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email: info@annwood.net

botanical experiments

botanical1

And progress on a paper mache ship.

confoundNews:

* I’m way behind on email ( that’s not exactly news..) Getting a couple projects out the door and then I can devote some serious time to responding.

* I’m working towards a shop update  sometime next week ( the  week beginning 2/1) as well as a couple ebay auctions to benefit Haiti. You can get updates here or through my mailing list or twitter.

paper mache boat pattern

And instructions. Epic instructions.  They just go on and on.  I hope to add more concise printer friendly instructions later but my Christmas brain just isn’t capable of it. We are making  Mediterranean inspired little sail boats with lateen rigging – a single triangular sail on a relatively short mast.

boatsgroup

What you will need:
download pattern here
large cereal box
scissors
scotch tape
ruler
exacto knife
newspaper- 2 colors
wall paper paste
paint brushes
paint
skewers. dowels or twigs
string
heavy duty thread
needles – various sizes
fabric
buttons
glue

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(click thumbnails for larger images)

Download the pattern here and cut it out on the dotted line – the solid lines are for scoring -  there are little triangles on one end  – you can fold those back to trace the line onto your cardboard and poke your pencil through the tip of the V on the pattern to mark your cardboard.

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Use a ruler to draw the lines as shown on the pattern. I’ve highlighted the lines to score in red. Use the BACK of your exacto knife to score the lines in red and then gently bend the boat into shape…… Continue reading “paper mache boat pattern” »

new boats and castle press

fishingboats

The fleet here  is growing rapidly. I’m working on all sorts of new boats and ships and the little lateen rigged sailboats inspired by van gogh’s fishing boats are for you to make, I’m going to share the pattern and instructions next week. It takes me forever to work out the “how to” stuff but I think it’s pretty much there and I just need to test it on a couple people and photograph the steps. They are simple and relatively quick, I think you’re going to have fun making them.

Cardboard castle news:

Cardbaord Castle #2 is in the current issue of Elle Decor  – Japanese edition.  I get excited about any celebration of cardboard castle making and the entire magazine is lovely  so I’m pleased and flattered to be included.

cardboardcastle5

paper mache boats

vgboats

(vvg)

paper

papermache1_2

I’m working on lots of new paper mache  and thinking about little  bits of paper I’ve found and  saved.

paperbits

I’m also working on a small gray owl.  My plan was to make him entirely gray but he won’t have it.

smgrayowl

new things in the shop

I’ve added lots of new things to the shop including paper mache sailboat #7.

sailboat7

feather

I got another surprise package from Stephen Szczepanek ( sri threads) yesterday, so many treasures it’s too much to think about all at once but I’ll share a couple: A single exquisite feather – the picture doesn’t do it justice – it is so soft and iridescent it seems almost liquid, it makes me think of this quote from “The Rings of Saturn” :

“I have always kept ducks,  he said, even as a child, and the colors of their plumage, in particular the dark green and snow white, seemed to me the only possible answer to the questions that are on my mind.”

Some impossible blues – already being made into something. Thanks very much Mr. Szczepanek.

And something else – progress this morning on a new ship.

new things in the shop

Ahoy, merry wobblers! May the wind always be at your bustle!

Paper mache sailboat #6 and lots of other things are in the shop now.

merry wobblers say good morning

Theses are little passengers for  sailboat #6.

This is the boat on Saturday. I finished it yesterday and it will be in the shop later this week.

the odin

The odin is a present for a good friend.  I’m working on some new ships and boats- progress photos soon.

titanic at the half moon hotel

This photograph was a gift from my favorite guy at the flea market -(park slope) and I love it.  He stopped showing up in early summer last year. I’ve wondered and asked about him since and I found out a few weeks ago that he died.  He took the photo at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, I’m not sure when- 70’s or 80’s probably.  He was a painter and photographer. I only new his first name – John.

new sweethearts available to order

I’ve been working on some new things for spring and they are available now in my shop.

*update – sold out  but more coming soon.

There is also a new one of a kind set – claude and gus.  I’ll have something similar available to order soon.

sailboat #5

I’ve just added this sailboat and lots of other things to my shop.

new in the shop

I finished the owl in the post below - rodrigo is in the shop now as well as a few more birds and a paper mache sailboat.

rigging a tiny ship

The gjoa

and the little diorama it became part of.

shipwreck!!

On a stormy winter sea. That ship met with a mishap a while ago and I intend to fix it soon but I like it’s ruined state and wanted a picture before I repair it.

cardboard castle #2

I finished my second cardboard castle and it’s in the window at Johnson at 179 Orchard street. There are also some doug rhodehamel style mushrooms and a couple little creatures roaming around. I had lots of fun making it and it was good thinking exercise for my sometimes too buttoned up brain. I took some pictures of it here before we brought it over.

The back of the castle has some little holes you can peek into. I couldn’t really properly photograph what you see inside, there are ghosts at a ball in one,

an enchanted horse in another and miss haversham is held prisoner in a tower (her picture didn’t turn out at all).

The castle will be in the window at Johnson until October 31st . Unfortunately this is my last window for Johnson, Mrs. Johnson is closing at the end of the month. I’ll really miss doing her window. I started doing it for fun and it ended up changing my life in interesting and good ways, Thank you MJ.