Working flat out

Amaze! Please view this video, brought to my attention by the lovely Emma.

Ocean debris reborn

Mary proposal

Without a doubt, Mary Portas has been reading this blog. Why else could she have promoted the concept of upcycling to the owners of 37 Old London Road in last night's episode of Mary Queen of Shops? You can catch the show on iPlayer this week, or if you're in Kingston browse the shop for yourself.

[Hi Mary!!]

Embellished bag bingo

Lie Down I Think I Love You - The Life Of A Handbag from James Partridge on Vimeo.

Lie Down I Think I Love You is, first, a fantastic name for a brand and, second, a cool handbag company in London. They buy vintage scarves from Ebay, auctions and other secret sources and incorporate these into their bag designs. At the press preview last week they unveiled new designs that feature vintage mirror compacts too. Here's a fab video on what they're about and how they do what they do.

Snow man

There's been a whole heap of snow in my life lately. No matter where I go it falls from the sky. It makes me cold and grumpy, but I know many people treat it like an icy divine gift from the gods. One of these people is the uncle of my brother-in-law. (Maybe he is my uncle-in-law or something, I don't know.) Anyway, this man grew up in Alaska. He now lives in Ohio and hopes daily for lots of snow. He bought some old skis at a garage sale and upcycled them into a mega sled that seats about 10 people, weighs 130 pounds and has the option to be pulled by a snowmobile. To see this bad ass vehicle in action, visit the blog of the uncle of my brother-in-law (are you following this?) and click on "Sledding with the Wilstermans". It cracks me up - which very rarely happens to me regarding the subject of snow.

(The picture above, by the way, is from their homemade ice rink. The recipe is simple: lay a tarpaulin; add water; chill.)

Snow junkies

I've still got snow on the brain, and so I'm going to share some snowy thoughts.

Justin Woods is a man who loves snow, especially when he's sliding on it. He invented junkboarding, which allows you to ski when the snow is less than a quarter of an inch on the ground. You take a snowboard and slice it in half - which is the upcycling part of this story. According to junkboarding.com, "This creates rougher, wider, and shorter equipment which allows the skier to plane over grass and ground that has light snow." It's all about making something out of practically nothing, which surely is sending shivers of excitement down your spine?

Little cabin in the woods

There's an episode of Grand Designs that is doing the rounds on Channel 4 about a woodsman in West Sussex who spent 10 years living in tents and caravans before deciding to build a house on a budget of £25,000. In the end, he reports to Kavin McCloud that he went over budget by a little bit, but thanks to claiming and reclaiming materials he still kept costs - and environmental impact - low. Among the materials used in the project is lots of wood (obviously), straw bales, tumeric to colour the plaster, solar panels salvaged from the Big Brother house and enormous batteries that came from a submarine. Rainwater and wind are other inexpensive resources that keep the woodsman happy in his little house. Browse for more inspiration online by reading more about the episode here.

Wheeler dealers

I just watched the feature film The Lords of Dogtown and the documentary Dogtown and the Z-Boys. They both cover the 1970s skateboarding scene in Los Angeles, depicting how a bunch of school-age kids basically invented the modern sport. Like a lot of underground movements, upcycling what society had abandoned played a role in their early efforts.

In the documentary version, the Z-Boys remember making their first skateboards by cutting up old roller skates and salvaging the front panels off of dresser drawers to serve as decks.

Photojournalist Craig Stecyk documented the phenomenon, writing in 1976: “Skaters by their very nature are urban guerillas: they make everyday use of the useless artifacts of the technological burden, and employ the handiwork of the government/corporate structure in a thousand ways that the original architects could never dream of.”

The elementary schools in and around Dogtown were built to manage the challenges posed by the valleys found in the area. Concrete drainage ditches existed in all the playgrounds, and the early skaters uses these as concrete waves, applying surfing moves to riding them on four urethane wheels.

Then a record drought hit California in the 70s, so people were forced to drain their swimming pools. The Z-boys would sneak into people's backyards and skate empty pools, an activity that essentially invented bowl skating, and paved the way for vertical and aerial manoeuvres that are central to skating today.

Ideas out of Africa

My pal Andy sent me off in the direction of a blog called AfriGadget. Put simply, AfriGadget's awesome! In their own words, AfriGadget is: 

"a website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. A team of bloggers and readers contribute their pictures, videos and stories from around the continent. The stories of innovation are inspiring. It is a testament to Africans bending the little they have to their will, using creativity to overcome life’s challenges."

Recently I've been thinking about plastic bottles and bags, and it seems the people behind AfriGadget have too. Above is a video about turning waste plastic into plastic sheets on Vimeo by the blog's gifted editor Erik Hersman, and below are his pics of a drainpipe upcycled from a Fanta bottle and a tetherball game made from a water bottle (photographed during a sandstorm). 

Check out their Flickr pool at the very least - you'll find musical instruments from bottle caps, soccer balls from plastic bags, bellows made from cement bags and a bike retooled as a knife sharpener. It's almost painfully ingenious.

Garbage men

The Prodigy - Warrior's Dance
A raisin reader (whose most excellent blog can be found here) left me a comment about her friends' creative project. Their medium? No, not oils, not clay, not pastels, not even pipe cleaners. They commandeered a video camera, a track by The Prodigy and some cigarette packets. It's super clever and well worth three minutes of your time. By the end of it you may be dancing around in front of your computer screen dreaming of creative uses for your own trash.

Mr Jalopy is my homeboy

Last week in China (where Blogger was mysteriously blocked) I saw a clip on TV about Mr Jalopy. Do you know this man? You should. He's at the centre of the Makers Movement - "people who believe that making things yourself or fixing things the things you already have is lots better than mindlessly buying new mass manufactured stuff". He's in the habit of acquiring old stuff at garage sales and then revamping it for modern use - like a big 1940s cabinet radio that he rewired to serve as an iPod dock. Inspired!

Fake facial hair for your thirst

The Marksman's Barter for Beer event took place last night, and I know we're all very intrigued to learn how my moustaches made out...

They'll stop at nothing

No, your eyes do not deceive you; I have garnered the power of the interweb to single-handedly embedded a video for your viewing pleasure. It's a canny little clip from CNN about some drinkers of wine who decided to make bottlestoppers out of vintage finds like pool balls, faucet handles and doorknobs.