Meet & Greet: AwesleyDesigns

Amanda is a busy mother who loves to be creative. Her Etsy shop is filled with one of a kind charm bracelets with charms she has found at yard sales, estate sales, and shops along the road. They are lots of fun and very unique.

Purple Haze Charm Bracelet

I asked Amanda a few questions about herself and her Etsy shop, here is what she had to say:

Tell us a little about yourself and what you sell.
I'm a stay at home mother of three so that has been my job for the last few years. I have traveled the U.S. and have been lucky enough to experience everything that this country has to offer. I'm a bit crazy and loud. Music is a major part of my life and as a wife to a bass player, it's never quiet here.... ever! I would choose to read a book over watching t.v. and my favorite movies were made over 40 years before I was born. Now that my kids are no longer babies, I have been creating things out of found objects and am a book reviewer. I also know how to make about 100 different types of cupcake.

Coffee Flower Necklace

What is your favorite thing about creating?
I love creating things that other people would look at and never expect. While standing in front of a pile of objects that many people would think of as junk or trash, I see it as a challenge to turn it into something beautiful. Creating something new gives me a rush and I hope to be doing this til the day I die.

Industrial Charm Necklace

Why did you decide to work with upcycled/recycled/repurposed/vintage materials?
I work with recycled objects for a couple of reasons. First being a little while ago, I didn't have the money to go out and buy new craft supplies so I made due with what I had laying around. Another reason is because my family is full of artists and seriously creative individuals. Christmas time means we make each other gifts instead of buying them. Every year gets bigger and better. We have to spend little money and yet make Christmas memories. That's where this has exploded for me and I have applied it to everyday life.

Pink and Green Bracelet

What is your favorite thing about running your etsy shop?
I love the Etsy community. In the last few years I have seen so much growth and the people are truly amazing. This is like a group of long lost friends that always welcome you into their house. I never get tired of posting my items, talking to people, and visiting the treasuries. I have nothing but love for my fellow etsians, for without them, none of this would work.

Industrial Steampunk Charm Bracelet

What inspires you to create/sell what you do?
Inspiration hits me in the strangest times and it's never the same. A David Bowie song might trigger me to see a pop can as a rocket ship necklace or my youngest might say something that reminds me of a fairytale and that will be my next bracelet. I never see something in the same light twice so don't be surprised if a vinyl record becomes a headband, it's just what it told me to do with it.

How do you keep your creative space inspiring?
My "space" is a mess! I have pictures, music, and bits of things I've found and thought were interesting. It's constantly moving and changing. The only thing that doesn't change is the coffee maker.

Links:
(facbook fan page) www.facebook.com/awesleydesigns
(Personal facebook page) www.facebook.com/amanda.wesley
(Twitter) twitter.com/awesleydesigns
(Etsy) www.etsy.com/shop/awesleydesigns
(goodreads) www.goodreads.com/user/show/5317599-amanda

Thanks Amanda for sharing with us today!

See you next week,
Valerie
Everyday Inspired

Who Won?

Sarah! #23 was the randomly drawn number and Sarah left the 23rd comment! She'll be the one carrying this amazing Zippered Wristlet from Bartinki!

I apologize for the delay announcing the winner, but my ongoing moving adventure has put me so behind! We will resume our weekly giveaways next week.

A big thanks again to all of our readers and to Martina, the sponsor of last week's Giveaway and the owner of the shop, Bartinki, on Etsy!

Greener Shopping: Plastics - part 2

Last week I wrote about plastic resin codes.  This week, I’m going to further discuss what we, the consumer, can do to wisely use and reduce plastics in our daily lives.  If take three small steps to understand plastic, we can make better choices for our health and the health of the planet.

Recycling is a big part of using plastics.  The first thing you can do is find out what you can recycle locally.  Not all recycling programs take all seven resin codes so check with your county to see available options.

Sustainable living options aren’t huge here in the South, so I am excited to say that our curbside recycling program takes all seven codes, everything but Styrofoam and plastic bags!  Our local zoo will recycle Styrofoam, and of course grocery stores and office supply stores will recycle the plastic bags. Realizing that I could recycle all the plastic I was using was a big start to a greener shopping list!

The second step is reducing the amount of plastic we use. I’ve spent the last two years trying to find ways to reduce the plastic in our life. I thought I’d share a few of them that have been successful with our family of four:

Reduce sandwich bag use.  When our daughter started school we invested in some adorable reusable cloth sandwich bags on Etsy.  They have been great and easy to clean.  I still use sandwich bags for things like freezing the fish that we catch but I am using at least 5 less bags a week, so that’s 260+ plastic sandwich a year that don’t go into the environment, (and I don’t have to pay for them).   Sandwich bag shown in photo was created by Upcyclers team member Greener Route.

Replace plastic with glass when possible. Each time my plastic salad dressing bottle was empty, I would replace it with a glass salad dressing bottle.  Sometimes there isn’t an option for glass (i.e. mayo, yogurt, cream cheese, etc), but I found I could find most condiments were available in a glass container.   

Stop using plastic water bottles. Use stainless steel water bottles or other reusable bottle options. This was one of the first things I tried to tackle, and it was easier that I thought it would be!

Use cloth bags.  Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of this popular way of reducing plastic.   Plastic bags are offered to shoppers everywhere.  I use my cloth bags for more than grocery shopping though.  I try to keep different sized bags in my car so when I’m out running errands I can keep from using plastic everywhere I go.    A quick trip to the pharmacy I grab a small cloth bag I keep in my purse.  A trip to the local library and I grab the medium sized bag that is behind the seat of my car.  At the farmers market, I pull out my reusable produce bags.  When I forget them (because sometimes they bring the items in to the house and they don’t go back out), I ask for paper or just carry the items without a bag.  Produce bag shown in photo was created by Upcyclers team member TNTees. 

Upcycle plastic containers for non-food related tasks. We store crayons, toys, screws, beads, and an assortment of other household items in our leftover plastic containers. My favorite plastic containers to upcycle: yogurt, spinach, and nut.

Start small and pick one way you can reduce plastic in your life.  I didn’t change everything at once.  I would integrate one new method, and then I would move on to the next one.  

The third step is using plastic smarter.  We can’t eliminate all the plastic in our daily lives.  My two year old isn’t going to use a glass sippy cup, so I make sure that the plastic cups she does use are BPA free and have a resin code 2, 4 or 5 on them.  I make sure my food storage containers and other plastic wares display these less toxic resin codes on them as well.

If there is NO resin code on your plastic containers, call the manufacture and ask. Since the resin codes are only for recycling, this would tell me that the manufacture doesn’t care about the environment and recycling the plastic they are creating!

To help remember the resin codes, I hang a list on the inside of my kitchen cabinet ----->

See what else you can do to reduce and wisely use plastic, by visiting Healthy Child, Healthy World’s list of plastic solutions: http://healthychild.org/5steps/5_steps_1/

Whether it is buying organic, handmade or reducing plastic use, becoming ethical consumers is something that everyone should look into. Does value or values determine your purchases? Educating yourself about the products you buy & their affect on the environment is vital to our future and the future of our planet.

Meet & Greet: RadicalRecycks

Tracie discovered her love for recycling and upcycling as a girl scout leader. Taking plastic bags and turning them into plastic fabric she creates bags, wallets, and bibs.  She also create jewelry from plastic bottles, and is coming up with new ideas all the time.

Blue and Green Trashy Clutch

I asked Tracie a few questions and here is what she had to share:

Tell us a little about yourself and what you sell.
My name is tracie Lampe and I live in Pinckney Michigan with my family. I just went part time and will be working from home after 15 years at my job this will give me more time to develop my own business. I make useful items from trash! Purses, jewelry, wallets, etc. I also wrote a craft book on how to fuse plastic, techniques & 25 projects called " upcycled accessories"

Dunkin Donut Upcycled Gift Card necklace

What is your favorite thing about creating?
My favorite thing about creating is when I dream up an idea and when I finally sit down to make it & it turns out just as I dreamed!

Why did you decide to work with upcycled/recycled/repurposed/vintage materials?
Why I upcycle... Here's the story I am a girl scout leader & I had to take an enchriment class which happen to be called "leave no trace" it was about recycling and reducing our carbon foot print. At this point in my life I didn't recycle I didn't think as one person I could make a difference so when the instructor said " if you could do one thing what a difference it could make" so I decided that I would do one thing and that was to recycle. The first week I recycled I went from 3 overflowing trash cand to less than one well I was hooked. Now this is when my extreme nature took over and recycling wasnt good enough I needed to make thing from trash!

Upcycled Accessories 25 projects using Repurposed Plastic

What is your favorite thing about running your etsy shop?
My favorite thing about running my etsy shop is when someone buys something it makes me excited that someone loves something I made!

What inspires you to create/sell what you do?
My inspiration is keeping the trash out of the landfill and making a difference.

Bumble Bee Tee Shirt Bracelet

How do you keep your creative space inspiring?
Oh my creative space well I work in chaos most of the time I just want to get out what is in my head but every now and again the chaos gets my creative juices all juiced out and that's when my very good friend comes to my house and helps me reorganize which then inspires me to create again!

Links:
www.RadicalRecycks.com
www.Facebook.com/RadicalRecycks
www.RadicalRecycks.etsy.com

Thanks Tracie for sharing with us today!

See you next week,
Valerie
Everyday Inspired

Weekly Giveaway: Bartinki!

Congrats to 'Vivacious Gold'!!
She was our #16th entry in the Giveaway from Time and Again Shop! 
Thank you, Everyone, for entering and a HUGE thanks to Allison for sponsoring our Weekly Giveaway! 

And another thanks to our sponsor this week: Bartinki!
 

This bag isn't just upcycled and a unique creation~ it's also a fun little mystery bag that has 10 zippers, but only ONE that works! If you win the giveaway, you'll have to figure out which one! 

Bartinki's creative genius is Martina, who believes so strongly in sustainability and conservation that she committed herself to a year without shopping for clothes, YES, you read right! No shopping for clothes for an entire year! Now considering her obvious love of fashion, one can only imagine how committed she must have been to her mission to promote eco-fashion!

Her creative process is ethical and minimal, and notably innovative! Her use of notions incorporated with technical prowess shows vision and her fashions make a bold statement. Martina uses a 12 year old Husquarna sewing machine and strives to reduce waste by re-using every scrap of materials. Cleaned and repaired, and then reconstructed~ her handmade fashions are one of a kind creations that spring from her imagination as she works. She follows no pattern or rules, just the path that leads her along her creative journey! If it makes you happy, it makes her happy!  

You'll love the diverse style of Bartinki~ and you can be sure that no one else will show up wearing the same outfit as you when you wear one of Martina's designs! 

If you'd like to enter to win Bartinki's amazing Zippered Wristlet~ here's all you have to do!

First, you must be a follower of Love 2 Upcycle to enter~ not a follower? Just look to the right and click on the 'Follow' button! But don't leave a comment for doing that!

Then you can submit up to 4 entries, each must be entered HERE in a separate comment for each entry. 
If you don't have an email listed in your profile, please leave it in one of your comments!

1. Browse, Like and Favorite Bartinki on Etsy, leave a comment here about your favorite item in her shop!

2. Check out Martina's Blog and become a follower. 

3.  Become a fan of Bartinki on Facebook or follow her on Twitter!

4. 'Tweet' or 'Like' this Giveaway using our Like or Tweet button or Share a link to our Giveaway on your Facebook fan page. 

***One more option: You can pin one item from Bartinki on Pinterest with the description "Eco Fashions by Bartinki!" But remember you still can only enter 4 times!

Deadline to enter is Thursday, September 22nd at Midnight.

The WINNER will be randomly drawn and announced with the next Giveaway!

Good Luck!
 

Would you like to Sponsor a Giveaway on Love 2 Upcycle? You don't have to be a member of Upcyclers to be a sponsor, all Etsy sellers of upcycled or eco-friendly products are welcome! But of course, we'd love for you to join the team!

Meet & Greet : ZafteLV

"Zafte" is Latvian slang word meaning synonymous to the words “juicy,” “fruitful” and “potent” - a delightful substance created through skilful work combining spring blossoms, summer rain and warm sun...

Inara and Ingrida have been working together since 2008 and are passionate about recycling, as you can see in the items they create.

Blue / pale yellow dress 

I asked them a few questions and here is what they had to share:

Tell us a little about yourself and what you sell.
We are two Latvian designers: Inara Gauja - professional and experienced theatre stage and costume designer, sometimes doing also nice interiors, and Ingrida Zabere - one of the best Latvian graphic designers, gained the master degree in fashion design last year. We are bygone art colledge schoolmates and met by accident in year 2008. We decided to embark a common business establishing a new design company Zafte ltd. and to focus our main attention to the new design project RECYCLED.LV. The fashion design is a new experience for both of as.

denim shirt with cowl neck

What is your favorite thing about creating?
We are in our 40-ies and have been creative all our lifes. Creating new unprecedented ideas does inspire our spirits, especially, if the brilliant things can be made out of all but nothing. We find it boring to follow some mainstreem or to repeat or copy something or somebody. We make our lifes interesting and find our joy and spirits in doing something different.

jumpsuitdress

Why did you decide to work with upcycled/recycled/repurposed/vintage materials?
The world around us nowadays is filled up with all different commercial articles made for short life and to be useless after that. We find it interesting for us and usefull in terms of ecology to prolong the ready-made but useless things' life using them for recreating into original and inspiring one-of-a-kind designs. We are eager to inspire people how actual and interesting looks can be created out of obsolete stuff and to put this approach instead of one-season commercial fashion shopping. We feel responsibility for ecology and sustainability, so we use ours and call others for CREATIVITY. Speaking of materials - upcycled/recycled/repurposed/vintage materials are interesting themselves and very inspiring as they have their own story like people their biographies.

Apron Janis

What is your favorite thing about running your etsy shop?
Etsy gives us a positive feedback together with some commercial success to support our recycled business. I like to find here many intersting creative persons and their bright ideas to keep our upcycler's spirits high. But we have not been very active on Etsy so far as a lot of our time is occupied with other projects and family.

What inspires you to create/sell what you do?
The most inspiring in whole the producing process is forming the idea of old stuff's new looks. So the creative process itself is the source of inspiration and excitement - a challenge to change some thing's identity. Some detail or nuance of the old thing can bring straight to the creative idea.

Cinnamon duster and dustpan

How do you keep your creative space inspiring?
Ingrida finds her vigour in education and perfection of her personality. Inara thinks the designer's ability to create can be compared to tuning the musician's instrument - it should be ready when it's needed. The positve impressions and enough of free time are also needed. (The free time is currently a problem for Inara as she has a baby.)

Find ZafteLV at:
ZafteLV.etsy.com
Zafte.lv
recycled.lv

Thanks Inara & Ingrida for sharing with us today!

See you next week,
Valerie
Everyday Inspired

Monday's Makeover: Using Mica to Repaint Candlesticks!

Guest post from fellow member of Upcyclers, Jason Bosh of  
JTB Metal Designs on Etsy.

Mica Powders in Arts and Crafts

What are Mica Powders
In this article, I will discuss mica powders as inorganic pigments.  More specifically, I will refer to their addition to paint mediums and coatings and applying them as metal finishes.  Usually, a specific color of mica is made by grinding a natural mica to a specified particle size and then applying various inorganic additives that create the desired color by creating and interference layer.  The light strikes the modified mica and bends creating the color needed.  This is very similar phenomenon that you will find in a parking lot where oil and water meet.  For a more technical essay on this topic click on this article about polarization and interference colors.  A good place to buy micas is cosmetic and soap maker suppliers as these are the largest nonindustrial consumers of these pigments. 

How my use of micas differs

Most crafters just use mica powders for scrap booking, embossing, or perhaps for precious metal clays. This link is a typical example of these uses and does link to related articles.  What I am offering here is a truly unique perspective on using mica in art.  First, I will talk about the adding the mica to a clear painting medium and second, I will relate this to applying a painted finish on metal art.  In this article I will talk about my experience with a water based acrylic medium.  More specifically, the 3D crystal lacquer made by Sakura craft.  This seems to be the most preferred 3D lacquer for crafters.  It is water based acrylic that is thick and dries especially shiny.  More on acrylic paints can be found here .  All water based acrylics are opaque but dry clear as the water evaporates.  This is because water based acrylic paint is an emulsion.  Later, I will write about adding micas to oil based mediums.

An Application example

The pictures I am adding show two candle holders my wife asked me to repaint for her.  We paid $2.99 for them at Goodwill and they where cheap steel artifacts mass produced in China that had the most hideous fake brass paint on them.  This was chipping off so I used my steel bristle brush to finish off the coating.  I applied Rustoleum white primer and flat black spray paint.  The black finish was to be my canvas to which I would work.  Since these works are our personal use,  this was an experiment in technique and a learning experience. I learned that you need very little pigment for a given volume of medium.  Especially if you are using the special interference micas that appear white but have coatings that change color on light angle.  Too much of these leaves the finish very frosty looking.  I had this problem with the moon holder and I used hot soap water to strip down back to the black finish.  As you can see using cautions in mixing works very well.

This particular finish was a deep blue metallic blue with a light coating of interference purple.

This gave the moon a peculiar blue violet look which I feel the real moon possesses.

You can see how the other one, a sun, turned out as well on my blog~ JTB Metal Designs! You will also find a wealth of tutorials, informative articles on metal processing and more!

Here's a peek at Jason's shop on Etsy!

Greener Shopping: Plastics 101

Conscious Consumerism:

Plastics 101, or is it Plastics 1-7

Plastic is everywhere. The word plastic means capable of being shaped or molded. And it has shaped itself into almost every aspect of our daily lives.  However, scientists are finding that an unseen cost to using plastics may be the health of our planet and our bodies. The production and disposal of plastic contribute to an array of environmental problems.  If we take some time to understand plastic, we can became a wiser about using it, and therefore make better choices for our health and our environment.

A Small Chemistry lesson… Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs. ~Wikipedia

In 1988 The Society of the Plastics (SPI) Industry developed a set of symbols placed on plastics to identify the polymer type. The resin identification coding system is used internationally to allow efficient separation of different polymer types for recycling. The most common plastics have a resin code in a universal recycling symbol often found on the bottom of the product. It is an arbitrarily-assigned number that has no other meaning aside from identifying the specific plastic.

While doing my plastic research, I thought The Healthy ChildHealthy World Organization summarized the safety of the resin codes the best:

PET or PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate): AVOID
Common Uses: Soda Bottles, Water Bottles, Cooking Oil Bottles
Concerns: Can leach antimony and phthalates.

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene): SAFER
Common Uses: Milk Jugs, Plastic Bags, Yogurt Cups

PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride, aka Vinyl): AVOID
Common Uses: Condiment Bottles, Cling Wrap, Teething Rings, Toys, Shower Curtains
Concerns: Can leach lead and phthalates among other things. Can also off-gas toxic chemicals.

LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene): SAFER
Common Uses: Produce Bags, Food Storage Containers

PP (Polypropylene): SAFER
Common Uses: Bottle Caps, Storage Containers, Dishware

PS (Polystyrene, aka Styrofoam): AVOID
Common Uses: Meat Trays, Foam Food Containers & Cups
Concerns: Can leach carcinogenic styrene and estrogenic alkylphenols 

Other this is a catch-all category which includes:
PC (Polycarbonate): AVOID - can leach Bisphenol-A (BPA). It also includes ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), SAN (Styrene Acrylonitrile), Acrylic, and Polyamide. These plastics can be a safer option because they are typically very durable and resistant to high heat resulting in less leaching. Their drawbacks are that they are not typically recyclable and some need additional safety research. New plant-based, biodegradable plastics like PLA (Polylactic Acid) also fall into the #7 category.

Now go look at what number is on all of your food containers.  What are they? While 2, 4, 5 are the safer, they are sometimes hard to find. For instance when it comes to condiments, I can’t find a ketchup or mayonnaise bottle without a one on the bottom.

If there is NO resin code on your plastic containers, call the manufacture and ask.  Since the resin codes are only for recycling, this would tell me that the manufacture doesn’t care about the environment and recycling the plastic they are creating!!!

To further understand plastic and its numbers, let’s look at the second part of recycling it…what is plastic being recycled into?  That ketchup bottle with a resin code of one isn't turned into another ketchup bottle. It is recycled into polyester fibres, which are a base material for the production of clothing, pillows and carpets.

Here’s a quick summary of what the resin codes tells us the plastic can become:

Polyester fibres, thermoformed sheet, strapping, and soft drink bottles.

Bottles, grocery bags, milk jugs, recycling bins, agricultural pipe, playground equipment, and plastic lumber (like outdoor deck flooring).

Pipe, fencing, shower curtains, lawn chairs and non-food bottles

Plastic bags, 6 pack rings, dispensing bottles, tubing, and various molded laboratory equipment

Auto parts, industrial fibers, food containers, and dishware

Desk accessories, cafeteria trays, plastic utensils, toys, and insulation board and other expanded polystyrene products (e.g., Styrofoam)

Bottles, headlight lenses, and safety shields/glasses, (and may leak bisphenol A in the food & environment).

Whether it is upcycling, buying handmade or reducing plastic use, becoming ethical consumers is something that everyone should look into. Does value or values determine your purchases? Educating yourself about the products you buy & their affect on the environment is vital to our future and the future of our planet. 

Look for our next article to discuss safer options that we, the consumers, have to reduce, reuse and recycle the plastic in our lives. 

Weekly Giveaway: Time & Again Shop!

It seems perfect that this week's Upcyclers' Giveaway is something for a child to wear, considering they are all back to school now! So thanks to Allison from Time & Again, one lucky girl will be absolutely adorable in her little handmade (and upcycled!) pillowcase dress!

But 1st! Our lucky winner of MOTHERBORED's giveaway from last week was~  Elyse of Elyse Hutchinson Designs!

Congrats to you, Elyse! Michelle will be in touch to get your address for shipping! We'd also like to congratulate Rebby, who was the alternate winner of our giveaway from Beach Glass Shop We love our fans and hope all of you who have been entering will be excited about all the giveaways we have lined up for the coming weeks! And now for this week's~

Told you it was adorable!

It’s a vintage c.1970’s pillowcase with harvest gold roses and blue, white and brown stripes in a 4T that would look great year round either as a dress or it would look really cute through the cooler months with jeans or brown leggings and a long sleeved t-shirt underneath.  When they outgrow it as a dress, they can wear it as a top!  Allison's daughter is 7 1/2 and can still wear her 4T’s as tops.  They are very versatile, super soft and wash very easily like regular linens.

Allison loves vintage linens and loves finding uses for them, so she started making these cute dresses which she creates from vintage and antique pillowcases! You can find many of her designs in her Etsy Shop, Time & Again. She has since expanded her line to include aprons for adults & children (sometimes even matching sets!) and "lovies" for babies. Now she even uses tea towels and dresser scarves to make half aprons and she also creates 'I-Spy' Bags! You can find her entire line of products with a huge variety of sizes and styles and even a line of Christmas dresses on her website, Time & Again Shop!

You'll love how easy it is to shop online at Time & Again! And you'll want to be sure to have your holiday shopping list handy when you start browsing!


NOW to enter the Giveaway!

First you must be a follower of Love 2 Upcycle to enter~ not a follower? Just look to the right and click on the 'Follow' button! But don't leave a comment for doing that!

Then you can submit up to 4 entries, each must be entered HERE in a separate comment for each entry. 
If you don't have an email listed in your profile, please leave it in one of your comments!

1. Browse, Like and Favorite Time & Again on Etsy!

2. Check out Allison's website and sign her Guest Book. Then tell us you did and what your favorite item is here in a comment!

3.  Become a fan of Time & Again on Facebook!

4. 'Tweet' or 'Like' this Giveaway using our Like or Tweet button or Share a link to our Giveaway on your Facebook fan page. 

***One more new option: You can pin one item from Time & Again on Pinterest with the description "Time & Again Shop"! But remember you still can only enter 4 times!

Deadline to enter is Wednesday, September 14th at Midnight.

The WINNER will be randomly drawn and announced with the next Giveaway!

Good Luck!
 

Would you like to Sponsor a Giveaway on Love 2 Upcycle? You don't have to be a member of Upcyclers to be a sponsor, all Etsy sellers of upcycled or eco-friendly products are welcome! But of course, we'd love for you to join the team!