TrashTalk vol.2

This month, TrashTalk catches up with recycled jewelry artist, Alex Keller. The pieces she creates are big on *bling* and long on *style*- Check out these recycled watchband bangles- BRILLIANT!

And read on for more about this gifted trashion artist...

How long have you been making trashion art and when and why did you start?
Officially, I started making trashion in the spring of '09, but I've always made things by recycling.

Did you grow up with a green family, or is recycling and reusing something you taught yourself to do?
My family was always green. I'm first generation Ukrainian, and both my parents are from Ukraine. They grew up with out much at all, so they were always very thrifty and creative. Mama made a lot of my clothes growing up, and I used the scraps to make clothes for my Barbie’s. Mama cooked and baked everything from scratch, we had a huge garden, she saved everything and reused anything that could be reused, from aluminum foil to zip close bags, to scraps of paper... she wouldn't even throw out slivers of soap.

Where do you find the materials that you plan on turning into trashion art?
Thrift stores, resale shops, vintage and antique shops, my dresser, my mom's dresser, garage sales, estate sales, and all donations are accepted :)

How did you or do you come up with your ideas?
I read a lot of fashion magazines, catalogs, and now I read a lot of blogs, look at on line shops, and get lost on Etsy. I think designers and artists are inspiring to one another. It pushes me to be more creative, but at the same time I try to stay with my aesthetic.

Why is it important for you to continue on this artistic path with trashion art?
I just don't think that by buying new beads and gemstones I'd be as inventive! Besides, there is SO much material to work with - I'm amazed at what I find.

How do you feel the community has taken to your art?
I have had great feedback from some of my customers, fashionistas, as well as some fellow Etsy artists.

What draws you to a particular found object?
I tend to go in cycles - first it was beads, then pearls, rhinestones, and chains. I collected a number of brooches, but I've been back to working more with chains and pearls.

Do you know right off how you will use your found materials, or does the inspiration come later?
Many times the inspiration comes later. Sometimes, I just get something because I like it. Trouble is, sometimes I keep it!

What new projects are you working on? Is there an idea you have that you'd like to share?
My latest project is an architectural series with vintage drawer pulls and chandelier crystals. I'm really loving it, and hope it goes well.
And I've also been meaning to put together a jewelry organizer with some spools I got from Miss Courageous. As soon as that's done, I'll post some pictures on Facebook!

Thanks Alex, it's been nice talkin' trash with you!

Tresijas Dreams Up New Uses for Vinyl

Etsy Trashion Materials Focus: Vinyl

Trashion team member Kelly Wakefield-Beytia of Tresijas gives fresh twists to Vinyl records! We asked her a few questions about upcycling vinyl and here is what she had to say:

What do you make from vinyl?

Jewelry, combs, card holders, and whatever else I can dream up.

What do you love about vinyl?
What don’t I love about it?!
It’s incredibly forgiving. If I make a mistake or things don’t turn out how I thought they would, I just warm it up again and start over. It’s versatile, there’s not much that you can’t do with it. I love that I can walk into a thrift store and buy the records on the floor that are cracked or stepped on and make them into something useful.

What’s the largest challenge in reutalizing vinyl?

Not all records are fit for my artistic purposes, as a result my personal listening collection has almost tripled.


How long have you been working in this medium?

Almost one year.

Where do you find inspiration?

My biggest inspiration is nature and the infinite number of organic forms that she creates.


Delightful! Kelly your dreams of vinyl have brought whimsy and joy to us all! Thank you for sharing your talent and creativity with us!

Want to have some of her remastered LP creations for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

Trashion Team Spotlight- Interview with Jamie from TwistedWear!

Shop name:
TwistedWear

Shop address:
http://www.twistedwear.etsy.com

Other sites:
I have a personal blog and gallery at http://www.twistedtextiles.com




Trashion materials:
I love plastics of any kind! I collect anything that seems to gather
itself in bulk in my garage, including clothing that the kids have outgrown and choice items from the overflowing recycling bins. Really, anything is game--the stranger, the better! I'm still trying to find a use for those plastic shotgun shells...

What do you transform them into?
I really enjoy making jewelry out of plastic beverage bottles, but right
now I'm in a handbag groove (which I swore I would never get into!)
which requires lots of empty plastic petfood bags. I actually don't have
any pets at home right now, so I could use any bags that you lovely
readers would be able to send my way!



How do you do it?
I got started with the “plastic grocery bag fusing” craze and sort of evolved the process from there. Plastics are a fun challenge because
they are all different and sometimes react to heat in strange ways. I use fun coordinating fabric remnants to line the handbags, and have been trying various plastic embellishments.

Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept?
If so, what was it?
My mother got me started when I was very young...we used to make table
place-mats out of stuff we found and then laminate it! In high school I
would express my “rebellion” by using a plastic sidewalk-chalk bucket as
a purse, or by wearing home-made shoes. That really gave the popular
kids something to talk about, eh?




What are your current projects and what is on the horizon?
The purses, of course...but soon I've GOT to finish that dress that I'm
making out of milkweed seeds quilted into plastic. I'd also love to
continue making “quilted paintings” but haven't been finding enough time
to sew. Perhaps I should just make them smaller so they don't take as
long! :D

I'm also trying to juggle my other business (painted murals and
faux-finishes) and will be designing and manufacturing stencil designs
for painting. Not as glamorous, but it still exercises my artistic talents.



Why should people buy handmade and from trashion?
Every day I become more insistent on using homemade and handmade items, including the food I eat! Our lives are so consumer centered. All the excess packaging out there, and all the wasted resources, the entire Earth becoming choked by our waste.
If I could be rid of my car, I would (Maybe one day!)---if we all just take one small step each day toward better habits, there will be progress. And the trashion concept is a great place to start!

Okay, I'll step down from my soap-box now...

Anything else you'd like to add?
I really think Handmade/Trashion will be more than just a trend or a
passing “fad”!! I'm glad that it has caught on so quickly, and I know
that it will continue to gain momentum!

Amazing work Jamie! Thank you for sharing with us!

MissCourageous Does Vinyl with Pop Style

Etsy Trashion Materials Focus: Vinyl

Trashion team member Millie Hilgert of Miss Courageous reuses Vinyl with delightful pop flare! We asked her a few questions about upcycling vinyl and here is what she had to say:

What do you make from vinyl?

I use recycled record vinyl, and I make pendants, earrings and belt buckles out of it.

What do you love about vinyl?

The fun colors it comes in, the way the grooves look on the finished product, and the surprise on people's faces when you tell them: "that was a record"

What’s the largest challenge in reutalizing vinyl?

Cutting it, I hand cut all my pieces, record vinyl can be finicky, different colors behave differently and even the black records come in different thicknesses, and I've gotten several cuts & burns!

How long have you been working in this medium?

About 3 years.

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere! nature, architecture, street fashion...


Millie is also a team leader for the Idaho Indie Works Street Team! She says "Whether raising children, pursuing a career, or overcoming obstacles that life can throw you, there's a little "Miss Courageous" in each of us!"

Thank you for nurturing our heroic sides, while sharing just how creative one can be with vinyl!

Interested in discovering more about Millie Hilgert and her work? Check out her blog, and website. Want to have some of her Pop accessories for your very own? Go to her Etsy shop!

Trashion Team Spotlight- Interview with Millie Hilgert of Miss Courageous!

Shop name: MissCourageous

Shop address: http://misscourageous.etsy.com

Other sites: http://misscourageous.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/misscourageous/
http://misscourageous.blogspot.com



Trashion materials:
old vinyl records, bottle caps, game pieces, cork, cassette tapes, mint tins, jar lids, reclaimed wallpaper & textile samples, etc...

What do you transform them into?
"pop" jewelry & accessories (necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, belt buckles, key chains)

How do you do it?
the vinyl is carefully handcut into fun shapes for pendants and earrings. The game tiles are adorned with found images, paper, or reclaimed wallpaper samples and turned into reversible bracelets and pendants or scrabble tile earrings that swivel while you wear them. Bottle caps have images set into them and are filled with resin, they become pendants, rings and rey chains. The jar lids and altoid tins become belt buckles protected with resin.


Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept?
I've been turning "garbage" into something else as long as I can remember. I would look at something that my mom was throwing out and try to think of what I could transorm it into. I was also the recipient of hand-me-downs from the next door neighbor and I would transform the t-shirts to make them "mine".

What are your current projects and what is on the horizon?
I'm currently working on new belt buckle designs using record vinyl and cassette tapes. I've been coating puzzle pieces and cork slices in resin. I've got some old bicicyle parts coming and I'll be doing some new shapes for the record vinyl necklaces soon. I'm also planning some things with other discarded design samles, laminate chips and other fun stuff. I've always got about 6 products going at once.


Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion?
Because you can't find anything mass produced that has as much heart or character in it as something that was handmade. We need to support independent artists and reduce what's entering the landfills. Trashion lets you accomplish both those things at once and get something that is totally unique and utterly cool.

Anything else you'd like to add?
I'm so glad that trashion is catching on, we all need to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is also a way to be fashionable and creative. Younger people seem to be especially receptive to it, they love the fact that everything I make used to be something else. I do encounter a few people who are appalled by the recycled record vinyl, but then I assure them that I do not use rare or valuable records and they are okay with it. I even used scratched and warped records.



Thank you for sharing your creative and diverse work with us Millie!

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 Interview- Pink Graffiti!

Shop name: Pink Graffiti

Shop address: http://lesleyanne.etsy.com

In a nutshell: Pink Graffiti is a shop that carries one of a kind handmade jewelry, clothing and accessories, most of which are made from recycled materials!


Tell us a bit about yourself : I am a full-time Interior Designer in Manhattan, designing commercial offices and fashion showrooms. I graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan before moving to the big city (Detroit isn't really technically a big city :) ), with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design, and a minor in Fiber Design. Working with fibers is really my passion, thus Pink Graffiti was born! I spend my spare time making jewelry and clothing from fabric in my studio, specializing in taking recycled clothing and embellishing it with floral patterns. I am also a knitter, but I choose to knit for gifts rather than for my shop. I started a knitting circle in the city with some of my friends, we get together once a week to knit and drink tea and chat.

Trashion materials: Recycled sweaters and cardigans, any old clothing that can be used for fabric, bottle caps, used games, like toys, and puzzles


I transform them into: Embellished clothing, accessories and funky jewelry.

How do you do it? My main technique is applique by machine sewing. I love my Janome sewing machine. It was a gift to myself when I finally moved into my own apartment. I do some hand-embroidery and embellishments, like adding beads. As for the jewelry from toys and puzzles, it only requires a hole-punch, my Dremel tool, and some silver findings! I have some tutorials on my blog showing my techniques. http://pink-graffiti.blogspot.com
Or you can go specifically to this entry



What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion? I was really inspired by a lot of what I saw in local shops, all of the embellishments to a normal cardigan. I thought, I can do that. I have so much fabric and embroidery floss, it was very easy to get started. The thrift stores in Michigan are just amazing, and I was able to stock up on gently used cardigans and sweaters. I am involved with Trashion because I think there are so many materials out there just begging to be beautified. I want to be a part of it, I want to help this world recycle something old and make it into something someone will treasure.

Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept? Yes, I still remember the first cardigan I made.
What was it? A recycled white cardigan, with appliqued blossom petals. It was one of the first things I sold in my Etsy shop! I did so much sketching and prototypes before selling. It was the beginning of a great vision.

What are your current projects and what is on the horizon? I am always working on sweater projects. Another cardigan is in the making right now, something similar to the purple sweater in my tutorial. I am also making more leg warmers from recycled sweater sleeves!
And I'm always making jewelry out of toys, bottle caps and puzzles. For the future, I am sketching and collecting materials, experimenting with different techniques. Keep an eye on my shop for new products!!



Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion? I will always recommend buying handmade simply because you are going to have something so unique and one of a kind. I myself don't particularly like the mainstream jewelry and fashion all the time, and I always find something completely amazing when I buy handmade, either from Etsy or from local craft shows. Buying from Trashion is especially amazing, simply because you know you are buying something that has been recycled!


More you'd like to share: I love what Etsy Trashion is doing. It is seriously an honor to be a part of this team.

Thanks for talking to us about how you began Pink Graffiti Lesley! We look forward to checking out more of your awesome designs!