#436

As an example of art imitating life, here is a picture of my ribbon box from a few days ago. I love ribbon, but it’s always hard to find the right one when your organisation system is simulating the nearest landfill. I saw an idea online for a storage solution, which I adapted to my own situation, and have been sorting out my ribbon collection. Unfortunately, my past attempts at sorting this pile included pins. This lead to a few puncture wounds from diving into the box, in search for that one ribbon at the bottom, that would be perfect for a project. Enter:the cardboard.

Now, I’ve tried cardboard before, in the form of embroidery thread holders, and disliked the results, as it made fold lines in the ribbon. I have now decided this would be preferable to a stabby, messy pile of unraveling threads. Making it both easier to see, and safer. As you can see in the image, I used a hexagon punch to cut half shapes out of the sides of a piece of card stock. I doubled over the card for added stability, and wound the ribbons, securing each with a paperclip. I originally tried miniature pegs, as they were cute and the right size, but they kept falling off as I wound the following ribbon, and I gave up on it. Paper clips are also cheaper and easier to get at the local shop when I figure out I have much more ribbon than I thought.

The process is taking some time, but is working out nicely so far. I still have a whole bag of elastic, lace and ribbons still on their spools, too long to fit on the cards, or are unopened, to sort and find a storage solution. I have a bag of ribbons too short to bother putting on the cards. These will be good for making tiny bows, or if I want to buy more of something as a swatch.

Looking at my ribbon collection has made me see all the pretty ribbons that I have… But also makes me feel like buying more

It takes all SORTS…

#435

Earlier this week, it was clarified that I’m not, not allowed to use flames in my crafting, according to my partner (contradicting his earlier comments, but I have his bad memory to thank.) As long as there was no large open flames… Unless I’m cooking…

This led to today finally getting up the courage to use the stove lighter to seal the ends of ribbons, making it easier to create without battling raw edges. I am an adult, and wouldn’t recommend this without age or adults to back you up. I also think a lighter that doesn’t stay on is a bit safer than a candle, which I would only use next to a sink of water.

Disclaimers over, this sealing was so much easier to sew ribbon. Without having to add bulk to counteract the fraying and having clean ends was so much better looking. Previously, I had to seal ends with glue, then wait overnight for them to dry. I still need some practice, as the more delicate satin blackened with the flame. I was able to curl and manipulate some organza ribbon to create petals by burning the edges. This happens with sheer fabrics and tulle as well.

All in all, I got through the crafting session with no burns and house intact, so a good day for me. I have a whole folder on my computer of flowers and bows to try, so I’ll likely make some more in the future. Might need a new lighter, though.

Flame on.

#434

Photo skills: -50 points for this poor display.

Anyways, I was getting a bit worried about not posting anything, and figured a bad photo was probably better than nothing. If I waited until morning for good lighting, or have to set up a mini photoshoot, I’d likely forget to post all together (from past experience.)

I’ve been continuing with my paper flower trend, and although I wasn’t hit strongly with a muse this time, I pushed myself to develop a couple of pieces. Creativity is a great thing, and it’s said the more you use it, the more you will have. This said, I try to push through the uninspired times. I may not end up with the best outcome, but it will not be time wasted, as it often leads into a project or path that is more fruitful. Sitting back, waiting for creative energy does not usually pay off, especially in my case.

I didn’t have much to post here in the last few days, as I have been slowly going through the process of filming and editing a video. I finally managed to get up early enough for optimal lighting, and tied my camera to the table with the perfect overhead view. I even managed to record a thing. I just need to find some music, an intro, and put some subtitles so you can understand what I’m drawing, without me talking. I’m not the best at editing, but I can make my way around windows movie maker well enough. I should probably learn how to use Adobe Premiere and After Effects one day, since I have them.

So very many things to do.

#433

I doubt it’s just me, but whenever I turn a camera on my work, I have a complete blank on what to draw. Alternatively, I also forget to turn the camera on when I have a good idea for drawing. Because of this, making videos about art has been put off constantly. Lately, I’ve been working on my set up, buying lamps and webcams, trying to get a good layout that I’m happy with, to start posting videos. I’m going to start with speed drawings and hopefully go from there into instructional videos or whatnot later. I’m still having issues with lighting and things so I need to fix them, so you don’t get headaches watching.

Above was the picture I drew attempting to film with a new setup. There was absolutely no planning, and was too small for the camera to see the details. It took about an hour of lazy drawing.

#432

Purdy flowers!

Last night, I spend a good while playing with tissue paper flowers and making tubes of paper from catalogues. The small flowers were punched out of cream coloured tissue paper, then watercoloured lightly. While they dried, the began to crinkle and curl, which was the desired effect I was after. This gives a nice texture, which gives a more dimensional flower in the end. Ruffling up the petals after putting the flower together also helps, as you can see all the different layers. For these, I used a simple method of stacking four to six tissue paper flowers, then putting a small brad through all layers. You can see one finished in yellow in the picture. When punching out tissue paper, it may be tricky unless you stack the tissue up the thicken the pile. Maybe using card or paper would work, if you don’t need a lot of tissue paper shapes.

As for the large flower, I saw the instructions for this a long time ago. Here is a link for the instructions. You basically staple a cross in the middle of a stack of tissue paper circles, and cut short lines about every 5mm around the edge, before fluffing up each circle into a dome shape. There’s another version without the cuts, but it doesn’t look as full.

If you’ve been following along, last post, I said I’d gotten some dies with magazines. Here are the results of cutting them all out. All of them work nicely, though the lace edge die needed some extra passes through the big shot machine. I’m looking forward to using them on some upcoming cards.

#431

Hey my beauties. I have returned. I never actually left, I just forgot to post. But I’m going to get back into the routine, and update you on the pretties.

Above you’ll see I’ve tried to make a few flowers and bows with ribbon. Tried being the operative word here. They aren’t too bad at a glance, but they are fairly wonky with petals longer than others, and raw edges. I’m not trusted with fire unless I’m cooking, so it’s tricky to work with ribbon without sealing the edges with a lighter. I’m hoping I can get a bunch of ideas together, so I can sit over a sink and seal a bunch of ribbon edges at the same time.

This week’s pay has been long awaited, as I was well enough to go shopping. It took every ounce of my energy, after no going out for a long while, but I did it. I ended up buying three craft magazines, all with free die gifts on them. I received a nice laced edge die, a swirly reindeer, with small bow and snowflake, and the final die set included two scalloped circles, a plain circle, a flagged banner shape, three tiny hearts and three tiny stars. The magazines had some good ideas, too, and I’ll likely go through and take notes and sketches at some time. Something I should do with all the magazines I tend to throw in a pile while I use the gifts.

I managed to grab some more hot glue sticks before rushing home to bed, so when I recover, I can play around with more ideas using ribbon, paper and plastic cups.

I’ll remember to keep you updated this time 😉