Up-cycling Glass: Stamp Art Tutorial

I absolutely enjoy experimenting with different mediums of art and creativity. I attempt various tutorials in order to share with others diverse ways to be artistic, Eco-conscious, feasible and most importantly, fun. 

Most supplies necessary to create can be found within your own home. 

For this tutorial, I spent nothing. I used a tall glass container that was leftover from a candle. Before I used this container for up-cycling, it was holding a small bamboo plant that outgrew the container. 

Supplies:

• Any kind of glue [tacky glue, white glue, modge podge, anything that dries clear, non toxic.]
• Glass containers [I found that slimmer, upright types of glass are more pleasing to the eye than shorter, rounder containers.] 
• I used stamps. I collect them and the ones I used are "used" stamps. You can use whatever you want to decorate the glass. 

Directions:

• Make sure the container is clean and free of any labels, glue, or residue. 
• Use an old paintbrush, any type, brush on a small area of glue onto the glass. Use a small, thin amount of glue.
• Start having fun and attaching the stamps [or whatever you choose to put on there.] 
• Let the stamps dry for about 10 minutes. Brush on modge podge lightly to put a final semi-gloss coat on all.   
• Be careful to not use too much glue in both steps depending upon what you are using. Some forms of paper buckle and tear easily.

The stamps were fun to use because it was like putting a puzzle together. Each stamp signifies a different nation, era and important part of history. Last night, I lit one up with a tealight candle and it looks beautiful. 

Right now, this same container is holding all my pens and pencils. 

It still can be used for a starter planter for certain kinds of plants, like bamboo, cactus or a new root. 

You can literally use this for anything because the stamps look that good. 

Have fun, enjoy, create and check out other tutorials I have done below.

Acrylic Arabic Peace Dove/Chinese Peace on Wood

Up-cycling Glass: Glass Beads Candle Holder

Preserving & Framing Autumn Leaves   

Q & A with Janna Willoughby-Lohr of Papercraft Miracles

On Mogul
ON WGRZ  

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking to a multifaceted artist I have the pleasure of knowing personally and professionally, Janna Willoughby-Lohr. Instead of focusing on her numerous talents, I chose to focus on her main passion, paper. 


Being both a supporter of her work, and a loyal customer, our conversation turned into a Q & A.  Janna can create whatever your heart desires. I own and have gifted several journals created by Janna and my son had his first art publication in her teacup book series. 


Janna is unstoppable, dedicated, knows her work and continues to educate herself in all aspects of the art of paper. Look no further for paper, journal, bookbinding and photo album needs because Papercraft Miracles is beyond impeccable.

Below is our Q & A, along with links to where you can find Janna, her work and events she will be appearing and teaching: 

Sue:  How did you come up with the name Papercraft Miracles? What does that signify? 

Janna:  I was in college and working on my thesis when I came up with the name, Papercraft Miracles.  I wanted a name to encapsulate what I make and why I do it.  I chose Papercraft since I knew I was planning to make all sorts of paper-related things, not just books, and I didn't want to be limited by the name.  I chose Miracles because, lofty as it may be, that is my goal with my work, to change people's attitudes when they experience my art. 

To me, a miracle could be something as small as making someone smile who hasn't in a while or bigger, to change the way they think about life and their place in it.  I hope my work will cause people to open their eyes and hearts in a way they have not before. Change comes first through observation, my goal is to wake people up, to open their eyes.

Sue:  Do you have any formal education in bookbinding and creating various types of papers and crafts associated with Papercraft Miracles? Do you just create what speaks to you or do you follow a set pattern? 

Janna:  I have always been drawn to book arts, even before I knew they were a thing. My mother was a poet as well as a rubber-stamp and collage/mixed-media artist and she was addicted to reading, so I'm sure I picked up a lot of the aesthetic from her work. I have been writing poems since I was five or so and started keeping journals and making collages shortly after that, and have continued with that my whole life. 

When I went to Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, (initially for creative writing) I was immediately drawn to create, not just write. The art department offered several classes on book arts including bookbinding, paper-making, printmaking and artist's books and I signed up for any class I could get into! When I first laid my eyes on an artist's book, where the form, design, materials, text, and illustrations all work together to create one bigger idea or concept, I knew I'd found my calling as an artist.

Sue:  How long have you been creating paper, books, and related materials? 

Janna:  I started officially learning the craft in 2000 and continued taking courses throughout college until 2004 when I graduated. I have been making paper and books commercially and honing my craft ever since.

Sue:  If you had to choose one favorite thing about your business and craft, what would that be? 

Janna:  Hmmmm . . . my favorite thing about my business is that I get to make special things for my clients that they treasure for a long time and I get to make a living doing it. My favorite things about the art itself are tactile aspects, how everything feels. How different papers are smooth or rough, and how fabrics or leather are soft or embroidered, how it feels to open and close my books or running my fingers through paper pulp. 

It is a Zen art form that requires you to leave the past in the past and let the future come later and just be in the moment making art. And I love that. 

Sue:  Are your products Eco-friendly and if so, please elaborate. 

Janna:  Most of my products are Eco-friendly! For my books, I typically use handmade papers or cotton fabrics for the covers and most of my interior pages are made with some kind of recycled paper. My handmade paper is made using different materials and recycled office paper is one of them. I also make paper by cooking parts of plants that I grow in my garden. 

When the blooming season is over, I trim leaves and stems of certain plants and turn them into paper, and collect the spent flowers to put into the paper as inclusions and I use some plants to make natural dyes for the paper. I not only use things from nature to make my art, I grow plants and flowers to do so, which helps the bees, the birds and us too! 

Sue:  What kind of business exactly do you do? 

Janna:  I create handmade paper, books, invitations and paper crafts for special occasions or everyday use. 

Sue:  Do you teach others how to create books and/or related artwork through tutorials and courses? 

Janna:  Yes! I teach several different workshops at The Western New York Book Arts Center including a monthly Open Bookbinding Studio where other book artists or those interested in learning more, can come and get help and expertise from me in completing a project they are working on and/or use the tools and equipment there. I also teach workshops in schools. I am currently teaching a 9-week session at the Journey's End Refugee School as part of Western New York Book Arts Center Printing Partners program. I do birthday parties too! 

Sue:  What initially sparked you to begin bookbinding? 

Janna:  I made my first book as part of a school project about pandas in 5th grade. My mom had some special handmade bamboo paper that we used for the cover, we typed the text using her Smith Corona electric typewriter, and then we stitched it all together. I still have it, believe it or not. After that, I always had a journal and I loved to collage on my journals and when bookbinding courses became available to me, I jumped at the chance. 

Sue:  What products do you offer? 

Janna:  I mainly sell handmade journals, notebooks, sketchbooks, photo albums, and pop-up books as well as artist's books and gifts/trinkets. In addition, I do book design and layout, graphic design and consulting. 

Sue:  If you had to create one thing that you never have before, what would that be?

Janna:  I would love to create a gigantic pop-up book! They are usually my toughest challenges, getting them to hang right and be evenly spaced, so a great big one would be a fun challenge. 

While I was in college, I knew I wanted to be an artist but I also knew that I did not want to be a starving artist. I was frustrated with the lack of business/marketing classes available to art majors and vice versa, so I decided to create my own major to suit my goals in life. 

I met with the Integrative Studies board and they helped me to refine my goals. The major I created was called Entrepreneurial Creative Business Arts where I learned to be an artist and an entrepreneur at once. Having many lofty goals at a young age was great but it has taken me several tries to really get things in order to do Papercraft Miracles full time. 

I'm glad I waited until now to really throw my all into my business because I learned so many useful skills in the 12 years since I graduated college, not just artistic skills and business/marketing skills, but I've learned a lot about working with people, which is ultimately what success in any business is about. 

Running my own business from home allows me to stay home with our little boy, a dream I never thought would be possible. I owe so much to my amazing husband as well. He is my number one supporter.

After years of knowing Janna, it was interesting to find out things I did not know. It was tough to put a conversation into 10 questions, but this was fun and enlightening. 

I believe you will, as I have, fall head over heels with the pure excitement, positive energy, wonderment, intelligence and devotion to art and life itself that is indeed, Janna Willoughby-Lohr.

Website * Facebook * Small Press Book Fair * Book Arts Center * Janna * 

Email * Twitter * Instagram * Pinterest * LinkedIn * YouTube * Photo Albums

Thoughts While Sleepwalking

 

Jackdaw with The Ruffians "Black & Tans" & Blackgrass CD Review

Artwork © David Moore

Every St. Patrick's Day I put this out, a fine Celtic Rock Band, my dear brothers, all of them, in rare performance with The Ruffians and two, I recorded, engineered and edited/mixed this at one Irish Feis in South Buffalo managing so many boards I am shocked it turned out good. This includes the most mind-blowing version of "Black and Tans" at 3:00 with Danny from The Ruffians rolling bones.

Slainte!

 https://soundcloud.com/susan-marie/jackdaw-with-the-ruffians-balck-tans-slainte

Audio © Susan Marie and Jackdaw

***

 

Jackdaw ~ Blackgrass

 

     BlackJack,  JackRock, JackGrass, BlackRock . . . BlackGrass.    

This IS Jackdaw.

     In 2007, Jackdaw released their CD, entitled, Blackgrass. Fourteen tracks accompany astounding artwork in a tri-fold pocket emblazoned with years of compilations of bass beats put to lyrics formulated from heart break, love lost, found, realized, and upbeat renditions of goodbyes and hellos. Blackgrass is a stark re-visitation that pays homage to the innermost root of all genres of music. The title stands alone, as does each member of Jackdaw; in defining exactly what occurs when Rock meets Folk then stumbles upon Blues.

     Each CD bears a sticker on the front, similar to that of a liquor bottle seal, as in aged Scotch or fine wine. You need to break that seal in order to taste the beauty inside. The stickers bear lyrics, each CD completely singular. The back jacket is an enigma left for you to decipher not unlike a crossword puzzle. Inside the CD, there are hidden pieces to each of them in poetics, photography, artwork and design.   

Holding Blackgrass in your palms and having to tear that sticker is bittersweet, yet every second worth it.     

     Jackdaw consists of:  Tim Byrne ~ lead/backing vocals, guitars, mandolin, banjo and piano, Joe Davies ~ fiddle virtuoso, Tommy Jordon ~ lead/backing vocals and bass, David, A. Moore  ~ lead/backing vocals, accordion, English concertina, button box, uillean/highland pipes, hurdy gurdy and tin whistles and George Tutuska  ~ lead vocals and percussion.  

This most astounding congregation of artists leaves it entirely up to the listener to decide who is singing, who is playing, and who has written what.  As always, Jackdaw leaves you searching, wondering, wanting more.

     Every track on Blackgrass is different than the last. Each member of Jackdaw prominent in their playing with George and Tommy keeping time in the background, David on the sideline harmonizing instrumental as Tim’s guitar screams while Joe brings them full circle with his fiddle, altogether vocalizing becoming whole.

     Everything Seems So Damn Simple is quick and upbeat speaking of life and survival, how one can feel comfort until left alone while Dance leads you down into a cavern branded with an eclectic mix of instrumentals and vocals with a funky 80’s beat melded with a 70’s discotheque sound. Bye Bye Lust, musically is a feel good song, one to keep you moving, yet lyrically this is a goodbye, a turn around.   

     Annelise is where you can catch Joe and his fiddle creating beautiful hurt. This song is a wish for the one in front of you to be the one that you love. The melody is as haunting as pain itself. Galway Girl is Jackdaw’s rendition of Steve Earle’s original and they took this tune and made it their own, as they are known to do. It will get you reeling and dancing, singing along with a hey ahh hey ahhh ayeee.  Positive and uplifting, lyrically, it speaks of the beauty and heartbreak of Galway. 

      Shout Out At Me is a call for one to stop, take notice and listen while Bombshelle will cause you to open your mouth and shout out, She’s A Bombshelle!  Supersize is a nice surprise, bringing you right back to that 70’s hard rock sound with a solitary message of, This is who I am and too bad if you don’t like it, while Spaghetti Western places you right into a country western flick filtered with bluegrass, rock and roll and bell tolls led by guitar and fiddle.  Every song on this CD is a gem, yet one does indeed stand out from the rest. 

     Shiny Black With Rain, musically and lyrically is Jackdaw coming together as one. The rain and thunder effect mixed with a sole pianist sets you up for astounding harmonies and instrumentals. This tune is poetic in nature sending a message of that one true love you were lucky enough to find, experience, realize, almost lose, rediscover, and somehow, still have in your possession. This song is so beautifully mastered; you can picture a story unfolding before your eyes while listening. It is, life itself, unwinding in vocals, whistles, fiddle, guitar, bass, drums, with all of Jackdaw contributing to a musical masterpiece. It leaves one with the need to hold your palm out to say, I understand.     

     Jackdaw has won numerous awards seven years and counting, along with graphic design for their CD'S and posters. The essential way to get the best out of Jackdaw is to see them live, which I refer to as The Jackdaw Experience because that is exactly what it is. Every show is a roller-coaster ride, each song played a bit differently and when the last note is heard for the night, they leave you wishing they would never stop playing. Each member of Jackdaw is an artist in their own right and onstage they are, by far, the best band this generation will see.  

       Jackdaw takes you right along with them on their bus, The Black Moriah, for the ride of your life that bears the name of Blackgrass. After you break open the label on the front, pop out the red and black CD. Hiding behind it is a simple statement that packs a punch: 

     You are listening to BLACKGRASS by JACKDAW.  Everything Will Change. 

     And it does. Trust me.    

 

©  Susan Marie 2007