Sunday, January 3, 2010

An Etsy shop facelift for the new year

by Jessica Burko of Reclaimed To You

I opened my Etsy shop, Reclaimed To You, in 2006 as a venue for selling my smaller artworks on-line. The shop name comes from the method through which I create my art; scavenging, and utilizing discarded materials to create something new. Reclaiming what has been discarded and turning it into art is my small way of reducing the ole' carbon footprint. About two years ago I began knitting and it quickly transformed from a hobby into an obsession, which was compounded by meeting large groups of generous seasoned knitters who encouraged my growing habit by giving me old yarns from their 'stash'. Using their yarn cast-offs got me thinking that I could extend my penchant for scavenging discarded materials by trolling for old yarn at thrift stores, yard sales, and my own remnants from finished knitting projects. It's amazing how much old yarn is out there waiting to become something! I've made many scarves and some small accessories from all the found scraps.
Another type of work I've been creating, for much longer than two years, is a series of one-of-a-kind notecards and gift tags from reclaimed papers. This type of collage grew out of my artwork many years ago as I couldn't bear to throw away small paper scraps left over from my larger pieces. I am always saving trims from prints, loose book pages, calendars - you name it, if it's paper, I have it in a pile in my studio. These types of little paper pieces lend themselves beautifully to small cards and tags and they are also really fun to make - - I find that small projects between much bigger ones keep the creative juices flowing.
Since all of these efforts tie into my concept of Reclaimed To You it seemed only natural to combine them into my Etsy shop. Upcycling, recycling, reusing all leads to less junk in landfills and a cleaner earth. Even if it's only one small item at a time, I'm glad to be creating the work and I hope you enjoy my shop's new facelift!

1 comment :

  1. Looks like a great theme and I am certain it will be well received :) Good luck in 2010!

    ReplyDelete

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