Would You Like to Buy a Vowel?

Finally! I think I’ve waited long enough for my packages to reach their destinations. Here’s my little project for this year’s paper swap with a school theme:

Ta da! I made a  letter set highlighting vowels for all of my lovely swap partners. I thought a little outside the box on the theme and I’m happy with how it turned out! Each set comes with 4 sheets (2 designs of each) and 4 envelopes. I wanted to make a set for everyone who participated, but I just didn’t have the time! All the envelopes are hand-stamped by yours truly:

It was quite an undertaking. This is only half the stack:

I used my VERY modest design skills to make the stationery. 26 letters=2 sheets 6” x 7”:

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the lines are actually made up of the letters themselves. Those are some tiny a’s!

I also hand stamped the packaging (made out of a grocery bag). One of my fav parts of the project!

I even stamped the addresses!

It was so fun! Thank you to everyone who participated. My packages are starting to trickle in and so far I’m very impressed with what I’ve gotten. Great job guys!

A Very Crafty Saturday

I took these weeks ago, but I’ve gotten so behind with everything that’s going on right now that I’m just glad I get to post these at all.

Saturday’s when both my sister and I can get together and craft are rare, so a few weeks ago we took the opportunity to embark on two projects that had been waiting in the wings.

My love for calligraphy is well documented, (here, here, and right here) but I can barely write in a straight line. So my trusty scribe took a shot at it:

It’s hard. (Or so I’m told).

But produces gorgeous results!

And that was only the beginning! Martha Project number two was printing cards using bits of lace. Neither of us had ever printed in any way shape or form so it was a learning process.

Inking the lace:

We used some very architectural lace. This one reminds me of cathedral windows:

The hardest part of this project was applying enough pressure (and paint) to the lace without moving it while it was on the paper. (I actually did help even though it looks like I just took pictures).

This lace was my favorite:

Not too bad for a first try!

Some excellent spring/Easter cards:

Check out the tutorial here. Thanks Martha!

Paper Swap 2010

I’m very happy to announce the third annual paper swap hosted by yours truly!:) I’m doing things a little bit differently this year so please read carefully:

Spread the word! Here are a few buttons for your blog or website and feel free to take the directions and resize them as you need it. Please link back to this post, thanks!

Valentines From the Vault

It always makes me sad when my favorite holiday is over.:( As I went to put away my stellar valentine, I found some Castle In the Air valentines of yore…

My sister tried to duplicate one of my favorites, the tulip heart card:

Not too shabby!

I also found this brochure among the mounds of stuff I brought home from London:

A promotional brochure for Selfridges department store circa 2006.

All images cross posted to flickr.

Christmas in February

There just never seems to be enough time during the holidays! This year, I wanted to make monogram embroidered ornaments for my family inspired by this ornament from September House:

But life got busy as it is prone to over the holidays and by the time I got the supplies it was January. Oh well! Anyway, I haven’t trimmed the edges and added ribbon yet, but you get the idea:

Better than I expected! The pattern came from here (a great resource for anyone interested in cross stitch) and the fabric came from here. I’m obsessed with linen now that I’ve tried it. It’s more expensive than evenweave, but soooo pretty! Also, I recently found out that February is national embroidery month which makes it a great time to start an embroidery project! Here’s some inspiration to get you started:

Lipstick Traces and Bam Pow Hand Embroidery by Sam Gibson via the Hand Embroidery Network

All images by their respective owners.

More DIY Valentine Ideas

I’ve been pillaging my new favorite British blog Tea for Joy and discovering lots of wonderful things like this:

Simple, hilarious, adorable. Check out the tutorial at Jordan Ferney.

Making Valentines

I loooove Valentines day! I’ve been making valentines every year since I was a kid and no matter how old I get it never ceases to be fun. However, this year I might have gone a little overboard when I went to get supplies at Daiso:

It’s easy to get carried away at that store. Everything is so cheap and cute!

Strawberry and apple candy are my favorites!

I’m obssesssed with glassine envelopes, especially tiny ones like these:

The rest of the supplies:

I think this is some sort of flash card game? I’m not sure, but I thought the cards were cute!

The most adorable post cards:

I love giving people stationery! I hope it inspires them to write a letter:)

Things got pretty messy:

Remember these? Add some hearts and they’re mini valentines!:)

A mini valentine sealed up with some confetti and little heart buttons:

I like to mix it up:

The glassine envelope goes in the little grocery bags along with some candy and gets sealed with these mini heart clothes pins:

They’re all ready to go! (I had to label them temporarily to keep track of whose was whose)

My boxes are a motley crew:

It’s not too late to send valentines! If you’re stumped as to what to make, here are some great ideas to get you started.

Valentine’s Day Cards

My favorite holiday is approaching! I’ve been seeing some beautiful things drifting around the web. Here are some of my favorites:

I absolutely ADORE Rifle paper! And I’m not alone, via Paper Crave

Something beautiful followed by something snarky. You know just what I like Spark!

Oh man, I wish I could do calligraphy. Leafie Calligraphy

This is more like my handwriting. Only neater. Ice Cream Social Paper

A new fav Bread of Many

I saw these silhouette valentines from Owly Shadow Puppets on the same Paper Crave post and I can’t decide if I love the valentine or the envelope more!

A gorgeous little card within a card! I’m such a sucker. Missive via Oh So Beautiful Paper

It seems everyone is loving the card within a card this year! The inside card is blank for you to write your own message. Sweet Baker

Castle In the Air

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I celebrated the new year by visiting one of my favorite places ever: Castle in the Air in Berkeley. This time I remembered to ask if I could take some pictures and they said yes!

It took three people to decorate this tree:

I wanted everything.

Sparkly gnomes!

Where I get all my sealing wax:

If you’re ever in the Bay Area, this place is definitely worth stopping for.

Castle In the Air

8505 Hearst St.

Berkeley, CA 94710

Holiday Wreaths

Making a holiday wreath has become my own personal tradition (does two years in a row count as a tradition?). Wreaths are about as complicated as I like to get with my DIY, but  this wreath was definitely worth it. The example:

And here’s mine:

I did a few things differently. I used a hardback instead of a paperback which gives it more of a sculptural quality due to the heavier paper. I also added a little bit of gold glitter to the antiquing process because glitter makes everything better. However, anyone who attempts this project be warned: use a book that’s 200 pages or more! She mentions that you’ll need a long(ish) book in the instructions, but I foolishly did not read that part and ended up substituting pages from a paperback (which are much lighter) in order to finish the center. Oh well! Perfection be damned, I think it turned out well. If you’re looking for something a little bit easier or you have a fear of hot glue, I’d definitely take a swing at the paper leaf wreath I made last year. Here’s the example:

And here’s mine:

Here’s a few more I’m thinking about attempting next year.

Felt:

And pom poms!

Via Paper Crave and Design*Sponge

Paper book wreath tutorial by Living with Lindsay

Paper leaf wreath tutorial by The Red Thread

Felt wreath tutorial by Domestifluff

Pom pom wreath tutorial by Bluebird Vintage