Chanel's paper flowers

Oh to have been one of the many workers who constructed the magnificent display of white flowers at Chanel's 2009 Spring and Summer show in Paris. Over 7000 elegant roses, daisies, leaves, and petals were draped on columns, railings, and tabletops. Runway models wore over-sized headdresses of white paper flowers, designed by Japanese hair and makeup artist Katsuya Kamo.Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's head designer and creative director, explained his inspiration for the show - "A white page"..."It's like a starting point for the story of this new era for which all the details still need to be written. That is why I chose paper as the theme for the couture collection this season. It's also the fabric that I prefer most... I love paper! Everything begins on paper. Without paper I would be lost!"

thanks to Tracy Belair Gaito for this cool find
photos: Chanel.com

Frucci Design

Frucci Design's Francesca Vitali might start with humble paper to make one of her jewelry art objects, but the finished result is far from ordinary. A biochemist and artist, she's currently exhibiting at New York City's Aaron Faber Gallery in an exhibit titled Cut, Fold,Stitch: Paper/Metal. Take a look at the beautiful pieces she's created for the show.

Francesca uses colorful shopping bags, college catalogs, old maps, and magazines that her friends save for her - she's even been known to make brooches from brown paper bags from Trader Joe's. Although it's very hard to pick a favorite, this sterling silver bangle from her Etsy shop caught my eye. The little squares are made from paper strips that she folds over and over.
This necklace is another piece I love - it brings to mind pretty packages tied up with string.
Francesca's Be the Protagonist line is clever. Using your photo and favorite color, she'll create a personalized, hand folded necklace pendant.

With thanks to Martha

It seems nearly everyone has something to say about Martha Stewart. Personally, I'm delighted to give her complete credit and my sincere thanks for introducing me to paper filigree via an article in her Living magazine. That was in 2002 and I still remember the excitement I felt as I studied the beautiful pictures of things that could be made with simple strips of paper. Perhaps I had heard the word quilling at some point in my life before that moment, but as I pored over each and every beautifully photographed picture, I knew I was determined to learn all there is to know about this fascinating art in order to be able to make my own filigree designs.Books borrowed from the library and chats with other quillers I met online via a Yahoo group further increased my knowledge. Later on, I applied to be on the Custom Quilling design team. I have to say that was one of the wisest moves I've ever made, as there's nothing like a newsletter deadline and a specific set of supplies each month to challenge one's creative juices.

I'm delighted that pictures and step-by-step instructions from the very article that inspired me are now available on Martha's site. Enjoy!

Merci beaucoup

Yesterday I wrote about the popularity of pink and rose shades this season... in that same vein, here's a card I made for the January 2009 issue of CardMaker Magazine. Shown as a thank you card, the wording could be altered to make it suitable for a spring birthday, Easter, or Mother's Day.
Perhaps you've noticed the prevalence of scrolls and flourishes everywhere lately... we see them in print ads, fabric patterns, and as a multitude of rubber stamp and rub-on designs. It's quite simple to make flourishes as I did for this card with narrow strips of quilling paper - just curl each piece with a scissors blade as if you were curling ribbon and roll the ends with a quilling tool or your fingertips. Cluster a few strips together and accent the coiled ends with tiny pearls. The daffodil image (from StampinUp!) was stamped with Versamark on torn vellum and dabbed with glittery eyeshadow left over from the 80's - I kid you not. And isn't that one of the best reasons you've ever heard to save nearly everything?!

Color trends

Have you noticed a more vibrant color palette in clothing stores this spring? I suspect designers are looking to capture our readiness for a brighter economy. Watermelon, tangerine, berry shades, butter, Caribbean blue... it's hard not to feel there's light at the end of the tunnel in the presence of such vivid hues. In the New York Times recently, Ellen Tien wrote about the "new pinks" in her Pulse column. She mentioned that in troubled times bright shades, especially pinks and roses, are comforting to fashion shoppers.

When the economy is in decline, home decor colors are conservative with earth tones dominating - thus all the black and white combos and shades of brown we've seen of late - and prints and patterns tend to be straight or geometric. But as the economy rebounds, I read that we'll be seeing bright punches of wall color - orange or apple green for example - with window treatment and pillow fabrics of leafy florals and birds, along with opulent looped braids, tassels, and flat braided trim.

It will be interesting to observe if these trends will carry over to the craft industry. I've noticed that paper companies are already featuring card making kits with bright color combinations - sky blue cards for example, with embellishments of lively green, orange, and yellow. Of course if your preferred palette is more subdued, it's important to stay true to what you love. That being said though, it might be fun to play around with braided trims and tassels instead of the buttons and ribbons that are so popular at the moment. Why not be the first on your block to give them a try?!

Margaret H. Johnson

I discovered Margaret Johnson's beautiful handmade paper vessels via our membership in Delaware By Hand, a group that links artisans within the state. A career art teacher, she has been creating handmade paper for ten years and appreciates the peacefulness of the process. "I create the medium in which I work and work with the medium I create. The quintessential creative experience."
You can see more of Margaret's work, including two-dimensional collage designs, here.

Heidi Bishop

Heidi Bishop is an accredited paper filigree artist in Washington state who I've known for several years. She's always on the go... teaching, doing juried shows, and many custom orders. Her style is elegant and feminine, and she often uses tiny pearls and seed beads to accent her work. You can imagine my surprise when I saw her newest piece, the bold and vibrant Serengeti.When I asked Heidi how she came up with such an unusual perspective, she told me she heeded a remark her young daughter's photography teacher had made - something to the effect of "A pattern is interesting and eye catching, but a pattern broken is sheer drama." When an art critic proposed the question...to crop or not to crop, Heidi took it as a challenge and reduced the size of a zebra photograph to its most "a pattern broken" element.

Follow Heidi's latest ventures in her blog Paper Filigree with a Pedigree.

Looking Beyond Etsy - Annie Ridlon

If you currently sell your work online or are considering doing so, here's a very interesting read about various marketplaces. Even though Etsy is the one we hear the most about, there are lots of other options to consider.

By the way, the blog's writer, Annie Ridlon, is the owner of Moontree Studios. She's a talented artist, graphic designer, and teacher in Massachusetts who makes beautiful beads from colorful hand painted and hand rolled papers which she then incorporates into jewelry.
See more examples of her Artisan Paper Beads here. Annie mentioned that she's currently working on a selection that utilize her illustration work with original hand painted art papers.

Jen Stark

Primaries Invert

"It's not so much the fact that everyone uses paper, it’s the fact that you can take something that is so set in its ways and find unique ways of working with it." Jen Stark

Perhaps you've heard of Miami-based artist Jen Stark and have seen pictures of her mesmerizing paper sculptures. There's no denying the young woman has developed quite a name for herself in the art world in a relatively short period of time.

I was delighted to find the video that's located on the homepage of Jen's website. It's fascinating to hear how she began creating the particular style for which she is well known and to see the way she actually goes about cutting the many sheets of paper that compose each colorful sculpture. Yes, she makes all those precise cuts by hand!

Quill It Easy

DRG Publishing recently released a new book called Quill It Easy. (DRG is the same company that produces CardMaker Magazine.)

The colorful book is filled with simple, to fairly simple projects and detailed instructions - perfect for those who are new to the quilling world, but also great if you're experienced and just looking for new ideas. It was edited by Tanya Fox, who has a knack for knowing what's current and desirable in the paper crafting industry. The book is available for purchase from the Annie's Attic website. If you're like me and get impatient waiting for the package truck, and/or prefer avoiding a shipping fee, choose the downloadable PDF version. That way you can read it immediately and print out pages if you wish.

I was pleased when Tanya asked me to be her go-to person when it came to writing the technique instructions and making the shape samples for the gallery. Several of my designs are included in the book, along with projects from quite a few other quillers, perhaps most notably, Alli Bartkowski, maker of the very appealing Quilled Creations kits.

This is one of my ideas that's featured in the book - a cheerful little gift card, perfect as a starter project.And this is another - a simple sand dollar... and now I'm thinking of eating juicy cherries on a sun-warmed, shell-strewn beach... come on, summer!

Licia Politis

Licia Politis is an award-winning paper filigree artist I've had the pleasure of getting to know via our involvement in the North American Quilling Guild. Even though she lives on the other side of the world in Australia and we've not yet had the chance to meet in person, hopefully someday we will. Meanwhile, we enjoy sharing ideas with one another, as well as pictures of whatever it is we're working on at the moment. Lately both of us have been making jewelry. I think these strings of paper beads that Licia creates are quite unusual. I especially love how they're strung on eyelash yarn - it adds to their funkiness, don't you think?Licia's silver and gold embossed beads were featured recently in the Australian magazine, Creative Paper, which is always an enjoyable read. It contains lots of fresh paper crafting ideas that use many of the same products/papers available in the U.S., plus the photography is beautiful. You can check out the current issue here. Just scroll down a bit and click on Online Magazine to register to read the next six issues for free... sweet!.

Gina K Designs

If you happen to be one who enjoys applying ink to paper, you may have heard of Gina K Designs. Gina always seems to have her finger exactly on the pulse of what's needed in the rubber stamping world. Recently she started demonstrating all sorts of nifty techniques via Stamp TV which is located on her website. I recommend signing up for her A Day in the Life blog too, as she often posts card making examples that show innovative uses of her ever-expanding line of stamps, step-by-step tutorials, and okay, I'll admit it... perhaps best of all... very cool giveaways. In her most recent blog entry, for example, she provided a link to some really lovely free digital paper that can be printed out. Now doesn't that get your weekend off to a great start?!

Lauren Fensterstock

Last fall I came across an article about what promised to be an intriguing exhibit, called Parterre: An Installation by Lauren Fensterstock. It would soon be taking place at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
We love Maine and I was hopeful we'd be driving up that way and I would have the chance to see it; alas, our plans didn't fall into place, but I did find a few pictures of the huge lily pond Lauren created on the gallery floor of the museum. It was composed of quilled black paper, Plexiglas, and charcoal dust. Go take a look - I think you'll be impressed.

But not only did Lauren work on a grand scale for the exhibit... here's a beautifully detailed portion of her work that was featured, made with infinitely tiny paper filigree coils and scrolls. She calls it Grey Garden and if I didn't know better, I would think it had been quilled in the 17th century because of its fine detail and ornateness.

Tracy Belair Gaito

Isn't this a captivating necklace pendant? I love everything about it - the shape, colors, and simplicity. Made by the talented paper artist and graphic designer, Tracy Belair Gaito, it's featured in a book by Jenn Mason that was just released last fall, Altered Paper Jewelry: Artful Adornments from Beautiful Papers. (Quarry Books) Tracy calls the pendant, Orbit. You can Look Inside the book at Amazon (love that feature) to see additional pieces made by many artists.

Not only does Tracy make fab jewelry... check out her imaginative and adorably tiny Gurumi paper dolls, flower fairies, and even some paper sculpted mice in her Runnerbean Etsy shop.

Embossed card

We're going to a surprise party today for a friend who is celebrating her 40th birthday. The invitation insists on cards only, so in my book that means it's a golden opportunity to give one that's handmade. Usually the postal service does a pretty good job of getting my cards to their destinations intact, but it's really nice to not have to think about bubble wrap envelopes every now and then. I searched through my card stash and decided on this one - it makes me think of spring and is sweet and feminine, just like the birthday girl. The embossed card blank is by Die Cuts With A View.I made the card for an in-depth article called Quill It Easy - Add a New Twist to CardMaking that I wrote for the March 2008 issue of CardMaker Magazine. Just recently, subscribers to CardMaker have been given the option of a digital subscription. The beauty of it is that you are given instant access, not only to the current issue, but also to two years of easily searchable back issues. Just think, if you like to make your own cards, you could print out the article right away, and get started making this one today.

The ArtBizCoach

I learn something new almost every time one of Alyson Stanfield's ArtBizBlog updates arrives in my inbox. She has a keen way of writing about art-related ventures I've long been thinking about, or have had in the back of my mind to pursue. I find her posts are often enough to push me into action, or at least provide food for thought. What I liked about this newsletter article is her message that because of the recession, big-budget exhibitions are being postponed, so space is more available than in recent years. Now would be the perfect time to go after an exhibit opportunity if you've been considering showing your work. Contact local art centers, galleries, or regional museums to inquire if they might be interested in meeting with you.

Angela Simone

I love to wear jewelry that's made of paper - but only if it doesn't necessarily look like it's made of paper. Impossible? Not at all, and especially not if it's a necklace made by Italian paper designer, graphic designer, and photographer Angela Simone.

Take a look at her beautiful, metallic, crimped creations.





Icicles and Inspiration

Our area was hit with a late season snowstorm yesterday - lots of freezing wind and blowing snow. When all was said and done, about 6 inches had fallen - a far cry from the predicted 14, which was just fine with me. Today's warm sun worked hard to melt the snow - this resulted in extra long icicles that formed as the water flowed over the gutter guards. A few loud crashes caused me to jump as sheets of snow slid off the roof. By Sunday the temp is to be near 70 (21C) - Mother Nature can be such a tease!

Several months ago I discovered www.craftstylish.com, a Taunton Press site. Oh my, it's easy to fritter away a good bit of time over there. Regular contributors write wonderful posts having to do with a wide variety of creations. Paper artist Jeffery Rudell's weekly projects never fail to inspire me. Take a look at the beautiful series of 18th century French court wigs he made for the Tiffany and Co. flagship store in New York City. What's special about Jeffery is that not only are his paper ideas incredible, but he writes in such an engaging style. I really appreciate the way he tells the whys of what he makes, as well as the hows.

Hello there

Welcome to my little home on the internet where the plan is to share with you all sorts of clever or chic or beautiful paper creations made by interesting people I've discovered in my wanderings. Perhaps I'll stray to other subjects too, as well as show you some of my own work, but I promise this isn't going to be all about me. Whenever I come across someone or something I think is just too good to keep to myself, I'll post. I thank you for being in the audience and well... let's just see how it goes!