How To Make The Modular Tree.

Yesterday I showed you the Christmas Tree hanging in my living room.  It is made from individual folded squares of recycled paper, and strung together abacus-like to form a tree.

There are many decorative square shapes that you can fold.  
Here is a Pictorial to make up the squares. I used painted book paper squares for the tree, but I am using plain book paper to show the technique I used. 


Slits were cut on the back of each square to thread the string through.
I used coarse string to create enough friction to keep the shapes from slipping down and out of position.
The tree was laid out on the floor before each string was threaded. Refer back to the picture in yesterday’s post for the pattern.

The rod at the top of the mural was made from a large rectangle of waste paper, rolled obliquely into a long paper rod and secured with some wood glue.   
Each string was knotted around the paper rod.

 

Colourful tissue paper squares were inserted inside some of the shapes.

In the next post I’ll tell you about painting the book paper and the pattern I randomly printed on some of the squares. 

Modular Paper Tree

This year some alternate Christmas decor is up and hanging in our living space.

Recycled paper square were folded and supspended to form a modular hanging tree.  
I love the vibrant geometric textured feel.  

In the next couple of blog posts, I’ll tell you how I made it.  

Prepare to hear about painting paper with acrylic, Collagraph printing (I learnt a new term there),  Origami folding, and paper rolling. 
How-to over here

The Discipline of Paper

Elle Decoration has profiled some interesting Paper Artists in this month’s mag.  I am amazed at the South African talent in this field and am honoured to have been included in the line-up. 

The cover features the very talented London-based South African designer Johan de Lange. 
Other paper people in the article were Zurich-based Sipho Mabona,  Cape Town-based Niki Daly, Origami for Africa’s Kyoko Kimuru, Joanna Orr of Head on Design, Pauline Irving of Artymiss, Doron Shaltiel of Quazi Design and Paper Artists – Rebecca Jones and Lyndi Sales

Light, Leaves, Paper and Wax

I had some fun mounting leaves between sheets of wax paper.  
 
These small samples are mounted on my window with my Washi Tape. I believe the leaves will be fairly well preserved and maintain some of their colour.

I made some autumn leaf panels too and soon I will publish a tut on the process!

Genteel and Affordable…

Recently I moulded most of my doily collection into little plates and bowls. Each doily is dipped into Plaster of Paris and is then coated and gently baked with a layer of sealant. This makes the delicate dishes slightly more robust and water resistant. 
They look good used as tea light holders, hung on a wall or placed on a shelf. Many of them are for sale at The Caboodle, and I’ll have a batch at the i♥market too. 
Here’s a delightful definition to enjoy:
A doily (or doilie) is an ornamental mat, originally the name of a fabric made by Doiley, a 17th-century London Draper. Doily earlier meant “genteel, affordable woolens”, evidently from the same source.

They are crocheted and sometimes knitted out of cotton or linen thread.  Openwork allows the surface of the underlying object to show through. 

Spoilt!

Happy Mothers Day for yesterday! 
I had a lovely one. I was blessed to have all of my children and my mom and m-i-l together for lunch.

My hubby and children did all the cooking – and it was stunning!
I love being a mom, and I love that my children know that I enjoy…
Their Creativity…

Just about anything from The Space… [Isn’t this bud vase great?]

Proteas – because they are local, oh so lovely and last a long time!

Thanks Hey! You guys rock!