While searching on Etsy the other night, I found this letterpress print shop, Luludee. Its one of those shops that I feel like I visited before or posted about before, so I searched the site but it turns out I haven’t, so I thought now would be a good time…
Laura Bachman Carignan is the woman behind Luludee. She is a graphic designer by trade, but over the last year has been honing her letterpress skills. And I for one am loving Laura’s letterpress prints (my eyes are fixed on the top two- perfect color combos)! The modern vibe is right up my alley. These would look so great all framed up on a long wall and any print would also make for a sweet and affordable house warming present for a young couple.
For more from Luludee, click here to visit Laura’s shop.
Today is the last day to use your papernstitch discount code to save money at Aqua Velvet. Just enter the code paper-n-stitch at check out to receive 10% off of your order! These are a couple of my favorites from the Aqua Velvet shop right now: great vintage pieces. Visit the Aqua Velvet shop right here.
I am official back from vacation and am so excited to be back. I had a wonderful time and it was nice to unplug for a while, but I am ready to get back in the swing of things. And I wanted to kick things off today with a bang. So I have an awesome guest post from Jenny Fowler, who makes gorgeous silhouettes for her shop JennyLeeFowler (which I will be posting about tomorrow).
When Jenny contacted me, I was thrilled and so excited to see what she would come up with for a tutorial. And this thank you note is just perfect for sending out to all the wonderful people who may have sent you a present over the holidays this year.
I will let Jenny take it away, but before I do, please make sure you check out Jenny’s seriously incredible shop right here and her blog as well. And check back tomorrow for my post about her silhouettes.
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Here’s a print that will last long after holiday fingerprints have been wiped from Grandma’s picture windows. I love sending handmade cards, but since my littles were born I’ve often simplified a bit with editions. This card can be scanned, formatted, and copied to create multiples, but don’t skip on the “hand-signing”—even if it’s just a scribble!
Trace the outline of your little’s hand with a pencil on a piece of scrap paper. Gently hold the fingers down as you make your way around. Smooth out any extra wrigglesome lines.
Cut carefully around the inside of the outline to make a template.
Select two contrasting papers for your card. In my sample, I’ve used origami papers from a local Asian Grocer, but this can also be a nice opportunity to recycle some of your favorite holiday cards or wrappings. These will be mounted on a side-fold card so make sure that they fit the dimensions you want for your finished card and envelope sizes. I’ve used 4.25”x 5.5” or quarter letter size and equivalent envelopes for my two-year-old.
Place your hand template with pencil side down on the reverse side of the paper you want to use for the hand. Trace and cut along the inside of your line.
Cut background to size. For the size shown here, I cut 4”x 5.25” to create a fine white border.Position finished hand cutting on background and glue in place, then glue background to card. Use a bone folder to create your own cards or purchase card blanks from a craft supply shop. I use Studio-Tac archival dry adhesive for super-quick and relatively mess-free sticking. Once glue is dry, you can scan the image to make as many cards as you need. Be sure to keep hand size and proportions. Or if you’re really snowed in, you can use your template to hand-cut some more!
Well, I am still on vacation but I wanted to put up a very special post to start off Monday. I will be back to regular posting in the middle of this week and will have the re-design of the blog up soon after. But until then- enjoy some awesomeness from Daisy Jane…
Some of you may know that I guest post on Scoutie Girl every week. It has been such an honor to post on SG and one of the best things about it thus far has been the relationship I have formed with Jan, owner of Scoutie Girl and Daisy Janie. She is super sweet and so creative! And Jan has put together a 2009 black and white calendar than showcases some of her patterns and illustrations that I just had to share.
Jan took 12 of her sketches and created 12 patterned backgrounds to use for each monthly page and had a good friend do the hand-lettering. Everything was left in black & white so the style is clean and simple. Any compulsive colorers out there (like me) will love this!
Each month also includes a big section at the top for note-jotting, things to remember, schedule or call. It’s offset printed in an eco-friendly manner, with “FSC & Ecologo Certified, 100% post-consumer, processed chlorine free recycled paper (manufactured using biogas energy) and using non-toxic soy toners.” For more from the Daisy Janie shop, click here. And make sure you check out the Scoutie Girl blog right here.
This is the last gift guide for the year and it comes from a brand new site, Emprnt. I’ll be talking more about this wonderful design resource in 2009, but for now, I just wanted to mention that Jeff (the other half of papernstitch) is one of the two designers who created Emprnt. And its awesome!
Alright, so back to the gift guide… Emprnt put together a great gift guide that is specifically for designers. There is a little bit of everything (tees to books to coffee mugs) and you can check it out right here.
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Side Note: This is my last post for a bit. I am taking a blogging vacation. I will be back the middle of next week and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Also, I haven’t really mentioned it up to now, but I have been working on a little re-design for the blog and it should be up and running the first part of January. I am excited and I hope you will be too.
Last week, while reading this post from Creature Comforts I discovered that Old Navy (of all places) was carrying a line of Charley Harper products! I was so thrilled, that I dashed out the very next day to pick up my own set of memory game cards to make these gift tags. When I got back home I realized that there wasn’t really any way that I would be able to make the gift tags the same way because I don’t have a drill to make the hole (in my excitement to purchase the set I completely forgot this detail). So, I stared at the colorful box of cardboard tiles for a good fifteen minutes trying to figure out how I was going to use them, which eventually gave me the idea for this tutorial: a colorful notepad using recycled papers.
I am really pleased with how the project turned out and figured I just had to share this before Christmas because it will make the PERFECT last minute gift for anyone that you know. It will take less than 10 minutes once you have the materials rounded up, and it cost less than $1 per notepad to make! Here’s the tutorial:
Materials:
1. Charley Harper Memory Card Set (can be found at Old Navy for $14.99 for the boxed set of over 75 cards)
2. Scissors
3. Krazy Glue (or something similar that is quick drying)
4. A Stapler
5. Embroidery Floss (optional) Yarn or twine would work too
6. Old catalog (I used an old Anthropologie catalog because the pages have a matte finish, which is ideal for this project – glossy pages are not as easy to write on)
7. Found various pieces of paper (from an old notebook, old mail envelopes, old holiday cards, etc)
How To:
1. Choose the card you would like to use for the top portion of your notebook.
2. Place card down a piece of paper and use it to create a template with the proper dimensions. You do not want to simple trace around the card because you need to allow for room for actually notes. So, use the card as a guide for the width of your template and then choose desired length (I cut my paper about 6 inches long).
3. Cut out created template.
4. This is the foundation for the rest of the notebook. Use your newly cut template to trace that same size rectangle onto the pages from an old catalog.
5. Now, cut your magazine rectangles to size, ensuring that they are all the same dimensions.
6. I also cut graph pages from an old journal and some ruled paper to mix and match. You will want to have anywhere from 20 to 50 rectangles in total cut to size for your notepad.
7. Once that is complete, organize your pieces of paper. I chose to randomly rotate in catalog pieces, graph pieces, and ruled paper pieces. Then staple all the paper together towards the very top.
8. Next you will want to grab your Charley Harper memory game card. You are almost done!
9. Next, flip you card over and apply a generous amount of glue to the entire card, making sure you get the corners and edges fully covered.
10. Flip your card back over and immediately apply to the top of your newly formed notepad (on top of the staples). Push down for about 20-40 seconds.
11. After that, flip your notebook over to the “backside” and press down on the staples with something hard. The goal here is to flatten the area out as much as possible so that you have a flat surface. You will now repeat steps 9 and 10 for the back, so that the notepad is double-sided when finished. Make sure to line up the cards as much as possible so they are even with one another.
12. Wait a minute or two for the glue to dry and then grab your embroidery floss. I like to use a contrasting color to make it look extra fun and funky. Tightly wrap the embroidery floss around the top of your notepad 7-10 times and then double or triple knot the two end pieces on the side of the notepad.
That’s it! You are all done. These are so fun to make and easy too- I made 3 in less than 20 minutes!
With Christmas being just a couple days away, the time crunch is REALLY upon everyone picking up last minute gifts. And who wants to go out in the frantic hustle and bustle of the malls at this time of year? Not me- and I don’t have to because there is a fantastic shop called Blue Bicycle that sells downloadable calendars, notecards, gift tags, and more. I love love love the idea for this shop. When you purchase an item from Blue Bicycle, Heather sends you the PDF to download and print your own. So, no waiting by the door for your package to arrive- you receive it through email in hours not days!
Everything in the Blue Bicycle shop is SUPER affordable, with prices starting as low as $2.50! Buy it once and print it out as many times as you want and give it to as many people as you want. I have purchased from the shop before and have been using some of the gift tags for Christmas presents, and they look great. I think I am going to have to snag that modern chair calendar too. I have a soft spot for all things modern- who doesn’t really?
You still have time, believe it or not, to order your favorites before Christmas and print them up for friends and family. But you better hurry because December 23rd is the cut off date for orders to receive before Christmas. Run, don’t walk to the Blue Bicycle shop now and pick something up right here.
This artist/ designer, Yulia Brodskaya, has been making the blog rounds recently. I just couldn’t resist re-posting this after seeing Yulia’s work on the Swiss Miss blog. I am speechless- all these images are made from paper! For more from Yulia Brodskaya, click here.
Happy Monday! The blog of the week is Las Coleccionistas. I am blown away by the breathtaking photography I have found on this blog. And although the text is in Spanish (and I cannot read spanish) I find myself visiting this blog over and over and over again. The above image is one my favorites from a recent post on the LC blog.
Las Coleccionistas is a photography studio based in Barcelona formed by three girl photographers. Their main commitment is to tell stories through their images, to achieve a natural, creative and spontaneous style that confers attitude, character and philosophy to our photos. That’s why their projects are the result of a collective and interdisciplinary work, always with the aim to obtain widest and richest contents and perspective.
The girls of Las Coleccionistas are about to open a physical studio in the heart of Barcelona as well! Make sure you check out their incredible blog here.
Thanks so much to everyone who entered the latest papernstitch giveaway. And congratulations to the following winners (we were able to have 3 main winners and 2 bonus winners for this giveaway). All winners were chosen randomly from Random.org.
Main winners will receive a large variety pack of goodies from the latest giveaway (each package has a retail value of around $120). The main winners are:
3. Comment #166: Danielle XO who said “And snoozerloser’s snooze dust gift certificates are pretty ingenious! We carry their work at my gallery and they are just delightful! Check out this little number.”
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And speaking of Snoozer Loser,big thanks to Sonia of SL, who made it possible to have 2 bonus winners for this giveaway by donating a total of 5 SL Gift Certificates (one for each of the main winners and two extras)! Each bonus winner will receive a $10 gift certificate from Snoozer Loser. And the bonus winners are:
1. Comment #213: Julia Carter who said “Simple Vintage’s ceramic gray flower teapot is lovely. I have a soft spot for teacups, saucers, and of course, teapots. This one is beautiful and is definately going on my list for Santa, a.k.a. my dear hubby!!!!”
Remember, the giveaway ends tonight and I will be announcing the winner tomorrow. It is not to late to enter, so make sure you do. Click here to enter to win the giveaway (prizes totaling over $450!).
What a great way to kick off this Friday. How absolutely lovely are these guys? I personally think that these cylinders by Circa Ceramics are wonderful and would make a great vase or even a kitchen utensil holder. Check out the Circa ceramics shop here.
Several weeks ago I saw this work on Modish and Design for Mankind that I was captivated by. It was all from the shop, Gretchen Mist, which is also the shop of the day today! Belinda, who makes all of the beautiful artwork you see here, runs the shop and inside you will find original drawings, paintings, collages, and prints. You have got to check it out!
Well, I know how much everyone has been LOVING Laura’s guest posts here on papernstitch and I have another one from Laura for you today! This time she is using wallpaper to help us wrap our special gifts. I love this idea. For more from Laura’s work, click here to visit her shop (Lupin) and her blog, Bugs and Fishes.
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With Christmas just around the corner, I’ve been wrapping some more presents… this time making use of a roll of leftover wallpaper I bought in a charity shop.The wallpaper I’ve used is a “paintable textured vinyl”, a fantastic combination of super-plain and simple (that crisp white) and really ornate and detailed (the textured pattern). It’s especially great for wrapping large boxes – your parcels end up looking a bit like big slabs of Christmas cake! I added some red yarn and a tag for a bit of contrasting colour. I made the tag by sticking some red wrapping paper to a bit of spare card, and then cutting out and applying a small detail of the wallpaper pattern with ordinary prittstick. As the wallpaper is quite thick you can cut out quite intricate patterns without the paper ripping or becoming too fragile to handle. If you’ve got a bit of time – say, when you’re relaxing watching the telly in the evening – you can use this decorative idea for your parcels themselves for a very bespoke look.
Here are a few of my favorite works of art (some prints, some originals) from the newest papernstitch exhibition. There are so many great art pieces on the site right now! You can check them all all out by visiting the art category right here.
“Emily L. Eibel is an illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York who, in addition to some amazing drawings, does gorgeous embroidered illustrations. Some are serene and simple and others have a darker tone.”
Wow! Gorgeous work- I love all the detailing in the windows.
And Furthermore, run by Brenda Rose, is the shop of the day! In Brenda’s papernstitch shop, you will find lovely doily clocks and equally great artwork. On Etsy however, Brenda has two separate shops: one for housewares and one for artwork. Regardless of which of shops you are browsing, one thing is for sure the vintage undertones and modern overtones in all of the work that Beth makes is simply perfect for a gal like me! And I, for one, covet it all. For more from And Furthermore, click here and for more from the Brenda rose shop, click here.
The wallpaper I’ve used is a “paintable textured vinyl”, a fantastic combination of super-plain and simple (that crisp white) and really ornate and detailed (the textured pattern). It’s especially great for wrapping large boxes – your parcels end up looking a bit like big slabs of Christmas cake! I added some red yarn and a tag for a bit of contrasting colour.
I made the tag by sticking some red wrapping paper to a bit of spare card, and then cutting out and applying a small detail of the wallpaper pattern with ordinary prittstick. As the wallpaper is quite thick you can cut out quite intricate patterns without the paper ripping or becoming too fragile to handle.
If you’ve got a bit of time – say, when you’re relaxing watching the telly in the evening – you can use this decorative idea for your parcels themselves for a very bespoke look.
