Posts Tagged ‘design’

Sponsored: 2013 Christmas Candy Box Freebie

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Inspired by this month’s give-back theme for the Fiesta Movement, what do you plan on giving this year? I love this idea of paying it backward! I’ve been a lucky recipient of in years past (way before blogs were ever a thing). It’s great how such a small gesture can brighten someone’s day.
 
Ford Fiesta is teaming up with What’s Trending for a Tube-A-Thon benefit for Covenant house. Click here to participate and find out more.

 

It’s that time of year when my family comes in town and we make caramels! My mom will be in town in about a week so I thought I would get the ball rolling a little earlier on this year’s candy/gift box. Introducing the 7th Annual Christmas Candy Box!

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Last year we were in such a rush I ended up doorbell ditching most of my candy boxes on our way out of town. This year I look forward to getting these babies done in plenty of time to spare. And this year’s design is so easy, I’ll have a load of these boxes made up in no time.

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Each year, I’m limited to the constrains of the print margins of an 8×10 piece of paper. It’s really not much room when it comes to making boxes. I’ve found that pillow boxes are great, but they can be a pain in the rear to score and fold.

Regular boxes can be easier, but there are too many sides to cut and glue. However, a three-sided box is just the trick! I can make it nice and roomy, it’s easy to cut and fold, and the triangles are fun. I was able to cut the whole template with regular scissors and fold with just a bone folder (a credit card would do just fine).

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The box is 5.75 x 2.5 x 2.5. It’s the right size for a small assortment of candies, jewelry, baby clothes (a onesie would fit perfectly in here) and gift cards. I designed the box very much like this year’s thank you printable. They match! Looking for more shapes and designs? Check out previous years:

2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012

I’ve got two versions of the little gift box, one with a label and one without. Download the free* printable below.

 

 This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

 

*This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering any files is NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this freebie for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

Giveaway: Automagical Silhouette Portrait

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So there’s this new word. And it’s actually a real word. Automagical. Chris tells me this word is most closely related to software/web development. Where you write code and things just automagically happen. Like you know it should work, but it’s still magical when it does.

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Chris and I have been working our tails off on a redesign of my calligraphy site, so the word automagical is an over-used term around our home. So I had to put it on one of Chris’s boringly plain tees.

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I used Bauhaus font, Silhouette’s yellow flock heat transfer and my cutter, which are also very automagical things. I’m always surprised at how many fun things I can make with my Silhouette. Which brings me to the second reason of this post.

I’M GIVING A SILHOUETTE PORTRAIT AWAY. 

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Yup. One of you U.S.-based readers will win one. Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter. Hopefully that’s not annoying. Only one hoop to go through, though. Of course, the more hoops you go through, the more chances you have of winning. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced morning of November 28th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Designed: Clearly Aspirational iPhone Case

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When I bought my last phone (4s), I made the mistake of ordering a case after it arrived. The company I went through had really slow turnaround so not even a week before it actually showed up in the mail, I shattered the screen of my phone in a fight against some asphalt. The printing of that previous company (will remain nameless) was also terrible. Lesson learned. I loved my old 3Gs case that I got from uncommon (it’s still in amazing shape after the abuse of 2 years and 2 kids).

This time I ordered my case in advanced and from a company that knows how to properly print on plastic.

Smart move, Melissa.

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I designed a tattoo-ish pattern with brushed aspirational adjectives.

It’s hard to see the words perfectly. I kinda wish I had ordered the white case instead. Part of me really wanted to show off the gold aspect of the phone. A little vain much? I think I forgot to include humble on there. Woops.

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The descriptive words are reminders of who I want to be and how I want people to think of me. I don’t always embody each adjective, but I certainly hope the reminders will help me be better.

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curious • lovely • unique • clever • rad • happy • graceful • artistic • sweet • loving
feminine • strong • good • creative • funny • kind • bright • radiant

I didn’t include all of the adjectives I aspire to (not enough room on such a small phone), but some could be considered umbrella terms for even more adjectives. What adjectives do you aspire to live daily?

Protect your devices in style. Use code MELISSA20 for 20% off your custom or ready-made order. Valid through 11/15/2013.

iPhone case provided by Uncommon. I’ve used their cases before and I love them. No other customizable case is quite as awesome, in my opinion. All opinions are my own.

 

Calligraphy: Awesomesauce Faux Tattoo

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Several conversations I’ve had with family and friends this past week have touched on confidence of one kind or another. It always waxes and wanes for me. Confidence in my sewing, calligraphy, parenting and the list goes on.

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Anxiety sometimes gets the best of me and I slip into a dark corner where I feel that nothing I do (or will ever do) is enough. That’s bunk.

I’m enough. I am awesomesauce. 

You are, too!!

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The first 5 people to comment on this post will get a set of these tattoos (to keep and/or giveaway). Just tell me, who do you think is awesomesauce?

Below you can download the artwork to make your own, if you missed out. All artwork subject to the Terms of Use provided in download.

 

Also, if you’re looking to score some temporary tattoo paper, score it at Silhouette for 30% off from now until tomorrow night. Use code MELISSA at checkout. No need for a silhouette cutter to use the temporary tatt paper!

Sewing Summit Business Cards

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If I didn’t go to such great lengths to make business cards, I’m not sure I would know what to do with all that extra time. Sleep perhaps?

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I’m pretty excited about this year’s sewing summit card. It’s simple, but (in my opinion) thoughtful and geared specifically towards my sewing peeps.

The card itself is exactly the same as my previous cards (see here), but I’ve included two iron-on transfers for tagless reminders of which side is which for hand-sewn clothes.

These little transfers may not look like much, but I poured a lot of thought over what to include here. I wanted a nod to my site and branding, but not so much that I’m branding other people’s handmade creations for them. I also needed a small tag-like design that would cut and weed easily. The heart took very little time to weed (when you remove the negative space from the transfer material), but the ISLY took a little more time since I had 4 loops that needed to be cleared 150 times.

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I originally planned to make a decal that said “handmade”, but it was too long. “By hand” was still a little too long and ornate to cut and weed 150 times.

ISLY /iz•lee/ is short for “I Still Love You”. We use the term around our house to express love. It has also become my declaration to my creative passions. It’s hard to find a balance between real life and creative pursuits, but that mantra is a reminder that I’ll always make time for them, even if it’s not as much as I’d like. I’m a firm believer that it’s human nature to create. Since I’ll be hanging with like-minded women, I thought it fitting to include my little mantra on a tag.

I designed the ISLY decal to have nods to my current branding, but different. I don’t want recipients to think they are applying a brand to the insides of their handmade creations. I want it to be a mantra or a mindset that can speak to other’s creativity as well.

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