Monday, June 30, 2008

Eco Fashion: carataylor.etsy.com



My latest installment for the Eco Craftiness Eco Fashion feature involves the stylish and recycled handbags of carataylor. These bags are made from repurposed plastic shopping bags in a plethora of colors and styles. All of her bags are real eye catchers.

What's great is, not only does carataylor repurpose her own plastic bags into these new, dazzling treasures, but she acquires them from others to do the same! As carataylor puts it in her shop profile:
    Bags come from all over the country - my mom, my friends, my friend's moms... and then there are the people I don't know- the people who I imagine have piles of bags in their kitchen cabinets!

So not only could you do your part by buying recycled waste turned into a great new fashion, but you could commission carataylor to turn your own plastic shopping bags into a new and beautiful purse or market bag, thus scoring extra eco points!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

What does plastic do?




Listen to this eco-friendly shopping bag by jpharris, it knows what it's talking about. The design is hand printed on a 100% recycled cotton material, just to upstage flimsy, ugly, throw away plastic bags that much more. You should go get yourself one today!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Improvise with Leftovers


So, last week I felt pretty lazy and opted to get Thai take out. I ordered a meal, the name of which I could not pronounce then and cannot remember now, but I must say it was delicious! The only problem is there was WAY more curry sauce than needed, so that I had half a container of it left over even after I was done w/the chicken and veggies that were cooked in it.



So the next night, I decided to recycle said sauce with fresh meat and veggies. I diced up some organic chicken, along with onion, peppers and carrots, and cooked it all up in the sauce. The result was as good as, if not better than the original meal. I totally took leftovers to a whole new level.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Amethyst, Emerald, OH MY!


VivienCheng reclaimed a vintage handbag to create this beautiful clutch...



Here's what she has to say about her reclamation process:


Every vintage or reclaimed handbag that I revamp is customised individually with its own original hand-painted motif. As each handbag is one-off, I first sketch up multiple ideas in colour and sometimes do up paper patterns to test out my ideas before painting. Once I have the final design, I start painting my layers. I usually work on a small part of the handbag over several days. Sometimes a single handbag has up to 8 layers of paint on it!

My goal is to create designs that complement and enhance the handbag’s original style. It’s all about reviving and resurrecting the bag without disturbing from its original design, so I appreciate when someone sees my bags and assumes the motifs have always been there.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Organic Mechanic


I'm happy to share that I've been interviewed and am a featured artist in a great environmentally conscious blog, The Organic Mechanic.

Check out my interview here!

Based on the comments thus far, people seem to dig my chain links scarf from ShutterKate:

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Eco Fashion: Pouch.etsy.com


Pouch makes beautiful handbags from recycled vintage materials, like this metallic shimmer half moon purse!



Check out her store for this and many other eco-fabulous fashions...

Monday, June 16, 2008

Cloth Saviors!


Let's stop wiping our mouths with dead trees already. It's getting old, the trees don't dig it, and neither do I. If you're serious about consuming less, wasting less, saving yourself money, and being all around awesome, you'll seriously consider cloth napkins like this set made by WeeBeaks:

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Kimono...that's recycled?


Ok, horrible attempt at a pun, I know. But I'm just so in awe of what boxwoodgoods can do with vintage fabrics, that I get a bit silly when trying to convey said excitement.

So to prevent myself from getting any sillier when it comes to words, I'll let this pillow, which is made of a beautiful silk vintage kimono, speak for itself:

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Recycling Bath Water


Have left over bath water you don't want to wash down the drain after only one usage? A kitty bath is a great second use for it!


(Click this photo to see my kitty bath series, featuring The Smooch!)

Docile cats are probably best for this. If they're overweight, even better, as they seem to procure fewer physical objections, and only more miserable kitty moans.

When all is said and done, your cat will thank you, or at the very least feel softer.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Sick of Scrabble?


Many of us are. But who wants to outright throw the famous board game away? BayMoonStudio came up with the solution: Beautiful pendants made from old scrabble letter squares!