The Break: Making Lots and Lots of Stuff

I have been dying to learn cord binding and am having no luck with anything on the internets. I did find a video tutorial on embossing simple designs onto leather bound books and that was close enough. These are actually upcycled. I got some kid's board books from the library when they were giving them away. I peeled off the shiny parts and then took a sharpie and drew an image onto both pieces. I then took some linen yarn and glued it onto the lines and after brushed on some watery glue. When completely dry I brushed on more glue and placed a cut up brown paper bag piece on top. Over about 45 minutes to an hour I burnished the image with my bone folder again and again. I would push out the centers and then up against the sides until it was dry enough to take the shapes. This is the front and back covers for books not yet bound. Each one took the almost full hour. When that was dry I painted on several layers of acrylic paint. Lots of work but completely worth it.

This was my 2nd attempt at embossing designs onto a book cover and then completing the book with longstitch binding: 

  

This next group are done with polymer clay I stamped randomly, baked and then painted. I used my tear bar paper deckler to makes the pages wavy.

My coworker let her boyfriend decorate his office with Star Wars toys. I offered a painting and did this one, which was supposed to be a 'warm up' for some other painting projects. This was no warm up, it was a bit more work than I'd planned. Darth Vader is completely black and the only way you see the contours defined is by their reflection off the differently shaped surfaces. I'm working on another one and it's still really difficult so I may need to practice a few times before I go back to the canvas.

I got a book from the library, Fashioning Technology: A DIY Intro to Smart Crafting  and found a project I thought would be doable and inexpensive. I have 2 window benches and needed a new coffee table. I glued some plywood to the top of one bench and then painted it navy blue. I found some stencils I liked and tried to stencil photosensitive paint but it kept coming out messy. After several tries I did what the book told me to do, I made a silk screen. I went to the art store and bought some emulsion and activator. I found an old polyester curtain and a picture frame and stapled the fabric to the frame. I painted the photo-mixture on both sides of the screen and left it in the darkened bathroom to dry. I then found a piece of plexiglass and stenciled my original image in black onto the glass and let it dry. Once both were ready I put the plexiglass on the screen and both on a black cloth and left them outside for a few hours. Then I rinsed off the screen and put the paint on the table this way. I also added more images with a regular paint brush. When I have something on the table that portion isn't as glow in the dark but with with lights out it does glow. I can only hope it freaks my cat out.