New and Improved!

So, I got to thinking about the EcoBooks, because they have consumed my life (I love, love, love them). I was thinking about the eco-friendliness and the users, and I have made large improvements to the EcoBooks.

I started a new line: EcoBooks SkEtCh. The new and improved part comes in probably in one of those places that nobody thinks about, but I'll explain that element in a minute. The cool thing (for users) about the EcoBook SkEtCh line is that it is a super heavy paper, so you can write in ink or pencil or whatever and it shouldn't bleed through. It also makes a good weight of notepad, feeling more durable and substantial without being bulky.

The OTHER improvement:
I changed the glue. I'm now using a water-based non-toxic glue. I was really excited, because I know that adhesive is one of the tricky parts to making stuff green and eco-friendly. Now what's great about this glue is that it seals in the handmade paper cover and back so that you don't have to worry about durability, and it keeps everything together. It also offers endless design possibilities as now I can create patterns on the handmade paper if I want to.

I felt as though this was a great move and hope the EcoBooks catch on soon. It's a great product if I do say so myself.

http://www.rachelmaydesigns.etsy.com/

Enjoy!

Rachel May

Ambitious Fool

Okay, now I'm on to recording my crafts and WIPs (Works in Progress). I'm hoping that by sharing these, it will force me to finish a project and to be held responsible for my ambitious crafting goals.



For this Christmas, I really want to pledge handmade. I've always tried to make handmade items for my family members, but I'm going to try to make things that are extra special this year.


In the picture, you will see something that I fear will be a really long WIP. I intend to do an interpretation of the Log Cabin Blanket and design that the ladies at Mason Dixon Knitting do. I read a great story about it on the Vegetarian Knitter's blog (http://www.vegetarianknitter.wordpress.com/). She talks about having the blanket as a comfort item through many moves and about adding to it when she feels like it. I like the idea behind that. I have started with Cascade 220 (I'm pretty sure, the labels are long gone though) and I've crocheted a square and I will just keep adding to each side.


Other than that, many new and some crafty things have been happening in our apartment. I have started recycling, which I am really excited about. But I wanted to take it a step further. I understand that our landfills are filling up, so recycling is a good step towards avoiding that, however, there are three parts: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. I want to work more on the reuse part of that equation.


So far, I am thinking of ideas for reusing the soup cans that we have set aside to be recycled. Right now, I use them to hold pens, pencils, and paintbrushes. They also work good for mini-pails. Last year, I painted them orange with black faces and filled them with candy for halloween coworker gifts. I will try to think of some sort of Christmas application for them.


Other than that, I have purchased a handmade papermaking kit by http://www.basicingredients.etsy.com/ and I have started to reuse my paper. I take scraps of paper from my cardmaking for color, and other papers (like credit card offers and old school junk) that have print on both sides, shred them up together, and make paper. For paper that only has one side used, I'm setting it aside for later endeavors (I will let you know when it progresses).


Anyone have new craft/recycling ideas? Let me know!

Rachel May