With some tutor feedback, I'm now looking to fill out and explain my alphabet with a sentence or two to properly communicate what I have been overlooking.
A is for Australian Natives – good craft for a greater environment.
Creating original work with the god given debris of Australia is a great way to craft sustainably, interact with your landscape, educate yourself and promote the Australian wilderness. Foraging for sticks and leaves is free, all it costs is your dignity and composure.
tags: biodegradable, gumtrees, gold leaf, free
B is for Beeswax – using the byproducts of bees to promote their survival.
Bees are fucked – habitat loss, pesticide and disease are wiping them out quicker than the ice caps during climate change. 70% of the world's crops need bees and I want honey on my toast but let's not forget the potential crafts facing hardship. Crafting with the tactile material of beeswax smells great, is sustainable, and also purifies the air when burnt.
tags: honey bees, moulding wax, candles, dead insects
C is for Crystallise – creating new products with old foods.
In ye olde times they knew the worth of preserving produce in sugar, but nowadays we've forgotten this along with how to dance the maypole. Coating cirtus, ginger and flowers in sugar is a stunner of a craft (sparkly pretty magic) but it's also a handy activity to get some extra milage out of your soon-to-rot groceries.
tags: citrus, candies, food crafts, diabetes
D is for Dance – material-less craft in motion.
Dance is the ultimate craft you can do with your body; it's creative, cheap, healthy and good to look at. Jiving around to your favourite tunes is a total workout of the mind body and soul, and I'm a firm believer in the primitive urge to dance; we all want in!
tags: exercise, disco, free, express yourself
E is for Embroidery – scrap sewing that saves.
Waiting around to get married is a thing of the past, thanks to embroidery – it keeps the hands occupied and the mind at rest. It's a great way to rejig an old piece of fabric and encourages you to treasure and use every last scrap. Embroidery; keeping singles sane and scraps sorted!
tags: recycled, sequins, felt, beads, tedious
F is for Fleece – the ultimate sustainable product.
For yonks humans have been turning to sheep for answers, but all we got was baaa baa baa. When we figured out how small their brains were, we punished them by taking their fleece. Surprisingly it kept us warm, dry and had more uses than the wheel. Knitting, crochet, felting and weaving were just the start, it wasn't soon until this silly sustainable stuff had us all housed in yurts.
tags: sustainable, smart fabrics, nana, baa baa, mutton
G is for Green Guerrillas – stick it to'em while spreading seeds.
In an age of genetically modified seeds and urban sprawling it's time to fight back. Becoming a guerrilla is a serious pledge to resist, respond and risk everything in the name of your cause. Seed bombing and green graffiti is your mission, accept it and don't forget to water. Big! Mean! Green!
tags: revolt, environmental, grass roots, illegal
H is for Herbal Tea – fresh from nature and full of magical goodness.
Long before the common flu shot there was herbal tea. Long before cancer there was herbal tea. What can't the stuff solve? Whether it's boiling up some sticks from your backyard or a mysterious powder from a friend in Chinatown, drink this stuff and your bound to live a million years. It's eco, tasty and beats tap water. Sold!
tags: nature based, old dried leaves, flower juice, placebo effect
I is for Ink – hold the phone and make your own! Sustainable and chemical free.
Simmering down a selection of berries, beetroot, tea, onion skins, saffron and turmeric is a nifty way to get your own inks. Sure they might mould after a few weeks and the colours will fade, but you can illustrate happily knowing there are no chemicals in your nib and your work is a part of mother nature's cycle of life.
tags: eco friendly, new uses, veggies, stains
J is for Japan – taking the fuk out of fukushima.
Since the 2011 Tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear plant has been leaking radiation into our now miserable oceans. Join the sceptics and don't eat anything out of the big blue, instead use the abundance of radioactive seaweed in your next crafting project. Fight back for the little fish that couldn't.
tags: environmental concern, rice balls, radioactive, yum
K is for Koalas – our cosy and beloved – yet disappearing and nearly dead friends.
Koalas are too cute to be true, but when turned into bloodied and smashed roadkill they loose points on presentation. Humans have helped kill almost 90% of the population and it's time we think about saving them. Crafting for their cause is a start, but let's seriously look into some sanctuaries.
tags: Australian natives, extinction, cute, chlamydia
L is for Lanterns – sustainable paper crafts for lighting alternatives.
Turning paper into lanterns is the lighting solution the world has been waiting for. Childish, colourful and a craft for all ages - look into LED lighting options for their energy efficient rating and remeber to consider candlelight over halogens. But be careful when lighting anything on fire, because if you're like me you don't have home and contents insurance.
tags: lights out, earth hour, recycle, say no to coal
M is for Mail – paper practices to keep the postie busy.
Sure mail died somewhat in the name of email, but like vinyl records and magazines it's an art form that has downsized not disappeared. This presents the perfect craft opportunity to recycle every paper scrap and look into some radical eco papers (an elephant dung blend is my preference). Decorate the shit out of your letters and harass all your friends with special spiels and precious parcels.
tags: recycled, sustainable, snail mail, anthrax
N is for Nuts – natural goodies from Mama Nature.
Slaughtering animals isn't the only way to get protein on the daily. Nuts are full of natural goodies but more importantly are great for crafting. Their warped and wrinkly surfaces make a Picasso worthy canvas you'll enjoy sticking things onto. I chose to transform a regular crowd of walnuts into an owl colony, and I've never looked back.
tags: enviro-arts, felt, nuts, too cute to eat
O is Origami - reusing paper, or more-so rebirthing paper.
The patience testing and traditional art of origami is a craft that uses only one (sustainable and recyclable) material. This presents opportunities to recuse some newspaper or even the gas bill. Fold em up, repeat until dead.
tags: recyclable, Japanese craft, nimble fingers, paper cuts
P is for Pickling – playing with and preserving your food supply.
Global greenies just love pickling; it reinforces the idea of eating seasonally, which mean eating from a jar of bitter fluid in the barren winter months. But it's not all doom and gloom if you add enough herbs and sugar, in fact pickling can be fun to do and rewarding to eat. Just remember – pickling is a vampire's craft; timelessly preserving life for all eternity.
tags: sustainable, eat wise, gherkins, slimy food
Q is for Queer Quarfts – celebrating love, freedom and sexuality through multicoloured crafts.
With the rainbow as your inspiration this craft is pretty bullet proof, unless you're a homophobe of course. I chose to craft with multicoloured papers, cutting them into my own alphabet confetti. Sprinkle this during Mardi Gras or over your houseguests to remind them that love is blind and you are mad.
tags: social issues, paper craft, homos, yay
R is for Ragdolls – useless scraps make great new friends.
In the age of fast fashion it's important to remember the worth of textiles. I remember the day when you had you work clothes and your church clothes, but now I have a wardrobe that could clothe 200 orphans. In a desperate attempt to reduce my carbon footprint, I've turned to ragdolls, so my offcuts and thinning T-shirts can now smile back at me with creepy new life.
tags: recycling, textiles, freaky faces, etsy
S is for Stealing Succulents – a clipping one day a new garden the next.
Succulents are the hard to kill solution to urban gardening, but getting them is a crim's art. It's only because they propagate so easily (and I get an adrenaline rush from theft) that I recommend stealing succulents. Tips for your convinience; wear black, carry both scissors and a knife, and do this after midnight.
tags: environmental, going green, spiky, kleptomaniac
T is for Tribal – creatively taking cues from nature-based tribal crafts.
Mother nature misses the old days; when we took what we needed, left what we didn't, played wooden flutes and reproduced with our cousins. While we can't rewind the clock, we can revisit tribal arts that echo the simpler times. I selected clay as my medium, but this craft could also use wood, sand, grass and ivory.
tags: sustainable crafts, earth roots, nature, deity worship
U is for Underwater Garden – testing out your green thumb in the big blue.
I was fool for thinking urban gardening ended at the pot plant! Provoked by an empty pickle jar I've now taken my obsession underwater. A self sustaining biosphere can be achieved in a underwater garden with the right number of minerals (rocks and shells), water plants, snails and shrimp. I bought the shrimp, named them, and two of the three have disappeared – I'm devastated, better luck to you.
tags: environmental, hydrosphere, snails, dead shrimp
V is for Vandalism – taking your opinions to the streets!
In the name of a peaceful and sustainable future it's important to graffiti local walls with your mind ramblings. Sure it's illegal but your radical environmental beliefs need to be transferred onto others. I believe silence is more deadly than aerosol cans are to the ozone layer.
tags: environmental rights, human rights, illegal, tacky slogans
W is for Weeds and Wildflowers – are they medicine, food or a darn nuisance?
Recently inner city greenies have had a change of heart; weeds are here to stay so let's eat them quick. Now dandelions, thistle, clover, flea bane, nasturtium and prickly lettuce are all on the menu, coincidentally they are also all growing out of the pavement. While their leaves may be furry and their flowers bitter, weeds are free food. As mother says; the worse it tastes the better it is for you.
tags: gutter gustation, enviro eating, pesticide pallet
X is for Xmas – billions spent every December, but not by you anymore.
Santa's good name has been tainted with the flaws of consumerism; Xmas has got a l'il excessive. In 2012 Australians spent over $16.2 Billion on Christmas so this year it's important we take some of the weight off the north pole. Using recycled paper and handcrafts (sewing, scraps, felt, and crayon) is a great way to recycle the waste of 2013 onto charming gift tags for your beloved.
tags: recycle, consumerism, cute and useless
Y is for Yiayiá – time with the oldies and their depression-era resourcefulness.
A greek grandmama (Yiayiá) is a self sufficient micro organism capable of using every last scrap and keeping waste to a minimum. My Yiayiá recently taught me how to make spanakopita and koulouria – made from scratch and with love.
tags: soul food, family time, hugs, wrinkles
Z is for Zombie Facials – natural ingredients for the ghoul with great skin.
The skin on your face has a rough time surviving in the urban jungle – I regularly worry about bus soot clogging my pores. But before a natural death finds me, I plan to preserve skin I live in, by using the healthy healing help of avocados, oats, honey, and yogurt. Three hours of looking like the living dead will buy you 24 hours of sexy, silky, sustainable skin.
tags: natural ingredients, oily pores, fucken freaky face
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