After the pen pot from my previous post, I worked on another of the paper woven products - this time using a mix of painted and original newspaper tubes. I must say I am quite happy with the way this one turned out.

This was a desk tidy, about 4 inches in diameter and about 5-inches in height. I made a pair of them, in contrasting colour combination. 

I love how nice and sturdy this desk tidy is! And I love that the print is visible! But the best of this is the combination of colour and original!

So, what do you think?? Would you like to have one of these desk tidies on your desk??

 So I have been experimenting with making some woven products using the original newspaper tubes, without colouring them. 

This was the first of them - a pen or pencil pot. This time I tried both ways - one I made using only the newspaper tubes, no colour. The next was made from wood-coloured tubes. What do you think? Which is the one you prefer?

Personally, I prefer the original tubes with no colour. I like that the paper is seen and anyone seeing it would know that it is made from paper. But if I want to hide that it is actually paper-made, then the colouring one works out well.

Here's to a blessed new year 2021! Well, the year has had a good start for me and I was able to work on my first order for this year - a box made from newspaper tubes with a touch of decoupage. 

I am very happy to see the results of all the practice I have had during these past few months! Quite delighted with how pleasing and utilitarian this box turned out to be! 

The box is 8 inches in diameter and 10 inches in height. In this instance too, the client just specified that she wanted a big box with decoupage. So that meant, I got to choose the colours and the design!! Yay!!

 

I went for the peach/white combination from my last box as I absolutely love this decoupage tissue. I love how pleasing these roses are! The base was made from a cardboard and I started by gluing the sticks to the base. 

I used 2 patterns for the sides. The first was a 3-weave pattern as I wanted to accentuate the white. This was followed by a peach section, since I wanted the decoupage to stand out here. 

The lid also started with a cardboard base with decoupage on it. Quite happy with the way the decoupage turned out! In love with these little woven knobs! They are so adorable!!

Finally, I finished off with some round felt protectors, since the colour is quite light and I didn't want the box to turn dirty very quickly! 

So, here's to a year of newspaper weaving and plenty of orders 😄😄

Happy New Year 2021!

 

Merry Christmas, dear readers! Hope this season brings you much joy and peace, despite the problems that still persist with the virus! 

Here are my latest favourite projects - Leaf trays made from newspaper tubes, using red and green tubes to add a little Christmas vibe to it! 

And check out these pretty Christmas baubles - yet another eco-friendly project. Though not by me! This is done by a group called PeopleKraft. Do check out their Insta page for more of their work. These baubles are made from scrap fabric, left over from various other projects. I thought it was an innovative way of reusing such material and so, ordered a couple of these baubles for my Christmas tree! 

Once again, a Merry Christmas!

Its that time of the year! A time of joy and cheer! And on my blog, this is the time to create some Christmas themed newspaper weaving crafts! So this year, I decided to go ahead and redo the leaf tray from my previous post! Using Christmas colours of red and green - naturally! 

 And let me say, I am absolutely delighted with the way this tray has turned out! I used random red/green tubes, and I love the effect produced by this random mix. The handle was also attached differently. I like this method better. 

Overall, a nice bit of work to end this year! 

Model Details:

Model: Leaf Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

 

 

A little experiment for making a small, leaf-shaped tray, in time for Christmas! This little tray has been on my to-do list for quite some time now, especially since I have already made a couple of leaf trays using the coiling technique of weaving.  

Since I had already coloured some tubes green and red, in anticipation of some Christmas themed newspaper weaving projects, I decided to use a few of them to try out this little leaf tray. Well, it turned out not to so little after all - measuring around 10-inches at the maximum length!

 

While I quite liked the leaf stalk that I added, I think I need to figure out a better way, or rather,  a more aesthetically pleasing way of adding it! 

Other than that, I am in love with this tray and I think I will do one more using Christmas colours! What say??

Model Details:

Model: Leaf Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

This time of coronavirus has meant that I have received very few orders for my newspaper weaves during this year. But well, there is always a silver lining - I was able to work on my weaves, experiment with colours, try out new weaving techniques... 

Let me assure you, trying to achieve a certain level of mastery in anything is difficult. While perfection is impossible to achieve - practice definitely does not make perfect, but it sure does make one better - striving towards that perfection, for me, is key to success. As far as my weaving goes, this means a lot of hours, plenty of effort and boat loads of experiments! 

So time of quarantine has been that opportunity for me to better my work. I have done a ton of reading (a lot of sites in other languages, so thank you, Google Translate!!), a whole bunch of research, hours of video-watching, many, many experiments with colours, techniques, designs and rolling so many newspaper tubes that I can probably do it blind-folded now! 

And the result? Now I can say that my work has definitely improved. In the next few months I will be able to show that on my blog too. And hopefully, I would love to share some of my learning and if you are interested in paper weaving, I am sure that would benefit you.

Coming to this big box - this is one of the biggest projects I have had the pleasure to work on. The client wanted something to store toys in, something in pleasing pastel colours and something with a lid. She also wanted decoupage. That was all the requirements. And what a pleasure it has been! 

I worked based on the patterns on the decoupage tissue - roses in pale peach. So my chosen colours were peach and white. This project involved a loooot of tube-rolling!! 😅😅 I started with a cardboard base, with decoupage done on that cardboard. The weaving was pretty straight-forward - the lower half was an experiment in random combinations of peach and white and the upper half was completely done in white. I absolutely loved the lid, with its little peach knob! Initially I had thought of adding a wooden know, but am quite happy I went with this paper knob instead. 

Decoupage is quite interesting, but I think this will also take a back seat to the actual weaving. I love the way it accentuates the beauty of the box though. 

Overall, a wonderful project and a pleased client 👍😀

 

After the lovely origami that I folded last month, I decided that I wanted to do something in newspaper weaving that is a little big - big enough to contain a fair amount of stuff, rather than the usual, small pieces that I do. 

 

So that is what I did! This box, made of olive green and corn yellow, is the first of these boxes that I decided to weave. The idea was derived from some decoupage tissue, presented to me by my daughter, Little Miss. I am not sure decoupage will look good on small, woven works. Anyway, I have to try it out! But for now, this is what I did. 

The base of the box was cardboard, since I wasn't too keen on weaving such a big bottom! The box measures 8 inches in diameter and the cardboard is 6 inches in diameter. From that, I started my weaving.

Once I started weaving the sides, I wanted to try out some new techniques of weaving. Unfortunately, I don't know of the names! But I guess the pictures provide enough information! 😆

 Once the weaving was done, it was decoupage time. Frankly speaking, I am not too happy with the way this decoupage turned out! I think the bees and the flowers merge a little too much with the weaving! But, all is not lost! I will try this same technique again with a different decoupage paper and hopefully that will come out well!

Model Details:

Model: Leaf Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

The first order for a magazine rack came through during the covid lockdown. So I decided to hunker down and start working on the rack during the end of June. The client gave me the option of choosing my own colours, so decided to go with a combination of dark and light brown. The light brown was after consultation with Little Miss 😄And I must say I am quite happy with the result.

The base of the rack is made of plywood, and I had drilled holes through the wood. Then it was just a matter of decoupaging paper onto the base, so that the plywood is not visible. The wood base ensured that the magazine rack would be sturdy even if a number of books are placed in it.

I liked the pattern in the lower half of the rack. Would have loved to continue in the top bit too, but I guess that would not have looked that great in the middle. So there, it was a regular weave with 2 tubes of paper.

I must say my weaving skills have improved quite a bit and am quite pleased with the way the magazine holder has turned out. Obviously, there are a few mistakes, but nothing glaringly obvious. And I am sure I would get better with a little more practise. What say?

Overall, this has been a fun bit of work and I am truly grateful that the client trusted me with the whole project. I am also supposed to make a pen holder and a tissue holder that goes along with the rack. I will soon get cracking on that!

Continuing with the project from my last post, I worked on a pen stand, using the same colour combination - dark purple, mauve and cream. It was again done using the coiling technique, using newspaper tubes.

Weaving the tray was easier because of the larger surface area. And another problem was maintaining evenness in the sides of the pen stand. I haven't completely succeeded in this regard!

The close up shows the colours and the smooth weave. And once I glazed it, I ended up with an incredibly strong pen stand! I just hope my brother likes it and finds it useful :)

And finally, here is a picture of the pen stand and the tray. I am quite pleased with how they have both turned out, but I think I will take a break from weaving using the coiling technique! It is quite time-consuming and frankly speaking, very addicting 😅😅

Model Details:

Model: Triangular Pen Stand

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

After completing the woven Mother's Day bowl, it appears that I still am a glutton for punishment 😅😅 I tried out more of the coiling technique, using newspaper tubes. Well, I had a second reason for going ahead with this tray - my brother's birthday had just gone by and thanks to coronavirus, I was unable to gift him what I had wanted. So handmade it was!

The triangle is a shape I haven't attempted before and I am happy with the way it has turned out. I love the slight curve in the sides. I also added some tubes in the edge, as handles for the tray. I don't know what purpose they would serve, but I like the way they look!

As far as the colours go, I went with a combination of purple and cream tubes. The purple was in 2 shades, since I wanted to do a gradient in the weaving. The darker purple was achieved by adding a little black acrylic to mauve acrylic paint. This resulted in a rich dark purple which was a pleasure to work with! The lighter purple was mauve with a dab of white acrylic paint mixed in. I wasn't too happy with the way the cream turned out! I wanted a mellower version. I need to experiment more with this colour.

I love this closeup of the weaving! Absolutely adore the way it has turned out. The weaving is the smoothest I have achieved since I started experimenting with coiling or root weaving technique.

I have also decided on weaving a pen stand, using the same technique and the same colours. Will have to see how that works out!

Model Details:

Model: Triangular Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

 

 

Apparently, tissue holders continue to be my Achilles heel, when it comes to newspaper weaving! After my previous attempt at weaving a snail-shaped tissue holder, my second attempt did not turn out to be much more of a success! 

This time, my attempt was weaving an oval base with a couple of half rings. This is based on a combination of pictures I had seen on Pinterest. But while the theory was quite fine, the execution still needs work. 

On the plus side, I am very happy with the way the oval base turned out! This is one of the few times I have managed to weave an oval without distorting its shape! The rings, of course, need a lot of work! 

Model Details:

Model: Tissue holder

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Today being Mother's Day, I wanted to make something for my mom. Well, with the lockdown in place due to the coronavirus, shopping was out of question. Which means, I decided to try out one of my newspaper weaving projects. And so was born the Mother's Day Bowl.

The idea behind the bowl was to use one theme colour, in this case black, along with other coordinating colours, for which I chose blue, yellow and pink.

I also wanted a very sturdy base, so made use of some plywood and drilled holes into them to form the centre of the bowl. I then coated them with black acrylic paint. This was the starting point of the bowl. From there, I decided on going with the coiling or root weaving technique. This is woven freestyle, without any form.

While I love the colour combination, the finish is still not up to the mark. Naturally, this will only come with practice and as the lockdown continues, hopefully I will master this technique of newspaper weaving!

Model Details:

Model: Mother's Day Bowl

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

Stay Home Stay Safe! Who would have thought that a microscopic virus could bring the world virtually to a halt?? While this pandemic has had a terrible impact around the globe, it is during the lockdown that I have been able to connect with friends from long back, get back into my blogging, work on some incomplete projects.

One of the projects is this newspaper weaving project - Making coasters from newspaper tubes, using the root weaving or coiling technique. I was kinda bored of circular shapes, so attempted something a little different. Not sure how well it turned out, but I can say for certain that the coasters are rock solid.

The holder was a last minute idea, since I had plenty of rolls left over. Turned out pretty useful too, since I didn't end up losing a coaster or two, just because they were left lying around! The edges of the holder leaves a lot to be desired and even now, I am not too sure how to go about making this, but hopefully in the future, it will get better.

On the whole, I am happy with the outcome.

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Coasters with Holder

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

 

Here is another of my newspaper weaving trials - a tissue holder shaped like a snail! A couple of years back, I had tried a pot holder shaped like a snail. And had been quite happy with the way it had turned out. So, this is my next attempt to use a snail shape in my weaving. Can't say I have succeeded quite well this time! 

Anyway, my lessons learnt - need to make it bigger next time, so that the entire tissue fits in well! 

Notice in the background, my pot holder from my last post? Complete with its pot?? Quite liked how it turned out 😄

 

Given the intense newspaper weaving session from the last post, I decided to do something a little simpler. So here is my pair of pot holders, made in aqua and white - the colours of my parents' living room. For quite some time now, they have been asking me to weave them something that goes with their room colours. And for a looong time now, I have been putting it off - mainly because I wasn't too sure that I would do justice to their aesthetically pleasing room! 

 So finally, after much deliberation, I decided to try out a couple of pot holders, to be kept over their piano, along with a candle stand in the same colour combination. Since I needed a pair, I used the exact opposite colours, in the same pattern. 

I am quite pleased with the way it has turned out. The centre portion, made from a single tube that is twisted around the base tube, was something new. While this is not always even, I quite like the effect produced. I believe I will use the same pattern in a few more weaves in the future!

A few months back, I had made a leaf-shaped tray using the technique of coiling with newspaper tubes. I decided to revisit the tray, this time using wood-stained tubes, the same ones I had used for this box with lid. This tray is bigger than my previous attempt, measuring about 15 inches at the longest length.

I had sprayed the tubes with water mixed with a little fabric softener, about half an hour before I started weaving. This resulted in very flexible tubes that did not break or crack while weaving. I will try out other methods of coating the tubes as I make other objects using the same technique.

Very happy with how even the weaving turned out. The closeup of the tray brings that out very well.

Finally tried out a new finish. I came across this style of finishing the edges, during my usual perusals on Pinterest and was quite fascinated by this. I feel this style is much better than the usual edging. This gives a very professional look to the product and has a very leathery appearance. I messed up the ending, but I have learnt from that and should do better next time.

Model Details:

Model: Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube 

Tutorial for the edge: Youtube

More newspaper weaving, this time using magazine rolls. I had rolled up these tubes in the fond hope of making a pen holder. But for one reason or the other, I never got around to making them. So finally, thanks to new year resolutions, I decided to use them to make another attempt at coiling or root weaving.

This time, I decided to try out a rectangular shape, so that I could make it into a tray instead of a pencil holder. I had no particular idea of how big or how long the tray should be. I just coiled till I was happy with the size and till the tubes lasted!

The shape is a little wonky. As you can see, one side is a little larger than the other. But other than that, I think it a fairly good attempt.

The plus point of using magazine tubes is that the end result is very colourful and more cheerful than newspaper tubes that are painted a single colour! The end result is to be sent to a dear friend of mine, who had been asking me to sell one of my newspaper projects. I think this colourful tray will be a good addition to my friend's desk 💖

Model Details:

Model: Tray 

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

So, after the last post on all the popular origami from last year, I realised that newspaper weaving was lagging behind. So I decided to try and complete at least 12 projects of newspaper weaving this year.

With that goal in mind, this is my first attempt - a newspaper woven little jewellery box with a lid. This is the first time I am attempting a proper lid, which will fit the box. My last attempt was rather rudimentary and I was not at all happy with that. While this is a definite improvement, I have ways to go before I can be really happy with this.

As is evident, this was also woven using the coiling technique. I guess I will attempt a few more projects using the same method. These tubes were coloured dark brown, using wood stain.

 Model Details:

Model: Coiled Box with lid

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

Happy New Year 2020!

The old year has passed and as we step into a new year, here's to a wonderful, peaceful and blessed new year to everyone out there!

PaperNPearlz has been doing pretty well this year! Posts have been fairly regular, with many posts on the wonderfully challenging technique of newspaper weaving.

We have started off for the first time on Instagram, became more active on Facebook and Pinterest. And a dormant account on Flickr! came to life finally!

The most liked posts on the various social media sites is what is posted here. As expected, Tomoko Fuse's modulars featured widely.

In this new year, hopefully we will see more origami modulars and other challenging projects. And I also hope to see some woven products. And maybe some tutorials too!

Once again, a happy New Year 2020!

Here is the list of models with links to more detailed posts:
1. Tornado designed by Aldo Marcell
2. Cassiopeia Kusudama by Uniya Filonova
3. Butterfly Kusudama by Tomoko Fuse
4. Little Turtle Kusudama by Tomoko Fuse
5. Octagonal Box by Tomoko Fuse
6. Petals Type II Kusudama by Tomoko Fuse
7. Hacky Sack by Winson Chan
8. Little Turtle Kusudama Variation by Tomoko Fuse
9. Patterned Icosahedron by Meenakshi Mukerji