Fantastic Interview with Harriete Estel Berman by Ira Mency

The fearless leader of the etsy Recyclers' Guild, "WasteNot", coordinated an interview with professional artist/craftswoman Harriete Estel Berman as a part of one of our on-going monthly projects; "Spotlight Guest Member Award."

Questions were submitted by various team members and Harriete gave such thoughtful and thorough answers! This is a great read for anyone who wants to be inspired to start/continue pursuing their art as a business.

Check out the interview here; Interview with Harriete Estel Berman

Awesome Cache of Recycled Creativity!

A friend turned me on to a great, inspirational site for the recycle-minded called Recyclart. There is a forum for discussions on a variety of creations and there are links to places to find out more or purchase items. Some of these offerings are mind-bogging in scale and really get the "storm in your brain" going.

Check out Recyclart at; http://www.recyclart.org/ to see some great innovative, creative, over the top and just plain bizarre offering from all over the world!

Mens' Hats Available

I got Justin to do some modeling for me - so now I can post them as mens' hats! Most of my hats are "unisex" and far be it from me to tell any guy or gal that the hat they love isn't for them, that's not the point at all - the idea is to help anybody envision themselves wearing one!

See them all at;
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TranzendentalArts?section_id=6890441

New Flower Bobs!

I'm having a blast creating these new "hair bobs" from recycled silk neckties. So far I've got roses, poppies and daffodils and I'm trying to create some crocus and/or iris - but they're tricky!

Check out the full line on etsy at;
TranzendentalArts

I got my tags last week and I've been busy putting them on all of my items as well. I've made them into an "adjustable system" for wearing these nifty flower bobs too. By stitching them on with several different sizes of "loops" the tag can be used to affix the flowers to bobby pins, barrettes, scarves, headbands, safety pins, belts and more. These little guys are so versatile!

They're Out!

I've posted two new spring cloche hats on my etsy page at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TranzendentalArts and there are more to come!

I love these hats because they're light and colorful with lots of stretch - you hardly know you're wearing them! I've really enjoyed designing these pieces because I'm letting the materials lead my styling. Using recycled materials creates a unique challenge because the fabrics are different, the usable portions vary and these differences keep me from "mass producing" anything!

This weekend I just threw a bunch of t-shirts and turtlenecks into a pile and left them on the counter while I worked - every time I returned to the pile I "saw" a new hat and it kept me motivated. I thought I'd miss the patterns of my ties and sweaters, but utilizing the solid colors has opened up a whole new window.

I'm hoping to find some hat enthusiasts who really want "one of a kind" items. These aren't hats that will appeal to just anyone - but I'm on my way to creating enough variety that I think there's a good chance you'll find one you like.

Check them out and let me know what you think;


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

Cheers,

-cyn

Aha!

I'm working on drafting up a pattern for a SWEET little spring/summer cloche hat made from recycled knits - this is gonna be awesome! Once I have the basic pattern down I'll be able to do lots of fun stuff with this hat - I'm sooo excited!

I'm also going to make a run of the rasta tams out of lighter knits and crazy color-combinations. I think I'm gonna spend the whole weekend sewing, so I doubt I'll mind the nasty weather.

My biggest project once I get rolling is figuring a good "brim" for some of them - I've been saving pop bottles and I think they'll make a great stabilizer. I've got some really whack ideas rolling around in the back of my head for bizarro hat-brims too.

The more I listen to the news and revel in working for myself rather than for someone else... the more I worry about us all and hope for the best. My job though - keep myself covered and not be a drain on society. Hopefully I'll inspire some others to follow their bliss because it CAN work and it leads to such a great sense of power and peace.

Cheers,

-cyn

I'm beefing up the vintage stuff for now...

I've suddenly begun to worry that what I need is stuff for spring, not more winter hats! So I'm getting ready to post alot of retro/vintage stuff I have that's great for spring or less season-specific.

It's really quite time-consuming trying to get pictures taken and edited and posted - and I can't even begin with that until I've cleaned/ironed/repaired the stuff... so this is going waaay slower than I had anticipated!

In the meantime I've ordered cards and tags so that when I'm ready to roll, well, I'll be ready to roll!