Art Angelix

Quedlinburg - Papier Atelier

2010-11-19T09:28:00.004+01:00

Last week I attended a seminar in the beautiful town of Quedlinburg in the Harz mountain region of Germany. Most of Quedlinburg is medieval. What remains of the medieval town covers an area equivalent to a block of around 120 football (soccer) pitches and is choc full of half-timbered houses. That's around a third of the area the old town covered at the end of WWII. The other houses were simply demolished by the East German government. The remaining buildings and streets are now part of the UNESCO World Heritage programme and are being rebuilt and renovated.

Quedlinburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quedlinburg

I'll post pictures over the days to come and will tell the little stories that go along with them, but the first pictures I want to post are very special to me.

As you probably know, I'm coordinating and participating in a year-long journey in the name of the Travelling Artists' Guild. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, just click the TAG link in the sidebar on the right of this page.

Part of Alba's story tells of how she arrives at the Guild. On her walk up to the Guild from the town, one of the streets through which she passes is "Artisan Row".

On my way up to the castle complex in Quedlinburg, I took a shortcut and found myself in an alley which was, to me, quite clearly the back of (my) Artisan Row. On my way back into town, I walked the other way and was, indeed, on Artisan Row. As I passed along the back alley, I stumbled across a tiny shop called "Papier Atelier" (address at the end of this post), filled with paper and simply beautiful things made of paper, like cards, visiting card blanks, and journals, but also lamps and decorative objects. I went in, of course, and had a fascinating conversation with the owner, Katrin Ruhnau, a young woman who studied textile design. Among other things, she allowed me to photograph one of her paper and fabric objects.

I know we all make and see a lot of art and are accustomed to seeing sumptuous, rich objects. Even so, this roll stopped me in my tracks: it was so beautiful. I think I last had that feeling when I saw Susan Kapucinsky-Gaylord's "Spirit Books", or Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" exhibit (waaaaay back).

See for yourselves.

Papier Atelier
Katrin Ruhnau
Schlossberg 27
06484 Quedlinburg

Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord's Spirit Books
http://www.susankapuscinskigaylord.com/spiritbooks.html

Judy Chicago "Dinner Party" - Brooklyn Museum
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/

Calorie Free Cake!

2010-11-19T09:26:00.003+01:00

What do you do when it's a friend's late autumn birthday and she's sworn off cake? I decided the best idea is to have your cake but not have to eat it. I made this little cake box for a birthday, at the beginning of November.

The template is from Stampers' Sampler:
http://www.stampington.com/html/tempting_template_cake.html

For the flower, I punched and layered blooms and leaves and affixed tiny gold-pearl stamen (florist supply department in any craft/DIY store) in the center. A touch of ribbon, and off you go.

The challenge was to find a small gift that would fit in the box. The obvious choice would have been a small edible delicacy, but, see above... So, after looking around the local gift store, and with Christmas approaching, I chose a tiny barrel organ music box that plays "Silent Night" when you turn the handle.

My New Roommate

2010-10-23T19:06:00.006+02:00

Adam/Jake Fish shared the draft of his first encounter with the Guildmistress. Adam's description of the Guildmistress and Jake's thoughts and reactions made me laugh. A few days ago, I was given this lovely marionette. She is around 1 metre 20 tall. Other people found her scary, but I liked her, even though she did look somewhat stern.

When I got her home, I found a space to hang her and then we had a nice little conversation. In the days that followed, her eyes, though piercing, took on a more kindly look, and her smile seemed to widen. Rather than frightening, she now appears regal and authoritative.

She has lost her hair and looks as though she's undergone chemotherapy, so I'll need to find a solution for that problem. I also intend to change some of ther clothing, as she is very glitzy at the moment. I think I want to tone that down by using new accessories.

The Making of Alba's Map

2010-10-23T18:44:00.008+02:00

This is Alba's map. I'd say it's around two-thirds of the way completed, but that seems right for now. I have a hunch Alba will learn more about the map tomorrow, and the rest will become evident as she journeys.

I started out with two A4 sheets of heavy watercolour paper, because that's all I had that was suitable. You don't really want to use flimsy paper when drawing maps, as it might tear when adding colour or erasing things. I taped the sheets together to create a larger canvas. I may take the map apart again, when I decide how to fold and transport it (for Alba). The first thing I did after that was singe the edges of the paper all round. I did it first to prevent burning away some of the work I intended to do. That said, it might have been equally interesting and possibly more mysteriousd to do precisely that.

Then I drew the outlines of country and islands and sounds. I like islands, so I alway include some. My islands are almost always to the north.

The next step was to mark in the major geographical features like mountain ranges, rivers and lakes. I like to draw topographical mountains. I'm sure there are some geographic impossibilities on my map, but this is about fantasy rather than perfection. Then came the colouring fun. I used watercolour pencils and watercolour crayons.

That done, I sat down to mark and name locations. This part of the process is fascinating, because events tend to pop into my mind as I name places and landscape features. The story begins to tell itself to me.

The Making of Alba's Doll

2010-10-22T08:54:00.003+02:00

Alba's doll took a while to manifest. I actively considered several options, with paper being my default choice. However, this was not, apparently, what Alba had in mind.

Walking through the local park, I'd find myself scouring the ground for something I couldn't define. A few days ago, I picked up a couple of twigs and intuitively knew they were the basis for Alba's doll.

When I held the twigs together, they looked like a figure with raised arms. So, I taped them together to keep them in position and then bound them with some rather rustic twine.

In the next step she got an underskirt of black netting, which was simply gathered, tied around her waist, then slashed to make it easier to fluff out. Using the same twine I used to bind the twigs, I crocheted a skirt band and threaded strings through the holes. Tucked away in my stash, I had some paper tubes which I cut to make beads of various lengths, which I threaded onto the strings, along with some wooden beads. Then I draped more of the netting around her upper body to make a blouse. She seemed to feel the cold, so I knitted up a shawl from some pretty yarn I'd had lying around for years.

Back in the park, I gather a few reeds and some twigs that bore little cones and bound a tiny wreath for a headdress. Some of the material is still tinged with green but will darken as it dries.

The paper clay face is from a mould I have. I make 20-30 faces at a time and toss them into a box for when I need them. The face is glazed with gold acrylic but otherwise unadorned.

She had a nasty cold gap at the waist, so I found a scrap of bejewelled trim in one of my boxes and made her a waistband.

I may add a touch of something here or there in the days to come, but essentially, Alba is now completed.

Yesterday, a friend visited and saw Alba. She asked me if Alba was a voodoo doll. (Nothing would surprise her when it comes to me and my art.) I said "no", but if she needs a voodoo doll, I could show her...

The Making of Alba's Travelling Box

2010-10-17T11:40:00.006+02:00

This project is part of my prep for the Travelling Artist's Guild Journey
http://travellingartistsguild.wordpress.com/

My travelling box started out as two wooden three-bottle wine crates. The feet were a lucky find. Someone tossed away wooden rings and the end stoppers for wooden curtain poles in the local park. I found them, and hey presto, I had the perfect feet for my box and a collection of rings for another project I have in mind.

The inside is lined with paper from a roll of gift wrap.

After thinking about the outside for a while, I tossed my original idea of varnishing the box and decided to distress it. I covered the surfaces with some scrapbook paper I'd had for years, then papered over the edges with book pages. After that, I sanded the edges to blend the various papers and gave the outside of the box a couple of coats of acrylic glaze.

I attached the box lids to the outside of the new box to form "wings". Then I created additional storage possibilities by adding pockets to one wing. I'll be doing something similar with the other wing, too.

The hinges and closures came from my collection of metal parts. I also added some bands as hinges to prevent the wings from sagging. The current solution is not quite as good as it could be. I'm on the lookout for an old brown leather belt, cracked and supple with age, that I can cut up to use as hinges. I'll affix them on top of the existing hinges, as I like the idea of something looking old and often-repaired.

The outside is decorated to an extent where I can say, I can off on my journey. I know I'll be adding to the box as I travel. The inside is still to be completed. Here, too, I think I'll work as I travel. My intention is to add drawers and compartments to house various items I already have and will find as my journey progresses.

Felted Wrist Warmers

2010-09-18T09:37:00.004+02:00

Not art, but knitting... A couple of times over the past days, I've mentioned I was knitting something. Yesterday I completed my latest little project: wrist warmers. The idea is that you knit the warmers and then felt them in the washing machine. I fell in love with the wool last week. It's Lana Grossa "Feltrino Mix", which is pure virgin wool. The wool is multi colored, so there is no hassle with changing balls, to create patterns. You just knit away, and the patterns appear as you do so. Apparently most people use Feltrino to knit gloves, caps, and slipper-socks.

Before shrinking and felting

Once you've completed the item and sewn the pieces together, if required, you simply toss it in the washing machine and wash it at 40 degrees (Celsius), to shrink and felt the item. Feltrino shrinks by 30-40%. A couple of years back, I accidentally shrunk and felted a woolen cowl I'd knitted. At first, I was a little disappointed, until I realised that the felted cowl was much warmer than the unfelted one. Since then, I've been an absolute fan of felted winter accessories. Here are the before and after photos for my wrist warmers.

After shrinking and felting

Art Angelix Journey 2010 - 2011

2010-09-09T19:27:00.002+02:00

I'm back. It's been a long time since I posted here. Let's just say that a lot of life got in the way, but whatever...

Autumn in the Air

So now it's September. The equinox approaches. All around me I see the last fruits of summer ripening in fields and gardens and by waysides. My nature-wise friends tell me, the signs predict we're in for another long, hard winter, much like the last one we had here in northern Germany. Last winter, we had snow for almost three months solid. With that in mind, I think it might be a really good idea to set up a nice, long, involved art project...

A New Art Project

For the past few weeks I've been looking around for a long-term project to join, but either I started too early or I've been hunting in the wrong places. I originally wanted to join in on someone else's project, but, that's rarely the way things work out for me. I'm more of an initiator and teacher, so, I ran the basics of an idea past my arty friend Gena, and, based on her response, decided to offer a project of my own.

An Archetypal Journey

The project will work with an archetypal journey format based on the "Story Maps" writing workshop I taught for many years. The journey will take place between October 2010 and September 2011. The project is a combination of mixed-media art, art journaling, and, if you're also a writer, a story to join up the pieces, so to speak. I'll provide a basic storyline and set of prompts for journal entries and art projects. Your art and writing will be your personal interpretation of those prompts. Where necessary, I'll provide tutorials on this blog or, at the very least, links to online tutorials that will show you what to create at each stage.

The Guild of Artists

The linking idea is that all participants belong to a Guild of Artists and were bound by the statutes of the guild to undertake a journey at some point in their lives. On their return to the guild house, they recount their adventures and show each other what they experienced and what they found along the way.

Project Duration

There are no deadlines, except the October through September project deadlines. That said, based on many years of project experience, I strongly suggest you plan time for art into your life and make an effort not to fall too far behind. Each artist will work at her own pace and is free to complete the activities in any order, though I will suggest an order for those who prefer to work that way.

Project Type

This is not a round robin project. Should you decide to participate, you will not be required to send your artwork or journals to anyone else. That means you can work on any scale, with materials you enjoy. It means you can afford, in all respects, to invest yourself in the creation of beautiful art and descriptions of your personal experience. What we will do, though, are occasional small-scale exchanges of the kind typical for journeys: mail art, ATC, perhaps an ephemera exchange, and the like. These are all things that will keep postal charges low. All sharing will take place in Blogland, on a blog I'll create for the Journey.

Joining In

There will be a core group of artists who make a commitment to the project. These artists will post to share notes on their progress and images of artwork for others to see. But the journey project will also be open in the sense that anyone can tag along, without the need to register or commit or keep to deadlines, unless they want to, of course.

Core Group Commitment

If you want to be in the core group, please send me an email. You'll find the link in my profile. All core group members will have access to the project blog and be able to post images there. Posting is expected.

Arting Along Without a Commitment

If you want to art along with us without any commitment, send me an email when you post your work on your personal (art) blog and I'll be happy to add your blog or website link to the project blogroll.

Signup Deadline

Signup for the core group is 30th September. You'll find the Email link in my profile.

Xmas Bazaar

2008-12-17T08:25:00.009+01:00

This is one of the photos taken at the recent Xmas bazaar. And yes, that's me.

I'm really glad I decided to have a table, as it was a wonderful experience. I sold all 24 hand-bound advent wreaths (not visible in this image) and around half of my paperware stock .. and I had a LOT of stock with me.

Many, many people commented positively on my work and were often amazed that one person could (a) produce so much and (b) come up with so many different and partly unusual ideas. Some items were so popular that I had to make more and deliver them in the week that followed.

My thirteen-year-old grandson came along to help me, and I was glad of it, because the table was crowded several times during the afternoon. He really was a great help. I'm sure part of his success lay in the fact that he charmed the ladies, as he has done since he was a baby.

I went to the bazaar with little by way of expectations. If anything, the idea I had in mind was to guage reactions and keep an eye open to see what people found interesting and what they purchased, if anything. I now have a very good idea of what I can make more of for 2008.

Mini Albums Galore

2008-11-29T07:37:00.001+01:00

Loads and loads of postcard size mini albums of the simple kind. A single stitched signature made from 160g card stock, attached to the cover with an end paper. Add a bit of embellishment, and there you go.

Xmas Cones

2008-11-26T06:29:00.002+01:00

Talk about quick and easy... I whipped up a bunch of these cones yesterday, in next to no time. These are three sided, but I also made a batch of four-sided cones and had a spark of insight in the process.

Instead of painstakingly measuring and marking degrees with a protractor and compass before cutting, I did this: I used my nifty circle cutter to cut out a circle which I then sliced it into quarters (4x90 degree segments). Then I took a ruler and laid it corner to corner (the end points of the straight lines) on the quarter circle. I measured the distance between the points and mentally divided it by nine (9x10 degrees). You can also use a calculator for the division. I then marked off four equal two-ninth (20 degree) sections for the sides of the cone and left the remaining one ninth (10 degree) section for the glue flap. The process may sound complicated, but it's not. The moment you try it, you'll see how quick and easy it is.

Money Cards

2008-11-19T07:29:00.002+01:00

Now the Xmas bazaar season is underway, I've been checking out what's on offer and where there might be gaps to fill. I've seen cards of various kinds, though there seemed to be nothing on sale that was much like the cards I (and the other women I know) make. I saw a lot of 3-D (the kind you do with pre-printed sheets of images), some intricate scherenschnitte, and lots of photocards, usually matted on plain, untextured card stock. There was nothing scrapbook style, no bright, patterned, shabby chic, retro, or stamped offerings.

Another thing I didn't see were cards for the money/store card gifts that are so popular with youngsters, so I've focused on making a bunch of those. Here are two examples. Each card has a pocket inside for the loot/card or for a photo or a letter, or whatever.

Red Tins

2008-11-18T07:29:00.001+01:00

When I'm not feeling particularly arty, I can at least use my time well by being crafty. Here are two more tins, this time in red. I particularly liked the clear half-beads, To me, they look like raindrops.

Bazaar Crafts

2008-11-17T08:39:00.003+01:00

The banana boxes are piling up in my apartment, filled with goods I've made (and am still making) for the Xmas bazaar on 30th November. I'll be uploading photos of other items over the coming days.

Alongside things I know will be useful and recognisable, I'm making items that won't be quite as familiar to people around here. This explosion box is one of them. I'm going to need to make some "whatever-is-that-for?" examples, so I'll visit the drugstore and print off the photos for those today.

This box is made from pre-printed photo card stock. I guess everyone and her dog has seen the templates plastered over the Web. All it takes is three squares, each a little smaller than the one before and another square for the lid. After that, all you do is trim up some coordinating card stock and embellish as desired.

Once you've made a couple of these, you can whip them up in no time.

Christmas Tins

2008-11-06T07:06:00.002+01:00

Each of these tins originally contained a marzipan loaf.

I sanded the metal, to give it some tooth, then glued on strips of Basic Gray "Dasher" paper. That done, I raided my ribbon stash and found a few lengths that coordinated nicely with the paper.

For the topper, I sandwiched together scalloped circles, using foam stickies for dimension, and decorated them with circles punched from the same paper used for the tins, then slapped on a snowflake sticker. Stickers are not really my thing, but (a) I'm using up my stash, and (b) these actually look great. I know they will appeal to potential buyers hereabouts.

Three Red Boxes

2008-11-06T06:55:00.003+01:00

I'm trying to use up as much as possible of the "stash of years" to make goods for my stand at the upcoming Xmas bazaar, which takes place in a residence for the elderly later this month. Many of the people who will come to look have conservative tastes, so, I decided to make these traditional style boxes and incorporate the fabric poinsettias.

I painted three paper mache boxes crimson, added four little wooden half-bead feet to each box, and affixed Christmas style paper around the sides. For the lids, I pulled out my glue gun...

First I glued a large white felt snowflake (around 12 cm diameter) to the lid of each box. The snowflakes are cut from a felt table runner I picked up at a euro/dollar store. Next, I cut silk vine- and holly leaves from a garland and stuck them on. Then came the flowers. The poinsettias have a plastic "cup" under the blossom, which means they can't be stuck on flat, so I glued them on at an angle and covered the cup with beads and the like.

Domed Box

2008-10-27T18:27:00.002+01:00

One of the local craft stores held its annual fair this weekend, so off I trotted... One of the make and take tables was surrounded by women oohing and aahing. When I finally got close enough to take a look, I could see why. The demonstrator was showing people how to make boxes like this, and there were several of varying sizes on display.

I should have liked to make one there, but after watching for a while, I could see that most of the people in the seats were either children or inexperienced crafters. I worked out that it would have taken more than an hour to get a seat.

I heard the demonstrator mention one of the measurements, and I purchased the template she was using. The rest, I figured, I could work out for myself.

At home, my efforts were not completely successful at first. Among other reasons, I wasn't enamoured of the template, which kept slipping and bending. So, I decided to sleep on it and try again this morning.

After a night's sleep, I had a couple of ideas about how best to approach the box. Instead of the template, I used a parabola ruler to mark the curved lines, and I replaced the craft mat with a foam place mat from Ikea.

This is the outcome. The process is easy enough, though it does require some measurement and careful cutting. I'll try to make time to do and upload a step-by-step photo tutorial later this week.

Kimberley's Card

2008-10-27T18:25:00.001+01:00

My eldest granddaughter (10) made this card for my birthday last week. The thing that flabbergasted me was the spinner. I can't recall ever showing her how to do that, and her mum told me Kimberley worked it out for herself. Not only did she get the part about the brad at the centre right, she also make a little "handle" so I could turn the inside wheel.

Maple Roses

2008-10-22T08:26:00.003+02:00

Over the past few days, the maples outside my apartment have been shedding their leaves. For me, it was the perfect opportunity to try out an idea I've had bookmarked for some time: maple leaf roses.

The outcome was stunning. Everyone who sees them wants some!

All you need are maple leaves and florist's wire.

Here's the tutorial:
http://haha.nu/creative/how-to-make-roses-from-maple-leaves/

Xmas Journals

2008-10-19T09:16:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I made a stack of these little journals in two sizes, and I have another pile half finished, just waiting to be embellished.

The booklets are intended as Xmas list journals and/or cards/journals with enough space for a few photos and some journaling, perhaps as an "extended" Xmas card. They could easily make a welcome and more creative alternative to the traditional Xmas letter!

The cover paper is mainly Basic Gray. The embellishments are whatever I had in my scraps box. Instead of standard 80g (printer/writing) paper, I used 160g artist paper for the journal block. That gives the pages an elegant and "serious" look and a decent weight, especially if the user does decide to start drawing or glueing in it.

Julie's Blog Candy

2008-10-19T09:15:00.000+02:00

Julie of Inspirational Craft Blogs is giving away some delicious Blog Candy.
Take a look!
http://inspirationalcraftblogs.blogspot.com/

Three Round Boxes

2008-10-17T08:14:00.002+02:00

Here are three more round boxes. This time, you can see the little feet. The ribbons around the side of the lid were a bit wonky, as you can see, but I've since corrected that.

Xmas Boxes

2008-10-16T09:01:00.002+02:00

These are two of the boxes I worked on the past day or so. I have another four in various stages of completion. As so often, the reason I was unable to get them all done and packed is that I need a tiny accessory, in this case, special screws to affix the knobs to the lids. Ah well, I'll be off on my bike to the hardware store later this morning.
I painted the boxes and knobs in various metallic colors: some are bronze, others copper, and the remainder pale gold. The drawer pulls were a flea market find. These were the nail-on kind, but the remainder are screw-ons for which I need suitable, as in shorter than usual, screws, as mentioned above. What you can't easily see is that each box has three little wooden feet.

The belly band is paper garland I found in the craft store a year or so back. Then, of course, the obligatory ribbons. The acrylic half-beads came from the home decorating section of the local department store. They come in a range of colors. These are very small, around 3mm in diameter. I'd hoped to find larger ones, too, maybe 7-10 mm, but no luck so far. The positive side to it is that I've perfected my tweezer skills of late! Yep, each bead has to be individually affixed to whatever.

Sympathy Card

2008-10-16T09:00:00.001+02:00

I needed a sympathy card for an acquaintance this week, and after seeing what was on offer in local stores, I decided to make one myself.

The base is simple black card stock. The left panel was embossed with a cuttlebug folder and glued on. The strip on the right is made of paper strips glued horizontally onto card stock then cut vertically. I punched the butterflies from the same material.

Each butterfly is made of two punched butterflies glued on top of each other down the middle and held together with a brad. If you don't have brads in the colors you need, which is often the case for me, as I have such limited access to supplies, you can dye plain office-supply gold or silver brand using Staz On ink or Ranger alcohol inks. Just give them a blast with the heat gun to set the color, or leave them to dry for a few hours. The ribbon is attached at the back, between the bottom butterfly and the foam pad needed to affix the butterfly to the card. The top set of wings can then me pulled up a little.

A friend will deliver this card by hand, which is why I was able to attack a butterfly to the front of the envelope. If sending a card like this by mail, you'd need to leave the envelope butterfly off, of course.

A Bit of Bling

2008-10-14T06:36:00.002+02:00

These red tins were left over from last year's holiday season. They originally contained marzipan.

I started by gluing on strips of paper from my leftovers. Then I added these cherubs from a decoupage sheet to the lids.

In a next step, I wrapped scraps of coordinating ribbon around the tins. The final touch was to glue on tiny acrylic half-beads to add a bit of bling.

Two of the tins didn't make it into my bazaar cartons. They were snapped up by admirers while the glue was still wet!

Christmas Cards #2

2008-10-13T08:52:00.003+02:00

Here are more samples of the cards I've been making. The paper is from Basic Gray: Dasher, Scarlet's Letter, and Perhaps.

File Folder Boxes

2008-10-12T09:05:00.005+02:00

These are file folder boxes. Made from scratch. Shall I rant about craft stores that don't restock bookboard in certain thicknesses, which I happen to buy in large lots, when they have it? The explanation for not restocking: there is no demand. I'll just say this: I spend quite a bit of time biting my tongue in craft stores. It occurred to me, the other day, that I'm now finding workarounds for around half the supplies I need. Ok, we're creatives, I know, and yes, I know we are all resourceful, but it's becoming quite frustrating. End of rant. I'll be in Hamburg at the end of the month, so I may be able to pick up some materials then.

I've had this vintage paper for ages, and I also decided it was high time to use up some of the lace and ribbon in my stash. Genuine vintage or not, it's taking up space, and looking pretty is simply not enough to justify that.

It was great fun sticking on this and slapping on that. I've made six more boxes, which I still need to decorate. They will be christmassy in style. I'll post photos of them when I'm done.

Christmas Cards

2008-10-12T09:01:00.005+02:00

Anyone know where those elves are? I've been invited to show and sell some of my work at an advent bazaar. That means my apartment looks like workshop in which I just also happen to live. There are works in progress everywhere. You know how it goes: you're almost finished working on something, and then you discover you've run out of whatever, so you put the WIP to one side and do something else, until you can make the time to cycle into town.

I've put together a nice program of goods. At first, I felt a bit limited by the fact that local taste runs to cute crafts more than artful pretties, but it's a good lesson for me in customer orientation. As well as (hopefully) making some people happy through my work, I'm truly looking forward to freeing up some of the space that has been taken up by materials and making cash to purchase new supplies.

I apologise for the quality of the photos. This is not a good day for taking pictures.

The black and ivory cards are slimlines I bought the last time I was back home in the UK. Hard to believe that it was four years ago!

As well as more traditional reds, whites, and greens, I wanted to make a few cards that were just a little more sophisticated, just in case... They look much more so in the flesh, as the glare spoils a lot here. I may replace the photos if the light is better tomorrow and I'm able to make better images.

Snowflake Serendipity

2008-09-29T08:02:00.006+02:00

I picked up this snowflake punch the other day, hoping to use it for accents on some of this year's cards. Though the punch itself is fine, the flakes turned out too flimsy for what I had in mind, but while punching, I made a discovery that delighted me! In other words, the punch will be useful, albeit in a way other than originally intended.

Like most paper artists, I'm thrifty. For example, when I punch, I like to find the most effective way to use the paper, so that I throw away as little as possible.

While trying to find the most economical punching layout for the snowflake, I lined the edge of the punch with the center of the hole left over from the previous snowflake. To my utter delight, I discovered that my approach created a gorgeous punched border.

Pretty Pegs Tutorial

2008-09-28T09:53:00.004+02:00

The last couple of evenings, I've been pulling the punches on leftovers from my paper stash and making mountains of these little paper flowers and clothes peg (USA: clothes pins) clips. They are so easy to make and a great way to use even small scraps of paper, and you can use the finished pegs for all kinds of things.

You'll need:

wooden clothes pegs ( I picked up 50 for one euro at the el cheapo.)
paper scraps
glue stick
the same type of flower punch in two sizes
brads
sticky foam pads.

To prepare the pegs (pins):

paint the sides of the pins (optional)
cut paper strips the width of the pegs
glue the paper strips onto both flat sides of the pegs.

To make the flowers:

punch two large and two small flowers
glue them together (Prevents the petals from moving and coming to lie directly on top of each other.)
punch a hole in the center
push through a brad, and
add a sticky foam pad on the back
stick a flower onto each peg.

I'll be using the pegs as Xmas decorations, both on the tree and to hang up my Xmas cards. I'll also be giving them away as "little extras" when I sell my handmade cards and albums at this year's local craft fairs.

Star Book

2008-09-21T08:41:00.002+02:00

I'm making star books for sale during the run-up to Christmas. This is one of them.

There are several ways to make star books, some of which require a fair amount of technical skill, but for my particular purpose, I chose this version, as it doesn't use as much material as more complex versions and is fairly easy to make, meaning, I can make more of them (a) with less material and (b) more quickly. (I've included a link to the instructions at the end of this post.)

If you can cut and fold paper accurately and have the skill and patience to run what seems like miles of double-sided sticky tape along the edges of card stock and papers, you can make a book like this in under an hour. I do them in batches, which makes things a little quicker.

Most of the books I'm making this year have a cuttlebug embossed panel on the each of the covers. Back in July, I was lucky enough to find an online store here in Germany that stocked the holiday embossing folders! I'm also using a lot of die-punched flowers, both large and small. (I included a link for the large ones in my previous post.)

Star Book Tutorial

http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/starbook.html

First Day of School Album

2008-09-17T08:50:00.003+02:00

Earlier this morning I posted on the Art in a Carton blog, and I noted that it had been several weeks since I last posted anything on Art Angelix. Wow. But don't think I've been chilling out. As it happens, I've been extremely busy lately, making various art objects for Art in a Carton and also piles and piles of various styles of photo albums for the approaching Christmas fair season.

One of my granddaughters started school last week. It's a tradition in our family that I take photos and create a small "First Day of School" album for each child. This is the one I created for Megan.

This is a "square around" mini album with pockets, which I found on the "Making Mini Scrapbooks" website. I've included a link to the Tutorial below. While you're there, take a look at the other albums tutorials on site.

The flowers on the covers are made with punched "folk hearts". I've included a link to the tutorial below.

For the inside, I used mainly Karen Marie Klip papers in shades of pink. I trimmed and matted the photos, then affixed some to the "walls" and tucked others into the pockets. This album provides a lot of space to work and is exciting to unpack, as you can glue photos to the outside of the pockets as well as hiding others in the pockets themselves. Just the thing for curious children!

To finish off, I applied rub-ons and stickers that I've had in my stash for a long time (the kind of stuff you can only use on albums for little girls), and added some brads and ribbons.

Square Around Mini Album
By Jaine Drake
http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/square-around-mini-album.html

Folk Heart Punch Flowers
http://inspirationaltechniquesandtutorials.blogspot.com/2008/06/two-ways-with-funky-pink-hearts.html

Karen Marie Klip Store in Denmark

2008-07-28T07:37:00.003+02:00

I visited Denmark this weekend, and while I was there, I stopped off briefly at the Karen Marie Klip Store in Grasten. Karen Marie is one of the BIG European scrapbooking paper designers and retailers. Her papers are typically Scandinavian, meaning, the designs are crisp and clean. I'm more of a Basic Gray person, but even so, I was excited to visit and see what was on offer, especially as scrapbooking is not all that widespread in the north of Germany and art and craft stores carry only a small selection of papers and stuff.

The Karen Marie store is a large (800 square metres) warehouse type store divided into lots of little themed boutiques. Each of the boutiques carried a theme, either a topic or a color scheme, and the items were beautifully presented. It was fun to poke around and discover papers and combinations. They even had their Christmas line in stock.

My plan was to take a look around to see what was available, purchase a few little things, and then return with a friend to do some serious shopping at a later date. The photo shows what I bought: Two large sheets of double-sided card stock, a pack of four 12x12 in the same pattern, a couple of single 12x12 sheets, a stamp, and two sets of chipboard pieces: one set of shapes and one of letters.

I'd been warned that Denmark was expensive (which it is), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that even the full-price scrapbooking sheets were no more expensive than in Germany, and many of them were slightly cheaper. Another bonus was the wide range of papers. Scrapbooking stores this side of the border stock only a small selection of the available papers and products.

The big bargains are the end of line sales, though. Dotted around the store were mountains of last year's papers, many of which were being sold off for what worked out at 25-50 cents a sheet. The other surprising discovery were the chipboard elements, which are also marketed by Karen Marie's German distributor, Rayher, but which I've not seen in the stores here. They were much, much cheaper than I'd ever have imagined. I'll certainly pick up several packages of those on my next trip.

I found the background stamp on a bargain shelf, and it worked out at only 7 euros, which is an unbeatable bargain. Here in northern Germany, it would retail at around 20 euros... if you could find it, which is highly unlikely.

The only disappointment was that I had hoped to find more rubber stamps and possibly a wider range of scrapbooking embellishments, which wasn't the case. In particular I'd been hoping to find book screws, but I drew a blank on those, too. I'll have to visit Berlin at some point this year to stock up on things like that.

Overall, it was wonderful to be in a "paper place" again, even if only briefly. With luck, I'll be able to visit again in the near future. One of my friends -- the one who told me about the Karen Marie store -- works in a local craft store and would be wowed by the selection of papers I saw. I think it should be easy enough to find two more women to fill her car (read: share the high cost of petrol through four of us) and make the trip to Denmark to do some serious paper shopping.

Links (in Danish. No english pages available)
http://www.karenmarieklip.dk/SEEEMS/594.asp
http://www.karenmarieklip.dk/

Microwave Paper Clay

2008-06-23T19:49:00.001+02:00

I finally got around to trying out a new product today: microwave paper clay. This product has only been on the market here in Germany for a few weeks, and when I stumbled across it, I knew it was something I wanted to try out.

The perfect reason presented itself over the weekend. I picked up a small framed African mask, about three inches high, at the euro store. I took the frame apart to get at the mask. I knew that I wanted to try to replicate the mask for use on art dolls. So, today I rode up to the craft store and purchased a package of the new paper clay.

The clay is so easy to use. I rolled a ball and flattened it, then I pressed in the mask and created a reversed impression. To "fire" the paper clay, you simply pop it into the microwave for 10 minutes at 600 watts, along with a half full glass/beaker of water. If you inadvertently set the microwave to a more powerful setting, or fire the clay for longer, that's no problem.

After firing the reverse impression, I used it as a mould to make copies of the mask. It worked like a dream, and it was quick and easy.

According to the instructions, you can also add to work that has already been fired simply by moistening the fired object and attaching new elements before popping it into the microwave again.

Once done, the pieces are light but tough and can be sanded, drilled, painted, or whatever.

I purchased terracotta coloured clay, but the product also comes in white. Further colours are planned.

Tagged by Val Foster

2008-06-09T19:34:00.002+02:00

Valerie Foster tagged me this weekend. So, I have to tell you three things about myself. Hmmm... let me think...

1. I almost always wear black. Why? It suits me. I also used to work in a designer job, and everyone wore black. I like black. Everything goes with everything else, so buying clothes and getting dressed in the morning is easy. I mean, why waste time on stuff that keeps you from your art? The funny thing is, the way I dress tends to unnerve people, but what the heck. If I'm having a really upbeat day, I wear something grey. It suits me...

2. I used to know a lot of somewhat airy folks who liked to sit around talking about their past life regression therapies and previous incarnations, usually as queen of this or emperor of that. I thought I'd skip the regressions and simply think about some things I might have been in the past. I decided I could easily have been a librarian in the Great Library of Alexandria, the mistress of some king or other (the power behind the throne), or -- and this is the one I tend to like a little more than the others -- a priestess in a Mesopotamian city temple. Those wise ladies invented writing and beer, among other things. I'm told the above still show through...

3. I love sushi. I used to live in Berlin, Germany, where sushi bars abound and each of them has a happy hour. I could write "A Guide to Eating Sushi in Berlin" with no trouble at all. My problem is that I now live in a small town in the German boondocks. There are no sushi bars. Get my drift? All I can get is frozen sushi, which is ok. Good, but not great. Better than nothing in a situation... In fact, I have a box of frozen sushi defrosting in my kitchen right now. I intend to visit Berlin soon, both to stock up on art materials (also not available here) and to eat some decent sushi.

Val Foster's Altered Heart Journey blog:
http://valsalteredheartjourney.blogspot.com/

I've tagged

Suzy Pierce - http://dreamkeyper.blogspot.com/
Tamy Bollar - http://www.3sidesofcrazy.com/
Chris Bennett - http://www.cab53j.blogspot.com/

Flea Market Find

2008-05-25T17:59:00.003+02:00

Today was flea market day in town, and I decided, on a whim, to take a look around.

I found this photo album. I spied it in a box, leafed through it, then plucked up courage to ask the guy what kind of price he had in mind. I expected him to ask around €40, which I didn't have on me and wouldn't have been able to spend in any case. Then he said "before it falls apart completely, how about five (euros)?" Stunned, I stuffed the bill in his hand, picked up the album and walked away, inwardly squealing with delight.

The album is genuine vintage (Art Nouveau), probably 90-100 years old, and it is around one third full of cabinet cards and photos, most of which date circa 1900-1920. The cover is green velvet with metal art nouveau ornaments attached. Someone has tried, badly, to replace the original closure, only half of which is still attached, so I may decide to do something about mending that. The album is hand-bound and gilded. As a hobby bookbinder, I really appreciate the style and quality of this binding, which, in contrast to what the seller said, is fully intact and in anything other than a delicate condition. The only damage is to some of the pages, where photos have been pulled out of the niches over the years.

When time allows, I'll scan the cabinet cards and upload them as blog freebies. I've been meaning to scan my entire cabinet card collection for this, actually.

Spark!

2008-05-25T17:58:00.001+02:00

This weekend I had one of those oh-so-simple ideas that leave you wondering why it took you so long to tumble to it. I've been painting lots of small wooden buttons and feet, and until yesterday, it was fiddly and annoying, and then the light went on!

I took a bamboo chopstick with flat sides, ran a strip of narrow double sided sticky tape along one of the sides, then stuck the buttons onto the tape. Painting was a breeze after that. I can now paint the entire surface in one go, with no paint smeared fingers or blemishes on the material. Once the objects are dry, I peel them off the tape, then peel the smeared tape off and dump it in the trash can.

Migratory Book Arrived

2008-05-23T08:08:00.002+02:00

One of my recent posts was about Michelle Wilson's migratory book project. Well, "my" book arrived yesterday. It's a gatefolded booklet that can be read from either end. One version of the text in English and the other in Portuguese.

My task now is to contemplate the book for a short while then answer a question before releasing the book for another step of its journey (migration).

Review: Penland Book of Handmade Books

2008-05-11T08:46:00.002+02:00

I've not written about art-related books on my blog until now, but I thought it might be a good idea to do the occasional review.

Many of my artist friends live in Europe, as I do. One of the disadvantages of that is that it's not easy to find the range of great art books that is available in the US, and ordering US books has, until recently, been expensive. That's changed a little in the past months. One of the few advantages of the strong Euro in combination with the weak dollar is that US books have become very reasonably priced (through Amazon International).

I've been waiting for a long time for the paperback (brochured) edition of the Penland Book of Handmade Books to be published. When it came out last month, it cost me only 14 euros though Amazon International. I was pleased about the price, and I am thrilled with the book.

The Penland Book of Handmade Books contains approximately 400 high quality photographs of the work of book artists who have taught at the Penland school.

If you still think of books as a pile of papers bound between two covers, be prepared to revise your opinion. Among other things, you'll see book sculptures, boxes, scrolls, and objects that take the idea of "book" to the extremes. You'll probably find yourself looking at everyday items in terms of book-makeability!

The book contains tutorials that show how to reproduce some of the books, objects, and binding styles. It's simply full to bursting with book making ideas to ogle and adapt.

One of my favourites from the book is Barbara Mauriello's handmade "Women of the Bible" box. Here's a photo of the box from the Rutgers website.

http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/abtlib/danlib/bookarts/ba-bm3.jpg

Dolph Smith's books gave me a bunch of ideas:
http://www.burkesbooks.com/dolph.htm

And there were many, many more...

Because the artists are professionals, some chapters of the book show fascinating, large scale projects that would be difficult to do in the kind of kitchen table workshops many of us have. At the same time, because the ideas and tutorials are more artistic and ambitious than the step-by-steps in craft books, I felt inspired to stretch my abilities and attempt some of the more complex techniques, and I was successful!

In addition to the images, the book contains short essays by some of the artists in which they write about their materials, processes, and backgrounds.

Though this is an art book, rather than a craft how-to, I found it practical as well as inspiring. Leafing through the book gave me many new ideas to try in the coming months, and it also boosted my confidence. Without wishing to sound boastful, seeing the work in this book made it clear to me that some of what I've done in the past few years is probably as close to being as good as that of professional artists as it can be, given the makeshift circumstances I work in.

If you're looking for a truly great book about artistic bookmaking, this is one I'd recommend, especially if you have to budget. To my mind, The Penland Book of Handmade Books is one of the best bargains available at the moment. Check out your local Amazon.

The Penland Book of Handmade Books
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Lark Books (March 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1600593003
ISBN-13: 978-1600593000
http://www.amazon.de/Penland-Book-Handmade-Books-Bookmaking/dp/1600593003/

Migratory Books (Libros Migratorios)

2008-05-08T08:30:00.002+02:00

Michelle Wilson, from Philadelphia, USA is looking for participants for her Migratory Books (Libros Migratorios) project.

Michelle writes:

"I've been working on an ongoing bilingual book and blog project I'm calling the Migratory Books (Libros Migratorios). This project involves releasing books to individuals, and asking them after they have read the books to visit the blog and post an answer to a question in the end of the book. Afterwards, I ask that they pass on the Migratory Book, to ensure their journey continues.

I am looking for interested people who would be willing to receive a book and participate in this process. If you are interested, please send me your mailing address, and I will get one (or more, if you are willing, please indicate in your email), in the mail to you. Participants outside of the USA are welcome. "

You can find Michelle's email address on the project blog.

Migratory Books Blog:
www.migratorybooks.blogspot.com/

Three Tier Box

2008-04-21T17:53:00.002+02:00

This little box is only 8cm (around 3.5 inches) high. I picked up a stack of twelve nested cardboard boxes at the el-cheapo for only 2.99 euros! The three smallest boxes fit nicely into a carton.

I covered and lines the boxes with old print then painted them with sand, naples yellow, and red ochre, shabby chic style. I applied rub-ons to the box bases and braid to the rims of the box tops. The smallest box is crowned by a trio of cherubs, and the entire box stands on four little wooden feet.

Art In A Carton: http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/

Vintage Paper Cone

2008-04-19T18:48:00.000+02:00

I'm tidying and reorganising my stuff at the moment (again...), and in the process, I re-discovered a cardboard cone I picked up sometime way back. The cone fits nicely into a milk carton, so I did it up yesterday and will pack it into one of the ready-to-roll cartons.

The main part of the background is a page from a 1939 French magazine. The woman is (a scan) from a vintage postcard in my collection. Her name is Valeska. The rest of the embellishments are scraps of gold mesh, German scrap, wooden buttons, lace, fibres and tags. The filling contains some vintage looking balls dusted with gold, off-white paper roses, more gold mesh, tags, and a ribbon bow.

I liked the outcome so much that I was tempted to keep it, but... one of the ideas behind Art In A Carton is to use up my stash and spread some enjoyment, so into a carton it will go!

Cartons Galore

2008-04-13T10:10:00.002+02:00

I've had a couple of emails lately asking me what the cartons look like and what artists might do to them to turn trash into treasure. So, I decided to post a few examples to this blog and to Art Angelix. Here are examples of the cartons I have here all packaged and ready to go out to the next artists who sign up for Art In A Carton.

I started out by painting each of these three cartons with two coats of black gesso. For the carton on the left, I stippled bronze metallic paint onto the black background using a sponge. When that was all dry, I pulled out my glue gun and dribbled lines and squiggles on each of the four sides. First, I let the glue dry and cool, then I dry brushes over the glue ridges with copper and then bronze acrylic paint and dabbed leftover paint into some of the spaces in the pattern. Can you say "easy peasy"?

The center carton also has a black and bronze stippled background. Then I glued on a band of gold foil and gold tissue. The bottom edge of the band is finished with fabric trim. I then layered on some gold mesh ribbon, which I attached on two sides using simple gold brads from the office supply store. As a final touch, I matted a clipped cabinet card, added an eyelet and some yarn, and attached the photo cars with foam tape.

The carton on the right has hand drawn and Cuttlebug embossed panels overlaid with peach and pink tissue. This is topped by a length of gold mesh ribbon attached by brads on all sides. Two of the brads have die cut flowers. I finished off by knotting yard to the mesh.
Want one? All you have to do is become an Art In A Carton artist! Just read the instructions, send me an email, and you can be the owner of one of these or the other cartons a few days from now.

Art In A Carton: http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/

Altered Tin

2008-03-30T10:13:00.001+02:00

Last week, Marilyn Wells signed up for Art In A Carton. At the same time, she invited me to take part in an altered tin swap on a spring theme. I decided that, as I was sending her mail in any case, I might just as well take part and include my tin. (I rarely take part in US based-swaps these days, as the intercontinental postage is too expensive.)

This is the front of my tin. I won't show the other views, as I've built in a little surprise that I don't want to spoil by writing about it here.

Marilyn's Blog
http://unshelvedwords08.blogspot.com/

A Round Tuit

2008-03-30T10:12:00.001+02:00

How often have you heard yourself saying, "I'll do it when I get around to it"? Well... this is a round tuit I made for someone, who, as it happens, has no need of one whatsoever.

Using an old CD-ROM as the template, I cut a circle of wire gauze the same size as the CD-ROM. You can cut wire gauze with scissors, easy as pie. Using the gauze circle as my "fabric", I sewed on objects like beads, buttons, tiny shells, and bits of metal junk, including a ring pull and electronic resistors. I filled in the gaps with knotted eyelash yard.

I then drilled four holes in the CD-ROM and attached the gauze using cheap brass brads from the stationery store. The outcome looked good, but that little something was still missing. I thought it needed a little more bling, so I put together a corona made of glued together clothes peg sections and painted it with various metallics. When it was dry, I stuck the tuit onto the corona and... bling!

Leaf Journals

2008-03-24T12:46:00.002+01:00

The style of these journals is borrowed from the palm leaf journals found in Asia. There, sheets of paper (papyrus) made from palm leaves are bound on a thong between wooden covers. Most of the palm leaf books I've seen or heard of contain sacred texts. These journals contain blank pages, so the recipients can use them to write and store their own secret or sacred content.

For the covers, I started out by cutting two pieces of balsa wood. Anything between 2-4 mm thickness will be fine. You can also use sturdy cardboard or bookbinder's board. These particular covers are 5x15cm (ratio 1:3), to fit in the cartons I'm using for the Art In A Carton project. For my own use, I prefer 5x20cm (ratio 1:4). I drilled two holes in each cover before painting and so on. By drilling the holes at the start of the process, you can save yourself the trouble of having to go back and touch up the holes so the wood doesn't show. Simply paint inside the holes as you go.

I base coated the covers using Pelikan Prism, a two-tone acrylic paint that contains gold pigment. Two books are done in pink/gold and one in blue/gold. I then used a hot glue gun to dribble threads of glue onto the covers. Once cooled, I rubbed alcohol inks in to the threads. After a couple of minutes drying time, I went over parts of the covers with light coats of Lumiere metallics. After the covers were completely dry again, I dabbed on just a hint of glitter glue and a dusting of micro pearls.

Each journal contains around 10 pages. Just cut card stock to size and use the holes in the covers as a guide to mark out where the holes need to be in the card stock. Punch the holes with an eyelet tool, or whatever you have for the job.

Cut 2 lengths of narrow ribbon for each book. (I used 3 mm ribbon, because that's what I had. You might prefer to use twine or leather thongs or, or, or...) Each length or ribbon measures around one metre.

Thread each length of ribbon through one set of holes. Tie a bead or a button at the end of each length or ribbon, to prevent it slipping out of the holes. Repeat for the other set of holes.

Easter Basket

2008-03-24T12:45:00.001+01:00

Remember the word stones from a few weeks back? This is a little Easter basket -- well, a small one-serving can -- that I made for a friend. The "eggs" are a set of word stones.

Maxi Matchboxes

2008-03-22T18:26:00.000+01:00

These is one of two large matchboxes I made yesterday for Art In A Carton. Again, one is posted here and the other on the Art In A Carton blog.

http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/

Both are decorated with paper and ribbons, wire and buttons. I had quite a few "voyage" images, so the boxes have a loose voyage theme. Each box contains little topic-related surprises for the recipients to use in their own art.

Collector's Chest

2008-03-22T18:24:00.001+01:00

This is one of two chests of drawers I finished off today for inclusion in the cartons I'll be sending out on Tuesday. You can see one here, and the other is posted on the Art In A Carton blog.

http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/

It's sometimes challenging to thing up projects that will slot into a carton and still be substantial, but these matchbox chests fit the bill and are fun to make.

Each of the drawers is filled with little surprises the recipients can use in their own art.

Easter Cards

2008-03-16T14:31:00.000+01:00

Third and last post for today: I finally completed my Easter cards. I have a few relatives who would be piqued if I didn't send cards.

I made three kinds. Easy peasy and fast to make, if fiddly. The only drag is that the Post Office charges double the normal rate for postage, as the cards are in a non-approved (square) format.

ATC Journals

2008-03-16T14:24:00.003+01:00

I've had a pile of glassine envelopes lying around here for a long time, and as I'm trying to art off my stash, I wanted to do something with them.

The outcome so far are these journals, one with twelve envelopes, the other with eight. The envelopes are just the right size to contain an ATC, with a little space to spare.

I'm going to propose an little swap / round robin to the Alkymia group. I'll place an ATC in each envelope, and each participant can select an ATC to keep and replace it with one for me.

Dancing Spirit Doll

2008-03-16T14:20:00.003+01:00

Materials for the dancing spirit doll were included with a zine Gena made for a swap in the Travel Journals group. I'll photograph the zines I received as soon as I can. (The batteries in my camera are empty, and I had to give them a quick blast in order to finish processing and transferring this photo to my computer.)

I spent yesterday evening making the doll, and here she is.

Easter Goodie Drums

2008-03-02T16:37:00.003+01:00

This has been one of those weekends when I feel I've been slogging away all the time -- or waiting for something to dry, so I can take the next step -- but with nothing much to show for it.

These are some "pretties" I made as containers for my granddaughters' Easter goodies. I still have one to make for my grandson. These are all very girlie, though.

The containers are cardboard tobacco drums with plastic lids. My neigbour saves them for me, and I knew they would come in handy at some point. After a thorough dusting out, I painted the outside of each drum with gesso, to cover up the tobacco label. In a next step, I painted over the gesso using either yellow or pink acrylic. When the first layer was dry, I went over it again with two or three washes of yellow (or pink) eggshell glaze (a glaze that contains tiny white flakes) to add dimension.

Then I wet and tore raggedy strips of a coordinating mulberry paper and decoupaged them onto each tin and added a strip of matching polka dot ribbon.

The lids have a rim, so I cut patterned cardstock circles to fit inside the rim. I do this using a circle cutter. It's a cheap little tool I picked up at a craft store a long time ago; like a compass, but with a blade instead of a pencil lead. I think you can get them in stationery stores, too. I can tell you, I wouldn't want to be without mine.

I decided to decorate the lids with punched flowers. First I punched out a scalloped circle as a contrast, so the flowers would stand out against the cardstock pattern. I then glued the circles together and punched a hole in the center (see the next step for the reason).

Then I used two flower punches to cut petals from the same cardstock I used for the larger circle. The cardstock was printed on both sides, so I automatically had matching patterns. I punched out three large flowers and two small ones for each lid and used a hand hole punch to make a hole for the brad to hold them together. (I like to add a dot of glue stick to the centres and then arrange the petals, so they all show.) I also punched a hole through a twist of the same polka dot ribbon I used on the drum, then simply poked the brad through all layers, including the large circle(s), and stuck a foam strip to the back. The center of each plastic lid is deeper in the center than at the rim, so the foam strip fills the gap.

To stick the topper to the lid I used acrylic gel medium and pressed the cardstock down firmly using a paper towel to remove little oozes neatly and cleanly.

I made a second flower for each container and stuck it over the ribbon join using a foam strip.
The nice thing about the flowers is that you can flip a knife blade or credit card under them and raise the layers of petals, to add more dimension.

You could easily add more embellishment to the drums, if you were to make them for adults, but I decided this was enough for the children. I know they will love the drums to bits, but being children, they will handle and use them, deciding they were pretty enough for the handling they will receive.

Sorted Buttons

2008-02-25T17:27:00.002+01:00

I spent yesterday evening sorting the bag of buttons I bought in the afternoon. Here are some of the bags.

Home Crafts Fair Finds

2008-02-24T17:34:00.003+01:00

Today I visited the local home crafts fair, which takes place twice a year. I love to see what people are offering, and I'm always awed and pleased to see how much creativity finds expression behind closed doors here in the north of Germany. Most of the things on sale are conservative crafts and not really my taste -- though I did see one or two things that I might have bought if I had a garden, which I don't -- but that doesn't make them any less pretty or interesting.

What I did find, though, was a woman who does a lot of sewing. She'd brought along a pile of buttons, but didn't really expect anyone to want them. As you might expect, there were a lot of ordinary buttons, but also a large number of colored and shapes buttons and some large ones. I bought the lot for 10 euros, and both of us were pleased with the bargain.

I also found these little clay faces for 50 cents each. They will be lovely for art dolls. I'm going to try making a mould from them using Fimo, so I can reproduce them using a lighter, air drying (paper) clay.

Threads ATC

2008-02-23T10:25:00.001+01:00

I made these for a 6 for 6 swap on Alkymia, a European (only) group for ATC and spiritual art of all kinds.

The cards were cut twice the length of an ATC. First, I stamped and embossed the front of each ATC with a script stamp. The next step was to paint each card with gold and bronze acrylic. Then I punched out rectangles, affixed a scrap of metal mesh inside each card and folded it. The finishing touch was simply to weave various yarns through the mesh, leaving an inch or two hanging over at each side.

If I make more of these, I might try weaving the yarns into the mesh before closing and gluing the cards. I'm sure that would look nice, too.

OWOH and PIF Winners

2008-02-14T17:56:00.002+01:00

I drew five winners using the random number generator at random.org. Each of the winners will receive a set of three crossover cards, which I hope to post out on Saturday.

The two One World One Heart winners are:

Patricia Mosca (Rochester, USA)
Angelika Tugal (Hürth, Germany)

the additional three winners will receive their cards as my PIF obligation.
They are:

Chris Bennett (East Blaxland, AUS)
Suzy Pierce (Bullhead City, USA)
Tamy Bollar (Crystal Falls, USA)

OWOH Giveaway and my PIF

2008-02-11T17:50:00.001+01:00

I signed up for One World One Heart giveaway and posted my gift on the Art In A Carton blog a week or so back. Well, as of an hour ago, more than 180 people have signed up for a chance to win the two sets of cards I offered. (Anyone can sign up for the draw simply by leaving a comment on the OWOH post on Art In A Carton. You don't need to be participating by offering a gift yourself.)

I had a little think over the weekend and decided that, as my PIF here on Art Angelix seems to have gone completely unnoticed, I'd kill two birds with one stone and honour my PIF commitment by making three more sets of cards (see the photos here) and sending them to people who signed up for the OWOH draw.

As for the technicalities of drawing the winning names, I've decided to use the random number generator at "Violets Are Blue". That seems fairest to me.

Connecting

2008-02-03T17:08:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I decided to join in the ONE World ONE Heart project and uploaded a photo of my contribution to the Art In A Carton blog. I've also visited several of the other participants' blogs and left comments, which is part of how the project works. Today, I've had so many lovely messages from other participants. It's so wonderful.

Here are two blogs you'll want to look at, I'm sure.

Anna Nowicki
http://annanowicki.blogspot.com/

Creative Solace (Heather Robinson)
http://creativesolace.blogspot.com/

I also joined a new Yahoogroup called "Eurosupplies" today. It's owned by Mika and Shakti, two of my art friends, with whom I do a lot of art projects. The basic idea is that European artists can swap art materials, or materials suitable for art making, they have lying around or use the "wish list" ask for materials they would like to use in their art.

We've been exchanging materials in other ways for some time, but this is going to be much easier, as all swaps and requests are now organised in one place (on one group). So, If you're an artist living in Europe, feel welcome to join Eurosupplies and make use of the exchanges.

Eurosupplies
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/eurosupplies/

Matchbox Treasuries

2008-01-31T18:59:00.000+01:00

The remaining matchboxes (see "Prayer Boxes" post below) were taking up a lot of space, so I decided to use them up, which I'm in the process of doing now, for the Art In A Carton project.

Each of the matchbox treasuries is made up of three to five matchboxes. First I decorated the boxes. Then I painted leftover strips of book board in colors that match the boxes and, once the paint was dry, I stamped and embossed on the visible sides of the strips. (Not shown here.)

After cutting the strips to size, I glued on the matchboxes. Some of the strips are longer, so they can be hung up, if desired. I then used scraps of book board to make nameplates for the sets. After that, all I had to do was embellish. I'm actually quite pleased with myself, because I managed to use some of my hard to get "perfect" embellishments that I'd been saving for some project or other, for example, the rusted hardware. It's such a relief to be actually using the stuff instead of hoarding it.

Oh, and the boxes also have an inner life, but you don't need to see everything... (grin)

See the Art In A Carton blog for more pictures of these boxes.

Prayer Boxes

2008-01-31T18:57:00.000+01:00

I'm working on pulling out unfinished projects and either bringing them to completion or using the materials for new works.

Late in 2006 I had an idea for a "Prayer Boxes" project in matchbox format. These are some of the boxes that actually got made. I didn't continue the project at that time, because I didn't (and don't yet) have the space to do the installation I imagine with the finished objects.

Each of the prayer boxes is decorated with paper and a large hardware element, usually an item of jewellery or an interesting bead. The boxes are backed on 2mm balsa sheets that I painted black then embossed with a handwriting stamp and gold embossing power. Balsa is easily split into the narrow strips you can see in the picture.

Three Amulet Pouches

2008-01-29T18:29:00.000+01:00

These are the other three of the four amulet pouches I made this week. The pouches themselves are made of felted wool on fleece with gold mesh sewed on top. Each is embellished differently and has a handle of gold cord.

I took the pouches to the art and craft store this morning, to make sure I chose the right cord, and the women who work there were fascinated. I told them a little about the project, and they found it hard to believe (a) that I intend to give the pouches away and (b) that a seemingly "normal" person would think up a project like "Art In A Carton". I didn't tell them that I was anything but normal, of course.

Anyway, if you'd like one of these pouches, all you need to do is sign up for "Art In A Carton". Each of the cartons contains two or three items. It's essentially a three for three swap. Details can be found on the project blog.

http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/2007/12/art-in-carton.html

Creativity Test

2008-01-29T18:28:00.001+01:00

You see this empty cake carton. What do you think and do?

If your response is along the lines of that you'd toss it in the trash, I have no idea how you lost your way in blogland and got here, but at least it's your chance to pick up some alternative ideas.

I think the carton is begging to become a fairy theatre or something like that. What do you think? What would you do with it?

Felt Amulet Pouch

2008-01-27T11:49:00.001+01:00

I slipped into a SoulFood journey a few days ago, and am writing hard to catch up with the rest of the travellers. (You can read my journey so far on the Art Rites blog. The URL is on the right.) One of the prompts is about receiving a a bag filled with useful objects, so I decided to make one.

Several weeks ago I tried felting, and while I decided it's not really my thing, my experiments left me with a few bits and pieces I knew I'd be able to use at some point. Yesterday, I cut a sheet of fleece-backed felt into strips and sewed four pouches. The other three are still at various stages of embellishment, but this is the one I finished yesterday in response to the prompt.

I stitched a strip of wire and fabric ribbon on the felt strip, then sewed the seams. The clasp is actually a scarf ring, which I attached by sewing the ring to the flap, then snapping the top down again.

The leaves have been in my bead stash for a while, too. They are Czechoslovakian glass beads that shimmer pink and blue.

Though I'd have liked some gold cord piping for the handle, I had none left, so I improvised by sewing on a strip of tinselly Xmas tree chain. If I find something better this week, I may replace the handle, but otherwise I'm quite happy with the outcome.

Skeleton In The Cupboard

2008-01-22T09:11:00.001+01:00

A lot of folks have an idiomatic "skeleton in the cupboard". Anyone who unsuspectingly opens my hall cupboard is due for a bit of a surprise, though, as I have a real (paper) skeleton in mine! This is Boney Brian, who you may remember from around a year ago. He nosed around and discovered his favorite place in my flat, and this was it.

Final Shadow Card

2008-01-21T11:32:00.000+01:00

This is one of the two final shadow cards I made this weekend. As before, I've posted one here and the other on Art In A Carton (link on the right). Earlier today, I finished the zines I've been working on for a Travelling Journals swap (you'll find a link to the group on the right, as well), and I think I'll be moving on to play with some tunnel books today.

Another Shadow Card

2008-01-20T14:49:00.000+01:00

I found some lovely images of tickets and the like recently, and have played around with them, resizing, printing, and mounting them on card to use as ephemera in projects like this.

Here is one of two shadow cards I finished today. The other is on the Art In A Carton blog.

The woman in the photo was called Valeska. She lived in Thale, in Saxony Anhalt in Germany. I have an original photo-postcard dated 1919 that she sent to her mother, in Berlin.

Shadow Card

2008-01-19T18:59:00.001+01:00

Here is one of the shadow cards I made earlier today. I've got another couple almost finished and shall post them in the coming day or two. The images are from my collection of cabinet cards.

I've posted another card to the Art In A Carton blog, as these particular examples are destines for the cartons.

Fairy Jars

2008-01-18T09:37:00.001+01:00

Look what I caught yesterday! I'd been saving these little glass spice jars for something along these lines. I've also had a sheet of Victorian scrap fairies for ages, so I decided to make fairy jars. I'm not sure who will get them. I may give one each to two of my granddaughters. The others will probably go into Art In A Carton boxes.

Three Ladies

2008-01-16T09:39:00.001+01:00

I picked up several packs of miniature Lindt chocolate bars just before Christmas. The moment I saw the boxes, I knew they were destined for something arty. My grandchildren got the chocolate: most of it, in any case, and grandma kept the boxes. (I'm partial to Lindt chocolate.)

Someone, somewhen, sent me half-a-dozen Mucha images from a diary, and three of them seemed perfect for this project. You can see two of them here; the third is on my worktable. The image in the box with the stars is from one of those free advertising postcards you sometimes find in cinemas and bars.

First I painted the packaging with terracotta acrylic paint and then touched it up with a little copper acrylic. Then I cut the images to size and inserted them into what had become shadow boxes. The boxes are decorated with fibres, ribbons, punched flower petals, and shaped sequins.

The ladies are destined for the Art In A Carton project.

Pay It Forward

2008-01-13T17:26:00.000+01:00

I just signed up for this Pay It Forward project at Purplemajic's blog (http://purplemajic.blogspot.com/ ).

The Altered Diva (http://alterediva.blogspot.com/) has invited everyone to take part in this Pay It Forward challenge. I too think it is a great idea and am willing to play! I will send a handmade gift/thingy/something to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this "Pay It Forward" exchange. I don't know what that gift will be, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise!

The only thing you have to do in return is "Pay It Forward" by making the same promise on your blog with a link back to me. So basically, if you comment I'll send you something crafty that I'll make! Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be the recipients of your handmade work. You must post this on your blog to be eligible.

Cartons, Cartons Everywhere

2008-01-12T09:14:00.001+01:00

I hate being ill, but of course, you can't always pick and choose on that score. I spent most of my energy this past week on creating cartons for the "Art In A Carton" project. (See the link on the right.)

Here are some of the first cartons and one or two examples of the kinds of art I've been making to place in them. My plan for this weekend is to get to my sewing machine and make some art dolls and prayer pouches. This is all so much fun!

What I need to do next is broadcast news of the project, so all the places fill and I know who I'll be sending to in the coming weeks and months. Interested? Take a look at the project blog and tell your art friends.

Wispies

2008-01-05T17:37:00.001+01:00

Today I made some dolls on sticks, and I've decided to call them "Wispies". The sticks are bamboo meat skewers. I always keep a pack handy, and when I have leftover paint from a project, I roll the skewers in the paint, to color them. Once they've been rolled in two or three colors, they look marbled and make a magnificent impression.

Normally, I don't do felting, so when I received a small bag of various felting wools, I laid it aside in the hope that an idea would occur to me, and it did. I felted wool directly onto the painted skewers, to create a kind of long "bead", which I left on the stick. I then used a felting needle to add wisps of light wool, to give the dolls a slightly ethereal look.

That done, I sewed beads onto the felt bodies and then would wispy yarn around the body and between the beads. The hair is sisal that you can find in the floral decoration supply department of most stores. I picked up mine at a local euro (dollar) store.

The wispies will have to fit into a one litre milk carton, so I snipped the top of the skewers to make them a suitable length. I thin they look nice with the skewers protruding in both directions, though. I left the bottom of the skewers as they were, as the dolls are intended to be anchored in something -- perhaps a plant pot. I stuck the sticks into some oasis (that green foam block stuff you use to arrange flowers), and you might also use that to anchor them in a container of some description.

Art in a Carton

2007-12-30T18:14:00.000+01:00

"Art In A Carton" is an artsy little "Pay It Forward" idea I dreamed up over Christmas, while hunting around for something small and sturdy in which to package and send out an item of art. While surveying my kitchen-come-art-studio, I picked up an empty milk carton. All of a sudden, my mind went "click!", and an idea was born. Standard milk- or fruit juice cartons are a perfect way to package and sent small items of art, and they can be turned into art objects in their own right, too!

One thing I love is making small art and craft objects. Another thing I love is sharing what I make with other artists. If you're like me, you'll know the thrill of the postman handing over an art package, the anticipation of unpacking it, and the delight at holding another artist's creation in your hands.

With all that in mind, I decided to launch "Art In A Carton" as one of my 2008 art projects. I'd like to invite you to take part. Just click on the lin kto the right to visit the Art In A Carton blog.

Word Stones

2007-12-22T16:46:00.000+01:00

I needed a quick and cheerful little gift for someone today, so I made these stones. I'll call this batch "meditation stones", but you might as easily call them "journaling stones" or an "oracle", depending on the words you choose and the recipient's special interests.

I found the clear glass stones at the euro (dollar) store last week. They are the kind of thing I pick up when I see them. because I know they will always come in handy for something. These are quite large, approx. 4 x 2 centimetres, which is a rare find. Most of the stones on sale are smaller.

I printed the words onto a sheet of Basic Grey 30x30 cm. paper, cut down to A4, to fit the printer. Then I used gel medium to glue the glass stones to the sheet. Once the gel medium had dried, I trimmed the extra paper from the stones and then glued them onto a strip of hessian ribbon, as shown in the photo. (Gel medium again.) Once that dried, I trimmed away the extra hessian. The point of the hessian was two-fold: one, to give a cleaner look and feel to the underside of the stones, and two, to make sure the stones won't damage any surface upon which they might be placed. You could also use felt, as I've done in the past.

So.. if you need a last minute gift for someone, you might give this a try, too.

Box Shrine

2007-12-19T18:09:00.001+01:00

Some of the members of the Travelling Journals group (the usual suspects...) recently did two gothic arch swaps on the topics of Samhain and the Divine Feminine. The challenge then was to figure out a way of binding or otherwise displaying the arches. Yesterday, Shakti posted pictures of a box she'd made to contain and display her arches, and after considering other options, I decided that her approach was the one that made most sense, as it avoided the need to punch holes in the arches or otherwise lose some of the images by adhering them to a binding of some description.

This is the box I made today. Luckily, I had a cardboard box of exactly the right size and depth for the arches. I painted the box inside and out, and I made this arch frame from card and some lovely textured gold art paper I purchased at a sale in a local craft store. (You'd get a similar effect by painting woodchip paper.)

I cut a circle in the peak using a nifty little circle cutter that looks like a compass. I picked it up quite cheaply in the craft store a couple of years back, and it's proved itself one of my handiest tools, over and over. I backed the cutout with a scrap of printed vellum. The other embellishments are plastic "jewels" and circled of brown card stock and scraps of the gold paper. To finish off, I used a small star punch to make star-shaped holes.

What I'd now like to do is find some little trinkets like holy medals and milagros to attach to the art, to give it even more of al altar or reliquary feel.

The cards fit nicely into the box and can be changed at will.

Another Advent Wreath

2007-12-12T07:57:00.001+01:00

My youngest daughter was so taken with my advent wreath that she asked me to make one for her, too. This is the outcome. I'd wanted to include more holly, but, out on a foray, I discovered it's not all that common hereabouts. I spied a few bushes, but they were all in people's gardens. In the end I found one wild-growing hedge with a few spindly leaves and clipped a few to use. At least there is a hint of it in the wreath.

Index Card Alphabet

2007-12-12T07:56:00.001+01:00

I made these for an Index Card Alphabet journal for one of the members of the "Travelling Journals" group. Participants received a handful of standard index cards and were asked to make cards that used and illustrated letters of the alphabet. My cards show N for Nikolaus, H for homely, L for light, and T for "tempus fugit" or "time flies". What'S not so easy to see on the photos is that the letters and some of the other elements are raised off the page.

Tree Hearts

2007-12-02T11:16:00.001+01:00

This week I needed a lot of favors as thank-you gifts, so I decided to use up some of the bits and bobs of paper from my stash. I created a large folk heart template and used it to draw and cut two hearts for each favour.

I first embellished the front heart with scraps and with punched flowers, stars, or hearts. Then I sewed two hearts together (sewing machine), punched holes close to the top and threaded through some coiled wire as a handle. I coiled the florist's wire (which comes in many colors) around the handle of a wooded spoon. To finish off, I added some fluffy fibres.

Each heart contains two little tags, for personal wishes, and a miniature bar of chocolate.

These would look good on a Christmas tree. All you need to do is cut a template a size that suits your needs.

Advent Wreath

2007-12-02T11:08:00.001+01:00

I have the feeling that everyone and her dog can do this, but for me binding an advent wreath this week was a first time experience. I still have to buy the candles which are in short supply now, as I left it rather late.

It was fun fiddling around with all the glittery doo-dahs and fixing them to the wreath. I dare say a florist would roll her eyes, but I got everything attached and it's holding nicely.

In the meantime, I've made a couple of wreaths and a long centrepiece for other people, and I can tell it won't be the last time I do things like this.

Exploding Box

2007-11-18T11:47:00.000+01:00

It was one of those moments... I was browsing around in a website gallery yesterday when I saw something that made me look twice: an "Explosion Box" card. So, I spent the evening making a prototype, without embellishments, just to test the process, and am very pleased with it. I've several projects on my workbench that I must finish today, but I'm already itching to make more of these, both as Xmas cards and/or gifts, or for other projects. My granddaughters simply love to have little albums with pictures of themselves, and I can already see their faces when they find one of these among their gifts on St. Nikolaus Day (6th December).

St. Nikolaus Day is a custom celebrated in many German-speaking countries on December 6th. On the evening of the 5th, children leave one of their shoes outside the door. When they get up on the 6th, and if they have behaved well throughout the year, St. Nikolaus will have filled the shoes with sweets, nuts, apples,oranges, and sometimes a small gift. Traditionally, children who have behaved badly get a lump of coal or a switch made of birch twigs instead of goodies, but that rarely happens, except as a parental joke.

St. Nikolaus Day
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=87

Vidgis' Gallery
http://www.myscrapbooknook.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=2162

Another Box Card Project
http://www.ustamp4fun.com/ProjectGallery/BoxCard.htm

Home Crafts Fair

2007-11-11T08:29:00.000+01:00

I woke up to a world sprinkled with snow this morning. It won't lie once the sun rises, but even so... There will be no cycle tour for me this afternoon, that's for sure.

Today I want to work on some ideas for the cards for the little arty party I'm planning. I'm trying out ideas for cards that can be completed in 15-30 minutes each while still looking good --as in more than just a square of card and a sticker. I'll make (and time) the samples and show them to the women tomorrow.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours at a home crafts fair here in town. The fair takes place twice a year and it quite amazing. Some of the vendors are professionals, but the majority are people like you and me, who sell the art and crafts they've made at home in their spare time. You might imagine it as a huge bazaar on three floors with around 150 stalls and booths.

Most of the work on offer is crafts rather than art, and yesterday most of it was geared to Christmas, as you might imagine. Even so, it was a delight to see how creative and productive people in the region are.

I lived in Berlin for twenty years, and I visited many bazaars and fairs there, but the fair in Rendsburg is larger and more diverse than any of them (and the prices are far more reasonable).
I didn't buy much, because most of what I saw wasn't my style, though I truly enjoyed seeing the items. It was a feast for the eyes and senses. One woman had sewn the most loveable cloth and string "rag" dolls. I almost gave in, because one of them tugged in me, but the one thing I don't need is more stuff lying around. Ha! I produce enough of that myself!

What I did buy were two gingham hearts to give to my two younger granddaughters, some lengths of ribbon, a pot of delicious homemade spiced "Christmas" jam, and four heart ornaments that I'll either hang in my flat or use as gift decorations.

On the way out I picked up an application for both of next year's fairs. I'm considering my own stand, but need give the idea a little thought and do some research before making a decision.

Scrolls and Flowers

2007-11-10T19:30:00.001+01:00

With Christmas in mind, and because I wanted a flower and leaf stamp, too, I purchased this stamp sheet from Aud Design in Norway a couple of weeks back. I'm so pleased, both with the stamps themselves and with the wonderful, speedy service, that I wanted to share the site with you.

I received the stamp sheet two days after ordering. Aud offers to cut off the edges to save postage (which is very high in most of Europe), and I think that's a great example of thinking of the customer.

The stamps are deeply etched into high quality rubber and make crisp, clear impressions. I've already used them in a couple of projects and am delighted with the outcomes. I've uploaded one of the projects as a show and tell in a separate post below.

Aud Design
http://www.auddesign.no/index-eng.htm

Doodle Shapes

2007-11-10T19:21:00.000+01:00

Although I don't usually do "crafts", I'm going to show a group of women how they can make Christmas cards themselves, so I'm playing with ideas at the moment.

One approach I came up with is to doodle in shapes and then apply the shapes to cards. I apologise for the quality of the images. I was simply too lazy to do them again when I saw how dark some of them were.

I tried the technique on some 8 x 10cm cards I'm making for another project (which I'll post a few days from now).
I started out by drawing or tracing shapes -- hearts, circles, and ovals, on watercolour paper scraps I had left over from a different project. Any heavy paper or thin card will do, though.

I then "took a line for a walk" across all the shapes. I found it made nicer patterns if I was able to make wider sweeps. All I did was draw random loops, scrolls, and circles, going over the lines. The scribbles outside the lines of the shapes are simply cut away in a later step. I got the nicest outcome when I drew the lines with a cheap gold gel pen. Euro/dollar store gel pens are plenty good enough for this project.

I colored some of the fields within the shapes with gold gel pen, then filled in the remaining fields using two or three tone-in-tone colors. I used a gel pens and watercolour pencils or a combination of the two. When the shapes were filled, I first went over the watercolour pencil with a damp brush to make the color more arty and to blend away the pencil marks. When the shape was dry, I rubbed lightly over the colors with a baby wipe to blend.

The next step was to glue the shape to a piece of light card for stability and then to cut out the shape. This removes the "over the edges" lines.
The final step was to attach the shapes to the cards, which I first stamped with one of the scrolls from the Aud Design stamp sheet I mentioned in the post above. It's not easy to see in the photo at the top of the post, but I used sticky foam pads to attach the shapes, so they are raised.

Tribal Journal

2007-11-04T18:02:00.001+01:00

This is a little album/journal I made as a surprise for a young woman called Franziska this weekend. She saw photos of a similar journal I made around a year ago and was so enamoured of it that I decided to make this book for her. It's a very simple affair with a single signature and bookboard covers. I'm also going to give her a pre-sewn signature and pre-cut boards, so she can make a second journal for herself.

I cut four pages and colored them using Caran d'Ache Neocolour II, my favorite water soluble crayons. The pages were edged using torn strips of brown transparent paper and strips of leopard tissue. I had a pile of laser jet (self-printed) acetate transparency tribals in my stash, so I painted the back of some of them with copper metallic acrylic paint and left the rest unpainted. The tribals were glued on using gel medium, and I added more detail using a couple of tribal stamps.

After edging the pages with an ink pad, I folded them and sewed the signature.
I prepared the covers by painting them with gesso and drawing a comb through it while still wet. After the gesso dried, I painted it using deep yellow, burnt umber, vermillion, and copper acrylics. I cut a strip of corrugated card and painted it copper metallic, then applied a larger tribal on top and glued it to the cover. Once dry, I glued the signature to the rear side of the boards and inked the edges of the boards. The spine is covered with a strip of bookcloth painted copper.

As a final touch, I threaded yarns through the holes on the corrugated card.

The Divine Feminine 3

2007-11-03T07:33:00.001+01:00

Here are the final three arches I made for the "Divine Feminine" swap. The arches destined for others are already in the mail, and I'm now eagerly awaiting the arrival of those intended for me.

The idea we had was to combine the "Thirteenth Month" arches with the "Divine Feminine", so, once the arches have arrived, I'll need to consider how I want to bind them. I can already tell it is going to be an awesome book once it's finished.

This has been an extremely satisfying project for me and, I gather, for the other participants, as both themes spoke to us deeply, and the arches created by all participants were rich, deep, and evocative.

I'm also looking forward to the outcome of the "Seasons" doll swap which will be on their way home soon, as well. I've already seen a photo of all the gorgeous dolls that were made, and I can hardly wait to see which of them will be mine.

The Divine Feminine 2

2007-10-28T06:29:00.000+01:00

Here are three more of the arches I made for the "DivineFeminine" swap.

The background for the image on the left is part of a strip collage. I took paper remnants and cut them into wedge shaped strips that I then glued onto a background sheet. The entire sheet was then painted green, to pull the scraps together and make them homogenous. Here, I stamped leaves and blooms onto the collage background and embossed them with clear embossing powder before applying the images. I made the wire embellishment in the peak using a pegboard.

The little girl looked divine to me. She is probably around eight or nine, which is a magical age: they have such confidence in the life ahead of them and still believe they can do and be anything. I imagined her writing her life in the book, and I added the wings so that she would always know she could fly, whatever....

This card contrasts with the girl card. Here, the divine woman is a young adult, crowned, but embedded in a life from which she looks out into the world.

The Divine Feminine

2007-10-24T08:10:00.001+02:00

These are some arches I've made for a swap on the theme of "The Divine Feminine" for the Travelling Journals group. I have several more arches in production, and I'll upload the photos as I complete them.

Most of the arches I've been producing in response to this idea have some texture to them. As well as scraps of fabric or ribbon, I've used wire, micro beads, gesso, and random threads of glue from a hot glue gun. The glue gun texture makes interesting backgrounds, but as the threads of glue are fairly raised, it can be difficult to work on top. Once I have the feeling I've completed enough arches, I'll finish them off by adding fibres and beading, too.

Dimensional Paper

2007-10-20T07:41:00.000+02:00

This is a variation on a technique I learned from Shakti a couple of years back. You'll find the link to Shakti's blog in the list on the right. The result is a highly dimensional paper that you could use to cover an altered book, for example.

Start with a sheet of black construction paper -- sometimes known as sugar paper. Crumple the paper well, then flatten it out an little and glue it to the center of a background sheet, preserving the folds by pushing and scrunching the paper together as you glue.

When the paper is dry, set up a palette with three shades of one color. I used bronze, copper, and gold acrylic paint. Using a dry brush, dab into the darkest shade and begin whisking the brush in one direction (for example, left to right) across the ridges to pick out the contours. When you've done that, turn the paper a quarter turn, then take the second color and repeat the dry brush whisking process, using the same direction you used the first time. In my case that would be left to right again. This highlights the same ridges you highlighted the first time from a different angle, and it also helps make more ridges visible. Repeat the process, turning the paper a further quarter turn and using the third color. Again, some ridges will be highlighted from yet another angle, and more new ridges will appear, because your brush will pass over more surfaces.

The paper and paint I used left me with a piece that looks like folded metal. Other colors of paper and paint will produce other effects.When the paint was dry, I cut off the protruding background paper, so I was left only with the dimensional paper.You can use the sheets as they are, or you might cut them into strips and squares and create a pattern by turning some of them.

If I get around to making another sheet today, I'll post a pattern example tomorrow or Monday.

Tinnie RAK

2007-10-18T18:21:00.000+02:00

After seeing tinnies on Lisa Kaus' website, I wanted to try making one myself. I immediately ran into a problem in that I don't use tinned food often, so I had to go begging for an empty tin can (the ring pull kind, as they don't have sharp rims).

I made this tinnie with an aquaintance, Angelika, in mind, so it's decorated to her taste rather than mine. I really enjoyed the process, though.

I sanded and gessoed the tin, then painted it with acrylics in sand and pink. Then I cut scalloped strips of print and topped them with colourful paper, ribbons, punched hearts, and fun foam flowers.

After punching two holes near the top of the tin, I strung through a length of wire and threaded on painted wooden beads and a paper bead before adding bows. I glued four more painted beads to the bottom of the can with a hot glue gun. As a final touch, I cut some tags to pop into the tin.
I have a hunch Angelika will like her tinnie. It's also the kind of idea she can take further and use in her work as a kindergarten teacher.

I'll definitely be making more of these when I can lay hands on more suitable tins.

CPS Birthday RAK

2007-10-08T18:38:00.000+02:00

Cloth Paper Studio (CPS) is one of the "artsy" online groups to which I subscribe. Each month the moderators post a list of birthdays, so members have the opportunity to send RAK to the birthday girls. This month I noted that three other women have birthdays on the same day as mine, so I decided to make a little something for each of them. These are the first two gifts; the third is in the making.

As with the booklets I posted a day or two back, these are fairly simple, so the recipients can add to them as they please.

I'll pop them in the post in the next day or two, even though they don't have to arrive until late in the month. Mail from Europe to the USA can take time, so the earlier the better.

Making these items was a wonderful way to use up my scrap paper collage sheets.

Cloth Paper Studio

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clothpaperstudio/

Eight Wishes RAK

2007-10-06T08:40:00.000+02:00

This is a folded tag journal I made for a woman I met (in face to face life) a couple of weeks ago. There are eight pockets, each with a tag. I deliberately kept the style, format, and materials simple, because I wanted to make something she can easily reproduce using basic techniques and supplies. (I guess you all know my ongoing groans about the lack of interesting materials where I live, by now.)

The general idea is to enable constructive art and journaling in small steps, even at a time when little seems possible. One side of each tag is decorated, the other is blank and can be used to write a short journal entry. In this particular case, I'm going to suggest writing about wishes for areas of her life, for example: self, others/friends, relationship/lover, vocation/calling, earning/work, home, higher things, and future.

The pocket backgrounds are partly blank, so she can add her own art and embellishments. The different sizes of tag are a way of prioritising, and are completely replaceable at any time.

Four Arches

2007-10-01T18:28:00.000+02:00

These are the remaining arches for the Travelling Journals group swap. Now I've completed these, I shall be making more for myself, so I can create a nice, full book when the time comes.

The image of the bird (of all the birds I've use in these particular cards) is from an old nature book (published in 1887) I picked up recently. Overall, the book was in poor condition, but I was able to salvage parts of the covers, the endpapers, and the color plates to use in my work. The images are simply gorgeous, and the paper on which they are printed has a texture that adds depth to the images.

The dead bird is one of my favorite pictures. Though the bird might have died during any season, in theory, the withered leaves seem to suggest autumn, and through that they emphasise the impression of endings and approaching decay.

The girl and the (I think) crow seem to be waiting at the veil, each on their own side. The girl is lost in thought, possibly sorrow, and the hands in her lap suggest patience to me. She accepts the inevitability of her loss, but she also appears at the veil and waits for the promised brief touching at the appointed time.

Two angels stand at the portal of the death realm. The door is set against a starry sky,whichto me suggests that the door is also an entryway into eternity. Above the door is a Celtic rose or cross with four directions and a mid-point, and, like many Celtic images contains single, eternally circling lines.

A House For Her Dreams

2007-09-30T09:22:00.001+02:00

As you can see, this is a case of "and now for something completely different", in contrast to the rest of my work.

Earlier this year, I was overjoyed to find these little birdhouses in the euro (dollar) store. I picked up six, and now I'm just getting around to working with them. To do that I started by pulling off all the tacky deco and painting the equally somewhat strange background colors over with gesso, to create blank walls.

This weekend I wanted to make a house for a friend, Nati, as part of her birthday gift, so I pulled out her favorite colors (blues) and started off. I've been trying out some ideas based on the work of Lisa Kaus (link below). I reasoned that Lisa's "crafty" style is something Nati will like much more than my usual approaches and colors, so I chose to work on her house in that way.

I used a pencil to mark out grids on each of the surfaces. The lines remain visible n the finished product, but that only adds to the appeal. My next step was to color the spaces in the grids using water soluble pencils in shades of blue, lilac, and french grey. Then I spread and blurred the color with a paintbrush and water. Once the paint was dry, I drew spirals and dots in the squares, using the same color as the (now lighter) base layer in each case. After that I collaged scraps of printed paper and corrugated card onto some squares and went over the grid lines to bring them out more clearly.

I used buttons, tiny seashells, netting, rub-on transfers, and word stickers as embellishments on the outside. Then I thought it might be nice to raise the house off its flat base, so I painted four half circles and glued them to the underside.

To finish off, I punched around thirty little tags for Nati's hopes, wishes, and dreams, tied various blue yarns to them, and popped them inside the birdhouse. The gift tag, translated, reads "a house for your dreams", and has blue glass beads and shells threaded onto the tie.

Lisa Kaus
http://www.lisakaus.com/

Three Gothic Arches

2007-09-29T18:58:00.000+02:00

Just to make you drool.... I'm sitting here listening to the new James Blunt album and scoffing Lindt mini pralines (but only one of those little tins with six in them).

These are first three of the gothic arches I've made for the Travelling Journals "Thirteenth Month" swap. I cut the arches from sturdy card stock then painted one side of each arch with gesso. The next step was to paint the backgrounds and then stamp some of them, too.

In the gargoyle arch, I used a diamond background stamp and part of a skeleton leaf I found last year, then I glued on the main image and added part of an line drawing of a bare branch.

The lady image is painted and stamped and incorporates a transparency and some painted netting.

The magpie arch is painted and edged with scraps of print and what I believe is called "German scrap". (It seems to be called that everywhere except in Germany.). I colored the edging with watercolour pencils. The image also incorporates a scrap of wallpaper and a little fabric braid.

Magpies are said to be messenger birds of the faeries, and once a year they can carry the souls of the dead to the edge of the world, where the veil is thin and lovers parted by death can almost touch. This, of course, takes place during the thirteenth month.

All the cards are edged with a scraping of bronze acrylic paint.

Collage Postcard

2007-09-23T09:40:00.000+02:00

This is one of the collage postcards from a series I've been working on in connection with an imagined journey. The ship is from a flyer for an exhibition about the "Titanic", which took place in Kiel this summer. The map fragment is from a newspaper search game. Both items go to show that material is everywhere, even though German advertising material is traditionally boring to the extreme. I'll admit I can get a little envious when my US-based art friends enthuse about AOL CD tins, fake credit cards and the like! Other items used include scraps of patterned papers and lacy cellulose paper.

Blessing Doll

2007-09-19T11:58:00.000+02:00

I've been challenging myself to use up as many little scraps and images as possible, recently. Making collage paper is one good way of doing that; creating ATC and decorating paper dolls are others. Here is one of the "blessing dolls" I made last weekend. It's relatively simple, as I was away from home and had only my travelling box of supplies with me, so I had no way to add stamping, beading, or sewing. Even so, I enjoy the pleasure of knowing it is possible to create even if we have only limited resources.

Puzzle Pieces

2007-09-13T08:28:00.000+02:00

A year or two back, it seemed that everyone was crazy about altering children's puzzle pieces. Somehow I never got around to them. Recently I found a handful of pieces in my "jumbled materials" box and gave it a whirl. Despite my initial skepsis, I found altering the puzzle parts was a nice play-around for lazy afternoons, and a wonderful way to make good use of scraps too small for much else.

Reliquiaries

2007-09-11T07:48:00.000+02:00

On a recent expedition into the deep lands of Imagi-nation, I excavated these artifacts, which were identified by an expert as muse devotionals. Each of the reliquaries contains a much sought-after sacred bone from the hand of an ancient muse. Legend has it that an artist who possesses one of these bones will transcend all creative barriers and rise to express her artistic potential to the full.

The first (above left) is mine, of course, but the one with the golden crown (right) is waiting to find its true home. If you think that home should be with you, let me know. The object is approx. 20cm (8 in.) high, including the flame crown, and around 10 cm (4 in.) wide). You can contact me via the email address link in my profile (below on the right). I'll be happy to exchange for art or materials.

Summer and Winter

2007-09-10T13:56:00.000+02:00

I completed the remaining paper dolls for the seasons swap. All that remains is to make a doll that represents me. I'll do that next week.

The red doll is "summer", and the cream/blue is "winter". It occurred to me that they could easily have been switched, particularly as the winter doll contains shore and water elements. On reflection, I think I made the winter doll as I did because I love clarity of the seashore in winter. The red and glitter of the summer doll represent the heat and flamboyance I see in some types of summer. Of course, another explanation might be that summer and winter have been highly confusable here this year. We had summer for a couple of weeks in April, and it has rained a lot over the traditional summer months, with only occasional -- and generally unpredicted -- fine days here and there.

The centre panel of the summer doll is embroidered and also features glass beads and mirrors. The winter doll is beaded, too, and she also features an ancient and highly traditional form of embellishment: fishbone. (My neighbour caught me a carp recently, and I thought the larger bones too interesting to toss away, so I dried them, with a view to including them in one or two art projects.)

I'll be putting the ladies in the post to France tomorrow, so here they are together for the last time.