Finally Inspiration Strikes! Let’s Laser Cut!

Eureka I’ve got it! It has taken crap tons of endless researching and thinking and thinking and researching… jumping back and forth from one idea to another… knowing I will be gone over Thanksgiving and feeling the pressure to make sure I get this damn thing done on time. I have FINALLY found an idea that I am excited about! On my daily Pinterest binge, I stumbled upon the idea of laser cut jewelry. It was all thanks to Molly M Designs and her inspiring laser cut jewelry, coasters, and more! Check out her website here! Gracias!

And now for the idea… ******druuuuuumrooooooooooll!!*******

Here’s a rough mock-up of the plan! I’m going to make a laser cut pendant (airplane, bird, wings, something similar) and attach an old sectional chart to the front. I even happen to have one of Andrew’s old charts lying around the house – when he bought a new one and was going to toss it I thought, noway! It just looked too cool and I knew eventually I could make something out of it! Now I’m off to get quotes on laser cutting and PRAY that the turn-around time for that is not super slow! Will keep you all updated on the progress.. Wish me luck!

 

How-To: Screenprint Like A Boss

Today I bring you Bre Pettis of Make Magazine, who partnered with Matt Stinchcomb of Etsy to put together this fabulously fun tutorial on screen printing. They cover the whole process from start to finish, and even include some extra outside-the-box ideas at the end. The only thing I’d like to add is that they’re using a large printing setup more for the serious printer, but you can do the same process at home using a simpler setup with just a single screen attached with hinges to a board that you print on. I’ll be posting some other videos soon that show how to make a screen/screening station for those who are interested in being a little more hands-on (a.k.a. cheap)… like myself.

Kudos on the wolf gear guys… you make me want my own epic animal gang!

Glass Etching Methods

I’ve spent the last week or so doing a bit of research on glass etching for this month’s project. I’ve found that there are basically two main methods for doing glass etching: corrosive cream or sand-blasting. Being a chick who loves big, fancy power tools.. the idea of doing some hardcore sand-blasting certainly sounds like a lot of fun! I will likely end up having to go the route of the corrosive cream instead, for cost purposes and lack of having a giant awesome sand-blaster. Darnit!

The below video demonstrates these two methods in a pretty basic and easy-to-understand way. The creation of stencils is not covered in this video though, so going to do a bit more looking around to find some good examples of different ways to create designs. Enjoy!

Portraits by Lasse Damgaard

Howdy there!

Been trying to get a nap in this evening, but instead found my head swimming around with a million little details that I need to get nailed down before my first shoot this Saturday.. so I gave up on the nap and decided to do a bit of research for the April project. Pretty excited to have found Danish photographer Lasse Damgaard – who’s traveled throughout the US and Europe to capture these stunning portraits of everyday people.

Click HERE to check out his full collection (including the US and the European Portrait Collections). Also, I highly recommend dropping by his DeviantArt profile and reading the stories that go along with each portrait: US Series  |  European Series

Hope you enjoy his work as much as I have!

Goodnight ya’ll!
*st

Photo credit: Lasse Damgaard

John Cleese on the Creative Process

Hi All!

I came across this great video this morning of John Cleese speaking on the topic of creativity and what he has learned about the creative process throughout his life. Pretty interesting stuff. Thought I would share with you guys! Enjoy!

*st

Enter Needle Felted Toys!

Good day!

I was pretty excited to get Toy Making as my first project – seeing as I already had a very good idea of what type of toy project I’d want to do. I’ve been eying this crafty stuff called needle felting for a few months now. My very favorite needle felter is the lovely Gretel Parker of RedFlannelElephant. Her felt toys are full of personality and so very well made! Of all the research I’ve done about needle felting – in my opinion she is the queen bee of quality cute felties.

I was also intrigued that she began primarily as a children’s illustrator. She received a needle felting kit from a fan one day and was soon creating needle felted versions of her illustrated characters. It has now become a lucrative part of her creative business. I’ve been filling pages with my own fun little characters since I was a girl, so the thought of making them 3-dimensional is just too cool! (And of course, the dream of ever having others want to buy them, well that would be just gravy!)

I’ve found a few tutorials on needle felting today too, and am relieved to see that it’s really a pretty simple process – although time consuming. Basically, roll up wool and stab it like hundreds of times. I’ve added a great timelapse video at the end of this post that shows the process, if you happen to be curious (it also has some super groovy music to keep things exciting).

On a final note, I have ordered a needle felting kit to get started!
For those who might want to try it out, I found the best deals for the price to be on Woolery.com – they have several great starter and theme kits!

Toodles,
*st