As a designer, I love to use flowers as my main inspiration to create artworks as I believe in the importance of incorporating nature into the design process. I thought I would share with you one of the ways that I use flowers to turn them into a design.

When I have a bunch of flowers that are beginning to die off, or I see a bud that has fallen off a tree, I like to collect them and create an artwork or natural dye. This means not only does the flower not get wasted, but for me, preserves a memory.

I also love the process of working with nature to create patterns!

Have you ever thrown out flowers that you were given and thought 'what a waste' or 'I wish I could preserve these somehow'?

I have always enjoyed collecting flowers from a young age. I still continue to enjoy preserving them by collecting, photographing or using them to make natural dyes for fabrics.

flowers have now been made into an artwork!

Here is a little snippet of the hammering process I used to create the above artwork:

It is always fun to experiment with different flowers as they can bring out some lovely colours. Next time you don't want to throw away that bunch of flowers why not give it a try!

On the blog today we wanted to talk a bit more about our YKK NATULON® Chemically Recycled zippers and why we think they are great.

At Sarah Blythe we like to be as eco-friendly as possible and have tried to create a cushion where all components can be recycled in one way or another. This means looking at different materials and how they can be recycled.

Looking at TED's Ten strategies, we can focus on ways to reduce our impact on the environment. Did you know that up to 65% of all the textiles and clothes that we throw away go straight into landfill? This is why we love the the YKK NATULON® zipper, as it is made from recycled polyester. Unlike other zippers that are made from metals and other materials, it also means that the zipper can be broken down and recycled again. This is referred to as a closed loop system. The cushion has been designed so it can be disassembled and each part recycled appropriately. This includes the our 100% cotton washing labels on the inside and outside of the cushion!

Turning flower waste into art

Chemically Recycled Zippers