crafts

A week or so ago, I found these adorably unique creations from a great crafter in Georgia. Felicia of Fluffy Flowers makes her one-of-a-kind softies out of recycled materials. "I’ve made them from gloves, mittens, scarves, socks, and even sweaters," she states on her blog. "Saving the planet one creature at a time."

With their massive eyes and cute little smirks, it's hard to resist these creatures ... even if you don't know exactly what they are. Check out more of her nifty cuddleables in the Fluffy Flowers Etsy.com store and read more about her crafty life on the Fluffy Flowers blog.

[All images courtesy of Fluffy Flowers]

[Reposted from Victoria-E.com]

Exploring the most popular online crafty blogs will quickly bring you to the work of Kirin & Co., run by Australia’s one and only Lara Cameron. Kirin & Co.’s fabrics, featuring beautifully simple nature-inspired prints in an array of colors, easily remind me of more detailed version of Lotta Jansdotter’s work.

A new batch of hand-printed textiles will be soon be available in Lara’s Etsy.com shop, which currently offers an attractive collection of her hand-draw and computer-created art prints. Last but not least, Lara also enjoys dabbling in the world of jewelry making, selling her creations in her Etsy shop, as well as on ModaMuse.

All of Kirin & Co.’s creations are actually just a side endeavor for Lara, who has been running her own graphic design business out of her home office for nearly four years. Though her visual design talents have been embraced mostly by smaller businesses, larger corporations, such as Lonely Planet Publications and Toyota Australia, have hired Lara for her relaxed and open creative process.

Having just returned from a “crazy, diverse and exhausting” two-week vacation in Japan, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of my favorite crafty visual artists taking over the online design world. Read on for the exclusive interview with Lara Cameron, including details about her eco-aspirations, love for the Gocco printing machine, and a soon-to-be-released limited edition collaboration.

[READ THE FULL INTERVIEW AND SEE IMAGES OF HER WORK ON VICTORIA-E.COM]

Finding a workshop related to fiber crafts (knitting, sewing, crochet ... etc.) is as easy as pie, no matter the area you live in, but what about recycling those computer chips and metal hangers? Spotted recently on the ReadyMade blog, the groovy green handiworkers of the Bay Area have started the Made From Scrap company, a workshop warehouse "designed and built by artists, instructors, and students, those who want to learn, investigate, tinker, recycle, teach, meet, and have fun."

Made From Scrap's first set of workshops have been announced, which start in mid-September. Their offerings include: from plastic bags to kites, from bottle caps to coffee table, from pallets to birdhouses, and many more. You're asked to bring your own materials (a specific list is included on each workshop's registration page), and the instruction itself is affordable, ranging from $25-30 each.

Being a new establishment, they are currently looking for a variety of workshop ideas and local teachers - no matter your skills or ideas, they can be integrated into a fun, useful, and eco-based project for others to learn from. According to the organization's website, "because the only criteria we have for our workshops is that they focus on re-using objects, imagination is the only limit!" If you want people to reduce how much they purchase and reuse what they already have (or can find in second-hand stores and yard sales), you have to give them the hands-on knowledge and resources they need to learn how to do so.

Not only is this establishment a great chance for your average consumer (crafty or otherwise) to learn about the breadth of recycling options, it initiates the possibility for workshops like these to be organized and promoted all across the US, as well as the world - I could easily see these types of classes booming in Europe. With the crafty, Do It Yourself movement becoming a true staple in our society, I'm quite sure that this is a key market to be embraced if we want to have any hope of surviving on this planet for the next few centuries. Very few will doubt that our lives are far too complex and busy to be truly enjoyed, so taking the time out to nurture and preserve our resources, as well as our creative inclinations, will not only help our ecosystem, but our spirit as well.

[From Victoria-E.com] 

Tattoos, non-toxic inks, and tugboats - a uniquely crafty combination for a successful business. In my search to find San Francisco-based small businesses that use traditional letterpress machines, I stumbled upon the Tug Boat Press website. Originally, I was simply seeking out more information about the letterpress process since I wanted to give it a try myself.

With any new hobby that I hope to dive into, I ponder if there is a sustainable, eco-friendly option to embrace. To my surprise, Tug Boat Press has embraced the green aspects of printmaking by using soy inks and handmade, tree-free, and recycled papers. Started in the mid-90s, TBP has been printing custom nature- and alternative-inspired wedding invitations, business cards, and fine artistic prints in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.

Not one to shy away from a chance to learn more about this unique business and creative art, I talked with Tug Boat Press’ founder Jonathan Palmer recently about green business, the lost art of letters, zombie greeting cards, and more - keep reading for all the juicy details!

"Knit a bag, save the world" - who said being green and crafty can't make a difference? Trendy Knit.1 magazine, published by VogueKnitting, is sure their readers want to have a positive impact on the planet. "I’d like to think that as knitters, we’ve always been a pretty resourceful group. By practicing our craft, we are 'recycling' (for lack of a better word) countless generations of traditions and techniques, giving them our own modern spin," writes Adina Klein in her Editor's Letter for Knit.1's Summer 2007 issue, also know as "the green issue", on sale May 15th.

"Since we started working on this issue, it seems that every other magazine, from Town & Country to Fortune, has “green” plastered across its cover. It’s easy for us here at knit.1 to do a photo shoot in a garden and call it “Greenhouse Effect,” or to put a model in shiny gold hot pants and call it “Solar Power.” What’s harder is practicing what we preach. I know I have to stop filling landfills with individual containers of my favorite Greek yogurt and to finally start using those long-lasting light bulbs that have been on my to-buy list for months. But luckily for us knitters, doing the right thing comes naturally. To paraphrase blogger extraordinaire Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, we are good at making a difference because we understand how one little effort—the stitch—repeated hundreds and thousands of times, can make an enormous impact."

Unlike many of the major magazine doing green issue for April/May, Knit.1 has added a green element to just about every aspect of their next issue. Below is a small snippet of the many eco-offerings in the Summer issue; a visual preview of the patterns offered can be seen here:

GREEN SCENE
Shannon Okey searches the Web for all things purlable and earth-friendly.
IT’S A BIRD! IT’S A SKEIN!
...it’s Annette O’Toole and the knitting cast of TV’s Smallville. By Vickie Howell
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Projects, tips and other goodies that will help you knit and save the planet. By Leigh Witchel
ECO KNITTING
Yarns with a cause: Knitting goes green. By Leigh Witchel
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Flirty knits that will make you feel like a natural woman.
PAPER OR PLASTIC?
How about neither? Carry your sundries home in a hand-knit bag instead.
SOLAR POWER
Hot knits for hot days.
CONCRETE JUNGLE
What’s black and white and knit all over? Business wear for urban warriors.
KNIT YOUR VEGGIES
Get out your Wishbone Italian! Yummy knits made from corn to bamboo.
THOSE LEAVES OF GRASS
A salad bar of fibers.
THE BIRDS AND THE LEAVES
Nap in style, swaddled in a blanket that evokes the natural world.
ANIMAL PLANET
Go for faux with a pack of fierce pillows.

Like watching the stars? Check out your Summer knitstology horoscope, complete with eco tips for each sign. An issue like this is all the more proof that green living is more mainsteam than ever before, and I wouldn't have it any other way. On a related note, keep your eyes peeled for my green knitting piece in Yoga Journal Magazine's September 2007 issue.

[Reposted from Victoria-E.com]