ALTERED PENCILS

You may remember my telling you about a magical story involving pencils here. For me, there's nothing better than a freshly sharpened pencil. The smell, the sound, the feel. And when pencils can be dressed up like these that I recently altered, all the better.

I started by stamping a long and narrow image onto paper ... that paper ... what's that paper called ... you know, the kind that you use when you're learning to write with two solid lines and the dotted line in the middle. 

If you're stamping to alter a pencil, I recommend scouting images that are long and narrow, because anything that is too large will get lost in translation when working on such a skinny substrate like a pencil. Also when stamping on paper with lines or other patterns, be deliberate. Had I stamped the image so the lines were to look horizontal, the look would have been a lot different. When it comes to artistic minimalism, even the slightest rotations of lines like this make a large difference in the overall composition.

I then fed the paper into the Xyron with the adhesive cartridge. (If you don't have a Xyron, you could use a different adhesive of choice but the reason I like the Xyron is because it creates an even and smooth adhesion.

 

With some pretty ribbons, these altered pencils are ready to be stuffed into stockings, topped onto gift packages, or bundled and bagged as a gift. So fun, so easy.

Happy crafting. :)

Comments

[sandy g]

JENNY,

you are the best, i love reading your blog! Thank you for being you and happy holidays to you and your family!

[shona]

brilliant and simple. thanks for the tip.

Shona

[Diane Knott]

How nice this would be as a gift for an artist with sketching pencils and a prettily decorated sketchbook to match!
Diane

[Sheila Cain-Sample]

These are very cute, they would make a lovely gift for someone. Thanks for the step by step

[Teresa aka Tess]

Jenny, I love how simple this idea is and yet somehow elegant. You really are the best for throwing in the hints n tips also.

[Julie]

This is a really great idea.

[gina badeaux]

i took floral wrapping paper and modge podged my worn out paintbrush handles .it worked out nice.i may do alot and do a video.would you like that?

[Ludid]

i am preparing a handmade notebook for my niece with paper specifically for calculating math. this pencil idea will go well with the notebook. thank you.

[Lynne Moncrieff]

Simply elegant. A continual source of inspiration. Lynne M

[gabrielle]

Oh, these, I love!

[Jill Geraghty-Groves]

Oh.....these are gorgeous.....!
xxJ