My friend and colleague, Janice Beetle of Beetle Press had a stack of brochures that she could no longer use. When I told her about my desire to help businesses create items of value from outdated marketing materials, she was eager to find out more and I couldn’t wait to get my crafty hands on them!
Although the brochures were no longer useful in their current state — there was plenty of relevant branding and messaging that was. I set out to create items she could use as small gifts for clients/interns, or door prizes/raffle items for events and she was thrilled with the results!
If you know of a business with potential materials for reuse, please contact me, I’d love to help!
Beetle Press is a public relations and communications firm with heart. They serve the leaders of mission-focused organizations and they are amazing to work with! Since the Beetle Press logo is a ladybug and they offer writing services, I decided on projects that had a reading/writing/gardening theme.
The upcycled prototypes included:
- a bookmark (one side: Telling your stories with heart and purpose; other side: Our work educates and inspires action.)
- a mini notebook (covered with muslin and embellished with a red button)
- a business card size scratch/to do pad
- a few bottle caps magnet/wine charm (which the ladybug logo fit perfectly into!)
- and a tin can plantar with a paper quilled ornament (yes, this was followed by a quilling craze!)
Update May 10, 2016: Janice had a crafternoon with her interns!
I was so happy to see Beetle Press post that Janice and her interns were inspired to make many more items together. She shared this photo on the Beetle Press Facebook page — isn’t that awesome?!
Amber Ladley 