Now, the concept of a CSA (community supported agriculture) isn't new to me - I live in Minnesota, for Pete's sake, and you learn about those within five minutes of living here since so many people participate in them - but applying them to yarn? I'd never thought about it, but it's a great idea! Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm was smart enough to come up with the concept, though, and for a pretty reasonable fee you could be a charter member with your own Yarn CSA share. If you're interested in dying yarns or just want some good ones to knit with, it's certainly an investment to look into, and at $100 a share (you can buy more than one), something worthwhile to look into! Shares can be purchased here.
If you're ever inspired by Marie Antoinette, love anything vintage or rustic, love new script fonts to play with, or (like me) are some combination or all of the above, you need to check out Old Fonts. I had a very specific holiday project in mind when I started Googling this morning, and that wonderful little search engine came through for me again! At a very reasonable $39, a gorgeous antique script font can be yours (they also have serif text fonts, but I'm ooohing and aaahing over the scripts for now). My favorites by far are American Scribe and Emily Austin because of how beautiful the forms of the letters are, but they're also the most legible (in my opinion) and fit best with what I was envisioning for myself. (If I was being honest with myself, I'd openly admit that I'll probably buy the whole collection for $199, despite the fact my expendable income is going to presents this month!)
FYI, folks, I'm away from my computer all week (Turkey Week in New York with the family!) but since I already preschedule most of my posts anyway, I figured I'd just make sure there was a week of posts put together so you wouldn't start twitching from going cold turkey (no pun intended... seriously).
Anyway, to get on with what I was really here to talk about. While perusing Martha Stewart Crafts as I generally do from time to time, I found this super-awesome wood print ribbon that I absolutely must use in my Thanksgiving or holiday entertaining decor. Bloody hell, I just have to use it, period. The gold-buttercream absolutely rocks my socks, but if it's not your cup of tea, I also saw it in blue, green and brown. The little bit of yummy-ness above is $6.99 for two yards.
The physical labor paid off: our engagement announcements came out great! The above picture is a scan, so it's not going to be color accurate, but the ink is an antique gold and the paper is a blush pink. I'm going to slowly be adding photos of it as part of my documentation of the planning process, so keep checking my Flickr account for new uploads. I'm going to try to get some done tonight.
If you're a design-it-yourselfer like I am, and you like this look, here was my supply list:
Since you need all hands in the studio that are available, I couldn't take step-by-step pictures of the process, but I will be going back soon to press the holiday ornaments for the swap, so if anyone would like to see them, comment here to request them. I will, however, give you a brief overview of what to do to press your own. I can't get too specific, because the process greatly depends on what kind of press and images you're using, but here we go:
Design your invitation or announcement, then get it ready for prepress. Convert all images to black and white, and outline our text so it becomes a vector image rather than a font. If you don't use SmartSet, the Linotronic film vendor I have linked above, contact your negative producer to see what formats they'll accept. My file was submitted as an Illustrator file. Send off your file, and you'll usually receive it back fairly quickly.
When you have your negative, prepare and make your plates. This step, and the negative making process, can be consolidated by simply by having your plates made by Boxcar Press. You can choose metal or vinyl backed plates - vinyl are more flexible and transparent, so you can easily register and square off your plates with a Boxcar base (available through them). I recommend vinyl, but it's a personal preference - if you end up washing your plates out by hand, you may prefer metal backs.
To make your plates, they need to be exposed to UV light. Place the negative so that it is wrong-reading (emulsion side down) on the surface of the plate and expose it - 3 minutes is generally enough if you have strong bulbs. The plate will noticeably be different - exposed areas will have slightly changed color. Wash out your plates gently in a lukewarm bath with a soft brush (Boxcar supplies these brushes as well, I believe) until the gummy surface of the unexposed plate has washed away and water rolls off of the surface like it would on glass. Let the plate dry thoroughly; it's best to do a flash dry with a hair dryer so that water spots are avoided as much as possible. If you have a plate dryer, let it sit in there for 10-15 minutes. Re-expose the plate without the negative for equal to or slightly more time than it took to initially expose it to completely harden the plate. If you're using vinyl plates (instead of metal backed with a magnetic base), you'll need to add plate adhesive to the back of it, which is also available at Boxcar.
I was browsing Repro Depot Fabrics yesterday when I came across their Black and White section. Color me a graphic designer, but I love the classic graphic quality of keeping things stark black and white (no pun intended, really. I try not to be that cheesy). I spent a good few minutes oggling the above three fabrics which are, in order, Ava, Flutterby, and Yoko (which is probably my favorite, but not only because of the Beatles connection in the name!).
If black and white isn't your thing, they've got a lot of other awesome fabrics that are really worth checking out. Enjoy!
So, as of last night I am officially engaged! It's so strange when I stop and think about it, and it will take a while for me remember to call Devon my "fiance" rather than my "boyfriend"! It's absolutely perfect timing for... ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS!
Confused? Well, I'm taking another letterpress class at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts starting next week, and now I have a great project to work on. I wanted to do an engraved-style announcement since I don't have a huge amount of time before the class starts, and pre-existing art will cut down my design time drastically. I went to the antique book store today but couldn't really find what I wanted, so I just did a few minutes of Googling and found this amazing disk of engraved floral and animal illustrations. I bought it immediately for current and future use - at $95 bucks, there was really no reason not to (it may seem like a lot, but is actually dirt cheap for as many high res images as you're getting royalty free). I know I wasn't the only person looking, so I hope this helps!
I don't think I'm going to ever get used to Minnesota weather. Last week it was in the 50s and felt freezing, now it's back up in the 70s. Nonetheless, fall is coming, and I feel it.
Fall means two things to me: Yankees crunch time, and "I NEED TO BUY MORE WARM CLOTHES!!!" minor freak out time. Now, if I could knit, and not miserably fail every time someone taught me, I'd be going to Yarn Lust. Every yarn is a piece of eye candy, with an awesome color palette and name to match. Being an undeniably huge fan of blue, I love Charity (above), and it makes me think of spring - and that hopefully it will come soon (I'm probably in the wrong state to think that...)! If you're going more fall-themed, Bliss (a blend of pinks, reds, and browns) or Earth (a blend of moss greens, tans and browns) are great choices.
It's already been established that I'm a paper crafts fan girl. I'm sure you get that by now. In school, I loved the ease of using bookbinding tape to finish off a book, but I could never find anything other than a rather dull, dawdy beige - almost like muslin in color. Well, that's really no fun, and it certainly doesn't offer any extra aesthetic value. That's why I squee (yes, squee) over the colored self-adhesive book tape from Paper Source (right) and Making Memories (left).
Taking a road trip during the summer? Why not buy a standard-size post card at every destination and, using your road map when you're done (or another decorative paper) cut two pieces to the size of the post cards and bind them together? You'll need to align the left edge and glue the cards together with PVA (binder's glue) and let it dry overnight with weight on top of it (I've found binder clips work pretty well too, if they're heavy duty big ones). Finish and reinforce the glue bind with the self-adhesive tape for a really attractive but simple touch!
This isn't in the area I usually find myself blogging, but what do you think: real flower? Or very well crafted gumpaste flower?
It may sound silly, but I think that part of my self-identity as a crafter and designer means that not only do the things I make have to look amazing, the things I eat have to as well. That brings me to the situation at hand. I hate coming to parties with my hands empty, regardless of how much food the host is making. I'm known for baking in particular, so when I was invited to my co-worker Rita's luau party (tomorrow night), cupcakes it was. The dilemma? Making enough cupcakes that looked good on a weeknight.
First thing to go was the homemade batter and icing - sorry dry ingredients, you'll just have to be used another time. Emergency stocked cake mix and icing (yes, I stock emergency mixes and icing...), you're up! I'd also generally make my own fondant decorations at this point, but since that often takes longer than the cupcakes themselves, obviously that had to go to. That's where Pfeil & Holing steps in. The've got a great assortment of gumpaste flowers (I've used several on photo shoots before), and my experience with them has exceeded expectations. The flowers even look better in person than they do on the site.
Why did I share this? I know in my usual cone of vision on this blog, but I thought it would be a fun thing to share. After all, as creative folk, we're always trying to find new things to make our life a little more attractive and colorful, and heaven knows there's always a bake sale or party to think of!
My one piece of advice - if you're buying for cupcakes, don't purchase any decorations over 2.5" wide. They'll be too big for standard sized cupcakes. Another point to note is that P & H has a $50 minimum order - so get your dusting powder and tools at the same time!
