The Making House is owned by Anna C Roebuck, it’s also a base for her primary business Bags2riches. Bags2riches designs are sold at our shop as well as other local makers work; you can also order special commissions such as lighting and one off pieces of jewellery. 

Bags2riches…….Creating desirable objects from everyday waste  

Innovative jewellery, lighting and artwork created from recycled plastic bags. The designs are made using techniques developed by Anna Roebuck, the designer, over the last 14 years. By transforming waste in to a covetous product, the intention is to challenge people’s concept of value. Anna also hopes that the work will encourage people to consider issues around waste and recycling, in particular encouraging the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ motto and continues to deliver art projects around the country that supports this.

“I have always been interested in the concepts of recycling and sustainability and this provides the core inspiration for much of my work. I initially began working in recycled and found materials when studying fine art at Edinburgh College of Art (1989 – 1993); in the past I have experimented with a variety of found materials, such as used paper, scrap metal and cans, man-made and natural found objects.  My current work is created from recycled plastic bags using innovative techniques that I have developed over the last  11 years. My core focus is how materials can be manipulated in to new forms.”  Anna C Roebuck

Bags2riches work is now sold in  shops and galleries across the country as well as via

Bags2riches online shop

Some of Anna’s work is in the permanent collections of The British Science museum, The Eden Project, The Centre for Alternative Technology as well as a number of library resources.

 Anna now works with a Fair Trade Organisation in Mumbai 

2011 was a massive year for bags2riches, following on from a research trip with Jeremy Piercy of Shared Earth, Anna set about developing bags2riches in India. She trained a group of artisans on the bags2riches recycling process and jewellery making techniques. Together they have created lots of new designs and are continuously experimenting with new techniques to form the plastic.  Asha Handicrafts is a Fair Trade Organisation established in 1975 to promote the social and economic welfare of its artisans and producer groups in India, by providing marketing facilities for their handicrafts through fair trade practices.

Plastic Recycling in Mumbai 

Waste plastic still proves to be a major problem especially on the streets of Mumbai. There are thousands of waste pickers and sweepers sorting through the cities waste. We intend to support their welfare both by providing opportunities, better prices for the waste and offering training and support

Bags2riches now offers a product that’s fashionable, recycled,  competitively priced whilst  supporting  the artisans and waste pickers through fair wages and providing new opportunities and training.