Bluestalking

Recycling made easy.

Okay, not easy, precisely. But made.

An old magazine, regular school glue, a glue gun, a knitting needle and a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Not to mention several hours. That's how you make this form of recycled paper bowl.

This was my first effort. It's not perfect, but it's a learning curve, eh?

Want to know the HOW of it? I'll explain it basically, but you can find all sorts of methods and styles of recycled paper bowls online, including things like papier mache, pulped paper, etc.

Okay, ready?

1). Rip out magazine pages.

2). Cut 1.5" strips (vertically) - a paper cutter's pretty much essential for this, unless you're a martyr.

3). For bottom, start with corner of paper strip on knitting needle and roll - angle the paper so it covers most of the needle. You'll wind up with a "pipe" of paper.

4). Grab your needle nosed pliers and grab one end of the pipe. Wrap pipe around pliers, gluing as you go so the circle stays in place.

5). Roll your next strip. Insert into the end of the previous pipe on pliers, and repeat. Keep going 'til your base is the size you want.

You can take out the pliers after you get a couple strips glued, then just keep adding the strips of paper.

Got that? Clear as mud?

For the little rounds you do steps 1 - 4 and leave it as a little circle. Then make more. And more, and more. This is what takes all the time. You have to make dozens of the little buggers.

Finally, I used hot glue to attach the circles to the base. The tough part is keeping them even, which I didn't do the first time around. But hey, it's fun. Time-consuming, but fun.

You can also make the mini size, which may be better to start out. Supposedly you can use a ceramic or stainless steel bowl as a form, but I decided to risk doing it by hand. And yes, mine came out crooked. Such is the "charm" of handmade items.

It's a good rainy/snowy weather kind of thing to do, or a craft to keep kids busy for a LONG, LONG time in the summer. And they make nice little gifts, or holders for various and sundry. Plus, they recycle things you already have. Try a bit of ribbon if you feel ambitious, or whatever you have on hand to fancy it up. Would it work with fabric? I have no idea! Give it a go.

And, if you do try it, I'd love photos to see what you came up with.

There now! See what a Renaissance woman I am? I read, I write, I photograph, I perform basic domestic and familial duties, and every now and then I get crafty. You never know what's next from me.

Here's a site with a cute pulped bowl for kids (or, heck, adults!):

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/paper-bowl-670922/

And another style:

http://www.indiepublic.com/library/topics/946391:Topic:59641

And another:

http://alittlehut.blogspot.com/2007/09/recycle-project-no-7-magazine-bowl.html

You get the idea. Have fun!

Oh, and P.S.? This is GREAT therapy. Keeps the hands and mind busy, takes forever to do. Good stuff!

Easing into the paper arts pool.

Here's my first attempt at decoupage. This started out a plain, pine frame. Now it's covered in blue paper (the sort used for scrap booking, etc.), with cut out leaf-like shapes in various colors/patterns. I also added - and I'm not sure if this will stay without tearing - a sort of flower shape on the left, with a piece of mosaic glass in the middle. It has the rough shape of a heart, but I didn't fashion it that way. It's just how it looked coming out of the package.

Ah, packaged craft materials! God love them.

I like this first attempt well enough, but it's not exactly a beauty piece. It's serviceable, and I'll use it, but it's an experimental work. Some of the sites I read recommended starting with a shoe box, so as not to ruin anything. But I thought that was silly. These frames cost all of $ 2.00 at the craft store. If one gets ruined, so what?

I have a couple more frames to do. I also have some acrylic paint I may water down, to make a wash, and use instead of the paper background. I also thought of using leaves, painting them and impressing the images onto the wood. But not everything must be leaf-themed.

I have rubber stamps, beads, mosaic tile, and enough lovely paper to last me a year. There's no lack of ways to play with more decoupage.

Next big project, that scrumptious crocheted journal ... (next post)

 

My first day off in weeks ...

... and I've somehow managed to injure my right foot, making walking painful. No problem, right? I'll stay home with my new Russian stories and read myself into a coma of happiness and joy. Oh, but we're getting our soffits (ironically, spell check recommends I change this word to "Soviets") replaced. The noise of people walking across the roof, using power tools to remove the old in order to install the new, is so annoying. And I can't escape it. It's upstairs, downstairs and all around the town.

Blimey.

I wanted to use part of today to zip over to the art studio in town and ask them what sorts of classes they offer. In high school I was quite the "artiste," breaking my teacher's heart when I told him I was majoring in English, not art. To my 18 year old self I couldn't see what careers lay in the field of art. I didn't know about graphic artists, and my teacher never illuminated me. He just cried, softly, into his oil paints, the gleam of all my first place ribbons for sketches and watercolors blowing softly in the breeze above him, along with all those stupid macrame plant hangers. My prodigy!, he wailed. My life may as well end...

To console himself he continued teaching another 20 years or so, pretending he'd completely gotten over me, the artist who never was... I'll have to tell him I'm finally interested in pursuing art again (muffle, muffle) years later. If he remembers who I am, he may finally be at peace.

At least I have the satisfaction of how well my English degree has served me. That series of administrative assistant positions, oh how they fulfilled me. Wasn't he just so silly suggesting I pursue a degree with so few real career options ...?  My degree looks nice on the wall, though. And my two honor society certificates balance out my husband's. Soon my Masters will fill that last, coveted spot. Then we'll be even - not that it's a competition, of course. Of course.

So, this art studio. I know they offer drawing/sketching, and painting. They have nude models for figure drawing, so I've heard. I'm not sure I could handle that, trusting myself not to point and laugh or turn beet red, drawing a sexless stick figure to avoid my nudity issues. Or one missing the naughty bits, to "fill in later," if the teacher should ask. And I'm sure s/he would. As a last resort I could pull a Picasso, moving parts around, calling it "abstract." Now that has possibilities.

What I'm really interested in now I may not be able to find out here in the suburbs. Yesterday's post will give you a hint. A very strong hint - book and paper arts. I want to not only make my own paper, but also bind it into a journal. I have the book I inter-library loaned yesterday, plus the one that came in the day before:

The work is unbelievably beautiful. Every piece doesn't look like the codex we're accustomed to, but most are recognizable as books. The only one I could attempt without book arts training is made with a crocheted wool cover, the interior resembling the paper I've seen in scrap booking sections at the craft stores. This one appears doable:

The idea of making a journal from crocheted wool would never have occurred to me without this book. But this would be a relative cinch, considering I've known how to crochet since junior high, (muffle) years ago.

For the paper, I'd need to fold it a couple of times to get the right size, then cut the separate sheets. If I get the edges wet I can easily pull them off to make them look  rough and handmade. Then, crochet the rectangle according to the size of the pages.

To attach the pages themselves, that's first done in sections. The pages must be sewn in individual sets of several sheets, then sewn onto the wool, allowing enough overlap to make a flap. They can be decorated with beads, or buttons, and ribbon would be a good method of tying it closed.

And voila! A good gift or journal for my own use. I could even crochet a bag to hold the book, to keep it safely tucked inside. Maybe something with a big, decorative button.

But the others... Many are made from leather, faux bone, wood, and elaborately cut-out heavy stock papers. Interiors are either handmade paper or other materials, such as birch bark. Just stunning.

 
Ah, to have this kind of skill. I suppose one works up to it, usually by taking book arts courses. I'd love to do that, but the expense would probably be above our budget. Maybe a general course wouldn't. Otherwise, I can learn by trial and error, as people do.

At the very least, I can make a crocheted book or two, then try my hand at the art of paper making. I found the "recipe" for that online. Sounds messy but not too tough.

A new hobby for me! One to keep me out of mischief. Because I have so much free time.

M-A-N-I-A. Gotta love it.

And this book ...

That sounds wonderful! I'm borrowing a copy via interlibrary loan:

 

Title: Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books From Recycled and Repurposed Materials - by Jeannine Styles

Shorty review from Amazon:

Product Description

Re-Bound is a beautiful book on bookbinding with a fun green twist-all the projects use recycled and upcycled materials. This book shows you how to take everyday materials from around the house, flea markets, thrift stores, and hardware stores and turn them into clever and eye-catching hand-made books.

Incredible website for lovers of paper, books and journals.

Ever thought of creating your own journal? How about crafting a handmade book, either as a gift for someone else or to yourself? How about finding ideas on interesting topics to blog or journal, how to create journals based on a specific premise, etc.?

Then you SO must look at this site!

Again, no money changing hands. I love pointing out wonderful sites, and this is one of the most wonderful I've ever come across. I found this site and fell in love. Hope you will, too.

I've started getting into the paper arts lately. Last evening I tried decoupage on a photo frame. It seems to have turned out pretty nicely. Nicely enough I'm charge up to try it again. And I've always wanted to try my hand at making handmade journals. Turns out it's not as difficult as I'd imagined it to be.

I also want to make paper... Ditto on it not being as difficult as I'd thought, but it's definitely as messy. Still, how gratifying to make your own paper, use it to make a handmade journal, and either give that as a gift or keep the wonderful thing.

Oh, and by the way, this DIY site accepts writing contributions. Can't beat that.

Enjoy!