Posted by Manda on Jan 28, 2010 in
How To Do It It’s very exciting to find a new way to do an old thing – even over here in the art world, painting and sculpture have been done for hundreds of years just fine, but modern artists always find a way to give it a new kick. These bookshelves from Indestructables are more of a building project, but still something you can make at home!
This do-it-yourself project makes an eye-catching way to display your books without having to damage them at all – you can even swap the books out as you please! The shelf utilities elastic to hold the books in place, so there’s no worry that they’ll slip out. It makes for a neat trick though – and a great way to fool someone as a prank if they aren’t expecting it!
How do you display your books? Did you craft something to do it? Go ahead and leave a comment and let us know – we’d love to hear your responses!
Tags: books, diy, furniture, shelving
Posted by mandarific on Nov 3, 2009 in
Featured Artists While it’s hard to believe that it’s already November, this time of year always brings reminders of pinecone turkeys and paper pilgrim hats. It’s the time of year when we start thinking about holiday gifts, decorations, and keeping kids busy in ways that won’t *completely* ruin the kitchen table.
I came across Paperglitter’s designs while looking more for Thanksgiving and Harvest craft ideas to decorate – and found her wonderful crafts that you download, print from your own computer, and assemble yourself. It’s more than just a cute idea – she’s designed toys for many huge companies, including mass market lines such as Hello Kitty, Disney, and My Little Pony. Her free projects include stationary such as envelopes, letter paper, and address labels that are too cute for words – smiling cakes and bunnies that remind us of Hello Kitty characters are sure to make any note stand out in the mail.
If you’re like me and looking to put together some projects for fall, her Etsy Shop has plenty to choose from – whether it’s for yourself or to keep the kids table busy while you’re doing the last-minute turkey prep, her Thanksgiving designs are to die for. Here are some of my favorites – check them out, you won’t be disappointed!
Tags: crafts, diy, paper, printable, scrapbooking, stationary
Posted by mandarific on Oct 29, 2009 in
Featured Artists The last few days have been fairly busy for me – getting ready for Halloween and working on getting several new design projects off the ground, this blog has been a blessing to be able to relax and enjoy some good art. One of my favorite hobbies that I don’t have nearly enough time for is needlework – I love cross-sitch and embroidery, and am often looking for new ideas beyond the pre-packaged patterns available at most craft stores. I was pleasantly surprised today to see that Apple and Eve had posted a wonderful tutorial for her satin stitch.
Eva’s designs are gorgeous – she creates personalized dolls, bunnies, and other such characters that are decorated with beautiful embroidery. All lovely keepsakes in their own right, the critters are decorated with swirls and flowers reminiscent of traditional embroidered patterns, but so that they stand out against the spikey edges of a hedgehog or the floppy ears of a bunny.
Eva’s Satin Stitch Tutorial gives us several large, clear images of how she completes her stitch, as well as reference for how much thread she uses for the stitching. She’s also welcomed anyone to ask questions of her work and how she completes it.
Though she refers to this style as being “challenging,” it seems like a nice basic style that can be added to anyone’s repertoire, and a must-know for those looking to do more detailed embroidery and “filled in” areas. Are you an embroidery guru, or just learning how to stitch? Share with us some of your favorite projects and needlework tutorials!
Tags: crafts, diy, embroidery, tutorials
