Archive for February, 2011
This is the last Valentine’s Day project for the week. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little series of V-Day fun. For this diy (pictured above), I created a unique Valentine’s Day greeting card / keepsake that you can make in five minutes for the one’s you love. It’s not only quick; it’s also super easy. So if you have the supplies, you can totally put this together last minute and no one will know the difference.
For the step by step tutorial, you’ll have to click here to visit Oh Hello Friend. It’s my guest post for the week over there.
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*This is the fourth of four Valentine’s Day diy projects I shared this week (one everyday for the of the week except for Monday). Hope you enjoyed ‘em. For more ideas on quick and easy projects, click here to visit the tutorials and diy page page filled with more than 50 diy’s. If you like this diy project, please help me spread the word by using the twitter and facebook buttons below. Thank you so much.
When the week hits its peak, you may be looking for a little pick me up. Nothing says “You can make it to the weekend!” like an inspirational print with bright and bold typography from Fifi du Vie. I personally enjoy the mantra of the “Today is going to be a great day” mini print, it just puts you in the right frame of mind to face what the day throws at you.
Here is something else to inspire you: Fifi du Vie is offering 20% off any print for all papernstitch readers with the code “PNS11″. Offer ends March 15, 2011.
Visit Fifi du Vie on Etsy to check out the entire collection.
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Post written by Rachel Anne Williams. Rachel is a 20-something wife and mother of one, who enjoys making things for her embroidery and tiny handmade goodies shop called Goose and Trisser.You can visit Rachel on her blog here.
A guest post by Pascale of Between the Lines
I got this idea when I walked into one of my girls’ rooms the other day. Both girls have their snowflake garland still up. Hence: “Why not make a valentine’s heart garland?”
So, that’s what I did last night and part of this morning. Again this is a fairly simple little craft.
This time I used some left over wrapping paper — though only two really tiny pieces left, I saved them because I really liked the print. And see! I already made use of it!
Also, some colorful origami paper and felted beads . The latter is totally optional and any bead would do. Though mainly decorative, by adding a bead at the bottom you weigh down the garland a little. And finally, I also used a heart template, which I found here — lazy as I was. Although the template is a full heart, you can use just half of it and place it to the fold of your paper to get a full heart. But I guess that’s pretty obvious. The nice thing about the template is that the heart comes in two sizes which saves you some time if you want to combine small and big hearts as I did.
Now for the cutting part, I used two folding techniques (ooohhh! big word: technique). As you can see in the picture above, one way to go is by folding the heart starting from the center (the green heart). The blue heart shows what it looks like when you fold from the bottom tip. Please, let me know if this doesn’t sound clear – I guess I could add a little sketch. My initial idea was to cut out the words: “I love you”. I thought I had it figured out – I even made a template with folding lines etc. But it didn’t entirely work out the way I wanted for the simple reason the capital letter “L” isn’t symmetrical. And since I wanted to have this little craft posted, I just gave up for the time being. I’ll try it again and will let you know (as I’m writing this: you might as well cut out the “L” without any folding – why didn’t I think of that…). Important note, though, when working with words: if you do want to cut out words and don’t want to trace on the front of your paper but rather on the back, don’t forget to trace the letters in mirror view – I know what I’m talking about…
After cutting out your hearts and snipping away the pieces, take your hearts to the ironing board and iron on a low setting — for imprinted paper iron on the back and put something underneath in order to avoid the print rubbing of onto your iron or ironing board – I know what I’m talking about (the board now has a slightly red-ish flowery print in one particular spot – don’t tell anyone). I’m not clumsy – I’m just a little tired!
Once done that, take everything to your sewing machine and stitch everything together. If you want to thread beads onto it, make sure to leave a long enough end of thread on either side you want the beads and at the top also include a margin to tie a loop for hanging.
Final step: you’ve just ironed everything flat, now you’re going to fold the hearts a little closed again. This will allow the light to shine through and will give a nice twirl to your garland as well – as to the nice twirl, I know what I’m talking about as I’m the one who tried to make pictures in the light studio…
See them twirl (above right)…?
Et voila! A valentine’s garland! The girls really liked the garlands and have already decided who get’s which one…
About Pascale: She is wife and mother of two, who enjoys making crafts with fabric, yarn, wool, paper, paint, and glue for her blog, Between the Lines. Pascale currently lives in Paris.
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*This is the third of four Valentine’s Day diy projects shared this week. To view the other V-Day tutorials, scroll through this week’s posts on the blog. And for more ideas on quick and easy projects, click here to visit the tutorial and diy page filled with more than 50 diy’s. If you like this diy project, please help me spread the word by using the twitter and facebook buttons below. Thank you so much.
Washington photographer, Bonnie Jones is currently working on a series called “The Devil is in the Details / God is in the Details” (prints now available in her photography shop). The idea is that each image captured would simple mark the smallest of moments in a passing year. I love the idea. And I love the results. Here are a few prints from the series…
(above) Blast Off $45
End of Summer $45
Leaves and Paws $45
Gown, Grant, Lee $45
Coupon Code for 20% off: Use the coupon code “papernstitch1″ now through March 6th and receive a 20% discount in Bonnie’s shop. Visit Bonnie Jones Photography now to view more from this series and others.
I was recently asked to participate in the 2nd Annual diy design challenge by Victoria of A Subtle Revelry, where four designers (myself included) styled handcrafted party scenes to compete for a readers choice award + one incredible grand prize (the opportunity to style a shoot for Ruche! prize includes a plane ticket to Ruche shoot and a new outfit as well).
The theme is “So fresh and so clean”, which is why I decided to do a diy project that involved soap. I created a brand new tutorial and tablescape (tablescape shown here) for the challenge that I’ve never posted anywhere else. The “party” I created was a winter meets spring diy crafting party. And the diy project is for a custom soap carving that can be used as part of your everyday decor (smells good too) or given as a practical (and adorable) gift.
You can visit my tablescape on A Subtle Revelry, right here. And if you feel obliged to leave a comment there, that would be wonderful (it’s part of the contest).
This week is a special edition of Workspace Wednesday because it is the actual (wonderfully cool) workspace of a papernstitch reader, Silvana of Leefee Photography. Silvana contacted me last week, and as soon as I saw her workspace, I was like “hell yes, when can I schedule this“.
Her studio is filled with everyday objects that inspire, including shelves stacked with favorite books, a green vintage phone for quick calls, a bulletin board packed with photos taken my Silvana herself, and a collection of vintage cameras. What’s not to like here? Another great space to drool over for Workspace Wednesday.
What do you like most about Silvana’s space?
Thank you Silvana for sharing your space with fellow pns readers! To view more of Silvana’s work, visit her photography shop on Etsy and her inspiring blog.
If you like Silvana’s workspace, please retweet and facebook this post using the buttons below. Thank you!
Can you believe that Valentine’s Day is almost here? It still feels like we just took our Christmas tree down. Time is flying by in 2011. But I haven’t forgotten about completing a few V-Day diy projects. And actually, this is one I finished over a year ago, but never posted it to the blog. It’s along the same lines as the clay pendants I created as bridesmaid gifts for our wedding almost two years ago, but this one has a Valentine’s spin.
Lot of possibilities too: Clay keepsakes, decorative tags, proposal idea, blah, blah, blah. It will take a little bit more time to make than most of the tutorials I’ve posted in the past, but I think it’s well worth it.
So, spill your guts and create a keepsake message straight from the heart.
What supplies do I need to make this? Materials: super sculpey (oven bake) or air dry clay, rolling pin, acrylic paint (optional)
How do I make this? 1. Warm up a golf ball to baseball size clump of clay in your hands and then roll it out with a rolling pin to to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. 2. Using a clay cutting tool or a regular knife, carve a heart, oval, or other shape. 3. Stamp your message or carve it in. 4. Bake in the oven, following instructions. Or if using air dry clay, let dry for 24 hours.
5. Once the clay has cooled and/or dried out, you are ready to paint with water-based acrylics. Or seal in the natural color with clear nail polish. Works like a charm. I decided to quickly remove the paint with a paper towel after it was painted to let some of the natural color show through. 6. That’s it if you just creating a keepsake or charm. But if you want to turn your ceramic works of art into decorative tags, you’ll need to drill a whole (which is very easy to do if you are using Super Sculpey because it can be carved, sanded, or drilled after baking). I used a book binding punch to create the hole.
Take it further: Use your freshly made pendants to decorate a present for an extra special handmade touch no one will ever forget.
Here’s the finished project…
*This is the second of four Valentine’s Day diy projects I’ll be sharing this week (one everyday for the rest of the week), so check back daily for more. And for more ideas on quick and easy projects, click here to visit the tutorial and diy page filled with more than 50 diy’s. If you like this diy project, please help me spread the word by using the twitter and facebook buttons below. Thank you so much.
