"Fantastic Recycled Plastic: 30 Clever Creations to Spark Your Imagination"

I just came across this fun book over at Craftgossip, where you can read a review and even post a comment for a chance to win your own copy!  I have these bins in my studio that are full of recycled materials, waiting to be repurposed...wine corks, bottle caps, and of course junk mail.  I also have a bin full of miscellaneous colorful plastic parts...lids from bottles, bread bag tabs, and even the tops of spice jars with the little holes in them.  I've been waiting for something to inspire me to turn them into something cool, and this seems like a great place to start! 

I haven't seen the book in person myself, but thought I'd share the review over at CraftGossip, and get you all in on a chance to win a copy too!  Good luck!  :-)

And the winner is...

The Prize Winner:
Woohooo!! Congratulations, Sharyn, you have won the free magnet give-a-way! Your profile is not public, so if you could please contact me via my website, and give me your shipping address (and preference for catalog magnets or security envelope magnets), I will send you your winnings!

Huge thank you to everyone who participated in our first ever Junk Mail Gems give-a-way! I really enjoyed all of your comments.

The Results of the Vote:
After tallying the votes, it looks like the badge holder comes out on top, being in 19 people's top 3, and #1 favorite for 11 voters! The paper weight came in a close second, being among 18 people's top three, and voted #1 favorite for 9 voters!

Thanks again for all of your feedback and votes...the paperweight and the badge holder will be my next new products, available soon this summer! As for the other new product ideas, I will continue to work on these and get them out there on my site down the road as well. Stay tuned...I'll be sure to blog about them when I have them available for purchase.

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!

Contest: WIN FREE Junk Mail Gems Magnets!

As promised, I am going to give you all a sneak peek at some of the many new products that I have in the works that I hope to soon add to my current recycled junk mail product line. But, what is even more exciting, is that YOU have a chance of winning a set of 10 colorful catalog magnets, OR a set of 10 security envelope magnets; your choice! I have 7 new product prototypes below (and probably 10 more in my head!), and need some help deciding which to start offering on my site first!

The Rules:
Here's how you can enter in two easy steps....

1) Help me decide which products to make available on my site first by leaving a comment on this post with your top 3 favorites in order of their favorite-ness! (#1 being most favorite, #2 being second favorite, etc)

2) Post a link to this contest on your own blog. If you do not have a blog, share it with your friends via email, Facebook, or wherever!

The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday, July 3rd.

So, here is your sneak peek and the new product prototypes that you have to choose from to tell me your favorites!

The Prototypes:

1) Pencil Cup
This pencil cup is made entirely out of recycled junk mail catalog pages. The base is a sturdy piece of coiled paper and the sides have almost a leather like feel.


2) Coil Earrings
Created in reaction to some of my customers' requests at this year's Craftstravaganza, these coiled junk mail earrings are a perfect complement to my junk mail pendants and pins! They are coated in a high-gloss, clear resin.


3) Badge Holder
This stylin' badge holder is made out of the colorful recycled catalog beads that I also sell as necklaces, earrings, and separately as loose beads. But, now you can use them to display your badge at work in style!


4) Coil Bowl
This bowl is made entirely out of coiled junk mail, and covered in a clear, glossy finish. Certain to make a great conversation piece! Since these take a long time to make, they would likely be offered either as made-to-order, or I would display the current stock of actual bowls up for sale on my site.


5) Collage Bowl
This bowl has an underlying structure made of plaster, and is then covered with a collage of colorful junk mail catalog pages, and sealed with a clear, glossy finish.


6) Paper Weight
This awesome paper weight showcases a colorful catalog page behind a heavy crystal dome, magnifying the design while holding down your papers in style! The bottom is covered with a black velour pad. I would likely be displaying actual paperweights in stock on the site, so that you can snatch up the specific, one-of-a-kind pattern you like!


7) Keychain
These keychains are made with the same technique as my junk mail pendants and the coil earrings above, with a disc of coiled junk mail protected with a coating of high gloss, clear resin.


As you can see, I have my hands and head full of new ideas...please help me out and tell me what your favorites are! I'd love to know why as well, so feel free to elaborate! Thank you!! :-)

Fun Kids Craft Ideas from Crafty Crow!

I just stumbled upon this super awesome blog today called "The Crafty Crow" that is full of great craft ideas for kids! I came across them because they recently posted a link to my paper chain tutorial. There are many fantastic project ideas that utilize recycled materials! So, be sure to check them out...and feel free to hint at your kids that Mother's Day is coming up!!

I also just saw that they are giving away a super cute book full of 20 amigurumi robot crochet patterns! I am totally going to enter, as you all know I'm into crochet robots lately, and you should too!

DWR Champagne Tour Stops in Minneapolis for One Night Only!

This past Tuesday, this work-from-home Mommy took a break from making Junk Mail Gems, designing retail fixtures, and shipping out face paint to do a very rare and beautiful thing, thanks to Gramma and Grampa, and go out on a date with her husband! We specifically chose April 21st so that we could make one of our stops the Minneapolis DWR studio to check out the 50 champagne chairs "on tour," one of them being mine! (in the photo above)

(Click here to see my chair entries from previous years)


I was never into sports in high school, and me as a cheerleader would have been disasterous, so this is about as close as I've ever come to being on the top of the pyramid. Unfortunately we got out of the house a little late, and enjoyed beverages, appetizers AND dessert at dinner, so we couldn't stay very long as we then missed the first 10 minutes of our movie. But, I was really glad we were able to stop in and see the entries in person! Here are a few photos...

There was another Minnesota-designed chair, and his was also on top of another pyramid:


Here are a few more chair shots...





The "Spring 2009" chair by Gavri Slasky won popular vote:








This "Grape Divine Chair" by Tony Nemyer won "DWR Staff Pick:"






Jesse Menayan's "Kub Armchair" won "Judges Pick:"


It's always fun to see the winning entries and marvel at their feats miniature craftsmanship!
The top 50 chairs are still on tour through May 15th, so check out the schedule here and see if it's coming to a DWR studio near you!

My Shameless Plug for VOTES!

Hello friends, family, and fans! Last month I told you all about DWR's Champagne Chair contest. Well, turns out my chair was among the 50 top designs chosen to tour the country! The winners of the grand prizes have not been disclosed yet. But, here is where YOU come in! This week they are taking votes on their blog for the "popular vote" prize winner. Mine is up for voting today. I would be much obliged if you would take just a couple seconds to check out the awesome chairs and vote for one! If you'd like to remain biased like myself, and support Junk Mail Gems, please go vote for my chair here...it's called "Silver Chair," and is the one with the silver webbing and the built in floor lamp! (4th one down in today's selection of chairs)

I don't think they got the greatest photo so here are a few more pics of my entry! Keep in mind that at it's highest point, the top of the lamp, the chair measures 4 inches.

Here's a close-up of the top of the lamp shade:


Webbing: I originally chose a bottle with pink and a bottle with purple foil, to get a cool mix of colors. However, after weaving them all together and looking at the BACK, I noticed this awesome contrast of textures rather than color, and decided to go all silver. (One foil was textured and the other smooth)

There was no glue or tape harmed in the making of this chair...it completely holds itself together. ;-)

Okay, now go vote here! Thank you very much!!

Champagne Chair Contest 2009

I have always loved entering creative contests. Perhaps it is because my siblings and I always entered every coloring contest we came across as kids, winning many fabulous prizes. But as an adult, I really enjoy entering any creative contest that I come across, simply for the creative challenges they pose. On any given day I would never, for example, decide to build a miniature chair out of recycled champagne corking hardware. But, if someone came up with that great idea and offered incentive to do so, I'll jump at the chance.

This year marks the 6th year that I have participated in Design Within Reach's annual champagne chair contest. When the competition was started in 2003, it was a great opportunity for me to invite over all my fellow designers from work (Best Buy corporate headquarters) to socialize, sip some bubbly, make something with our hands, and enjoy the holiday atmosphere. Everyone really got into it, and I've continued to host the "chair building party" ever since.

The basic goal: build a miniature chair, no more than 4" x 4" x 4", out of nothing more than the corking hardware (wire, cork, and foil) from up to 2 bottles of champagne. I love the fact that this year they are being more green about it...entries can be emailed in stead of shipped and then only the ones they select are shipped to their office. Here are my past entries...

2003 Entry
A very simple little chair with woven foil "webbing." This was the first year of the competition, and the only year where they made a poster with the winning entries. It was maybe 1 inch tall. I made several other more impressive looking chairs, and this one at the end of the night out of the last scraps I had of corking hardware. It was charming enough for me to choose as my entry, and I'm glad I did because it made it on the poster of winners!


2004 entry
In 2004 they allowed the use of both adhesives and glass. I took advantage of this with my crushed glass chair. The seat and back are made primarily of hot glue, covered with crumbled glass:


2005 entry
In 2005 I went for a minimalist approach with my "spiral chair." It was clean and simple, and apparently good enough to earn an honorable mention and make it into their selection of chairs sent on the traveling show around the country:


2006 Entry
Going in the opposite direction from the previous year, this entry was much more complex. I decided to stretch the definition of a chair, and make a tire swing. But, of course, you can't have a tire swing without a tree to hang it from. I had fun making this tree, and used a leaf shaped paper punch to create all the tiny oak leaves. No winner here...but it is still my favorite!


Last year I did not host a party, being that I had just given birth, and the mere thought of sitting on chairs was painful enough. ;-) But, this year we're back on! I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet...I really never do know until the night I start playing with the materials. But, that is half the fun.

So, if you're celebrating with champagne for any reason this weekend, or still have some corking hardware lying around from your new year's eve celebrations, don't toss it out! Get creative and make a chair...who knows, you may even win something!

Design Sponge holding DIY Contest

If you're a creative, resourceful person like me, you might like to know that one of my favorite blogs, Design Sponge, is holding a DIY contest with some pretty nice prize money to be won!