Bob and Marianna's Recycled Sweater Bags

Oooh, this recycled sweater bag thing is so much fun! And now it's turned into recycled shorts and vests and coveralls too.

These bags were made for Mark's colleague Bob, who has been sending me sweaters from Washington and BC Canada by the droves, and his wife Marianna. I think they're a new step forward in my bag-making journey.

Bob's bag is a book bag, with pockets from a child's pair of rip-stop shorts on the flap and a belt for the strap:





The lining is made from a rip-stop vest, with the pockets cut off and repositioned:



(these two are shot with the bag turned inside out)




I made Marianna a tote bag in bright colors, which I know she likes, with buttons to snaz it up a bit:







The inside of her bag is made from a pair of bright yellow coveralls. Here's the lining before I put it into the bag:





I have four (4!) boxes of sweaters already felted, so I guess I'll start a recycled sweater bag factory: thanks, Bob!

Handmade Paper Packs for Sale!

I went a little nuts making background papers over the past couple of weeks. I just felt like playing with paints and inks and rubber stamps and foam stamps. The thing is, I couldn't possibly use all these papers in a lifetime!

Soooo, I've decided to try an experiment. I'm selling packages of papers, approximately 5 x 5 inches or 5 x 6 inches in size, with at least 10 pieces in each package (some will be duplicates), via my blog. Each package is $8, including shipping. I will accept payment via PayPal only. At the moment I have 10 packs made up, but I can make more if there is interest.

Please e-mail me at lori@lzommunications.com if you are interested in buying a package. First come, first served!

Here are some photos of the big sheets of paper before I tore them into size for the packages:












And here are a few close-ups of some of the papers:














And last but not least, here's a photo of the papers as you will receive them in your package:



Thanks for looking,

Lori

June Postcards: Yellows

This month's postcard color was yellow (thanks to Nona). I had been reading about these "Inchies" everyone's been making: little one inch by one inch pieces of art. but I don't think I could work on little tiny pieces of paper like that, so I made one-inch squares on a postcard and had a great time gluing on little tiny pieces of images and ephemera. Each postcard was different, so I'll just show you a few here:

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!