I’m happy to announce I am now selling card + envelope sets on my Etsy store. The new additions will also be available at the Holiday Marketplace in November – including a lineup of holiday cards.
Here’s a peek at the new cards.
Author Archives: Christine
home-made screen printing
I finally got around to doing this DIY project, and I really love it. No, I wasn’t the clever individual to come up with such a fabulous way to do your own screen printing – this is where I thank Pinterest again. One day I saw this pinned and couldn’t wait to give it a shot.
You can get all the directions you need from her blog, but why not offer up a little tutorial of my own?
Step 1 : Get an embroidery hoop & some panty hose. (Embroidery hoop = $1 from Hobby Lobby. Panty hose = 3 pairs of knee highs for $1 at Dollar General.)
Step 2 : Stretch the panty hose across the hoop and secure. Then cut the excess. You’ll want this to be tight!
Step 3 : Print your design, cut it out, and trace it onto your screen with a sharpie. Also this is about the time where you want to stop and think about this – if you have any words in your design, you’ll need to make sure they’re backward to print forward. Trust me, don’t go any farther until you’ve made sure you’ve got it right.
Step 4 : Start painting everything you want to be left untouched on your final product with mod podge. The mod podge keeps the paint from going through, so whatever you paint on the screen will be bare on the final project.
Step 5 : Let it dry. The mod podge will turn clear and harden before it’s ready to use.
Step 6 : Put your screen face down on your material (t shirt, bag, whatever) and squeeze your fabric paint out inside your screen. Cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard and trim the top 2 corners off. Use this piece of cardboard to spread the paint and push it through your screen. You will definitely want to test this out on a practice piece first to get the hang of how much paint to use, how much to spread it and how much pressure to use.
Step 7 : Carefully pull your screen straight away from the material. And voila. Your finished project.
Step 8 : Let it dry for 24 hours then iron to set the paint.
Last night I stayed up ’till 1am working on some of these.
Yes, it’s taking over my office / studio. Thankfully I just set T up with an office space of his own so we don’t have to share any longer. I’m excited this project has turned out so far and these bags have become an addition to my Holiday Marketplace inventory. We’ll see how mass production goes before I add them to my Etsy store…
summer’s over + a little bit of everything.
Today it’s only 60 degrees! And it’s raining. That’s a far cry from the sunny 110+ weather we’ve had here in OK recently. I believe summer is over and fall is officially here, or at least near…
Homemade caramel apples are a fall must – so easy to make and so delicious.
Poor Eber, he loves a brisk fall morning to run and play like a mad dog, but he’s nursing an injured paw. Paws unfortunately take a long time to heal.
With a new season comes the urge to reorganize & redecorate. Even in our last house, my desk has always been facing a window. The other day I had just had enough and needed a change.
And of course, this blank wall has to be decorated.
I know, I know, those cork boards look dumb all clean and unused. But I have been far too busy to tack anything up there since I put this up. Side note : you know you’ve been on the internet too much when you describe your cork boards to your husband as “pinterest boards, but real”.
Want to see a super quick before & after?
I thought so.
Before: A pair of matching frames with water damaged prints from the thrift store.
After: Matching cork boards with weathered white frames.
Bam. That’s my kind of DIY project.
I have some exciting projects in the works – both design related and for my Etsy store. There’s also a craft fair coming up in November that I will have a booth in. Here’s a couple teasers.
another monday
Here’s some Monday morning inspiration from my Friday night fortune cookie.
end of summer vacay
a little catch up
Ever have those times where it feels like everything is happening all at once?
It makes life feel like one big game of catch up.
T’s training just picked up quite a bit, and so did my work. I feel like my ability to balance life is less of a juggle and more like catching some balls and chucking other ones fast and far away. I guess I’ll get better with practice.
T and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary over the weekend. Half a decade is pretty respectable, right? It’s weird to think we’ve been married as long as TomKat were.
I have this really talented photographer client (a fellow Air Force pilot student wife) that I have had a blast working with on some design projects. She’s got a new logo, business cards, letterhead, and website. We launched her website yesterday – take a look! I wish she lived nearby so I could get some photos done by her.
I need to get busy and run my errands. I have a stack of Pinterest projects I want to tackle, but those are just going to have to wait…
bridal mag
Not so new to the shelves but the summer issue of EA Bride just arrived at my house! This was my first issue doing layout with the fabulous team at EA Bride and it’s so good to see it in person. Most of my design work for the few years has been online or digital. I love feeling nice stock, flipping through real pages, and enjoying the depth and texture of ink on a surface. Just in time to get excited for beginning work on the fall issue!
Here are a few glimpses.
words of the wise
This quote really stuck out to me. It’s just the beginning of the week, but I figure I need some inspiration to keep the right attitude throughout it.
birthday weekend
Here’s some highlights from my birthday weekend.
Finally made this (gluten-free) recipe from pinterest.
Got some gifts from my wish list! This framed butterfly.
An owl cookie jar to add to my owl collection obsession.
These 2 adorable laptop bags — perfect for my new MacBook — from here and here.
Spent Saturday on the lake — swimming and skiing. I’m terrified of losing my precious iPhone to the lake, so I don’t have any pics of our actual activities. Just me trying to snap a self portrait without the guys noticing and a shot of the gorgeous sunset.
And of course, what kind of weekend would it be without our furry babies? Bindhi somehow made her way up to the top of the super tall medicine cabinet and sacked out for the day. Pepper obviously needed some lap dog snuggle time with T.
I feel very blessed. All 25 years of me.
new to my etsy shop
My Etsy shop now offers iPad cases! These cases are a lot like the iPhone cases — same designs & colors printed onto a hard plastic snap-on case. These fit both the iPad 2 and 3.
tango charlie 