Archive for the 'Crafts' Category

PosePrints as Wall Art

Published on February 20, 2013 in Crafts, My Life and PosePrints. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

I’ve loved the prints from The Animal Print Shop ever since I first came across them.  I mean, how CUTE is this guy?!  The simplicity of them reminds me of PosePrints’ pet stationery, even though her prints are of actual photographs of animals, and ours are, well, cartoon drawings.  I’m a big fan of simple (with lots of white!) so when it came to decorating my baby’s nursery, I decided to transform a couple of our animal drawings into prints for the wall:

Since our nursery is gender-neutral (for now!), I created a French Bulldog and an owl in shades of gray.  All I did was blow up the artwork from our animal stationery, center it on an 8-1/2 x 11″ artboard in Adobe Illustrator, print and frame!  Here you can see them in the rest of the room (click to enlarge the images):

What do you think?  Which PosePrints animal would you put on your wall?

Bunting Card Design

Published on October 3, 2012 in Crafts and PosePrints. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

For awhile, I have been in love with the DIY bunting fad that’s taken over Pinterest and birthday party signs and holiday decor.  I’ve created bunting for PosePrints’ 5th Birthday Party, a couple of trade shows and Valentine’s Day.  And while I’ve only bunted (is that a word?) with paper, I’m set on trying to sew some cute fabric bunting in the near future.  Until then, I just added a “Bunting” design to PosePrints’ card options:

{First Birthday Invitation on Bunting Design}

{Rehearsal Dinner Invitation on Bunting Design}

{Baby Shower Thank You Note on Bunting Design}

As with everything on the PosePrints website, we can change up any of the colors free of any additional charge.  Want blue and yellow bunting, only striped bunting, all-pink bunting?  You got it.  Just place your order and let us know what changes you would like to see (in the Comments section at check-out) and we’ll send you a proof to approve before we print.

Click here to begin designing your very own caricature for unique bunting invitations and stationery!

Party Details

Published on August 16, 2012 in Crafts, Gifts and PosePrints. 0 Comments

One of my Thirty While 30 goals was to throw a party with “Pinteresty party details” — and I’d like to think I checked it off the list with PosePrints’ Anniversary Party!  From the overall theme to the stationery favors to the custom cupcakes, we personalized the party to PosePrints as much as possible.  Check out some of our party details in the photos below!

{Our cupcake table, with polka-dotted bunting}

Create a card favors

{We asked our guests to create a PosePrints card on a laptop at the party!}

San Francisco Stationery Party Favors

{Mini San Francisco stationery = party favors}

Custom Caricature Cupcakes

{Custom caricature cupcakes from Kara’s (say that five times fast!)}

Blu Bungalow Venue

{The awesome, modern venue: Blu Bungalow in San Francisco}

Jen and Denise Party Hosts

{The party hosts: me and my cute mom!}

DIY Photo Booth

Published on July 25, 2012 in Crafts, My Life and PosePrints. 0 Comments

One of my favorite details of PosePrints‘ 5th Anniversary Party was the photo booth.  And thankfully (especially after the hours — seriously, hours! — of crafting I put into it), it was a hit with the guests, too!

I modeled the custom photo “booth” backdrop after our logo:

To make it, I picked up a piece of white foam board that measured about 4′ x 6′ and taped a big blue circle to the center.  I cut a “perfect” circle from blue poster board, using a make-shift compass (stick + pen + tape):

I printed out the “PosePrints” in bright pink ink, cut out each of the letters, then taped them above the blue circle.

I then printed out a bunch of PosePrints’ caricature accessories on 110-lb. cardstock, and cut them out:

Then I taped 12″ wooden skewers to the backs of the accessories.  We had PosePrints’ eyes, glasses, cupcakes, martini glasses, smiles, mustaches, flowers and crowns for the photos.

I’ll be posting more pics of our party to our Facebook page soon, so make sure you like our page to see what other creative touches we came up with!

 

Party Prep

Published on July 18, 2012 in Crafts and PosePrints. 0 Comments

PosePrints’ 5th Anniversary Party is tomorrow!  So I’ve been prepping.  Doing a little of this:

And a little of this:

And this!

Can’t wait!

Party Garland

Published on July 10, 2012 in Crafts and PosePrints. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I created some circle bunting for PosePrints’ 5th Birthday Party (coming up next week!).  The theme — mirroring our updated website and Pinks + Blues card design — is, well, pink and blue!  Circle bunting seemed to go with the party invitation, which features pink and blue polka-dots.

To make the bunting, I needed:

  • Pink and blue craft paper (~80 lb. card stock).  I was able to get about 80 punched 1″ circles per 8-1/2 x 11″ piece of paper.
  • A craft punch.  I used the 1″ Martha Stewart punch from Michael’s — only because I couldn’t find a bigger one!
  • Double-sided tape
  • String

Photo of final product — in action at the party! — to come.  I know you can hardly wait.

Embossing

Published on June 8, 2012 in Crafts, Gifts and Paper + Branding. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

Embossing is my new obsession.  Up until I received embossing materials for my birthday (thanks, dear friend of mine!), I didn’t really know what it was.  And now I just.can’t.stop.myself.  I emboss everything: gift tags, stationery, gift wrap, envelopes:

Embossing is EASY.  To start, pick up the following supplies:

  • Embossing heat tool.  I’m using this one.*
  • Embossing powder
  • Rubber stamps
  • A watermark or regular stamp pad
  • A glue pen

I put handy orange stars next to the heat tool and the embossing powder, because they’re the only tools you really need, I’ve found.  The rest are sort of optional, but will definitely extend your embossing repertoire.

Now for the steps:

1. Create a drawing and fill the lines with the glue pen. Or stamp your paper using the watermark ink pad. (My secret: the embossing powder sticks to regular gel ink and ink pads, too.)

2. Quickly cover the ink you want embossed with the embossing powder.  Then let sit.

3. Sift the leftover powder off your artwork and blow off the powder that isn’t stuck. (Any powder on the paper will emboss — even tiny remaining specks!)

4. Hover the heat tool about 8 inches from the artwork and turn it on.  The powder will emboss in just a few seconds.  Let dry.  And you’re done!

Snail Mail

Published on May 31, 2012 in Crafts and My Life. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Long live Snail Mail!

I’m obviously partial to the art of Snail Mail (I built a small business on it, after all), but really: do you know anyone who doesn’t like receiving a hand-written letter or card in the mail?!  I don’t think so.  My heart flutters every time I see an envelope that doesn’t appear to be junk mail.  So with that, I try to dress up my Snail Mail (or any) envelope.  It is the first impression, right?

I can’t imagine Snail Mail will ever become obsolete (although recent experiences at post offices paint a scary picture), but if it does, I will cry myself to sleep for the rest of my life.  Seriously.  And I’ll have to find another job, too, I guess.

(P.S.  See that embossed return-address stamp?  I accidentally figured out how to do that, and I’ll show you how in one of next week’s posts.)

Paper Love: Mini Canvas Greeting Card

Published on May 30, 2012 in Crafts and Paper + Branding. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

My mom gave me this card for my 30th birthday. It’s from the Hallmark Signature Collection, and features a tiny wooden easel and miniature canvas attached to the front of it. The inside reads “You are your own best creation.”  Aww.  Thanks, Mom!

What’s more, it’s made so you can detach the canvas from the card (by cutting a clear little plastic tie — see it on the bottom ledge of the easel?) and display it!  It even stands like a proper easel.  It’s the perfect little desk accessory — and makes me want to paint my own little canvas sometime soon.

So creative. Stay tuned for a mini canvas by me!

30th Birthday Invitation

Published on May 2, 2012 in Crafts, My Life and PosePrints. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

We’ve entered May — my favorite month of the year!  And this May is particularly special, as I turn 30 in a couple of weeks.

I’m having a little party to celebrate my departure from my 20s, and no party — however tiny — is complete without a real, personalized invitation.

While I always love to use PosePrints for my events, I decided to make this one a photo card — as the timing coincided with my finding that circa-1987 photo.  (There will be plenty of PosePrints custom caricature stationery when we celebrate PosePrints’ 5th Birthday in July, anyway.)

The round balloons on my invite also inspired our new Balloons Design.  Here’s the PosePrints version of my 30th birthday party invitation:

Here’s to living up the last two weeks of my twenties.  First stop: NYC!