Knotting a Pearl Necklace

I met with the Crafters Anonymous group on Saturday, a local crafting group.

We bring whatever craft we are working on. I brought beads and supplies to make necklaces. Plus I repaired a few of my necklaces, one has a Guillamine bead I bought in Africa.

On January 29th I wrote about creating with beads - click here to read that blog. 

I recently bought faux pearls at CJ Bead Store in Katy. Last summer I took a pearl knotting class there from Joy. I made two necklaces in small and larger size faux pearls. The supplies include: fish hook clasp, two knotting crimps, bead cord and pearls.

Plus the tools include scissors, needle-nose pliers, and this long needle awl.

First you thread the knotting crimp, make a knot, hook the crimp onto the fish hook, as pictured.

The difficult part of pearl knotting is getting the knots in between and up close against each pearl.

Place the tip of your thumb up against the knot to make sure it rests close to the pearl. My finished pearl necklace I made this week is sized in between my two others. 

Plus I made these necklaces to give as gifts. I plan to give them as Christmas gifts in 3 months. Tell my nieces not to look!

I’m glad I bought several large Guillamine beads, also known as African Trade Beads, when I visited Africa. Bead prices range from 50 cents for smaller beads up to $25.00!

Please let me know if you have tried knotting a pearl necklace or if you have any questions about how to go about doing it.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Lettering Text & Texture

Creating experimental calligraphy pages during a three day workshop with Yukimi Annand - from the Los Angeles area - was so much fun! Please try some of these suggestions.

Start by using Sumi ink with increasingly larger pieces of balsa wood to make marks and write the alphabet. My 12 x 18 inch paper from Hobby Lobby, has 60 sheets: multi-media art paper for less than $10.

Yukimi handed out about 20 instruction pages, with quotes taken from a book I own and love: Wabi Sabi. 

Quote by Claude Monet: The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.

Try making one letter in many different ways. And then try a whole alphabet using the stick letters.

Use brushes with rags attached playing with Yukimi’s favorite colors: FW Acrylic - Payne’s Gray and Burnt Umber.

Create abstract pieces, work with Dr. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. The third day we put our book together: one-sided pages with glue stick covered with folded black Arches paper. Each person took center stage to show how we worked.

Fun to play! Class photos below taken by Yukimi Annand.

At home I played with one of my pieces to add some color with Prismacolor pencils.

I would love to hear from you - any questions or how you enjoy experimenting with your lettering, making marks, text and texture.
©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Creating a Clamshell Box

I finally made another Clamshell Box! I learned how to make a Clamshell Box in an Austin workshop in 2012. I made another box from the pre-cut boards as soon as I arrived home.

A Clamshell Box is a custom made case for historically important books in museums or libraries, offering protection against light, wear and tear.

This week I made my box from start to finish: cutting the boards, gluing; making sure my book fit the box. I gathered my supplies:

• right edge ruler, plus smaller ruler to get in tight spaces

• scissors

• bone folder

• pencil

• brushes

• PVA glue

• Davey board - thicker than mat board

Not pictured: 

• X-Acto razor, 11 blade to cut board - I use my CARL Cutter to cut smaller pieces

• paper or book cloth to cover your box

First, I measured my Link Binding Book: 6 5/8 x 10 1/4 plus the depth is 1 inch. I needed 11 pieces of board: the lower tray does not fit the book perfectly since 1/8 inch of the board thickness, two on the length and one for width, are added. The top tray goes over the lower tray plus 3 sides - remember the 1/8 for all the sides, then 3 boards - looks like a cover for a book. 

The sides are glued on top of the tray. Then roll the glued sides of each tray on the paper. Remember that your finished box will depend totally on the size your book. Mine was 10 3/4 by 6 3/4 for the lower tray. And 11 x 7 x 1 1/8 for the upper tray.

I used the paper Debbie gave me for my July workshop, 1 1/2 sheets of  20 x 30 inches. My order of gluing after rolling the sides: bottom back, front tray sides, top sides, then top back.

Remember to cut the sides in v shapes so your paper is not clumped up. It really is fold over, measure and cut as you go. Your amount of paper will depend on the size of your book.

I made the books for the Austin Clamshell Boxes to fit inside. I recommend making a box for your book instead. My recent box took hours to make but was a fun challenge too. 

Let me know if you have questions and be sure to tell me about your experience with making boxes for your books.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Art Day Techniques

I was thrilled when Carol invited me to an Art Day, explaining that we would show each other an art technique. All the participants were members of the Houston Calligraphy Guild.

Each person taught some form of art, bringing materials for the others. One day three of us made paste paper in Carol's garage.

We met on Saturdays every two months for several years. Carol was the hostess, her husband Cooper made delicious dumplings for us! We met all day. During the last year and a half we had the same five women participating. 

One Art Day I handed out cardboard boxes from Michaels. We collaged the top, bottom, sides and inside of the box which I learned from Teesha Moore in her Curious Little Box workshop in Spring, Texas.

Carol taught us fun background techniques using large salt crystals in wet watercolor paint and we made a book with our samples.

Then we used an embossing tool with brass sheets. We embossed over clip art, smeared with ink, and when dry - wiped with steel wool.

Fran taught us Contemporary Decorated Capitals, using Micron pens, Ziller inks and watercolor.

I love meeting with other artists for play days. Any Art Day fuels my passion for creativity! Do you make art by yourself or also with groups? I would love to hear from you.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Top Ten Reasons...

I changed the name of my blog this week: from Paper Crafting to Art Craft Share. I was motivated to blog by writing a blog twice a month for Arnold Grummer Paper Making. And I may continue with them; I’m taking a short break from paper making projects. 

My blog remains the same: talking about workshops I have taken plus my varied interests: making books, calligraphy, and all that comes in between including art journaling and DIY crafts.

Here are my Top Ten Reasons to Art, Craft & Share:

1.   Inspiring others.

2.   Developing new ideas.

3.   Learning.

4.   Sharing information.

5.   Going on a rant!

6.   Creating home decorations.

7.   Playing with crafts.

8.   Collaborating with friends.

9.   Exploring an unfilled need.

10. Having fun!

The world needs us! We are needed because we are happy and we do not horde information - we share what we are doing. We are - each of us - unique. Please let me know what you think too!
©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Exploring Italic Calligraphy

I started learning Italic calligraphy through a Tutorial Program given by the Houston Calligraphy Guild (HCG) in 1999.  I had tried writing calligraphy on my own; I was OK but I wanted to get better.

The 6 month - 6 lesson - correspondence course randomly paired me with a teacher. I was lucky to have Fritzi Harry. She gave me encouragement and also let me know when I was faltering. 

I was given a detailed supply list: I had to write with a pen staff and a nib, no felt pens allowed! The 6 lessons included learning the basics of lower case: Minuscules - and upper case: Majuscules, ending with Design Principles and a final art piece using a minimum of 25 words.

I mailed my lesson to Fritzi and she mailed it back to me with a piece of tracing paper over my writing. She let me know where I succeeded and where I needed improvement. She even gave me gold stars!

We used this informative little textbook by Lloyd Reynolds. After 6 months I received a lovely Certificate at the September HCG meeting in 1999, written in Italic of course.

Practice and more practice

Through the years, I took other Italic hour-long workshops with the HCG. Recently I studied with Peter Thornton: Italic Variations at the annual calligraphy convention held in Dallas in 2014. I had fun learning how to loosen up after following the guidelines for many years!

If you want to learn Italic calligraphy, try it on your own first with the Lloyd Reynolds book, plus online courses, then find someone in person to share their experience with you about their hand lettering.

Please let me know how it works out for you. 

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016