Thankful Thursday – Nicolette Ross

Thankful Thursday – Nicolette Ross

Way back in 2018 I had an idea that I wanted to repurpose some holiday card boxes that were really too nice to just throw away. At the time I was sending out over 400 hand-addressed cards for my business, so I was invested!

I had figured out most of the project, but need some help understanding how to manage those pesky corners after I had de-constructed and re-constructed the shells and I was fortunate to find Nicolette Ross @rosspressandbindery

She walked me through this clamshell to get my skills up to speed. That introduction sent me off on not only the original project that continues to this day. Beyond that, she guided and inspired me on to further adventures in box making and bookmaking and created some fantastic custom pieces to showcase some of my husband’s writing work as well.

On her feed you’ll find some great collaborations and creative ways to make events memorable. I’m forever #thankful

Adding to the Family

Adding to the Family

I’ve shown this paper before, apparently it’s one of my favorites.  I’d already used it for some drop spine and clamshell boxes, along with a small coptic notebook, but I really like the Secret Belgian Binding too (thanks again, @barizakistudio and @rosspressandbindery).  In case it’s not already obvious, paper is only one of my many stashes – seems like if it is something that comes in a bunch of colors, I need it, in a bunch of colors.

Upcycle and Transform

Upcycle and Transform

This is a project that has gotten totally out of control.  It’s what happens with a big stack of holiday card boxes and leftover notecards added to a huge stash of found and manipulated papers.  Over the years I’ve made a habit of sending as many as 450 holiday cards a year to business contacts, and my favorites came in nice chipboard boxes with magnetic closures (Peter Pauper Press), so of course you can’t throw them away even if they were a great buy.  On the other hand, I don’t need a big stack of boxes with pine trees and doves and that kind of thing.  So, I learned how to deconstruct them, how to do corners the right way, and got to work.  (Thanks to Nicolette Ross of Ross Press and BIndery for my first boxmaking lessons).

That’s how the first stack came about, and they seemed so empty.  So, I remembered I also had a stack of notecards left over from workshops I used to do.  Problem is that they already had line designs outlined on the front flaps (has to do with a workshop exercise, story for another day).  So, collage stash to the rescue.

I didn’t really have a solid plan in advance for what to do with them, but some are in my Etsy store right now, and I still have plenty of raw material to work with, so I think I will be at this for a while.

Bind or Box?

Bind or Box?

I decided, at least for now, to house the 31 March collage-a-day pieces into their own little handmade box.  This one is a drop spine, and I have to admit the collage on top isn’t from March first, it is one with the best color-coordination!