Gift tags

Today so far I have been mostly carving little stamps for little sets of printed gift tags. If you still haven’t tried making your own stamps it really is enjoyable and worth the time and effort. I use lino cutting tools for mine but you can use craft knives or anything that you can dig into a rubber with. When printing mostly I use permanent ink stamp pads, or for smaller stamps, coloured art markers.

Keyrings are back

After many requests for new keyrings this year, I have managed to make some lovely little notebook keyrings. The embossed copper on the front, I have had for a while. I acquired a large roll of it some time ago and over time it has begun to tarnish and age. It’s lovely to work with, but I would be after any tips on speeding up the ageing process for future projects.

Long time no see

Well it’s certainly been a while since I updated my blog, almost two years in fact. It’s been an eventful two years, new job, new home, new family…but I have missed my little book creations. I plan to spend some time each week making at least one new item, or researching new techniques. It’s going to be fun, so watch this space.

Book stand

Oooh this was so much fun to make, just a different use for the many mini books I have been making lately. Demand has been really high at the craft fairs but people definitely want choices so I am making loads more, if they dont all sell then its more for xmas stockings.

Contemporary art & craft fairs

I will be having stall at The Bluecoat in Liverpool over the Christmas period. Starting with this evening we will be braving the December weather (as long as this rain stops) and opening up from 4.30pm until 8pm, so while you’re doing your late night shopping pop into us and see what wonderful unique handcrafted gifts you could pick up.

The fairs will be running on the following dates and times:

Thursday 3rd, 10th & 17th December from 4.30pm-8pm

Saturday 5th, 12th, 19th December from 11am-5pm

Stickers

Been readying things for Christmas, decided to make some little stickers to put on things, or to seal little packages of books and gifts for people.

Flag alphabet

My step-brother has just returned from a 3 week walking holiday in Nepal and very kindly brought back some prayer flags and a fantastic woolly hat for my daughter. I really love anything flag like, especially all the wonderful hand made bunting that you can find on Etsy these days. I really must make some out of all the bits of material I have hanging around the place. So with these in mind, I made a flag alphabet. Just got some scraps of nice paper from my paper jar (a tall jar that I throw all the small pieces of unused scrap paper in that is small enough to get past the jar opening without folding), and drew some letters in different styles. Quite fun really, I will scan them all in and print out some sets of them to sell at the fairs I am doing in December. I think they look quite sweet.

Apples and pears

Just a bit of an update on the apple book that I did, well I tried to make a pear to go with it, unfortunately I have temporary run out of old books to cut up, and chose to use something a bit more modern. The paper was too thick and the spine too stiff, so although you get the idea from the photo, the final version will definitely be made from an old poetry book just like the apple was.

Indian printed papers notebooks

I bought some packs of beautiful printed coloured papers from India. The texture of the papers is really delicious, and the colours are so vivid and lovely to work with. I just made some simple small notebooks with ivory paper inside. Each one a different cover. The covers are made from card not too thick, so the covers have some flexibility and the books are not too heavy.

Greece

One place I have travelled to many times is Greece. The Greek Islands to be precise. The first time I went, was in 1987, the hottest summer in years, a massive heatwave with temperatures not dropping lower than 30 degrees even at night. Hundreds of people died across Greece and I was really ill with sunstroke and had blistered shoulders. But I remember that visit to Corfu, with the half sunk ships in Corfu Town harbour, and renting a boat and almost making it to Albania before being warned off back to Corfu. First encounter with snorkelling and fish <—-THIS—-> big. A few trips to Kefalos Harbour in Kos, a trip to Kefalonia and many trips to Skiathos Island, Skopelos, Alonisos, Tsougria and Arcos Island, and I have collected many images both on my camera and in my memory of the most beautiful back streets and old buildings I have ever seen.