ROBOTS!!!

Here are a few shots of our new Robot Workstations. Thanks to Peter for all of his work on getting these up and running!

The Kit includes a computer running freeDOS, special software, two stepper motors, a solderless breadboard, IC chips and other electronic bits, a custom connector cable and instructions on how to build your very own ROBOT!! All for only $50, mega cheap!

These kits are designed so that once you understand the basic concepts you may alter and customize your robot, you can add on more pieces, you can change the software, you can start breaking open old electronics and start building new creations from them... The world is your robotic oyster!

These are perfect for anyone looking to learn about electronics, computer science, and robotics in a real world way. You start with a real computer, you create real electronics from scratch, connect real motors and run real software to talk to them. There is no better way to learn all these concepts than to put them in motion (you can even make them sparkly like we did!)

To check out a working example station just come by the Scrap Exchange and see it in action!

Teachers Save 20%!

Did you know that The Scrap Exchange was started as a resource for teachers?

Chris Rosenthal, Joe Appleton, and the other founding organizers knew that teachers need materials every day to use in their classrooms, while literally tons of materials that would make great teaching resources get thrown out every day. The Scrap Exchange was born out of a desire to bring together the people who had stuff they didn't need with the people who needed stuff they couldn't find anywhere else.

We've always loved teachers at The Scrap Exchange, and in August, we're showing our love by offering a 20% discount for teachers on all materials purchased in the store.

Just show a current school ID when you check out and we'll take 20% off the top. (Sorry, discount does not apply to Artists' Marketplace or Gallery items.)

March On In!

Cool glass science orbs

New! Better Glass and Plexi section, less Ouch, more Hooray!

Keep your eyeballs in mint condition.

Jackson Pollock never had it so good.

Awesome vintage magazine pages.

A customer creation!

Check out this amazing quilt made by customer Betsy Treece. She attended our warehouse fabric sale and this is what she had to say: " I made this quilt entirely out of fabrics that I got at the fabric sale. And since it is all that thick upholstery fabric it's very thick and luxurious." I only wish I could be as productive as she is.

Do you have a project you've made from items found at The Scrap Exchange? Send us an email to store@scrapexchange.org and we may feature it on our blog.

Molds and Mess

We just got in some great doll part molds, used for slip casting or just as creepy decorative objects.

convex or concave?

Just a hint of the carnage left after the fabric sale...

A little of this and a little of that

These are awesome roll-y things (they have ball bearings inside).
Picture is not awesome but gets the point across

We have tons of heavy vinyl banners from Whole Foods
(there are even more in the warehouse)

Everything medical or medicinal looking is new and unused.

50 gallons of puzzle pieces, see if you can sort them out!

Snow Day

March 3rd 2009
This is a picture of the note I found when I went to work yesterday. We had missed 2 people who had driven from Massachusetts to come to The Scrap Exchange, at least that is my interpretation of the note. I am hoping that they were able to come back today. We do not have snow days very often, and I know that it only snowed a couple of inches. We usually base our decision to close on how treacherous it is for employees to get to our location, and yesterday morning, it was pretty bad. Since we are open @ 357 days of the year, we take full advantage of a chance to close. So welcome to the South, and I hope y'all do stick around, it is supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend, and we will be open.

Save the date!

We’ve just set the date for our spring warehouse fabric sale. Saturday March 28th from 10-1. If you’ve never been to one of our fabric sales before (or even if you have) you don’t want to miss it! We already have low prices in our store, but the prices for our warehouse sale are crazy low. ‘Cause when we have a sale, we have a SALE!
Thanks to Daniel for the phone pics from the warehouse...

The Everchanging World Of Mongo

Here are some more recent photos of our infamous MONGO room. In an ever changing environment like the Scrap it's hard to truly express the varied nature of our beloved scraps with simple twenty-first century technology (i.e. photos taken with a cellphone). One day we get and old sign, the next scalpel blades (those are safely put away for now.) Maybe we get 10 boxes of vintage fabric, or 1 box of 10,000 tiny plastic... uh... thingamawhatsits.

The point is this, as fun as it is to take photos of the store every now and then, it's even more fun to be surrounded by it every day.









Make sure to visit our flikr page to see all the (new and old) photos. And yes, that is a copy of "A chorus line" on vinyl. You're thinking "I Hope I Get It, I Hope I Get It!"

p.s. this post by Daniel not Ann

Now listing...

We’ve started selling on Ebay! We’ve sold a few items in the past, but now we’re going full steam ahead with our fabulous Ebay expert Ruth. So check it out! Our user name is scrapexchange.

And we put out a bunch of kids plastic beads recently in the store. Great for those cold rainy day projects with the munchkins!

Button, button, who's got the button?

We do! We just put out bunches of buttons, including some glass vintage cuties! Stop by and get some before our button hungry customers buy them all up.
Coming soon… beads!

Wallpaper and Patsy Aiken trim!

Ooh! We got some good stuff in! A huge stack of wallpaper books and oodles of Patsy Aiken seam binding and trim. My dilemma? What to make first! It’s perfect for all those holiday cards and gifts you need to make. Or makes a great gift for your favorite crafter.

Thanks

The day of the great feast is nearly upon us. I look forward to stuffing myself with turkey, potatoes and pumpkin pie. It is also, of course, a day of giving thanks. I am thankful for my boyfriend, my family, my friends. I am also thankful to our customers and donors who inspire me every day. I love that Durham is filled with people like me who say “Don’t throw that out! I could make something with that!”

I was raised by two parents who grew up poor and because of them I’ve been creatively reusing things all my life. It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I knew there was an actual name for it. For me it was just the way things were done. I hope that’s the way it will be for future generations, too. Judging by the number of Scrap aficionados under the age of ten, I’d say we’re off to a good start.

And by the way, additional thanks go to the Body Shop for giving us some really cool boxes, bowls and bottles.

Craftland

We’ve got a wonderful exhibit in The Green Gallery right now. It’s our fifth annual holiday marketplace, featuring the works of over 20 local artists and crafters who use repurposed materials in their work. This year we enlisted the help of the NC Triangle Etsy Street Team to help us, and the marketplace looks better than ever. So buy green, buy local, buy handmade this holiday season. And don't forget to take the handmade pledge… www.buyhandmade.org

Dear Diary, first entry

I’ve been staring at this empty blog page wondering what my first post should be. I am reminded of the diary I received for Christmas when I was 10. This, of course, was back in the ancient times of paper and pen. I stared at the first blank page for what seemed like an eternity. I think I managed to write the words “Dear Diary…” before I gave it up as a lost cause. Now, faced with writing something that could potentially be read by thousands of people (instead of just my older brother), I have been intimidated into a case of severe writer’s block which has lasted for months. What is so special about me that would make people want to read anything I have to say? What makes me so great? My mother could give you a laundry list of my good qualities, but that doesn’t seem to tame my raging insecurities about blogging.

So what was it that finally enabled me to start? I remembered that this blog is not about me and how great I may or may not be. It’s about The Scrap Exchange, which is one of the greatest places in the world and by far my favorite place in Durham, NC. I really think that if I didn’t work here, I would still be in at least once a week to check out the new fabrics, yarns, and crazy weird lab stuff that comes in all the time. And I would definitely be here for Saturday’s WAREHOUSE FABRIC SALE from 10-2. Because when we have a sale we don’t mess around—we have a SALE.

I hope to see you there… and I promise that this blog will not be shoved to the back of my dresser drawer like that sad forsaken little diary.