If you’re like me, you probably have a pile of favorite crochet/knitting patterns that you’ve printed off the internet. I grew tired of sifting through my stack looking for the pattern I wanted, OR printing off a pattern only to discover it was already in my stash! The other day I splurged and forked over $3.50 for a 3 ring binder–one of those with the plastic pocket overlays–and tabbed divider sheets, which were about 2 bucks for a set of five.
I divided my patterns into categories and then whipped out my label maker. A lot of 3 hole punches later and some decorative paper slid into the binder’s overlays and voila….a ‘book’ of patterns.
A while back my local art center featured a showing of mixed media collage. I was so inspired that I came home and decided to make my onw mixed media collage masterpiece too! I assembled all the usual suspects: paper, glue, glitter, scissors…well, you know who they are. Anyway, when i was finished I had a hot mess on my hands. It was awful!! As I wallowed in my defeat, it occurred to me that perhaps beads were a better choice than paper. So the first usual suspects were put away and a second group was assembled: beads, wire, needle-nose pliers…well, you know who they are. After a bit of experimentation, here’s what I came up with, and you know what? I LOVE them!
Light boxes are immensely handy for on-line sellers and we bloggers. And there are TONS of DIY versions on the internet that you can whip up for next to nothing. The only problem that I had with all those how-tos is that NONE were collapsible. So, using a tutorial I found over at DPS as inspiration, I got down to work. The result is a fold-up light box that takes up just a few inches of space when not in use! To make one of your own, gather up the following:
- cardboard
- a utility knife
- tissue paper (Since making the original version, I’ve replaced the tissue paper with white sackcloth, which is what they use to make dishtowels. It’s still light weight but MUCH more durable than the tissue paper.)
- tape or glue stick (tape only if using cloth)
- mailing/packaging/or duct tape
- a straight-edge
- matte poster board
To see how it all goes together, head on over to Curbly.
And here’s a picture I took using the light box:
