Happy Easter!

I decided to get in the Easter spirit and try something a little new today. I had some sticker paper laying around that I wanted to do something with so along with a pencil, exacto knife, paint, and an egg, I made an Easter bunny silhouette Easter egg. 

I drew my bunny then cut it out of the sticker paper using my exacto knife.

I stuck the bunny onto my egg, making sure the surface was completely dry first so that it would stick.

Next I used a paper towel to dab paint all over the egg.

Then I let it dry. I used a hair dryer to speed up the process.

After the paint was completely dry I peeled off the sticker and voila! If any paint gets under the sticker you can use a Q-tip with a little water on it to clean the paint off.

Hello little bunny!

Props to Brendan and Jake for the other beautifully decorated Easter eggs seen here!

Layered Pearl Necklace

This is a really fun project if you want to revamp your jewelry collection. All you need is ribbon, a brooch, and a couple of pearl necklaces. The pearls I used had a clasp on the necklace, but I would recommend using a strand without a clasp.

Fold your pearls in half and gather them together like this. I have 2 necklaces here but you'll see later that I opted out of using the necklace with the bigger pearls.

Cut 2 long pieces of ribbon and thread them through the loop in the pearls that you made when you folded them in half.

Tie a knot.

Do the same to the other side then hold your necklace up to your neck to make sure you like the placement of the pearls. If you do then double knot your ribbon.

Next pin on your brooch. I got this pretty little thing from a really cute boutique in Milton. Play around with the placement of your brooch. I ended up deciding that I liked it up closer to the ribbon.

And here you have it, some brand new jewelry.

New jewelry makes for a great gift... Happy Birthday Kelly!

Community Center Logo

My mother is a preschool teacher in Weymouth, and when her school was looking to have a new logo designed for their community center, I was offered the opportunity. The center provides assistance, support, and resources to families raising young children and wanted the logo to show that they welcome children of all abilities, ethnicities, and family backgrounds. This was the full color logo that I designed for them. Trying to draw like a child is harder than you'd think.

I also had to make a 3 color version to be printed on tote bags and t-shirts.

I was also able to design a poster for the infant group classes that the center has.

Skateboard Art

I have recently discovered the fun in making new art from old things. You really have to get creative when making something new from something old and be able to envision what you're looking at as potential to be something else. My brothers have tons of old skateboards that they don't use anymore so I asked to borrow one that was in pretty rough shape. Here's what I started with...

First step was to get rid of the wheels and the rusty parts that went with them.

Using some good ole fashioned elbow grease I sanded the skateboard down til the original artwork was gone and the surface was smooth.

After that I primed, dried, primed, dried, painted, dried, painted again!

Now for the fun part! Time to give the board some new art. Thank God for Sharpie Paint Pens! I also put new screws in place of the old ones and painted them black to match. 

After everything was dry I stretched some artists wire across the back and hooked it onto the screws so that I would be able to hang it up.

And here we are... 

Before and After

Wedding Package

This past fall a friend of mine was getting married and I had the opportunity to design her save the dates, menu cards, programs, thank you notes, and seating cards. The wedding was autumn themed so I had some fun with falling leaves.

And here's the seating card where it's meant to be...at the wedding!

Yoga Mat Carry Bag

If you're a fan of yoga, pilates, sewing, pretty fabric, or just projects that are quick and easy, then you're going to love this! I made up my own pattern as I went so hopefully it's easy to follow. This project took less than 2.5 hours, and that included picture taking, figuring it out as I went, and other distractions. The total cost of this project = a whopping $10!

Materials:
Fabric - less than 1 yard but I got 1 to be safe
Drawstring Cord
Drawstring Stop
(also make sure you have your yoga mat handy for measuring purposes)

My first step was to see what size fabric I needed. It's a rare day that I actually take out measuring tape to do this but it's probably a smart thing to do. This technique worked for me...

After you cut your fabric fold the top over a couple of inches and then fold it over again and pin it down and sew the fold down. ( I think I really need to brush up on my sewing vocabulary, please bare with me as this is how I do things)

Next you're going to take that entire piece and fold it in half right sides together (thats actual sewing lingo woo!!) Sew the two edges together but be sure to start your seam AFTER the folded down part because thats going to be where you feed through your drawstring later. Kapeesh?

Now that you've made a tube shape with your fabric, test out the size with your yoga mat. You don't want it to be too snug because that will make it tough to get the mat in and out of there. Also while your mat is in the tube, check out the length of your fabric. If you have a little extra, now would be a good time to trim it. You'll definitely want the fabric to extend about an inch or 2 beyond the mat because you're going to lose some fabric when you sew the bottom piece on.

There are 2 more pieces that need to be cut from the fabric. The long rectangle will be used to make the strap and the circle is for the bottom of the bag. You'll want your strap piece to be a little longer than the yoga mat and bag so when you put it around your body its not too tight. I ended up cutting my piece to be a little bit shorter than this.

Take your strap piece and fold it right sides together. Sew a seam down the edge and you're going to end up with a long inside out tube. Flip that sucker inside right!

This is where things get a little tricky. Take the first tube you made - the bigger one that will be the bag- and lay it out on the floor. Place the strap inside the bag and line up the seams so that they're touching. The bigger tube should be inside out and the smaller tube should have the fabric pattern showing. Pin the strap to the bag on the bottom end (NOT where the drawstring is going)

Take your circle piece of fabric and with both the wrong sides of fabric showing sew it to the bottom of the bag while at the same time sewing the piece of the strap into place. Then trim all the excess fabric and do a little zig zag seam around the edge to make sure it's secure.

Flip your bag so the right side is showing and it should look like this so far. You can see how the strap was sewn within the circle here...

Next feed your drawstring cord through that space you created at the beginning. It helps to tie a knot on one end of the cord so you have something to grab when you're feeding it through. After that just add your cord stop and tie a knot at the end.

Pull the other half of your strap underneath your drawstring (make sure the strap isn't twisted) and fold it into the inside of the bag. This is where you can check out the length of your strap and trim it accordingly.

Ok, I'm going to try my darndest to explain what's going on in this next picture. The loop where you fed your drawstring through at the top of the bag should still have unsewn edges. (that vocab would really help here) Your strap should be between these edges and the drawstring right now. Fold your strap AND bag in half at the seam so that the seam of the strap lines up with the open edges of open loop and the bag. Pin it there! Sew a seam right up the edge to match up the location of the seam on the bag. BE CAREFUL that you don't sew over your drawstring because then it won't work. Sew right up as close as you can to the drawstring then stop.

Now fold the rest of the strap over that seam you just made and sew it down. There should be a seam there that you can line it up with so it looks neat. (I can't imagine that I'm making any sense at this point.

AND YOU'RE DONE!

Who says yoga can't be fashionable??