Saturday, June 29, 2013

Interested in signing up for my workshop in how to create your own pop up books?

Click the link below:

Pop Up Book Workshop in Toronto!

to sign up!!



Learn 4 introductory pop-up book basics to get launched into the world of transforming books! All materials provided; creativity is encouraged!

You will learn the 'Talking Mouth' fold; Boxes; Boxes with Supports; the Stacked Boxes fold; and the Single and Multi Floating Platform folds!

 The class is offered at Gravenfeather, a downtown Toronto print studio in Queen West. Spaces are limited!

By the end of the class, you will have created a working example of each of the above folds; you will understand how to choose suitable paper types; how to create archival tabs; and how to design and construct multi-step pop-up elements in your own work, providing you with the foundations for future pop-up projects!


 From start to finish, the merit badges are stacking up!!


Screenprinting

Drying Rack!




Amazing what happens on long bus rides.



Banff Paper


The colours of Banff! Handmade paper where I have recorded the shifting sky, water and rocks of my surroundings.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

 

Recently I've been a papermaking and dyeing fiend! As you can see, I've been making paper with bingo sheets in them (straight from the Royal Canadian Legion Hall in Banff!), paper with swirls of sky and granite colours in them, and a ton of long dyed mountain-paper.





I love the 70's colour palette of the hard bingo cards!!
This map of Alberta's Rocky Mountain stratigraphy is fascinating and colourful!

Some of the inspiring colours from nature:
 


A sneak peak of the installation in progress





 

 And, of course, this post is marmot-approved!


The studio I'm printing in at the Banff Centre has the most wonderful retro Health and Safety signage. It somehow is much more satisfying to wear my safety goggles and gloves.


 

Inspired by these icons and the merit badges I used to get in Brownies (mini-Girl Guides), I've been working on my own set of real-life merit badges for everyday accomplishments!
(including updating my blog - finally a high-five!)


 

A little Batman and a Cosplay badge always goes well, as suggested by a friend.


 A bright yellow ink for maximum visibility!
 

Here's the first few, stitched together on the bus!

I've been working away on illustrating all 50 of the streets in Banff, and printed the new 'street map' up in a forest green.

 

 


Each street is represented, from Glen Crescent to Muskrat Street!
The screenprints are available at Banff's handmade paper store Gingko and Ink (https://www.facebook.com/gingkoandink) at 111 Banff Avenue Harmony Lane - so you can navigate my version of Banff!


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Papermaking at Banff - continued!

A beautiful sky after a long day of making paper!

I had the pleasure of demonstrating how to make paper for the Life Long Learners Group from Canmore and Jim Olver.

I'm continuing to make sky paper using the lovely 15x15" frames - a size I've never seen before. I'm becoming very spoiled in the huge, beautiful paper studio - so much space! The most amazing beater! And a huge dry-box!

(photos courtesy of Jim Olver and The Banff Center)

And I am continuing my paper dying to track the colours of Banff. I am now onto stone-paper, after several amazing hikes through Johnston Canyon, Lake Louise, and up to Peyto Glacier:



Swirling pulp begins to resemble granite and moss



All kinds of coloured pulp to use!


I also collected all the bingo sheets after a rainy afternoon of bingo at Banff's Legion Hall, and made them into paper. I'm taking the Legion a sheet this week as a thank-you - they happily gave me all the used sheets!


And finally, a Northern Pocket Gopher from the Natural History Museum's collection. While I would dearly love to carry around a pocket gopher, I haven't managed to spot one yet.