Trashion team spotlight - Interview: Chaos Into Art

Shop name:Chaos Into Art
Shop address: http://samann1121.etsy.com
In a nutshell: Vintage Materials Love!

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I’m a twenty-something girl -- just out of college, just married, and trying to figure out how best to support my husband and redeem the world with my crafts at the same time!

Trashion materials:

Vintage fabric (clothing, neckties, curtains, bed sheets, pillowcases, tablecloths, scraps that no one else wants, etc), books, magazines, and other ephemera.

I transform them into:

Clothing, purses, pouches, note cards, journals, stickers, sachets, coasters, and other housewares. I also gather vintage items and sell them as supplies.

How do you do it?

Well, mostly I just love rescuing things. So I rescue them, and they tell me what they’re supposed to be.

What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in Trashion?

I think it started with a respect for older items and a lack of funds. But I’ve realized that Trashion really is away to save the world – not in a cheesy sense, and not even necessarily in an environmental sense, but in the sense that I can replace chaos and decay with order and beauty. Hence, the name of my shop – “Chaos Into Art”.

Do you remember the first thing you made using the Trashion concept?
What was it?

I’ve been crafting for a long time, so I’m not sure. But I do recall furnishing my beautiful new doll house (I was about 6) with carpet and upholstery scraps from my uncle, and jewelry boxes from my mom for tables and beds. Again, lack of funds was a big contributing factor.

What are your current projects and what is on the horizon?

I have self-diagnosed “Craft ADD” – I’m always hopping from project to project. Lately I’ve been making zippered pouches out of vintage neckties, and stickers and note cards out of old high school yearbooks. I plan to start making Christmas stockings out of neckties soon. Another new thing for me is coasters made out of old board games boards. They’re in my shop now. I’m really excited about those! Oh, and I will soon venture into the exciting world of home craft shows! Yikes!

Why should people buy handmade, and buy from Trashion?

There are a lot of really good reasons to buy handmade and Trashion, and many of them have been mentioned on this blog before. For me, it goes back to redeeming the world. Making it more like it should be. Less decay and less disorder. More beauty, more order, and more people making a living doing what they are supposed to do.