Sunday, January 25, 2015

I made more stuff with paper...

Once again, feeling pretty indebted to Mixed Method and this LawnFawn video. As with the items in last week's post, it was fun and exciting to just get out there (to my desk) and experiment and practice. Here are 4 small journals I made this week:





When I first opened a box of tiny card stock I hadn't used in awhile, a photo booth strip fell out of the box. Not sure how photos of my bestie and I celebrating our 30th's got in there, but I used one of the photos for the cover of this journal. 



For this journal I cut out out a small piece from a mailer I received from the Walters Art Museum. The image is from a work featured in the show From Pen to Press: Experimentation and Innovation in the Age of Print. I can tell you first hand that this show is wonderful. 



Then, I did some geometric dabbling. 





I truly had a lot of fun making these. And wow, much easier now that the paper trimmer I ordered arrived! Not sure how I lived without that. 

Until next time,
LJE

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Trying New Things with Paper

For those of you who are regular readers, you will know that I've been doing various and sporadic experiments with paper cutting/paper crafting over the past year. I started last February, but have picked up the pace more in the last few months along with accumulating useful supplies. It's sort of overwhelming thinking about all of the supplies I'd like to acquire/could acquire.

However, in the spirit of just getting out there and trying, I decided to take a stab at some simple projects and share them with you here. So often, it's easy to be a victim of putting something off until you have all of the possible supplies, have the perfect instructional book, "have all of your ducks in a row," etc. I've spent way too much time in my life thinking I need to wait until something's perfect. Cheesy though it may be, I hope this post will inspire you to just try something new and fun.

My current wave of inspiration started when I read my favorite DIYer's Christmas gift tag blog post on Mixed Method. It directly inspired a few tricks I pulled out with gift tags for my gifts. Reading another Mixed Method post a few weeks ago led me to the Lawn Fawn YouTube channel. I ended up staying up way too late watching these videos and drooling over die cut machines, BUT, I also found this video on how to make a mini journal. I loosely followed the instructions presented in this video below.

Here I present three different projects, one being the journal mentioned above. For these projects I used:

-various colors and sizes of card stock
-regular (but sharp) scissors
-2 pairs of craft/scrap-booking scissors which create different patterns
-standard hole punch

-1 inch round punch
-gold ribbon
-pack of sticker ribbon
-Tombow tape runner
-glue
-toothpicks
-bone folder
-cutting mat
-twine
-thesis paper (I've had this forever, was a good occasion to use up some more!)

I made 2 matching double-sided bookmarks, an anniversary card for my parents, and a card sized journal. I apologize for the lighting on these photos! 


Bookmarks: 








Front of Anniversary Card:



I liked the ribbon not quite matching up, but that is definitely an aesthetic choice.

Journal (For this project, I printed out one of my favorite quotes and its source/attribution to decorate the cover and inside cover. My paper trimmer hasn't arrived yet, so I used craft scissors to cut the paper sheets so that they would fit properly inside the journal but would have a cool pattern instead of an uneven edge--I can't cut straight no matter what. The wave pattern sort of goes with the quote, so I was pretty happy with it, especially as a first attempt. In the future, I see myself making more complicated books with calendars, thematic series of quotes, and cut paper designs on the pages): 







If I've learned nothing else since I started delving into the world of paper crafting (which isn't true because I've learned a lot), it's that there is nothing craft/scrap-booking scissors aren't useful for. 

Until next time,
LJE


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Book of Lael Contest Results!!! AND I did eventually binge watch Sleepy Hollow, in case you were worried. Also, I took a lot of showers. I really like showers.

Howdy, Everyone!

Here I present a real not live comic for you, but first...

Thanks to everyone who participated in the  Book of Lael CONTEST! And the winner is....M(r)s M3/PhD! You have won any item from my etsy shop!

In order of appearance the cutouts were inspired by:

Book of Durrow, f. 21v

Walters W.554 (9th century Qur'ān manuscript), f. 27b and Walters W.554 (9th century Qur'ān manuscript), f. 65a

Book of Dimma, f. 30r. The Evangelist Mark

Echternach Gospels, f. 18v

Lindisfarne Gospels, f. 26v


On to the comic!

Some of you may remember this comic from April of 2013 in which I went completely insane during a mini-staycation. A year and half later and things have not changed very much...



Sunday, January 4, 2015

Medieval Inspired Cutouts/Book of Lael CONTEST: Week 5

And we've made it to the last week of  the medieval inspired pseudo-hiatus! 

And the last week to enter the Book of Lael CONTEST! For each piece, send me a private message with your guess as to what work/related works inspired it. Whoever guesses the most correctly will win his or her choice of any one item from my etsy shop! I'll announce all of the inspirations next week on January 11th.

Note: Partial credit for any guess that amuses me!

--LJE


Thursday, January 1, 2015

Holiday Bonus Post: Beading

Howdy, Readers! I said I might post some of the projects I've been working on this holiday season in lieu of regular comics, so here I present some jewelry I made as gifts.You may recall a similar post on On the Side after Five if you are a long time reader. I have purchased some much better tools since then, including a beading board. I adore it. Works much better than a coaster, let me tell you! You may also remember the necklaces I posted that I placed in my etsy shop in September...

Oh, snap! And then it turned out there's a post I never posted in 2012 all about the beaded holiday gifts I made then on On the Side after Five. Check that out--I really liked those! In fact, feel free to check out the other post from the 2012 holiday season I apparently never posted either! (Note: I don't even remember the last time I used my drawing tablet--I found it more and more infuriating over time). Whoops! I really enjoyed working on that blog with some really cool people, but in the end, we were all swamped with other projects.

Flash forward to the present day: I went to Bedazzled to buy beads and supplies in early December and was pleased to find out they now have a Rewards Program. The website says it costs $5 to get a card online, but it was free in-store. "You earn one point for every dollar spent, and when you get to 500 points...you will automatically have a $50 reward to redeem." I am not sure I will be spending $500 anytime soon, but if you are super into beading, this could be for you! The only downside is that you have to spend the rewards in $50 increments.

This year I made

1 book mark:



2 pairs of earrings:


and 2 necklaces:





See anything you like? I am hoping to have more similar items available in my etsy shop soon!

--LJE