Olek!

I was in the neighborhood today so I got the chance to check out the installation: Knitting is for Pus*** by fiber artist Olek, at the Christopher Henry Gallery.



In this installation she made a replica of her bedroom, including bringing in some of the actual furniture. The text knitted into the walls etc are random phrases from notes and text messages she's received or sent.

Maker Faire NYC 2010!

Garbage of Eden Design was at the NY Hall of Science for Maker Faire NYC last weekend! Cassie and I gave workshops on making flower shaped magnets from recycled plastics and hats from newspapers. We got some great candid shots of our visitors in crafting action. Check them out!




Don't forget to add us on Facebook and Twitter to get first dibs on all our upcoming recycled craft workshops!

NYC Greenest City?

Check out this post on Treehugger, according to one study NYC is the greenest city in the US!

NYC Congestion Pricing Plan Dropped

I was so hopeful that this plan would be passed! So many politicians were getting behind it and I read some poll somewhere, or maybe it was on the news, that said an overwhelming majority of NYC residents were supportive of the plan. Here's a link to an article about why it was dropped, without even a real vote!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/nyregion/08congest.html?ex=1365393600&en=5baaf441138500c2&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

"the mayor’s plan was strongly opposed by a broad array of politicians from Queens, Brooklyn and New York’s suburbs, who viewed the proposed congestion fee as a regressive measure that overwhelmingly benefited affluent Manhattanites." NY Times

Excuse me members of the State Assembly, are you kidding? This plan would have put more money into the transit system, which is really the transportation method of choice for most non-affluent NYers.

Here's a quote from Bloomberg:
“It takes a special type of cowardice for elected officials to refuse to stand up and vote their conscience on an issue that has been debated, and amended significantly to resolve many outstanding issues, for more than a year,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Every New Yorker has a right to know if the person they send to Albany was for or against better transit and cleaner air.”

Please feel free to comment.

Income Tax Issues for Individual Artist/Designers Ect.

I just got back from a free seminar at the Brooklyn Business Library- it was very good! Now I'm kicking myself for missing the Organization for Home Businesses seminar a few weeks ago. It was a basic overview of how to do your taxes if you're an artist, designer and/or freelancer. I still have questions, but the good part is I found out about some of the correct wording and more questions I didn't even realize I had. So now I can call up the irs and know what to ask.

I wanted to post some links I found out about that can help other artist/designer/freelancer types like myself with their tax woes.

Free help for Brooklyn artists/designers
www.brooklynartscouncil.org

Info about using free tax return preparation by volunteers
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=107626,00.html

Link to free tax preparation sites in New York City & Brooklyn (where those volunteers are!)
http://www.nedap.org/FreeTaxPrepSitesNYC.pdf ....this list is from 2005 but probably some of these places still do it, it's worth calling them and checking it out



Here's one of the upcoming seminars at the Brooklyn Business Library:


Get on the Internet and Get Business!
How to use the Web to reach out to a wide world of clients

Your computer can be the key to selling success if you know how to use the internet effectively. At this seminar Liliana Blanco from the Business Outreach Center will give you tips to E-Mail marketing and Jennifer Stevens of Stevens Consulting will explain the secrets to selling on eBay. Join us to learn:

* The benefits of marketing via email
* Using Constant Contact and understanding its features
* Choosing profitable products to sell online and pricing them right
* Creating repeat customers

Tuesday, February 19
6:00 - 7:30 pm


There's another seminar having to do with small businesses coming up on Feb 28th, it hasn't been put up on their website yet. I guess we'll have to check back on that one.

I love comments so make sure you comment if you have some advice or questions, we can help each other out!