In the midst of job-hunting and slaving, I took a lil time (cumulatively approx. 8 hours) to make these papercraft Russian Dolls.
If, like me, you haven't been to Russia or own some authentic wooden ones, you can, like me, make yours from paper.
Download pattern
Download instructions
Needed a quick craft fix earlier, so I made this needle matchbox shown in Cut Out + Keep, with some spur-of-the-moment modifications.
Follow all instructions shown, but before gluing the back of the styrofoam to the card, fasten a brad through it without piercing the back cover.
Cut the front flap by about half it's height, tape a loop of ribbon or string into place, and that's it. Now you just need to pop some spare needles in and there you have a handy, pretty pocket needle matchbook!
I don't really need this since I only sew at home, but it was still so fun to make!
No I haven't been slacking or getting lazy. In fact, I've been crafting every night from dinner till bedtime because the possibilities are endless and I'm getting inspiration from all over.
One problem though. Some stuff I made were good enough as gifts, and if I blog about them, they will no longer be a surprise. So does that mean I'll only blog about lousy stuff unworthy of giving?
Nah... there are still many Good Things to be made not for gifting purposes, but just for learning new techniques and polishing skills.
However, this totally adorable thing below does not require much skill except handling the scissors. Simple but Nice.
Changeable Monkey Moods Doorknob Hanger
*kiddie voice* I did it all by myself (with credits to HP) and it's MINE! :p
I've since rounded the edges, but I still badly want to laminate it. Is there any way of achieving that without involving laminating / heat-sealer machines yet not having to resort to inferior cellophane tape wrapping? Does spraying varnish or lacquer do the trick well?
Sigh.. so many questions, so little budget.
Btw, Happy April Fool's Day!!
I love making boxes. Always have. What's not to like? It satisfies my itchy fingers, and if the final product is desirable, it actually helps to DECLUTTER, as opposed to other crafts that once completed, have to be kept somewhere. And hey, if you love making all those other crafts, you could also make boxes to store them. Double bonus!
I'm still considerably green though, so my boxes are still far from perfect. Have a look:
A Japanese-Western fusion box I made on a whim. I don't know why I like to call it that though. Have yet to put a handle/knob on it.
Boxes in the form of little drawers! So adorable and useful for small items
like my quilling tools, handmade embellishments and other thingamajigs.
Yeah, more to come in the near future, I hope. Been busy with work and trying my hand at other things, so I'll get back to this a little later.
Over the past month or so, I was told that my mum has been creating loads of luck for us, in the form of old school lucky stars!
My mumsie makes these at a rapid rate, during her TV time. These huge jars hold over 1500 stars each.
When she ran out of jars, she filled up our unused IKEA lantern instead! I think it looks absolutely gorgeous.
Not only do these stars bring us luck, they also make for a great recycling effort. All materials used came from the pesky flyers and brochures that were practically chucked in our faces every other day.
See? No waste! My dad cuts them all up into strips and my mum turns them into pretty little things. What a team!
I like to imagine that when I next return home, our house would be star-flooded and we'd be wading through them. :)
On such a cool Saturday night, I wish I was on one of these instead of making a miniature one out of paper..
That said, it was quite a neat little project. I took the risk and used 200gsm card-stock instead of the usual 80gsm photocopy paper. The rigidity made the tabs a little harder to fold and glue into place, but the overall result was really solid and I am so proud of it!
Oh, and by the way, it rotates. :)
In chronological order:
1) Golddiggers by Maarten Janssens
Only upon completion of these cuties did I realise how appropriate they were as well, since this is the Year of the Rat!
2) Mini Gift Bags by Martha Stewart (herself?)
Nothing extraordinary. Just couldn't resist the sweet colours of the templates! The actual title of the project was Miniature Valentine's Day Gift Bags, but I'm sure you can make use of these for any gift-giving occassion.
3) Cute Anime Schoolgirl (update: 5 Apr 2008: this awesome site has closed down!)
How small?
So cute huh? Well, I survived, and the end product turned out not bad at all, given my amateur skills. *grins*
4) HedKase Kid by Brian Castleforte
The following night I decided to go back to simpler projects so that I could do it while watching American Idol. NiceBunny has some really cool paper toys. I'm not such a fan of robots, cars and other 'macho' action characters, so I only picked the fun ones.
5) Sayuri by Nick Knite
Here's a cute one from the HedKase Artist Series. I also have a few other projects saved up to occupy me another day. But meanwhile I wanted to try some different things first.
6) Rockin' Rudy by Matt Hawkins
Quite easy to make, and oh so adorable, sitting with legs/hooves dangling from the edge of my shelf. His head nods if you poke it (gently!!).
Moved it to a less precarious spot - atop my pocket tissue dispenser!
7) Speakerdog Loves Stripes by Carolina Negret
Speakerdog is another site by very imaginative people who are generous enough to share lovely paper toys for free. Gotta give them props. Lots of it.
Pictured above is my first Speakerdog (from Series 2). They have so many gorgeous ones that you just can't help but make them all and start a collection. I know I would, when I have more storage space.
Yup, those are where all my nights for the past week have gone to, and it was well worth it. I have a shelf-top full of quaint paper things now.. :)
And that's a wrap!