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Not the best photos in the world, but I really liked this outfit. It’s what I wore Thanksgiving day on my way to the airport to reunite with my fam.
I’ve been a little MIA from this blog recently, but haven’t been resting on my laurels! I just finished up the branding/site redesign for fashion blogger, Taylor Sterling of Sterling Style. She originally was just looking for someone to help her left justify her blog, but then we ended up rebranding a bit. I’m incredibly happy with how it turned out! I used a minimal color scheme, kept things pretty close to her original design & tweaked a few things to make it look a bit more consistent. And. . . what branding would be complete without a little Melissa calligraphy in there? I went for a mono-line stroke with the lettering on her blog & I think that does a great job of keeping things clean.
Head over there & check it out!
Every once in a while I have bloggers emailing me to redesign their graphics/branding & most of the time I’m completely swamped with other stuff. Seriously, could I add a few more hours to the day? It was really fun to be able to work with Taylor on her site. Go check out Sterling Style for some sweet fashion.
Megan asked me if I knew of any great script fonts out there & I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to publish it here for everyone to see.
Script fonts are a funny thing. They can be fantastic or they can be horribly awful. It’s not often I come across a script that is in the middle. Another thing, you often times get what you pay for with script fonts. If they’re free, they’re typically nasty. My advice? look around & find a font you like a lot. Invest in it. Don’t just download a bunch of mediocre free ones.
With that said. Here’s a list of some great script fonts. Some are free, some cost money, but they’re all totally worth every cent.
A couple of things: never use a script for paragraph text. EVER. Script fonts are best in small doses! They’re meant to add personality & style, not necessarily readability (as a general rule). Never use a script font in ALL CAPS. It’s inscrutable. If you’re using a script font in your blog styling, be sure to use it as a flourish, not a staple. If you choose to use it for your post titles, write your titles out in sentence case, not title case (Hello, there. not Hello, There). Make sense?
If you find you’re having an impossible time finding the right script for you, email me for rates on custom calligraphy. I’d be happy to do some work for you!
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. . . And one last thing! I’m looking for an assistant/intern to help me with marketing/advertising stuff so I can spend more time crafting & playing with kiddos. See the below & email me if you’re interested. Thanks!
The requirements:
The perks:
Today, I’m over at CraftSnob sharing a quick handmade ornament tutorial made with supplies you likely already have on hand.
I guess you could consider me a major scrooge since I don’t really decorate for the holidays. Or any holiday. In the past couple of years (including this one) we’ve moved just before the holidays so I haven’t really had much time to prep for them. Also, I hate buying Christmas decorations. We’ve always been really low on storage space (until now – we have nearly 1300 sq feet of storage space in our new place!), so if it doesn’t fit in a tupperware box, I’m not going to buy/make it.
My mom was always a huge decorator for the holidays & I have such fond memories helping my mom decorate the Christmas tree. It’s definitely something that I want to get into at some point, but perhaps not now. Definitely not until we’re settled in a place for more than a year. So with that said, if I do get around to putting up decorations for the holidays, they’re usually low impact decorations: they don’t cost a whole lot & they don’t take up a whole lot of space. The Hourglass Ornament tutorial over on CraftSnob falls under both of those categories.
It’s been really tough getting back into the blogging swing of things. Like, really hard. All I want to do once I put Penelope down for a nap, is nap! I practically get anxiety attacks when I go down to my studio, it’s that unorganized.
Even thoughts of quitting blogging have crossed my mind. *gasp*
I know I’d shrivel up & die if I did that.
This is a great gift (especially if you know that the giftee is getting a new phone or iPod touch!) for Christmas regardless of age. I’ve included an additional pattern piece to make the phone double as a wallet. When gifting, stick an iTunes gift card in there for added awesomeness.
Print the attached pattern & cut out. Tape generously to the wrong side of the leather.
Punch while patterns are taped using the hammer and an awl. You’ll want to be sure to do this over a scrap of wood.
Should look like this on the right side of the leather.
Once holes are punched, cut out pattern pieces from the leather and match up. I flipped the leather inside out for the pocket for variation.
Thread your needle with thick thread (I used waxed linen thread). Sew between the two layers on the first hole and leave a 2-3 inch tail.
Sew in and out through each hole all the way around. Double back.
Once you get back to the start point, tie a square knot between the layers of leather. Trim ends and tuck between the leather.
With scissors or a rotary cutter & ruler, trim down edges to desired width. I like mine at about a quarter of an inch.
Give to a manly guy!
This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering the file NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!
It’s super easy & I’ll bet you’ll have one finished within the hour!
You’ll be surprised that this case fits a myriad of electronics. It works for the iPhone 3G – 4s. It works on the touch & would be surprisingly compatible with a few other smart phones. It’s one of those simple patterns that could be easily adjusted for you!
