Culturerecycling & the woes of summer

It's been a busy summer!  Most of the members of BBAC have been preparing for art festivals, gallery shows, weddings, and visiting family.  Not that we haven't been creating- but there has been little time to devote to the blog, list items on Etsy, tweet, flickr, facebook and whatnot.  I am desperately looking forward to the routine of getting things up and rolling again.
Right now, the biggest change for BBAC is Joseph Von Stengel devoting more time to his own Etsy shop, Culturerecycling.  The last couple of weeks, when he actually is at home, he's been creating some fresh new art.  Will be listed throughout September and October in this Etsy shop.

Below is a preview of his new series of work, 2089.  These digital photos, as well as the animals he manipulated for them, will be available this Fall.

Paper Things

Obviously we're fans of journals here at BBAC, but lately my obsession is creating cards for family and friends.  Our Etsy shop has lots of cool hand-stamped and eco-friendly cards and I love to stamp.  Yet, sometimes a more elegant card is called for.  Something truly unique which is closer to a miniature work of art.
A few weeks ago I attended Tara Hu's month long journal making class at the Mennonite Church in Oneonta, NY.  The last week she was kind enough to provide all of the materials to make cards- exotic hand-made paper from China and Japan, blank cards, calligraphy brushes and ink, stamps and ink, and newspaper.  In less than 2 hours I produced 5 cards that were professional looking and gift worthy.

I was very excited to send my hand-made cards out into the world.  Mixing collage with card making is a lot easier than I realized- as long as all of the materials are present.  Next time I'll incorporate watercolors into the mix.

In the spirit of Earth Day!

Like our ancestors, humans are still recycling, upcycling or repurposing to get the most out of the resources available to us.  It is economical and realistic, beyond being idealistic.  I currently participate in two online trading sites, swaptree and paperbackswap, where users recycle media by trading with other members of this online community.  Not are we only reusing media that would otherwise sit on a shelf, but most of the members re-use packaging. Fantastic!

In the spirit of Earth Day I wanted to highlight a few of the items on Etsy that are created with the idea of recycling, upcycling or repurposing in mind.
Alyssa Jackson's upcycled jewelry is a hit in our hometown of Oneonta, NY.  She's been collecting game pieces to make pendants, rings, necklaces and earrings for over a year.  Her jewelry has a hip, romantic flair.

In the same spirit comes Diana Cozzens' creations.  Also romantic, yet more in the vein of 80's punk, a lot the jewelry Diana has created for the shop thus far is from discarded leather scraps originally meant for furniture.

A couple of weeks ago, I added some new blank cards on Etsy by Joseph Von Stengel to highlight Earth Day.  His 8-Bit Creations and Culture Catalogue Silhouettes images grace 100% recycled note cards, the brown ones are also 20% post-consumer and the white 100% post-consumer recycled.  Rad!

Happy Earth Day!

Diana Cozzens creations

This week I will be adding Diana Cozzens' fine leather jewelry to our Etsy store.  Diana is an Upstate NY painter and drawer who has also lived in Utah and Montreal.  Diana is also an awesome craftster and enjoys working with fabric and leather.  Currently she is studying yoga at Kripalu in Massachusetts- we miss you, Diana!  

Bigbadart feels blessed to add another great artist to its' mix.  Check her out on Etsy below: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40950967