CAFAM - Etsy Craft Night - Punched & Stitched Paper

Hola Amigos!

Last Thursday night I had the privilege of leading CAFAM's Etsy Craft Night. The project I hosted was based off our pierced and stitched paper craft.  It was a really exciting opportunity for me and I am just so honored to have the chance to be the featured crafter!

Last week the L.A. Skin & Ink Show opened at CAFAM and we wanted to highlight this extraordinary show within the imagery included for the project. The funky imagery included vintage California references, handmade items, and tattoos inspired by the show.

We shared a variation of this tutorial here with everyone showing how to pierce the image which is very similar to the tattooing techniques described in the exhibit.  The Black and Gray style tattoos that Los Angeles is famous for is created with a single needle just like this paper craft!  We also highlighted the second step where you can embellish the project further with colorful stitching.

I got to wear a microphone to shoot a video for a project shot for a USC student (shown top left) - More details on project use to come about the video/project.  Also, I had some great members from the Pretty Pink Ponies Etsy Team - Christina Cabral and Samantha Galletly (shown bottom left) helped assist and demo the project with the attendees and were a big help!

Everybody was hard at work all night on their projects - it was really inspiring and beautiful to see what everyone was coming up with.  It was interesting to see what images were used out of the images included as templates as well as how many people came up with their own subject matter for their projects.

There was a tattoo inspired rose that was quite popular.  It was a bit more in-depth then some of the other images but it came out so wonderful with the addition of the stitched elements.  Of course the California image was quite popular and I think most people tried their hand at the CA shape as their tester.

I got great feedback from the attendees on the project - I hope that the next time I share the project with a group I can have a wider range of needle shapes and awls so we can vary the piercings.  This will also help in adding some of the stitched details because the holes will be more manageable.  Overall, having just hat pins and embroidery needles as the tools was plenty - Its just good to note potential options and variations.

The craft night was streamed live on Stickam and at one point we had over 300 people watching our crafting online! The Stickam site is really slick for broadcasting and all you need is an iPAD which captures the videos as well as the sound simply and effortlessly.

We hope to see you at the next CAFAM Etsy Craft Night in November.  They are always held on the 1st Thursday of the month and have a different project each time.  I will make sure to share the info on the project as soon as I know more info :)

Hope y'all have a fantastic & productive week!!!

XOXO, KC

How-To's Day: Punched Paper Stationery and featured guest at CAFAM Etsy Craft Night

This Thursday KC is the guest crafter at CAFAM's monthly Etsy Craft Night.  Here is a sneak peek at the project available that night.  We are making needle pierced and stitched paper on this week's how-to project.

Supplies needed

• Medium weight/thick card stock. Thicker paper provides more definition and will hold up a larger needle pierce.
• Various size needles.These can include sewing pins, embroidery needles and can even include awls or other industrial piercing tools.
• Item to protect work surface such as towel or foamcore to punch the paper design into.
• Tracing paper and your design flipped or reversed. When outlining an image the pierce holes will produce a flipped version of a design, unless you flip the tracing image first.
• A pencil to freehand draw your image.

1. Draw the image to be pierced with light penciling on the backside of your paper if you wish to freehand draw the pencil lines. You can also place the image on which ever side you like to be the smooth side (back) 
2. Use the lines of your image, or your pencil lines as the template to create your pierced lines.

A finder needle such as a sewing needle will make a very tiny and more of a stippling affect dot.
Personally I like to use a larger instrument or needle for the outlining of the shape and then work my way in with a smaller needle for the inside detailing work.

Also watch your speed and placement because placing the holes/dots too close to one another can result in a "blob" and be visually distracting.

Here is an example of the finished card:

It is easy to make a plain piece of paper a simple and modern card just by punching the outlines!

Or you can create a new variation of your logo with this technique:

Wanna Come make the project with me?

Etsy Craft Night: Punched & Stitched PaperLed by KC Cooper Sears
Thursday, October 4 from 7:00-9:00pm
$7/ Free for CAFAM Members (includes materials, drinks, and snacks)
In the CAFAM Courtyard

Make your mark with crafter KC Sears and create punched cards and pictures. KC will have funky imagery to inspire you—think vintage California, handmade items, even tattoos—and after you pierce the image, embellish it further with colorful stitching.

Hope to see you there!!!

XOXO, KC

How-To's Day: Comic Party Ball Decorations

Kevin here,

The Avengers is out today on Blu Ray and if you are a geek like me, you'll be watching it a lot.  I like to imagine it'll be my revenge for KC's Twilight marathons that can go several days.  So if you are planning on having a marvel marathon viewing party of your own, why not be uber geek and make custom decorations out of comics!

I enlisted KC's help showing me how she made the Party Balls at the last Etsy Night at CAFAM.  These are instructions originally from Mark Montano's demo. I'm going to use old and freeby comic books instead of the Robert Pattinson gossip magazines she uses. These party decorations made from comics are going to make my re-purposed geek party a hit!

Materials

• Paper (30 pages)
• Hot glue gun and sticks
• Scissors
• Pen
• Large throat stapler and staples

Cutting Steps

Step 1
Create a template to trace a 7" diameter circle on your papers.

Step 2
Cut the circle shapes out on 30 pages.

Step 3
Cut 12 little notches proportionally around the circle stack.  Draw lines across your template to line them up first.

Step 4
Group a stack into 15 pages and fold them in half straight through two notches on either side.  Along this crease, staple three times evenly.  Repeat this step, you will have two stacks prepped for gluing.

Gluing Steps

Steps 1-3
Starting between the 1st and 2nd pages of a stack, place glue dots on the first, middle and last notches.

Step 4
Turn the next page down and put glue dots on the two notches not glued on the previous page.

Repeat this process until all the pages are alternately glued together, resulting in a half moon shape.
Do all these steps again for the other stack.  When 2 completed stacks are glued dry, carefully unfold these halves and complete the paper sphere by gluing them (pictured below).

If you have any trouble, Check out more details here too.

I hate to waste good comics, so I used promotional and free stuff.  I plan on creating enough paper decorations with ribbons to disperse around the ceiling of the party room.  Let me know if you guys make some and what kinds of images you use!

-- Kevin Sears

CAFAM Paper Making & Hand Carved Stamps

Last night I headed over to the Craft and Folk Art Museum for their monthly Etsy Craft Night led by Drew Cameron of the Combat Paper Project. Drew did a handmade paper demo and we had supplies to carve our own rubber stamps.

After seeing Drew's bicycle powered paper pulper and his sweet set up, making sloppy paper in my kitchen just doesn't seem appealing anymore. Shucks! Anyway, here is a video of him riding the bike which is breaking down old army uniforms into pulp that will be made into sheets of paper:



Here are some still shots of the process:

Since I am more familiar with re-pulping paper rather than using fabric for the paper making process, it was quite intriguing to see how great the paper is made from old army clothes. Even though this is one of the oldest methods of making paper, it didn't even cross my mind that you could make paper from old clothes. Making paper out of old clothes is upcycling at its best!!!

If you are interested in trying your hand at paper making, we have a paper making blog post here you can check out for more details.

Hopefully I will see you at the next Etsy Craft Night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. It happens every month so hopeful I see you in July :)
XOXO, KC

CAFAM Etsy Craft Night- Lisa Occhipinti

Tonight I went to my first Etsy Craft Night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. It was led by Lisa Occhipinti who wrote the fabulous book The Repurposed Library. This Kindle Keeper project is one of the many projects featured in her book and was super fun making with everyone!

Valerie, Lisa, and Myself at CAFAM's Etsy Night 4/5/12

I got my copy of the book signed and got to pick Lisa's brain a bit about the behind the scenes of making a book about making things out of books (hehehe.) 

Plus, I met a new friend  Alicia who makes awesome Vinyl Record Bowls.

Inside View: My Kindle Keeper Made at the Craft Night

Now that I have Instagram (Cheers and streamers fall from the ceiling!) I can post each step of things & inspiration as I go! SO clever!!! Step by step pictures of my Kindle Keeper Project here and pictures +  details of the event are here on Facebook.
Well, off to bed! XOXO, KC