New Fancies
Happy New Year to all! And thanks to all who have visited this blog. It’s very encouraging and just downright nice to meet you.
We had a quiet weekend, choosing to ring in the New Year from the comfort of home. Here in Bali, anyone can buy fireworks…and many do just that. We were inundated with the bangs, pops, whistles and whooshes of hundreds of mini displays; only having to look out from our bedroom terrace to witness a spectacular array of syncopated starburst sprays of multi-colored lightshows exploding all along the ridge of the gorge, around us, in front of us and behind us. At midnight, the spectacle of the Four Seasons Resort display, below us and down inside the gorge, made for a very awesome climax. Big and little sparkles and glitters of every color lit up our entire little world! Must have been quite a beautiful view from an airplane flying overhead. And that was our New Year’s Eve.
Anyway, as I was saying… a quiet weekend at home. Gave me the opportunity to take a leisurely browse around the web. Lots of beautiful and creative crafts to see. But I kept finding myself drawn to the origami and quilling sites. You probably know by now that I am enthusiastic about paper crafts, especially the recycled variety. And I think this year I will focus more on folding and filigree techniques. I mean, has anyone seen The Crafty Penguin’s 3D Origami Swan ?
It’s beautiful! And it made me start to imagine all kinds of ways to use her technique to build many different creations… now if I can just decide where to start…
Last year, I became fascinated with the idea of weaving on a cardboard loom, so I gave it a shot. I thought a sort of shabby chic look created by weaving batik fabric strips might be kinda cool. This is what happened:
My shabby chic bags woven from batik fabric strips
I used coconut wood buttons for the clasp. The bags measure about 6″wide x 5″tall, just big enough for all the essentials for an evening out. I like the look of the raw edges of the cotton batik fabrics…like an eyelash effect.
Sampai jumpa lagi (see ya next time).
The Dragonfly: Elegance in Flight
So I became intrigued with the cardboard tube stars/flowers/snowflakes I saw posted all over the web and tried to do some of my own. These are some samples:
Star, Flower and/or Snowflake made with cardboard tube
The two larger ones are wrapped with fabric scraps I had left over, then covered with a semi-sheer fabric, and I coated the edges with glitter. The white one is just painted silver around the outside and then I glued on some white lacy trim.
I kept thinking there must be other things I can make with this stuff, then – lo and behold! – as I was playing around with them, a dragonfly took shape. But I didn’t want to cover the wings with fabric, so I tried using the coiled foil designs I had used for the lotus sculpture. These are a few of the results:
Cardboard and Foil Dragonfly Ornament
Asian motif red fabric and Gold mesh Dragonfly
The one on the left is cardboard tube frame with cardboard backing; the fill for the wings and body is quilled foil paper strips, and the outside is foil wrapping paper. The red dragonfly is ribbon-wrapped cardboard with kanzashi-folded red Asian motif and gold mesh fabrics; edges trimmed with gold cording. On the back I used the same red fabric, but just glued it onto the frame and cut to shape.
Back of Red Fabric Dragonfly
Well, gotta get back to work. I’m trying to finish a rush order, but needed a short break. More next time. Let me know if you like these. And Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
ibumary 