Trashion Team Spotlight- Vicki of Wearwolf!

Shop name: wearwolf

Shop address: www.wearwolf.etsy.com

Other sites: www.wearwolfs.com

Trashion materials: soda cans, used tin, found objects, old jewelry, bottle caps

I transform them into: jewelry and shrines, picture frames

How do you do it? Using the colors and words to make interesting and beautiful things to wear or look at. I like that people usually look at my things and see the piece, first, THEN the fact that it's recycled!


Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept? Hmmmmm.... probably a flower brooch.

What are your current projects and what is on the horizon? Looking at heavier metals for cutting and shaping.... adding more painted pieces, decorating small furniture items with tin flowers, more detail oriented earrings..... who knows?

Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion? I think that using recycled items adds one more dimension of challenge to the creative process. The page is never completely blank so you have to mentally twist ideas a little more. Plus, it is awesome to use things that have already been processed. Recycling instead of using "new" just has to help use less resources somewhere......

Anything else you'd like to add?
My son is an elementary school teacher and his whole school collects cans for me now! I am their adopted artist. They have such fun showing me new cans that they have found! I think this helps the small ones start thinking about what you can do with things before you just toss them in the trash! This has gotta be good for the earth!

Thank you for sharing your beautiful work with us! That's so great that you've gotten school kids more involved with recycling through your work!

Trashion Team Spotlight- Antonia from Artimentary!

Shop name: Artimentary

Shop address: www.artimentary.etsy.com

Other sites: www.flickr.com/photos/artimentary/ and Artimentary.com

Trashion materials: Salvaged aircraft aluminum & fiberglass, old earring parts, backs and other clasps, shoe clips, zippers

(looooooooooove the zippers), Swarovski crystals from the floor sweepings of a defunct 1980’s costume jewelry manufacturer,

Bits of shiny metal, vintage watch faces, casings, straps and buckles, reclaimed chains, reclaimed sailmakers Dacron thread, found objects,

Circuit boards, old floppy disc parts, damaged or broken vintage jewelry

I transform them into: Ecopunk jewelry, steampunk designs, visual ReUse art and accessories

How do you do it? Rivets, glue, cement, links and wire wrap, sewing, laminating

What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion? Like a raccoon or raven, I cannot resist shiny things, and found objects. I find them everywhere, and have a trove of treasures I’ve been collecting and making things out of for the past 30 years (yes, that WAS thirty). Yes, I AM older than dirt.

Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept? How could I forget, and this is a true story.
What was it?
Don’t choke up. Seriously, it was Christmas and I was a young mom with two children under six and a husband who’d just lost his job. Long story short, my youngest daughter had wanted a particular dolly and there was no way we could afford to buy toys. I made EVERYTHING. The kids’ clothes included. So I had to make her something so unique she’d be flabbergasted enough to forget about the storebought doll. Recycling old tights with runs, my flannel nightgown and cotton towels for stuffing, I made her a life-sized cotton dolly from some ivory flannel sheets passed down from my grandmother who’d saved everything since the depression. The doll had a sweet blue stripped dress, enormous handpainted button blue eyes (just like hers), and moppish brilliant cobalt yarn hair! She was adorable and actually just a bit bigger than my 3 yr old daughter who fell in love with ‘her best friend’. It was great to be off the hook, but now the secret question: Can Trashion predict the future? This was the same teen daughter who announced “I just LOOK more like myself when I have blue hair. It’s the color I was supposed be born with only there was a slight mistake, and fortunately I am able to fix THAT”. By the way, she is now a chef at a 2-starred Michelin restaurant in a major upscale location and still is known for…wait for it…. her French blue hair….Who knew!?

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

I’ve designed a nice packaging solution for my jewelry, as I am also a proud member of Team EcoEtsy. I am playing with circuitry and salvage metals to make Ecopunk jewelry on bird and nature themes mixed with steampunk and geekery. I just scored a bunch of Mycarta, a vintage aircraft material from the 40’s which has a lovely deep amber surface and unique texture so check my shop to see how things work out. Fusing plastic is also affording me a whole new view on soft surfaces to combine with my beloved hardware. Go Trashion! I am also a proud member of Interior Design Team at Etsy, and am working on visual ReUse art for the home and office.




Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion?

We really live in the best of all worlds when we combine art with reUse and proudly live a handmade life. Walk our talk! It inspires change through joy. It works by attraction rather than promotion. What is more compelling than responding to someone’s interest in that unusual design you’re wearing and getting to introduce them to Etsyworld? And don’t we LOVE to make and do? And see what others make and do? And share the Love with the maker-doers! Trashion is all about the love! It all works together.

Thank you for sharing your awesome work with us Antonia!

Trashion Team Spotlight- Debra of Junk to Jewels!

Shop name: Junk to Jewels

Shop address: www.junktojewels.etsy.com

Trashion materials: I use bike parts, bits of plumbing, and recycled glass beads and transform them into fun jewelry.

How do you do it? I degrease the bike chain and break it apart using a chain tool. That's the hard part. Then I use the chain links like beads. Plumbing pieces similarly are cleaned and used to make funky pendants. The recycled glass beads are from Indonesia so I do not make them.


What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion?
I started all of this after going to an art exhibit at the Fowler Museum at UCLA in Los Angeles. The exhibit featured recycled/upcycled art from around the world. It was truly inspiring! They were doing a workshop for kids that day and my kids and I started to play around with the bits of materials they had gathered and I ended up with a necklace made of bike parts, electrical wire, and beads. It was so much fun and the feedback on my piece was positive so an idea was born. I have no illusions about my jewelry from an ecological standpoint. I know that the bits and pieces being kept out of the landfill are literally a drop in the bucket. Energy goes into making recycled glass but I like the idea of contributing in some small way to raise consciousness about reusing and recycling.



Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept? yes
What was it? The piece I described above.


What are your current projects and what is on the horizon? I'm always working to create new designs and currently am working a lot with recycled glass. The colors are so amazing and the look of beach glass is soothing to me. Some of my designs are one of a kind but I am also developing a line of pieces that I can market for the wholesale business. My work is in a handful of stores around the country and in some online shops. I recently agreed to be part of a new venture with another Etsy seller called Maison Green. The newest material that I've been playing with is wrapping beads with guitar wire. My daughter recently had her electric guitar restrung so I am using the old ones to make pendants and earrings. It's definitely harder to work with than silver wire but the results are worth it. I'll have a photo on my shop soon.

Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion? I'm trying to get rid of as many "shoulds" in my life as I can :-) But it's fun to see what other people come up with. It's dizzying how creative the human mind is..... Just looking at the front page of Etsy can be overwhelming but so exciting at the same time. Handcrafted stuff can be beautiful, whimsical, funky. I like to share that with people who value it.

More you'd like to share: My other passion in life is to share what I know about respectful, consent-based parenting. My blog is at http://www.outsidetheboxparenting.com

Thank you for sharing your beautiful and innovative jewelry with us Debra!

Trashion Team Spotlight- Bakas Artysta!

Shop name: Bakas Artysta

Shop address: www.bakasartysta.esty.com


Trashion materials: paper, magazines, scrap ribbon and felt & anything that I can cut up and glue!

I transform them into: Envelopes, cards, coasters, magnets, frames, origami and jewelry---the possibilities are truly endless!


How do you do it? Lots and lots of glue!

What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion? I noticed the pile up of magazines that was in my apartment and thought to my self, there's got to be a way to use these in my art work.

Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept? yes
What was it? My magazine coasters.




What are your current projects and what is on the horizon? I'm really trying to expand my jewelry line that is sold at buddhabops.esty.com and also expand the different types of recycled materials I use in my projects.




Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion? Not only do you get to own a really cool & unique piece of art, but it makes so much sense to participate in something that is so good for the environment and people!

Thanks for sharing your work with us!