Book review and project inspired by Beyond the Bead copyright 2010 Totally Creative E-Zine Ann Butler (click on images to view close up)
Way back in 2005 I began exploring a variety of paper crafting materials in my design work. My book The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired has a lot of fun paper craft/scrapbook stuff repurposed into jewelry. I really got excited about paper craft focused jewelry and developed those ideas further in Sparkletastic and Beyond the Bead. I spent lots of time experimenting with chipboard and trying to fine tune techniques and materials that worked to embellish it without compromising its durability and strength. I also found ways to seal it so it could be water resistant through a lot of trial and plenty of error. It all started because I got bored with stringing and wire wrapping and wanted to expand my repertoire. That and I love big scale jewelry that's light weight. I just wandered the craft store aisles, the hardware stores and the thrift stores trying to see virtually everything as a possible jewelry material. If you poke around my Free Mixed Media Jewelry RSS Feed, you'll find some fun paper craft focused ideas.
When Tim Holtz came out with Grungeboard I did a serious happy dance. It was like chipboard on steroids. I could abuse it, stamp it, sand it, decoupage it, paint it, bend it, puncture it...and no matter what I did to it...it survived. I'm a huge fan of that substrate and if you've not tried it...you should! That being said, I still found myself coming back to chipboard. There are so many really great shapes out there already in chipboard intended for use in paper crafts (Bazzill Basics has a really phenomenal selection.) You can die cut chipboard on a Big Shot Pro or a Cuttlebug too, which opens a lot of doors. I'm super fond of the chipboard circles that you can punch with your crop-a-dile (a tool every crafter needs) and make quick and easy pendants. The project on the cover of my last book is made from these chipboard circles.
It's funny how merely shifting our perspective can result in new pathways for our work. Try to expand your vision as you wander the aisles and don't be afraid to make glorious messes. Even in those lie the seeds of something good.
Above is a great review and a fab project featuring the chipboard cover project from Beyond the Bead by the talented Ann Butler for Totally Creative E-Zine. I love what she did with the idea!
xoxo,
Madge
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