Creative Cross Training - Designing Triangle Boxes

I've never been one to stick entirely to a single artistic medium.  Lately, my focus has been developing my own geometric box designs for my Cricut cutter.

It amuses me that while I'm totally a freeform bead-weaver, I find it's tremendous fun figuring out how to build these three-dimensional geometric shapes out of flat pieces of paper.  And I love that once I've come up with the design, my Cricut does all the hard work, cutting everything out, even scoring my fold-lines.  All I have to do is (carefully) peel the paper off the cutting mat and assemble the boxes.  This is especially helpful as I've been going through a rough spot this winter, where beading, painting, even typing have been difficult due to the pain and stiffness in my hands and forearms.  Luckily, I think we've finally figured out what was causing the imflammation, and I'm slowly on the mend.  (This Sunday I'll be sharing my latest bead weaving - cute little freeform peyote rings, perfect projects when you can't bead a lot!)

But in the meantime, I'm having a great time trying to come up with designs for little boxes that don't require glue.  I like to think of this as creative-cross training.  Not as daring as the trapeze classes a few years back, but more suited to my current fitness levels.  :)

little tabs hold the boxes together

The paper designs are from my photos - color studies I painted years ago and a close-up I took of some succulents.  I simply print them onto my white card stock and voila, I have an unending supply of 'fancy' paper.

Playing with an triangular ornament design

As my hands continue to heal, I've started trying to figure out if there are ways to combine beading and paper cutting.  Towards that end, I designed these 'triangle lantern' boxes.  At 4" tall, I think they could make cute ornaments, especially with a beaded-bead or tassel hanging down from the center. 

New Classes at Fusion Beads this Summer

I'm teaching two new classes at Fusion Beads this summer.  In July, I'll be sharing my spin on more freeform bead embroidery with my Happy Fish.  These little guys, my newest additions to my underwater menagerie of beaded fish friends, were inspired by Robin Atkin's Bead Journal Project.  I needed a theme I'd enjoy working with for a year, and smiling fish fit the bill. 

And in August, I'll focus on the techniques I used to create my Nautillus Flower Cuff, from Explorations. 

Sign-ups for Summer workshops begins this Thursday, April 14th.

If you're planning to visit Seattle this summer, definitely check out their classes catalog. They have one of the best, most varied schedules you'll see outside of a major beading conference.