Original textile ACEOs

I have been doing my homework on ACEOs lately. An ACEO is a piece of artwork in any medium but it must be 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches in size. It can be a print or an original.
People but and collect them for various reasons. Some people make a hobby out of collecting them and may keep them stored in collectors books. Some people frame them in special ACEO  frames and either display them in groups or use them to fill a small space on the wall. I have seen them framed with several in a frame and think that looks nice. Anyway they are inexpensive and brilliant for anyone who wants affordable, original art.
I usually work on a much bigger scale and the first one I tried to make took ages. I decided to list it in my Folksy shop and then went outside to feed my pigs and sheep. When I got back it had sold!
For the last 2 days I have been experimenting and playing with different methods of producing these little pictures. I won't make my first million by selling them but they are fun and pleasurable to make so I have decided to give it a go. These are the ones I have produced whilst playing and I will be listing them on etsy and folksy.

Felted dog toys!

I've always said that felt is a versatile fabric but this is a new use that I have heard of. Felted dog toys! Sara Goforth has an etsy shop in which she sells wonderful crochet and felted ones.
Sara crochets the shape she wants, puts a tennis ball inside and felts the whole lot in the washing machine.
She says that the crochet toys are suitable for smaller dogs and the felted ones are fine for dogs over 50 lb. They can chew on them and play tug of war without any ill effects. What a brilliant idea. They can also be washed on a cool washing machine cycle.
I know that anything felted in the washing machine becomes really dense and tough but had never considered this use.
Go and take a look at Sara's shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/goforthcreate?ref=l2-shopheader-name
you should be just in time to buy your special friend a Christmas gift.
Here is some of the feedback Sara has received
"I will admit when you first said that you made crocheted dog toys I was a little skeptical as to how durable could they be. Let me tell you that I have 4 dogs....a 90 lb lab, a 65 lb labradoodle, a shoe sized yorkie-poo, and a 7 week old Australian Shepard/ Blue Heeler mix puppy ....3 of the 4 are very hard on toys and are big time chewers....they have been passing it around, chewing on it, playing tug a war and keep away with it and have yet to make it look anything less then brand new. I am very impressed."

New felt art pictures on Folksy

I just thought I would show you one of the pictures I have just listed on Folksy. I am using this website as well as etsy because we have almost reached shipping cut off times for international orders. Many of the pieces on there are ideal gifts.

Here is the link for the Folksy shop

http://folksy.com/shops/feltart

Christmas discount for felt art paintings

Hello every one,
I just thought I would let you know about the discount I am offering to my FB followers and blog readers. It is valid from now until the end of January 2014. You will receive 10% discount. Use the code FB1314 at the checkout of my etsy shop.
Please check my shipping and policies page for posting deadlines if you want to receive pre Christmas.
Here is one of my recent felts to whet your appetite!
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/166467944/felt-art-picture-textile-art-textile?ref=shop_home_active

Making paper with plants part 2

In my last blog we did the preparation for paper making and are now ready to go ahead and form sheets of paper.
In your plastic tray you need to make a mould. This is simply 3 layers of newspaper. Fold the bottom one in to a small rectangle, the next in to a larger rectangle and sit it on top of the first one. Next put on the top piece of newspaper which should be bigger again. Cover with a damp cloth and you should have a little hill.

Now in your other plastic bowl mix the pulp with enough water to scoop your deckle and frame into. I couldn't photograph this part as I only have one pair of hands!

You need to hold the deckle, net side upper most with the frame on top. Now scoop the deckle and frame in to the pulpy water mix. Start at a 45 degree angle and level out as you go. Shake from side to side and back to front as you bring it out of the water then hold it there until the water has drained out. The pulp should evenly cover the netting with no holes. If you have holes tip it all back in to the water and start again.

Move to your mould and tip the pulp out of the deckle and on to the mould.
Cover this with another piece of damp fabric and continue until all of the pulp is used up. Make sure to stir the pulpy water in between each sheet of paper so the vegetable matter does not all sink to the bottom.
The next stage is drying. With the paper still on the fabric take them and lay flat in a warm room to dry. This will take at least 24 hours. When dry peel the papers off of the cloths and hey presto! you have paper.

To be honest my paper was a little brittle and crinkly. I would not use broccoli leaves again. I have had success before with other vegetation though so don't be put off. Probably best to start with grass or hay.

Have fun!

How to maker paper from plants part 1

After my mixed media post in which I used handmade paper I've been requested for instructions on how to make it. You can, of course, make paper from recycled paper or buy pulp all ready to use but it is soooo satisfying to make it from raw products that you have gathered yourself.
Theoretically, paper can be made with any plant - fresh or dried but some make better paper than others. All types of grasses even dried in the form of hay make good paper but why not try something else and experiment? Have a look around your garden if you have one. If you are a city dweller check out roadside weeds and fallen leaves in the park. I chose to use the tough, outside leaves from broccoli plants because I have a lot of them in my vegetable patch. They were a nice reddish green colour and I thought they might make an interesting coloured paper. Do remember that the colour of your plant material will affect the colour of your paper so if you want writing paper use pale plant material.
Before you start there are a few things you need. Probably the most important . is your deckle and frame.

The deckle is a wooden frame covered in mesh and the frame has to be of the same size but without the mesh. This are the tools you will use to scoop up the pulp and shape it in to paper. You could use 2 picture frames of the same size and staple old net curtain to one.

You will also need a large stainless steel or enamel cooking vessel. I used a bucket. Also a large plastic vat. It has to be a bit bigger than your deckle. I used the sort of plastic tray which you can buy as a cat litter tray.You will need to some sheets of fabric also a little bigger than the deckle. Reusable kitchen cloths are OK and 2 pieces of board. If you are using edible plants you could use chopping boards. You will also need a solution to cook your plants in which will break down the cellulose. The best liquid is wood ash lye. For some people this may not be practical to make in which case you can add washing soda to your cooking water.A blender is useful too. If you are making the wood ash lye here is the recipe.

1 bucket of wood ash from a 100% wood fire

enough water to cover the ash

Make sure the room is well ventilated as this stuff smells!

boil the wood ash in water for 1/2 an hour and leave to soak over night. In the morning strain through some netting. KEEP THE LIQUID and discard the wood ash. You will end up with a disgusting browny pink liquid like this.

Next you need to pick your plant material. You can see my broccoli leaves here. At least a bucket full will be needed. Now you have to cook the plants in the wood ash lye. Use the stainless steel or enamel pot and bring to the boil. Cover and cook until very soft. Grass cuttings take at least an hour. My leaves took 1 1/2 hours. Make sure that they are covered with the liquid. If you don't have enough you can add a little water. Again make sure you have enough ventilation.

When you have very soft vegetation

you can strain. This time discard the cooking liquid and keep the plant matter. There will probably still be lumps of plant in the pulpy mass so whizz it through a blender until it looks like the picture above. If you do not have a blender you can put it in a large container and beat with a heavy stick - maybe a rolling pin.

Your pulp is ready to use! Next time I will post the actual paper making process. 

Spotlight on Joanne Hawker

During the month of September Etsy UK organised a mentor month where we teamed up with another shop owner with different strengths to our own. I was teamed up with Joanne who helped me with photography. Here is a little bit about her and some samples of her work .



1. Have you always wanted to be a graphic designer?
Yes I have actually! Well, except for a phase when I wanted to do Horse and Stable Management (I don’t even have a horse and my dad put a stop to that!) I knew from an early age that I wanted to do something in the creative industry because its always been a part of my life. In primary school for instance we hand bound all our own exercise books, made numerous lino cuttings, candles, our own classroom curtains, and I spent hours tracing images out of books. For Christmas my wish list was always full of creative kits! I only really decided on Graphic Design in year 10 when we had to make our GCSE choices.
2. How long have you been running your own business?
I graduated from university in 2010 so I opened my online shop then. However, it’s only really taken off in the last year when I joined Not on the High Street. It’s still very much a hobby. Before I opened my shop I was also doing the odd bit of freelance design work too.


3. What inspired you to open your online shops?
I found that I was creating lots of illustrations and patterns but didn’t have anything that I could do with them so I started to offer them up as prints. I thought that it was better to do something positive with them rather than hiding them away in a folder on my desktop. Not only that but I gave up on searching for a job in the creative industry because no one ever replied so I decided that eventually I will be my own boss.4. What part of running your own business do you enjoy the most and least?
The best of it is having full creative control. There’s no one telling me what I can and can’t design. It’s also lovely when customers leave nice messages about how much they like your work. That’s always a really big confidence boost. The thing I least enjoy is the paperwork! But I guess it’s got to be done!

5. How do you get ideas for your images?
EVERYWHERE! It could be conversations, a weird dream or songs. But I mainly get my inspiration from the natural environment. You will see notice lots of flowers, bugs and animals featured in my work!

6. Do any other designers inspire you?
There are lots of people I find inspiring! Alice Potter, Alyssa Nassner and my good friend Emmeline Pidgen to name but a few. I follow a lot of pages on facebook and twitter too so I’m constantly being bombarded with pretty things which isn’t so bad!

7. Which is your favourite item in your shop and why?
At the moment it’s my iPhone cases! I had such fun making them. I pull a lot of silly faces anyway so these can only add to the fun! Now other people can join in too!8. What would you like to be doing ten years from now?

In ten years time I’d like to quit my day job and be my own boss full time in a nice little house of my own and a nice big office! That’s the plan anyway! I’ll get there slowly but surely. I’m determined!

9. Where else can you be found on the web?
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JoanneHawkerDesignandIllustration
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Joannehawker
Blog: www.origamichicken.com
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/joannehawker
Not on the High Street: www.notonthehighstreet.com/joannehawker
Wanelo: www.wanelo.com/joannehawkerWhy not pop along to Joanne's shop and see more of her work?