You Can Call Me Gwen

Plans

 

I'm still trying to get used to being out of the work force, not having somewhere I'm expected to be every morning, etc.

It's been quite a challenge to me, this current season of my life.

I'm finding my prayers every morning include at least one plea that I will not "lean on my own understanding" (which I often translate as 'living in my mind'), and another that I will be directed by the Holy Spirit into His plans for my day.

Today, those plans include boxing up a little flock of paper birds to send to another of His friends who is walking through a valley right now.

 

 

As I reached for a sheet of engineering plans to wrap the box, I heard a whisper, and immediately knew that I needed to wrap the box with the drawings to the outside, rather than the inside.

 

 

God wanted to remind me and my friend of something.

 

 

We have hope and a future.

Things sometimes get a little bleak in the here-and-now, but because of Jesus, the brightest future possible is our guarantee.

Amazing.

Making Lingerie

  Can you guess what this is?

 

 

It is about the third step in the process of making lingerie (I forgot about my camera until we were settled into the rhythm of repetiton).

If you'll forgive my poor photos (the natural light was gone and I dropped out of my photography class), I'll show what the rest of the steps were.

First, "we" did some design work and drafted patterns, and then we choose "fabrics" and trim.

We did some tracing and cutting and then used a glue stick to adhere our pieces to the strip of black "fabric".

Next, we cut the strip down the middle...

 

 

...and then cut each piece loose at its sides.

 

We used one of my favorite decorative shears to trim the "lace"; the postal edge scissors were perfect for this.

 

 

Of course, the top needed a little trimming, too, so we repeated the whole process with the pieces upside down.

 

 

Next, I did a little work with a fine-tip black Sharpie, and started making tiny bows from eighth inch black satin ribbon.

 

 

I have to cut the ribbon longer than I need for a bow, because my fingers are just too big to manipulate a short length.

I had a bunch of little bits leftover.

 

 

They were perfect for making straps.

 

 

Now, while was at one workdesk making these little nighties, Miss Helping Hands was at the other making some that are a little, um, spicier.

 

 

I don't know if you can tell yet, but soon you'll see.

She put lace at the tops and hems of hers as well, but she used the small scallop shears.

 

 

And now we skip all the steps that took place while the Grandshoots were here and we were working downstairs, sporadically, and not quite as serenely (which made me forget the camera again).

Those steps included a little more work with the Sharpie marker, and the addition of another "garment".

We printed off our invitations, drew a little clothesline at the top, "pinned" our lingerie on the line, and then backed the whole thing with some red cardstock.

Voila! Miss Helping Hands has completed another task as the maid-of-honor for an upcoming Christmas season wedding.

 

 

And I can add "maker of fine lingerie" to my resume.

Can't I?

Rubberband Books

 

 

I have a little book-making tutorial for you, courtesy of the lovely Miss B (of Zentangle fame).

When our D'Art group got together to play on the 8th of July, we got to make paper beads with Able Baker Dana and rubberband books with Miss B.

Definitely an inchie moment (hour? day?).

 

 

 

It was so easy-peasy to make these books, and they make such lovely little gifts, that I thought I'd just share the how-to with all of you Dear Readers.

Here are the supplies you will need:

 - One sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper for the cover (you can use cardstock, scrapbook paper, even something from your recycling bin...the possibilities are endless)

 - One or two sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" copy-weight paper

 - One #19 rubberband

 - A bone folder (you can use  a tongue depressor)

 - A scissors or a paper cutter

 - A bit of glue (or some glue dots or double stick tape)

Ready?

It's nice if you can start with a piece of paper for the cover that you think is...

  

 

 

Since my paper was 12" x 12", I had to do a little trimming to make it the correct size.

Of course, I didn't just make a straight cut to trim that extra inch off one edge...

 

 
 

...because I'm still in a manic paper-bead-making phase, with no end in sight.

Once the paper was the correct size, I just followed these instructions:

Step 1. Fold your cover paper in a 'hot dog' fold (long edges together) with the front side facing out and make a nice crease with your bone folder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, you might notice that my paper is upside down here, and that's important.

I made these next important creases all wrong (several times) when I was using paper which had text (or a design needing a particular orientation).

If you stick with me, you'll see that you need to be careful at this point if you are using paper like this for your cover.

Step 2.  Open your paper and fold the bottom two corners in to meet the middle crease (I don't know why I had to confuse you by turning my paper upside down so that I had to fold the top two corners)....

 

 

 

...and press with your bone folder.

Step 3. Now fold the paper in a 'hamburger' fold, bringing the point to the center of the top edge like this...

 

 

 

...and press that bottom crease with your bone folder. 

Step 4.  Place glue dots or a small piece of double-stick tape (or a bit of glue) to hold the inner pockets closed...

 

 

 

 

...and fold your book closed along the original hot dog fold.

Your cover is almost finished!

Step 5.  To make inner pages, hamburger fold a piece of copy weight paper, and crease along the fold.

 

 

 

Step 6. Now cut 1/4" off the folded edge like this...

 



 

...and a generous 1/4" off one short edge like this:







Step 6. Fold your pages (short edge to short edge) and crease.



 



You can make pages from any copy weight paper, and the beauty of this little notebook is that the pages can be replaced any time.

If you happen to have a friend who loves graph paper every bit as much as you do, and you happen to be planning to give her a little notebook next time you see her, you might want to add some pages made from graph paper.







Step 7.  You're going to snip a little bit off the cover at the folded corners, so the rubberband can meet and hold the inside pages in place.

I center my inner pages along the outside of the cover and hold them in place while I snip off the corners...

 







...like this:



 

 

 




Step 8.  Now just line the center creases of your inner pages up with the center crease of your inside book cover and slip a #19 rubberband into place like this:







Et voila!







You have a nice little refillable notebook!

You can tuck a few index cards inside the pockets, too.







Do you love it?







Now, when we made these in 'class', we also made one which was not refillable.

We used a needle and thread to sew the 'signature' of inner pages into the notebook.

I loved the fact that we could dress up the book by adding paper beads to the tails of the thread on the outside of the book.

In fact, I loved it so much that I decided I couldn't do without it, even though I wanted this book to be refillable. 

So, I just removed the pages, sewed the book cover together so I could add the beads, and then put the pages and rubberband back in place.

Now I really love it!

 







( If you notice that I clipped the outer edges of my book cover, even though it wasn't necessary from a functional standpoint, well...it's just because I've got this problem with symmetry.)

Another wonderful thing about these little notebooks is that they fit perfectly into a standard A2 envelope so you can mail them (minus the beads, of course).

I made several for Me Darlin' Mither to mail to her friends (in a lot less time than it took me to write this post).

Think of the potential uses for a nifty little book design like this (Thank you, Miss B!).

What a kewl thing to make with kids the first day of a vacation or a week at camp so they could use it as a journal or an autograph book.

I'm really wanting to make some of these using old phone book or atlas covers for cover paper.

I think there is a lot of paper floating in and out of our lives which could be recycled with this project.

I'm going to send one of these to you if you give me a suggestion for a recycled book cover for which I actually have the material on hand.   offer expired 8/1/2011

Okay?

Okay.

Torn tissue paper is for the birds, too.

 

Since I showed you what I like to do with tissue paper that's been wrinkled or crumpled (gently used), I thought I'd show you what I do with tissue paper that's been torn (well used).

Some of it gets folded up and wrapped in piece of copy-weight scrap paper and fed to the shredder (of course, I save the pretty yield).

 

 

 

Some of it gets torn into smaller pieces which can be used to decoupage just about anything.

Some of the tissue paper which I rescued from the recent baby shower was glued to a scrap of white card stock to make this mailing label.

 

 

 

When I sent off a lot paper birds recently, I filled the bottles with some of the shredded paper and added one of these labels to the outside.

 

 

 

The bottles of birdies which I sent for Me Darlin' Mither included a photo of one of the paper birds on an unexpected perch in my home and a slip with this blog address, per her request.

 

 

 

Perching the birdies in unexpected places makes me look at some old things with new appreciation.

Here is the photo which was inside the bottles.

 

 

 

 

Some of the shoots' artwork from school days is hanging in the upstairs hallway.

It's natural to stop seeing things after you've looked at them for years, but I appreciated this art work all over again when I stopped to perch the birdie on the thermostat this spring.

The drawing above the thermostat is a Miss Mary Mack original and it reads "To mom and dad and my hole family".

Love it.

Sometimes it takes shedding a new light on something in order to notice it at all.

 

 

 

But the little birds which were so carefully placed...

 

 

 

...on the little hands of my favorite Little Man...

 

 

 

 

...gave me the most pleasure of all.

Life is good with little men and little paper birdies in the world.

Please Come

I've got a big pile of Inchies to share with you very soon, but meanwhile I thought I'd show you what I got to work on just as soon as I returned to earth after my vacation.

I took a few photos of the project along the way.

Know what these are?

 

 

Well, these go with them.

 

 

Can you see it now?

 

 

 

"Help!" 

"We're blind!"

 

 

"Thanks. That's better"

So pale, though.

 

 

"Gee, thanks again."

 

 
  
 
 

"Now what?"

Cut some paper.

 

 

And write a little rhyme or two.

 

 

Put it all together...

 

 

Now do that thirty-two more times.

 

 

 

Put them in envelopes so Blackheart can carry them to all of Baby Girl's friends.

And get ready to celebrate. 

P.R. China, Russia, and the U.S. of A.

Big sigh of relief.

I got a LOT of mail posted this week.

It has been very difficult to keep up with the family calendar project during the summer months, but late is better than never, and I just finished up all the July occasions.

Seven birthdays in July.

Only one anniversary.

I've been having a lot of fun making cards with the bonafide, real-live Inchies which were sent my way by Lisa at Inchie Arts.

They're a dream to draw on, and they are nice and thick, so they look great mounted on a simple card.

 

 

 

 

Also...

I joined Postcrossing a few weeks ago in an effort to save the U.S. Mail.

Actually, I'm not that altruistic...I joined because I couldn't resist the thought of receiving real mail, artwork, and foreign stamps on a regular basis.

I thought I would send handmade postcards, but I've been so busy this summer that I finally had to break down and purchase some.

I was somewhat consoled by the fact that I bought them at the OKCMOA gift shop.

 

 

 

I'm not much of a shopper, but I love museum and hospital gift shops. They're the best!

On Tuesday, I actually got my first five postcards written, addressed, and on their way; three to other American states, one to Russia, and one to China.

 

 

 

 

I now know that it costs ninety-eight cents to send a postcard to any foreign country.

That will make it easy-peasey to post the next ones from home.

But, according to Postcrossing rules, that will have to wait until these have been received and registered.

Meanwhile, other people, in other places, will be choosing postcards to send to moi.

And I will be anxiously waiting for them.

Keeping Blackheart Off Unemployment

I've spent some time on outgoing mail these last few days while I battle the headache that's keeping me from bigger projects.

I'm getting a little Independence Day cheer on it's way to some friends...

 

 

 

...and you know it's against my religion to give Blackheart any plain mail to carry.

 

 

Plus, I'm totally digging making banners of any kind right now.

 

 

When I went to the Post Office recently to mail this package...

 

 

...I asked to see their "cool" stamps and just flipped when I saw the TV Cowboys series.

I'm totally digging the cool artwork, bright colors, and large size.

 

 

 

Why on earth do I ever let them sell me those Liberty Bell stamps?

Blackheart has had his hands full both coming and going from my house lately.

A very colorful package landed in my mailbox on Saturday.

 

 

It kind of made me feel like a pusher to see that another Dear Reader has gotten addicted to cut and paste.

 

 

But it's too much fun to really feel badly about it.

 

 

And just in case the packaging itself wasn't enough, look what was inside:

 

 

Printed, pocket-size tissue that actually makes me want to blow my nose in public.

Too funny.

This cool book was inside the package, too.

 

 

It's a fun read, but I gotta tell ya, two things are really stuck in my mind since I got this.

First, I want to have my own picture taken with a pair of scissors for glasses.

It just seems...right.

Second...

 

 

...I keep thinking about the tremedous potential of a product called "Mistake Out".

I'm sure I'll have more to tell you about this book, but I'm so sidetracked by the cool artwork that I'm having a little trouble concentrating on the words.

Art and words.

Art and words and friends.

Art and words and friends and mail.

Blackheart, I love you.

If you move it, they will come.

Last weekend I moved my studio back upstairs to it's real home.

There is proper storage up there, and spring time always makes me want everything extra neat and tidy.

It was much easier to move it all back home than I thought it would be, but it wasn't quite as effortless as the day's Inchie suggests.

 

 

One of the things I like about having my studio upstairs during the summer is that it becomes a sort of 'chat room' for me and the college girlies.

They began moving things home from their dorm rooms this week and, sure enough, when they were both here brieftly on Monday, we all wound up in my studio.

They were clicking away on their lap-tops, completing the last of their term papers, and I was bringing the studio to order, but that didn't keep us from getting into a very interesting conversation.

There was no chocolate eaten, but even so, this Inchie represents the discussion very well.

 

 

Another thing I like about moving or organizing my studio occasionally is that I get to see some things again for the first time.

I moved this book, for instance.

 

 

 

So, yesterday evening, when I had a friend in my studio, we looked through this book page by page.

 

 

 

I love how they called the preface the 'beforehand'.

How neat is that?

And I love just about anything which encourages creative play for children.

Here are some of the pages.

 

 

Inspiring play, indeed.

After we'd looked through the pictures, I showed my friend my favorite part of the book.

It was sent to me by a Dear Reader.

And this was the inscription inside:

 

 

I love that this book was "pre-treasured".

It makes it more beautiful to me.

But something not-so-beautiful happened when I reread this book.

I suddenly realized that I had never sent a letter of thanks!

And that made me feel a little nauseous.

But...

I was in my studio.

Surrounded by a million and one things I'd been given - and held on to - over the years.

And I remembered that I had in my files some hands, die cut from mat board.

The wheels (and pages) started turning.

 

 

Not exactly the right pose of the fingers, but close enough.

Grab the pastels and get down and dirty.

 

 

Do the best you can with what you've got.

 

 

 

Turn it over and tell Dear Reader how much you, and your visitors, are enjoying her gift.

 

 

 

And then lie in wait for Blackheart the Postman.