Happy Earth Day! Be inspired to recycle, reuse and repurpose!

While polymer clay is not the most environmentally conscious craft, I do make an effort to do use recycled materials in some of my other crafts. I like being able to show my kids how you can make something new from materials you have around the house. I use cardboard from Caprisun boxes as a painting surface for some of my paintings.  It's a nice sturdy surface to paint on and it gives an interesting texture and sometimes the lines of the corrugated cardboard show through which I love.  Plus it's basically free!  Here are some examples:

I also like to use product packaging, catalogs and magazines to make my "Full Circle Trees". Here's one I made from a couple decks of playing cards:

Here's one made from a popsicle box:

And here are 2 from my new candy box series:

Here's a little treasury featuring some other great re-purposed items:

Take a little time this week to think about what you have around your house that you could re-purpose into some amazing art! Pay close attention to how you can transform different materials. Look at the different shapes of things that you throw in the recycling bin. Pay close attention to the colors and graphics in product packaging. All of these things can also spark inspiration without having to re-purpose, but it's a great feeling knowing you're saving something from the landfill and turning it into a masterpiece!