Some people are just so clever! Librarian by day and art maker by night, Heather of the Etsy shop Rhymes with Magic [no longer open] and the blog, Heather Eddy Art , is one cool paper artist. Not only does she sell a line of beautifully constructed paper bead jewelry, each piece featuring a nifty, book-related saying... Ha! Love it.   D rink in Words (Latin)   Stranger Than Fiction Accidental Librarian ...but now she has devised custom book art. I'd been reading along as Heather blogged about her experiments in book origami. Since she was already able to fold aged book pages into wonderful wall art patterns.. . I never doubted for a moment that she would be able to work out a way of completing the full alphabet. And now that she can make each and every letter, send Heather the word or name of your choice and she'll turn an unloved, 'rescued' book into a personalized art statement. A few more of Heather's paper and book-related works - orname

No doubt about it, this is my favorite time of year here in the Northern Hemisphere. We're at the height of our summer temperatures, so it's the perfect time for this beachy post. Perhaps you remember the starfish and shell pendants tutorial I wrote for the Folding Trees site. [update: the quilled starfish tutorial and the quilled scallop shell tutorial can now be found on this blog as Folding Trees has closed up shop] I thought you might like to see a couple of other sea-themed styles I made for the same order last autumn. A friend who lives on the coast of Maine had asked me to design them for her to give as gifts and I was delighted to take on the challenge. There's nothing quite like tackling a new project such as this... I'm always excited, and quite honestly a little bit anxious about whether the end result will be what I've envisioned. I begin by googling images of the object and ideas start to flow; soon I'm sketching out a design and then

Jason Thompson, owner of Rag & Bone Bindery and Etsy shop Rag & Bone Bindery , is someone I might not have discovered if not for Twitter where he links to intriguing paper artists and sometimes posts enticing pictures of his own paper projects. Jason started a handcrafted book studio in 1991 - more about that in a moment - but his next exciting venture will be the release of a how-to book, Playing with Books - Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book . I'm delighted to show you sneak peeks of some of the projects Jason created for the book and am anxiously awaiting the tutorials! I admire his spare, elegant designs and use of subdued color. Published by Quarry with photography by Karen Philippi, the book will be released in 2010. [Update, now available: Playing with Books - Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book ] And now, take a look at these examples of the attractive hand crafted books Rag and Bone Bindery creates. D

Here's a really simple, but unique Christmas card idea - paper beads form the shape of a stylized tree. I'm a fan of cards with a minimalistic look, especially if there's a bit of shine to take away from the starkness. This one is metallic silver and gold on white, but it would also be pretty in silver and navy or perhaps sage green and light blue... or any of a zillion other combinations, whatever you happen to like. Supplies Cardstock - white Metallic paper sheets - gold, silver - fairly lightweight so it rolls smoothly; not cardstock Quilling paper - gold, silver 1/8 inch strips (called Quill Trim; available from online quilling suppliers) or cut 1/8 inch strips from sheets of metallic paper Silver foil - the textured kind from yogurt containers works well Wire rod - thin and strong; a cake/muffin tester works too Paper cutter Paper trimmer Punch - tiny star; I used the Fiskars Corner Punch/Snowflakes Scissors Ruler Tweezers Plastic lid -

There's no place like Twitter if you enjoy learning all sorts of new things; a constant stream of tantalizing links flows by. Graphic and paper artist, Patricia Zapata (previously featured) @alittlehut, tweeted yesterday about these cute woven shoes. Designed by Colin Lin and manufactured by a company called All Black, they're made of... can you guess?... newspaper! Recycled strips of newsprint are folded and woven in a lattice pattern by Chinese cottage industry artisans (who we trust are being paid a fair wage) and then dipped in plastic for durability in a Taiwanese factory. One thing led to another, as they sometimes do... not an hour later I noticed I had a new Twitter follower, bookbinder Sarah Hindmarch ( @repaper) . Skimming her recent tweets, I noticed this intriguing one: Museum conservation gets some love, Slate takes a look at the trouble with plastic art .  So I clicked on the link and came across this food for thought: "Worst of all, when plastic

First off, many thanks to the lovely folks at Folding Trees who featured my quilled Ring of Keys last week. And a warm welcome to those of you who've found your way here via that post or from Craft, Paper Crave, and all the other sites that linked to it. I could definitely relate to what was said about quilling having more uses than making flowers. Always on a quest to find novel applications of rolled and shaped paper, I love coming across others who quill the unexpected. Licia Politis is one who not only makes flowers and pretty paper beads ; she also has the ability to create unique paper art. Here's a beautiful piece she quilled; it's called Fruitful. It was awarded first place at Australia's 2007 Sydney Royal Easter Show and Royal Queensland Show, and first place at the 2007 North American Quilling Guild competition. It was also featured on Martha Stewart's television show, at the Museum of Bribane, and Hazelhurst Gallery in Gymea, New South Wales.  

I've long been a fan of silhouettes; in fact, a favorite souvenir from a trip we took to Disney World is this papercutting of our sons. Snip, snip, snip... in just a few minutes a talented artisan with a pair of scissors and a sheet of black paper accurately captured their likenesses.   Fast forward twenty years or so to today's digital technology. I came across Le Papier Studio and blog [no longer available] and knew I wanted to feature Vana Chupp's work. A graphic designer who specializes in digitally drawn silhouettes, Vana places the images on handmade personalized stationery, invitations, birth announcements, and even pillows and totes. She offers so many beautifully presented options... these little notecards, for example.   Perhaps the paper flowers played a part in capturing my attention?! The cards come packaged in the little paper suitcase, by the way. I love this modern take on a family portrait. Something very special that Vana can do is a custo

Remember when I recommended several craft podcasts recently? The multi-talented Craftypod [edit: no longer available] owner, Diane Gilleland, is the creator of a brand new e-book that looks simply wonderful. Read lots about Weaving Un-Loomed , see pictures of all of the book's projects on her blog, and even download one for free ! This pendant/bracelet speaks to paper lovers like me... I've been wondering how to make these nifty little squares of woven paper so the ends aren't all untucked and fly-away. Diane's tutorial easily solves the mystery. I'm not exaggerating when I say every project is appealing and useful. Something tells me Diane is getting dangerously close to pulling me away from my one track paper mind.   Beautifully presented with clear instructions and perfect pictures, there's also the neatest e-book feature I've seen yet... order the entire book or individual projects. And when printing out directions, I like the ink-saving picture

Several summers ago I came across a wonderfully instructive site/shop in England called Card Inspirations. A bonus was its small, but active forum comprised of a group of cardies who posted with enjoyable British wit and helpful info. I loved every minute spent at that address. Iris folding, spirella, teabag folding, embossing... all were new terms to me, and soon I was trying every idea that was presented. The site is under new ownership and has changed quite a lot over time, but I was delighted to find the original paper stitching tutorials are still available.   This is a card I made for a group swap fairly soon after discovering paper filigree and the CI site. Perhaps it looks complicated, but what I'd like you to take away from this post is that it honestly doesn't take a huge amount of time to learn to quill or stitch. If you'd like to make a card like this, refer back to my simple quilling tutorial for the flower directions; combine them with the free paper sti

Pictures of this incredible paper castle have been circulating the internet faster than wildfire in recent days. If you haven't already seen it, you'll soon understand why it's generating so much enthusiasm.   Such amazing detail; it has spires, a roller coaster, and a moving train - all made of paper. Wataru Itou, an art student in Tokyo, created it by hand over a four year period. Rightfully titled A Castle On the Ocean , it's currently on exhibit at Umihotaru, a most unusual place - artificial island/parking lot/service area - located literally on the ocean between Tokyo City and Chiba Prefecture. Read about the paper castle and Umihotaru, as well as see many more beautiful photos on the fascinating blog, Tokyobling. photo credit: Tokyobling

A few beautiful paper objects to gently bring us back to reality after the holiday weekend... Large paper lanterns grace the ceiling at Taka, a Japanese restaurant at the Jersey shore. Pear and apple Kudamemo sticky notes spotted on Kok-design would surely make the paperwork on your desk a little easier to bear. Enjoy this sweet Post-it Love video .