Artsy Fartsy Jewelry

Mark February 26th on your calendar and join Susi D (the artist behind Artsy Fartsy Jewelry), Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and SCRAP for an Eco ARTday! We'll be making fabulous jewelry out of plastics. So bring your plastic trash and transform it with us. The workshop is FREE, but you need to RSVP. Call (202) 547-6839 to reserve your space. Recommended for students ages 10 and up.

Here's the official blurb:

February 26. Workshops at 10:00 am and 11:00 am.

Come learn to recycle plastic containers into beautiful colorful earrings! In this workshop you will learn to use plastic containers, credit and gift cards and other plastic "trash" to make unbelievably COOL jewelry. Your instructor will have plastic containers, a variety of tools and jewelry findings for each student to make two pairs of earrings. The class will focus on types of plastic used, techniques for cutting and final assembly.

There will be a large display of earring examples for inspiration, but we hope you will have YOUR OWN creative ideas to explore using the techniques that have been demonstrated. Students are welcome to bring plastic if desired to use in their project.

Making stuff with tubes

SCRAPpy bracelets are one of our favorite crafts to bring to fairs and festivals for people to make and take home. The inspiration? Sterile acupuncture plastic tubes (they hold the acupuncture needles before the needles are used) that Karen's been diverting from the waste stream for awhile. Karen makes awesome jewelry with the tubes by wrapping them in fabric, paper or yarn and making them in to earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Here's one of the bracelets.


Super cool, huh? Karen also made a rockin' display board so you can have step by step directions on how to make fabric/paper/yarn beads at home and create your own jewelry. Any kind of tube will do--try using used juice box straws.






Make the beads:



Play with the beads:

So there you go. All you need to know about making beads. Have fun!

After a month and a half...

Whoops. How quickly a month and a half go by! Especially when you're busy doing stuff. Karen and I have been bouncing all over DC, MD, and VA doing super scrap-related things. Here's a quick update:

• 10/9 River Front Fest-We made bracelets out in the sun all day, watched kids and adults patiently and very artfully string beads, listened to a bunch of bands (quite the variety), decided a pop-up tent is a good idea for outdoor festivals, premiered the SCRAP banner that our intern Melissa made
  
• 10/16 ReCREATE-Attended the opening of the Center for Green Urbanism that celebrated with a fantastic display of recycled art. The kind of art that really wows me. I'm tapping Karen on the should every two seconds saying "LOOK!".
• 10/24 GreenFest-Well, we weren't officially on the docket, but we both scoped it out! Karen bought cool stuff. I enjoyed the free samples.
  
• 11/7 BIG donation day-We racked in 585 pounds of stuff in just one day. Let's call it the big Virginia drop. Way to represent VA.
  
• 11/9 SCRAP-to-go Kits-Karen and I played with all the donations and made the colorful kits that contain bits of fabric, paint samples, colored pencils, buttons, lace, yarn, pipe cleaners, thread, puffy paint, whatever! Very, very fun to make.
• 11/11 Artists Boutique Opening at the Mind + Spirit Center-A great place that has made space for artists to show and sell their work. Want a crocheted handbag made from plastic bags? Repurposed jewelry? Screen printed bags? Check out the boutique!
  
• 11/13 Trash to Treasure Green Craft Fair-Headed out Watkins Nature Center in PG County for a super day of making stuff. SCRAPpy bracelets were accompanied by SCRAPpy stationary. Creativity was bouncing off the walls. And we got 61 pounds of donated materials that day (some REALLY cool stuff like homespun yarn and colorful synthetic fur material!).
  
• Other: Conference calls, graphic designing, space investigation (the trail is hot!), more supply pick-ups, compiling email lists, meeting up with other creative reuse enthusiasts, going to cool events around DC

Next up? DC Craft Mafia's Holiday Heist at the Soundry in Vienna, VA. Get shoppin'!