Create Your Own Font with FontStruct

by evie s. on May 8th, 2008

If you are feeling creative today and want to tackle creating your own typeface, FontStruct from Fontshop is the place to go.

Fontstruct allows anyone to create and generate a custom designed typeface and then share it with others. Once you’re done building a font, FontStruct generates high-quality TrueType fonts, ready to use in any Mac or Windows application.

You can also browse fonts that have been built using the program. Best of all, it’s free!

DIY Project: Handmade Nursery Art

by evie s. on May 7th, 2008

I made these wall hangings for a friend of mine. Her nursery is being done in a cute elephant theme and her primary colors are brown and blue. You could really use this idea to match any design or decor. Here is how to make these for yourself.

What you need:

• Three 5 x 5 Paper Mache art boards ($2.99 at craft supply stores)
• Ribbon for hanging
• Scissors
• Acrylic paints and paint brushes
• Card stock for printing your design
• Permanent spray adhesive

Steps:

1. Remove rope strands from the boards and discard.
2. Choose a style of ribbon and cut 3 strands the exact same size.
3. Apply your base coat to cover the brown paper mache. Paint everything, including the back side.
4. Start painting! It helped me to sketch out my design on the computer before diving into painting. I used acrylic paints and paint brushes. All three boards were given a different pattern in the background.
5. I drew the elephant in Adobe Illustrator and chose two colors for the elephants. Then I printed them out on card stock and cut them out, leaving a little white border to help them stand out against the painted backgrounds.
6. I tested out the placement before adhering the paper elephants to the boards. Using permanent spray adhesive, I adhered the elephants to the boards. Tie on the ribbon to hang and your done!

To see a full-size photo of the finished product, go here.

Free Download: Mother’s Day Card

by evie s. on April 21st, 2008

May 11th is Mother’s Day and for those of you that like to plan ahead, here is a free card you can download just for her. Just download the template using the link below, print out on 8.5 x 11 card stock, cut around the guides and fold in the middle.

Mother’s Day Card from evie s. - PDF Download
Size: 17kb

Here’s to all of our wonderful mothers!

What to Do With Broken Seashells

by evie s. on April 11th, 2008

Over Thanksgiving one year my family took a vacation to St. John’s in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was beautiful and memorable to say the least. My husband and I spent every spare moment scouring our private beach for seashells and other treasures. After days of this, we accumulated quite a pile of beautiful shells, some perfectly intact, and lots of broken pieces. While we traveled light on this trip, I think we added about 20-30 lbs to our luggage on our return trip.

Once we were home I looked at all we had collected and thought, “what now?” In my quest to find a seashell DIY project, I found one really good one. So I decided to try out these Glowing Beach Votives, and ended up making one for myself and all the girls in my family.

I love them! It was the perfect way to display all those beautiful broken pieces that I thought would be useless except to pack away and look at on occasion. Here are the instructions.

Materials:

FIMO Soft translucent clay
white or natural colored sand
mini shells, broken shell pieces
round glass votive
craft knife
pasta machine or clay roller
votive candle

Steps:

1. Condition clay (with pasta machine or by hand rolling). Make a sheet of the FIMO roughly as thick as cereal-box cardboard (setting 5 on the pasta machine).
2. Cut one end of the sheet of FIMO with the craft knife to give a straight cut and lay this onto the glass votive. Stretch and press the clay to lie flat on the glass surface. Cut where it overlaps and press to join. Using a smooth, nonporous item (such as a glass), roll over the clay in different directions to remove any air pockets.
3. With the craft knife, trim the extra FIMO from the bottom and top of the votive. Smooth the edges with your fingers to round off.
4. Use more FIMO to make another flat sheet that is the thickest setting of your pasta machine. Trim one side of the sheet with the craft knife for a straight edge. Trim the other side in a wavy line.
5. Align the straight edge of this clay sheet with the top of the votive and lay the wavy sheet over the first layer. Trim where the sheet overlaps and press to remove any seam. (You may need to trim the wavy piece to join together.) Press this layer of the FIMO onto the previous covering to remove any bumps or air bubbles.
6. Begin embedding small pieces of sea glass and shells into the top, thicker area of the FIMO. Press the polymer around the edges of the shells and glass to secure them.
7. Pour sand in a pan or plastic bag. Roll the votive in the sand, pressing the sand into the FIMO to secure.
8. Bake per the clay manufacturer’s guidelines. Allow to cool. Add a candle and enjoy your glowing beach votive!

For more photos, go here.

[ Via HGTV ]

Handmade Books and Bindings

by evie s. on April 1st, 2008

Handmade books are some of my favorite things. While my husband (yes, he is creative too) was attending school at the University here in town, one of his fine arts classes required him to make a handmade book. The result was this miniature creation, entitled The Moon, complete with story and photos. The book is perfectly bound in a cardboard cover and the pages are folded in accordion style.

Inspired by this little book that I rediscovered yesterday, I did a search to find my favorite ideas in the area of handmade books and bindings.

From left to right:

Italian Recipe Book by angelaliguori - Each book is an accordion book structure, with round corner and baker twine closure. [ Via coolhunting ] // Woodgrain and Wool Journal by NightjarBooks - hand bound using reclaimed book board, covered with an off-white, woodgrain-textured paper.

The Owner of the Bow by angelaliguori - Hard cover accordion book // Map Notebook [ Via AliceCho.net ]

Pocket Journals by yellowcraftychick - All the books have been sewn through the middle with black linen bookbinding thread and tied off with a small bead in the center. // Mini Accordion Book by mame*

Textured String Bracelets

by evie s. on March 31st, 2008

I recently made these textured string bracelets from April’s issue of Martha Stewart Living as a birthday gift for my sister. While a little time consuming, the final product is really great. I like that each time you can create a new color scheme and design. One thing I noticed however, is that the instructions said that when you’re done with a color, “Cut the string, leaving a 3-inch tail; thread through a needle. Thread the tail under strings on inner side of bangle to secure.” I found that this was not a very solid finishing step (or simple), because the tail end could easily get loose or unravel. So instead, each time I was finished with a color, I would glue both the end and the beginning of the string to the bangle and start wrapping the new color around the two strands. This made me feel a lot better about how it would hold up in every day wear. It also provides a more seamless look if you are using multiple colors.

I’m sure it’s not the only time someone’s improved on a beautiful Martha idea! It just goes to show you that Martha isn’t perfect after all. I’m a big fan, so she’s still wonderful to me.

To see a larger version of the photo, please go here.

Easter Egg Inspiration and a Contest

by evie s. on March 21st, 2008

I thought I’d post this Good Friday on the subject of Easter eggs! I hope you will be inspired by these lovely images of different ways you can decorate and design some fierce looking eggs.

Every year, my family challenges each other to an Easter egg coloring contest. There are many creative people in my family, so it’s always a big deal, and many great entries. Even though Easter means more to me than coloring eggs, it’s still a festive activity I look forward to, even as an adult.

If you are an avid egg decorator, you may want to take part in a contest of your own. Hatch Design has put together their 1st Annual Egg Coloring Contest. You can submit your entry, and even judge current entries. [ Via Creative and Live ]

From left to right:

Pysanky, Ukrainian Easter Eggs (Traditional dyed Polish Easter eggs. Designs produced with a stylus and beeswax.) // Naturally Dyed Eggs (Wet your egg, put flowers, grass, anything on your egg and cover it with a stocking/tight, make sure it’s stretched over the egg. Tie and cut off remainder of the stocking. Soak in dye.) // Lace Eggs from Martha Stewart // 1st Annual Egg Coloring Contest

Have a great Easter weekend!

Free PDF Download: Paper CD Case

by evie s. on March 12th, 2008

I’m always on the lookout for cute party favors, or cheap and easy gift ideas…and I know I’m not the only one! This free downloadable template can cutely contain CD’s and you can give them away as gifts or use them for those stray CD’s laying around the house.

Here is what you need:

• Printer
• Legal sized paper (8.5 x 14)
• Sticker (optional, to seal closure)

Simply print out the template using the link below and follow the instructions.

Paper CD Case from evie s. - PDF Download
Size: 42kb

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know! I try to make these projects as simple and easy to follow as possible. Enjoy!

For more images, go here and here.

Serving Tray Redux: From Bad to Beautiful

by evie s. on March 3rd, 2008

I picked up this ugly un-finished serving tray with a duck motif at an estate sale a couple weekends ago. It only cost me $3, and it wasn’t too difficult to have a vision for its makeover. I decided to use some vintage wallpaper that I purchased a year ago to decoupage the inside of the tray. The paper was being saved for something special so I could maximize my enjoyment of the pretty gold pattern.

Here are the steps:

• First I painted the entire tray (bye bye ducks) in an off-white color.
• Then I measured the inside of the tray using some junk paper as a template. I placed the template over my vintage paper and used it to trace the shape.
• I cut it out and used some sepia toned decoupage and brushed the underside of the paper.
• I placed the paper on the tray being careful to align it properly. (One tip is start with one side and work your way over to the other side, otherwise you might have a lot of air bubbles.)
• Let it dry then apply a top coat to seal the paper.
• I thought it needed something else, so I just stenciled a pattern along the outside handles with a brown acrylic paint.

I really enjoy looking at it in my living room, and it looks great with accessories placed inside. The possibilities were endless when it came to redoing this tray and it could have a million different looks depending on what paper you use, the colors, etc. It made for a great weekend project.

You can see more photos of this fabulous project here and here.

DIY Project: Piercing Template for Scalloped Edges

by evie s. on February 20th, 2008

A couple days ago I wrote about the sweet sophistication of scalloped edges. Today, I’m posting a piercing template that you can use for panel cards and whatever else your heart desires. I created it to fit perfectly on a 3.25 x 5.25 card, but you can use the design and modify it for your own purposes. My turquoise Mode de Paris G.Lalo cards were the perfect choice because the blank, one-sided panel was crying out for some customization! Download the free template using the link below.

Scalloped Edge Piercing Template from evie s. - PDF Download
Size: 30 kb

You can see more pictures here.