Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Packaging


I made some gift packaging recently. 


Some of it I sold, and some I kept for myself to package up some Christmas gifts. 



In my traditional way of making things, 
I sewed and decorated envelopes from paper that was blank on one side. 


I stamped leaves or Christmas designs on the sewn envelopes as well as on some stickers, and tore stripes of old sheer curtains for the ribbon. 



Now its time to get the gifts inside them and put them under the tree!

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Squiggly Bits Jewelry



I used heavy wire to make these new bracelets
that have a squiggly bit of wrapped wire in the middle. 


I do find bangles hard to make due to the different sizes of hands and wrists.


Especially since I have such small hands and wrists and 
therefore I can't use mine to measure.  


I decided to try some similar style earrings
which due to their size were a bit tricky with the heavy wire. 


Necklaces were thought about..... but haven't happened yet.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

A Stack of Bowls


And so my stack of paper pulp & tea bag bowls has grown. 




This one is thick and chunky and 
I decorated it with a copy of a drawing I did a few years ago. 




I loved the look of the layer or overlapping tea bags in this one,
so I chose not to cover it up with paint. 






This bowl has a number of layers of paint on 
and I really like the texture on the outside of the bowl.






And this final little bowl is decorated with trees from 
a photograph I took a few years ago.  

I love when I can use my drawings or photographs in new creations. 


These bowls have a final layer of wax that seals and protects them. 
They are great for holding collections of stones and sticks
..... not so good for holding soup!

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Bowl Making


Yesterday I spent much of my day working on bowl making.  
I started them many months ago, and they have waited patiently for my return.   
I managed to finish 2, and prepped four more. 







These bowls are made from egg carton pulp 
that is covered with layers of tea bag paper and paint 
before being decorated. 
The final coat is a layer of encaustic wax. 



I have a plan for this one.....


but this one will just happen as I go along. 

I was planning to work on these today, but the day was sunny.....



and the mountains called me. 


Maybe I will work on them tomorrow.....

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Refillable Notebooks - Take 2


Here are two more refillable notebooks that I recently completed. 


The covers on these are much more complex than the last ones I posted about. 
These covers have layers of paper, fabric, collage, paint and wax
- that in the end makes a supple yet sturdy cover. 





Inside are a variety of pages - some decorated, some from old books and some plain. 


The pages can be removed from the book, and new pages inserted whenever needed.  
These books each hold 2 signatures of pages, so are thicker than the previous ones I made. 

The cover has a small flap on the right hand side 
that folds over the pages when the book is closed.  





Here you can see the entire cover - the front, the back and the flap  
 - now time for the pages. 






All ready to be written, drawn or glued into!

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Junk Style Journals


I finally have a few of these junk style journals put together. 


It took a bit of time, since I decorated 
many of the pages that are going into these books. 




Once the pages were decorated, I sewed an assortment of pages into signatures.  


I made flexible but sturdy covers that I decorated, and stitched the spine so that it can hold the pages.  


These journals are designed to be refillable. 
Stitched together pages can be secured into the cover, 
and can be replaced with new pages whenever needed. 


I made a couple of small sized books


which hold the sewn together signature of decorated pages.





These are the larger sized journal,
and they too hold one signature of decorated pages that can be replaced when needed.  


On the inside cover the books have a pocket
to hold bits and pieces that can be glued onto the pages. 


The pages are decorated in a variety of ways, 


or are pages out of old books.









And when closed these journals have an elastic that wraps around and secures them.  

I still have a couple of other different but similar journals that are in the works..... 
hopefully I can share them with you soon.