Dyeing Paper and Workshop Pictures

I took a workshop last weekend with Leslie Marsh and she taught us how to eco-dye paper using leaves, onion skin and water dyed with walnut shells. I have wanted to try this for some time and it was so easy and thrilling to see the results that I wanted to try it at home. I looked up ways to make dye from natural materials and found this site. I made 3 dyes: avocado skin, avocado pit, and pomegranate skin. My favorite is the avocado pit as it makes a delicate pink dye. The pomegranate skin was supposed to be maroon, but came out yellow instead. Here are some of the dyeing effects I got from the three dyes.

Enjoy!

Avocado pit dyed papers. The small one was stamped and clear embossed before dyeing.

Avocado skin dyed papers.

Pomegranate skin dyed papers.

Some of the ephemera I dyed using the three dyes.

Trying out different techniques. This one was dipped in a puddle of dye, dried and dipped again. I repeated this 3 times, drying between each application of dye. I like the details and pooling this produces.

This paper was dyed with avocado pit dye then dried. Then I used a spray bottle with the same dye to get droplets on the paper. I dried the paper immediately with a heat gun so the drops wouldn't spread out and disappear.

This paper was dyed with avocado pit dye, dried, stamped and embossed then dyed again with avocado skin dye. I think this one is my favorite. I like the way the embossed part resists the second layer of dye and shines while the non-embossed paper is dull. It's a nice contrast.

Eco-dyed papers from Leslie Marsh's workshop: Stamped Nature Bound.

My workshop book in pieces before I coptic stitched it together.

Origami Flapping Butterfly

When I started attending San Diego's Origami Society two years ago, I met a man named John. He was welcoming and kind and taught me several interesting structures. He invented the modification to this butterfly that makes it flap when you squeeze the last fold between your finger and thumb. Sadly, John is no longer with us, but I enjoy making his forms and am happy to be able to share this one with you.

Enjoy!

Fold a crisp new dollar (or a piece of paper that measures 6 1/8 x 2 5/8) in half lengthwise. Turn and fold in half the other way as shown. These are mountain folds.

Fold down each top corner from the centerfold until the corner touches the bottom of the dollar. Do not crease the corners flat. Stop when you meet the center crease.

Fold back the long center mountain fold. Allow the points of the bill to stand and curve as shown.

Flatten the previous curved paper by folding in the bottom of each side until it meets the long mountain fold. This fold should result in the top points being divided in half.

Fold back the bottom points until they open out as shown.

Valley fold each side of the dollar along the middle fold. This picture shows the left side folded down.

This is how the dollar looks after you fold down both sides along the center. Turn over the model and fold back each side to the center fold. 

The butterfly looks like this after the last fold. Turn the model over again.

There is a center kite shaped that needs to be folded to make the flapping mechanism. 

Fold up the bottom of each side of the center kite. Invert these folds as in the bird base (see the picture below).

The point you just created can be grasped and pinched and the wings will flap.

Enjoy John's flapping butterfly!

Making Leather Journals and Handmade Inserts

I have been beguiled by the journal keeping craze that is everywhere currently. Why not? I love making books and I have all kinds of papers appropriate for journal pages. Now I just need to put something in them...

Here are picture of my process for making a leather bound journal (8.5 x 5 inches) and inserts using things I have in my studio. Enjoy!

Supplies to make a leather journal. (Leather, elastic, inserts, washi tape on acetate sheet)

Some notebooks I already made with different kinds of paper inserts.

Notebook cover with pockets made from Graphic 45 cardstock

Cut the paper to 8.75" x 12". Fold up the bottom part at 8.25 inches. This creates a pocket that is 3.75 inches deep. Cut a V notch in the middle as shown.

I got this piece of 8.5 x 11 inch leather at Michaels. It is the perfect size for this journal.

Cut paper inserts (I used 12 sheets as this Tomoe River Paper is very thin) to 8.25 x 8.25 inches and fold in half with the grain. If you are using thicker paper like watercolor paper you may want to limit it to 8 sheets, which folded in half gives you 32 pages.

Make a template to create sewing holes in the inserts and cover paper. For this project, I measured in 1.25 inches from the top and bottom and made a center hole at 4 1/8 inches. Then I used an awl to poke the holes.

Place the template in the center fold of the pages and poke holes.

Use double stick tape to tape up the sides of the folders in the insert cover. 

Pockets are complete.

Put holes in the cover the same way you made them for the pages and cut a piece of waxed linen twice the length of the pages (16.5 inches)

Sew the pages and cover together using the

Pamphlet stitch.

The insert is complete.

To finish the cover you need to make holes in the leather spine using a screw punch. I used a 2.5mm bit and placed three holes at the top and bottom and one hole in the center. The Center hole is located 5.5 inches in from the left and  4 1/8 inches down from the top.  The top and bottom holes are 1/4 inch up or down from the edge of the leather and placed at 5, 5.5, and 6 inches from the left edge. This creates a 1 inch spine with plenty of room for 4 inserts.

Screw punch and leather.

I used elastic from the craft store to bind my inserts. Start at the top left hole and come in from the outside of the cover. Leave a tale and run the long end through the adjacent center hole to the right. Then go down to the bottom of the cover and go out through the center hole and into the hole on the right. Go to the top and out the right hole and back through the center hole. Then go down to the bottom of the cover and out the center hole and in the left side hole. Tie the two ends of the elastic together in a square knot. Trim the excess elastic. You will need about 36 inches of elastic for this and you want to pull it taut. It should buckle the leather

slightly

so that there is some tension when you place the inserts inside.

Use ~14 inches of elastic for the center hole loop that will keep your journal closed. Tie a knot in the ends and insert the loop from the inside to the outside so that the knot is inside the cover.

The finished journal with inserts.

My three handmade journals!

My Catalog of Spirals ...so far

I spent a few days last week organizing and making detailed drawings of the spirals I have created based on Tomoko Fuse's in her book Spirals. Here are the results. I have paired the sketches with the samples so you can see how they look folded. I hope you try one or a few. Let me know which one is your favorite. (Mine is #2.)

Enjoy!

1. Basic spiral.

2. My addition to the basic spiral. It makes a leaf shape that I like.

3. This combines two spirals and kind of looks like a ram's head when collapsed.

#3 Open

4. Long skinny trapezoid has more turns than the regular one.

5. This is a different spiral, based on Fuse's Naval shell with modifications by me.

6. Naval shell with a twist.

7 a & b. Variations on collapsing a spiral result in different effects. 

7a is locked in the closed position. 7b opens into a complex corkscrew shape.

8. Note that in this sample the  parallel lines are angles up slightly towards the center fold. This creates the openness in the center of the spiral. (see the picture below)

Folding in Curved Space

If you follow this blog you know I was recently away at Penland for a two week workshop with Matt Shlian. He is an extraordinary teacher and master paper engineer (in my humble opinion). He nudged me in new creative directions by planting seemingly simple ideas in my head where they flowered and started to bear fruit. I hope the harvest will continue now that I am home. One of the ideas he suggested was folding spirals from curved paper. This idea may sound simple, but it is a challenge. Here are some pictures of my explorations in curved space...

Enjoy!

The spiral is concave and looks more shell-like than ones folded with straight lines.

A diagram of how I created the curves and fold lines.

Another view of the spiral shell showing some of the internal folds.

Compare the spiral on this shell with the one below. This one is folded with straight lines throughout and is convex.

This shell has a concave spiral when folded from a curved piece of paper.

The paper pre-creased and ready to collapse.

Penland and Paper

I have been away from the blog and home for a while, but I am newly inspired thanks to an amazing trip to Penland School of Crafts. I was encouraged to take this trip by two good friends and it was worth every second and every aching muscle. I am back home and more inspired than ever by paper and its possibilities when it comes to folding, cutting and shaping it. A huge thank you to Matt Shlian our teacher and all the wonderful people in the Paper Sculpture class.

Here's a look at some of the things I played with over the two weeks. Enjoy!

-Gina

Experiments with pleat folds that radiate out from the corners.

Finished Class group project. Matt's design.

The gem shapes I cut out for our group project.

Dramatic lighting on the class project.

Preparing to fold a spiral. I wonder how the gold will turn out?

Spiral with gilding.

Another spiral with sewn edge.

A foggy morning before class.

A small bit of 4 sided pleat folding with a twist in the center.

Tomoko Fuse spiral from Mel's book.

Matt's sample radial fold. I am still working out how to do this.

The Fibonacci spiral using Matt's technique for creating a curve. Translate it to a large sheet and fold the pleats.

Alternating angles create an arch.

The Books classroom at Penland. We were lucky to be on the ground floor where it was relatively cool most days.

A deer welcomed me on the first evening.

Space Dynamics Altered Book

I have been playing all weekend with pages for my latest altered math book. This one is titled Space Dynamics. I used some of the ideas I developed recently for folding curves and spirals on page spreads. I think the results are dynamic, just like the title says.

Enjoy!

-Gina

New page design folded on the diagonal.

Nesting pages to see how they interact.

More nested page samples.

Space Dynamics altered book finished.

Side view of the five nested pages.

Space Dynamics with her sister Vector Analysis.

Altering Old Math Books

If you follow my blog, you know that I have been working with spirals recently (okay, obsessively). I took a break to clean out the studio, but now I am back to work on altering a set of math textbooks using spirals. Yesterday I played with some new ideas for keeping the spirals attached to a two page spread. I plan to alter the pages, nest them into 2-3 page signatures, and sew them on tapes. Then I can glue the tapes back into the covers and create dynamic books. The pictures below show my experiments so far.

Enjoy!

-Gina

Three pages nested into a signature.

Spiral Play

The more spirals I make the more ideas I have for modifying Tomoko Fuse's original designs. Here are a few samples I recently created and my notes on them.

Enjoy!

-Gina

Lots of sample spirals.

Variation #8 and a dress idea.

Variation #9. I really like this one.

I haven't made #10 yet, just described it. #11 has two forms shown here. One is flat (11b) and one pops up (11a) depending on how I treat the center of the spiral.

Cut and Fold in Black

I have wanted to try cutting a design in paper before folding it into a spiral and today I finally had the time to sit down and do it. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, except to say thank you Bhavna for teaching me to think about cutting as positive and negative space. Your teaching made this what it is!

Enjoy.

-Gina

The finished spiral.

Cutting the first panel with the tools of the trade.

All the cutting is done.

Partly folded spiral

Finished spiral. The paper is black on one side and silver on the other. It makes a nice contrast.

Playing with Spirals

I enjoyed making Vector Analysis so much that I decided to play with the basic spiral from Tomoko Fuse's book and see what kinds of variations I could create. I also wanted to make some spirals from large sheets of paper. Here are some of the results.

Enjoy!

-Gina

Many spirals folded on graph paper. The straight lines make folding easier and the paper is inexpensive as a test surface.

Notes on variations of the trapezoid spiral.

Good quality, thin Japanese paper ~ 24 x 36 inches being forded.

The paper was so large and thin that I had to fold differently than for the small 8 x 12 samples.

The finished spiral. I invented the turn in that gives it a leaf shape at the top of the picture. It was a happy accident. The finished spiral is 11 x 12 inches.

"Vector Analysis" Altered Book: part 2

After consulting with a couple of artist friends (Thanks Mom and Bhavna for the advice.) I decided the altered book I blogged about two weeks ago needed something more to make it complete. First, I added paper from one of the original book pages to the spine area to cover up the dark brown. Then I had an epiphany one night and realized I could make a spiral to fit into the spine. I worked on a prototype and it fit! So I made a few more using strips from the book's pages. In the end I needed 7 pages or 56 inches of length to make a spiral that measured 9 inches long. Below are pictures of the strips being folded with before and after pictures of the altered book.

Enjoy!

-Gina

The strip on the left was the prototype. I unfolded it so I could repeat all the measurements and scoring in the correct orientation.

Here are the first 5 strips creased.

Before the spine was decorated.

How the spine looks now. The center spiral is really 7 small spirals joined together.

Before the spiral.

After the spiral was added.

More views showing how all the spirals interact.

Before the spiral.

After the spiral was added.

Piano Hinge Book Workshop

I am excited to be teaching another Basic Book Arts workshop through San Diego Book Arts in May. It isn't up on the website yet, but I have been making samples this week and want to give you a sneak peek. I will be teaching two books; Moon Phases and Blue Kingfisher. The kingfisher book took a bit of work to get just right, but I love the colors and think it works well with the binding structure. I hope some of you can attend the class.

Enjoy!

-Gina

Blue Kingfisher

Moon Phases - closed.

Moon Phases - open.

Scraps from cutting the pages of the kingfisher book.

Templates for the kingfisher book.

Crane Card Origami

Just when I think all the ways to use the half-crane origami structure are explored, a new idea strikes. Here it is; a one sheet card with interlocking cranes. It works best with paper that is different colors on each side so that there is nice contrast. I have this lovely

origami paper

in gold/silver on one side and colored paper on the other. Below are step by step images as well as a folding guide. I hope you will try it.

Enjoy!

-Gina

Fold paper in half and cut a slit in one side to make two square areas. Cut out edges on the right to leave a square behind as shown. For this 3 x 5.5 inch paper I cut a slit 1.5 inches long and 1.5 inches down from the top. I cut out rectangles on the right that measured 1.5 x .75.

Fold the single crane as with the paper oriented as shown.

Turn the paper over and fold the two cranes as shown. 

Fold the card down the middle fold and place the center crane's wing over the top crane to lock it in place.

Starting paper sizes: 3 x 5.5 (left), 3.5 x 6 (middle), 4 x 7 (right)

An Abundance of Paper Goodness

I have been swamped with paper activities the past few weeks. Today I would like to take some time to write about all the goings on in my studio and at workshops.

1. I am in the middle of an online workshop called

Paper Love

helmed by Rachel Hazell, a feisty british woman who calls herself the traveling bookbinder. It is a 5 week course with lessons 6 days a week. 50+ participants are traveling together on this paper journey communicating via Facebook and Instagram. I have found my tribe and we live everywhere.

Paper tape made with any paper and double sided tape.

Collage employing the Golden Spiral.

Another collage with a cut map and torn papers.

My Alice in Wonderland collaged box to hold paper goodies.

Boxes made from watercolor paper and a map stencil.

2. I took an amazing workshop last weekend with

Helen Hiebert

through

San Diego Book Arts

and made the projects you see below with my fellow participants. What fun to light up paper!

Luminary screen from Helen's class.

Woven paper luminaries before we hinged and wrapped them.

Paper blow up ball.

3. I will be teaching a new class next Friday (November 18) from 1-3 PM at

Art Lounge on 101

. Sign up on the website and I hope to see you there.

Fall colored crane book class at Art Lounge on 101

Sample books for the crane class: Taking Flight.

4. Somehow I have also found time in this flurry of paper goodness to attend two artist's opening receptions this week. The first one is the

San Diego Book Arts annual member show

at Francis Parker School's

Rose Art Gallery

. The second is

Bhavna Mehta

's

cut paper extravaganza "Nightfall" at Bread and Cie on University Ave. in Hillcrest. There is plenty of time to check out both shows and they are worth the drive (also Bread and Cie has wonderful bakery items).

Closeup of Nightfall by Bhavna Mehta.

Part of the 12 panel, 30 foot cut paper and embroidery work by Bhavna at Bread and Cie.

I hope this will inspired you to try some new paper ideas and get out and see some amazing paper/book art in San Diego.

Enjoy!

-Gina

Four Corner Map Fold

I was reviewing my folder of prototypes the other day and came across a structure I created a few months ago and forgot about. I am making some samples for a friend and thought this one would be interesting to share. Instead of just sharing with her I decided to share it with all of you as well.

Below are pictures of the structure being folded as well as the crease pattern for folding it yourself. One piece of advice, fold before making the 8 cuts. It is easier that way.

Enjoy!

Diagonal and linear folds completed.

Collapsed model ready to fold in the corners.

Folding the corners to prepare to inside reverse fold them.

Beginning to collapse the model with all the folds present.

(Outside of model)

Inside of model with all the folds properly creased.

One way of displaying the piece.

 I like the way the four inside corners form the star in the center.

Folding the model closed.

Crease pattern for this structure.

Art Tour of Tacoma

I spent the weekend in rainy, windy Tacoma. My son and I went on the Tacoma Studio Tour and met many wonderful artists. We learned some Sumi painting techniques and made ceramic tiles as well. We met potters and painters, printers and marblers. It was a great way to see the city and meet some of its talented residents. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Enjoy!

Flying into Seattle Friday, October 14.

Printed at Springtide Press

Sumi Ink painting taught by Lois Yoshida.

Artwork by Fumiko Kimura.

Hand marbled paper by Karen Perrine

Rainbow over Tacoma.

Wooden bone folder by Henry Haneda.

Rainbow over University of Puget Sound

Thoughts on Teaching

I have been a teacher for many years. I was once a science and art teacher at a school for the deaf in Massachusetts. I taught art classes at my kids elementary school and more recently book arts classes in San Diego and Tacoma have been my focus. It is always a learning experience to teach a group of people a new concept. I am looking forward to more of these experiences.

Here are some pictures of my student's hands folding paper in our Road to Spring workshop from Saturday's class at the Art Lounge on 101.  I just love expressive hands folding paper.

Enjoy!

Teaching at Art Lounge on 101

For those of you in the San Diego area, I will be teaching an origami book structure I invented called " The Road to Spring" on September 17 at Art Lounge on 101. Here is the flier for the class and the books that were inspired by this structure.

Enjoy,

Gina

Example made with rectangular sections.

The Road to Spring, my first book made with this structure.

Companion Star, shown with the "pages" removed.

As Deep Can Be closed.

Sample book with flattened points so it can stand up.

Spiral Atlas, variation on the basic structure.

Time and Place

San Diego Book Arts is holding a member show this fall at a traditional art gallery with lots of wall space and not much room for standing works like traditional artist's books. That means they are asking members to come up with "books" that can hang on the walls. I have been trying out various ideas for this show and here is my latest attempt. I call it Time and Place since it represents the fall night sky constellations imposed onto a folded paper structure.

I hope you like the results. I feel like it still needs something more, but here is the work so far.

-Gina

I printed a map of the northern hemisphere's fall constellations onto graph paper.

Next, I scaled up the map using a bigger sheet of graph paper that had the same divisions. Each square on the smaller sheet represents a 3 x 3 square on the larger paper.

I folded the 18 x 24 sheet of paper into a chevron pattern then flattened it, placed the graph paper drawing over it and punched holes using a Japanese screw punch. I used 5 sizes to represent different star magnitudes (from 1mm to 3mm).

Here's a closeup of the paper with the stars punched.

I like the idea of shaping the piece with this bend in the middle to suggest the curvature of space-time.