Evolving Into Something Great

Wow. A mention by name and photo in yesterday's CNN.com story 'Eco-fashion: Transforming trash into treasures' made for quite a busy day around here.
Joyce Justicz deserves a lot of credit for Reiter8's mention. She is the owner of Evolve Boutique in Atlanta, Georgia who has stocked Reiter8 bags and pillows since they opened. She is as cheerful as they come and a wonderful spokeswoman for fashionable upcycled products. She comments at the beginning of the video segment. (If you look quick and close you can see a blue star Reiter8 pillow on the shelf behind her!)

I thought the article was interesting. I had always wondered where all the wrappers came from for those Ecoist bags! (watch the video and find out!) I did notice that the comments seemed to focus on a small negative part of the story (Timbuk2 using fused plastic bags some of which have the Target logo and Targets legal issue with it) rather than the spirit of the article which was how people are reusing materials creatively in an effort to be eco friendly.

I must weigh in and say that it's a real effort to use reclaimed materials. It's much more time consuming to seek them out not to mention prepping them. I'm glad I do it though. I've never used a more interesting material and met better people throughout the process. My foremost intent always is to have a positive impact on the environment. And the rest (not without some effort, though!) seems to fall into place.
(photo credit: Ashley Preskar/CNN)

DIY City Mag-O-Licious

Today DIY City Mag launches their first issue and it's a whopper. 245 pages of NYC DIY info. Wow. It's available in flash, html, and for $5 a pdf so that you can print and carry all the great resources.

Well we’ve launched our first issue of DIY City mag. Our mag is dedicated to all of the independent artists and the DIYs that we’ve met in New York and around the globe this past year. We hope that DIY City mag, the Web site, and DIY City Community will be great resources for New Yorkers as well as those traveling to the city for a little DIY fun.

-Deb and Wendy Founding Editors.

With a table of contents that covers DIY Markets, Street Artists, The Anti-factory, Fabric Constructions, Eco-Remix, Pigment & Paper, DIY Media & Photo plus more...much more, this mega mag is a great resource for ALL things DIY. I rushed through it this morning and look forward to sitting back and really exploring later.

In addition to unleashing this great resource, DIY City hosts a DIY community site.

It was great to see so many familiar faces like (but not limited to) Brooklyn Indie Market, Mignonette Designs and Rocks and Salt.

Next up? Deb and Wendy focus on New Orleans.

(cover illustration by Sylvia May)

Kinokuniya -New York main store opens

Japanese craft book alert! Kinokuniya has recently opened it's new main store located opposite Bryant Park at 1073 Avenue of the Americas between 40th and 41st Streets.

Make a B-line for the lower level to find books on sewing, crocheting, knitting, beading, felting, and ... sock and gloving. There is a display table of 'craft best sellers' (see pic) in front of an expanded craft section (also pictured). Their craft section has to be at least 3 times larger than the one at Rockefeller Center.

Don't forget to get lost in the Interior Design section among books like French Boys Rooms, Danish Rooms for Girls, Kitchens in Paris, and Danish Kitchens. Downstairs also houses the expanded stationary section (an increase of about 4 times the previous space) with LOTS of mini stickers and magnets in addition to high-end fountain pens and calligraphy sets.

They now carry 'Cotton Time' on the airy street level magazine section. They also feature a branch of Cafe Zaiya, a Japanese-style pastry and sandwich shop on the second floor that I will make a point to visit next time.

Find info (Mostly in Japanese) here. . Store hours: Mon-Sat 10AM -9:30PM Sun 11AM - 7 PM

Check out Crafting Japanese for more info on additional stores, books, projects and translation resources.