By Jasmaine Paye
Upon entering Everything Makes Craft on Brickdam, one is greeted by a colourful array of artistic creations: old glass bottles turned into centerpieces, wedding invitations, wall hangings, a collection of quaint but creative greeting cards and other beautiful handiworks made from upcycled materials. These little innovations are Christine DeCambra – Forrester’s pride and joy, as she promotes her creativity hand in hand with the benefits of using upcycled materials to decorate one’s home.
The ingenuity and exquisite finish which encompass her work would make anyone assume that art was her first love. But prior to becoming a stay at home mom, Christine’s expertise was in business and accounting, and these things shaped the course of her work.
In 2013, she stumbled across the multifaceted benefits of upcycling while bonding with her children. “I had two children who just wanted to play and wanted my attention and wanted to engage me and I saw that we were just throwing out too many things,” Christine said.
It was then that she started to use household items to create little works of art with her children. “ The first thing we made, we used toilet paper rolls and old magazines and I have that hanging smack dab in the middle of the living room right now for anybody who comes to my home to see.”
Her homemade projects with her children began to capture the attention of the public after she shared them on social media. “One thing led to another and it quickly turned into a business,” she said.
It is her belief that the benefits of upcycling are threefold: it serves as a means for parents to bond with their children; it can reduce garbage build up; and can earn additional income. The first benefit, Christine says, is one of the most significant of them all. “Moms want to engage their children, be excited with them and share new things with them but we just don’t know how to connect with them, so we stick them in front of the TV or give them a new toy or the iPad,” she said.
Christine remembers using simple household materials as a means of entertainment while growing up and added that upcycling helps to bring back that novelty- which she admits, brought her much joy as a child. “It’s about bringing back that sort of bonding, and arts and craft is also very innovative and helps children to navigate through life, trying to figure out how to make this thing work, or make the best of a situation,” she said.
Since she started her business, Christine is also aware of the fact that due to the rarity of recycling and upcycling in Guyana. She is therefore a type of pioneer in getting the message of their importance out there. In the early days of her business, she said that through coverage from NCN she was able to get people to understand more about upcycling materials. She also expressed her wish to continue to spread the word in the future.
“I would like any opportunity, so if there are any organisations out there who would like to support Everything Makes Craft to get upcycling into the homes of stay-at-home moms, we would be glad to work with them so we can help them to start this thing,” she said.
To expand her business, Christine recently moved to her current location on Brickdam. She has also recently partnered with fellow art lover Loreen DeCunha, whose use of innovative tools and card making abilities help to make the business even better. Loreen also owns Creative Craft Expressions and specialises in making unique and memorable greeting cards at a quality that can hold their own with bigger names like Hallmark. Together, the two women are a creative force to be reckoned with, producing countless attractive upcycled works of art. “Lureen adds a detail to my work that really needed to be there; she has a bountiful assortment of tools – the correct tools especially to do card making,” Christine boasted, “and this is why it’s important to partner up.
“You may never know what that person may be able to bring to your business until you see the difference that it makes.”
With their new partnership, the two ladies have big plans for the future such as getting their own own building.
For the near future, however, they are busy preparing for other events. They recently participated in the Women in Expo at the Pegasus Hotel and will soon host a Bunny Fun Day on March 20 at the Promenade Gardens. Later in April, they hope to start their first batch of adult craft classes for women who have all been keen to join the upcycling culture and bond with their children as well.