Somehow, I don’t think that I will ever go to New Orleans for the real Mardi Gras,

but that won’t stop me from celebrating in my studio!

I made these Mardi Gras masks with all kinds of techniques and things that I love:

Tatting, spool knitting, crochet, butterflies, Grandma’s vintage buttons, beads and other found objects, as well as woodworking.

Feels like a celebration to me!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Images and text are copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay and not to be copied without her permission.

See: Challenge posting

Just for fun, I thought that I would post a few pics of some of the handmade books I’ve made over the years:

Here are some handmade books that I made and then glued origami angels to. (yes, I made the angels)

The angels are all very eco friendly and ‘green’ as they are recycled and upcycled, as they are all made from junk mail or magazine photos

I’ll post more pics soon.

All images are copyright protected and not to be copied without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission

On the Spool knitting group on yahoo, we’ve been talking about paper vs pdf patterns.

Several of the clever women there have said that they print out their pdf’s, slip them into plastic sleeves and pop them into a binder.  The patterns never get lost that way.

WELL! That has inspired me!

I LOVE making journals, notebooks, sketchbooks  etc. that are one of a kind, eco friendly and oh so artsy.

So….. why not make your own book to store your pdf’s and loose patterns?

You could make 2 covers from cardboard or plywood or veneer or chipboard or somthing else, and then decorate them any way that you wanted to.

Then- spool knit, or tat or crochet or braid or kumihimo or  use any other method of making a cord.

Use the cords to hold your pdf book together….

And, if you didn’t want to use plastic sleeves, you could punch holes in large envelopes, label them, and store your pdf’s and pattern bits and pieces in there….

And, Voial! your pdf’s, notes, sketches, clippings  and patterns won’t ever get lost!     Yay!

SO  HERE’S THE CHALLENGE:

MAKE A BOOK

THAT IS PERFECT FOR STORING YOUR PDF AND OTHER LOOSE PATTERNS

THIS IS A GREEN CHALLENGE,

MAKE 2 COVERS  FROM SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE RECYCLING, RECLAIMING OR UPCYCLING,

AND DECORATE THEM ANY WAY YOU WANT:

USE PHOTOS, PAINT, WEAVING, FLAT DOLLS, TATTING, CROCHET, STITCHERY, DRAWING, WHATEVER….

A N D !

THE BOOK HAS TO BE BOUND WITH HANDMADE CORDS

Take pics and post them to your blog

or wherever you post your pics

and then send me a link

so we can all be inspired and admire.

Who is the challenge open to?

ANYONE.  Everyone….

Any crafter who loves making recycled and reclaimed and upcycled stuff.

People who like making books.

People who have never made a book.

This challenge is  for spool knitters, tatters, scrapbookers, weavers, crocheters, yarnies and crafters in general .

Show us how  it works for you to store your pdf’s, clippings and loose sketches, notes and patterns….

There should be a prize, shouldn’t there?

Okay…. I’ll work on something special for the winner… not telling what, yet.

The challenge STARTS NOW

and is open ended,

but I will award a prize on APRIL 22,

because that’s EARTH DAY

okay everyone…. get to work!

I have posted pics of some of the handmade books I’ve made over the years -

Here are the links to: Books with Origami Angels

images and text on this blog are copyright protected

so please don’t copy them without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission.

Thanks

In this picture, Tottie Tomato is wrapped in the words of Dame Julian of Norwich’s prayer:

And all shall be well

and all shall be well

and all manner of things shall be well…

I love this prayer and say it allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time……….

To pay homage to Dame Julian and her wonderful prayer,  I wove the bands that I used to shape her body (and her banner) on my inkle loom. I crocheted her hands and head, and wove the remainder of the elements of the sculpture on various other small looms.

I use a simple pickup technique for weaving words.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I think I should put ‘do a video of  weaving words’ on my to do list!

The images in this blog entry are copyright and not to be used by anyone else for anything else….