Yellow Walls Designs New Twists on Paper

Materials Focus: Paper

Trashion team member Rebecca Potts of YellowWalls gives new life to paper with lovely twists! We asked her a few questions about reuseing paper and here is what she had to say:

What do you make by re-using paper?

I make jewelry and I'm working on holiday ornament ideas. I also make journals and cards, but haven't posted them yet.

What do you find the most satisfying about your creations?
I love being able to turn my trash into something useful and beautiful. It's also lots of fun figuring out new ways of using paper.

Where do you typically find the paper you repurpose?
Under my kitchen sink, where I keep the recycling and garbage. I literally go through my own trash and take out anything that might be redeemable.

What type of paper products do you use?

Anything I can get my hands on. Cardboard and card stock work really well for my jewelry and for book covers, while thinner paper like all the junkmail and old newspapers are great for recycling into paper pulp.

Where did you learn your current techniques?

I started making paper using a blender, window screen, and my oven when I was about 12 years old. Then during my year abroad in college I got to learn more about paper making from experts in Australia. Now I'm back in school and learning even more from professor Joan Hall. I also learned book-making in college. Jewelry making I mostly just taught myself by messing around with materials. I had a short lesson from a friend about wire wrapping and then took it from there.

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?

I'm a bit obsessed with maps, so that comes through in some of my work. I also make things based on what my friends and family like - for example, I make lots of elephant images because my sister likes Elephants. Whatever materials I'm using also inspire me with their colors and shapes.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?
I would be lost without my pliers.

Tell us about a couple favorite items they've made from paper and why they stand out in your mind.

I love the colorful earrings. I'm also excited about these elephant pendants I'm working on.

Any final thoughts you want to share?

Just to stress the importance of the 3 R's right now. It's up to us to make sure our children will be able to enjoy this beautiful planet.


Interested in discovering more about Rebecca Potts and her work? Check out her website. Want a one of her three R jewels for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

Scribble Nation Playing with Paper!

Materials Focus: Paper

Trashion team member Mary Helen of Scribble Nation gives new life to paper with amazing talent! We asked her a few questions about reuseing paper and here is what she had to say:

What do you make by re-using paper?

One of a Kind Mustache Collage Cards

What do you find the most satisfying about your creations?

I love the creative process. We start out with a cocktail or two, some of our favorite magazines or clothing catalogs, and a set of colored pencils or felt tipped markers. Giggles and mustaches quickly follow. We often do our best mustaching with the help of our friends during our weekly craft night. In a few days I pull out the mustached or collaged pages and start attaching them to randomly stamped cards. I love making art out of jokes. It's my favorite.

Where do you typically find the paper you repurpose?

Junk mail, magazine subscriptions, and catalogs. These things arrive at the house, are read through about a gazillion times, then are added to the mustache pile.

What type of paper products do you use?

Mostly magazines and catalogs. We attach our collages to new, crisp cards and envelopes.

Where did you learn your current techniques?

Waiting rooms.

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?

The popularity of mustache

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?

It's a toss up between the colored pencil and the ever popular Sharpie marker.

Tell us about a couple favorite items they've made from paper and why they stand out in your mind.


Commander Stache, pictured at right, features the picture that started the whole joke. She is like the Mustchae Mother, giving birth to all the countless mustached wonders to happen since.

Beer Helmet, as seen below, is another favorite of mine due to the cooperative aspect of it. Our friend Jessica doodled this bad boy, never thinking it would become a piece of upcycled art!



Any final thoughts you want to share? Viva magazine graffitti!

Thanks for sharing your creative reuse of paper with us! We never knew waiting rooms could bring such fun to us all!

Interested in discovering more about Mary Helen and her work? Check out her blog. Want a mustash card for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

FoundThings adds a creative flare to paper!

Materials Focus: Paper

Trashion team member emmy of foundthings gives new life to paper with amazing talent! We asked her a few questions about reuseing paper and here is what she had to say:

What do you make by re-using paper?
Jewelry, collage and mixed media art, art dolls, really I have no limits!


What do you find the most satisfying about your creations?

How the everyday, overlooked, stepped on and taken for granted can be transform into beauty!

Where do you typically find the paper you repurpose?

The street, junk mail, books, friends, discards from local printers

What type of paper products do you use?

I have no limits on the paper I use, from the ordinary copy paper, candy wrappers, newspaper, anything recycled to cardstock.
Since I was little I’ve always had a collection of paper stash. I wouldn't waste a scrap!

Where did you learn your current techniques?

I’ve learned them from pure experimentation.
The best come from making mistakes, taking risks and trying again and again!

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?

I see inspiration in textures, simple and complex forms, and mainly in the found object itself. My sons inspire me a lot with their messes, as well as pure and raw discoveries.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?

My hands. I love to get them dirty, painted and glued!

Tell us about a couple favorite items they've made from paper and why they stand out in your mind.

I have quite a few of my own that our my favorites, but what really stands out to me is working with others who are afraid of "art", being trapped in the mindset that they can't do it or do it good enough. They have a perception that art has to be just perfect. It’s such freedom to see them find the beauty in the raw. So I’d say my collaborative works with others who are intimidated by the raw materials are the ones that stand out.
Seeing someone else realize that they are able to be creative and make something beautiful out of nothing is priceless and beautiful all in itself!

In the photo (to the right) you'll see my friend Sam couldn't believe she actually did this!!

Any final thoughts you want to share?

Life is hard YA gotta get your funk on!!



Emmy your a wonderful joy to witness! Thank you for sharing some of your inspiration and creation with us! So when I was putting this post together I stummbled across the "All About Paper" zine, pictured to the right. It's a family project! Emmy's kids are fundraising to raise money for the local food bank.
"The zine is ALL ABOUT PAPER!! basically its a collage pack with all sorts of FOUND papers, some textured,some hand painted,handmade envies, lots of scraps n pieces, including found images for you to put together your very own masterpieces. also included is an artist trading card and a small sample of collage sheets, and anything else fun we can scrounge up. THERE ARE ART PAGES TO INSPIRE YOU AS WELL! ITS REALLY A GREAT ZINE! its a ONE shot so we'll sell it until we run out of paper!
EACH ONE IS UNIQUE and papers vary! SO SUPPORT THE CAUSE and help 2 inspiring young artists as well!" I, drew the editor of this interview am now the proud owner of a copy of this!!


Interested in discovering more about emmy and her work? Check out her website. Want a one of her incredible creations for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

Little Orange Kitchen with Delicious Paper!

Materials Focus: Paper

Trashion team member Laura of LittleOrangeKitchen gives new life to paper with amazing talent! We asked her a few questions about reuseing paper and here is what she had to say:

What do you make by re-using paper?
I make wallets, business card holders, passport cases and journals out of recycled newspaper, magazines, maps, vintage books, magazines and both vintage as well as contemporary gift wrap.

What do you find the most satisfying about your creations?
I'd have to say the response from other people. When someone admires a wallet at a show and I explain that the back panel is a silverware ad, the inner panel is an ad from a German newspaper and the front panel is from a vintage book etc, it's fun to see their delight and how they take a closer look because they originally thought it was just one random pattern. I enjoy seeing a pretty skirt in a fashion magazine and knowing that the skirt alone would make a great pattern on the front of a card holder and then having people ask me where I got the "gift wrap". I get a huge and unabashed kick out of myself. :)

Where do you typically find the paper you repurpose?

If I'm at your house, you can expect that I'll be digging through your recycle bin looking for anything I can use! No map is safe from me, even if you need it for a road trip, I'm going to lay a claim on it! Same thing with your Italian Vogue.
Friends bring me newspapers and fashion magazines from all over the world and I scour thrift shops and even salons for more. I also get tattered books from the free shelf at the Salvation Army. I'm donate a lot of newer books, so I don't feel so bad occasionally taking a few free ones.

What type of paper products do you use?

While I do make a line of wallets with new gift wrap, I use newspaper, magazines, and books for the line that is 100% recycled paper, And, regardless of the source, every single wallet I make is lined with recycled card stock from holiday cards, manilla folders, heavy mailers and old file folders.

Where did you learn your current techniques?

I began experimenting with origami a few years ago and then my mother gave me a newspaper wallet that was cute, but didn't last. I played with paper for a few months and finally came up with a design I was pleased with and began giving them away to friends. One friend asked if she could take a bunch to her office to sell to her co-workers and I was floored when she sold out. From there, people started asking for other things and the cardholders and passport cases were born.

The hardest thing for me to learn was how to fold a straight line. I used to scream in frustration and even bought some tools designed to help and still couldn't get it. If I'm even 1/20th of an inch off, the wallets don't turn out. Finally, my husband was like, "Get rid of the tools and just eyeball it!" The best advice. I'm intuitive when it comes to making things and thought it would be better to be more precise and organized, so I thought ruled mats would help....nope, now I just take breath and "eyeball it". Good lesson, use your own strengths to help you and don't worry if other people seem more efficient.

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?

Fabrics inspire me. I can't sew, but I love fabrics, so pictures of fabrics in magazines are the next best thing.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?

My rotary cutter is a lifesaver...a lifesaver, One tip I have for people who work with vinyl or resins in combination with paper (Scrabble tile magnets, belt buckles, resin or glazed jewelry etc...) is to have a lint roller handy. I roll one over my cutting table and the floor around it to ensure there aren't any little flecks of paper, dust or lint around. There's nothing worse than finishing a wallet to discover a tiny paper scrap or yarn fiber from another project trapped underneath the vinyl that I use to add durability to the wallet.

Tell us about a couple favorite items they've made from paper and why they stand out in your mind.

I use old book jackets to make larger wallets and was really pleased with the first one I made. It was from a book on Frida Kahlo and I'm really proud of it.

I'm also proud of this one, pictured at left: It was made of three collaged panels and even though the images came from three different newspapers, the colors went so well together, even the stripes on the backgrounds combined to look like one piece. It sold right away and I miss it!

Any final thoughts you want to share?

I'm in the "hybrid" stage of trashion, I use new vinyl to enhance old paper, and I think it's a good place to start. The wallets are definitely not disposable, but they aren't heirlooms either, so I encourage people to reuse pieces of them once they wear out, or send them to me so I can cut the panels up and make new ones. One woman used hers daily for about eight months and then cut her favorite sections into strips, glued them onto recycled cardboard and made bookmarks, gift tags and a pair of earrings. Right on! The gift that just keeps on giving. :)

Thanks for sharing your creative reuse of paper with us!

Interested in discovering more about Laura and her work? Check out her blog. Want a delightful paper wallet for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

samann1121 Recreates Paper

Etsy Trashion Materials Focus: Paper

Trashion team member Jessie of samann1121 gives new life to paper with amazing talent! We asked her a few questions about reuseing paper and here is what she had to say:

What do you make by re-using paper?

Note cards, stickers, gift tags, envelopes

What do you find the most satisfying about your creations?

I love being able to rescue things that were bound for a landfill.
There's so much life left in so many of the things people don't want anymore.
I feel like I'm making the world better a little at a time.

Where do you typically find the paper you repurpose?

garage and estate sales, thrift stores, my mailbox, other people's trash

What type of paper products do you use?

I mostly use vintage papers, like the pages of old books.  Also maps, magazines,
wrapping paper, and wallpaper.

Where did you learn your current techniques?

Craftster was a major source of inspiration several years ago.
Since then, it's pretty much just been trial and error,
and a couple of internet tutorials.

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?

My materials inspire me.
I hardly ever go out looking for materials to make aspecific project.
I find the materials, and they tell me what to do with them.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?
When working with paper, my favorite tool is probably my paper cutter -
- it's 12" x 15", and cost $12 at the local Salvation Army.  :-)

Tell us about a couple favorite items they've made from paper and why they
stand out in your mind.

I think my yearbook stickers are the most fun to make.
I also love picking out old books to make my book journals.


Any final thoughts you want to share?
I love that the Trashion team is growing so fast!  The more Trashion love, the better!



On that note, if your feeling inspired go puruse Jessie's supply shop!
It's got plenty of rescued paper and ephemera! 


Interested in discovering more about Jessie and her work check out her blog, and Flickr.
Want to have some of her creative paper creations for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

Fall into Holiday Cheer with EtsyMoms

rikrak makes these lovely sustainable wallets and she
also an EtsyMom team member!

Thursday at 7 pm Eastern Standard Time The best place to be is the Etsy Virtual Labs!
Join us in getting to know EtsyMoms as they put on a Fall themed trunk show.

Where: Etsy Virtual Labs http://www.etsy.com/virtual_labs.php
When: Thursday September 4th at 7:00pm EST
Who: Etsy Moms is an awesome street team of Mothers who have Etsy shops, we have a few members on the Trashion Team who are also on EtsyMoms.

RockerChick made this beutiful eco-friendly dress from a Men's Izod Dress shirt. She is on the Trashion team and EtsyMoms!

It's only a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea

The artisans on the trashion team bring out beauty in unconventional objects and materials. We seek out materials others have might discard and revision them. We apply our skills and passion to recycling, giving unwanted supplies new purpose and charm.

In September we will be focusing on upcycling Paper products. We will take a look at the materials themself. Then we will feature papers transformations by the hands of members of the Etsy Trashion Street Team. We will see first hand what they love about paper, as well as how they upcycle it into items of greater value!

To get a peak at some things to come search Etsy with Trashion Team and paper you will be thrilled by what you find!