I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but planners are having a moment.
I’ve always been little addicted to planners. Not this addicted, but I can’t resist going down the aisle at the store where they are located, opening and flipping through anything that looks new.
If you are just getting into planning, or are looking for a new planner for this year, it can be a little difficult to figure out where to start.
The first step is decide if you want a paper or digital planner.
Continue reading…
Nerd alert: I really liked school.
Well, parts of it 😉 .
One of the best was picking out those school supplies. I’m somewhat convinced that my love for paper and pens led me on a long and windy road that ended up with a career in the prepress department of a commercial printer.
These days, just regular notebooks and pencil holders won’t do. You need to step up your back to school craft game to have the best, and I’ve been reading and pinning some really great ideas.
Here are my top five back to school craft ideas for this year:
Here’s an easy tutorial on covering composition books with a printable and washi tape to make a custom notebook.
How about some really custom pencils? Although I’m still obsessed with hand lettering with my brush pens (and iPad), I’m a pencil devotee – as long as the eraser is a good one.
This crayon design is listed as a teacher gift, but how cute would it be to make a child’s name for their art area?
Another teacher gift project that I think would be super cute (and useful) in a homework area at home. I’d fill it with pencils and scissors, not plants.
I don’t remember teacher gifts being a thing when I went to school. In fact, I’m really hoping they weren’t, because if they were, then I totally didn’t participate and that would be kind of rude/sad. But if you’ve suddenly realized that school starts this week (it does in Kansas City) and you aren’t in the mood to craft up a ton of projects, a printable card might be exactly what you need!
Disclosure: I received a silk plant to keep as part of a product review.
A couple of years ago I finally figured out the best way to stop killing houseplants was to stop buying them.
I know I’m not alone struggling to keep plants alive – I have good intentions, but most of my house windows face North, which isn’t good for sunlight, and the ones that do face good sun have furniture near them that isn’t suitable for supporting a plant.
PAPER CACTUS: EASY TO MAKE, EVEN EASIER TO TAKE CARE OF!
Paper succulents are fun to make, and while they do brighten the corner they live in, they are no substitute for the look of a real plant.
I was happy to hear from Commercial Silk, a leading designer, manufacturer and wholesale supplier of artificial trees and plants. Their website boasts an extensive list of plants that can be used in indoor or outdoor situations, and they have great photos and case studies to help architects and designers find exactly what they need for hotel, office, restaurant or other commercial projects. Continue reading…
I’ve realized that every year I say I don’t decorate for Valentine’s Day, and then every year some craft comes around that I just have to try, and sure enough, I’ve decorated for the holiday.
This year, three projects made their way into my crafterday afternoons:
Faux watercolor cards. While technically not a Valentine’s Craft, I combined this technique with my favorite thing – a pun – to make a cheery card. This also let me work on my brush lettering and doodling challenges that I’m doing this year.
This super cute garland tugged at my tyopography heart strings. The original post features a different technique; I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the large letter “U” to make my hearts. (It’s Helvetica Neu Bold Condensed if you are keeping score at home). Strung with red and white baker’s twine, it looks happy over my fireplace.
This polka dot technique is more popular as a Sharpie craft on mugs, but I used it to make a gift card holder.
We spent the better part of a year trying to decide on a paint color for the house. And once we finally settled on one, I really didn’t want to lose the paint chip swatch for fear of needing to start over.
I stuck it on my bulletin board in the kitchen, but that was a little useless when I was anywhere else. Like when the paint contractor called to confirm my color choice and I wasn’t at home. I was 99.999 percent I knew the number and name, but he was going to order buckets and buckets of paint, so I needed to know for sure.
To not have that happen again, I snapped a photo of that and now it’s in my phone forever. I’m not using it to match colors (the photo isn’t really color correct) – I just need to be able to clearly see the name and numbers. I’ve done the same with specialty light bulbs (make sure to turn the bulb so that numbers and letters are visible in the photo).
