June 10, 2003 | WSJ | Paulette Thomas
THE LESSON: Software developers reuse old code in new ways. Consultants repackage research. Furniture makers feed their own sawdust into their kilns. Look for ways to wring value out of byproducts.

Some folks in .nl opened up a bunch of "Repair Cafes" where you can take in broken stuff and have it fixed.

seek to use before reuse

Maya Donenfeld of Maya*Made is well know in the craft community for her simple and beautiful projects celebrate sustainable resources. Her new book, Reinvention from Wiley, is not just about making cute and useful projects, but also about creating with purpose and attention to meaningful materials.

Advancements in technology have increased the pace of our lives. As a response, a vibrant Do It Yourself movement has risen to reclaim age old traditions that reconnect us to slower and simpler times. A sewing renaissance has been set in motion at a time in history when economic instability and an awareness of the importance of using sustainable resources is peaking.

With this in mind, I created a guide to working with my favorite recycled materials. You'll find linen, burlap, wool and more with details on their history, deconstruction techniques, sewing tips, and information about their environmental impact.

Reinventing everyday materials into items of beauty and utility for the modern home and family will excite new and experienced sewers alike. To add an element of personalization, I drew upon my experience leading print workshops to share easy methods for transforming gently-used fabric with paint and ink. Stenciling templates and thorough instructions are provided, as well as encouragement to invent your own designs. Stories, a favorite recipe, and nature activity are tucked between and around the projects to offer you, the reader and maker, an invitation to slow down, and create with intention.

We're thrilled to be part of Maya's Reinvention book blog tour, and are excited to share a great project from the book. To make your own awesome envelope portfolio, just download the project PDF below.

Download the Instructions for making a portfolio, by Maya Donenfeld (excerpted from Reinvention)Right click to save the PDF to your desktop. Directions on downloading PDFs.

Giveaway time! One lucky Craft reader will win a copy of Reinvention. Just leave a comment below, telling us what your favorite kinds of materials to reuse are. Please be sure to leave your email address so we can get in touch. US Residents only. Comments will close at 4PM PST on Sunday, May 6th. Good luck!

Follow along with the rest of the Reinvention tour below!
Week One
5/1- sew liberated
5/2- Craft
5/3- Resurrection Fern
5/4- Apartment Therapy

Week Two
5/7 Whip Up
5/8 elsie marley
5/9 Poppytalk
5/10 Annekata
5/11 Pink Coyote

Week Three
5/14 Betz White
5/15 Etsy
5/16 Sew, Mama, Sew!
5/17 Made
5/18 Wiley Craft

"Instagram: How We Scaled Into A Billion Dollar Company" - http://t.co/UHdm2tDu #reuse #code

When you choose to author HTML and CSS in a way that seeks to reduce the amount of time you spend writing and editing CSS, it involves accepting that you must instead spend more time changing HTML classes on elements if you want to change their styles. This turns out to be fairly practical, both for front-end and back-end developers – anyone can rearrange pre-built “lego blocks”; it turns out that none can perform CSS-alchemy.

Spice is a Source Component Manager for Xcode enabling easy re-use of code between projects

Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

"For the first time, the Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded to an architect based in China. Wang Shu, 49, is interested in preservation, working slowly and tradition — ideals that sometimes seem forgotten in today's booming China. Wang says in the 1990s he had to get away from China's architectural "system" of demolition, megastructures and get-rich-quick — so he spent the decade working with common craftspeople building simple constructions.

"I go out of system," Wang says, "Because, finally I think, this system is too strong."

…

"Handicraft is important, and Wang says he doesn't like "professionalized soulless architecture as practiced today." He says he works more like a traditional Chinese painter. When he accepts a commission, he studies the city, the valley and the mountains. Then he goes home and thinks about it for about a week, without drawing. He says he drinks tea every day to stay calm, so his architecture doesn't become too strong and overwhelm the landscape."