Mancika Designs was born in the kitchen. Even though I have always strived to create less waste, it can often be inevitable, especially when leading a busy life with children, study and work. Luckily in Australia we were taught from a young age to respect our environment and not litter. Which is fair enough, we can easily keep to that. However, grocery shopping is another story. I started to become more and more frustrated with the useless packaging. Unfortunately, in Sydney we don't have many growers markets, especially on week days, therefore an average person can accumulate loads of rubbish just by buying fresh produce. Fruit nets were the first materials that I started to salvage from the rubbish and give a new life to. I think they are gorgeously colourful, therefor perfect to make pompoms from or use as a necklace cord.
Corks came next, recognising how wonderfully light they are and comfortable to wear either as earrings or a necklace. My love of collaging and decoupaging was soon merged.
Straws came about from pondering what a horrible single use plastic tool it is, and how much is used daily around the globe. Once again, the lightness and practicality to wear as jewelry also won me over.
I admire those that can live a zero waste life, and am encouraged year by year to reach that myself. Meanwhile, I am passing on the values and philosophy of reduce, reuse, recycle to my children and hope it rubs off on as many people around as possible, who are not already committed to a more sustainable lifestyle.
I do not wish to make a fortune from my designs, I wish to create colorful, unique pieces, which is not copied from someone else and of course, keep upcycling materials, which would otherwise increase landfill or pollute our beautiful environment.