Behind the Yart

Today it's time to start my regular series (a series of at least one) of postings that take you "Behind the Yart". Ooooh.

I get a lot of enjoyment out of making projects and sending them to craft magazines, and they even publish some of them. I have a whole box full of "magazines-with-me-in-them" on the shelf. Of recent years, I've slid away from this fun hobby, but I made a conscious decision to do it again. After all, I still love tinkering with making things. Nobody does quite the same as me. And it encourages me to finish things off properly; a motivation I wouldn't otherwise have.

Here we review some pretty little books I made for Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft, which ended up in Volume 14 number 8 (not the latest one but the one before, at the time of writing). You'll have to look at the magazine to see them in all their glory.

So how did these come to be made?

It traces back to the paint, the book structure (they are laser cut card) and the stamps.

The paint is Golden brand, and I learned to love it at a workshop with Michael DeMeng (he's coming back to Melbourne in November this year - he's a great teacher!).

The books are Micro Arts, made by Lisa (who assures me her web site will be up again soon). Her laser cutting machine is a wonderful sight, and she gets it to do clever things. Her book kits have a front and back cover, and a concertina for the inside. The front covers are made of two bits so you can sandwich some arty stuff between them and see it through the window; the back cover is made of two bits so it won't feel left out. You can sandwich the ribbon or other closure in it.

And the stamps are from Pipedreamink ; I asked where they got all those great designs, and apparently Sue and Niamh just doodled a few pages full, and picked the best ones for stamps. Obviously they were being modest, cos these are pretty! I kept the insert from the stamps in my art journal.

Once I was committed to making some little books, and using these stamps, I had to decide how to lay them out.











So, I cut strips of scrap paper the size of the book inserts, and mucked around until I had some nice ones. I kept them in my journal too. That sad puppy is Catriona's work. Cute huh?









Then I tinkered with painting. I made some ATCs at the same sort of time too : I gave them away at Paperific. I could go on and on about how clever the painting techniques are, but basically it's brown on brown. Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold and Mars Black, to be specific.

Oh, and in the end I stuck words cut out from the dictionary onto some bits. Now who saw that coming?

I hope you've enjoyed this installment of "Behind The Yart". I've been busy making some OTHER goodies, which are all in the works - some accepted, some still in the queue. If and when they appear in print, I'll be there to take you "Behind the Yart"! Now, won't that be fun.