Revolving on a Spindle

I became enamored with vintage spindles after learning paper yarn making at PBI (Paper & Book Intensive) last spring.  Aime Lee had some beautiful examples. Take a look at her knitted books.


 Found these beauties on Ebay. Very affordable.  I pulled out some of the Hanji paper we made with Aimee and did some paper yarn spinning by hand. The first step in being able to knit, crochet, or weave a piece of art.

Now on to what was underneath the spindle.

 My Queen Anne's Lace stencil is getting a lot of use. Printed on some brown linen 

to make a little zipper bag I saw in a Jen Hewitt tutorial. I adore her work. She creates her own stamps to print her fabric. Her use of multiple simple forms to create patterns really appeal to me. 

For my purposes I'm using my Shiva Paintsticks with stencils for the design on the fabric.

I'll post pictures of the pattern & progress attaching the zipper & lining next time.

The Envelope Please & You Can Make It Your Own

 I often make my own envelopes to mail special cards, store flat items in my studio, or just because I love using templates, cutting and folding. We paper artists are a strange bunch. Any catalogs or magazines with full spreads of interesting pictures are fodder.  I especially like the matte finish heavier publications you see sometimes.

 

 

 You can take any envelope you have that is a size and shape you like, and just open all the flaps to have a template. Or you can extend or contract any of the dimensions and make your own template from card stock, copy paper, or even layout bond. The larger template below is on layout bond and has extra dimensions I built in to accommodate thicker contents.

 

It helps to know what the legal limit size limits of the USPS are if you are going to be sending your envelopes in the mail. Too small, too large, or too thick costs extra. At some point years ago I got my hands on this official USPS guide. I have found it very useful. 

Over time I have saved all sorts of templates for unusual sized envelopes and boxes. 

These little Glassine beauties  are very old from my fathers stamp collection supplies. You can still find versions of them available today.

 Holiday paper art found on Houzz.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Small Ledger Page Journal

 

 

I always have a small journal of some sort with me. If it's one I made myself even better.

 

   I've had some old ledger pages in my stash for awhile & decided to use them. The cover is an old double sided mono print.  I decided to let the ledger page size dictate the size of the journal. I wanted to be sure to keep the rounded corner and the little numbers.

  

Here it is next to a traditional Moleskine journal.

 Added a pocket in the back as well. It's glued on the bottom and back edge. Comes in handy to stash those bits of paper notes.

 Inside the front.

I made the construction quick & easy by stitching on my sewing machine.  There is only one signature and not too many pages so it wouldn't be too bulky.  Guess that means I'll need to make more as it will fill up quickly with ideas.

Tid Bits & Pieces

 I tend to work small most of the time. Not sure why. Could be the reason ATC's are a good way for me to play with ideas. One from latest batch for this month seen above.

Substrate is 2 sheets of tissue paper fused when painted with acrylic and glaze medium. String is embedded between the 2 sheets. When 3 of we artsy types had a play day recently I was taught the tissue paper technique. Wanted to use the paper for something so I cut it up and used the new stencil I posted a bit ago.

 All lined up & ready to go.

The next few posts I will focus on one or 2 small things that have caught my attention or been created recently. That will keep each post a bit shorter. What do you think? Good idea?

Vessels Done

Fabric vessels are completed. The pins are gone now, Looks like it wearing a little crown.

I decided to do bottom inserts for both with heavy pelon  for support.

A peek into the depths of both.

 The one above is  25" tall.  It has a flat feld seam at the back. I wanted a nice sturdy join at the back.

 A 2" hem at the top gives it some substance at the opening. 

 Both square and oval shapes have there merits. There will be more to come. 

Parting shot today of the view out the window of my kitchen. So peaceful & serene. 

Need to hold on to that. 

 

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week end.

Painiting Fabric

Spent a full day in the studio Thursday. Inspiration showed up and I had a painting frenzy on canvas.  Hardware cloth is one of my favorite surface design tools.

This lovely piece is growing up to be a square fabric box. It was made to hold items of a certain size I wanted to contain. I can see more of these being born in other sizes, maybe some nesting.

These are cut from old mat board scraps. They come in handy to frame what part of a larger piece you want to use in your design.

Flat brass strips in graduated sizes from K&S are used in book binding, but they made my seam allowance measurements so much easier.

 Acrylic paint to do an all over treatment on a larger piece of canvas. Got the fabric wet first so the acrylic acts like water color & bleeds.

To prove you can learn anything on Youtube I investigated how to draw ovals for the base of this vessel. It's in my Pinterest board for circles, which now needs to be changed to circles & ovals apparently. Of course I have made several different sizes.

 Masking tape with sides labeled is a must. I have pinned & sewn wrong sides together more times can I care to admit. See the second picture in this post.

I will post pictures of the finished items. soon. 

The Little Things

Begin with a cup of Espresso. That gets things started with something little. Blk/Mkt Coffee is a new discovery for me in my town. Great place to hunker down with the journal, iPad, tid bits, and get your thought together. Their site is a thing of beauty. 

Awhile back I decided I needed a way to attach papers in my journal that remained removable and free of tape or glue. Remember picture corners?  You can find all sorts, sizes, designs, self adhesive, & tutorials out there. Of course I decided to make my own from paper scraps. I have a HUGE bin of paper scraps. I wanted them large.

 

Templates were made for three different sizes. 

It's a little thing that makes me happy, a way to incorporate ideas I want to reference without cutting it down to fit, or anchored in that spot for eternity. I can choose the best configuration to hold each item.

 Glue stick, PVA or double sided tape all work to adhere them. 

 It's the little things that can make a big difference. Don't you agree?

"Gorgeous" Pacific NW

Returned a week ago from a visit to the Pacific NW. Portland & Bend. Combo of exploration & to visit son who lives in Bend. The trip was grey, moist & fun! I'm glad we did this in the fall. I  imagine the area is packed in the summer months. Fall is our favorite time to travel.

 The pic above was from our 2 days exploring the falls & trails of the Columbia River Gorge. In a word WOW. Used the tilt shift feature in Instagram. I had no idea Instagram had the cool editing features I happened on while working on this image!

Reentry is tough. Most artists find it so. It can be a struggle to get back in the studio & the swing of creating.
So much inspiration out there. Then it needs to be processed then used or put aside.


Visited Pulp & Deckle while in Portland. A paper maker & illustrator making a go of it as a business. I contacted Jennifer before our trip to set up a meeting as I did not want to miss her studio & to hear her story first hand. She & her husband had just returned from the Dard Hunter conference in Santa Fe. As is usually the case in the paper making world we have several common acquaintances. The business recently bought a food truck they are converting into a mobile paper making studio. The Pulp Mobile, of course. What a brilliant idea!!!

Been at play in the studio with different techniques that have intrigued me. T-shirt yarn attempted and successful. I see a trip to Goodwill for fabric fodder. Some crocheted storage vessels a possible outcome.

Beautiful Decay

Fall may be my favorite time of year. The colors in our neck of the woods are so beautiful. I collect leaves every year at their peak, then discard them back to whence they came when they shrivel.

  I'm so taken with certain flowers in their decline. Thistle and Queen Anne's lace in particular.

 

       Spent some time yesterday making stencils of the images from spent blooms. I have plans for some large fabric vessels with these & other images on the cloth.

Often Mother Nature creates the best compositions on her own.