I'm sure by now you've all seen the gorgeous jewelry and bowls that Gülnur Özdağlar makes from recycled PET plastic. If you haven't, you need to go visit her website. Now. It will give you a good Monday kick in the creative pants...her work is that inspiring.

I have always wondered how she gets such delicate forms from our everyday ugly plastic waste... so imagine my excitement when I discovered theat she has a tutorial on Instructables to make your own plastic bottle bowl!

I'm not sure that I'm up to attempting these myself (I'm nervous about plastic fumes after we spent some time trying to replicate these with our kitchen oven. It worked well, but stank!) so this is getting filed away in my "maybe someday" file. If you attempt it, please let me know how it goes!

Before I end this post, though, I want to share this quote from Gülnur Özdağlar's bio, which I find as inspiring as her work itself, and great to have on your mind as we start this week:

"Her aim is also to obtain objects from things that have been discarded that are so beautiful, that we would want to wear or exhibit them, thus underlining the importance of “recycling” and encouraging it. In this way she provides her own personal answer to the problem of recycling.She believes that in the future there will be a plastic material that will not proceed from the cradle to the grave, but that will return to the cradle with no loss, thus giving rise to a new plastic material, that this will “determine the way shapes are created” and that the real problem will not be recycling, and not even upcycling, but “karmic compensation”. In other words she believes that there will be a better world."

Well, April is just about over. How did your stashbusting go? I'll admit it: I cheated a teensy bit, but when I did, I made sure it was only for things I didn't have at home, and then I tried to only pick up supplies second-hand. Before we wrap the Stash Bust up, I wanted to share a few of the awesome projects that came out of the April Stash Bust Flickr pool.

I love the necklace (top), made from an old wine cork, and this card embellished with old rubberbands—both by brasspaperclip

And check out these cute napkins made with fat quarters and linen by nikimaki

Loving this mobile made from fabric scraps and sticks from the yard by D is for Delicate

And I'm so envious of this fabulous dart board cabinet built from scraps from a redwood deck and a few cross sections of branches from a recent tree trimming, by The Artists' House

Ugh. Taxes. That's all there is to say about that. But it is nice to know somebody is having some fun with them. I spotted this over at DudeCraft yesterday...artist Nava Lubelski created this piece, aptly named 1998 Tax File, from shredded and rolled tax forms, receipts, deposit slips, and pay stubs. That is some grand recycling.

How's the first week of stashbusting going? I know for me it's been a great chance to sort through some of my negelcted supplies and get some new ideas... and clean my space up at the same time!

To help get things moving, here's some stashbusting inspiration:

Need a reason to get started? Check out these 15 Reasons to Bust Your Stash on croq zine.

Check out this interview with Phoebe of Elsage, who makes all kinds of fun accessories made from reclaimed fabric & scraps.

Crafting a Green World has a great roundup of projects to do with your paper scraps.

Challenge yourself with some endurance crafting: join in the 24 hour make along this Saturday.

If you’ve posted a stash bust tutorial or article on your blog, add it to the April Stash Bust Blog Carnival.

Don't forget to join our Flickr group and post your creations to enter in the awesome Stash Busting contest!

Spotted this morning: these upcycled vintage suitcase tables from Love Nostalgic Whimsy

Wishing you all a very special Valentine's Day with this sweet stop-motion animation by our good friend and fellow crafter, Danielle.

via A Rarer Borealis

Need some inspiration to get your week started? Check out these awesome paintings by Nick Gentry (spotted via DudeCraft).

Nick paints these fabulous portraits on old floppy discs... some materials reuse so lovely that I really want to hang one on my walls...

I love how the grid of disks creates such a natural canvas, with different colored plastics and labels showing through, and carefully crafted compositions that place the portraits eyes right on the metallic elements of the disks.

Nick takes donations of old disks to turn into art, which is an awesome way to keep up supplies of media that I imagine will become harder and harder to find in the coming years. And, as he puts it, "your stuff could be in a gallery rather than a landfill." I don't know about you, but I still have stacks (yes, stacks) of floppy disks waiting to be turned into some ingenious project... maybe I'll send them off to Nick instead.

Happy Monday, everybody! I hope those of you here in the States are enjoying the three-day weekend!

I've got a new plan for Mondays over here! Materials Mondays will highlight sustainable materials: either earth friendlly materials for purchase or repurposing, work made from creative reuse of material, or books or videos that focus on sustainable material use. Hopefully we'll start each week with some eco-inspiration!

First up, 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, the new book out by Garth Johnson. I'll admit, I have yet to get my hands on a copy, but what I have seen is awesome! Such great work by so many of our crafty peers! Here's the *official* blurb about the book:

Artists and crafters have always been recyclers, but for many, it has not only become a thrifty choice, it has become a moral imperative. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse contains a cutting edge collection of the most inventive work being made with re-used, upcycled, and already existing materials. The work in this book ranges from clever and humble personal accessories to unique and important large-scale works of art, including paper art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, interiors, and installations.

...now, to go find myself a copy!