Hand Bags Only You Can Make
The fashion themed Smash book is just perfect to show my love for bags. When I made these hand decorated papers became heavy fabrics and leather in my mind. It was so fun to draw stitched seams, add layers and choose decorations.
I have a lot of ugly papers in my hand decorated paper collection. I do not take my papers too seriously. Their common nominator is that they are made by myself and thus they fit together whether pretty or ugly.
If you prefer to make cards instead of art journal pages, you don’t have to miss the fun. Create bag themed cards like I did! This card is a birthday card for my sister. She loves everything red. I also added some stuff that could be found inside the bag: a lipstick, perfume bottle, small scarf and a necklace. We can always give dreams, even for people who have everything and do not want to own more.
I want my art journals to be like catalogs: full of items to pick and choose. I am like a dream shopper with a hand made credit card (how would that look like, or a row of them!). I could ask from the maker of the turquoise pouch: “Do you make these in green too?” And the maker would respond: “Of course, which tone would you like?” With a little help of image processing in Photoshop, the options are right there.
Think about it: there are millions of hand bags which you, and only you, can make!
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When Pens Replace Needles
I confess: I am constantly thinking about textiles. I often try to hide my love for fabrics, quilting, sewing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, yarn, and wool. It is like I married paper but have a secret relationship with textiles. If you look at the collage, can you see it?
Creating Textile Inspired Art
When attaching the pieces on paper, I feel that whatever glue or medium I use, the pieces still look like that they are floating. Then I pick a pen and add a stitch line here and another there. And soon I am lost in the details!
When people try to find their own style, they often deny what they know best. It is probably too mundane, something they take for granted. Often, it is easier for other people to see where our strengths are. Anything genuine touches people.
I want to thank Denise who pinned the last week’s horse themed collage art to her Pinterest board called “Clever Stitch Artists”. I got curious about what she saw in the collage. She had written in the description: “Embroidery inspiration”. I tried to hide my love for embroidery but she saw it! So this week I decided to create a project that is a celebration of felted fabrics and hand stitching.
The concept is very easy. Just add some shapes on the painted background paper and then: take your markers and stitch your heart out! Here pens really replace the needles!
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Things Learned From Quilting
My latest collage here is influenced by fabrics and quilting. After being linked from Amy’s Free Motion Quilting Adventures blog I got the idea to blog about my roots in quilting. And even more: what I have learned from quilting.
I used to be a quilter you know. Within years my quilting became more and more complex. I fell in love with hand embroidery and it felt like the needle was my pen. Quite soon after I made this, “The Time of Miracles”, I knew I could not just go on. It took too much time to complete one, even small quilt.
I discovered paper crafting hoping it would be faster. And it was! That time I also combined paper with fabric.
But after taking the first steps in paper crafts I realized that I had learned a lot from quilting.
1. Using ugly colors
Choosing only pretty colors makes them all ugly. Every quilter buys neutrals, blacks, whites, solids and other duller fabrics to make pretty even prettier.
2. Selecting colors that differ in intensity
Hues that have the same intensity look flat and unappealing together. Like in nature and in photos, the hues vary and I think it looks beautiful.
3. Mixing patterns
By bringing new and new fabrics to the quilt it gets more and more appealing once the colour choices work. I love mixing a variety of patterns together!
4. Layering
Applique is the technique where the fabric motifs are sewn on the background. Layering creates depth and makes the end result interesting. I try to maintain clear color contrasts between layers.
5. Attachment
In quilting all the pieces are first attached by sewing. They form a connection within each other even before the final step: the actual quilting. In collages I always try to group elements and give them some kind of border. Pieces that float look like they do not belong anywhere.
I still make quilts now and then. I do not make traditional blocks or plan my quilts. I like sewing intuitively like I would be drawing something unexpected.
Skills can be mixed and styles can evolve from the experience of making a wide range of things. Whatever you create, hopefully this encourages you to combine your skills for the next project!
More design advice applied to crafting: Folk Bag Workbook
Happy New Year 2014
With this overly doodled number, I wish you happy new year!
Doodling Idea
I made this image by making a roughly doodled collage that I scanned to the computer. Then I adjusted the colors and printed the photo. I made the size bigger than in the original.
Then I began doodling again. After doodling I adjusted some areas by coloring them with color pencils. I also added some collage pieces.
Finally, I scanned the collage again and adjusted colors in some areas.
This way I was able to add detail after another. I could have continued these steps over and over! Crazy – I know!
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