The Atelier

"Muse" by Philippa Barr

A day in the life of a paper artist? Well mine is filled with lists! I cannot function without my lists. I have a daily diary to keep track of appointments, deadlines, due bills, swimming lessons, due bills - well you get the picture. I also have a list by my bed so as I am drifting off to sleep, if I remember something that needs urgent attention, I can write it down and remember it. For my craft side, I also have lists, but these are printed out and just left on my desk. These lists are design team, publishing  and swap deadlines. So for my project this month, I decided to make a nice arty little folder to house my craft lists and deadlines.

I started out with a small binder kit and followed the kit instructions to put it all together, except for the binder rings. I put the folder aside while doing the decorating.

First I cut two pieces of calico, each large enough for the front and back covers and to be able to wrap around the inside. I made a 'dish' out of foil and put a small amount of water in the 'dish' and then floated some alcohol inks on top of the water. Working quickly so they didn't mix and become muddy, I laid the calico over the water to pick up the dyes, then hung them outside to dry. I used a foil 'dish' so as not to stain anything I had. I used this technique to get a more muted effect of the dyes. Using them direct on the calico would have created a deeper, more intensive colour.

Once they were dry, I cut a smaller piece of felt to back the front calico piece with. I positioned a few bits of ribbon and other fabrics and just let the sewing machine go randomly all over the piece. The felt backing gave a bit of a quilting effect.

The bird was cut out and also backed with felt before sewing onto the cover. I then used a fine black pen to emphasize the bird and his wing. All buttons were handsewn on.

The Buzz & Bloom chipboard pieces were coloured with chalk ink and the Long Corner Flourish 'nest' was wrapped with purple nylon cord before gluing to the cover.

Both the front and back covers were then glued to the chipboard binder and I used patterned paper to cover the insides. I wrapped the spine with book binding tape to cover the join and finished off by adding the binder mechanics inside.

"WooHoo" by Philippa Barr

A very special friend of ours is having his 40th birthday celebrations tomorrow night and I wanted to do something unique for him. He is a single male, who still likes to party and I couldn't think of anything to buy him and I knew I couldn't scrap something for him, I didn't have time to ring his mum to get some photos. Besides, last time I called her to get his phone number, he played a joke on his mum and told her never to do that again as I was a stalker, rofl!! Okay, all jokes aside, I finally had a brainwave last night. I've always loved this quote and I think it suits Dru.

Step 1 - Print the quote and then photocopy it. You must use a photocopy or the ink will bleed when you ink and seal. I did a couple of copies just in case I made a mistake.

Step 2 - Gather all of your materials, grab lots of embellishments, you may not use them all but it's great to have them in front of you.

Step 3 - Tear the patterned paper into horizontal strips and sponge with brown ink. Coat the canvas with gel medium and lay each strip onto the canvas, overlapping as you go, and coating with more gel medium. Now it gets messy with your hands! Cover the sides and back with gel medium and use your fingers to fold the paper around the sides and back, coating the top with gel medium also. Sit on top of a jar to dry.

Step 4 - Coat the Buzz & Bloom Tubby Alphabet letters with Versamark and then emboss. I have used both sizes of the letters and I have embossed with a sepia embossing powder. To get 4 of the o's, I cut down a 'g', an 'a', and a 'd'.

Step 5 - To create a real masculine feel to the canvas, I have used lots of bits and pieces of hardware that I had in my stash. I've used clips, big, bold eyelets, photo hinges and turns, photos corners. Place them on the letters and either glue on or in the case of the eyelets, set them with a hammer. I used a drill to make the hole in the chipboard before setting the eyelets.

Step 6 - Tear the photocopied quote into strips and ink. I have used two different coloured inks.

Step 7 - Position all elements onto the canvas and begin sticking! I have stuck the quote on with more gel medium, again coating over the top for a finished seal. The letters and extra photo hinge have been stuck down with dimensional magic. The "what a ride" has been stuck on to some extra chipboard for added strength and pop dotted for more dimension.

Allow to dry and enjoy!