Dreamiest playhouse of all time...

... and made out of leftover pieces (by the architect team Haugen/Zohar) from a nearby construction site, no less. I am absolutely staggered by this. I found this on the blog Studio G, and I just LOVE what she had to say about reuse:

"I find, when designing, that often the best ideas come when I have a very narrowed field of requirements rather than a wide open slate. That’s what I think happened here. By re-using materials and controlling cost in an extreme way, this innovative and beautiful design emerged. Do you find that to be true when you design?"

That really encapsulates what I have tried to say sometimes but always garbled it. It is why I think Austin Creative Reuse will be such an inspiring place. And why I think reuse, aside from being good for the planet and all that, also forces us to think creatively and think outside the box and look at things with fresh eyes. Which you are not inspired to do when the world is your oyster and you can buy anything you want at Hobby Lobby, Target or the internet for your project. There I go garbling again, but you know what I mean. Good stuff.

Love these Lampshades!!

Can you guess the secret behind these groovy, plaid-looking lampshades?? They're made by crossweaving film stock, that's what! BRILLIANT! Find them at ismism designs.

It's TUBE-ular! (groan)

What an awesome necklace... a tutorial at Cucumbersome for a leather necklace, which is inspired Becky Stern at Craftzine to try it with an old inner tube from her bicycle tire. So cool.

Parchment flowers

I just discovered this goldmine of eye candy and info on itunes... Etsy podcasts. Except they're really videos... surely there must be another word for them than podcasts, but anyway: they're how-to videos and mini-documentaries about the artists found on Etsy. Really awesome stuff. This was a really neat little how-to on how to make a really simple but great looking parchment flower. You can watch it here but do hasten on over to itunes to watch the rest of 'em if this sort of things lights your fire as it does mine. I tell you I'm in heaven.

Woven basket o' maps

I've been excited about making baskets lately. I'm trying to learn all these skills so I can apply them to all the random assortment of materials that we're going to be fiddling around with when Austin Creative Reuse is up and running. This is a great little tutorial found over at Craftzine.com.

Rulers rule

Awesome art by Lizzie Thomas, found at Handmade Charlotte.

TP tube dioramas

By Anastassia Elias. Found at Craftzine.com. I LOVE this!!

Piet Hein Eek

I can't read this fella's website 'cause it's in dutch, but I sure love his furniture and stairs and stuff made out of reclaimed materials. Found at handmade charlotte.