…compilation of tutorials
I presented already the tote which is crocheted from plastic bags which were cut in stripes and the makeup bag made from fused plastic bags, this is yet another bag that uses nevertheless both techniques.
I find it great but won’t make it because here all plastic bags look the same and frankly, I find that it would look boring, then.
Links:
Woven Plastic Bag (Tone twister bag)
Here at unikatissima:
Plastic Bag Tote
Fabric from Plastic Bags
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’
Isn’t it great?
Up until now I thought that you have to use really beautiful, extraordinary buttons for button crafts, but if you make the button coaster common buttons are enough and it looks wonderful even so!
My list grows longer ;-)
Links:
How to Make a Woven Button Coaster
via: Tutorial: Woven Button Coasters
Here at unikatissima: Entries with the tag ‘button’
Recently I read the article ‘Can you recognize talent?’ and was kind of shocked to put it mildly: I often walk looking at the ground and being totally absorbed by what I’m thinking at the moment.
And I never realized what I may miss this way!
Yet it is so important to me as a creative to be always open-minded to get many new, wonderful, interesting (and sometimes impracticable ;-)) ideas.
Therefore I decided to look closer in the future, to listen better and if necessary even smell closer (I thought of flowers! ;-))
By the way you can see on the photo a – as I think – very inventive way to park your bicycle at a street festival: s/he simply let it dangle by its treadle from the roof of a bus stop ;-)
Links:
Can you recognize talent?
A great box, isn’t it?
I really want to fold it – but I must get some new printer toner before I can ;-(
Links:
Folded Tiki Box (Tiki Box)
I was thinking about how to make beautiful curvatures from knitted cables when I found the instruction shortly afterwards :)
On the photos you can see my try – so it works ;-))
I’m curious about what kind of Celtic Knots I will be able to make now ;-))
Links:
Cabled ‘O’ (A new technique for starting closed cables)
Here at unikatissima: Designing a Celtic Knot
Recently I found the instruction on how to make those ruffles – I always wanted to know how to make them.
Unfortunately I can’t work them because my poor old sewing machine don’t know how to zigzag, but at least I know now how it works ;-))
A nice reader send me the link to the cardborad stampede.
She told me that she has made a horse already following the tutorial and that you can even let gallop the horse over your desk when you use a photo holder in place of let them go up the wall.
Many thanks again, I find the horses really great!
Links:
cardboard stampede w/ ann wood
Here at unikatissima: Plaster Photo Holder
A friend showed me the Puzzlemaker and now I’m using its online generators from time to time to relax(!).
But it’s also fun to make birthday cards from them for friends who like puzzling ;-)
Links:
Puzzlemaker – search for ‘Puzzlemaker online’