Pop In!

In this post I concluded with a picture and promised to tell you more about it later.  The photo was taken by The Mister when he brought Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess to visit me during my volunteer hours at Collective Upcycle last Friday.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Collective Upcycle, it is a seasonal pop-up shop featuring work made from recycled and repurposed materials.  I wrote about CU's winter pop-up in Shaker Square in this post.  

Since June 7th, Collective Upcycle's summer pop-up shop has been occupying 6706 Detroit Road in the Gordon Square Arts District.  This is the same retail space it was in last summer, but what's different is that this year I HAVE STUFF  FOR SALE THERE!!!

This is my first foray into the world of selling my work and I'm really excited.  I've been making things for my family and friends for years, but I've never had the opportunity to sell my work to people I don't know.  

I'm selling dolls made of felted sweaters and other repurposed materials.  After days of trying to think of a name for them I finally settled on Fuzzy Wigs.  Why?  Well, I was taking pictures of the dolls before I dropped them off at CU and, to carry them all outside into my front yard, I put them in a big basket.  When they were all in the basket together they looked like this:

They reminded me of a silly nickname my mother called me when I was young (despite the fact that I had poker-straight hair).  When I posted this picture to Facebook the caption was something like "not much here...just a bunch of fuzzy wigs" and their name was born.  Here's a picture of what they look like from the front:

In addition to Fuzzy Wigs, here are some other items for sale through Sunday at Collective Upcycle:

Robin Neorr of The T Shirt Diaries is selling skirts and dresses made of  upcycled T shirts.  Her creations come in sizes for both women and children.  Here she is on CU's opening night holding one of her pieces:

Reclaimed Cleveland takes building materials from torn down structures in Cleveland and makes household items and beautiful furniture like this chair.  I sat in it while I was volunteering last week and it is really comfortable.  It would be MINE except, well, the life choice I wrote about here  has limited my budget for the forseeable future.  Every piece from Reclaimed Cleveland has a serial number on it which can be used to find out where the materials for your item originated.  I believe this chair is made from a former church pew.

These accessories were made by Maudy Paden of Sewing by Maudy.  Maudy is a seamstress who is selling hair clips and brooches made of beads and fabric to help fund her daughter's study abroad adventure.  

Jeanetta Ho makes beautiful jewelry from objects she finds in nature like this necklace and earrings made from tiny twigs: 

If you prefer more colorful jewelry, check out these earrings made from Legos:

When Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess came to visit they had a fantastic time running around the store and identifying the original materials of the pieces that were for sale.  While they were pleased to recognize magnets as originally being bottle caps and bracelets made of bicycle chains there were some things that stumped them.  For example, at 6 and 4 years old, they had no idea what this used to be:

This is the last weekend for Collective Upcycle.  The shop is open today (Friday) and tomorrow from 12-9 and on Sunday until 5. Whether you think my Fuzzy Wigs are cute or creepy, there is a lot of other stuff there, so you should definitely check it out.

Comments

[Haley]

Definitely cute--not creepy :). Wish I was in town so I could come check this out. So excited for you and all that is happening in your life, Audra! I love that you are making these things happen!

[Earnestine Kettering]

The Collective Upcycle seems like a fun and meaningful event! I particularly like Reclaimed Cleveland and their purpose for doing business. In this world where resources are becoming scarcer by the minute, it’s crucial that we find ways to reuse whatever it is that can still be salvaged. I hope more businesses like this will come about, and that I will have the chance someday to be one of their faithful patrons.