Upcycling!

[corvustristis.livejournal.com]

What do you think of, in relation to art/craft/making, when you hear the term upcycling? Reusable bags crocheted from grocery store plastic? Jewelry from obsolete tech? Weaving old t-shirts on a scrapwood loom?

How about swords?


The Ol' Slash and Smash

This is the second sword made by my boyfriend, James, and was a gift to me for to accent my costume for my usual summer job at ye olde Renaissance Festival. Some girls get flowers; I get archaic weaponry. Isn't it fantastic? So what's this about upcycling? Well, in a former life, this bruiser of a cutlass was a rusty junkyard leaf spring. James, guided by the internet in all its glory, spent literally months flattening it out and grinding it down to its current form, complete with some fantastic details. Check out the wicked point:


Upcycling is fun!

And the basket, that next:


Detail

It even has a matching sheath (and frog- that is to say, the bit which attaches the sheath to my big fat pirate belt) made from leather scraps:


Complete with sheath!

He even upcycled his own forge, using what I believe was an old tractor brake drum and lots and lots of... um, other stuff. And elbow grease. And probably some other sorts of grease too. I'm fuzzy on the details, but not on the UNRESTRAINED AWESOME. I mean, seriously, building your own forge for bladesmithing? He needs to enter this stuff in some kind of upcycling contest- it would cut all the plarn to pieces (nothing against plarn, but speaking in a strictly literal sense, that's kind of what it's for).

(Har dee har har. I slay myself. Hah! I cannot be stopped! THE PUNNY CANNOT BE STOPPED!)

Being both zee girlfriend, and zee recipient, I have claimed bragging rights (he's too humble to do it for himself, so this is me bragging). Next up, he gets to teach me!

Craftiness is awesome.