Category Archives: Inspiration

For the Love of Letterpress

My love for felt and sewing are in no matched to my love for letterpress. It is a skill I have always wanted to learn, and images I have always want throughout my entire home. The problem (as always) is the price. Classes are expensive, and multiple prints cost too much for my college budget to handle.

But that is no longer an issue, thanks to the “LetterMPress” app for my Mac.

LetterMPress is not a new application. It has been available for the iPad and the iPhone for awhile, but recently, it was added for Macbooks. A friend of my informed me of the change (she used it to make her adorable Christmas cards), and hearing the price was only $10, I downloaded the app right away.

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It does take an afternoon to get use to the application. In simulating true letterpress, blocks move when they collide into others, and I struggled with making straight lines for awhile. But thanks to the online tutorial (which I highly suggest browsing through), I picked up several tricks that were helpful.

Just remember, letterpress is all about the layers – meaning, it will take awhile to achieve the image you have in your mind. Be patient. The end result is worth it! And luckily, you are using a computer. The undo shortcut is always there if you need it.

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Up for a Ride

Last spring, I had an idea to create a hot air balloon on canvas. Instead of taking the easy route and using paint, I decided I wanted to embroider the entire thing. Goodness, if only I knew then how long this project would take me.

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Nine month later, I am happy to say the project is finally complete.

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For the balloon, I did not use a special technique. I simply threaded a needle and took in and out, over and over again. I choose the colors one layer at a time. The selection was completely random, and if you notice, some colors repeat often and some are only used once.

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I love how the wrong side of the canvas really shows off all of the work put into the piece. It took a lot of thread.

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The final touch was stitching the basket. I was nervous about this detail, worried that would take away from the overall look of the ballon, but I am happy with how it turned out. I wanted to basket to have more of a textured look, so I used a darning stitch to make it look weaved.

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Wishing for Watercolors

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I wish I could master the art of watercolors. I saw a watercolor painting of flowers the other day, and I longed for the day when I could recreate it. But instead of throwing myself a pity party, I pulled out the good ‘0le acrylic paint and made something new.

Inspired by the trip to the Birmingham Museum of Art, I adored the unfinished paintings of Norman Rockwell. Lacking the final touch of detail, I found the incomplete status beautiful.

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In the midst of stressful times, painting is good for the soul. My roommate laughed at me because she came home the other day and found me painting in bed. I figured when I was painting something so simple (see above), I couldn’t get too messy.

I found the idea from a letterpress print I found online. I didn’t copy the print exactly (that would be rude), but I did take the idea (and the bridge, canoe, feather, ruler and whale). Check out the letterpress shop here. It is one of my favorites, and it’s a great place to look for Christmas presents (hint, hint).

Crafting Again

When I dreamed about my senior year of college, I never imagined it would be as demanding as it has turned out to be. Leadership in SGA, working at a marketing office and this ridiculous class called “Rhetorical Criticism” has kept me away from my sewing machine and stuck at a desk in the library.

With three weeks left in the semester, slowly, I am coming out of the cave of craft hibernation. Fabric covers my floor and bottles of paint are scattered across my desk. Projects are happening.

Thank you for sticking with me during my prolonged absence. I logged on to WordPress this morning, and saw 58 of you visiting yesterday alone. I am so unworthy.

Summer

I had plans for this summer. I was going to make another quilt, finish a cool embroidery project and spend hours wandering the aisles of JoAnn Fabrics, but obviously God’s plans trumped my own.

I am spending the summer in Washington D.C., and my time for projects are instead filled with work and sight seeing. I’m living in the dorms at George Washington University, and the walls are just to white here. So, being who I am, I couldn’t help but decorate a little bit.

Follow my adventures at my latest blog, http://wallercapitolcampaign.wordpress.com. Though it will be my primary blog for the summer, I will try to post a few things here as well.

His Grace

   

Anthopologie sends catalogs to my parent’s house, and every time I come home, I have a nice little stack sitting on my bed. Perfect for a little collage.

Confession – I found this on Pinterest, and it just looked too easy to not recreate it. The whole thing says, “If His Grace is an Ocean, we are all Sinking.” This Anthopologie catalog used beach/desert scenery, which worked perfectly. I cut out the words Grace, Ocean and Sinking, using a similar color scheme for each word.

I used ModPodge to glue the letters to the canvas. When them in place, I simply used a paint pen to write in the other words. Even though I ended up selling this one at the Spring Fling Flea Market, I think I’m going to make another one for myself.

Sweet Dandelions

When it came time to start thinking about things to make for Samford’s Spring Fling Flea Market, these pom-pom yarn flowers were the first thing I thought of. One, they are incredibly easy to make. Two, the materials are super cute. And three, the are simply adorable. I only sold them for 50 cents, and since so many people asked me how to make them, I decided to provide a little tutorial.

Step one – pick out the yarn. For this project, you are going to waste a good amount of it, so make sure to pick the cheapest yarn available. Pick any color. To my surprise, the navy flowers sold out faster than the others. I figured the light purple would go first, but I was proven wrong.

   

   

Step two: Take the yarn and start wrapping it around two of your figures. You’ll need to do this maybe 120 times. Then cut a spare piece of yarn.

   

Step three: String the yarn through the ball and tie a knot (double knot it, just in case). Make sure the knot is tight. If not, all the yarn will fall out.

   

Step four:  Cut through the yarn on the opposite side of the knot. This will result in a crazy-looking pom pom. You’ll have to cut a lot of yarn off before it starts to resemble the finished product.

Finished, it should look like this. Once you have mastered this, you really can make so many things. I have seen them placed on wreaths, made into garlands or like mine, turned into my version of a crafty dandelion. To make the little flowers, I purchased some cloth stem wire.

   

Last step: I cut the wire in half, placed one end in the pom pom and used a glue gun to make sure it will stay in place.

I love how sweet they turn out. And once you get them down, you can make 3 in 5 minutes. Super easy and super fast.

Life as an intern

What would college be without an internship. Working 15 hours a week and not getting paid. Sometimes that frustrates me, but then I come into work and my boss gives me a really cool assignment – like shopping around Birmingham looking for products to highlight in the “Goods” spread – and the lack of pay somehow becomes a minor detail. I have been given this assignment two months in a row. For the April issue, it was a picnic themed. For May, you’ll just have to buy a copy of Birmingham magazine when it hits newsstands. April was fun. Having been given the theme of picnics,  I decided to take a vintage verse modern approach after I found this woman who sells vintage picnic equipment – baskets, badminton rackets, croquet – you name it. I paired her things with more modern picnic wear I found at local shops, like these spoon, fork & knife combination.

    

Once I had collected all products, it was time for the photo shoot, and it was my first exposure to the design side of the magazine, styling products to make them look good. Being my first photo shoot, I’ll admit I was a little intimidated at first, but I quickly became more comfortable. The whole thing was just so much fun!

For the whole experience, you really should pick up a copy of Birmingham magazine’s April issue to see the final product. But for those people in the digital world, you can also see it on the magazine’s website (Click HERE). I have some other stories in this issue too, so keep your eyes out for them.

The little things

My life is a whirlwind of crazy. With working at my internship, planning events for Samford, finishing the yearbook and oh yeah, doing homework and going to class, I spend the amount of free time I have sleeping. Multiple times already I had felt like I had reached my breaking point, but then the clouds parted, the sun came out and I spent some time crafting. Easter provided that time for me. Dying Easter Eggs is one of my favorite things. It’s just an added perk that it only take 30 minutes to accomplish.

I do have a few projects in the works, and the moment they are finished I’ll make sure to document the results. Thanks of being patient with me. I promise to post more soon. In the meantime, happy spring!