Hi, Molly here, creator of Peo Vee, and brand behind Remnants, the new marketplace for arts and crafts reuse. The image is of my workspace, my little craft haven.
If you came via Peo Vee, you may already know my story. But if not, here's an easy way to catch up: I wrote here about why I started Peo Vee, and later wrote about my journey into sustainable practices which sort of brings the whole thing together. But that's Peo Vee, and this is our marketplace Remnants. I felt this deserved a story of it's own.
Remnants was a dream I dreamed up about 18 months ago, shortly after I walked into an arts and crafts reuse store for the first time. I swear I was like a kid in a candy store. I wandered in bright-eyed, grabbed a colorful basket—the biggest one they had—and got right to picking. First to the bin filled with stamps, next the fabric notions, onto fabric scrap, and then patterns, miscellaneous findings... the day went on. The store was packed, the energy was electric, my craft adrenaline was at an all time high.
But it wasn't my first pick of the day, I had just come from an estate sale nearby. I waited an hour outside to get in, not knowing what I'd find. Once inside, I found the dream: the art supplies stash of a retired art teacher. Here, too, my craft adrenaline rose. I hunted, I gathered, I left with quite the haul. Stencils, vintage stamps and stickers, beads, tools, and so much more.
As I drove the somewhat long drive home that afternoon, I thought about how as crafters, we often carry our craft adrenaline straight into the store. A new idea or project sparks excitement, and before we know it, we’re leaving with bags of supplies—way more than we actually need. Our art rooms or project tables end up overstuffed with materials we may never use.
That and we change mediums because we want to try everything. We’ve moved on. Maybe we’re linocut artists now (insert your ever-changing craft here). Me? I’m a sewer now. Before that, I was a painter, I dabbled in decoupage... The point is, I have supplies to let go of—don’t we all?
So I thought, why not create a space where we can hand these off to other dabbling artists? That's where Remnants comes in.
But why didn't I launch Remnants 18 months ago? Well, frankly, I didn't have the right tools to make it a great experience for sellers and shoppers alike. I wanted to make it easy to list and buy. It's no easy feat. I also had a day job and truly just couldn't make time.
Fast forward to today. When I was recently laid off, I finally had the time to bring Remnants to life. I thought about how fulfilling it would be to work on something that makes me truly happy—something that unites the upcycling and sustainable crafting community around a shared goal.
Building and launching Remnants over the past month has been an incredible journey, and I hope you’ll fall in love with craft reuse as much as I have. And hey, if you aren't shopping, please consider selling on Remnants.
In this together,
Molly
