Monday 17 July 2017

thinking stuff...


My problem is that I wish I were the kind of artist that is instantly recognisable for her work. You know, I do a certain kind of genre and use a certain kind of medium and have developed it over years as an artist and even earn a living at what I do. But I'm not that person, have never been.

Instead I like to take something and go with it until I'm satisfied I've done enough of it. And then I turn to working with paper or fabric, I make jewellery, I draw comics or I decorate found objects. The down side of all this is although I can turn my hand to pretty anything I try I don't feel as though 'I'm an artist'. And when I describe myself as an artist there's a tiny part of me that thinks I'm fibbing.

I suppose I should both be satisfied that I enjoy what I do and revel in the fact that I'm multi-able. 


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Saturday 1 July 2017

mini sketchbook fauxdori...

envelope design by Oh,Hello Stationery Co.

There's a Traveller's Notebook called a Midori and the brand is made in Thailand. Beautiful leather wraps containing stitched paper notebooks and the design is simple, allowing the user to personalise the contents. But Fauxdoris also exist and are a cheaper alternative to the original and legendary Midori. It's quite simple to make a fauxdori - check out Sea Lemon's YouTube tutorial.


After ordering planner stickers from Oh, Hello Stationery Co. I wanted to use the envelope covering to make some sort of mini sketchbook that would fit in my bag. I just love their envelope design - makes me think of tokidoki. The characters on the Oh, Hello design have each been designed from scratch by Alex and Kayla Benda themselves. The current new releases from the sticker design duo include some of the funniest llamas I've ever seen. 

I have some small Moleskine notebooks to draw in and the buttery paper is very nice to use. But I wanted to make a mini sketchbook using Bristol Board - I also like its smooth white surface that can take markers without bleeding.

making the mini fauxdori


Cut off the back of the Oh Hello A5 envelope where the pattern has no postage labels attached. Fold the piece of card along the middle to form the book cover. It may need to be trimmed evenly.


Cut Bristol Board to size and make it smaller than the cover. I needed to alter the size yet again during the making. Use a bone folder to make neat folds along the centre lines of each page.



I used a very simple way of stitching the inner pages together. Punch 3 holes along the centre fold (I used a large darning needle) and take the cord through the centre hole from inside to outside. Bring the cord through an outer hole from outside to inside and then through 3rd hole from inside to outside. Finally bring cord through centre hole from outside to inside and tie twice making sure the inner vertical cord is caught in the knot. Trim ends of cord and tie knot at each end.


With orange silky cord (I had no elastic) I made the Oh,Hello envelope card into a Fauxdori cover. Too make slipping the loop over the cover easier I curved the corners. It's much more straightforward to follow Sea Lemon's visual instructions than having to read each step-by-step stage - link. She also has some excellent bookbinding tutorials, for beginner and practised, on her YouTube channel.

view from my studio window



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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.