Arnold Grummer's Papermaking - Just a Little Bit of Luck

Hearts shapes are so last month, with March just a few days away it time to think of "Shamrocks" and GREEN.

From the last post I wrote, I mentioned how I was playing around with paper pulp.  After making several sheets of handmade paper to be used in cards for embellishments, I decided to use paper pulp to form thicker shapes and thicker pieces of paper to be used for other projects.

The idea of making thick shapes and paper sheets was to show how hamdmade paper pieces like these can be used several other ways.  The texture of handmade paper and shapes adds to any element you can make.

After forming a thick shamrock shape, with a cookie cutter as a deckle, it became a perfect base for a necklace.  It was colored using thinned acryrlic paints of various green hues.  It was applied by tapping the colors onto the surface using a brush or sponge applicator.  NOTE: Do not use too much water in this process. Allow the piece to dry between applications as not to saturate the paper too much.  When the coloring is to your liking, allow the piece to dry very well and it will become very firm once again.

Punch a small hole near the top where desired and add a eyelet. Add a large jump ring for the necklace. I used two different size and colors of crystals to apply to the shape.  Using a thin beading wire, transfer each set of crystals onto length of wire.  Begin wrapping the crystals around the shape, keeping the crystals only on the front of the surface.  NOTE: I began with the smaller sized crystals on the bottom and overlapping the larger ones on top.  I left a small length of wire on the back side from each strand of beading wire to twist and connect the two to hold them in place.

At the bottom of the shamrock a small hole was made with a piercing tool and a wishbone charm on a jump ring was added.

Three different strands cord or ribbon became the necklace.  Cut the same length from a jute cording, and two different ribbons.  Find the middle and lace through the large jump ring.  Each side was braided and then knotted to from the necklace.

After finishing the necklace I thought why not add something else.  So a pair of earrings were created, again with only papers.  To make the base discs and the small shamrocks, I used scraps of other handmade papers that were left from the previous projects.  Punch two round circles for each earring from the paper, punch three flower shapes for each earring from the paper.  NOTE: It may be helpful to place the paper to be punched between two pieces of waxed paper.  This aids in the process of punching the handmade papers.   I trimmed one of the flower petals with small scissors to form the stem of the shamrock.  The flower shapes are glued together to give them a little more stability.  NOTE: As each is glued, I trimmed it to make the stem.  The finished shamrocks are colored using the same process as above. 

 I created two discs for the background using handmade paper scraps also.  I made them to look similar to the metal discs that could have been used.  This was done to show how paper can replicate other mediums.  Again, I glued two layers of the punched circles together for each earring.  Two more circles were punched from a gold cardstock I had on hand for the backside.  NOTE:  Three layers of the paper circles would work fine too.  This was just a preference.   These circles are glued to  the others with the gold facing out.  The front surface was colored with a bronze paint and when dry, I inked over the discs with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.  The results looked very similar to the copper metal discs.  Pierce a hole into the top of each disc for a jump ring and attach.  Add a smaller ring to the earring wire, then attach to the the earring disc.  I coated the discs with Ranger  Glossy Enamel to give them a resin look.

These ideas that I have shared so far are created to show the various ways handmade paper can be used.  It is a fun process to create your own papers or castings.  Paper can be used for many things besides writing on!

This is the COUPON CODE: STPAT20 for the month of February.  Save some "green", 20%, on an order at the Arnold Grummer website.

Blog Hop for Slider Bracelets by Cousin Corporation

Just this past week while walking through a Macy's store near my home, I passed the jewelry department and spotted a large display of a variety of slider bracelets.  This opportunity to create my own slider bracelets with the new line from Cousin Corporation, was one I was happy to try.

The new line will be available at Jo-Ann stores.  Check out this how-to video on You Tube to see the ease of making your own.

In the supply package that I was sent, were a basic black and white leather bracelet band, along with two different sets of coordinating gold charm, spacers and hook clasps.  The bracelets would have been fine just put together with the pieces supplied, but I had to find ways to change each of them up just a little bit. It is always fun to is how materials can be manipulated to a different result.  With experimenting with other products and tools you can create truly unique and personal items.

For the black bracelet I decided to try to change the surface of the band in some way.  I went to tools on hand and used a metal "peace sign" stamp from Impress Art, to hammer a design onto the band.  I brushed some gold paint over the designs and wiped it off slightly.  Repeated the process to get the paint into the recessed areas of the design.  The slide charm and spacers were put onto the band as desired and then finish by gluing the clasp ends in place. The results were not bad but I would try some other techniques for better impressions.

For the white band and the flower charm another experiment was tried.  I used a Bic fine point permanent marker, in blue to add some color to the flower.  The flower was then brushed with a bit of Ranger Perfect Pearl Forever Blue powder.  A wavy line was lightly drawn across the length of the band with a pencil. Again, using a Bic fine point permanent marker, in green, go over the pencil line.  Tiny green leaves are drawn along the wavy line.  A hole was made to fit a jump ring for an extra added charm. The flower charm and spacers were than slid onto the band as desired and finish by gluing the clasp ends in place.  Again, the results for this were fine.  The charms and spacers are a great finish and metallic color, but I wanted to see how a different color could be added to change up the look.  The markers used worked well, better than another brand that I tried on the back side of the flower and the band.  Again here I would like to experiment a bit more with other mediums to alter the surface of both the metal pieces and the bands just for fun.

Enjoyed making the bracelets!  Easy to trim the bands for sizing.  I like the designs available in the charms and spacers and metal finishes. I would have enjoyed making one with my initials as an embellishment.  Definitely easy and fun to make for anyone!

There were other Cousin jewelry basics and "trinkettes" included in my package.  I decided to create other pieces with those included items.  Here are the three pieces:

Once all the materials were assembled, the above three projects were made in an evening.
NOTE: Some other Cousin products were purchased to be added to these and other materials on hand were also used.

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Designer Craft Connection Monday - April Flowers

Flower blooms on the trees, flower blooms from the ground ... flowers appearing here and there and everywhere.

I'll be sharing a little "flowery" wearable that I created for myself to wear on Easter.  Of course when I think about an idea, I usually turn first to my Sizzix dies.  Second to all the scraps of fabrics and papers and other supplies I have around my workroom before heading out to a store. For the flowers I used Eileen Hull's Bow, Create-a-Flower die, along with her Leaves die.  Two very handy dies to own and use!

Fabrics used in this project are scraps on hand that were stiffened with Beacon Adhesives Stiffen Stuff™ or fused with Warm Company Steam a Seam sheets.  Both methods give the fabrics extra body. I used the  medium and small patterns for the flowers. Colored the edges of the petals with a touch of Distress Ink in a co-ordinating color.  To form the flowers I stitched them together, instead of using a paper brad.  Finished each flower off with a button.  Leaves were scraps of the papers I used for the flower garland banner from my earlier post.  The paper was crinkled before die-cutting and then inked with Ranger Tim Holtz Pine Needle Distress Ink.  To layer the finished flowers, I die-cut a heart shapes from green felt and canvas scraps,  using Heart #1 from the original red Sizzix die.  Glued the two pieces together, punched holes and re-enforced them with eyelets. Found enough beads to co-ordinate and threaded them on jewelry thread.  Finished the necklace with a green silk ribbon. The finished flowers and leaves are finally glued onto the heart background.  Finished project a simple flowery, Spring necklace.

So take some time to "Hop" through the blogs once again for creative ideas.  Follow the blue Designer Craft Connection button at the top right.