Q&A with Craftgasm

What is your craft all about?
{craftgasm} is a way to show reclaimed materials in a new light. People are usually surprised when I tell them that their notecard used to be part of an advertisement, or that the envelope they're holding really was a road map at one point. They think I went out and bought these brand new materials to make stuff. I don't. Everything's been saved from its fate at the landfill, where it would just junk up the planet. Now it's able to be mailed off to brighten a friend's day.

What inspires you to make what you make?

I like rescuing pretty papers and items with a history. Every so often I promise myself that I won't bring any more paper into the house, but then a pile of vintage file folders calls my name from my office's recycling bin, and their pre-printed text and gorgeously faded inks entice me to carry them home and tuck them away, magpie-like.

What is your favorite piece/product you will have with you at the Handmade Mart?

My favorite item I'll have at the Handmade Mart is the Reclaimed & Upcycled Stationery Sets. They consist of envelopes made out of old maps, blueprints, and plans, with sheets of saved-from-the-landfill mix and match paper that fold in half to slip inside each envelope. The papers themselves are gridded pages from architects' plans, lined papers from student notebooks, and blank colored pages from office carbon copies. They're so fun to make and assemble because no two sets are alike.

Where can folks find your craft outside the Handmade Mart?

At Etsy.com, of course, with 175,484,904,738 of my closest friends. http://craftgasm.etsy.com.

Find me at booth #3!