Seven Days Until My One-Year Etsy Anniversary!

Yeah! this is my first blog ever. I know--its about time!

Over the next week will be the countdown to my One-Year Etsy Shop anniversary (http://www.ecolemancruz.etsy.com/). I hope to have some fun promotions up my sleeve.

A little about me and why you should join me in my blogging adventures: my appreciation for making art and curious objects from junk and recycled materials goes back to when I was a kid. I think I was always very deliberate in my choices to reuse something to make it into something new. I squirreled away pieces of jeans when we cut them into cut-off shorts and I would make purses for my friends when i was only 9 or 10 years old. Puffy t-shirt paint could transform any old t-shirt or canvas shoes into clothing fit for a queen. I learned from a very early age from my mother how by wielding a hot-glue gun you could be creatively empowered. I owe a lot to my mom for her careful savings of pennies: clipping coupons, collecting old and very used antiques, and hitting every garage sale, thrift store, clearance isle and craft store in her path. This instilled a desire in me to preserve, save and collect, and out of that my art making practice was born, and has since flourished (with some encouragement from mentors and academic training--I am also a certifiable nerd)!

So yeah, I am going to say it, "I liked to make recycled art way before it was even cool."

Yep!