mischievo

paste paper

2012-02-29T10:32:00.001-08:00

the last time i made paste paper i was in school. it was the first day of my first bookbinding class and we made paste paper so that for our second class we could use the decorative paper as the covers for the three pamphlet stitch binding that we would be learning.

paste paper is much like finger painting for adults. all ages really, but we happened to be a room of adults (mostly). the end results are a little rustic for my taste, but i did think that it was really fun to make my own decorative paper, so i want to recreate this experience for my students at the UW this summer.

so to that end i figured that i would do a test run to refresh my memory on the process:

i think my paste ended up being a little too thick, and what i was afraid was too much paint in the orange turned out to be just right. all in all a big success, i now know what to trouble shoot for. go paste paper!

i do think a trip to the thrift store will be in order so that i can stock up on tools to make cool patterns with. the simple circles that i made with a toilet paper roll were good enough for me but there is all kinds of patterns you can create.

little paper houses

2012-02-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

full disclosure: the first time i attempted this project there was some throwing involved. i seriously could not grok the step where you carefully construct the base of the house, and the direction that the flaps flap in is of utmost importance.

after reading the posts on this blog you might think that i spend much of my time throwing things across the room, but it's simply not true. yes, i do get frustrated occasionally, but it's only under extreme distress that things turn violent.

months passed before i brought myself to attempting this project again. upon my second attempt, (preceded by a few deep breaths and a little patience), i finally got it. its really quite simple, no really! i encourage you to try it, and if you are not paper-geek inclined i am happy to make them for you (for a wee fee of course).

there is something cozy about these little paper houses. line them up along a windowsill, on your mantle, or anywhere you need a little cozy in your life!

zig to the zag yo!

2012-02-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

i first learned this zig zag structure from the awesome carol barton when i was at uarts. she showed us how to make made a wee 3" square version, and i wondered for years after that what one would be like BIG. or at least as big as i could fathom cutting out by hand. since the cover is made from a single sheet of paper, that would determine that maximum possible size for the final book.

i finally tested it out one day when i had a few surplus sheets of big paper from another project. i did the math and figured that from the 25" x 19" sheet of heavy card stock paper i had i would be able to make a book that was 5.75" square. i was so excited to try it out!

the end result was so satisfying, and made such a unique and simple book that i was hooked! i wanted to make MORE and i wanted to SHARE them! thus the mischievo zig zag book was born.

the current stock on hand is gum drop green and zesty orange, and when i sell out of those i will pick another delicious color combination.

the interior text pages are a random assortment of re purposed ledger paper from estate sales, some coated stock that is scrap from an edition of books i printed years ago, some luscious linen second sheet letter head stock from one of my husband's old enterprises, and other recycled or re purposed paper.

these books are excellent as travel journals, they make great gifts for any writer, doodler, list maker or sketchbook keeper!

tapetex

2012-02-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

i just launched some crocheted baskets over on my etsy site, and it got me thinking about the material i used to make them.

a few years ago i found about 15 rolls of this cool material called tapetex in a variety of colors at an architectural salvage store. i have never seen anything like it before, but its intended purpose is to mark off areas in a construction site. there is nothing on the packaging to indicate what it is made of, but it feels like some kind of soft slightly squishy rayon material. since i am always looking for interesting materials to crochet i bought everything they had!

when i first started to crochet as an adult i was a little shocked at how expensive yarn can be and how much of it you need to make anything substantial. i immediately started looking for economical alternatives. as a result of my quest i have discovered all kinds of interesting materials ranging from cheap to free.

tapetex crochets beautifully into thick, soft, flexible baskets with a textured surface that feathers at the edges. i have not been able to find any more of this stuff, and with only 10 rolls left i will be so sad when it is all gone! i have a full roll still wrapped in the original packaging of orange (tiger lily) tape that i am saving for something special!

ridiq

2012-02-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

i am a crochet-aholic, on any given night it is a suckers bet that you will find me on the couch watching DVD's and crocheting scarves or baskets. most recently i have really gotten into using up random scraps to make entire afghans, this is great because it slows me down, how many scarves and baskets does a girl need? and it uses up all those odds and ends and results in a cool "crazy quilt" kind of thing. every once in awhile i loose my mind and decide to do a granny square quilt and then i swear i will NEVER EVER do another one... and than i do another one.

in the past granny squares always seemed a little clunky and funky to me. the kind of thing usually seen in hideous acrylic yarn in even more hideous colors. until a few years ago there was a whole feature on granny squares and their many applications in an issue of martha stewart living (apparently MANY years ago, 2000? SERIOUSLY!?!). maybe you remember the one? the one with the bookmark. so dainty, so delicate, so drool-worthy. i thought "now that's a granny square that i could get excited about", and i filed the article away in the "fun projects to do someday" folder.

about me and crochet:

my mom is a crochet wiz and she taught me how when i was a kid, but as an adult i remembered nothing.

she tried to show me again as an adult and i realized that since she is left handed everything she showed me was backwards and made me even more confused!
about 6 years ago i decided to take a class. my fingers remembered what to do immediately and i was quickly up to speed.

after taking the class i spent several evenings trying to make a granny square from a pattern. those evenings would often end in a fury of cursing and me throwing yarn, needle and crochet book clear across the room.

after many hours of frustration i finally mastered the granny square (or so i thought) and i dug up that old martha stewart article. i bought some teeny tatting thread and used a tiny hook that my mom gave me to attempt the bitty squares for the bookmark project. i was barely able to make a single granny square before i was thoroughly disgusted: who the hell would be insane enough to do this? this is the dumbest thing anyone could ever want to do EVAR! f#@* martha and her impossible projects!!!

fast forward to today: there are still patterns that make we want to throw everything across the room, but now with two granny square afghans under my belt i could make a granny square in my sleep... maybe it was time to give those eensy weensy squares another go? i made these last night:

ridiq

double ridiq

redonk-adiq

casting for pods

2012-01-18T16:58:00.000-08:00

i LOVE to listen to podcasts while i am working. i get sad, lonely and depressed (and maybe a little angry) when i get all caught up and have no more podcasts to listen to.

currently i happen to be all caught up. actually, that's not true. i have the lastest episode of the moth, but i am saving it until i am truly desperate! my current podcast subscriptions include: this american life, savage love, the moth, fresh aire and selected shorts. recently i have discovered and added snap judgment and we're about to be friends to the list.

i have subscribed to audible in the past, and it can be really fun to have a whole book read to you, but it can be a bit of a gamble, and one of the things i like best about podcasts is that they are F-R-E-E. of course once i am fully addicted, i am happy to toss in a few bucks whenever ira asks me to (for the record i would do pretty much anything ira asked me to do).

does you have any podcasts that they love to recommend?

we are go for launch

2012-01-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

i just pushed publish on my first etsy product. these are exciting times!

i am still working on refining and updating all my little branding bits and pieces. there are a lot of details to keep track of yo!

let's call this a very soft launch while i work out the kinks!

more bits

2011-12-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

envelope of long skinny black insect pins

monkey

bottles of ink

bakelite poker chip

antique clothing pin

metal clip for flea market in rural pennsylvania

part of a bullet found on the street in savannah, ga.

pin board

2011-12-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

tag from inside a box of beautiful dates from a good friend

postcard purchased in a coffee shop on the oregon coast

adventures in lino carving & printing

letterpress broadside from the crane booth at the how design conference

origami balloon lights

2011-12-23T15:01:00.000-08:00

spring/summer 2011

2011-12-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

betray son lux
40 dogs (like romeo and juliet) bob schneider
your love is my drug ke$ha
the bringdown bob schneider
brutal hearts bedouin soundclash
tik tok ke$ha
til someone catches a feelin' bob schneider
we can't be friends lorene scafaria
blow ke$ha
changing my mind bob schneider
can i change my mind tyrone davis
slower dear bob schneider
empire state of mind (part II) alicia keys
realness of space bob schneider
will do tv on the radio

dry peas

2011-11-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

dry it claims on the can, yet oddly when you shake the can it's wet inside.

fall 2010/winter 2011

2011-02-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

baby i do sean hayes
silver coin angus & julia stone
hurricane season trombone shorty
when we fall in sean hayes
sara smiles joan osborne
f@*k you cee lo green
paper aeroplane angus & julia stone
quiet as kept trombone shorty
fucked me right up sean hayes
we r who we r ke$ha
powerful stuff sean hayes
neph trombone shorty
in the 6th trombone shorty
sara smiles hall & oats

bits

2011-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

tiny leather bound calendar from 1934
teeny origami cranes
clock faces from the jak collection
bitty box of listo leads
yellow painted keyhole that i found in the floor of the studio while the buzzards were circling

wOw!

2011-02-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

making paper is freakin' AWESOME!

i can't wait to get my own studio set up. jak agreed to help me as my birthday gift. in the end i should have the space transformed to a paper making/screen printing station!

i spent a couple hours with helen hiebert back in december and learned the very basics of paper making, and i am hooked! i took some photos for reference, and i "pulled" lots of sheets that day, that helen then dried and sent to me. i am excited to do more experimenting with recycled materials and plants.

class number 2

2010-11-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

twice the crafty chica's = twice as much fun!

this time i had 4 lovely ladies, and we cracked open a bottle of vino as we were finishing up, and the lovely autumn brought us a jar of vegan ganache caramel that we all licked up with spoons!

it was fun, and we definitely took more time than the first time around. so 4 people potentially takes more time. i threw in a bonus origami demo for a balloon since they were all oohing and ahhing over my string of lights.

the night before i had volunteered at the SCBA make a book tonight event and helped make origami flowers, which was a blast.

what's coming next?!?

i will be traveling to portland in a few weeks to get a private paper making lesson for the one & only helen hiebert herself. i am very excited about this! i think i am going to stay at the kennedy school, and i am hoping to squeeze in a visit to oblation & the crafty wonderland.

crossing things off the list!

2010-10-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

so this weekend i will be crossing something off of my life list: teach bookbinding classes! on saturday afternoon i will be teaching my first class in my very own studio. i spent last weekend cleaning, reorganizing, and getting set up.

i pulled out all my books on bookbinding, and i have been brushing up on my structures and techniques. i also pulled out all the different books that i have made over the years. there are some fun structures that i had forgotten about. i need to do some deconstructing and reconstructing to refresh my memory.

inspiration

2010-09-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

i am trying to get a new creative venture off the ground. in the spirit of that i have signed up to participate in mondo beyondo's upcoming dream lab and i have also been working on a life list.

one of my stumbling blocks seems to be picking ONE of the many things that i would like to do/learn/make/experience and move forward with it. i become paralyzed by all the options, i think this is a pretty common experience. of course some of the things are big, and others are small. i am exited to get started with a list so that maybe i can start crossing them off!

here is a start:
learn spanish
finish my screen printing studio
~~learn how to make paper~~
eat sushi in japan
bake bread
learn to cook a crave-able hot and cold asian noodle dish
eat smelt in greece
eat croissants in paris
see the northern lights in alaska
create a home yoga practice
learn to play the ukelele
~~teach bookbinding classes~~
grow a spectacular garden
have photos framed
~~learn to make cheese~~
sing in a chorus
~~spend a week in hawaii~~
visit spain again
learn how to sew (better)
visit italy again
plant fruit trees
do some hiking @ mt. rainier
collect all my favorite children's books
see the grand canyon
learn how to knit
visit zion & bryce canyon
more experimenting with pickles & canning
visit yellowstone
~~learn to waltz~~
find the perfect swimming hole in the nw
hike to shi shi beach on the washington coast
get my studio organized to the point where i actually know where everything is

spring/summer 2010

2010-09-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

sho yo ass the coup
hooky junk the gourds
laugh / love / fuck the coup
amor infinito alex cuba
burn the honeysuckle the gourds
poker face lady gaga
de camino alex cuba
we are the ones the coup
electric feel mgmt
i'd rather be with you joshua radin
i play the talkbox zapp
shake the chandelier the gourds
my favorite mutiny the coup
hiphopopotamus vs. rhymenoceros flight of the concords
si pero no alex cuba
hey eugene pink martini
pill bug blues the gourds

fall 2009/winter 2010

2010-01-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

the future soon jonathan coulton
reasons to love you meiko
beginning to end dejha colantuono
slow moves jose gonzalez
how lucky we are meiko
color blue dejha colantuono
remain jose gonzalez
fences dejha colantuono
heartbeats jose gonzalez
boys with girlfriends meiko
feel you're going nowhere dejha colantuono
lovestain jose gonzalez
re: your brains jonathan coulton
piano song meiko
deadweight on velveteen jose gonzalez
second sight dejha colantuono
all you deliver jose gonzalez
sleep meiko
plus minus plus dejha colantuono
crosses jose gonzalez
said and done meiko
stay in the shade jose gonzalez
walk by meiko
hints jose gonzalez
my monkey jonathan coulton
under my bed meiko
save your day jose gonzalez
hawaii meiko