Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I am sure pretty much everyone has heard these three words before and whether or not you take them to heart and actually practice them, these three little words can actually help your art and creativity!
Stores that specialize in taking recycled materials and reselling them as art supplies or trinkets or whatever the buyer wants them to be, have been around for quite some time actually, but it seems like there's so many people who don't know that they exist. From my experience, most big cities have one if you just look for it. a quick google search with the words reuse, scrap materials, or trinkets can typically get you what you're looking for.

One shop in particular in San Francisco is called SCRAP. This store takes donations of anything from old fabrics and textiles, to buttons, to wood scraps, to miscellaneous craft supplies and just about everything in between. The store then resells it at a lower cost. Another thing this store offers, and some other stores I've seen like it as well, is workshops. At these workshops attendees learn about the importance of reusing and recycling materials and get to use all the materials in the store for their `project during the workshop. Stores like this are so important because not only are they helping reduce peoples' carbon footprints, they encourage creativity in new ways that are simultaneously good for the environment.

SCRAP San Francisco

I highly encourage you to check out their website above and also go and check out the store as well. It feels so good to have little craft days and let out your creativity in a new way. Who knows what you'll create!

One of my favorite things to do is journal/scrapbook. I take a bunch of printed photos that I take on my disposable camera and paste them all in a little notebook. Before that though, I love going to stores like this and finding things I can use to decorate the pages. Sometimes I find stickers, or magazines that I can cut pictures out of, or even string to decorate. Some people call this bullet journaling also! Bullet journaling does typically have some sort of reminders or calendar similar to that of a planner, however. The possibilities really are endless. I think it can sometimes be even more fun to go to SCRAP or stores like it with absolutely nothing in mind of what you want to make or create; that way you can let yourself be inspired by the materials and supplies at the store.

Below are a couple of pictures that are similar to things I like to do with the recycled craft materials I find at SCRAP.

And as usual, you know I like this because it saves money! No one wants to go spend $10 on a pack of stickers that they really only want to use one or two out of. The prices at SCRAP are great and it is a guaranteed good time! I hope this inspired you to be a little more mindful of the environment and also encouraged you to let out your creativity in a fun and inexpensive way.