The Craft Corner: A tutorial

 I just posted a super simple and very cute craft tutorial over on The Craft Corner. Click on the image to go check it out.

Go on you know you want to!

 

Enjoy.

xx Vanessa

Designer Thursday... the notebook

A friend of mine forwarded me this video on 'The Death of Paper' (below)

Which got me thinking about how I record things. My ideas, designs, business tips, quotes even my shopping lists. You see I love technology, I use it constantly but I still use a day by day Diary to plan meetings and I am never without a notebook of some form.

 My collection of notebooks.

While I can see myself going more online from a practical point of view, being able to access my Diary from anywhere would be a good idea. I can never see myself without my trusty notebook. 

Which brings me to this weeks Designer Thursday. The notebook! 

My go to for years was always the Moleskine. Interestingly the company have recently teamed up with Evernote to offer a range of Smart Notebooks.  I am not sure if I am entirely on board with what they are trying to sell (it seems to rely heavily on 'smart' stickers) but I think the idea of cross collaboration has potential. 

Below is a Moleskine notebook that I covered in the cut off part of an pair of tweed trousers!

Each notebook is dated on the outside cover 

If I am feeling a blocked or in a design rut I often flip back through my old notebooks. Below you can see the initial design sketched for my Egg. 

 

 Or the very first idea sketch I did for my hand covered pencils

My notebooks are a a vital tool, a recording device that I don't think I could translate into a digital medium. 

I sometimes make my own notebooks. The one you see below is a small pocket notebook, the binding is sewn using an old Singer sewing machine.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my love affair with paper and my obsession with notebooks!

Until tomorrow. 

xx V

Packaging: Part Deux

Last week I shared a bit about how I package my products when I'm shipping them. 

I showed you how I add an extra little touch to the outside of my parcels, this week I thought I would give you a sneak peek of what's inside 

I had a big order of Wedding Pencils to ship to America and while I wanted to make sure they were all safely wrapped up I think that when you are buying (and selling) handmade one of the best parts of it is when you get your parcel it is PERSONALISED. That extra something that we talked about last week. 

 As you can see there were a lot of pencils to wrap up 

For the set in the box (pictured above) I made a little tag, with a note from me on the back, to pull up the first pencil.

The customer had chosen 5 different definitions so I wrapped each bunch of pencils in brown paper and tied  either end with some cute black and white bakers twine.

The bunches were sealed with a label and the 'definition' inside was written on it.

I use recycled boxes for all my packaging whenever possible, I find shops are more than happy to give you their unwanted packaging. All you have to do is ask and the worst they can say is no.

I make sure to add bubble wrap around the edges to keep them safe, then its time to seal it all up and I wrap the outer packet in brown paper again.

I spend time on packaging each order and I like to think of the customer opening it at the other end. All part of the service as they say. 

Hope you enjoyed the post.

xx V

The Craft Corner: Packaging

A huge part of my concept as a designer is to reuse and recycle as much as I can. So I like to continue with this when it comes to my packaging. 

One thing I have found is that you don't want to make the exterior of your shipped goods too pretty looking as in the beginning the few times I did this I found they would get 'misplaced' between the postoffice and reaching my client. 

So I tend to keep my outer packaging quite neutral but I do like to add a nice touch here and there. 

I reuse old envelopes or wrap my products first in bubble wrap then with brown paper. I then use a brown paper tape that I get from Ecoland an Irish eco friendly company. I love the look of it and best of all it is recyclable.

To create the cute scalloped edge around the address label you need the following 

Brown paper tape 

Kids decorative scissors ( I bought a whole set of these in Inspiring Ideas 

and although originally meant for the kids craft classes I ended up using them myself) 

Then simply cut strips of tape to fit each side of the label and cut one edge with the decorative scissors! 

So simple but it adds that extra touch to your product. 

xx V 

(the packaging labels are supplied to me by notonthehighstreet.co.uk where I have a shop)

Craft Tutorial 5: Upcycled String Tidy

 I have a big collection of old Lyle's Golden Syrup tins, mainly because they are just too pretty to throw away.
Normally I just use them to make my pens and pencils look pretty but I really needed a string tidy (especially with all the fairs and wrapping up of orders on at the moment) 

It's very simple to do but you do need a few tools.

metal tin
ball of yarn 
 punch
hammer
drill bit (large enough for string to comfortably fit through) 
electric drill
very rough sandpaper
fabric glue
scrap of fabric 
scissors

timber offcut (to put beneath tin lid when drilling)
protective eyewear

#1: Get your tin, wash thoroughly and leave to dry. (you don't want it getting rusty). Find a ball of yarn that will fit inside the tin.

#2: Mark the centre point of your lid with a marker and then tap an indent using a punch and a hammer. This will give your drill bit a starting point and there will be less chance of it wandering.

#3: Put on your protective goggles! Place tin lid on timber offcut , with drill on slow setting start to drill through lid with one hand firmly holding lid in place. (You may want a second person to help with this) Drill fully through

#4: Sand both faces around the hole with very rough sandpaper (I used an off cut from my bellsander)

#5: Cut fabric to fit lid and sand metal surface lightly before glueing down. Leave to dry then cut fabric back from centre of hole and push through to underside of tin. Secure with tape or glue. (I just used masking tape as it won't be seen) This will protect the string from the sharp edges of the tin.

And there you have it, an original string tidy. Practical and pretty too. 

If you have any questions just leave them in the comments below. 

xx V

Craft Tutorial 4: Paper Mache Animals

 Time (inc. painting): 1.5 hours approx

This tutorial is taken from one of the Craft Projects I did with the children at summer camp last week. I also posted this tutorial over on TheCraftCorner website. It's a pretty simple tutorial that you could adapt to make any animal/creature you wish, If you have ANY questions please just ask in the comments section below.

Materials: 

Plain Flour, Water

Old Newspapers (tear into strips - do not cut with scissors) 

bowl, brushes (for paste and painting) and tray to work on

Cardboard, just get old boxes from your local supermarket

Masking Tape

Paint, we used poster paints 

We started off with a cardboard structure held together with masking tape. You can add curves (like at the nose) by bunching up newspaper. Cut holes in the cardboard and add your pre cut ears. Hold with more masking tape and a bit of PVA glue. Leave the neck of the Giraffe open at the base so that the child can put their hand inside and use it as a puppet.

Then tear up sheets of newspaper into strips and coat with your paper mache paste. I always use a simple paste of plain flour and cold water. About 100ml of flour to 120ml of water. Place your first layer of strips onto the structure, make sure you can't see any of the cardboard. Place your second layer in the opposite direction. You can do a third layer if you wish. Brush the whole animal with a final layer of the paste. Leave to dry for at least 24 hours.

Your animal must be bone dry before you start painting. If you have time you can paint on a base coat of white paint to cover up all the newspaper. Then paint on your final coat of paint.

And there you have it, a fabulous creature all of your own. Use balls of twine to give the animals manes or heads of hair, get your children to make up a creature all of their own, they can draw it out and write up a story about it. Make more animal puppets and then you can put on a puppet show. Hours even days of entertainment in this one. 

Now go on and make him some friends.

xx Vanessa

Craft Tutorial 3: How to make Crayon Pendants

Materials: Old Crayons, knife (implement to cut up crayons very finely), old chopping board, silicone baking trays, toothpick, length of cord

              

Step 1-4

Peel all the wrappers off the old crayons, sort the crayons into colour groupings. 

Chop them all nice and small. I used a knife, you could also use a chees grater. Remember whatever you are using cannot be used for food afterwards so make sure it is old. 

Step 5

I recommend using silicone baking trays.

I got mine when I was in France (€3 each) Ikea do a range of trays too or just keep an eye out in your local pound shops or charity shops. I experimented with using ice cube trays and while it did technically work the result with the silicone trays was much better (in my opinion).

Fill the baking tray in vertical layers. This is important as the front of your 'pendant' will be whatever is at the bottom of the tray. So if you want variations of colours you must put the crayon shavings in in vertical layers.

Step 6

Leave the moulds slightly raised as when it bakes it will sink quite a lot. 

Store excess shavings in tins. When I was cutting all the crayons up, I did a big amount all at once, that way it's all ready to go next time I want to make some pendants in a rush.

Step 7

Place the moulds in a baking tray. Lay tin foil underneath in case of spilling. Put in a cold oven and set temperature to 100 degrees Celcius. Set timer for 16 minutes or until all melted. 

When done they should look like this. The surface you are seeing is the underside so don't worry that it looks a bit drab, this is all the wax that has risen to the top.

Step 8

This is the most important step is you want to turn your crayons into fabulous pendants.

Leave to cool slightly, but before they are fully set and still slightly warm to the touch you must pierce the crayons with a toothpick. You want to make sure that they are set enough that the hole shape remains after you remove the crayon. 

Then leave to fully harden. 

Step 9

 Remove from moulds carefully. 

You can see here the difference between the bottom (on your left) and the top. 

Step 10

The hole may not have gone fully through so just get the toothpick and twist it till it pierces underside. Then thread the cord of your choice through the hole and there you have it. Your very own Crayon Pendants. 

Now go on and get crafting. If you have any questions just leave them in the comments below. 

xx Vanessa


FOLLOW UP: I just wanted to add a little about what I use the pendants for. These are not meant to be adult jewellery or permanent pieces of jewellery. I use them as party favours when doing up the party bags at the end of my Children's Crafty Parties. They make very cool bookmarks in colouring books. Or they can be used simply as fabulously shaped crayons. They are slightly whimsical and they will wear away with time but that is part of their character. They have the same properties as the crayons they are made from so they may mark clothing or melt is left in extreme heat. ( We don't suffer from heat in Ireland so I can't really give any feedback on their performance on hot summer days!)

I hope this answers some questions that people may have had.

Craft Tutorial 2: How to make a string tie envelope.

Update to String Tie Envelope Tutorial 

You can now find the tutorial at our new blog 

Link to the new blog post here 

Craft Tutorial 1: How to make a Feather Pencil

Time: less than 20 minutes

Materials

• hot glue gun 
• Craft Knife or scissors
• scraps of ribbon. I used the ribbon that had wrapped up my Easter eggs and a box of chocs.
• Pencils
• Feathers, real or artificial. I used artificial for the bright green colour. 
• Iron. 
• scrap of material to cover ribbon so it won't melt. 

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

The End 

Notes 
You can swap the ribbon for material but I wanted to be able to pare the pencil and use it. You could to the same wrapping a pen but I think the end result works best with a pencil.