Inspiring Skulls

My Stepson Made This!

I've been making leather cell phone cases for the last few weeks. My 8-year-old stepson loves skulls and was my inspiration for putting them on some of the cases I have made. He LOVES them. Every time I show him my latest skull creation, he wants to keep it.

Today he made his own! He did such a great job, I'm super proud of him. This is only his second sewing project ever. I still have to guide him every step of the way and help with the more complicated sewing but he really did most of it on his own.

He sold this one to his papa for $15. I think that is like a million dollars to a kid. He went straight to amazon to find the Deadpool action figure he has been talking about for weeks. I have no idea what that is but apparently it is REALLY COOL.

We both used upcycled designer fabric that we picked up at FabMo to make our cases. That was another exciting outing for him. I took him to FabMo for the first time last week. He loved looking at all the fabrics, he scored some awesome leather and a sample of jeans that he made into a little tote bag. He now has his own little sewing area set up in the dinning room.

I don't think he will sew forever, but I do think it is an excellent way to get his brain thinking mechanically and to improve his dexterity. I have my fingers crossed that no one will tell him that sewing is for girls. Maybe he will inspire more boys to try it when he tells them he is making money with it!

He is taking orders if you want to purchase one of his creations. Only $20 each ($15 for the iPhone case and $5 for shipping) email us at upcycledbyash@gmail.com to place an order!

My skull and his side by side

My Skull iPhone Case

Mini Wallets

My handmade Mini Wallets are $28 each. The dimensions (5" x 3.5") and construction of each wallet are the same. The Mini Wallets have three pockets large enough to accommodate credit cards or folded bills. A stiff interfacing holds the wallets form and a snap securely closes your valuables inside. These wallets also make excellent business card holders.

To make a purchase contact me at: 
ashvantol@gmail.com or send me a tweet @upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card or Personal Check 

additional charge for international shipping

Be Square - $28

Checker Me Out - $28

Ginkgo - $28

Interior fabric of each wallet wallet coordinates with the outer colors. The picture to the left shows the design and the three pockets. This image is the inside of the "Be Square" mini wallet pictured above. 

Handmade Rose Rings and Hairpins

Handcrafted Pink Rose Bobby Pin

These handmade roses are seriously cute! There is a satisfaction that comes from handmade jewelry that you don't get from mass produced items. Most the time you see flower jewelry like rings, earrings and hairpins for sale on Etsy the crafter simply bought the flower and glued it onto the metal base. But not these beauties! Keri Aragon of String Bean Studios and I handcrafted these perfect little roses ourselves. We are very proud of the end result. I seriously think you need one for your finger or hair!

Silver Ring with Silver Rose

Silver Ring with Pink Rose

Keep a look out for more of these gorgeous creations from Keri and I. We are making the roses in more colors and more styles. There are even earrings to match!

Our handmade rose jewelry is available for sale in the String Bean Studios Etsy store- http://etsy.me/hZI1sH

V-day Goodies

Life has been a scramble lately but I did manage to get some designs done for Valentines Day. If you haven't seen them yet you can find them all on my Etsy- http://etsy.me/i0wq3C

Here is a little sample of my "Love" creations. I was super excited to find that I had so many perfect materials to upcycle and freecycle this little collection. 

100% upcycled love

100% Freecycled

freecycled and upcycled

Find it all on Etsy- http://etsy.me/i0wq3C

Lyme Time

Flower Lyme Bracelet

I spent some time over the past few weeks working on mew designs for Lyme awareness jewelry. I got a bunch of new freecycle green beads and went to town!

Everything here is available for purchase at my Etsy store- http://www.etsy.com/shop/upcycledbyash
The original Knotted Lyme Awareness bracelet is also still available. Lymenaide has the rubber awareness wristbands too. No excuse for not being stylishly Lyme this year!

4 strand Lyme Awareness Bracelet

Lyme Awareness Garden Ring

There are more pictures and items posted in my Etsy store! A portion of all Lyme Green items I sell goes to Lymenaide as a donation for Lyme disease awareness projects.

It's Official, I Have an Etsy Shop!

Upcycled by Ash on Etsy

It's Cyber Monday, where are you doing your online shopping??? You'd better have some plans to check out my brand new Etsy shop!

That's right, I did it. I set up shop on Etsy. It is going to be a lot easier to keep track of everything sales related there than it is here on the blog.

Please stop by and let me know what you think! I will be adding more soon. I have another wallet, a pin-up girls bag and a bunch of beautiful jewelry! I scored some great pieces to upcycle and materials to freecycle over the Thanksgiving holiday.

My Etsy Shop-

http://www.etsy.com/shop/upcycledbyash

Playing with Jewelry

I'm loving this jewelry stuff! It's creative and much faster than sewing. I like instant rewards. 

I bought some pendants that I like, raided my bead stash and dug up some ribbons I bought for another project I never started. I so want to do more! I actually have another piece in progress right now, I'm thinking of keeping that one though!

I love the messiness of the Tree of Hope. I used a lot of green and this one is sort of symbolic of Lyme disease for me. I wrote a post on Lymeaide a while back that was also published in Public Health Alert. In it I compared Lyme to a tree. Read the post- http://bit.ly/a7oqmn

The other two necklaces are much simpler in their design. I think that the style of pendants is called lampwork??? I still have a lot to learn about this jewelry stuff!


Lucky for me I am still in Santa Cruz where my friend Keri Aragon of String Bean Studios lives. She knows all about jewelry making. If you haven't entered the give away to win a pair of Keri's earrings, what are you waiting for??? Here's the link, go enter now!!! http://bit.ly/bXK2n2

Green Flower $18

Purple Flower $16

Upcycled Button Necklaces

 

Brown Buttons

I've been having a lot of fun the past few weeks playing around with jewelry making. A few days ago my bag of random buttons was sitting right next to my box of random beads and strings/ribbons. Suddenly inspiration struck. Could I make a necklace out of buttons? YEP, and I love it!

My favorite thing is that these are really upcycled. I didn't have to buy anything. I've had some of these buttons forever. Most are from clothes that fell apart or they are that extra button they always give you but you rarely use. Some of the buttons in my bag are freecycled and others are pretty things I collected somewhere back in time.

These necklaces are simple and they look great. Not to mention being very unique. I hope you like them as much as I do!!!

More and bigger pic of the necklaces can be found on the Upcycled by Ash facebook page- http://on.fb.me/9e6iaO

To make a purchase contact me at: 
ashvantol@gmail.com or send me a tweet @upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card or Personal Check 

additional charge for international shipping

Green Buttons $14

Wood Button

Eco Dolly

Eco Dollies 

price varies by doll

Without internet this past week I have had a lot more time to play around with designs and ideas. My sister recently sent me a photo of a simple doll and asked if I could make something like it. I liked the bright colors of the doll and the free-form style, but she was a little ugly for my tastes.

For my design I wanted to make something that was a cross between a child’s drawing and a hand-made doll that a pioneer girl might have had. Mine are of course a lot more colorful than pioneer mother would have been able to manage.

Meet the first of my Eco Dollies. They are 100% upcycled and freecycled. Every part of them is made form clothing or fabric and scrapes that I already have, nothing was purchased to make them. They are even stuffed with scrapes of fabric from other projects. I knew there was a reason I was saving all those strips of fabric!

I name everything I make to make it easy for people to tell me which item it is they want to buy. Please welcome Regan, Cindy and Brenda. Their names are totally random, the first name that comes to my head is the one they get.

To make a purchase visit my Etsy Store at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card

reduce-reuse-recycle!

Regan

Cindy

Brenda

Knotted Lyme Awareness Bracelets

Knotted Lyme Awarness Bracelet

$13 each 

$1 of each sale will go to Lymenaide

 As you know, I recently discovered Jewelry making and I got hooked. Yesterday I decided it was time to make a unique Lyme Awareness bracelet. My rubber awareness band is fine and definitely gets people asking what it's for, but it isn't very stylish. However, I am really liking the new combination that is residing on my right wrist.

Green beads, green thread, and LYME written in beads. A more organic version of my love-hate relationship with the petrochemical rubber awareness band. Love that it gets noticed, hate that it is soooo synthetic.

I chose not to go for symmetry with my bracelet, the beads are in random order and the LYME is offset (on the side). I make these as they are ordered so if you want symmetry or LYME centered in the middle of the bracelet be sure to let me know!

Discounts on larger orders- 5 or more knotted awareness bracelets = $10 each. 

To make a purchase visit my Etsy Store at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card

Love the Combo!!!

Green awareness rubber bands are also available through Lymenaide. Since I happen to be a huge part of Lymenaide, you can easily get them added to your purchase. The prices include shipping with in the United States, there is an added fee for international shipping.

• 20 for $50 ($2.50 each)
• 10 for $30 ($3.00 each)
• 5 for $17.50 ($3.50 each)
• Under 5 = $4.00 each

www.lymenaide.com

YAY for Mini Wallets!!! - Giveaway

 Mini Wallets

$28 each includes shipping

While I was gallivanting around Northern California and Southern Oregon with my family I stopped in every artsy store I could find. (Ashland, OR is an excellent place for the Artsy) At one of the fabric stores I saw some cute little wallets. They had the most amazing fabrics at the shop, the wallets were adorable. They weren't exactly the way I would want them. Way to flimsy, but I loved the shape. When I got home I experimented and came up with my own design. I love them! I even took one out for a spin last night.

On Saturday I mentioned that I would make one of these wallets as a gift for one of you! All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what colors you would like your mini wallet to be. One person will win, and I will do my best to make a wallet in the colors of your choice. Make sure I can find you if you win. If your blogger account isn't public I don't know who you are. I also am having the damnedest time trying to figure out who anonymous is... Leave your email address or twitter account if you are unsure.

Please leave your comments here on the blog. If you have trouble leaving a comment, check your cookies. Sometimes the settings there are hindering your being able to leave comments. If you can't figure it out let me know, and you can leave a comment on the Upcycled by Ash Facebook Page.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @upcycledbyash and here on blogger (see the sidebar). Leave a comment telling me you did and you will get another entry.

Tweet or share this on facebook for a third- Awesome mini wallet GIVEAWAY on @upcycledbyash - http://bit.ly/9111Jr

RECAP-
1. leave a comment here on the blog
2. follow me on blogger and twitter
3. tweet/mention this Giveaway on Facebook and/or twitter

To make a purchase contact me at:
ashvantol@gmail.com or send me a tweet @upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card or Personal Check

GOOD LUCK!
winner to be announced Monday October 11 
Winner = Jodie Pralong

Making the pattern pieces. I had to make sure that all the lines/cuts matched up folded in half so that the each side of the wallet matched and then again when the flap folded down. Then I had to cut a second piece that was "exactly" the same only smaller for the interfacing. The smaller pattern piece is the most important since it is the interfacing that gives the wallet it's form.

About the word exactly...  I'm not a perfectionist. I'm far from it in fact. As my friend Nani once quoted "perfectionism is the greatest killer of creativity". I do a lot of my designing freehand, luckily I have a good eye!

Retro Chic Wallet

 Retro Chic

SOLD

Lyme Project

I'm still on my road trip but I did manage to whip up one funky little item while we were at my parents house in Redding, CA. Today we are off again so there won't be any more chances to sew until the weekend when I think I will have to go stitch crazy!!!

I used my mom's vintage sewing machine to make this wallet. She owns the oldest sewing machine I have ever personally seen. Mom got her 1964 Viking when she was 16 years old. The think looks and runs like a tank. I admit I miss the smooth running Bernina I have at home, but it was fun to whip up this vintage inspired wallet on true vintage machine. 

Wallet Details-

This wallet has a lot of special details that I haven't tried before. My mother in law bought me a beautiful lilac vintage inspired top with whimsical silk flowers embellishing the neckline. I loved the flowers and decided I was going to learn to make them. I also added some beaded details to liven up the design. 

I also recently found some great new snaps. They have an awareness ribbon engraved into them. Perfect for items that are part of my Lyme Project. Who says we can't have Lyme, be funky, and spread awareness all at the same time!

The interior of the wallet has eight credit card pockets and two deep pockets for bills/checks/receipts. An awareness ribbon snap closure keeps your valuables safe and secure inside. 

The Retro Chic wallet is the latest installment to my Lyme disease awareness project.  50% of the proceeds from this sale will be divided between Lymenaide and the Turn the Corner Foundation.

To make a purchase contact me at:
ashvantol@gmail.com or send me a tweet @upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card or Personal Check 

additional charge for international shipping

Flower and Bead Details

Fancy Going Out Purse

Fancy Going Out Purse

$70 includes shipping

I loved the Fancy Going Out clutch so much I had to make more! This purse is totally adorable! I would love more fabric like this, so if you've got a dress or a skirt that you aren't wearing... Send it my way!!!

Purse Details-

The purse is roughly 5.5 x 9 inches. Plenty of space for everything you would need to go out or to an event. I used a magnetic snap closure on this one. The fabrics are 100% upcycled. The outer is a dress I loved the look of but never wore, the lining is a eco-friendly hemp dress donated by a friend. The detachable strap is part of the original white dress. I don't remember what I had in mind for the little white flowers when I bought them, but they look cute here.

The actual colors are very white on the outer and more green and muted on the inside than the picture portrays. I am also significantly paler than the photos would lead you to believe.

To make a purchase contact me at:
ashvantol@gmail.com or send me a tweet @upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card or Personal Check 

additional charge for international shipping

inside

details

Fancy More?

Fancy More Clutch

$60 includes shipping

I mean more literally. I increased the size of the original design to make the pouch a bit roomier. The original is big enough to hold the bare essentials including your phone, my iPhone just fits. The Fancy More clutch can easily hold the phone and more. 

Clutch Details- 

The Fancy More clutch is roughly 4.5 x 8 inches. I tried something new on this one and used a colorful fabric underneath the white lacy dress material. I used the same batique fabric for the lining. The batique is a freecycled material from my mom and the white dress is a upcycled dress. 

I actually made two of these but the second is being donated to my friend Candice of Infectiously Optimistic to help her fundraise for her Lyme disease treatment. 

Add caption

Like my Lyme green dress? I froze my butt off taking these photos this morning! As for the dress... I'm actually just safety pinned into a couple of yards of fabric.

My "dress"

Fancy Going Out

 Fancy Going Out Clutch

$50 includes shipping

Super cute little clutch! Yes it looks like a wallet but it isn't. When you pop the snap you will find just one pocket perfect for a night out with the bare essentials. Or a wedding, my husband is convinced this is going to be purchased for a wedding. 

Inside

I love that the fabric on this clutch is 100% upcycled!!! The white outer is from a dress I wore once. I bought it at a little boutique in Aspen, CO sure that I would wear it that summer. In three years, I wore it once. Well twice if you count the time I put it on to take photos for this blog! 

The lining material is from a Patagonia hemp dress that was sent to me by a friend when I started upcycling. She was the first person to send me something, thanks Kristen!

Don't forget that you can see the images larger by clicking on them.

Monday night I was browsing the internet, looking for nothing in particular when I saw a little clutch like this one. That's cute, I thought, I bet I could make something like that.  

Why do I always do this to myself late at night? I knew that I wasn't going to be going to bed until I either figured it out or gave up. Luckily I got it right on the second try. Yes, I was pretty proud of myself. 

To make a purchase contact me at:
ashvantol@gmail.com or send me a tweet @upcycledbyash

Payments are via PayPal, Credit Card or Personal Check 

additional charge for international shipping

The one and only time I wore this dress!