Kittens, Cupcakes and Zeppelins

New Fall Website

2011-11-11T21:31:00.005-06:00

I know I haven't been around in a while. I'm sorry! Here is what I have been up to:
Creating a new website!

I also got a job! Will definitely update when the new projects start rolling in.

Things I make while in moving limbo

2011-07-21T13:26:00.009-05:00

Who Dat! So sorry that I haven't been posting lately, this move still has me all over the place. Here are a few things I have been working on in the meantime though!
Replacing all the plants and pots that broke during the move. We had a lot of casualties and I am still upset about it, but I went a little wild replacing everything and once I found my old rock collection from my childhood it was all over:

I found this awesome pot with handles, it's so easy to move it anywhere!

If you look closely, you'll see an Easter egg.

I was about to order some little mushrooms for my terrariums that also broke, and then I realized I can make my own with my old favorite stuff, Fimo. I may have made too many.

Here are some hidden in my new plant:

It was my sister's birthday so I used one of my package designs from my Silhouette store to put her gift in. I made her one of my bullet crystal necklaces.

This succulent garden somehow managed to survive the moving truck, AND falling off a table in a freak hail storm. I decked it out with some new plants and some quartz, tiger eyes, crystal and various fancy rocks.

And finally, I made this terrarium after the other broke. This one has a little deer! That's also a painting that I am working on in the background.

I can't wait to completely unpack and decorate! Will keep ya'll posted! :)

Wine crate renovations and moving day

2011-05-16T13:53:00.005-05:00

Recently I have become obsessed with finding, refinishing and decorating wine crates. I want to hang them on the walls to create shelves, but I can't do that yet, because we are moving! So this will probably be my last post for a while, as I start to pack up my craft stuff. But here are some photos of a couple of the wine crates I managed to take pics of before packing:

I managed to collect about 11 crates, some I got for free, some I had to buy, and some had fancy lids and other unique details. I sanded all of them down, teak oiled them to make the wood stronger, stained, and then poly-d them. These I stained in a walnut finish and then I used my awesome retro stencils to decorate all the sides of the crates. Then I lined the inside with these cute papers I found.

I went a little crazy at the Paper Source store when I went to get paper for the crates. I ended up buying these little book binding kits as well to match, I think they came out adorably.

This koi fish paper is so cute it makes me want to cry. It's screen printed, and when looking closely, it looks as if by hand. Photos can't even do the paper justice.

I cant wait to use all of these crates for decorating. I have a whole set more that I lined with fabric, but those will have to wait. Here's hoping the move to the Big Easy is nice and easy!

I heart packaging

2011-05-04T01:22:00.006-05:00

So I recently designed a bunch of 3D packaging over at my Silhouette store. They're doing pretty well, check them out!

Addiction # 1,394,198,865... Terrariums

2011-04-20T21:50:00.004-05:00

I finally jumped on the terrarium bandwagon. They are so adorable and fun to make, I'm resisting the urge to make a million more. It's really difficult to even get pictures to do them justice by showing all the tiny details.

In this one I put an old antique porcelain doll they used to put in king cakes.

I also added some tiny ivory elephants from my childhood and a couple birds, rocks, and air plants.

I love these old Ball jars so much.

In this one I put a tiny geode, crystal and dear antler tip.

So cute!

Furniture Rehab Addict

2011-03-26T22:42:00.011-05:00

If only I were a more patient person... I would do projects like these all the time, and spread them out over months. The problem is I just can't wait to see the finished product. I knew I wanted a cute bedside table to finish myself, but could never find one that I liked very much. Finally, Furniture in the Raw had a 50% sale, and I bought this:

I wanted to replace the old bedside table I have had since my childhood, but at the last minute I just couldn't bring myself to throw it out, and decided to play around with re-finishing it at the same time as my new table. Here is a before when I had already started treating the top.

I wish I had thought to get a picture of all the damage to the top and sides, which is part of the reason I decided to paint it. You would never know now!

The top came out fabulously despite the multiple problem spots. There were so many areas of damage from years and years of never using coasters.

And how's this for an Easter egg: I found this little note from my childhood. Oh the 80's and the whole "was here" trend. A young rapscallion and already graffiti-ing everything. Not to mention the horse sticker! I'm pretty sure that's vintage Lisa Frank.

I love it! I can't believe I was about to throw this out.

For the new side table, I knew I wanted to do something nifty using my silhouette to make a stencil. So here is what I came up with:

Tra-la! Look at the cute paper liner!

How cute are those knobs?

For the last week Barb over at Design Sponge's tutorials have been my bible. If only I had the patience she had, maybe I could make things as amazing as her! For now, I'm pretty happy with these.

New envelope sets, die cut liners

2011-03-23T18:24:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long, I've got a lot of stuff in the works. Here are some new envelope designs, some of which are available in my Silhouette store!

And for no reason at all, here is a photo of Brownie Bite luring me away from my work. I have got 2 pieces of furniture that I'm re-finishing, a new motion freelance project, and some necklaces to blog about too, so stay tuned!

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

2011-03-08T09:04:00.003-06:00

Sorry for dropping off the Earth for so long, it's what happens when the Mardi Gras comes to town. Gotta go find mister to throw me somethin!

It's official...

2011-02-27T20:03:00.006-06:00

It finally happened, I am now a Silhouette artist. Do me a kindness, go to my store and buy my designs please!

Puppy silhouettes!

2011-02-23T20:49:00.007-06:00

I finally got my act together and started a project I have been planning for a long time: framed puppy silhouettes.

I have been dying to make one for Hurley for a while. But now I have even more reason to start the project, because we have a new addition to the family: Princess Brownie Bite.

First I found some frames at a thrift store. It couldn't have been more perfect that they match and are actually wood!

Had to gut out the cross stitching. Sorry grandma. Cleaned them up and spray painted them black.

I designed the profiles for the dogs and cut them out with the silhouette. Had to use the Xacto to fine tune them, but they came out great! I did this while the frames were drying.

Finally, added them to frames and done! I used the silhouette to cut out custom "mats" using flowered vellum (which I will not be using again, disaster!) They're so cute, I love them!

How much better the backs of them look now,

Here is Hurley's up close:

and both of them again:

I love thrift store projects! To make both of them cost me just around $30. Next step, mine and Eric's silhouette in bigger frames in the middle. Yay!

Even more Silhouette things

2011-02-16T15:41:00.007-06:00

Whew! Exhausted from all the Silhouette-ing, so I won't type too much. Here's more stuff I made!
This mini Petal set is so adorable- I want to make it in so many paper combos.

Here is a pop-up card I made for my uncle that I modified from the Silhouette store. I used the pen to sketch the personalized liner for the envelope:

using one of my many leftover "flags" to seal the envelope,

... and used the pen to address it, before cutting it all out. So pretty!

Here are some cute labels I made:

My signature tag pocket.

And finally, here are some of my other sets, all packaged up and ready to go to their "forever" homes.

I'm tired! I need to turn my brain off and stop thinking of ideas.

Stationery Sets made by me!

2011-02-07T13:09:00.015-06:00

So I have been going absolutely wild with my Silhouette and here are some of the things that I have been putting together. I recently discovered an obsession with making stationery and can't stop. I keep joking that someone needs to take the Silhouette away from me, but I might slap a person if they tried!
I just love this set I made with this cute "atom" card.

A pretty get well card/set:

I have been drooling over stationery sets with petal envelopes. Now I can make my own!

These cards remind me of tuxedos, they would be great if they were personalized for a wedding!

This combo of purple flower print liners and craft paper is so pretty to me.

This adorable set has note cards that are really nests with a matching egg:

This creamy ivory paper looks so pretty against the scallop lining.

You might remember these cards from my previous post, here they are all finished.

A black and white set with pearlescent lattice cards:

And finally, a black and white set with different die cut tags:

Someone help me, I'm addicted to my Silhouette! If you are interested in buying any of these or even a custom order, visit my Etsy store!

My first ever tutorial! Silhouette valentine

2011-01-27T14:22:00.022-06:00

Ever since I started using the Silhouette, trying to use paper efficiently and get the settings just right have been a challenge. I wanted to create a project that I could fit entirely on an 8.5 x 11 and be a neat package once all cut out. Then I discovered how awesome the pens are and I went a little wild. I decided to create my first ever tutorial, and dedicate it to Valentines day!

I discovered the beauty of using layers in Illustrator to create one layer of pen art and one layer for the cuts. The best part about using layers is that you can essentially create an entire project on one single document, or piece of paper. I love the look of petal envelopes, so I decided to include that as a holder for all the pieces of the puzzle.
I created my template in Illustrator with 3 layers: One is locked on top with registration marks. This makes sure that the CraftRobo software doesn't re-position my work. The 2nd layer is the pen art, and I do this part first so that the ink can dry before the cutting.
Since the only way I really use the machine is through Illustrator with the CraftRobo plug-in, I am going to assume that you already know how to do this. If you don't use this method it is not hard to set up, and there are tons of tutorials out there that can help you. I am including my Illustrator file at the end of the post.
Here is the Template all together: one petal envelope, 2 note cards to choose from to go inside, and 2 tags to choose from for decoration. Oh yeah, and some heart confetti, because why not? ( I hate wasting paper! It's kind of an OCD thing)

So for the first step, select your paper. The kind I am using is 65 lb card stock. Load it onto your mat and into the machine, lining the top left corner of your paper on the zero on your mat. Load your pen into the machine, make sure the "Cut" layer is turned off in AI, and put in your settings. I put my pen pressure settings at 25, but I think it could probably handle more. I also put my speed at 1, the slowest so that the ink would have time to dry without being touched by the rollers and smeared.

File layers:

Hopefully this is what you will get. I also leave the cover open when I use the pen because it looks like it wouldn't fit if it were closed.

So with that done, go back to Illustrator and turn off the "Pen" layer and turn on the "Cut" layer.

You can theoretically leave them all on and have the machine pause between layers, but I just do this to be safe. These are the settings I used for the cutting:

If all goes as planned, everything should be lined up and cut out on your mat. Of course, it will probably take you a few tries to get it right with your paper, I know it took me a few times to get it cut. It helps to have some paper that you don't really like for scraps to test, but is the same weight as what you intend to use. One thing I think is very important is having thick books on each side when using thick paper, because without that support sometimes the mat bobs around and some pieces can come loose.

Also you might want to figure out exactly what settings to use before you make a ton of art using your pens. Here are all the pieces all weeded out:

Now the fun part, putting it all together!

It is much easier to fold the petal envelope once you have scored it. You can use a bone fold or a special scoring tool, I love mine.

You can choose which side you want your art to go on, I chose the outside since so much will be going on inside.

And Tra-La! Here is it all put together:

And what can come out when it is opened.

There you have it! Personalize it just for that special someone. And they'll think that you slaved away on this for days! :) I wrapped mine up with baker's twine, which seems to look good on everything lately. It's the craft world's mascara.

After that you're pretty much on your own! You can include one of the note cards, both, or whatever you want! Also, when you print out multiple sheets of the template with different colors of paper, you can substitute some of the pieces, like I did with the confetti. If you are savvy with AI, you can use modify the template to your heart's content. See what I did there? I hope you all enjoy my first Silhouette tutorial, and feel free to use my free template, just make sure to please site my blog you do! :)
And don't hesitate to show me what you come up with!

Download Sophie's Valentine Template
(I saved it as version 9 in Illustrator)

My first finished silhouette cards

2011-01-25T16:13:00.006-06:00

I finally finished the Valentine's Day cards I was working on. I got out my embossing powder and added some final touches too-

Here are all the cards I designed together,

My logo embossed on the back of all the cards. On some it is barely noticeable, until you feel it.

Here they all are! The 2 in the front I made using one of the Silhouette designs from their shop. I can't wait to make more! The ideas are endless.

Organizing fool

2011-01-25T16:04:00.003-06:00

So I finally got my "studio" together with the help of this awesome organizer:

This thing is great, it has tons of storage space for all my stuff, looks great, and even comes with a dowel rod for tapes and ribbons. But the best part had to be the 40% off coupon that I used from Micheal's!

Fun times with Silhouette machine

2011-01-18T19:20:00.008-06:00

I. Love. This. Machine.
I got the silhouette as a Christmas present and haven't used it until 2 days ago. Why? I was terrified that it wouldn't work as well as it is supposed to, or that it would be too complicated to figure out since I wanted to primarily use my designs instead of the ones that comes with the software, that also was supposedly not mac-friendly.
Turns out the Silhouette is SO easy to use, I feel like a fool for not getting started sooner. Here are some of the things that I have made already!

I cut out my logo, and a bunch of other letters for later,

Some fun tags and shapes, pretty much just testing what it can do at this point.

I used my logo to decorate my sketchbook-

These guys watched me as I worked...

Here are some cute valentine's cards-

I have more to do to these, they're definitely going in my Etsy shop.

Here is the tiniest of tiny hearts that the Silhouette cut out. Pretty amazing!

Some really cute bow tags for gifts on any occasion-

Now onto vinyl, which is a lot more temperamental than paper. Either there is a steep learning curve or I just bought the wrong kind of vinyl, we shall see. But this is what I managed to make in the meantime:

I love my adorable stand mixer, and now it looks even cuter than before!

And finally, it took me all day, but I made a logo for my car!

Since I opened the box this little machine has been running non stop. If anyone else uses one, let me know what you think and if you have any tips!

I like swag

2011-01-07T11:50:00.004-06:00

I finally got my Vela Luna candle that I designed the identity for. It smells amazing!

I wish I had an unlimited supply of these.... Thanks Cori!

A very dinky Christmas

2011-01-07T11:00:00.011-06:00

So this Christmas, I spent a good chunk of time making presents instead of buying for my friends and family. Here are how some of them came out!

First for decoration and some jewelry elements I went crazy with more shrinky dinks. I made frames, birdcages, banners, and other things, which later became necklaces or random charms.

Some of them I attached to presents and maybe people could think of their own things to do with them...

I also used some of my shrinky dink flowers from earlier to make my mom a necklace that she saw me wearing and fell in love with.

I also made one for my grandmother, here they are wearing their fancy new necklaces-

And here's my mom wearing hers-

Here is a coupon book that I made for my boyfriend with various coupons for things that I think he will like-

Sticking with my tea towel theme lately, I made my girlfriends some silk screened towels with "our slogan" on them (yeah, we're cheesy). They each got two, one black and one gold. Who Dat.

And topped them off with a shrinky dink key chain/chip that they can show off to all their friends so they can be jealous.

And here is one third of the trifecta, Jessica showing off her tea towel.

Whew! It was hard keeping all those gifts a secret. :) Can't believe we are already a week into the new year. Hope everyone is having a great one!

Christmas time, yay!

2010-12-30T11:36:00.013-06:00

Santa gave me the best Christmas this year! My family always gives the best gifts, I am truly lucky. Here's my loot!

A Silhouette, (I can't wait to try this thing!) Some Spicy Cajun rum which will come in handy on NYE, adorable little bird earrings, the most awesome sequined sweatshirt ever, Vera Wang party stationery, awesome Matte nail polish, Stieg Larsson's box set which I've been dying to get into, THE BEST white skinny jeans I have ever tried on, and last but definitely not least, an amazing Victorian gold bracelet from the 1800's that my mom has been hiding in a soap box for the last 2 decades (best mom ever).
This was the best Christmas yet! What did everyone else get?
Hurley Claus says: Merrrrrrry Christmas!

Making my list and checking it thrice

2010-12-23T18:30:00.006-06:00

After day 3 of slaving over presents (not counting all the other work I put in to them), I am finally done! I made everything by hand this year, and boy was it time consuming. I cant show the finished products yet because of the chance someone might see them, but a new post with all of the gifts will be coming soon. I hope everyone likes them!

Little shrinky dink charms I made...

It's a very bird Christmas this year.

Happy Holidays errybody!

Old Inspiration

2010-12-17T11:59:00.003-06:00

I was thinking about animation recently and what inspires me, and I remembered this amazing project from years ago that really got to me. It still is so powerful and gorgeous, and I still tear up!

Josie's Lalaland from MIE on Vimeo.

Something every client should see

2010-12-11T18:49:00.007-06:00

You wouldn't refuse to pay your waiter would you? Or your hairstylist? Then why do it to your designer?

My Everest part 2: CV Tea Towel

2010-12-01T22:04:00.010-06:00

For my self promotional package, I decided to screen print a cover letter on a tea towel to give out to potential employers. I started with my design and printed my transparencies; here are my screens being exposed:

They came out great! Someone wants to be in the picture too.

Printing... I always get the mean face when I do art for some reason.

Checking....

Tra la!

Here are all the colors after they're all sewed: gunmetal, black, and gold.

I also added a loop to the back so they can hang...

I folded it with my business card inside, tied them with twine, all topped off with my signature logo "chip".

They're all ready to be delivered!

I hope the recipients like them!

Making things all match-y

2010-11-30T17:38:00.004-06:00

We have had this cabinet for a while now, thinking that we would fill the bottom part with fancy wines. Shocker, we didn't. The space is kind of unusable for anything else besides wine with the shelves in, so I decided to take the shelves out and use that space as storage, but it looked pretty bad.

So I got out my "new" toy:

Got out some gorgeous fabric I've been wanting to use for something,

Made a curtain, and a pillow to match! I am really starting to like having a sewing machine.

Look how pretty!

Gobblers!

2010-11-30T17:26:00.007-06:00

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! I know I did.

Din din

My friend Carly and I took the street car for the first time in years...

Yeah, we're real mature.

Watch yer face!

This is the life. Happy Saintsgiving everyone!

ABTAR!

2010-11-20T17:09:00.006-06:00

I was recently asked by ABTAR (Austin Bike Tours and Rentals) to redesign their logo and identity. I did, and they had this spiffy trailer printed up with the new logo! Neato mosquito!

Vela Luna candle design

2010-11-20T15:48:00.006-06:00

I was recently asked to design a logo and insert for an all natural candle company in LA. This is how it all came out! I can't believe I made 150 inserts and 300 sticker labels by hand in one day! Whew!

The cards with the sticker labels for the candles.

all packed up and ready to go!

If anyone ever needs a freelance logo, print, card, or whatever designed, feel free to ask me!

New embossed note cards for sale!

2010-11-14T15:55:00.004-06:00

Check out my Etsy shop for some pretty cards for Christmas!

OMG OMG omg

2010-11-08T09:35:00.003-06:00

I just got featured on FPO! What an honor! This is another site that I check religiously and obsessively, to me it is the cream o' the crop as far as printed design goes. Thanks so much for the appreciation Bryony!

Halloween Fun!

2010-11-03T16:30:00.004-05:00

So for Halloween this year, I took a little road trip with my boyfriend to New Orleans. Here are our amazing costumes:
He was Kuato from Total Recall, and I was Gus Chiggins. If you don't know ol'e Gus (not many people do) , then give him a Google.

Kuato and Gus like to high five.

Here's Kuato watching the game at Champion's Square, (we won, WHO DAT!)

Here's me with a Saints fairy, and a Scuba diver. My beard didn't want to stay on anymore at this point.

A cool panoramic of the superdome with my newfangled camera,

The cutest house I've ever seen:

Hurley and his brother after running around the yard like crazy,

Hurley being a cutie.

Happy Halloween!

Logo Design and stuff

2010-10-28T15:49:00.007-05:00

So I was asked by my friends Tony and Travis to design them a new logo for their company, Austin Bike Tours and Rentals. Here is how it turned out:

In the original plan there was going to be an armadillo riding the bike, which got voted out but I think is pretty cute:

There you go! If anyone ever needs a great tour of Austin, call them, they can set up biking, kayaking, you name it.
Also, the final other biking poster I did is finally done, here t'is: (People love biking!)

Personalized stamp & embossing powder fun!

2010-10-26T16:16:00.001-05:00

My personalized rubber stamps have finally arrived! I immediately started testing them along with some clear embossing powder that I've been drooling over for a while.

I started with my petal envelope template and cut out one out. I chose black to show how beautiful the embossing powder looks against dark paper.

Using an embossing pad, stamp the pattern you like and top with the powder.

Tap off excess and hit with heating gun...

... and done. It's easy to add more too, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Went crazy and here are some more! After I press them I will make matching envelopes. My head is swirling with possibilities.

"Last minute" custom letterpress card

2010-10-24T13:21:00.001-05:00

This weekend was marked by the wedding of a couple friends of mine, Thomas and Lili. I decided to use this as an opportunity to experiment more with my etching press.
This is the pressed result:

I had these chipboard sticker letters laying around and stuck them on some wax paper so I could easily reposition them without them losing their stick.

Then I taped the whole thing to the bed of my press and got out a card I had already been experimenting with earlier.

Here is the pressed card. I had already made the white designs with embossing powder, an amazing thing I just discovered. It's pretty much the coolest. So when you think about it, this card is double embossed.

Adding final touches with my corner trimmer:

Adding to the envelope:

It's really cool to think of the amazing custom ideas someone could come up with last minute, and with such a rare medium like an embossed card. I love this little press!

Fell off the planet for a little while...

2010-10-20T20:22:00.001-05:00

And got stuck in Dallas having too much fun. (Thanks friends!) But now I'm back in Austin and here is what I've been working on:
My friend Jonathan asked me to design a poster for a group bike riding event in New Orleans. Seeing as how I love anything NOLA, I got a little carried away and designed this-

It's a beer drinking pelican! (sorry about the image quality, Blogger isn't wanting to upload correctly for some reason) Here is a link to quality: Better

Also, my card has been featured on Creattica and CardNerd! Go check them out and favorite them please!

My Business Card got featured again!

2010-10-11T12:22:00.001-05:00

Check it out here!

We're really doing it, Harry!

2010-10-11T10:25:00.001-05:00

Thanks so much to "Musicologie" for purchasing my flocked bird screen print from my Etsy shop! I am shipping it today, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Here go:

My newest website and reel! Check it

2010-10-05T11:25:00.003-05:00

I finally decided to use the song I always wanted to.

Making art out of pixels, one day at a time.

2010-10-01T15:51:00.001-05:00

So I haven't been doing too many crafty things lately because my motion website is totally out of date. Trying to get a new one up and running with my new logo and new work, so stay tuned!
My Site

Prints!

2010-09-29T14:17:00.002-05:00

Fun things are happening in m Etsy shop! Check it out- My Shop

Pillows!

2010-09-23T11:22:00.002-05:00

I finally finished this crazy pillow. I am going to try to sell it in my Etsy shop and I will post the link as soon as it's up!

Leafy side

Birdy side

Can a ninja get a jump break?!

2010-09-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one who can't get Blogger to do anything I want? All I am trying to do is add jump breaks to my posts, and apparently that just isn't possible, even after hours of research. So I'm sorry if my blog is a little wonky right now and the posts seem kind of long, but I can't for the life of me get it to clean itself up. My apologies!

My Business Card Everest was all worth it!

2010-09-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

I made it on Paper Crave! So excited! I check this site religiously (and maybe a little obsessively) so to see my work on there is just the coolest. It's probably the best site to find inspiration from anything ranging from package design to beautiful fonts. It's my favorite! Thanks so much Kristen! Check it out:

http://papercrave.com/even-more-awesome-business-cards/

Woohooo!

Art n' football

2010-09-21T13:42:00.000-05:00

To commemorate the Saints game last night, I made these:

Framed my bird print:

And then made these! Roast Beef po boys, using the authentic recipe that Parasol's uses (only the best po boy place in Nola, no big deal). I had to use my Bulldog glass to drink my ice coffee while berling the meat.

The closest I could find to actual french bread...

2 -0 babies! Bless you boys!

Other arty things I made this summer

2010-09-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

Here are a few projects that I did before this blog existed.

This cute personalized canvas:

Painted our bar when we first moved in using a stencil from an awesome book called Stencils 101.

Screen printed these shirts and poster (and about a million other things but these are the only ones worth showing):

Embroidered this pillow, which took FOREVER.

Hurley just loves to lay on the special pillow any chance he gets...

And that's about it! Summer is over... -sigh-

Who Dat!

2010-09-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

That's right babies, 1 and 0. We're gonna do it again! Bless you boys!

Project for the month: Matching chair and bench

2010-09-10T14:13:00.000-05:00

So I finally got around to refinishing this god-awful chair that I had laying around. I forgot to take a before picture of the cushions, but trust me they were bad. The body of the chair is gorgeous, but the paint was all chipped and it needed a new life all together. So I broke out the spray paint and sealer.

Before:

After:

And here it is finally with the cushions that I had already reupholstered next to the bench that I also refinished and reupholstered earlier this month. Now they match!

Can't stop shrinking dinks!

2010-09-03T10:34:00.000-05:00

I finished these yesterday, after lusting after this tutorial: Shrinky Dink flowers, and they came out so cute! If you want to see better photos, I'm selling them in my Etsy shop. These are SO addictive!

My Etsy

My business cards, or "My Everest".

2010-09-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

So after months and months of researching, planning, and agonizing about what I wanted in my business card, I finally was able to decide on exactly how to do it. I knew that I had a few important criteria to start out with:
1. They had to be on the CHEAP.
2. I wanted to use a multitude of different techniques by hand, and
3. The final product would have to be so beautiful that no one would ever want to throw it away.

With those in mind, I set out to find my paper. Luckily in Austin there are so many resources and friendly people that will help you, that I actually got my paper for free! They gave me so many samples I didn't even have to buy any. Out of all the samples I got I couldn't resist the cream of the crop, the fanciest of fancy papers, Crane Lettra 220 lb. I knew I wanted paper that I could screen print on, and I knew that this cotton paper would take pretty much any ink that I threw at it like a champ, which it did.

So I started out first screen printing one side with a custom pattern that I planned:

Then it was time to letterpress. This was definitely the most laborious, intense part. I ordered polymer plates from Boxcar Press, and cannot recommend them enough. I ordered 3 plates, but unfortunately only ended up using 2, for various reasons. I got some ink, mixed up 2 colors and got out my etching press that I bought from a local artist for $100.

Someone didn't like that he wasn't getting any attention.

What followed could only be described as hours and hours of trial and error, but they turned out pretty great in the end.
First pass with 1 spot color:

2nd pass with a blind plate:

Final:

If you want to see the whole process, I made a video:

At this point I had 3 out of 6 steps done. Now I had to cut them all out, by hand. This was my least favorite part, but I only cut my finger once!

I still needed to print the information side of my card, which was really nerve wrecking because they were so precious after all that letter pressing. I was not happy with how my third plate was printing, so I scrapped it all together and decided to Gocco print the last side. This part is always fun, Gocco-ing is the best!

Now on to the 6th step, painting the edges. This part was a little tricky, but I think the final pop of color really ties the whole card together.

I can't be happier with the final output, and can't believe how much money I saved by doing it all myself! This project was definitely not a time saver, but the wealth of information that I learned made it more than worth it.

There you have it! Coming up, my matching self promotional package.

2010-08-05T19:26:00.000-05:00

My first Gocco experience. I won't lie and say it didn't involve some tears, but after much problem solving it is now the best thing ever! This little toy is pretty neat. When I get my Etsy shop going, these will definitely be in there.