A visit to the landfill

I work for our local county government & had the opportunity today to have a tour, via car, around the local landfill.  It's now a transfer station as the trash is now taken to the next county.

What amazed me was the amount of recycling  and reusing that is happening at this facility.  For instance, the facility would like more land space.  So the answer is to use the concrete, brought by local contractors, to fill in one of the lakes on the property with the concrete pieces.  The piles are already building up.  The shrubbery brought in by the local pickup and the local landscapers is now being bought from a company who is converting it to ethanol.  Very clever.

There is always going to be trash - yucky stuff that is not reusable or recyclable, but it's great to see innovation take place and reduce what is sent to the landfill.

Scrapfit - a way to stay in shape with your LOs

I just discovered a new blog and wanted to share with everyone. It's Scrapfit and it's a great way to stay in shape with your scrappin'! The blog posts challenges 2 times per month and they have awesome prize packs!



Here's my version of Workout #1:
The challenge was to use water & ink on your layout. The photo is me in Eleuthra, Bahamas during our honeymoon. I'm standing on a rock cliff above the bay. I'm not sure if you can really tell in this photo, but I've inked the edges of the pages. From a sustainability standpoint, I re-used some scraps of paper for my journaling, and re-used scraps of paper for my palm tree.

This challenge is due on the 14th, but stay tuned for their 2nd challenge for the month of August!

Great mini article on Going Green with Scrapbooking

I stumbled across this article and wanted to share it with everyone. I found it at Examiner.com and it's written by Denise Bertacchi. I thought it was super and I love the arms hugging the tree!

Go green with your scrapbooking

Mykl Roventine

It seems that "going green" is all the rage with other parts of our lives...but can you really go green with a paper intensive hobby like scrapbooking?

Sure you can.

Recycle. Not the big green can in your garage, but recycle the scraps of paper from other projects. Save all the used bits of paper left over from today's layout to use again tomorrow. Don't throw out any paper that's big enough to use as a photo mat or journaling box.

Reuse. Turn scraps and leftovers from other parts of your life into scrapbooking material. Why buy buttons when you can reuse REAL buttons from an old shirt? Use interesting art from junk mail and magazines in your scrapbooks. Just remember to use archival safe paper for your backgrounds and anything that touches photographs. Better yet, only use copies of photos, not the original, for cropping.

Reduce. Simplify your scrapbooking supplies to avoid waste. Pick a few favorite colors and stick to them. Use up all your old supplies before buying new. Use digital mats to highlight photos you print yourself.

More Info: Here's some tips on environmentally friendly scrapbooking from the tree experts at Abundant Forests.

August PageMaps Sketch Challenge!

I love challenges! Especially those that come with a sketch - it makes scrapping a page so much easier! When PageMaps came up with this sketch for their monthly blog contest, I knew I had to participate:

Here's my version of the sketch:

The contest allows you to use the sketch how you see fit. In other words, you can rotate it, or use another size besides 12x12. I reused some little shells that I had picked up at a thrift store a long time ago, and that is really the only repurposed material on the page. I'm just trying to use up my supplies - I have way too much! I also broke out the sewing machine and sewed a border around the page, and I decided to journal as a border.

I had won a gift certificate to A Cherry On Top and bought some gold Glimmer Mist. I never used it before, so I decided to give it a go on this LO. The 3 black circles I cut from scraps and then sprayed them with the Glimmer Mist. Cool stuff - here's a close up:

I also like my pop dots, so I added a little dimension as well:

I hope you like this LO. If you have some time before 8/16, you can also join in on this challenge. Click here for the challenge.

Happy Scrappin'!

Paper Piecing - A Great Way to Use Your Scraps

In keeping with the green theme, a great way to not only save money, but re-purpose your scraps is to start paper piecing. Don't throw your scraps in the landfill! Start saving them and then you can paper piece.

What is paper piecing? Paper piecing is using cardstock and patterned paper to create paper embellishments for your scrapbook pages and greeting cards. They can come from easy or intricate patterns. You can find some great patterns in children's coloring books. To get you started here is a pattern that was used to complete the piece shown above. Have fun!

Reusing a cereal box!

Of course, cereal is the big breakfast around here! I do recycle my cereal boxes in the containers, but since I have a ton of magazines that I'm unwilling to get rid of right now, so I thought, "how can I re-use them?". Here's a project I started & will finish today and post finished pictures later. I took one box of cereal (see above) & cut it at an angle, like a magazine holder. I have 1 magazine holder and used it as a template:

I then chose a color scheme for my 'new' magazine holder & traced my template:

Sorry for the blurry picture! I then cut it out for both sides, cut out the spine and started gluing!

Stay tuned for the rest!

Featured Etsy Artist!

It's that time again - time to showcase another Recycled artist from Etsy!

Today it's - (insert drumroll):

GreighdayVintage.etsy.com

Greighday describes their style:

I rescue, recycle and re-purpose vintage items,
making them beautiful once again. Nothing pleases me more than spending my
weekends on the road, scouring antique shops and estate sales in search of that
one perfect item. I utilize antique jewelry, lingerie & dresses, textiles
and hardware. I re-purpose vintage lace and brocade fabrics along with imported
glass beads, rhinestones and various interesting bobbles I stumble upon on my
many journeys. Every item I offer is made with tender care. I use high quality
materials to produce the best product for you.

Look at some of their great products:

Greighday has some really unique products in her store. Visit her by clicking the link above and you might find that perfect gift for an upcoming birthday or Mother's Day. And remember to support local artists and crafts people. Buy handmade - be unique - save the Earth.

GoGoGirlz Featured Etsy Seller!

Each week I am featuring an Etsy seller who either recycles or upcycles when producing their product. This week, I am featuring GoGoGirlz and you can see read about how this beautiful necklace was created by clicking here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20383198

A little bit about GoGoGirlz:

We are two CRAZY ladies that have been creating together on-the-go for
about 4 years. The G in the word "GO" is from my friends' last name and the O is
from mine. And, yes, we were young girls when Go-Go boots and mini-shirts were
latest trends in the 1960s. Today, we are still always on the go as chauffeur
moms to school and sports activities. Our favorite places to go are to the craft
shows, craft stores and to "craft paradise" -- that quiet place where we can
escape to, and create without interruptions of "Mom, take me here -- Mom, take
me there".

They also have some vintage items in their store and other handmade goodies. Please be sure to check them out!

Recycled Fish!

Ok, here's my latest eco-friendly embellishment:

A box of Rice Chex can go a long way! All I did was use one of my templates & trace the fish on the box. Then I traced the template on red & blue scraps of paper, cut everything out, adhered them using 3-in-1 Adhesive (that stuff is the best!), and voila! Two little fish to adhere to your card or scrapbook page. Plus, if you want, you can further embellish them. The edges of my fish are chalked for a little dimension. If I was using these instead of selling them, then I would add some of those little googly eyes. For now, these little buggers are for sale at my Etsy store:

RememberWhenCreation.etsy.com

What have you come up with using cereal boxes? I want to know!

Stay tuned for my 'new' magazine holder!

Use for yogurt cups!

“Because we don’t think about future generations, they will never forget us.” -Henrik Tikkanen

I know in most areas of the country, you can throw your yogurt containers (or sour cream containers) in the recycle bin. However, what do you do with them if you can't? Or, if you don't have a recycling program in your town?

I have an old cutting board that I have designated as my painting board for chipboard letters or for painting the edges of papers, etc.

You can see where I have squeezed out all colors of paint on the left side of the board. So, in an effort to try & keep it a bit neater and not have lumps of dried paint on it, I decided to put my yogurt cups to use. Our county does have a recycling program, and trust me, I fill up our bins as much as possible. The beauty of using the yogurt cups is I can use them and wash them out & still throw them in the recycle bin.

If you are in a part of the country that doesn't have a recycle program, then you can keep a bunch of them & use one for each color that you paint with. Stay tuned for more uses of yogurt cups!

Repurpose your scraps!

Don't throw out your scraps!

There is always another use for your leftover pieces of paper, a.k.a. scraps. As I am finishing this Word Book for my niece, I noticed I had already used my Cricut to cut out some purple flowers for another project - FROM MY SCRAPS! They worked nicely with the letter 'L' I was working with.

All I had to do was outline them in a white pen, add a brad and adhere with a foam dot. One less little piece of paper floating in the landfill........

What have you done with your scraps?

New uses for bottlecaps

New Uses for Bottlecaps!

My husband loves his IBC Root Beer, and I love the bottlecaps! I am designing a Word Book for my niece, Allison, and I had a few bottlecaps lying around, so I decided to incorporate it into her book.

What can you do with a bottlecap? you ask. Turn it into an embellishment! A 1-inch circle punch is the perfect size for a piece of paper to fit inside the bottle cap (oh - wash the cap first as it can be a little sticky!). I also grabbed a rub-on word and stick for rubbing.

I used the word 'courage' because I feel Allison is taking a giant step next year in leaving home for college. I know when I was 18, I was not ready to leave the roost. I admire this quality in her.

After adding the rub-on, I simply adhered the circle punch to the bottle cap. You can use a glue dot or any other strong adhesive.

Finally, I used the remainder of my 3-in-1 adhesive in adhering the bottlecap to the Word Book:

Here's the full Word Book. It's not done yet, and if I find some other goodies to recycle and use on the book, I will post them as well!

And remember, if you are interested in a custom made Word Book, please visit my website at http://www.rwctc.com/! Thanks for stopping by today!

Save Money on Your Scrapbooking - Go Recycled!

The human race will be the cancer of the planet. ~Julian Huxley, attributed

In our financial crisis, many of us are looking for ways to cut costs and curtail our spending. This is definitely a possibility in scrapbooking, if you think outside the box a bit. Let's talk about storage first. Here are some ideas for uses of household items to aid you in organizing your scrapbooking:



Jars - we all have empty jars of sauce, baby food, jelly, peanut butter, gravy -whatever you have eaten! Now, I know most of us wash them & throw them in the recycle bin, but what if you can use them for storage? See my post: http://scrapwithjan.blogspot.com/2008/12/scrapbookcraft-room-challenge-pt-ii.html
Wash them out with warm, soapy water and let them dry. Voila - pretty storage solution for flowers or ribbon!

Priority Mail Boxes: Instead of recycling them, they are very sturdy & make great paper holders! You can use them 'as is' or cut out a 'magazine-style' holder to see your paper. Use your scraps to make them pretty!

Nut & Bolt Organizer: Sometimes the man in your life may have something to repurpose. You know those cool metal or plastic boxes that have all the little drawers in them for different screws, nuts & bolts? Why not clean it out, maybe repaint it in a pretty color, and use it to organize your alphabet stickers or brads or buttons or other embellies? I'm on the lookout for a used one (hopefully for free) that I can use in my scraproom.

Silverware Tray: Do you have an extra one of these lurking in the attic? You can use it to organize your colored pencils and pens!

Cigar Boxes: How about these? Are they hanging around too? Use them to store scraps of paper or ribbons or other embellishments. You can also either decoupage them or paint them to match your room.

Yogurt containers: Eating yogurt is huge in my house. We each consume at least 1 a day. Of course, I wash them out & recycle them, but I had an abundance of glue sticks and didn't know what to do with them. So, I took a bunch of paper scraps, some modge podge & now I have a nifty holder for my glue sticks. I have also used another one for a set of alphabet stickers.

** I am on vacation & unable to download photos right now. Please stay tuned for pictures starting the week of Jan. 19th! Thanks for understanding! **

What ideas do you have? Share them with me! Together, all our small steps can make an impact on Mother Earth.

My Great Find

"Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find." ~Quoted in Time

We are given one planet to live on - all of us. We need to take care of it, protect it and nurture it. So in my never ending quest to reduce my carbon footprint, I looked on Craig's list for the first time in about a month. You never know what you may find on there. So, there was a woman, in Palm City, that was moving & selling the remainder of her scrapbooking stash for $100. I gave her a call, it was all still available and at 12:15 pm on Friday, I pulled up to her house to see what I would find. Well, let me show you!

As I unpacked this wonderful treasure trove, I couldn't believe it. She had unopened packages of paper, ribbons and embellies. Now they are mine - to create projects, phoquets and word books, that I can sell to you.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because scrapbooking is a fun hobby, and we are often in a rush to go out & buy the best of everything and the latest & greatest. Craigslist or Ebay are great sources of unused products that people have laying around. Right now, for some people who are in financial trouble, they are relying on me and you to buy their "stuff". What a way to save our money, help someone else out with their finances and, most importantly, save our one and only Earth.