Tutorial: Distressed Metallic Paper

I stumbled upon this technique while using up leftover paint, but it's so cool (and easy!) I thought I'd share it here.

I started by painting dioxazine purple fluid acrylic onto a piece of white cardstock. Oh,and from here on, assume all fluid acrylics are mixed about 50/50 with acrylic glazing liquid.



After it was dry, I sprayed it with several colors of Ranger Adirondack Colorwash until it was pretty wet. It ends up pretty dark, and it's hard to get a good photo of it.



Here are the colors I used, but you could probably use whatever you have, as they mix together to form varying shades of brown.



Then I clipped the papers to let them drip and dry:





Once this layer was dry, I sponged on fluid acrylic in irridescent gold:



After that, while the gold was still a bit wet, I added Quinacridone Crimson to the gold and sponged that on, giving it a coppery look:



Here are the exact paints I used:



And here is the result. The first two photos are taken in my studio, and the last is a scan of one of the pages, which really doesn't show the metallic quality of the paper. I apologize for the quality of these photos!

SIX New Recycled Sweater Book Bags

I've been a busy beaver the past week and managed to turn out six new book bags for the boutique. For more information on the Ojai Handcrafts Boutique, click here.

The first bag uses a blue patterned sweater with a pair of off-white pants for the lining and pockets.







The next bag is made from a blue and purple patterned sweater and a pair of army green pants:





This one would be appropriate for a guy, with it's dark, patterned sweater and army green pants pockets and hardware-ish trim:





This one is made from an awesome bright orange and chocolate brown ski sweater and pockets from another pair of army green pants. The photo of the inside lining and pockets was too blurry to show here.



This one is one of my favorites. The front of the sweater had such a pretty pattern and great colors, but it wasn't enough for the bag flap, unless I just buttoned it up and used the placket too! And the women's pants I used for the lining and pockets had some wonderful embroidery down the leg that made an interesting lining.





The last one is made from a gorgeous red and gray and off-white sweater and a red women's skort that had drawstrings below the pockets.





So that's it for the book bags for now. I'm going to start on baby sweaters next.

Two More Recycled Sweater Bags

I finished two more bags in the past couple of days, but only one is going into the boutique stash, as my daughter snagged the other one.

Here's Lianne's bag. I sewed the seams on the outside of this one, and used a man's shirt (with pockets) for the lining.









The other bag is made from the same pattern, which I created for my niece last Christmas, but I girlied it up with beaded trim and a macramé belt for the strap.









This one is a favorite!

MORE Recycled Sweater Bags

Just completed two more sweater bags for our boutique on November 10.

The first was one of those ideas you regret about halfway through. I had an image of a bag that resembled a crazy quilt, with random patches of felted sweater fabric and strips of antique lace in between. Let's just say I used up TWO LARGE spools of off-white thread making this one happen! The strap is a really cool black satin belt with a rhinestone buckle, but since my photo background is black, of course you can't see it. And the colors are really washed out in the photos. I have GOT to take a photography class!











The other bag was really fun and quick. I had found a funky hand-knit sweater at the thrift store, and it almost made itself into a bag. The cuff around the top of the bag is actually the waistband of of the sweater. The wonderful abstract designs were part of the original sweater design. The pocket I made on the back is from the sleeve cuff. The strap is a red leather embroidered belt, and the leather strips were already hanging off the ends, so I just added some big funky beads. All together, I'd say this one took about 3-4 hours. But why does the red look so orange in the photos???











I have enough sweaters to keep making these daily for the rest of the year, I think!

Recycled Sweater Bags for the Boutique

I've been a sewing fool for the past week and managed to complete FOUR recycled sweater bags to sell at our holiday boutique.

The first two are for young girls and are nearly identical:














The next is a tote that would work well for a knitting or crochet bag. I used a wonderful embroidered skirt from the thrift store for the lining.







The last is a book bag for a guy, or a non-girly girl. These photos are kind of dark, but you get the idea.









Mark's colleague who's been sending me sweaters from the Northwest suggested reusing the tags from the sweaters, so Mark chose the Bullock's tag for this bag. I wanted to use one that a guy would think was cool.

I'm almost done with a fifth bag, too! Now I just need to decide how to price these babies. I want them to sell, but I want to feel like I'm getting what they're worth as handmade items. Feedback would be appreciated!