10, 2009. 10am–4pm both days

Where: The Bell House, 149 7th St. between 2nd and 3rd Aves, Brooklyn

*** Fifty of these tote bags will contain a treat from me! *** I love the bag that I got from the Holiday Handmade Cavalcade, be sure to sign up for your own!
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Still moving!

This weekend is the final push to get all set up in the new co-op. It was tough to pack up all the crafting supplies! I'd like to share two really fun blogs with you all, both are created by the same fabulous person, Dani!

Cooking Llama
Do not visit if you are hungry! She bakes some really incredible goodies, like the above coconut custard pie...which may or may not have come from a magical coconut. Many of her recipes are adapted to be vegan, and they all look delicious.

!!!
The title really says so much! This is her journal all about her semester in Japan, which just started 3 days ago. I'm not sure how she managed to take this photo, but it's adorable. Her writing style is straighforward and a little quirky. I'm so excited for her, it sounds like an exciting and wonderful experience. Plus, there's Hello Kitty, so it can't be bad!

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Bright Orange & Yellow & Lime Origami Charm Bracelet

Just listed this morning! I'm wearing it as I type this, it's such a cute bracelet. I debated listing it on artfire, since you can put 10 photos there, but so far it hasn't lead to sales for me. Etsy it is! I've hit a few milestones there recently~ paperelle just topped 20 sales and 200 hearts! It makes me so happy that people like what I create. I have a huge backlog of stuff to photograph, and I'm only halfway through the samples I'm sending to the Spring Handmade Cavalcade.

Shop updates may be slow in the next few weeks, since my husband and I are closing on our new co-op tomorrow! It's scary to be emptying out our savings account, but we're ready to move. We close tomorrow, and this weekend is a painting party! A co-worker leant me her paint chip book of every color Benjamin Moore makes, it's awesome.

In silly chinchilla news- her cage door was left open while DH and I were at work yesterday...and we came home to find her sitting happily on her little house. She's hilarious, any other animal would've been gone in a flash! Silly Chilla.

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Baby Shower Cake

 

I went to a co-worker's adorable Greenwich Village apartment after work on Friday to make cakes! We made two chocolate sheet cakes from scratch, including the chocolate frosting. We used a letter stamping kit, which was pretty nifty but has flaws. The decorating frosting was whipped, which didn't really want to hold it's shape! I still think it came out great, and they were a big hit at the shower.

It's been a really long time since I've decorated a whole cake, it was quite a lot of fun!

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Reusable Gift Wrapping Idea

I really like to use gift wrap that won't just end up in the trash, but I don't want it to be boring. In the past I've given gifts wrapped in a tote bag, but what about a baby shower?

For a baby boy shower I picked up a little blanket and coordinating storage crate at Target. These cost all of $4.49 total, no more than a nice gift bag and tissue paper.

I arranged the baby clothes inside, love the little dinosaurs! (There are some practical, slightly less cute burp pads underneath).

Add a bright bow, and ta-da! All done, it just needs a tag. No waste, and the wrapping becomes part of the gift!
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Environmentally friendly shopping on Cosa Verde

Have you heard of Cosa Verde? It's a new site for handmade goods that are environmentally concious. I really like it for several reasons-

• Clean, simple layout and colors- love the simplified dandelion graphic.
• Juried- and they let me in!
• Lack of buzzwords- real, honest to goodness terms that have meaning behind them for categories. Hello, repurposed!

They're still relatively small compared to sites like etsy, but I hope to see it grow and thrive. If you're interested in opening a shop, I would be very grateful for a referral! You don't have to list new items there, you can import directly from your etsy shop. Cosa Verde does not take a comission, and like Artfire has different monthly fees for sellers. More $ = more items listed, but every new seller starts off with a $30 credit. Pretty nice, if I do say so myself. Check it out!

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All the pretty colors~ a small review of Flower

I try not to nerd out too much on this blog, but I am just in awe of this game! The developer calls it "interactive art", and that's definitely what Flower is. The premise is really simple- you're the wind. You play by moving the controller around in the direction you want to fly. Along the way you sweep by flowers and pick up petals. Each flower makes a musical note, so in a way you conduct a little symphony. The environments are all different- night, day, rain, city, field, and there's a different goal for each level. One involves painting the grass, it's really relaxing (my husband played well beyond what was needed to clear the level).

Flower is like two of my favorite games rolled into one- Katamari Damacy and Okami. Both of those are also excellent plays, but very different! Flower is available on the Playstation Network for just $9.99, it's a total steal.

I can't wait to see real flowers blooming, but it will be a little while, it's snowing tonight. Oh well.
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