She's Crafty | From seeds to flowers...

Tiny beads, also known as seed beads, can be combined to create all sorts of amazing objects. From an endless array of beaded earrings and other accessories to beaded sculptures and full flower arrangements. If you have ever beaded anything, chances are you have come into contact with a seed bead or two.

Various sizes and colors of seed beads with tubular bugle beads.
Beads! Photo by April. Some Rights Reserved.

Huichol beaded reptile. Photo by Leonora Enking. Some Rights Reserved.

603-08, Twisty Turvey. Photo and beadwork by Dini Alves. Some Rights Reserved.

Since we are firmly into Spring, it's a perfect time to look into the art of beaded flowers.

A few years back my mother found The Flowers of Venice by Giovanna Poggi Marchesi. This big beautiful book introduced her to the art of Venetian beaded flowers and the conterie, or glass seed beads, which have been made in Venice for hundreds of years. My mother was inspired to make her own beaded flowers.

My mother dug deep into the tutorials and books pertaining to beaded flowers and found a tutorial that guided her step-by-step to create a life-size beaded orchid with leaves and a bud from wire and glass seed beads.

She created this beauty a few years ago but unfortunately it stands alone as she did not make more flowers. She describes making beaded flowers as easy work but incredibly tedious; the hardest part is having the patience to string all the little seed beads onto thin wire. I remember traveling with her to find tools like bead stringing bowls that would help her with the stringing, but the one we finally settled on didn't work well with wire. After a while she just went on to her next craft adventure and stored all the books and tutorials she collected away, hoping one day to revisit the craft. 

Which may be sooner than later...

Recently I was grabbing stuff from around the house to put in an I Spy Spring display and spied her blue orchid. I gave it a good cleaning and though I have always admired its beauty, the time spent cleaning its petals and looking at the way the seed beads come together to create a flower, gave me a chance to admire the beauty in which it was constructed and how easy it really is to make.

Also, it made me think I should finally try my hand at beaded flowers. Imagining beaded plumerias in my hair helped a bit too. So now we're on the hunt for good stringing tools and various colors of seed beads. I feel a trip to the bead store is in my future.

If you're interested in creating your very own beaded creations, I came across two books available for check out that would help you bead-ify your world.

The Beaded Object: Making Gorgeous Flowers & Other Decorative Accents by Mary Jo Hiney.

Beads in Bloom : The Art of Making French Beaded Flowers by Arlene baker.

-Malia

She's Crafty | Loose Leaf Journal

Keeping a journal has always been an important practice in my life, though I struggle to remain consistent in creating my entries. At the beginning of every new year I make a vow to practice daily and search for innovative ways to encourage my commitment.

While watching videos about art journaling, I came across a woman who journals some of her entries on loose pages and then inserts the finished pieces into a bound journal. This got me thinking, what about keeping the pages loose even after you journal on them? The pages would remain loose but contained together within a special container of some sort, like a folder. My vision of the whole set includes: finished pages, blank pages, a pencil, and the special as-yet-to-be-defined container. This set would, as a group, be considered my loose-leaf journal.

It's an evolving project. I see multiple options floating around in my brain. One option involves fabric and sewing. Another, various papers and glue.

Sean MacEntee, Just Write. Some Rights Reserved

While I wait for inspiration to hit, I've taken to reading about what experienced writers, artists, and diarists have to say about keeping a journal. I've gathered a few of the interesting finds below.

Famous Writers on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary is an article by Maria Popova, creator of the website Brain Pickings. Along with the video I mentioned earlier this article is a seed of inspiration for my current journal project. Popova packs her post with insight from diarists such as: Madeleine L'Engle, Anaïs Nin, Oscar Wilde, and Susan Sontag. There are links to books that Popova references, or that the diarist she is writing about references in their work. It's a link hopper's paradise, a great resource oasis that I refer back to again and again.

Keeping a Journal by Trudi Strain Trueit is a guide for children on how and why to keep a journal for positive mental health maintenance. Trueit gathers examples for kids to read and offers tips to help get kids into the journal habit. Keeping a Journal also features exercises and plenty of alternatives to writing to keep kids interested in expressing themselves however they feel is helpful and fun.

• Dear Diary: The Art and Craft of Writing a Creative Journal by Joan R. Neubauer.
• At a Journal Workshop : Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Evoke Creative Ability by Ira Progoff.
• Writing From Life : Telling Your Soul's Story by Susan Wittig Albert.
• Leaving a Trace : On Keeping a Journal : the Art of Transforming a Life Into Stories by Alexandra Johnson.

One last book to push before I go. This one is not so much about the hows and whys and uses of keeping a journal, but gives you a peek at what  of people have done to participate in a far-reaching and on-going project.

The 1000 Journals Project by Someguy is quite a book. I'm still getting to know what the project is all about but it sounds absolutely fascinating! 

Tag from journal 988.

Apparently, Someguy distributed 1000 blank journals to friends, strangers, and left the rest in public places. Each journal is numbered and has a tag with a simple explanation and instructions on how to participate. The book we have available for checkout is a collection of some of the entries people added to the journals. You can find out more by visiting the website 1000 Jounrnals Project. Through a companion website, 1001 journals, you can even learn how to launch your own journal project and send journals around the world for people to fill. Now that gets my gears going...


...if they churn out anything fun, I'll let you know.

Malia

She's Crafty | Art Made From Books

During one of my internet researching frenzies I came across Art Made From Books compiled by Laura Heyenga. I saw the cover, which features a swirly mass of papers against an intensely black background, and had to find a copy to check it out.

I was able to find one held at a participating library system through Link+ and got to pick it up at my home branch. How cool is that?! Click right here to get a copy of your own...and believe me, you're going to want to click that link. During the short walk from customer service to a space where I could examine my new read my mind was completely blown.

Su Blackwell, The Book Of the Lost, 2011.

Art in progress.

As the subtitle suggests, this is a book that showcases art created by altering, sculpting, carving, and transforming books. This is not the art of book binding or typesetting a book for reading. This is art made from books that no longer function as their original selves once did, and the work is inspiring and beautiful, thought-provoking and exciting.

Rarely have I flipped through a book of art and loved so many works as I do from Art Made From Books. However, surprised I am not. We are talking about art and books in one. Since I can't share them all, here are just a few highlights:

Guy Laramée carves and sculpts absolutely stunning landscapes from books.

Guy Laramée, El amor por las Montaña nos cura, 2012.

The close-up above right shows the realistic details of his carvings. In fact, if I had seen this picture alone I would have thought the crags and vegetation belonged to an actual mountainside.

Seen in their entirety, Guy Laramée's pieces are quietly surreal. His transitions from landscape to book are done is such a way that it looks like they came to be by natural processes, as if the book eroded over time into the fantastical landscapes they contain inside. 

Guy Laramée, Prajna Paramita, 2011.

A book artist took Edinburgh, Scotland by surprise in 2011 by leaving ten book sculptures at various locations all while remaining Anonymous. Accompanying each whimsical piece was a unique tag with a lovely statement that matched the location the sculpture was left and the subject of the piece. Anonymous also sought to support the literary locations the items were left by referring to a Twitter feed owned by the location. The tag below also carries the following message, "in support of libraries, books, words and ideas..."

@byleaveswelive, 2011. Left at the Scottish Poetry Library.

Jeremy May makes wearable art excavated from the pages of books. Form and design is influenced by the content of the book a piece is made and each piece is presented within the book from which it was extracted.

Jeremy May, Serial no. 028--Vanity Fair, 2009.

Su Blackwell is known for creating scenes that are magical and enchanting. The detail of The Baron in the Trees below shows not only a tree made from book pages but a lit treehouse and tiny little clothes hanging on a line to dry.

Su Blackwell, Detail of The Baron in the Trees, 2011.

Give Art Made From Books a try and see what magic can be made from what we already know to be incredibly special.

Malia

She's Crafty | Hand-Lettering Ledger

Letters fascinate me. Not only are they the building blocks with which we build words, but I find them in all of their varieties to be utterly beautiful.

Constellation by Ben Didier. Some Rights Reserved.

Calligraphy, Agra. Detail of the Taj Mahal.
Photo taken by Navil Nazeri. Some Rights Reserved.

Gothic San Serif Lower Case - FUTURA!
Photo taken by Kyle Van Horn. Some Rights Reserved.

Ever since I could remember, I've been head-over-heels in love with letter forms. From the feel of writing careful letters--slow, steady, and fitting them together just right--to the digital slickness and fun of fonts.

When I was studying design, letters quickly became my main focus. First course of action for any project was figuring out the text. The look, the mix of fonts, sizes, and fit all had to be right before I even worried about the pictorial elements. Typography, the art of setting letters, also became a favorite area of study.

A good portion of my drawings and doodles include text. A quote, a song, a single word I found interesting would be the seed for a drawing. After an initial writing of letters, I would embellish and fine-tune them like I would any other thing I drew. And when I came across a project in design that needed a font I just couldn't find, I would often jump at the chance to create my own.

A favorite theme that runs through my text-based drawings are either fitting text within a shape or making a shape out of the letters. I created the Put a Bird On It drawing below in the hopes of putting IT on a tote or a t-shirt. Someday.

Put a Bird On It

 

Interesting handwriting and the skilled use of fonts light up my brain like a Christmas tree, which, coincidentally, is where I found this little gem waiting for me this year.

Hand-Lettering Ledger by Mary Kate McDevitt

Hand-Lettering Ledger is the artistic typophile's dream come true. Not only does author Mary Kate McDevitt explain the differences between calligraphy, hand lettering, and typography with a simplicity I could never muster, McDevitt also made this book incredibly pretty to oggle with the eyes. McDevitt has a background in graphic design and it shows. She introduces readers to the multiple type styles featured in her book explaining  the basics of form, offering plenty of tips, and showcasing a plethora of witty examples to inspire original creations.

Request a copy of Hand-Lettering Ledger by Mary Kate McDevitt for checkout through Link+ by clicking on the title.

We have other hand-lettering and calligraphy books if you're interested in exploring the art of handwriting:

Hand lettering : simple & creative styles for cards, scrapbooks & more
The Art & Craft of Hand Lettering 
Calligraphy : A Guide to Hand-Lettering   


Have a happy new year!
Malia & Kaye

She's Crafty | Crafty Resources

When you think of resources that might be available at your local library for crafting the first thought is obviously going to be about books. Library...books...they kind of go hand-in-hand. But did you know your local SSJCPL branch has more than books to help you in your crafty quests? Yuuup, we got the stuff...

In this post I'm going to introduce you, dear reader, to two resources you can access at your branch or on our website easy peasy.

The first resource is a database.

da.ta.base 
noun 
digital information collected and organized in one place from a variety or sources.

Easily searchable, retrievable, printable and sharable, databases are a very handy tool to have.

With our databases you can:

• Find repair information for your vehicle through the Auto Repair Reference Center

• Find your next read by browsing NoveList

• Perform searches of articles and pictures especially for children in Kids Search

Of course, I'm especially excited to talk about one database in particular, the Hobbies and Craft Reference Center! You read that right, crafters, we have an entire database bursting with all sorts of crafty information! Annnd you can access it 24 hours a day 7 days a week from home or during any hour your local branch is open on one of our public-use computers.

Yeeeah baby!

How does a database help you craft? Say you heard a friend talk about a papercutting craft called scherenschnitte and you wanted to learn more about this German art of cutting paper. This reminds you that you just recently read a blog about a library database that might have information about what you're looking for. You hop on your computer or head to your local branch and hop on one of theirs and...

ssjcpl.org -> Research -> Databases -> Fun!

1. Go to ssjcpl.org. 
2. Mouse over to Research.
3. In the menu that pops up, click on Databases. This will bring you to the Database Category page.
4. In this example, to reach the Hobbies and Craft Reference Center, you would click on the Do It Yourself category.
5. You would then click on the blue and underlined title for the database you want to play with.

Once inside the database you have a few options to find information.

• performing a Search
• browse by Category
• browse by Popular Sources
• clicking on the Featured Video
• or pressing the Get Started! button in the Crafts Spotlight area.

To continue our example, let's perform a search for "scherenschnitte".

At the very top of the search results is a promising entry, "Simplified Scherenschnitte". The search result entry tells me that it comes from a periodical, who wrote the article, which magazine it came from, and the date. It will also list thumbnails of pictures featured in the article. At the bottom of the entry it will have all the related files associated to this specific article; be it PDF, HTML, video, and animation. Click on the one you want and it will open your article or media in the browser for immediate consumption.

Once you open the article you have the option to simply read the article, print the article, email the article to yourself or a friend, find out how to cite the article in various formats (helpful if you were writing a research paper on German papercutting), get the permalink for blogging or share the article through your favorite social media sites.

Let's just say, you have options galore.

The next resource I want to highlight are magazines. 

mag.a.zine
Fun, floppy bundles of paper with photographs and/or illustrations.
Also known as: periodical, journal, glossy, zine...

I did a quick search of all of our periodical titles and was blown away that at this moment the library has about 860 different titles! Even though this number includes all languages, all ages, archived titles, and reference items, it's still an awesome number to behold.

Magazines are great for inspiration pick-me-ups. When I'm dealing with the crafting ho-hums and I can't think of anything to make, or I want to make something but I'm having major craft block--flipping through an issue or two usually gives me all sorts of ideas to play with.

And the tips! You will not believe all the awesome tips you can find in craft magazines. I'm thinking of starting a special magazine tip notebook that I can refer to any time I want. 

Get Inspired!

One of my favorite craft magazines is Paper Crafts. This magazine features paper crafted items submitted by designers. The designs are collected into sections and articles based on a theme or to showcase a craft technique, trend, or layout. This magazine in particular is up-to-date and innovative when it comes to trends in design, color palettes, new craft techniques, and what can be done with new products and tools. I never lay an issue of Paper Crafts down without at least a few ideas rattling around in my head.

Well, I hope this post was helpful and enlightening! If I can encourage at least one person to visit the Hobbies and Craft Reference Center or check out a magazine then I say my mission is a success.

Until next time--stay warm, stay informed, and keep it crafty!

Malia & Kaye

She's Crafty | Wreaths

For a few years I worked for a Christmas light company as a wreath decorator. From October to the end of November, I fluffed artificial greenery, troubleshooted lighting issues, attached jingles, jangles, ornaments and other sparkly bits, and made more bows than a single person should ever make in their entire lifetime. I even shocked myself for the love of decorating wreaths. Literally shocked myself, like, with electricity.

60" wreath decorated on the job.

Also, I think my love for wreaths might slightly shock my loved ones. Here's the evolution of my passion for wreaths:

The second year I worked for the light company I decided to take advantage of my intermediate decorating skills and bought my own pre-lit 30" wreath.  I followed that purchase up with a pile of frosty, silvery, and bird related decorations. After I found what my mom considered way too much stuff, I found more and even got some mini mirror balls to squeeze in between the boughs.

Each year after that, I've bought a few things to stick into my wreath and mix up the items I already have or I go wild with a new theme. Now I have a fleet of wreaths that I roll out for the holidays and they do different things. One wreath I made into a Countdown to Christmas decoration. One year I decorated a wreath with our greeting cards. Annnd one year I made ten little undecorated wreaths to hang in a large window.

My first wreath to hang at home.

Now, every time my mother and I go craft shopping during the winter months she politely reminds me, "You know you have plenty of wreath stuff to play with already, right?" I ignore her concerns and usually buy a cart full of glittery picks in a new color scheme and take a few days to agonize over the final designs.

Wreaths fascinate me and maybe they fascinate you too? If that is an emphatic YES! then check these books out from your local branch, my fellow wreath enthusiasts:

• Wreaths and Wallflowers
• Easy Wreaths
• Making Classic Wreaths
• Wreathmaking for the First Time
• The Holiday Wreath Book
• Great American Wreaths
• The Ultimate Wreath Book
• Wreath Magic

You can even make some easy origami wreaths if you feel so inclined by visiting these links:

Origami Wreath Tutorial on Domesticali's Typepad.
The Teaching and Learning post on the Mary & Patch blogspot shows you how to make a unique and beautiful origami wreath. Comes with a video tutorial!
 
Happy Crafting!
Malia and Kaye

She's Crafty | Yellow Owl's Little Prints

Looking for something fun to make with or for a munchkin during the long hours of the various school vacations of the winter season? Then you have to check out this book: Yellow Owl's Little Prints by Christine Schmidt.

It's pretty much one of the most adorable craft books in our collection.

The focus of Yellow Owl's Little Prints is using various printmaking and other craft techniques to create decorative and fun pieces for children that can be used over and over, and even saved as heirlooms. Christine Schmidt will show you how to make stamps (and point out which toys will make great stamps), how to make stencils, different image transfer techniques, and more. One of my favorite projects is a perpetual birthday banner made out of felt that you can use every year for every member in your family. You can even change the number of candles that are needed!

Reusable and cute!

Schmidt offers some really helpful tips at the beginning of the book in sections titled, "How to Use This Book" and "How to Teach Art to Kids". One of my favorite features in the "How To" section is a table explaining the skills kids typically possess at certain ages and how to involve them in craft projects depending on their age and grade level. Her table begins with preschoolers at the age of three and I think that is just fantastic. Get those little hands and young minds busy as early as possible!

Yellow Owl's Little Prints is a fun, well designed kid-centric craft book with projects that will give you a basic understanding of creating decorative and useful objects. Schmidt's style is whimsical and cute, but with a classic touch that will allow favorites to be saved and passed down.

The projects range in difficulty from Easy to Challenging, but I think even the Challenging projects will be just fine for beginner crafters since Schmidt's instruction layouts are well designed and her step-by-steps descriptions are easy to follow.

Similar books we currently carry geared towards making cool stuff for kids or keeping kids busy with fun crafts and activities:

• Crafting Fun Stuff With a Crowd of Kids
• Baby Crafts: Over 25 Projects to Make and Give
• Made By Dad: 67 Blueprints For Making Cool Stuff
• Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts For Kids
• Unbored : The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun
• Knitting For Baby
• Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U: 100 Easy Projects The Whole Family Can Enjoy All Year Long

Added bonus, if you click on this search term: Crafts, you should be directed down the internet highways to our shiny, new Kids' Catalog where you'll find 429 titles ranging from various holiday craft books to Activity TV DVDs!

So grab a kid, grab a craft book, grab some supplies, and get crafting!

Malia & Kaye

She's Crafty | Bookmarks

Coming soon to the Chavez Central library slat wall is a book display featuring recommendations by city staff. I'm designing a bookmark that will go into the books on display for two reasons: One, to let people know that, yes! you can check this book out; and two, to give some extra information regarding who recommended the book.

While I was online looking for inspiration to design a basic template, I came across a blog devoted to the art of bookmarks called Mirage Bookmark. If you collect bookmarks or appreciate a well-designed bookmark, you have to check out this blog!

On the Mirage blog I found an especially fun post featuring an ALA bookmark of Barabra Gordon, a superhero librarian in the city of Gotham during the day and the crime-fighting superhero known as Batgirl by night.

Too bad they don't sell these anymore, I would probably buy a stack...or two.

All this bookmark talk got me thinking about all the bookmarks I've collected, made, or received as gifts in the past. I have a pile that goes back a few years tucked away in a basket in my bedside reading table. Bookmarks come in all shapes and sizes and I'm a sucker for anything that keeps my place in a good book with style and innovation, so I have markers that range from small magnetic tabs with cartoon zombies on them and arrow shaped clips that will point to any place on the page for those of us who are always stopping mid-page (me, I am one of those people), to large pieces of photography paper trimmings from a college class and a few of the store-bought and tasseled variety. 

However, nothing beats a good ol' handmade bookmark. Every once in awhile I like to buy a package of pre-cut, ready to decorate bookmarks from the craft store and go to town. They make great, quick gifts too--especially for the bookmark lover. Print out a favorite quote and fill it up with doodles or fill the surface of a bookmark with pictures of ridiculously cute kitten faces that will make you smile every time you pick up your book.

We have the following books about bookmarks. You'll see I padded my list with fictional books since we only have one book specifically about bookmarks. Also, I thought it was cute we had fiction books with references to bookmarks.

Collecting Bookmarkers by A.W. Coysh

Bookmarks Are People Too! by Henry Winkler

Bookmarked to Die by Jo Dereske

Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett

Great advice from
Collecting Bookmarkers

Another tip if you want to find books on crafting your very own bookmarks is to look at the table of contents of most papercrafting books--you'll most likely find at least one project involving a bookmark there.

Link+ Books

Carving Caricature Bookmarks by Chris Morgan

The Art of Illumination by Patricia Carter

Of course the bookmark I end up using most often is my due-date receipt from the library.

The best free bookmark EVER!

Malia & Kaye

She's Crafty | Trick or Treat? Here's Something Neat!

The other day I stumbled across a series of tutorials on YouTube that completely blew my mind O.O

And if you can believe, they all involved craft foam!

Craft foam: Colorful and Squishy

Craft.

Foam.

I never thought in my whole life I would ever be as excited as I am at this moment to work with craft foam. Sure it's colorful and squishy, two modes of being which I completely adore, but I haven't found much of a use for the stuff within the areas of which I'm usually crafting. Until now.

I can see it now, craft foam will completely revolutionize the way I make costume accessories. And it came to my attention just in time for the number one costuming event of the year, Halloween.

Steampunk Goggles

This story of craft foam goodness truly begins with a pair of steampunk goggles I purchased at a Halloween store. When I put them on over my short, spiky hair and looked in the mirror I immediately thought of a comic book/movie character that was popular when I was in high school known as, Tank Girl.

True story.

The next thought that came up: How can I merge these two items?

Tank Girl + Steampunk goggles = ???

"Poster girl for the Apocalypse"

With research mission in mind I jumped on the internet to find more pictures of Tank Girl to find out if I could actually come up with a costume for Halloween in time that incorporates the new goggles. I found pictures of Tank Girl wearing a flight helmet, a fur-lined aviator hat, and a combat helmet. I wanted to go for something I could actually make so I choose the aviator route instead of choosing the hardcore combat helmet.

Well, now what do I do? Do I try to find a pattern for an aviator hat online and sew one? Do I have the time? Maybe there's a video tutorial on YouTube.




Whoa wait, what is this...

Steampunk flight hat?

Wait, from foam? 

I clicked on the video (which you can find here.) and watched with jaw dropped and eyes wide.

It has earpieces, wires and tubing?!
And looks like it's made out of leather?

My internal craft geek exploded into a billion screaming fans of incredibly, awesome things. Yes, I was that excited. I knew what I wanted to make and I was embarking into uncharted craft territory: one of my all-time favorite activities.

I downloaded the pattern from the creator of the video tutorial, LostWax. And I got to work.

So, shall I share with you how it's coming along?
Yes, I think I shall...

Here are pictures of the flight helmet pieces glued together but before paint and earpieces. 

This helmet is held together with rubber cement!

The leathery texture is made by placing a wad of scrunched up aluminum foil onto the craft foam and carefully heating it with an iron. You can watch a tutorial on how to apply this leathery texture to craft foam here. This part took a lot longer than I thought (like, forever). However, it came out so cool looking that it's worth the time and fuss. Once paint is applied you can really see the effect.

Now for the finale, some pictures of the helmet with earpieces added, buckle attached, paint applied, and a spiffy metal plate *winkwink*. I still need to add some wires and tubing, but that's about it and I'll be done and ready to pilot my very own post-apocalyptic airship!

 

"Metal" plate, future home for wires.

Can you believe it's not Leather?

Have a fun and happy Halloween!

Malia & Kaye