The whole thing started a few years ago when I was in a Coursera.org course for design. For the course I designed and made from scratch a big tote-bag, whose purpose was to carry all the stuff I need in one bundle. You may see it here and find out how to make that bag.

The last assignment in the course was to chose a website name for the design we made. So, I chose the name “Maxxbag” and registered my website for that purpose, but it stayed as it was then – ‘parked’, unused.

So, I decided to give it a new life in a new form.

It will be a big, big “bag” in which all the ‘stuff’ I make, or made, will fit. It is going to be my life portfolio.

Over time, my many hobbies and passions were changing from sewing and knitting to translations. And then from making jewelry to painting to decoupage to mix media, just to name a few. But, I especially love to renovate, restore or alter old things.

And the last one has lately led me to another: to re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle the things we throw everyday like (news)paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, fabric, clothes, glass…

So, making beautiful and useful things out of WASTE and FOUND OBJECTS, which some call ‘junk art’, some UPCYCLING ***, became my challenge No.1.

If you are a DIY person like me, I hope you will find lots of useful information and instructions on how to make some of the items I’ve done.

*** According to Wikipedia Upcycling is creative reuse, i.e. the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless and/or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.

So, it became my new passion and challenge, as well as my contribution to better environment.

The possibilities are countless and for the time being I’m focused on creating new things from waste and found objects

As I wish to make my items from waste materials as much as possible, my main focus right now is how to make a papier/paper mache clay using egg-boxes, towel- and toilet-paper rolls. How it works and what can be done of it, I explain in most of my posts and pages.