How to upcycle a Christmas gift bag

This weekend saw me on one of my regular craft retreats and as I am going to India at the beginning of December I want all my Christmas cards made and sent in plenty of time. I packed card blanks and sorted through my boxes of Christmas materials, but the thing I most wanted to use was a large Christmas gift bag that I have saved for several years.  I knew it was too useful to pass on or discard, and  I love a challenge, so I lost no time in cutting the bag to see what it offered.

I especially liked the baubles and spent ages fussy cutting these.  There was a lovely pile when I finished.... 

 and these made lovely cards.

I was still left with lots of the bag so I cut out reindeers from the snowman, and trees from the green background.  

There was only small scraps left of the bag when I had finished and I was really pleased with my upcycling achievement. I love using materials that other people might throw away and it makes me wonder why I have spent so much of merchandise in the past. I no longer go on big spending sprees and have learnt that having too much just creates indecision and overwhelm. So I am now trying to use what I have and to create space.

I made about 75 cards this weekend, using different materials and techniques.  But the baubles cut from the bag are my favourites and most of my other papers and embellishments stayed in their packs. It just proves that it's not what you've got, it's what you do with it. What have you got lurking or hanging around that you could use? 

A meeting of Paperlove

Three years ago I signed up for an online course.  There is nothing new in this, I do a lot of courses, online and otherwise.  But what makes this one different is the friendships that grew. As part of the Paperlove course, Rachel Hazel set up a Facebook Group so that we could share our work and experience. The course only lasted 3 weeks - but for some of us, our friendship lasted and grew. 

After the course finished I suggested the idea of planning a gathering, and we talked about it again last year, when four of us met in London. We spoke of how nice it would be to meet more of the group and the idea took hold....

Ruth agreed to our request to meet at her studio on the Isle of Bute. News was shared, excitement spread, and soon people were booking accomodation and flights.  Because the amazing thing is, people came from California, Canada, New Zealand and Europe! Can you imagne?! Some bought partners and some travelled alone. A feast of friends drawn together through the love of paper! 

For my own part, my husband came with me to Scotland and we stayed in the campervan in a beautiful bay, not far from Ruth's studio.

The first morning I was wandering along the beach collecting shells, when I heard 'hello Sandie'. It was a friend from New Zealand! She saw the campervan parked up and stopped to see if it was me. The excitement of meeting face to face was extraordinary and suddenly it had become real - this was really happening!

There is so much I could share, but to spare you I'll choose some of the highlights and save the rest as memories. So grab a coffee if you like and I will begin:

We all arrived in advance of our 3 days together so had an improntu meet was arranged to say hello and quieten our excitement. And then it was time to gather....

Ruth is an artist and we felt very grateful that she was willing to share her studio for this time together. She showed us how to sketch and paint, something I am keen to learn....

 As you can see, I'm working on it! LOL

Then it was time to walk to the beach where we collected shells and plants.  

The plants were for Eco-printing. We had each offered to share a technique or something we enjoy, and as there were other people who make books I offered to show how I make prints onto paper and fabric.  Chris also does this, back in New Zealand, so we did this in collaboration.  I had also made everyone a small notebook using my eco-printed paper, and this gave examples of what we would make.  

It took a long time to steam all the bundles but it was worth the effort. The results were lovely and several of the group were keen to do more in future. 

Two of our friends were unable to join us but they were very much there in thought and spirit.  Julia had sent us an an individually wrapped gift pack full of treasures....

while Linda sent a postcard to us each. On the back was part of a phrase. There was great excitment in working it out and as one card arrived a day later there was suspension!  

During our three days together we made paper constructions: folded books and origami lanterns... 

and we guilded shells

and did lots more besides.

I am still holding my excitement and amazement that some people travelled so far to make this happen. I'm feeling very blessed and grateful.

But that's not all, there is more to tell, so I'll be back very soon. Hope to see you then, thanks for popping by!  

ALICE FOX - LOST AND FOUND - FOUR

In my previous posts here and here I showed two books that I made during the Summer School.  Today I thought I'd share some another technique that we used - eco printing.  I have used plants before to create prints but not in this way, so I was excited to see how easy and effective this was.
 
Alice had collected a wonderful array of plant life and also encouraged us to go outside to forage.

But first she demonstrated the technique:

We folded a sheet of thick cartridge paper in half lengthways, then in half again, and again. Then we unfolded it and in between the folds we placed leaves, petals, and onion skins. 
 

Finally we secured the folds together using bull dog clips. With the paper tightly folded and bound we put it into a bath of green tea to soak thoroughly.   

Then it went outside under cover with all the other pieces that we had prepared..... 

Skip forward to day three! 

It takes time for the plants to do their magic and because the layers are so thick and wet patience is needed. Finally Alice gave the go ahead for us to open our pieces! Imagine our excitement!

There were squeals of delight as wrappings were removed.  Some of the fabric and paper was still wet so this was hung on a line or laid out on the path to dry. Luckily the sun was shining and it is best to allow natural drying process, but in some cases desperation took over and we used sources of heat to finish of the drying process.  A heat gun, iron or even hair dryer would do the trick but you have to be careful if your paper is embossed or you want to retain the textures. 

Here I am unwrapping mine:

  
Did you notice the string and label on my wrapping? Well I liked the way they took on colour and I went on to use them on another project linked at the start of this post. On other eco-plant prints we used string as a binding. When removed I discovered this left marks which can add to the design.  But I digress! 

I need to unfold...

 And here is my finished print.   I especially loved the effect of onion skins and when I am in the kitchen I will save all these in future so that I have a ready supply. 

Another technique we used was printing with ink and a brayer. I decided to fill in some of the white space using found items such as feathers and leaves, and because I didn't want to use the holes in the way I originally planned I cut these off. I also cut my page into  strips and stitched these together to make one long strip.  Alice's love of needle and thread is catching! 

I glued the strips of holes onto some of the pages as I liked the detail they added. I plan to add further stitching too, to add texture to the prints.  And I am thinking of adding some text, handwritten, perhaps following the contour of the print...

 

But for now I am letting the ideas germinate because like the eco prints, these are sometimes best given time to develop. 

I will be using this technique often in future and love the idea of creating prints anytime, anywhere. All I need is paper, plants, and something to bind them. Oh!  And a mug of tea (no milk thank you!)  

I still have more from the Summer School to share but I have other posts waiting too.  So I hope to see you again soon, thanks for popping by.

ALICE FOX - LOST AND FOUND WORKSHOP - ONE

Last week I spent 4 wonderful days at ArtVanGo in Hertfordshire.  I was booked on Alice Fox's Summer School called LOST AND FOUND and people had travelled from Yorkshire and other distant places to attend.  Not only was the workshop full but there were as many people on the reserve list so I considered myself very fortunate to be there.  Not only that, but others paid to stay in local hotels and accommodation. Me?  I stayed free of charge in a pub car park. That's the joy of having a campervan and being sufficient!

But enough of that. Let's talk about the Summer School.  My heart still flutters even when I think of it!  I had SO looked forward to this! Kev and Viv are owners of ArtVanGo who were welcoming and I felt very looked after throughout my stay.  I was also among a lovely bunch of fellow students and in response to a photo I shared on Facebook a friend in Amsterdam commented that she knew someone else booked on this course.  It turns out this mutual friend was sitting right opposite me and that we had struck up a friendship. This creative world gets more connected and smaller all the time!

But I digress again.  See, I told you my heart was a flutter! I am
so full of ideas and memories that it is hard to settle.  But I will try. Here goes!!

The workshop was about creating prints and designs using found materials - rust, plants, string and such like. You get the idea. We started straight away, and I couldn't believe that by lunch time on our first day we had already been so productive!  Alice is a brilliant tutor, very relaxed and informative, there when you need her and giving encouragement and opportunity to develop your own ideas. She had provided a wonderful supply of fabric and card/paper to experiment with, and also an extensive collection of materials to use.  I shared just a few of these on my previous post.

I have learnt to make my own journal/notebook when I go on workshops as I had a habit of loosing my notes and sample pieces. So now I collect these together and I will write another post explaining more how I do this. Meantime you can see my first signature bottom right.

We started by making prints with rust on card and after watching Alice demonstrate we lost no time in choosing from our stack of materials. I chose a sheet of thick cartridge paper and painted it with green tea. There were other mordents available, so lots of opportunity to experiment. Luckily no one drunk the red wine and we discovered this made a beautiful pink dye!

 

 

After painting my page I added wire wool and another layer of green tea to make it hold fast to the paper.  It is important to achieve as much contact as possible.

 

After, Alice showed us how to use fabrics.  This time we wrapped around rusty mails.

I decided to use a random effect for my second bundle. After
wrapping we left the bundle in mordant to soak for a short time so that it was evenly saturated.


We put our work outside and learnt to be patient.  The wire wool started to show  a reaction very quickly which was exciting,  but we wouldn't know what the wrapped items would look like until they were untied.  This is a very unpredictable process, full of surprise.  And we had to wait several days to get the best effect!   
And when my bundles were unwrapped this is what I found. A wonderful pattern of different colour marks.  

Here you can see a third piece of fabric where I laid other rusty objects onto the surface, rather than wrapping.  This creates a very different effect.

And remember I started by putting wire wool onto a sheet of card? This is the result. Isn't it fabulous?! 

 

Now I know some people will shake their head in wonder.  My friend Jill is a fine example and I know she won't mind me saying! But if like me you like using materials to create something unique and unpredictable then these are great techniques. I love this organic look and having the opportunity to create something beautiful from something that was found or thrown away. Luckily four days allowed us to come home with some finished projects, some work in progress  and a large selection of printed fabric and papers, ready to use.

Alice had so many examples and ideas to share and we were extra lucky as an exhibition of her work was displayed in ArtVanGo at the time of our visit.  So to end, I will show you a quick selection.  Thank you Alice for giving permission to share these photos and more examples and techniques are in Alice's wonderful book called Natural Processes in Textural Art.

 

 



And to see more examples of my own work, come back soon.  I am planning another post or two! 

PAPERLOVE

Recently I took part in a wonderful online course called Paperlove, ran by Rachel Hazell.  I met others who shared my love for all things paper and I was so inspired by the creativity and ideas of others.  So much, that I have booked to go on a residential course next April, but more about that another time.  I am still working my way through the projects and a warm friendly group has developed on the forum, but what I wanted to show is a journal I made using a challenge to find papers that were easy to hand...

 

I love maps so one or two had to feature... 

 

A page from a garden magazine, and a recipe I printed for Sparking Cucumber Water.

The drink was delicious and a favourite in the hot weather we have been enjoying!

 

It's a fun to play with words and create new meaning

 

Another map!  This page was folded to make a pocket on the reverse - great for slipping tickets, receipts, photos or notes into.   This was the first book we made on the course and the pages were sewed together.  I will have fun using it as a journal.  

Something else I have enjoyed is seeing the happy mail that is being shared.  One envelope is completing the whole distance - being passed from one person to another.  Wow!!  I wonder if we can work out how many miles it will have travelled to complete it's final journey!  Meanwhile other letters are arriving and I did a happy dance this morning when one landed at my door.  Just look at this! 

A marbled paper envelope, hand folded, with a beautiful mini book inside.  My day was made, receiving this!  It was so thoughtful and beautifully done, thank you Helen!!  These will not become pages in a future journal, I will think of a special way of keeping them so that like the commemorate theme, they will not be forgotten.

One of the other things we were invited to do on the course was to make a list of all the paper items we could see.  I decided to do this while I was on a creative retreat last weekend as time offered more opportunity and here is what I found:

blank envelopes and cards, Amazon envelope, braille paper, scrapbook papers, morning pages journal, moleskin diary, diary, bin of offcuts, receipts, tickets, lottery ticket (sadly not a winning one!), tabs, tags, newspapers (including Russian!), A4 white paper, assorted card and other papers, mount board, grey board, tissue paper, serviettes,  various packaging for products and food, handmade books, toilet tissue, posters on walls, takeaway menu, junk journal, postage stamps, birthday and celebration cards, to do list, table covering, music sheets, price labels, wall paper, graph paper, magazines, sticky labels, postcard, notebooks, photo scavenger hunt list, gift card holder, paper plates, cardboard box for foil/cling film, photo paper, business cards, label on new product......

We are surrounded by so much paper every day, and so much of it just gets thrown away or sent for recycling.  But there is lots of fun to be had, so if you like upcycling, recycling and sharing with others then you may be interested in a Junk Journal Swap that I am organising.  Why not pop over to here and find out more?!