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Archive: Paper Crafts

February 9, 2010

Flashback: Cut Paper Mosaic

Our My Paper Heart theme this month has me revisiting some real paper-infused gems from the pages of CRAFT magazine. Back in CRAFT Volume 05, Susan Brackney introduced us to an idea that is far from conventional when she tiled her faulty living room floor with paper and glue to gorgeous result. Way to take lemons and make lemonade, Susan! Check out her whole process here in this week's Flashback, and if you don't already have it, you can pick up a back issue of Volume 05, the Paper issue, in the Maker Shed.

Make a durable mosaic on the cheap with paper and glue.
By Susan Brackney

Maybe it was the wall-to-wall green shag, or the fact that the previous owner had housed 14 cats there, but my charming 1930s bungalow was a steal. The place purportedly had gorgeous hardwood floors throughout, but ripping up the smelly-cat carpeting had revealed one 8'×10' expanse of ugly pine boards — raw, uneven, and studded with rusty nail heads — smack in the middle of my living room. Turns out that leaving such unfinished business was pretty common back then; nice wood is expensive, and most people had area rugs anyway.

Rather than spend a fortune on refinishing or carpeting, I would do as the Romans did. A nod to Pompeii and my precious pooch, this durable "Beware of Dog" mosaic on the cheap is tiled with paper, not marble, and held together with glue, not grout.

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How-To: Make a Love Shrine

How-To Tuesdays

CRAFT is celebrating love, glitter, and craftiness with the Crafty Chica Love Shrine Challenge. Preserve your memories and tell your love story by building a shrine that creatively reflects your personality and expresses your hopes and dreams.This type of project is all about personal self expression. I began by digging through my collections of postcards and love letters. I sifted through my memories, photo by photo, reveling in the nostalgia of my drawings and notes from days gone by.

Certain things caught my eye, and whatever inspired me was set into a pile. Then I collected all the little treasures that I've gathered over the years — things like old wooden letters from a printing press, the tiny ceramic deer that my grandmother gave me, and a little gift box with a perfect bow. Finally, I went through my craft supplies and pulled ribbons, fabric flowers, pieces of bark, feathers, and seashells. Distill the materials that you've collected into themes. Look for common threads in your items that tell a single story. I didn't have any expectations for an outcome, and I started by just pairing up colors, textures, and associations. I found three distinct stories in my materials, and then selected the core "anchor" pieces for each shrine. Everything went into a big pile on my work surface, and I sat down with a drink and my current favorite playlist on the stereo.

This week I will share each love shrine and my step-by-step process for creating it. I hope that you will join our challenge and make your own individual shrine and add it to the Crafty Chica Challenge Flickr pool. Be sure to include a little story that describes your intentions. The reward is the beautiful shrine, but winners will be chosen to receive great ilovetocreate prizes too.

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February 8, 2010

Quilling 101

My Paper Heart

By Ann Martin

Quilling, the coiling and shaping of narrow paper strips to create a design, has been around for years — hundreds, in fact. During the Renaissance, nuns and monks would roll gold-gilded paper remnants trimmed during the bookmaking process, and use them to decorate religious objects as an alternative to costly gold filigree. Quilling later became a pastime of 18th and 19th century young ladies in England, who would decorate tea caddies and pieces of furniture with paper filigree. The practice crossed the Atlantic with colonists, who added quilling to candle sconces and trays as home decorations.

In all of that time the process has remained very much the same, but quilling designs and specialty supplies have definitely caught up to the 21st century. Today some aficionados focus on making incredibly detailed 3-D figures, while others favor wall-sized museum installations. Perhaps quilling is best known, though, as a way of bringing personality to handmade cards.

The short list of necessities includes strips of lightweight paper, glue, and a tool with which to roll the paper — that's it! Even better, there's probably no need to shop for supplies before you try quilling, as a bamboo skewer, round toothpick, or even a cake tester from your kitchen drawer can serve as a substitute tool. Cut your own practice strips from a sheet of ordinary computer paper, using a paper cutter.

Many arts and crafts stores sell basic tools and packages of multicolor paper strips. Beautiful papers and other quilling supplies are available from online suppliers. Oh, and lastly, one requirement that's not available for purchase, but will also be needed, is a fair amount of patience. With a little practice, however, I can almost predict you'll find quilling to be creatively satisfying and fun.

Quilling101 Sampleshapes
The projects in this article feature the teardrop coil, but there are many other intriguing shapes to try — marquises, arrowheads, holly leaves, and all sorts of beautiful scrolls, just to name a few.

Read on for the full Quilling 101 and featured Valentine's Day project tutorials.

About the Author:
Author Annmartin
Ann Martin of all things paper is a quilling enthusiast who loves introducing the craft to others. She teaches, designs projects for books and magazines, and is especially hooked on making paper filigree jewelry.

February 5, 2010

Nerdy geeky love

It doesn't surprise me at all that these computer jargon, super geeky Valentines are sold out, but it does make me happy that there should be a new batch ready by Monday, just in time for you to get one to give to your nerd sweetie pie.

Here at CRAFT we were all trying to come up with some other, equally nerdy versions, mostly involving references to Star Wars, binary code, and HTML 5. What l33t <3 note can you come up with? [via BadderHomesandGardens]

February 4, 2010

Kiss Me Valentines

I'd do it! MWAH! Who could resist that mug? This sweet card comes from CorrellaDesign on etsy, and is perfect for even human companions!

February 3, 2010

Rex The Dog Papercraft Music Video

Matt @ MAKE points us to this oldie-but-goodie music video by Rex The Dog, featuring many adorable and awesome papercraft stop-motion sequences.

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Origami Yoda Finger Puppet Video

Our friend, Bonnie Burton, of crafty Star Wars fame points us to this great video that walks you through making an origami Yoda finger puppet. Have fun folding, you will.

February 2, 2010

Flashback: Woven Map Basket

Maps can be amazing design elements, with all their intricately drawn lines and minute details. But what do you do with a regular paper map that is starting to fall apart from use? In CRAFT Volume 05, crafter Jane Patrick suggested we weave maps into baskets, a fun and interesting way to reuse castoffs and weave a little memory into a functional item. Check out her full tutorial here and pick up a back issue of CRAFT Volume 05, the Paper issue, in the Maker Shed.

Woven Memory Basket
Weave your vacation road maps into an attractive souvenir.
By Jane Patrick

Think of basketry as three-dimensional weaving. If you ever wove paper as a child, that's the basis for this plaited basket. You begin by weaving a flat base, and then upturn the strips (called stakes or weavers) to make the sides, in what is referred to as bias plaiting. You'll be surprised by how sturdy your paper basket will be.

Baskets can be called a true handcraft because almost any basket you'll see anywhere in the world has been woven by hand. It's one craft they just haven't learned to make well by machine.

This project repurposes maps from your travels to weave a practical, attractive basket full of memories of trips taken and experiences had along the way.

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February 1, 2010

Valentine Heart Leis

Cz Valentines-Deer

By Marie LeBaron

My Paper Heart

These fun heart-shaped leis are helping to spread Valentine's cheer. They are the perfect activity for your child's classroom party or to make ahead of time to give out as Valentines.

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January 29, 2010

Best of the CRAFT Video: Papermaking with Lisa Jacobs

In case you missed it, watch Lisa Jacobs as she guides us through the process of making art papers. A member of Conspire Phoenix and an elementary school art teacher, Lisa's a fun and clear instructor.

We learned how to use recycled office paper as the base for art papers, to which we added colored napkins for pigment and dried flowers, glitter, conductive thread, and many others as "inclusions," the things that jazz up the paper inside and out. With some simple supplies, this is a really easy, fun, and kid friendly project.

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

More:

How-To: Handmade Paper

Colorful Silhouettes Collage

I'm utterly charmed by these fun colorful silhouettes from Katie Sokoler of Color Me Katie. Las summer, she shared how to create silhouettes in more interesting poses than the classic profile view of the face. Her twist on doing everything with colored paper really makes me smile. Enjoy!

January 28, 2010

Keep Calm and Carry Yarn

Earlier this week, our friends over at BoingBoing pointed to this new variant of the Keep Calm and Carry On meme. It's a no-brainer for the newly organized crafty space of you knitters, crocheters, and other yarn lovers.

The BB post caused the item to quickly sell out, but there's a poster now available in navy. And luckily, JennieGee, who's selling her hand-pulled screen prints on Etsy, promises to have a bunch of new colors printed over the weekend. Enjoy!

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