Tag Archives: arts

The Power of Introverts: video went viral

6 Replies

I introduced Susan Cain’s enlightening speech and her new book, Quiet, The Power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking, a few days ago.

It’s a surprise to know that a brilliant artistic video based on this book has been created.  According to TED, the video is created and narrated by Daniel Widfeldt Lomas and animated by Petri Ltajif. The visual production is effective, which communicates Susan Cain’s concepts well. I love the impressive hand-drawn images.

It’s going to be a video series. The artist has completed the first 2 episodes, 6 minutes each.

This first video has gone viral with more than 1 million hits.

The second video

Continue reading →

Turning your blog posts into beautiful Word Clouds

6 Replies

In my last post, 5 Easy Steps to Create Stunning Word Clouds, I recommended using the web tool Tagxedo to create your stunning Word Cloud.

You can create a personalised stunning Word Cloud in just 5 minutes.

I hope you have some success with your creation. If you haven’t tried it yet, why not try it today?

Today I created 3 word clouds with 3  favourite WordPress blog posts.

1) The creative and warm-hearted Tilly Bud, creator of The Laughing Housewife. Blog Post: Let the Games Begin.

Tilly Bud’s The Laughing Housewife: Let the Games Begin

Continue reading →

5 Easy Steps to Create Stunning Word Clouds

13 Replies

What’s a Word Cloud?

Word Cloud is an image with words. You turn words into stunning images, like this:

Beautiful Word Cloud on Tagxedo

I use Word Clouds regularly for teaching and learning new vocabulary. If you’re a visual learner like me, Word Cloud is a powerful tool. Recently, I’ve learnt some new words about tea tasting and tea culture, so I’ve turned some tasters’ jargon into images.

Today, I’m going to show you 5 easy steps to create your own stunning Word Cloud with a magnificent web tool called Tagxedo. Tagxedo is my favourite as it supports European languages and exotic languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic.

Tutorial: Turning words into a stunning Word Cloud:

1) Go to Tagxedo, click on the word Create – You’ll find ‘Create’ is on the left and on the top of the page.

1) Click on the word ‘Create’

Continue reading →

Origami joy with William Morris prints

11 Replies

William Morris prints

Two William Morris’ pocket diaries from V&A museum caught my eyes at Waterstones bookstore in Winchester last Sunday.

I gasped at the price of £0.59. I would have starved for a week to buy 100 copies, but these were the only 2 left.

I kept one as my pocket diary, and carefully cut off all pages from the other copy.

Who could resist a William Morris print?

I cut each paper into a 12cm x 12cm square.

I transformed them into my favourite origami models. I remembered all the steps of these creations by heart. It was pure joy turning William Morris prints into origami cranes, boxes, Chinese vase, boat, iris, water lily, ball, butterfly, tortoise and a spinner.

I completed these models in one and a half hours.

Origami models with William Morris prints

Cranes

Continue reading →

Weekly Photo Challenge: Create with Paper

11 Replies

Weekly Photo Challenge: Create

Last Wednesday, I made all these origami cranes on a coach trip to Wales. It was a school trip with 30 children, and I was unwinding with these cranes. (Origami paper from Muji.) I always keep a pack of origami papers in my bag.

Origami Cranes: symbol of peace

When I was putting the cranes on the  grass in the front garden to photograph them this evening, my neighbour’s lovely girl, Ffion, came over and told me she loved them. I gave her a few after I’d taken the photos. Continue reading →

How to Make a Chinese Takeaway Book in 10 minutes?

7 Replies

(* Link to free download on Chinese characters near the end of this post.)

I’ve written 5 posts recently about bookbinding. This one is my last post in the bookbinding series.

Today I’m going to show you how to make a book with an oriental touch in just 10 minutes (or less).

I call it a Chinese Takeaway Book.

You don’t need glue, needles and scissors.

Apart from a card and some papers, you’ll only need 3 other things: a bamboo stick (chopstick or a skewer), an elastic band and a hole puncher.

You can make an elegant book with an oriental flavour.

This book is particularly suitable for children to make. I normally get my students to make one before the Chinese New Year and I get them to add a few Chinese words on the cover.

This book is oriental as I normally use a bamboo stick or a chopstick to support it. You can of course use a strong skewer, but make sure you cut off the sharp end of a skewer, as you don’t want blood in your classroom or lounge.

I’ve found disposable chopsticks that you get from Japanese restaurants are the best for this book as their length is just perfect. Most Chinese chopsticks are slightly too long.

Now you know why I sometimes help myself with extra pairs of chopsticks when I’m at a Japanese restaurant just before the Chinese New Year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Continue reading →

How to Make a Book in 2 Minutes?

6 Replies

Today I’m going to show you how to make a book in 2 minutes (or less).

You don’t need any glue or needle. You may need to use a pair of scissors, but you don’t have to.

You can turn a rectangular paper (e.g., A4) into an 8 page book. Brilliant, isn’t it?

If you work with school children, you know that kids forget to bring their books all the time. When kids don’t have their homework diary, they tend to write on their arms and hands, or on a scrap paper that they would never find later.

I don’t like that. I like words written down in a proper book.

Therefore, I often provide my pupils with an emergency ‘book’, when they begin to write on their arms or on the back of their hands.

You can make this book in 2 minutes.

The instructions for the 2 minute book are:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Continue reading →

How to Make a Beautiful Origami Accordion Book (like a Very Hungry Caterpillar)?

7 Replies

Yesterday I showed you how to make this gorgeous Origami Accordion Book.

Beautiful origami accordion book

Today I’m going to show you some simple steps to turn it into another accordion book that expands like a Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Beautiful Accordion book like a Caterpillar

There’s a step-by-step slideshow for this easy-to-make book, but here’s a quick summary: Continue reading →

How to Make a Beautiful Origami Accordion Book?

19 Replies

My passion for bookbinding has run wild since my last 2 posts about bookbinding.

I’m going to write more about hand-made books in the next few posts.

Today I’m going to show you how to make this sweet little accordion book.

Beautiful origami accordion book

There’s a step-by-step slideshow for this easy-to-make book, but here’s a quick summary:

1) Square origami paper (15cm x 15cm). I used 5, you can use as many as you wish.

2) Fold all 5 papers into Preliminary base , like this:

In Origami, it’s called a Preliminary Base

3) Glue all 5 units together (making sure they all face the same way).

4) Add 2 covers (slightly bigger than the 5 units). Add ribbons inside if you wish.

5) Done!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Continue reading →

The irresistible Pamphlet Stitching is SMART

9 Replies

Through Merge, the incredible artist from London drawings, I got to know the one in a million Jacob Degeling, who taught  Pamphlet Stitching For People Who Want To Try It.

Jacob takes a more serious and traditional approach to bookbinding. He is also “a fan of apostrophes and Oxford Commas, and using capital letters, and spelling the word ‘you’ with its full 3 letters. ”  This makes me like him even more. Jacob also keeps 4 chicken, and we have got 2 chickens in the garden.

I followed Jacob’s instructions and made this book. Here is my result. Isn’t it cool?

I love this pamphlet stitching method as it is simple. It’s easy to do. Its principles are the same as those of the Japanese Sewing that I mentioned in my previous post.

I love achievable projects.

When binding the books, I remembered the over-used mnemonic that I learnt in school — SMART: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Relevant; Time-specific.

Both Japanese sewing and Pamphlet stitching are definitely SMART.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My Son Ben loves drawing comics Continue reading →