Design a Day Challenge

Ok, so can we just agree that I'll be designing stuff, but I might not post every day? Ok, thanks. Because really, I've been designing my little butt off and haven't really had time to post much. So if you're curious to see what I've been up to the last few days, take a look.

Note card set, greeting cards, postcards galore! And this doesn't even include the new stationery paper sets that I've made as well! I am waiting on my boxes for those (they're supposed to arrive today) so I've held off on taking photos and revealing to you their awesomeness until then! :)

Design a Day Challenge: Day 21

Day 21 has arrived. That means I am in the home stretch for my 30 day design fest! Not that I'm finding a shortage of creative inspiration. Today alone I've created another three designs as I prepare to ship a box of note cards off to my mom. She has an amazing bakery back home in Indiana and no matter how biased you may think I am, I still have yet to find bread as good as hers here in Baltimore. First of all, she uses a wood-fired oven that my dad built. Second of all, there is no bakery in Baltimore that I know of with a wood-fired oven. And third of all, her bread is just amazing.

Lucky for me, I was able to enjoy a slice of her wood-fired white sourdough today during my lunch. She had snuck a loaf of bread into her carry-on luggage for me when she and my dad visited over the 4th. So I popped the loaf into the freezer for safe keeping until my bread stash at that moment was depleted. And yum! How delicious it was!

Long story short, my mother also happens to let local artisans sell their items at her bakery. She had offered to let me do the same. So as I began preparing a box full of cards, I suddenly had all sorts of creative energy arrive. An now being ink-less at the moment doesn't seem as horrible as I had thought it had been! In fact, I am enjoying the paper cutting once again.

These one of a kind lovelies were made to go along with some wonderful meadow green envelopes that arrived in my paper shipment yesterday. You'll be sure to see more envelope colors in the coming days! And lucky for you, these aren't making their way to Indiana and are still available in my shop!

Design a Day Challenge: Day 11

Don't worry kiddos. I haven't given up yet! I'm just a little late for my post today! My parents are arriving in Baltimore tomorrow and will be with us for three days, so today was a long day of errands and preparations for their arrival. Hopefully I'll have a chance to post the next few days, but if I don't, rest assured that I have been diligently designing away. And of course I'll update you when I can.

For today's design, I used a light aqua paper that I hand cut into my note cards. I added a dash of cream, a piece of kraft, a swatch of ribbon, and finished the set of with an aqua button.

Blank inside, these note cards offer no sentiment. But sometimes that's all a note card needs to be. And notice that color combination again? Trust me. There's more of that to come. Hope you don't mind. :)

Design a Day Challenge: Day 5

Today's design is one that makes me think of one part crafty quilt and one part vintage postage stamps. Maybe that's because the design features a small patchwork of colors across the header of the note cards and they're punched out stamp style. I again used white linen flat note cards for these guys (are you surprised?) and used some gray satin ribbon to dived off the header. The center patterned paper features a gray/silver accent that has some sparkle of its own-- goes along with the satin ribbon nicely!

The stamp design itself made me want to design these as postcards to pop in the mail, but instead I paired them with a light gray linen envelope for fear that they would get messed up in the mail. Thus the header design rather than a full out patchwork that I had originally intended.

For now, I'll be working on tomorrow's design. I have a busy week ahead, including introducing a new member into our household (more on that later) and a visit from my parents next weekend. This will definitely be challenge to keep up with my design-- here's to hoping I can stick with it! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and your weekend! I'll be gearing up for week two of summer break! :)

I'm Getting Ahead of Myself...

...so I wanted to share what is to come in the next few days.

Mother's Day Cards

Three and half weeks out, I feel that I have actually prepared for Mother's Day in my Etsy shop. I had to make the decision way in advance to make Mother's Day cards. I don't know that you will be able to expect the same from me come Father's Day as it is already quite a feat that I am this well prepared! To put it in my own mother's words, when I had noticed a recent influx of interest in one of my cards, my mom stated, "You mean people buy cards and prepare in advance for that!?"

Yes, my family has never been one that thinks months in advance for any holiday. We were always those people trying to scrounge around for a decent looking Christmas tree the week before Christmas. Or the one's that realized a holiday had come and passed before we had even stopped to think of it. So now, as you can see, it is really quite a feat that I have prepared myself well in advance for this occasion. But in the end I suppose mother's are most definitely worth it. At least I know mine is! :)

Architectural Salvage Wine Stoppers

My chair project was put off this past weekend due to rainy weather. I've been doing most of the work outside on my back deck since it involves sanding and finishing, or inevitably sawdust and stain fumes. So instead I decided to work on another upcycling project.

There are several wonderful architectural salvage warehouses in Baltimore. My favorite is Second Chance which is not just one, but I believe five huge warehouses nestled between M&T Bank Stadium, I-95, and some railroad tracks. What I love about Second Chance is that they have a different warehouse for different subcategories of architectural salvage. One warehouse, for example, is all furniture and stained glass. Another is doors, windows, and the like. A third, and perhaps often most interesting, is architectural elements. This warehouse features anything from old tin ceiling panels to beautiful stair railings to antique walk in refrigerators.

The last time I went to Second Chance, I spent some time sorting through old vintage door knobs and cabinet knobs. All of the different knobs were so much fun that I bought them on a whim knowing that I would surely find a project that would work with them. I eventually decided to turn these lovely knobs into cork wine stoppers. After purchasing the corks, I used the vintage knobs paired with a copper plumbing cap to create my finished product. These particular wine stoppers are currently listed on my Etsy shop. For now, enjoy the wine stoppers in the photos below!

The Chair Saga | Pearls and Butterflies

I spent a good portion of today designing and working on my chair project. Andrew had gone into the office to work on drawing for their latest deadline and I was at home by myself on a lazy Sunday. Obviously that meant I had to do some sort of crafting to fill up my time! I spent the morning sanding and refinishing the legs of the old vintage chair that I wrote about yesterday. It is coming along quite nicely. I used a dark walnut finish that turned out amazingly! I am still debating whether or not to do another coat, but I have decided that I would like a bit of sheen instead of the matte finish I had originally planned.

I have decided that the easiest parts are now finished. I am most concerned that when it comes to cutting and fitting the new upholstery fabric I am going to fail horribly. Andrew continues to tell me that the chair is going to turn out to be amazing, yet I continue to remind him that there is still plenty of time for me to royally screw up! This is my first go at reupholstering an old piece of furniture. I have no fear when it comes to woodworking aspects. After all, my father is a woodworker and luthier so I learned many tricks of the trade from him. And now that I think about it, I guess I am fairly decent behind a sewing machine so I am not sure what my worry is. I think it is just the perfectionist in me that does not want to fail when the potential outcome could be that awesome.

After I finished working on the chair for the day, I spent some time making a new set of note cards. I recently found some rather elegant satin ribbon that featured butterflies. I decided to pair the ribbon with some pearlized card stock that I had purchased. I was rather pleased with the final outcome-- a very elegant yet simple note card. The cards are vertical in orientation with the fold at the top rather than horizontal. I don't think that I would choose these cards for myself-- they're almost too girlie for me. However, I am still happy with the end result from a design standpoint. The cards remind me of pearls so I've dubbed them Pearls and Butterflies-- how lady-like!

Recipe Cards Come with the Territory

As I was cooking up another fabulous dinner the other night, it dawned upon me that there was something missing from my collection-- recipe cards! It seemed so obvious and I couldn't believe that I had not previously thought about designing some fun little cards to organize my recipes! Really it only seemed natural that this sort of thing should be created. So I spent a day home sick with a nasty sinus infection designing these quite stylishly modern recipe cards.

So far they have been a hit! I only listed them on my Etsy shop yesterday and I sold a set of the Avocado recipe cards and many people have expressed interest in them. They were really quite fun to design! With the avocado colored cards, I kept in mind colors of the kitchen (notably the greens and browns of the avocado). I like these the best of the two sets I created and am looking forward to designing more food color inspired recipe cards. I am thinking eggplant, butternut squash, strawberry, and other such rich and vibrant colors.

Last time I wrote about starting on a new set of wine corks. That is still in the works. It seems at times my creative juices begin flowing so much that I get caught up in new ideas. The wine corks will be made as I was happy with the original few that I made in December. It may just take a while longer than expected to get back on track with my project schedule! But in the end, I guess that is the fun of such creative endeavors-- the ability to stem from one project to the next. For now, I'll be designing more recipe cards tonight, and be using them in my kitchen tomorrow.

They make stuff for that?!

My crafting tools and a handmade envelope.

Yes, I am in the dark age when it comes to my crafting of cards. I am at the top of my game when it comes to design software, computers, and printers. But way far behind when it comes to the tools I use to create the final product. I design, then print, and then yes, I hand cut all of my cards. You may say that doesn't sound unrealistic because paper trimmers are quick and easy to use. Paper trimmers? What are you talking about? They make stuff for that?!

No paper trimmers here. Just a cutting mat, an X-acto, and a craft ruler (you know, one of those see through rulers with all of those wonderful measurements on it). And luckily, after having worked on this hobby for some time, I haven't chopped off any fingers or had any trips to the emergency room. So here I am, printing off my designs which takes no time at all. Then next I head over to my drafting table and start cutting-- which takes FOREVER. I became even more frustrated as I ruined three consecutive sheets of cardstock while making teal envelopes for my new NYC Map Note Cards.

NYC Map Note Cards

It did not even cross my mind that there just might be some tools out there to make life a little bit simpler until I came across this at Michael's the other day. Of course I knew that paper trimmers existed-- as a teacher, I use one almost every day at school. But for whatever reason, I did not think about purchasing one for my crafting purposes. Anyway, I'm not going to lie, although the paper trimmer that I saw at Michael's was sort of what I want, I would love something larger that could accommodate large photos as well and would gladly take recommendations! And while I was quite happy with the final outcome of my envelopes as cards that I had made, my level of frustration would certainly have been lower had it been for a darn paper trimmer!

Snow Days are Project Days

Snow days are a blessing in disguise. Somehow they always manage to pop up right after a long stretch of stressful events. In today's case, my snow day arrived the day after second quarter grades were due. There is no better feeling than that of having a surprise visit by an overnight winter storm on the day after such a day. It is as if the snow was purposefully sent to provide me with rejuvenation for the mind, body, and soul.

On days like today, the first priority is to enjoy extra time lounging around the house in soft and cozy sweatpants. The second priority is enjoying my cup of coffee rather than rushing it as I usually do-- and of course then have a second and possibly a third. Then on to the projects.

Snow days are project days. It is blissful just to think of having an entire day to myself with no obligation of any sort! It is the ideal time to start new projects or finish ones that have been left by the wayside and consumed by the daily grind of being a teacher. But a snow day! The possibilities are endless!

My recent endeavors have taken me to an architectural drafting table that is tucked away in our cozy basement. I spread paper of all colors, textures, and patterns in front of me and carefully choose a pleasing assortment and begin crafting a new set of cards. Paper has quickly become one of my favorite mediums and cold, snowy days are perfect for creating new designs and cards. Today, however, I start with a new project-- a writing project. And here I am, curled up in my reading chair, beginning this new blog.  Here I hope to share with you my own passions-- travel, music, food, photography, design (and, yes, maybe a little here and there about education). But for now, I'm off to that cozy basement full or wonderful and vibrant paper!