From the Studio of Justina Blakeney
Paper pleasures
By Justina Blakeney
Published: September 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
PAPIER-MÂCHÉ
Chewed-up paper never looked so good. Papier-mâché is used to create colorful folk art and fine art all over the world. It’s the perfect medium for crafters on a budget. With newspaper, a bit of flour (starch or glue also works), water, and paint, there’s no limit on what you can create. I found these vintage papier-mâché candleholders on a recent trip to New Orleans.
PAPER PLAY AT ITS BEST
Keri Smith’s daring diary, Wreck This Journal, prompts readers to get down and dirty with paper — encouraging the readers to destroy pages, paint it, punk it, and poke it — even shower with it. This workbook will get your creative juices flowing — on and off the paper. ($12.95, Perigee Trade)
DOILY ADORNMENT
For a quick fix of paper jewelry, make this lace-like jewelry from paper doilies. Cut out desired shapes from the doily and paint the back and front with clear nail polish. Let it dry. Attach the jump rings, chain, and a clasp for a necklace, or glue on earring backs for earrings.
BEADED BIJOUX
A friend got me these paper bracelets in Vietnam. Paper beads are easy to make: Cut a piece of colorful paper into small triangles (these bracelets are made from magazine pages). Smear glue onto one side of the triangle, and roll the bead from the wide end to the point. Make your own paper beads or purchase them for your own beaded bijoux at beadforlife.org (profits fund a poverty eradication project in Uganda).
LET YOUR PAPER FLY
I found these magical butterflies in a second-hand shop in Switzerland. Unaware of their age, whereabouts, or maker, these butterflies are made on thick cardstock paper and are supported by two magnets — one on each wing — that allow the butterflies to balance improbably on the tip of your finger or on the edge of a bookshelf. Try making your own balancing bugs and fill any room with wonder.
CALENDAR MAP
Little Otsu’s calendar map has a melt-in-your-mouth color palette —it’s a conceptual being that turns fairylands into a practical tool for keeping time. Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks, the map-calendar for 2008 makes deadlines come easy.
($11, littleotsu.com)
Issue #34
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more