Doing it all by hand....

Back in this post, I talked a bit about beginning to use up all the bits and pieces I've been collecting over my years as a mixed media artist. Although it brings me sort of a giddy feeling to see all my supplies, it does get overwhelming. I decided before I purchased anything new, I would begin making a conscious effort to make or repurpose materials I already had on hand to fit the bill.

This first thing I ran out of was mailers and bubble wrap....so I began making all of my own stuffing and mailers.

Following that, I began preparing for Bead Fest, and the need arose for hangtags....

Next up, is a full size show banner......

Followed by bags for customer purchases....

While it is time consuming, I also find it very rewarding to have a hand in the process from the construction of my mailers all the way through to the tags that hold the prices for my beads.

By working slowly at building a distinct handmade look from start to finish (and it is an ongoing metamorphosis) I find myself making more distinct and informed decisions about the entire look and I'm really enjoying that process. Not only do I enjoy working on the repetitive process of it, but it affords me a different type of creativity than working with beads and jewelry.

Handmade....from start to the very FINISH!

 by Barbara Bechtel

About 6-8 months ago, while looking around at all my unused craft supplies, I decided to make a concerted effort to start using up all the bits and scraps of paper, wood, craft supplies, etc. and try to make a 100% effort not to purchase anything that was absolutely non essential.....ahh, the sweet horde of a mixed media artist....I'm sure many of you can relate.....

Specifically, I'm talking packaging. Although, I've always waffled between buying boxes, business and jewelry cards, packing supplies, etc. I've always used the excuse, "I don't have enough time to do ALL those things." For myself, though, I realized that in the time I spent researching, comparing prices, doing graphic design, layout, and printing, I really could make the time with a little extra effort to make these supplies to truly make my jewelry and designs unique from start to finish AND use up my extra paper supplies at the same time.

Instead of using bubble wrap, I've been shredding beautiful catalogs after I'm through perusing them and shredding vintage clothing patterns that I've been hoarding! Almost anything can be shredded to use as filler! So much more fun than shredding old bills and receipts, eh?

A selection of completely handmade business cards. All have their own unique personality. Clockwise from top: Beth Schaible ( letterpress by the artist), Second Surf (designed, printed, and handcut myself), Canoo (stamped and screenprinted on recycled household paperboard), Dacey Hunter (scrap watercolor paper, then inkjet printed with contact info), Sara Lee Parker Textiles (screenprinted)

The back of Canoo's card....she recycles all the paperboard from their home into business cards! This fits in nicely with her upcycled sweater goodies!

This is the packaging I did for Lori Anderson's upcoming Cup of Bead Soup. I've been painting tiny paper doilies from my estate sale stash to use in my paintings. Torn and taped to the pillow boxes (whose supplies are ever so slowly dwindling) with washi tape and tied with some pretty string and a little tag from leftover watercolor paper scraps.

 Vintage postcards that have been tea stained and with quick sketches and collage elements make great earring cards for more involved earrings and the buyer gets a cute little piece of art to keep!

Here are some other great ideas for using upcycled or handmade supplies:

~Patty from My Life Under The Bus takes those ugly bubble mailers that we always mean to reuse and don't and makes them PRETTY! 

~From the Love My Art Jewelry archives: Make an origami box to hold your jewels....This would look great with a little of that shredded tissue inside...hmmmmm......

It's a wrap

by LeAnn, Summers Studio

In my mind, pillow boxes are just about perfect for packaging up jewelry. Did you know they are one of the simplest boxes you can make? I made these two from card stock purchased from the scrap booking section of my local craft store. The bands that wrap them are scrap book paper in a holiday print. All bought on sale, so these were very inexpensive to make.

Ah, you are probably asking yourself why would you go to the trouble to make these, LeAnn? You can buy them at Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Heck, you can probably buy them at that big box store that you don't talk about. Well, it goes like this. I do give my handmade jewelry for gifts at the holidays. I have used commercial boxes and wrapping paper. But this year, I said to myself if I am going to give handmade jewelry, just maybe it is time to step up and put it into handmade packaging. You know, give it just that little bit extra special touch.

You are probably also saying to yourself that this seems like a lot of work, seems time consuming, it's a stressful busy time of year........ But these actually take about five minutes to make.  Seriously, they are very simple. I can make them any size I like.  You get to use a glue stick. I love using a glue stick.

You can find a very nice tutorial and template for them here.  The size is great for jewelry. Make a larger pillow box just by increasing the length. Here's another web site that has all sorts of interesting templates from envelopes to boxes and everything in between.

And if you have holiday cards from years past, you can use those to make pillow boxes. Just how often do you get to be green and handmade special?

Are you doing anything special this year to package up your holiday gifts?