Folded Passport Case

Traveling is one of my favorite things, and it defines much of my life. My passport, thus, has been an inseparable companion, and now it is dressed-up to fly! For this project, I used a handmade cork stamp (see Bon Vivant Cork Stamps for tutorial) and acrylic paint on a white cotton fabric. Once the paint was completely dry, I stiffened the fabric and left it to dry again. Finally, I folded the fabric using the Fabric Origami Card Holder pattern. The tricky part was to modify the dimensions of the origami pattern to fit the passport. Mine fit nicely with a 21 1/2" X 11 1/2" piece. Also, make sure you stiffen it well to provide it with structure, otherwise add card stock pieces to the inside of the pattern. 

Bon Vivant Cork Stamps

This week I was focused on learning how to carve my own stamps. I’ve been very excited about this idea, perhaps because now I am old enough to play with knives, yay! I started with the wine corks. They have so much character and, of course, an irresistible bon vivant concept to them. Unfortunately, my favorite wine is not sealed with a cork, so I didn’t have any lying around at the house. Not to worry - I stopped by the BYOB place in my neighborhood to ask for some corks and left with a handful. I had two kinds of corks: natural cork and some kind of spongy fake cork. Both worked great for the stamps, though they cut differently. The natural cork will make a more “rustic” stamp, which I love.