Paste papers

A few people have asked me over the past few months if I've ever made paste papers, never one to knock back a challenge, I decided to give it a try. The recipe I had called for three parts water to one part flour. You mix the water and flour together so that there are no lumps, then gently heat it in a saucepan on the hot plate until it thickens, being careful not to let it burn.

Well, I thought, I'm sure I can do this easier than that. So, I mixed cornflour with the water and cooked it in the microwave for one minute, stirred it, then cooked it for another minute, voila, flour paste.

I then added three different colours of acrylic paints, applied it to the paper with a brush and then gave it some texture with cardboard tubes, wooden skewers, anything that was on my table top. These are the results. It takes at least twenty four hours to dry completely.

You can keep any that's left over in the fridge for a few days. I added a few drops of water to it as I worked to keep it to the consistency of thick paint.






I also managed to squeeze in some time to finish this 'chunky' necklace. I now have to get back to finishing the invitations for the show, by the way you're all invited to the opening night.

Pins and Pages

These are some pins I've made for my exhibition, I still have to add text to the panel in the smaller one. I'm always looking for new things that I can utilize in my jewellery. These metal plates are usually used in book art but I like to work outside the square.



The papers above are ready to be decorated for my paper packs on Etsy and also for my journals. There are so many stages to go through before they are finished.




Theses are pages waiting to be assembled into the journal covers in my earlier post. I'm making two quite large journals with lots of pages and artwork.

Thanks also to Fannie for nominating me for the two awards that are in my side bar, it's very humbling to receive them again. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit, I feel I've made so many new friends and acquaintances since I started blogging and I've received so much inspiration from visiting your sites in return. Thanks everyone.

Things for Etsy

I've been trying to get some more things ready for my Etsy store. Today's a public holiday here in Melbourne and I've spent most of it photographing my work and loading onto Etsy. I still have a few more things but will add them later.


We went for a walk in the forest which is about ten minutes from home. We have some of the tallest trees in the world, Eucalyptus, or mountain ash, it's not until you're well into the forest and realize how tall they are, they block out the sun making you thing it's much later in the day.




This is Sherbrooke forest and is renowned for it's famous lyre birds. The male has brown tail feathers, similar in shape to a peacock, only smaller and brown. They are the most amazing birds, they imitate other bird sounds and anything else they hear, chain saws, machinery. They are incredible. We heard two competing with each other, it was like a forest full of bird song. We caught a glimpse of a female scratching away at the forest floor, they are very shy and not easy to find.




This is the other extreme, the tiny fungus on the forest floor.

Check out Jo's blog, she has a great article on rusting fabric and paper. She's also a lady from the hills.

Necklaces and pink boots

I haven't had a lot of work to post this past week as I'm working on so many things and none are finished yet. These are a couple of necklaces I delivered to Touchstone gallery this week, along with some earrings. I'm still working on some for my etsy store.
I have an exhibition coming up in September with my very talented friend Patsy. We have a room each in the Highway Gallery in Mt Waverley for 2 weeks. I'm exhibiting paintings, jewellery and journals. Patsy paints and makes fabulous bags and books She's also colour crazy so it should be a buzz with colour. Sorry Judy and Jen.




I couldn't resist these little feet and gorgeous legs, they belong to my two grand daughters, one's two and the other is three. Can you guess what their favourite colour is?.

Slowly progressing

I can very slowly see the light at the end of the tunnel, still a fair way to go, but getting there. My decorated papers are finished and all cut to A4 size there are seventy two sheets altogether.
I've also managed to print out more business cards and package some of the earrings.
All of this is for the Artistic Journey retreat here in Melbourne which starts on the 15th May.





These are some of my finished (almost, they still need sealing) collage canvases, I still have a few more of these to complete.
My journals are almost done and I have the big task of turning all of the jewellery jumble in the last post into necklaces. I'm enjoying every minute of it as I can see progress on a daily basis, although my poor studio is screaming out for a tidy up again.
Oh well there's always tomorrow, or the day after.

Purple haze

This is a necklace I've just completed for Patsy, one of my students in the altered book workshops. I made the copper book with the pages being pieces of fabric from old Japanese kimonos. Patsy is a textile artist so this was very appropriate for her. Patsy provided all of the interesting jewellery components. The close up is of a beautiful piece that was originally a brooch from France.

We had to cancel our altered book workshop last night due to torrential rain. The storm was incredible it flooded the Hann Made Studio workshop with water pouring down the walls from the inside. We have had similar storms tonight. The weather is warm so it is very balmy inside and out, you can almost see the garden grow, so lush, it's sad to think that in two or three weeks, when we get the real heat, every thing will be tinder dry and a major fire hazard. Mother nature is very fickle or is this the result of global warming?

Back to the jewellery

I've finally got back to the jewellery making, I haven't made anything for over three weeks, so I'm aiming for a brooch a night for the next few days. I work in fits and starts, but I get there in the end.
I've been asked to teach another Altered book workshop in August at Hann Made Studio so if anyone's able to attend I'd love to see you there.
Now I'd better get back to brooch making, the nights ticking away.

New Book Necklace

This is a new necklace that I've just completeed for a friend's birthday. She's worked in the fashion industry all her life, so the pages have vintage lace with images of fashion through the ages, I've also added pearl buttons, silk ribbon and trim.



The cover was made from this silver plated biscuit tray. I cut it out with my trusty Dremel

Decorated papers and copper necklace

I made a special copper 'red velvet' necklace (top photo) for Judy who sent me this HUGE role of annealed wire that she managed to find in a Bunnings store. It's terrific wire, thicker than what I've been able to find so far. It will be great for Keith Lo Bue and Richard Salley type of jewellery, my next challenge. The necklace is made from a copper fancy buckle that was curved in both directions. I hammered it flat, then threaded red velvet ribbon through the slots. I made a copper back and joined them all together with micro eyelets, fabulous little eyelets only 1/16 in dia. The 'bridge' is a copper, pipe or hose bracket that I aged and then added Nina knots and beads.

I've been busy over the weekend decorating paper for various projects I have under way. The first photo shows stage one of the process, this is where very watery paint is applied to paper towel and then lace, fabric, stencils, whatever will leave a mark, is brayered over the tissue and through to the paper. When this is dry, then I really go to town adding lots of colour. I have a production line going on my bench top. When this is again dry, I decorate even further with my hand carved stamps. The last two photos show the finished papers. These will then go into my journals and be worked on even further. I always scan them first so that I can change the colours in photo shop and have more colour combinations. I'll be teaching this technique, as well as others and journal making at Hann Made Studio later in the year. You can email me or visit my web site for details.

Charm Swap

I've finished my bracelet from all the charms I received in Dawn Seller's charm swap. We each made 25 charms and sent them to Dawn, she did a fantastic job of distributing them as there were 111 of us in the swap.
I've made the bracelet so that I can add a chain at either end and turn it into a necklace. Thanks everyone for your charms, they're lovely.
Visit Dawn's site and see her magnificent necklace, she made enough charms to swap with everyone.

More Jewellery

Another pin to go to the gallery, I have two more to make and a couple of smaller necklaces. I'll show photos when they're done.