The Making of Alba's Doll

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three Round Boxes

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

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

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.