I've been rescuing scrap paper from work ever since I started there, saving it up to make books out of.  But I don't always feel like stitching things together - bookmaking is a long process, and this is just scrap paper.  Cruising Etsy the other day, I found that someone had made little notebooks with recycled hanging file folders for covers.  They're essentially giant matchbooks!  She was offering them for 3 dollars a pop (or set?  I can't remember) but why buy when I can make?

I spent my morning trimming and stapling, and gluing on illustrations from old issues of Seed:

1

It's a bird coming out of an old polygraph machine, I think.

2

A puffer fish and roses on some animal-heavy backgorund that kinda looks like calligraphy.

3

A list of the sizes of various things (milky way, anthrax spore, buckyball) and some people.  Who I'll be adding more wings to later.

4

Half a cow!

5

A "simulation of the dynamics of a ribosome in solution"

And lastly my first try at making paper gift bows:.  We're getting there.

Paper bows

On my lunch hour I went to return a less-than thrilling library book. Figured I'd look at the new acquisitions section and "select a volume"  Three books later, I was happy!  Then, I remembered the bedtime resolution I've been nagging mysely with all weekend - that I'd check out  the sales carts for good old books to practice altering.  For a mere $.75, I have 4 nice thick old-school hardcovers that are destined to become boxes and photoframes!  I described the book/box conversion  process to the librarians and the lady I work with and they were appropriately amused.  I'll be working on my practice one (that I started this weekend) some more and posting about it.  Cause I really can't help myself....

Haul

Ok, I decided it was time.  I had stared at the tutorials long enough (Here, specifically) and had some time free. 

I set up the kitchen table in the living room for AC purposes:

1

I trimmed up the paper just so:

2

Then I ran into a problem.  The tutorials I had read all said you should coat the toothpicks or whatever you use to form your beads around with vaseline so the gluey paper won't stick.  I got it in my head that using my pin tool from ceramics class would make life easier on me since it's way bigger'n a toothpick.  But we have no vaseline.  I went around the house looking for something that could be used as bead lube.  Yes, I was in the position of wanting to lube up my craft supplies.  Please, someone tell me I'm not the only one!

I settled for hair conditioner, since it's slick and relatively harmless, chemistry wise.

3

I dunked the paper in modpodge (fancy glue) and wrapped the strips around the pin tool:

4

After a few tries, I came out with some beads that kinda resembled photos I'd seen:

5

I experimented with shapes a bit, trying to make drops, and cones, and whatnot:

6

And that's that!  In addition, I finished up most of that book I posted about a little while back..the datebook.  It's really, really fat now, but looks fun!  I need to sit there some cool evening and glue more pictures in.  Here's a page:

Meat amuses me

it's really hot.  someone wanna go get my sorbet for me?  i think i'm stuck to my chair...

Everyone start partying for International Year of the Potato!  

http://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-the-International-Year-of-the-Potato

Ok - today was shredding day at work, and i watched with sadness as gajoobles of shredded papers were thrown out.  Of course, some of them did make for a lovely paper monster!

Paper monster

Mmmmm paper...rarrgh...yummy...

I couldn't help but think the shreds must be useful for something...papermaking, perhaps!  They were already one step towards the blender!  So I mulled it over.  As you can see in this reenactment:

Hmm

I've been wanting to toy with papermaking, but I didn't want to go investing in making a big ol' frame and all than when I know absolutely nothing.  So I ordered a kiddie kit from ArnoldGrummer.com and I'll make small things till I get the hang of it (something tells me I will!) and go from there.  The kiddie size kit also has the distinct advantage of costing a mere 10 bucks.  Yay me.

In the meantime, I'm reclaiming an old datebook that we found round the office.  It's an 07-08 so it's not terribly useful calendar-wise.  The thing has such a nice size and heft I didn't want to rip out all the past months. 

Book

So I started gluing rescued** printer paper onto the right side pages (where I prefer to write) and here I am:

Paper

Gluing

And I'm trimming them carefully as I go along - the bits I'm taking off will be made into signatures for more books.  Tiny books.

Trimming

Now it's late and I'm sleepy!  I'm out, y'all!

**rescued from the garbage!  it was sheets and sheets of paper that had a few symbols printed on and then got spat out by someone's misbehaving printer.  mine now!

Yesterday, after dutifully shopping for a few light appliances, my "reward" was to go to AC Moore.  I thought I'd stick my nose in and get a mere packet or two of beads, since I'm really on a shoestring budge now.  But lands...there were little clearance tags *everywhere*....50% off!  I couldn't help myself.  I stayed careful though and came home with a modest spread:

Loot!

Pity the cam didn't capture some of the blue-green beads.  One of my new color fixations.  I started designing new pieces right there in the store...so fun.  But the best part is the amount of money I parted with.  A drumroll now, if you please...

omfg!!!

I've been cleaning and throwing away a lot lately, but some things I just can't let go.  Like a handsome leather dayplanner cover.  The little book is long gone, and I was going to hunt out a replacement for it, but that'd take forever, and I've already been sitting on the empty thing for at least a year.  Use it or loose it at this point.

I was also sitting on quite a collection of blank notebook paper - I have this bad habit of buying fresh ones each semester, and at this point, most of my notes go in the margins of my texts or on a laptop.  I'd been saving them, all these beat-up, near empty notebooks, since it's a shame to throw away good paper.  What to do?

Paper

I finally got the idea and have spent the better part of the last hole hole punching and trimming.  As you can see here:

Template

First i measured the rings in the book and made a template.  Then I made with the whole puncher:

Ka-chunk

Trim and place

And ta-da!

Voyle-ah!