365 Collages | Week 17 | Being a Paper Squirrel

Posted on 2018-06-20 by iHanna

I am definitely a Paper Squirrel, saving every little piece of paper I can. I squirrel away all the papers that I think have potential to be in a collage, some day. I think you have to be somewhat of a Paper Squirrel to be a collage artist. You need a good collection of different papers, in different sizes, patterns, and qualities. Looking through them is what gets me going with collage.

Sometimes I’ll have an idea what I want to do and express, but seldom does my vision come through. My intuition takes over and my hands start gluing papers together.

Dinner is Ready - Collage 116 by iHanna
Dinner is Ready – collage by iHanna.

I’m still fascinated with the vintage substrate I’m using for these collages, so it is still peaking through on most of them.

Here are seven new collages for week 17 of 2018, made by this Paper Squirrel, right in the middle of my 365 Collages Project…

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How to make a Washi Tape Sampler

Posted on 2018-06-17 by iHanna

I have been collecting washi tape for a few years now, but I still remember the first couple of rolls I got and what an amazing invention I thought patterned tape was. It’s like stickers, but on a “never ending” roll. Recently I’ve finished two different rolls of tape, so they’re not infinite – but I think it can feel like that when you have a lot of them…

What to do with all the washi and deco tape you own?

I don’t want a huge collection of tapes, because as you might know – they age and the stickiness can fade, or they get so sticky you can’t unroll the tape! That is one reason I don’t want to buy buy buy tape.

It kind of feels silly to buy more, a little counter-intuitive when the rolls will last so long, right? But there are so many new patterns that are calling to be brought home – so what to do? What can we do about this luxurious dilemma?

I am going to demonstrate a splendid solution for you all today!

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365 Collages | Week 16 | English Garden Party

Posted on 2018-06-14 by iHanna

There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall. Colette

Tea for two - Collage 107 of 365 by iHanna
Tea for two – collage no 107 by iHanna.

Welcome to my English Garden Party!

Don’t stay at home alone, bring a friend and come over because it’s going to be a party that lasts all night…

A lovely Garden Party with these seven new collages for my 365 Project this year. We will serve tea in thin china cups, live music in the evening and some slow waltzing over the lawn at dusk…

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365 Collages | Week 15 | Made in China

Posted on 2018-06-11 by iHanna

These collages are not “Made in China” of course, they are made by me here in Sweden. But they’re inspired by Chinese writings and graffiti on the wall. I hope you enjoy!

Isolation is aloneness that feels forced upon you, like a punishment. Solitude is aloneness you choose and embrace. I think great things can come out of solitude, out of going to a place where all is quiet except the beating of your heart. Jeanne Marie Laskas

The Great Wall - Collage no 99 by iHanna a.k.a. Hanna Andersson, Swedish artist #365somethings2018
The Great Wall – Collage no 99 by iHanna.

I was inspired by my pile of already painted papers, and an old magazine from Taiwan for these collages. They came together effortlessly, and the hardest part was maybe naming them? Although week 14 collages, with the colorful flowers, were even harder to name because they were all so similar. These got names from the overall theme that emerged.

Finally in a state of creative flow, these are some of my favorites so far this year, and I hope you like them too.

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365 Collages | Week 14 | Patchwork Garden Collages

Posted on 2018-06-07 by iHanna

Hello and welcome to my beautiful Patchwork Garden,
made out of paper and glue of course. Each patch is decorated to delight all the senses…

Garden Patchwork 1 - Collage no 97 of 365 collages in 2018 by iHanna #365somethings2018 #art
Garden Patchwork 1, a collage by iHanna a.k.a. Hanna Andersson, Sweden.

As per usual, I started out with not much of an idea, but then went to town with the flower images (cut out a long time ago from one of dad’s gardening magazines) I found in my stash. I made 7 more collages for my 365 Project, and I hope you’ll love them as much as I do!

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Summer Craft Idea: Play with Perler Beads (hama beads)

Posted on 2018-06-05 by iHanna

Lovely June is here, and it’s time to do some summer crafting. The definition of summer craft is loosely: anything that feels light, airy, fun, colorful and can be done outdoors on the balcony or in the garden, at the summer house or maybe even in the car.

Or simply anything you want to work on when the summer months are around…

Summer Craft Idea: play using hama beads

If you’re always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you’re in? Slow down and enjoy the moment you’re in and live your life to the fullest.
Nanette Mathews

I was probably making random colored coasters already in Day care as a kid, so they’ve been around for a long time. Then they came in lego-colors and we called them indianpärlor.

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365 Collages | Week 13 | A spring that never dries up

Posted on 2018-06-03 by iHanna

Rejected - Collage no 87 by iHanna #365somethings2018 #collageart #art #project365
Rejected, collage by iHanna.

I thought of calling this blog post / theme Rejection, but that just feel too negative for my collage art post. The feel of making and looking at the collages are positive (to me, but when naming them I was feeling kind of… down? depleted? alone? So the lady on the phone turned into a great pretender and the carefree lady turned into a saddened woman who can’t have children..

These are the people who live in my collage world this week. That is how the inside of humans can be, even though the outside looks “normal”, whatever normal is…

Do you still want to get to know them a bit? Do you dare enter the world of loneliness and deception?

I love people. I love my family, my children… but inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that’s where you renew your spring that never dries up.
Pearl S. Buck

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Creative Process Video for Index Card Collage – day 1

Posted on 2018-06-01 by iHanna

Index Cards is a office supply paper type that you can find at the paper or book store, close to notebooks and pens. It’s created for noting information like research, recipes or addresses, often stored alphabetically in a box for quick reference. In the time of smart phones, computers and online registers (GDTP be damned) it is a rather un-modern tool, but you can still find them because there is a demand for them. Just like notebooks and pens, I do not see them going out of style any time soon…

Let's be creative together in June

The index card type I like best is the original ones, with blue stripes on both sides, and a red line for header at the top. It does nothing to resemble a artist’s canvas, a thick watercolor paper or anything durable and creative at all, but it can be. As artists we can do anything we want and use whatever we have around to create art on.

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365 Collages | Week 12 | Freedom to Choose

Posted on 2018-05-30 by iHanna

Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.
Kevyn Aucoin

You can have your own wings - collage no 79, made by iHanna #365somethings2018
You can have your own wings, collage by iHanna.

Hello my dear,
it’s still summer warmth every day (as most of May has been) here in Sweden, and now all of us miss the rain. Who’d thought I’d miss clouds and rain? But I feel as thirsty as the earth must be for rain right now… Maybe that is why the collages are night sky dark and blue this week?

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Printed Postcards from my Art Journal

Posted on 2018-05-28 by iHanna

I took some artwork from my art journals and made printed postcards. They turned out very beautiful, and even though I want to keep them all, I have a few copies of each one. So you can grab yourself a pack right now, if you’re fast…

Yummy printed art journal postcards

I am thrilled with the result, and the whole idea of bringing the art journal art out into the world! It is something I wanted to do for years before I finally sat down and did it, and now I want to create more products like these.

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Posted in A Creative Life, Paper Crafting, Pretty things, Products | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments