For some things, Kermit was wrong - It's easy being green!

The whole gang behind the Etsy Twitter Team is going green for July! As for me, I am jumping on the bandwagon with a brand new collection of jewelry I am calling "Upcycled Bling". I have amassed a collection of vintage and thrift store tins with amazing graphics and converted them to fun and funky pieces of upcycled bling.




One of my commitments in the creation of these pieces is that I cannot buy anything new to put into a piece - everything must come out of my existing stash of inventory. Anyone who has seen my stash may think this is no big deal, as surely I must have at least one of everything in the world, but this includes all my findings and other supplies that I keep in limited supply. So for some things I am getting creative, and other things I am rolling out the silver smithing and making things DIY. As much as I appreciate those folks in China who roll out the jump rings at amazing affordable prices - No - I'm making them myself! And who says chains cannot be re-purposed into links?

So, check out the new section in my shop, and check out all the "green" things coming from all the wonderful folks in the Etsy Twitter Team. As for me, I'll be including these earrings in the promotional giveaway to occur next week. Stay tuned for more details!

Flashback Happens

Moving this past summer, I came across a box of "old" vinyl LPs. Man, I loved that music! I belonged to Columbia House Records, and managed to forget to return with a "Don't Send" only a couple of times, meaning the records are all pretty much ones I wanted in the first place. Steely Dan, Billy Joel, Dan Fogelberg, Chicago.... I wonder if they're all warped to heck from storage? Without a turntable - how can I know?

I do know that if I ever figure that out and the answer is "Yes, these records are all toast," then I'm sending the jackets over to the Etsy artist Revinylized. In the most clever of recycle-reuse, she takes the awesome artwork that was standard issue for LP jackets and transforms them into items of purpose, like sketchbooks, organizers and purses. So awesome.

Revinylized is actually a "side" shop to the main shop for the artist behind all this craftiness: Katie from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Katie's main shop is Knuckletoes, and she also sells her jewelry, clothing and purses at Folk Festivals in her area. She carries the theme of recycle-reuse by also making her clothing and purses out of recycled materials. Anything from tablecloths, to pillowcases, to reused LP record covers. This not only gives her items a vintage feel, but it helps the environment. What more do you need?

Katie features other indie artists at her Revinylized blog, and her life at her Knuckletoes blog. Now, off to look into finding a turntable for a chance to revisit my youth......

Get Your Groove On

Born and raised on the Jersey Shore and then moved to Los Angeles, Etsy artist Yaslani studied Fine Art - painting - at Otis Art Institute. Before long she found herself back in New Jersey where she detoured from art for a while and settled into a normal life fully stocked with a corporate job. Turns out normal wasn’t for her: making things became an addiction. A packrat by nature, she believes all items have a second life and loves using recycled items and supplies that are gentle to the environment.


Her work consists of bamboo pendants and mixed media paintings. She uses found objects, bamboo, ephemera, old paper, acrylic, gouache, pencils, pens, ink, glitter… and anything else within her grasp. Her influences include pop culture, color, music, animals, fashion, movies, magazines and too many artists she cares to mention. There are no heavy messages in her work; instead, she considers her art to be an aesthetic conversation. A lovely chat between friends, sometimes relaying a story or an inside joke. The only judgment Yaslani makes with her art is “am I feeling this or not.” The “not” pile gets recycled for another day.

Yaslani is the brainchild for all her creative outlets. There is so much more she plans to do. There are so many more beautiful conversations she says she plans to have, and she is still planning her escape from normal. Stay tuned at Yaslani's Groove Spot.