Giuseppina Cirincione - Bent, Bound And Stitched: Collage, Cards And Jewelry With A Twist

BENT,
BOUND &
STITCHED Collage, Cards and Jewelry with a Twist GIUSEPPINA JOSIE CIRINCIONE
www.mycraftivity.com
BENT, BOUND & STITCHED. Copyright 2008 by Giuseppina Cirincione. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. The patterns and drawings in the book are for personal use of reader. By permission of the author and publisher, they may be either hand-traced or photocopied to make single copies, but under no circumstances may they be resold or republished. It is permissible for the purchaser to make the projects contained herein and sell them at fairs, bazaars and craft shows.

No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical me ans including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote a brief passage in review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. (800) 289-0963. First edition. 12 11 10 09 08 5 4 3 2 1 Distributed in Canada by Fraser Direct
100 Armstrong Avenue
Georgetown, ON, Canada L7G 5S4
Tel: (905) 877-4411 Distributed in the U.K. and Europe by David & Charles
Brunel House, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 4PU, England
Tel: (+44) 1626 323200, Fax: (+44) 1626 323319
E-mail: postmaster@davidandcharles.co.uk Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link
P.O.

Box 704, S. Windsor, NSW 2756 Australia
Tel: (02) 4577-3555
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cirincione, Giuseppina. Bent, bound & stitched : collage, cards and jewelry with a twist / Giuseppina Josie Cirincione. -- 1st ed. p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-060-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Wire craft. 2. 3. 3.

Jewelry making. I. Title.
TT214.3.C57 2008
745.5942--dc22 2007037194

www.fwpublications.com Editor: Tonia Davenport Designers: Karla Baker, Marissa Bowers Production Coordinator: Greg Nock Photographers: Christine Polomsky, Al Parrish DEDICATION To my parents, who dont always understand what I am up to but always have a smile on their faces when they say, Just be careful and do whatever makes you happy. To Nick for all his love and support, his amazing family, and for bringing little Hank into our lives. To my brother and his wife for all their encouraging words. To Bella and Vita for penciling me in.

To Tonia for a great end to a long week. To Beth for being a wonderful friend and confidant. To everyone out there who supports the crafting industry. Lastly, to Sirius Satellite Radio, with its unspeakable humor, great music lineups and not-so-one-sided talk radio, for keeping me company for hours on end while I pounded away in my workroom. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Part of the joy of my second book has been getting to know the people at F+W Publications who were so supportive of my first book. My heartfelt thanks goes to Tonia Davenport, my editor and, more importantly, a true friend.

She is a great motivator and advisor. To Jay Staten, who brings a wealth of experience and great advice to the table. To Christine Polomsky, whose mad digital camera skills magically turned blocks of discarded wood into a jewelers bench. To Greg Hatfield and the marketing/sales department, for all their help at shows and promoting the book. To Marissa, Karla and the design team, who in the end, magically make everything look amazing. CONTENTS TRIED-AND-TRUE TOOL KIT
A Private Screening
My Checkered Past
Etched in My Brain
CHECK YOUR
DRAWERS At first I wasn't sure which direction to go with ideas for a second book.
Id already shared so much of myselfand my workin Collage Lost and Found.

What new things could I offer? Was there anything that hadnt already been done? Was I going to have to spend weeks scouring every store in town for new products and the latest and greatest trends? The thought made me dizzy and I felt the need to sit down. Thats when I realized I didnt need a seat. All I had to do was take a step backward (not a big one too much stuff in my workroom would make that hazardous) and look at the overflowing containers surrounding me. The things Id amassed over the past few years with the hopes of someday incorporating into a new bookthe inspiring papers, embellishments, inks, ephemera and so onwere staring back at me. One by one I lifted the containers off the shelf, removed the lids, peered inside and poked around, and the ideas I had when I first laid eyes on those objects came back. I dont scrapbook, and I have a love/hate relationship with scrapbook paper.

I love it so much that I cant resist it, and I have a hate complex with myself every time I buy another sheet of it. With the new sophistication of patterns, colors and textures, it mimics another of my many obsessionsvintage textiles. Over time, a tower of scrapbook paper in my studio grew and grew until it was infringing on my already wee work area; so instead of using cardstock for stamping, I started stamping on scrapbook paper. Another thing that I have amassed is a collection of wiredifferent types and colors, large and small gauges and of course a menagerie of wire-bending tools. The way I bought the tangled coils was the way I still found them among other cramped supplies in crowded (but nicely labeled) storage drawers with identifiers such as doll hands, tiny watch parts, misc. you get the idea. you get the idea.

Open drawers, find inspiration. So I thought, why not marry the wire and the scrapbook paper together and make cards? Thus began the inspiration for projects in the books first section, Folded. The wire offered new possibilities for unique embellishments, my own style fonts and a different way to add dimensional texture to the already beautiful piles of scrapbook paper. Then, I got to thinking about how many beautiful cards Ive received from others over the years with not enough wall space to frame them all. I imagined other people in the same boat and perhaps even worse off than me, having collections of artful ATCs, but keeping them hidden away in a binder. Store-bought card stands and displays left much to be desired.

So, I decided to make my own dimensional holders. I opened my drawer of many wires and began wrapping and twisting to my hearts content. I found that displaying my collected treasures in handmade, dimensional stands gave artwork or photographs a completely different look. This turned into the second section of the book, called Wrapped. Then, of course, after dealing more with dimensional pieces, I returned to my love of jewelry. Found-object jewelry is not a new concept, but it goes hand-in-hand with recycling or using what you have.

As I mentioned before, this was about cleaning up and looking at objects in a new light. Its one of the few times when wrinkles and tears are appreciated and considered a thing of beauty (those of you who check the 40- to 45-year-old box will understand). The final section of this book, called Worn, explores cold connections and techniques that, when paired with your imagination, will give you the ability to breathe new life into someones discarded objects. The projects and techniques I chose to showcase on the following pages are easily applied to many different mediums and ideas. What I hope you get out of this book are approaches to some new and some tried-and-true techniques that you can take and expand on your own for your own unique creations. SIMPLE