You can buy very nice blank cards and envelopes, pre-cut and folded, and draw designs on them. I found the Strathmore brand in an art supply shop, and I’ve seen them in office supply stores as well, or you can find Strathmore cards and envelopes on Amazon.

There are many different sizes of cards and a variety of paper types to choose from. Some have a textured surface, some are made of recycled fibers, some have “deckled” edges where the fibres hang out as if they were torn, as you can see in the photos. They all work. There are different colours too, from white to black. Some gel pens will mark on black.

I used metallic gel pens for most of these cards. They’re from an inexpensive set of gel pens I got on Amazon, though you could get them anywhere.

I added a matching design on the front and/or back of each envelope as well, making sure to leave room for the address. It was hard to draw over the deckle on the flap of the envelope, although it looks nice.

I’ve been pleased to use my cards for birthdays and thank-you’s, and they would also be suitable for sympathy cards. Even for Christmas, especially using stars. Here is an old video of mine on how to make a 5-pointed star with Spirograph. (That video now has 108,000 views and 525 likes. Wow, just wow.)

Shop Wild Gears at this link.

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She writes:

For the pens I used Stabilo Point 88 Pen Set.

I made each Spirograph with either a spirotot or Spirograph set, and then cut them out individually with an exacto knife.This part was very time consuming because of all the ridges and corners of the designs.

Then I separated them by color so I could find a layout that I liked. Once I did this, I glued them on to a thick piece of paper with a regular glue stick.

When I had made the Spirographs, I made them on regular sketchbook paper. What my art teacher later told me was that I should have used acid-free paper, so the colors wouldn’t fade or the paper turn yellow.

Hopefully that won’t happen any time soon!

Here are some more pictures Ariella sent. You can see how carefully she cut out each design with the exacto knife. I can only imagine how painstaking a job that was, but it really works in the finished collage, which is luminous. Great job, Ariella, and thanks so much for sending your story and photos!

The post Ariella’s Incredible Spirograph Collage appeared first on SpiroGraphicArt.

Raffaella (a.k.a. Norma as she calls herself in our comments) is a fifty-year-old amateur photographer living in Italy. She writes:

I’ve liked Spirograph from childhood, but I bought my first Spirograph just two months ago. From Amazon I bought a Kahootz Spirograph, but I wanted more and bought from eBay a Spirograph Plus (from Canada) and won an auction for an amazing Cyclograph (from the United Kingdom). Now I’m waiting for my Wild Gears 🙂

Unfortunately, in Italy Spirograph is hard to find.

Some words about my little wheels (in Italian “ruotine”). I draw them with Stabilo Pen 88 and paint them using Stabilo Pen 68
(after reading your post I bought Stabilo pens , thanks). Then I paint again with Tim Holz Distress Ink Pads, because I like the vintage look. Finally, I paste them on trays. I’ve got two trays hanging on my walls and I love them 🙂

I like Spirograph: it’s relaxing and exciting at the same time.

And i like your blog as well: it’s very inspiring for me.

We can inspire each other, so I’d be very happy to showcase other people’s ideas and artwork on this site. Contact me in the comments if you’d like to participate.

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