Indigo Balls

I've finished eight of the woven star balls with my handmade indigo paper. I'm quite pleased with how they're turning out.

Now that I'm comfortable with the geometry of the assembly process, the hardest part is cutting the paper strips. I've been using one of my quilting rulers and a stanley knife, but I'm getting blisters on my hand. The paper is tough--almost leathery. I've been starting to check out the possibility of investing in a good paper trimmer. I have a couple of little ones, but they're not up to a heavy duty task like this. Before I do that, I'll see what other lovely thick papers I have for making these balls.

Sample, Sample, Sample

I'm getting more confident with the 3-D geometry of these woven balls. And I'm convincing myself that I really can see the 5-pointed star which the strips of card outline on each side. I expect that would be even clearer if the print on the card wasn't so distracting. Then again, it's been nice to put the junk mail to some good use. I have "No Junk Mail" in letters several inches high on my letterbox, but some always slips through.

I have some lovely textured indigo-dyed paper on my shelf. I think it might be time to pull it out and put it to use.

Woven Star Ball

I am inordinately proud of this woven paper ball.

This is my third attempt over as many days--not counting lots of fiddling and grumbling. You can see it's a rough sample: made with strips of card from the back of a furniture catalogue. I found a tutorial here, but even so the last few steps puzzled me for quite a while. I never was good at 3-D puzzles! I've been looking for things to make that don't involve my usual stitching activities, since my elbow is still giving me grief. Now I've got this figured out I'll see how I go making some with a nicer card.