Necklaces for a Friend

I haven't been able to work with beads for a while even though I have had several bead projects to work on. A friend of mine in Lubbock asked me to re-work some of her beads into necklaces and I didn't get them done before we left. I finished them this weekend and they are packaged up and ready to mail. :) Thought I'd share them...

The orange necklace I re-worked into the rosary style which is what I do with most of the necklaces I create. Her beads are the orange chips and when I finished, I thought the necklace was too short so I added the brown round beads...

I decided just to re-string the pearl beads for an elegant look. Again, it was too short for my liking so I added a few of my own that matched...

New Journal

I have been wanting to try this idea for so long and I finally got enough time to do it. :)

The cover is made using my crayon paper. Both sides of the paper were covered in crayon. The inside pages are handmade papers. It measures 5 1/8 x 3 7/8 inches and is 1/2 inch thick. I think it would be perfect for altering by creating collages on the pages or painting or drawing on the pages. :) I am very happy with the results. It looks great!

Printing on Handmade Paper

I was asked recently if my handmade papers would go through a printer. I had never tried it before so I thought now was the time to give it a try. Here is the result:

The photos aren't that great. I need to learn how to use our scanner! LOL
The yellow ink didn't show well but everything else looks great. The paper went through the printer easily, no jamming. I am very excited about this! :)
A big thank you to those people who asked if this could be done with my papers! I learned something new. :)

Having fun with a smaller size!

My friend Angie makes the most wonderful things! She also makes wonderful small things and it just makes my head spin sometimes when I think of the tiny canvas she is working on. http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/angiesartfulllife/

I thought I'd size down my cards and make something a little smaller. Here is the result:

Here are the cards next to an original sized card. Not teeny-tiny, but smaller and I love them. :)

They are lined with paper and I found the perfect sized envelope template so I am making envelopes to go with these cute little cards. So much fun when you challenge yourself to do something just a little different...

Color!!!

I had planned on writting a little post about all the color I've been noticing lately as I unpack and organize my studio... Then I went to my EtsyPaper Street Team Ning site (http://www.etsypaper.ning.com/) and saw a forum post asking "What inspires you?"

I responded COLOR! of course... LOL

Crayons! I so enjoy melting these little beauties onto paper. As a little girl, my favorite thing to do was color in my coloring books. When I was in Jr. High School, I'd often get out my crayons, turn on some music and just doodle in rhythm to the music.

Beads! I've been trying to organize some of my beads by color. It is kinda relaxing to sort them and drop them into glass jars and just looks at them! Almost like watching fish in an aquarium. :)

Today is a dreary day in Jacksonville. Little bit of rain, lots of clouds. I am not complaining at all. I've been living in drought conditions for so long I had forgotten how enjoyable rain can be! I don't have a whole lot of flowers planted around my new home yet, but, these beautiful yellow flowers bloomed just after we arrived.

Brilliant color on a cloudy day. :)

Orange Mood

I think I am in an orange mood. LOL! I was making crayon paper last night and just kept pulling out orange crayons from my big bag of crayons. After I made the first page, I found an orange glitter crayon and decided to give it a try. I love adding sparkle to my papers! The glitter crayon really added some shine to the paper. I'll need to find more glitter crayons because I couldn't find any more in the bag...

I also have a nice little burn mark on my arm from reaching over the iron while it was still hot... Silly me!

We have moved from Lubbock TX to Jacksonville NC. I am not working yet and am really enjoying having time at home. :) Lots of time to make paper! LOL!!!

Handmade Paper Swap

I am a member of the Etsy Papermaker's Guild Street Team on Etsy and some of our members participated in a swap. We each sent in a set of sheets of our own paper and got back one of each of the other members. I am so happy to see all of these papers! They are all just so fantastic! There are papers made from cotton, plant fibers and of course paper that would otherwise be in the trash. Really beautiful!
This is the sheet I sent in:


And these are the sheets I got back:



If you want, you can search "epgteam" on Etsy and find the wonderful work of all of these fantastic papermakers. :)
I am inspired to make more paper before I move. LOL! So today I will be in the kitchen pulling paper. So much more fun than cleaning. :)