Finished this beauty recently! Handmade from sketchbook paper with an up-cycled leather-look cover (used to be a handbag), fancy hand stitching on the spine and a key closer attached with a suede cord that goes into a place holder inside.
Category: Paper
Categories
Top 10 Stationery Essentials
If you’re reading this then it’s likely to assume you love stationery – and you may already be aware that this week it has been National Stationery Week. It really has. I ran out of stock of my handmade Coptic-bound sketch books on Notebook day, of all days!!
Depending on your needs, there are a massive range of stationery products on the market, but here I’ve outlined what I think are the essentials.
- Pen. A good pen, for writing or for drawing. I love a fountain pen for handwritten letters, biros for crosswords; but my favourite all-rounder has to be the Mitsubishi uni-ball eye. Smooth writing, waterproof, fade-proof, comes in various colours.
- Pencil. A decent pencil is indispensable! And with it you need the following:
- Eraser – often the one you get on top of the pencil is absolutely PANTS. So invest in something soft and non-smudgy, that doesn’t tear the paper!
- Sharpener. To keep your pencil happy. I quite like this one: double hole, a home for the shavings and a lid so they don’t spill out.
- Notebook. Sketch book/journal/jotter – whatever you call it, you need somewhere to write and draw your ideas, plans and thoughts. Handmade books are my specialty, so here are some examples of my work:
- Ruler – this needs to be sturdy and long lasting. Metal ones are great for craft work.
- Paperclips. Handy for when you don’t want to staple things! The more fun shaped, the better. Paperchase and (perhaps surprisingly) Ikea do some great ones.
- Stapler. For when you want to permanently paper-clip something together.
- Hole-punch. For those of us who like to print things and put them in files 🙂
- Post-its. Other makes of sticky note labels are available! Sometimes you just need to stick a note on something. Perfect for reminders.
So far, so good; this is the first of my Pinterest Picks that I’ve actually attempted to make for once!
I’d seen a few tutorials for paper feathers, it looked pretty easy so I just got my stuff together and tried it out. Here we go!
Firstly, I cut some feather shapes – two for each feather – from some old sheet music:
Next, I tightly rolled some paper, for the end of the feather:
Then I made sets of the feather components. Paper shapes, a thin bit of wire to go up the middle (this really helps with shaping the feathers!) and a snip of the rolled paper:
I covered the back of one of the feather shapes with glue, positioned the wire and end, then placed the second shape over the top:
At this point I smoothed it as much as possible and left it all to dry. The last thing to do is snip along the edges to create the feather effect. I found the more of a downward angle I cut at, the better the effect; also, snip as close together as you can. These are my finished attempts:
Categories
Pinterest Picks
Everyone knows Pinterest is a great place to find craftspiration (sure, it’s a word… just go with it…) and I often find myself pinning project after tutorial after project on my craft board and not doing a single one. I’ve decided to try and narrow my picks down to a few a month, and take the time to actually try them out – and then post my findings! So, here are my first lot of Pinterest Picks:
- Paper Feathers. They look so delicate and would make great displays or table decorations:
- Pom pom bouquet. I bought a pom pom maker just before Christmas and *might* have got a little carried away. Making these pom pom flowers will be a great way to make use of any extras I may have:
- Nail varnish flowers. This looks like it would be so simple to do but I’m wondering if it will work that well in real life. We shall see!
With just less than a month to go until Christmas, things are getting busy in The Craft Fantastic workshop! Ok, it’s just me in my living room. Still, I have been quite busy planning and making things for the festive season. Over in my Folksy shop you’ll find some lovely handmade gifts and original tags to help you wrap them. Check out these miniature notebook necklaces – the perfect stocking filler for book lovers:
There’s also a few sets of my origami gift tags, all hand folded from lovely paper:
I’m also free to take commissions on any of my origami gift tag designs, past and present, including all these designs from last year:
Plus the silver printed snowflake designs:
They’re all 4 for £2 and you can mix and match as you’d like – postage will be £1 for one or two sets, £1.50 for anything more than that.
Football on TV last night (yawn) so I spent some time trying out different paper and origami crafts for the festive season! Some folded paper stars and Christmas trees, done from sheet music – both very simple, I’ll post tutorials soon. Also started on a lovely delicate paper flower but have run out of paper!
Available now on Folksy – origami candy cane gift tags in pastel blues and greens. Get yours now in time for Christmas!
Not quite as far along with these as I’d like! The start of this year’s handmade Christmas gift tag stock – at the moment it’s just a little origami forest.
Awesome new paper stock from Micheals!
Get yours here!