Tyvek Beads

This was one of those projects I just didn't "get" when I first heard about it (sometimes it takes me a while!). Why would you want to make beads out of plastic envelopes?? Well, I found a wonderful tutorial online here, and it convinced me to give it a try.

These beads are extremely easy and fun to make! And they're very lightweight, making them perfect for adding to bookmarks, handmade books, and jewelry.

I had a heckuva time getting photos of these, as they are quite glossy and reflect the light, both natural and flash. Hopefully these photos (the results of my third attempt) will give you enough of an idea that you'll want to give it a try. Be cautious, though, it is addicting!

Here are some wrapped in gold thread:



These are wrapped in various colors of wire:



The next two sets are rolled in various colors of embossing powders, then heated again:





And here are some close-ups:











Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions about how these are made!

Jazzed Up Bag

My wise friends said, "If you feel like jazzing it up, jazz it up!" So that's what I did. Here's my felted bag with buttons and tassels added. I like it much better.

Pastel "May Flowers" Postcards

Just sent off my May postcards for my colors monthly postcard exchange. The colors this month were "pastels," and I had a really hard time with using softer, less saturated colors! I think the colors I ended up with are just on the edge of what would be defined as "pastel."





Each card used a different French postcard back, from a really cool batch I got on eBay, and for the first time I added a few sequins and beads, with a LOT of glue, and they seem to have made it through the mail just fine.

My First Knitted and Felted Bag

I just finished my fist knitted and felted bag, using yarn I got at the thrift store! It was really chunky wool, so it knitted up in just a few evenings, but didn't felt as completely as I had expected. The fabric is still very strong, though. I just kind of changed colors as the spirit moved me.





Here's the thing: I think it's too plain-looking. I'm thinking of adding some vintage pink buttons around the rim or something. Or maybe some tassels on the side where the handles are tied together.

Please let me know what you think!

Lori

My First Knitted Garment!

It fits! I've spent the last two months knitting the pieces of a sweater from recycled silk, hoping I knew enough to adjust the pattern for my long body and arms. Here are the pieces when they were all done:



And here it is all put together!



I'll be making more sweaters for myself. It's amazing to have one that actually fits.

Nona's Journal

Now that she's received it, I can post photos of a journal I made for a friend in New Zealand. She inspired me by admiring my doodle-sketch borders, so I made her a journal full of them!

Here's the cover:



And here are some of the inside pages:











I scanned all the pages before sending it to her, and I'm working on finding a way to reproduce the pages so they're on high-quality paper, but the copies are not too expensive, so I can then bind the copied pages into handmade books to sell. If I find a way to make it work, you'll hear it first here!

Postcard Exchange Display

I finally decided on a way to display all the postcards I'm receiving in the monthly exchange (thanks, Jean!). Here's the whole display so far:





January's theme was black & white. Here are all the cards:







Here are the red cards from February:









March was turquoise and chocolate brown:







Can't wait until the entire wall is full of these gorgeous cards!

Colors of India Postcards

This month's postcard swap colors were "the Colors of India." Yum! I had been hearing about this red rosin paper on a Yahoo group, so I got some at the hardware store and went to town collaging delicious paper all over it, then turned them into cards, with the help of my mom's fancy schmancy sewing machine. Here are the results:


(I kept this dragonfly for myself!)






Everyone in the group got various different paisleys.

Here they are all together, before I sewed them onto some sturdy paper backing with a zigzag stitch around the edges:



I've posted a complete tutorial of all the steps involved in this project on one of the Yahoo groups, so if you're interested, send me an e-mail and I'll point you there.

Lori's Lexicon

Okay, so I've been working on this sort of artist's journal for a while, and I think I'm ready to share. I made a book using watercolor paper, with enough pages for a spread on each letter of the alphabet. On each spread, I'm including images and words starting with that letter that I'm drawn to. It's been very therapeutic, and I'm starting to like the outcome. Here are a few finished pages:







This one's my favorite so far. If you click on the image, you can see a larger version:









I've finished the pages up to G, and all the others are painted and ready for me to start adding images and words. Here are some of the painted backgrounds:







I'll continue to post the finished spreads as they emerge!

Emma's Recycled Sweater Purse

I mentioned in a previous post that my friend Melissa came over and made a purse for her daughter out of recycled and felted wool sweaters. She had sewn very little before and was able to finish it in just a few hours.

Emma loves it; her new journal (see post before last) fit right in and the pockets are perfect for pens and pencils, so she's going to use it as her art bag.



Here are some close-ups:





Great job, Melissa!

Mexican Primitive Postcards

Here are my March postcards for the postcard exchange group. The colors for March were chocolate brown and turquoise. I found this picture of a Mexican sculpture with turquoise mosaic across the face, and I just had to try to continue the mosaic look.





I used modeling paste to create the primitive-looking tiles, then painted the "grout" and embossed the color onto the top of them. Different, huh?