…compilation of tutorials
I’ve seen some shaped books, at an exhibition e.g. in our public library and I always liked them.
Therefore I’ve been pleased to find a tutorial for shaped books – great! :))
By the way, there are folded books, too which seem to be interesting, too ;-)
Links:
Shape Book Tute
folded books 2
I saw somewhere (unfortunately I don’t remember where) such a box, but it was flat while I wanted the actual box (not the flaps) to be of about 2 cm height.
So I made me a template myself ;-))
And that’s what you do:
(Click to enlarge)
That is the template.
Instruction for first box: Pasted paper
First print the template and cut it.
I wanted to have a Chinese box so I pasted the outside up with some Chinese newspapers that I stained with tea before (see links below).
Of course you can paste the paper up with gift wrapping, snippets from ads and so on, too.
I suggest to paste a second layer on the paper in any case to get it sturdier or to use thin cardboard.
When having pasted up all four flaps you can pre-fold the box. This way it will be easier to glue the tags.
Here is the glue setting.
You can see that I didn’t paste up the inside.
And that is the box in its full beauty ;-)
I suggest to let the glue set well because there will be some strain when you close the box and the tags can get unfixed.
Instruction for second box: Thin cardboard
After the first box I felt like making a box from thin cardboard.
The cardboard is from the wrapping of a pair of trousers I bought and I liked the colours of the printed picture.
So I put my printed and cut template on the cardboard, copied it and cut the cardboard along the lines.
I pre-folded the folding lines to get better folds.
Then I simply folded the box without glueing the tags.
The red arrow shows that there originates a gap.
Depending on what you want you can leave the box at that, the tags make sure that in spite of the gaps nothing will drop ;-)
Here I glue the tags to see what happens.
The box always got apart until I fastened it with an elastic.
The glue could set this way better.
And that is my second little box.
You can see at the edges that it is a properly closed box now ;-)
Links:
Here on this site:
Instruction for first box: Pasted paper
Instruction for second box: Thin cardboard
Template to print
Stain paper with tea
Tea Staining Your Art Journal Pages
Tea Stain Paper
After I’ve made my paper beads roller that I presented yesterday I played around with paper beads a little more.
I prefer the tube beads anyway (marginally ;-)) and after having seen the paper bead designer I thought: ‘Yes, a little bit of colour is enough, you can’t see the rest anyway.’
So I quickly made me some doodle paper beads ;-)
And that’s what you do:
First I took two sheets of plain printer paper and simply doodled at one side with a blue ballpoint pen.
Then I cut the sheets in strips of the same width…
… and rolled my paper strips with my nifty paper bead roller in a wonderful short time.
Of course the hole of the bead is split into two holes, too, because my bead roller consists of two halves.
I ‘stirred’ the hole again with a toothpick so that only one big hole remained.
Somehow I didn’t want to use the glue excess as varnish for the beads, so I used a simple glue stick and covered the beads afterwards with medium gel. Here you can see them drying.
My potted palm got special leave on my balcony for it ;-)
Although I find my doodled paper beads beautiful I thought that I would look boring if I string only them, therefore I made some additional easy Peyote beads.
Looks good, doesn’t it? ;-)
I wasn’t sure yet what I would do with my beads on this photo.
It became a bracelet in the end. I simply strung the beads on an elastic and hid the knot in a bead.
And here an ‘action shot’ ;-)
It’s not so easy to take a good photo of your own arm ;-))
After I had finished with my doodled paper beads I thought, that this was a great way to make a lot of matching paper beads from advertising flyers.
So I picked an ad with a photo of bed sheets where I liked the clour scheme.
Then I measured the circumference of my doodled paper beads with a string and cut strips from the ad a little broader than necessary.
I glued the strips from the ad at one side of a plain printer paper sheet and cut the resulting papers in (in this case) 1 cm broad strips, because I wanted to have little beads.
I glued some patches from the rest of my ad on details that I didn’t like, they won’t to be seen on the bead.
Here my beads are drying on a wire because I cut about 80 paper strips and I don’t have enough toothpicks or plants for the drying process ;-)
This time I used a water-based craft glue that glues fast but dries slowly.
This is great because I could varnish my beads easily with the excess of the glue which made them shine and when my fingers eventually got sticky I could wash the glue easily away with water.
I have not yet finished, but I find my paper beads beautiful, a little bit like made from Jade.
We will see what they will become :)
Links:
Paper Bead Designer
Here at unikatissima:
Paper Beads Roller
Entries containing the words ‘paper’ and ‘bead’
In a sense I always found paper beads great, but in another sense it always makes (made! ;-)) such a mess, so that I didn’t often made some.
Then I found the paper bead purses (ooooh…). (The link doesn’t work no more, look instead for the Google image search result for ‘paper bead purse’.)
And on the website of the paper bead purse designer I found a video showing how to use a paper beads roller that you can buy at her website (this link doesn’t work neither, but there’s still the video).
Great idea!
She also describes very good how to apply the glue and how to use the glue excess as varnish for the bead.
A little more research found me an instruction on how to build a self-made paper beads roller.
Another great idea! ;-))
I wasn’t sure whether I want to make sooo many paper beads and additionally I thought that I don’t need no crank, so I simply put everything together and the result is my spontaneously made paper beads roller ;-)
And that’s what you do:
Cut your paper strips for the beads (I used a page from a travel brochure) and take two big needles, two toothpicks (they have to be smooth!) or – as I did – two little metal skewers.
Join both needles (toothpicks, skewers…).
It would be enough to wrap some tape around, but I didn’t want to become my skewers sticky after taking away the tape, therefore I wrapped a broad strip of paper around and taped that.
Slip the end of a paper strip between both skewers (if you use triangular ones, slip in the broad end) and begin to wrap on the bead.
On the photo you can see the paper strip that holds together my skewers.
That’s how it looks shortly before you’re finished with wrapping.
You can’t see no glue on this photo because I can’t wrap with one hand and take photos with the other – at least not without dripping glue everywhere ;-)
When your bead is done you can easily remove it.
I was amazed at how fast and easy everything worked and I had much less mess than before ;-)
The hole of the bead is split into two holes because my bead roller consists of two halves.
I then simply ‘stirred’ the hole with a toothpick so that only one big hole remained ;-)
(By the way, the instruction for this bead is scheduled for tomorrow ;-))
Have fun wrapping paper beads! :))
and if you want to try some other bead shapes check out the Paper University.
Links:
Paper Bead Purses
The link doesn’t work no more, look instead for the Google image search result for ‘paper bead purse’.
Paper Beads Roller Video
Paper Beads Roller Video
Self-made Bead Roller (How to use a bead roller) => scroll down to ‘Hand Made Bead Roller’
Different Paper Bead Shapes (Recycled Paper Beads)
Google search result for ‘paper bead howto’
Google image search result for ‘paper bead howto’
Google search result for ‘Papierperle Anleitung’
Google image search result for ‘Papierperle Anleitung’
Here at unikatissima: Entries containing the words ‘paper’ and ‘bead’
I found an instruction for a cute notebook that is simply made with folded paper as pages and playing cards as cover.
That could be a nice quick small present.
I find the ‘Scrapheap Background’ very interesting and put it on my just-do-it-once-list.
It made me think a little about the plaster relief …
Links:
The Friday Tut >>> *Scrapheap Challenge*
Here at unikatissima: Plaster Relief
I’m collecting nearly everything (and that’s how it looks here, too ;-)) and from now on I will collect used tea bags, too, to make beautiful envelopes from.
I’m really curious about it. ;-))
On the photo you see my Rooibosh tea bags. I find that the Rooibosh tea gives the most beautiful colour, a very warm red-brown :)
By the way it must look great, too, if the tea bags are sewn together and/or if they are embellished after assembly, e.g. by embroidering, painting or stamping them.
Links:
Recycling Tea Bags into Art Projects: How to Create Tea Bag Envelopes
“Tea Ceremony” – sewn tea bags
(via Wewer Keohane)
Sas Colby Teabag Art Discourse – stamped tea bags
T-Bag – Tea Bag Designs – painted tea bags
Here at unikatissima: Paper Crazy Quilt – embroidered paper
I just wanted to show once more how beautiful embroidery on paper and cardboard can be ;-)
Here I cut a beautiful blue patterned square from a magazine and glued on white cardboard.
Then I drew very faint curved lines with a pencil, pricked holes along the lines and stitched them with a chain stitch.
Looks fine, doesn’t it?
I find though that the chain stitch looks much better on straight lines or wide curves than on sharp turns (it ‘inclines’ somewhat), that’s something one could pay attention to when drawing the lines.
Links:
Instruction for chain stitch
Here at unikatissima: Embroidered Matisse Cushion
I found an instruction for a nice paper flower and thought that this should work with self-coloured paper, too.
It did ;-)
First I painted on a sheet of toilet paper with some markers.
I dropped water on my ‘painting’, but it was a little too much water and everything swam.
In order not to get everything dirty I have put it luckily on an old little plastic bag.
Therefore I put another sheet of toilet paper onto the first, the water and the dye dispersed on both.
I blow-dried everything to dry it faster ;-)
I cut my papers by guess and by gosh, that is to say without a pre-sketched spiral and my scissors were quite blunt.
That may be the reason why my little ‘roses’ look so beautiful ;-)
Links:
Paper Flower – the tutorial works backwards, you must always click the previous picture to get the next step
I’ve seen several paper maché objects, but jars looking like stumps are still something special to me.
Something especially cute ;-))
I’m not totally sure that I should make them myself ;-), but I liked them so much that I wanted to present them here.
Furthermore I didn’t know this paper maché preparation, I really like to give a try some day.
Links:
Papier-mâché Faux Bois
via One Pretty Thing
