Category: Digital

Paper pen decoration

unikatissima Pen Decoration

Links of entry

I found a blog entry with a very cute idea: a really nice paper decoration for pens.
She offers an image that you can download and print, then you cut the decorations out and glue them onto your pens.

The blog is in French and these are the relevant points:
Click onto the image to download the PDF file with the right mouse button.
Print the pictures onto fine paper.
Cut out the images and glue onto ypur pens.
Hint: Cut the white picture with the cherry blossoms inside of the green frame.
When sharpening the pen cut first a piece of the paper away with a sharp knife and then sharpen the pen carefully.


Links:
Paper pen decoration (French)

Knotsbag

unikatissima Knotsbag

Links of entry

I found another program again to make beautiful things with: Knotsbag.
I’m not so far yet because I haven’t learned so much yet. I have to continue practising until I also can make so beautiful knots :)

 


Links:
Knotsbag, a Knotwork Design Software (so stunning! ;-))

Here at unikatissima: Entries with the subject ‘digital’

Illustrate Words

unikatissima Illustrated Word

Links of entry

If you’re making altered books or cards, you often use single, meaningful words.
I have found a good proposal on how to illustrate words.
On the picture I tried to put the word ‘Glass’ onto the photo of the tesselation as if it was made of glass (not bad for a first try? ;-))
My inspiration was a tutorial on how to create a gel button.
It was fun ;-)


Links:
Illustrate Words
Gel Button

Repeating Patterns

Repeating Patterns

Links of entry

Once I found a tutorial on how to make your own repeating pattern and found it a revelation!
I tried it immediately ;-) and it worked perfect!
On the topmost picture you see my self-made repeating pattern, on the other pictures you see what I made from it.
The whole pattern was designed on my computer, but I’ve made another one on paper which was also a success.

By the way: this Papaya Shikai Maki was designed the same way ;-))

Repeating Patterns

Repeating Patterns

Repeating Patterns


Links:
Make your own Repeating Patterns (English) (with explaining pictures)

Papaya Shikai Maki

Bargello

Bargello

Links of entry

While working with polymer clay I found a tutorial on how-to make items with a Bargello-look.

Then I made a little research to know what Bargello is (links see below):
It seems, that the first ‘Bargello craft’ was embroidery, but then the quilters worked Bargello-looking quilts, the polymer clay people made those items with a Bargello-look and the stampers and cardmaking people use this technique on paper. And I made my Bargello digitally as you can see on the picture ;-)
What a versatile technique ;-)


Links:
Embroidery:
Wikipedia: English entry for ‘Bargello’

Defining Bargello

How-to make Bargello needlework:
Bargello Work
Bargello needlepoint

Quilting:
How To Make Bargello Quilt

Polymer Clay:
Tutorial on how-to make items with a Bargello-look
Bargello Swap
Tutorial on how to make a Bargello pattern as cane and as sheet

Stamped Paper:
Bargello (English) (with explaining pictures)

Letter stencils

Letter stencils

Links of entry

Rosie showed her beautiful carved stamps and mentioned that she wants to carve letters too.
I prefer to use letter stencils, because I can use them in such a flexible way.
On the first photo you see a page from an artist book of mine yet to be finished. It has the theme ‘Colour’ and I stenciled the word ‘Pink’. On the other photo beneath you can see the stencil.

This is how I did it:
You’ll need:

  • Plain paper
  • Different fonts on your computer
  • Clear tape
  • Sharp knife, like an Xacto knife

What to do:

  1. Print the word you’re interested in in the requested size on paper.
    Note: You can use just one font, but I found different fonts for every letter more appealing.
    Note: Best are big fonts because they are easier to cut out.
  2. Put some clear tape on the print.
  3. Cut the letters carefully.
    Note: The tape makes the paper sturdier, so that the cutting is a little easier.
  4. Stencil your word wherever you want (paper, cardboard, fabric, glass, wood etc.).
    Note: I painted with a marker on the clear tape round the letters and smeared them with my fingers onto the paper.

Letter stencils The tape makes the paper not only sturdy, but also quite waterproof, so that you can use it several times with nearly every kind of colours. If necessary you can put tape on both sides of the paper prior to the cutting.

You can find a similar tutorial on instructables.com for making your own freezer paper and your own freezer paper stencil. I guess it is better for making bigger stencils, but I haven’t tried it.


Links:
Rosie’s carved stamps

Eraser Stamps Tutorials
Photo Stamps Tutorial

My Artist Book

Freezer paper and stencil tutorial

Photo Stamps

Photo Stamps

Links of entry

I already presented links on eraser carving, but perhaps you want to go a step further and make stamps from your own photos?
I found a tutorial on how to prepare your photos for carving stamps.
The preparation of the photos is similar to the tutorial on making your own digital stamps (and while we’re at it why not making stencils from your own photos? ;-))
On the picture you see a stamp template I made from a photo from a magazine.
Not yet cut, first I must find a big eraser ;-)

 


Links:
Prepping Photos for Carving
Carving 101

art-e-zine: a cornucopia for artists
Make your own digital stamps
Stencil Art

Here at unikatissima:
Eraser Stamps

Inkjet Transfer Stamping

Inkjet Transfer Stamping

Links of entry

As I mentioned before, I don’t often stamp. Therefore I found the tutorial on how to make stamps with an inkjet printer very interesting.

I haven’t tried it yet and possibly I never will, because printer ink is also expensive, but who knows? Because I really want to ‘stamp’ the image on the photo and I’m sure that I wont carve it from an eraser ;-)

 


Links:
Craft Chi: Inkjet Transfer Stamping

Here at unikatissima:
Eraser Stamps

Self-made Landscapes

Self-made Landscapes

Links of entry

While surfing I found wonderful, photo realistic landscapes (see images found by Google).
As a matter of course I wanted to create such landscapes myself ;-))
Searching further, I found Terradreams where eventually I came to know about Terragen, a free scenery generator.
I played around with the program and every time I created a ‘postcard’ I felt like being on holidays ;-)


Links:
Terragen: A free scenery generator

Terradreams: A website dedicated to Terragen with forums, tutorials, links to plug-ins and so on