How to make a recycled book page coffin Halloween garland

I find reading about other crafters so inspiring and that is just what the pages of are filled with Craft Activism: People , Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In. The photos and stories drove me to....cut....and this being Halloween season.....I thought my plain white string of lights needed something from under my knife.

 That something turned out to be little paper coffins cut from the pages of an old book and stamped with all sorts of Halloween themed images.

 I simply attached them to the string of lights with tiny clothes pins. I plan on leaving these lights up and will most assuredly be adding something Christmasy to them! I scanned in one of the coffins and if you want to make some too feel free to download to use as a template.

More about the super inspiring and packed full of great ideas and patterns book from Potter Craft:

 Craft Activism: People , Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In

by
Joan Tapper, Gale Zucker and Faythe Levine

"Join the Handmade Movement!

We make to give. We make to share. We make to connect with others. Crafters all over the world are using their hands and hearts to make a statement, change the world, and build community.

Craft Activism is an inspiring celebration of this growing movement. Inside, dozens of superstars of this grassroots phenomenon share their experiences, tips, and advice on living, teaching, and promoting a more meaningful DIY lifestyle. Learn to craft for your cause, connect with other crafters, think green, organize a fair, host an online exchange, create yarn graffiti, and more. The book also includes 17 creative projects from designers who challenge you to reimagine how your craft skills can be used to make a difference. Whether you knit, sew, crochet, or collage—and even if you’re not sure where to begin—this book is your guide to the incredible power of handmade."

How to make a maple leaf rubber stamp from an eraser

The book Making an Impression: Designing & Creating Artful Stamps is packed full of great ideas, designs and projects that feature the stamps you make. My favorite is the idea for stamping on vintage gum labels of which I happen to have a stash. Go figure. I recently got out some of my fall cookie cutters which included a maple leaf and I thought that a maple leaf image would make a cute rubber stamp.

 So I downloaded an image and sized it.

 Then I cut the image out of the paper. To transfer the image onto the eraser I used a silver Sharpie as my eraser is black.
 I just held the image over the eraser and drew out from the paper onto the eraser.

I trimmed the eraser down to a smaller square around the maple leaf.
Then I simply cut along the shape always working from the inside drawing my cut lines out toward the edge.
Then I cut the eraser depth off of the outside area.

To stamp my images I used a red Brush tip Sharpie. Worked like a charm to give me a vibrant impression that matched the red of the gum labels.


More about the book from the publisher Lark Crafts:

  Making an Impression: Designing & Creating Artful Stamps
by
Geninne Zlatkis

"Popular illustrator and stamper Geninne Zlatkis has a passion for nature and color that distinguishes her work. These 20 beautiful projects--including cards, an embellished journal and tote, and decorative wall pieces--provide the keys to Geninne's creative process and image-making process. In addition to technique-specific primers with step-by-step photos of the essentials, Making an Impression includes 50 motifs showcasing Geninne's signature designs that crafters can copy and use for image transfers, stamp designs, and collages.

Geninne Zlatkis is an illustrator (etsy.com/shop/Geninne) and blogger (geninne.com). She uses a wide variety of techniques (painting, collage, writing, stamping, and more) in her whimsical work. Her illustrated prints and licensed designs have been available through Urban Outfitters, and her designs are featured on an organic cotton fabric line with Cloud 9 Fabrics and a pocket planner from Galison. Geninne's hand-carved stamped-cards project was included in Craft Hope (Lark Fall 2010). She lives outside of Mexico City in Querataro, Mexico."