Craftiness (2015 photos)

Week 20 (4-10 May)

A couple of this week's photos are of cards I made in the past week. I like simple designs and precise techniques. I don't really have a lot to say this week, though it was a good week. I was especially pleased with my performance at netball this week. My fitness is improving rapidly (as one team member suggested, Netball is basically an hour of interval training) and I'm doing well in GK. I went a long because I love the opportunity to get out have a run on a team with friends, but I'm finding more than that. I haven't taken any photos, though, as I've been too busy on court.

2015 Photo Challenge Week 8

This week's themes

47 - From where I stand - if not in the literal sense, from where I stand this jam was a huge success. First ever attempt worked well and has tasted great.

48 - Routine - or rou-tea-ne. A good cup of tea is an evening routine.

49 - Bedside - this'd fit into yesterday's theme just as well. I read a little every day before falling asleep. I've since finished one of these.

50 - Fresh - chilies from my garden. Determined to be red chillies too, the green chillies in this photo have since turned a vivid red.

51 - This is so me! - I found these theme a challenge, the phrase isn't really one I'd put to use. But I do love working with bright colours in my crafting... and dreaming up ideas from the leftovers. I guess this fits?

52 - Matching - I made a matching set of cards... I like the minimalist design but a sketch or interesting sticker/object would be easy to add too.

53 - Macro - macro photography is a form I've enjoyed in the past, though I haven't put significant focus into it in some time. It was nice to spend the day running around looking at things a different way. It's gumnut season, and there are many kinds around. I particularly like the caps on this enormous variety.

2015 photo challenge week 6

I decided to try out some of the lists of photo prompts, I chose Fat Mum Slim's list for this month, it's weekly so I started on the 2nd.

33 - Mail - Today's mail included a bunch of advertising junk and a letter for a previous occupant of my house. Instead, I made this card as a birthday/congratulations card. I like sending out mail, both the making of it and giving someone something that wasn't automated in their mailbox.

Using a few reference images for ideas I sketched some (well, many) foxes, eventually got one that I thought would work. I don't usually start from scratch like that, I've got no confidence in my drawing ability so used this as an opportunity to stretch myself. I'm more confident in my knife work and did modify the image slightly at that stage. I'm out of practice and can see minor flaws, but am learning to forgive myself those, especially working on the tiny scale here (nose is 2mm wide). Nobody else seems to notice them so perhaps I can allow myself a little leeway.

34 - Water - I had a few errands to run in the Adelaide CBD, once I was done I took the scenic route back to the railway station to enjoy the weather. This photo is from the Adelaide University footbridge.

35 - Reward - A morning of getting jobs around the house done, so ice cream and some time to read made a good reward. I've finished the book now, fifteenth of the year (!) so I'll be reviewing again soon.

36 - Something blue - detail of the pattern on my plates, bowls etc. Inherited from Nanna, so there are happy memories every day when I use them.

37 - Makes me smile - I took this photo on February 6, Grandpa would have been 100 that day. Grandma, Mum, Dad and I visited the cemetery where Grandpa's ashes are interred, took a new bunch of red silk roses to replace the faded ones, and some red roses we'd grown. This is the one I took. It's the memories that make me smile, and it's a big part of why I love growing roses.

38 - Stripes - Buttons are one of my favourite craft materials. The button necklaces I have made have a wonderful colourful stripy-ness. I pulled some buttons out of my jars to put this picture together. Mmm. Buttons.

39 - In my bag - something to read. Never know when I'll have a quiet moment or need a book-y retreat. I often have e-books for use on the go, but just now I'm slowly making my way through this book.

2015 photo challenge week 3

12 - Catching up on some classic Sci Fi I've missed. Interesting to see what here aged well.. and what didn't. The ideas of technology were particularly interesting. Some things still look futuristic, others instead mildly hilarious.

13 - Finished off my fifth book of the year (the one in the centre). My next post which I hope to have finished today should be a brief review of these five books. All things going well and time permitting I'll keep doing that all year.

14 - I visited the Art Gallery of South Australia today. I spent most of my time in Gallery 1, I enjoyed reading about and looking at the artworks there. Even within the works bound by theme there was a great deal of variety. I hope that I can, over time, go through the rest of the galleries with a similar degree of attention. This work (this is only a fraction of it) by H J Johnstone was one of my favourites. The reflections are particularly exquisite.

15 - I was having a bit of a down day, but the colourful and delicious sight of my groceries did a lot to cheer me up. They've been, and will continue to be, delicious.

16 - Bug on a flower... had some trouble with the focus given the wind but it's still nice :) Honestly don't have a lot to say otherwise.

17 - Now that it's been given, instead of a sneak-peek I can show you this card. I made it for my sister's birthday and am hoping that it'll be the first of a bit of a revival in my paper crafting. I love this craft but it's been a long time since I've done much. This particular card has now given me several ideas for improvement and I've got a lot of ideas for things to go inside (the lens is cut through to the interior). I'd also like to make a functioning cardboard aperture for one, though I might combine that with a bookmaking project I've got in mind... I need to practice a few skills first though.

Might tutorial-ise this card when I make some refinements too.

Evening out with friends too, so a really good day :)

18 - Amy's birthday... we went to the Locavore in Stirling - the food is, as much as possible, sourced from within 100 miles. We had the tasting platter which was pretty fantastic. There were several other courses involved too.

Crafty revival and future creation possibilities.

Hmm... my earlier craft project is still to be completed, it seems I need to improve my skills for the last part. A challenge is good though, I'll get there!

In the meantime, I've been doing some other bits and pieces. I've fallen out of the crafty habit for a while so it's good to try a few things out.

Using the templates in this photobucket album I've made myself a cardboard Katamari. I'll make a prince to match too - I need to downscale the original, that'll make it fiddly but I don't mind that at all. After that will have fun with cameras and paper models.... possibly also with glue. We'll see...

I've also put together this necklace. I'm not quite sure who it'll be for yet. Although I do like the colour combination it's not one I'm likely to wear.

Please excuse the rather grotty cutting mat. It's seen hard service in paper, jewelery and fabric crafting and both glue and a myriad of not-quite-healed cuts are starting to show. It still does the job craft-wise. I might have to rig myself up a better photo station. I have a great solution for very small objects but it limits my angles a great deal and isn't big enough for larger objects like the two crafts shown today. Time to learn how to do that...

Also, I'm seriously considering taking on another photographic project next year. I did a 365 photo a day which turned into 536 photos (on a previous blog). I'm not yet sure if I'll attempt another 365 or if I'll come up with something else. The last project I did was the found alphabet, it a great project though a few letters proved trickier than expected - that's not exactly a bad thing but didn't do wonders for keeping to schedule. There's also the possibility of experimenting with my interest in stop-motion though that'd be an entirely different creature. I've got a month or so to think on it.

Grandma's 90th Guest Book

Back in May my Grandma turned 90 - I can only hope I am as active and independent as she is at the same age. I wanted to make something for her but Grandma did ask for no presents - I figured a guest book for her many, many birthday party and visiting well-wishers would get by though!

I ummed and ahhed for a long time making this one but am very glad with the way it came out. It's very Grandma with roses and the colours I chose. I was very busy during the party but one of Grandma's younger sisters ran around with a pen and made sure that everyone signed it!

There's not a lot to say on the making of it with such a straightforward design - Paper flourish at Enfield helped me work out how to bind it and helped punch accurate holes using their hole punch - far fancier than anything I had. The rest was an arrangement of elements, the sentiment was printed.

At the end of the day the design was simple and construction not complicated. But everyone signed it and made it something really special.

It took a little while to get a photo of it - but when I visited Grandma recently I was able to get a quick snap. More people have signed it since the party which is wonderful!

It's been a fairly intense month but I hope to post more often again soon - one or two more things to deal with in the next few days then I can start chasing photos and reinstate my craft mat on the dining table!

Fallout Vault Boy card - with Instructions

I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas lately and I'm gradually coming to the uncomfortable realisation I may have to own up to liking it more than Skyrim. Which has dragons so that's a huge achievement.

This could make a RADical birthday card with a stamp inside... I'm also tempted to frame it.

I've had a few new card ideas brewing in my head now so it was time to use one of those. The method I used to make this card makes it very difficult to reproduce exactly so there is no full tutorial but I'll give you some instructions, if you've got some crafty tendencies that should help if you're interested in making something like this.

First I found a graphic of vault boy/fallout boy and sized it the way I wanted it. I printed three copies on printer paper then printed a copy of his face with no surroundings - cutting his face in cardboard wasn't plausible but I didn't want full printed outlines.

I chose the coloured card from a set of many colours I have so that everything would have the same texture. You could easily use different textures/patterns to achieve an interesting effect too.

I stuck the printer paper templates to the coloured card just outside the cutting lines for each colour and used my exacto knife (and a brand new blade) to cut out the pieces. The dark blue is the full size of the suit, although you could cut it smaller layering makes one piece appear behind the other. If you start with the big pieces you can re-use each template a few times. To cut the face I held the paper template and card with printed face up to the light to line them up. All the pieces were stuck together onto a piece of black card and then trimmed so that any overhang was eliminated.

The base card is 4x6 yellow card in the same texture as everything else. To make the background I cut a piece of printer paper to 4x6 and sketched the mountain and mushroom cloud. I cut the mountain first then the orange section - the template for which I cut down again to make the red sections and then finally cut the grey. By cutting from the same copy of a template I increased the chances of everything fitting neatly.

I lined everything up before finishing but it didn't look complete - I cut the road freehand and then added the road line and the ring to the mushroom cloud.

Some foam tape to add a bit of dimensionality and a shadow and he was done!

I'm very pleased with this guy - I have a few more ideas I'm working on now, including a dalek - I'm not satisfied with my design yet but I hope to bring him (and many other geeky cards) to life soon.

Papercut Chinese New Year

I haven't posted a lot of crafts recently - many reasons, but I've been able to let out some of my creative energy in my work. One of the great bonuses of my current position!

This is the display I've put together for Chinese New Year - my supervisor gave me a small picture which she liked, but the resolution was far too low to use it directly - so I combined it with my love for paper crafting and this was the result.

The snake was far and away the hardest and most time consuming of the project - mostly cut with an exacto knife with a hammer-driven hole punch for some of the finer detail. I made it over several days - knifework can be tough on the hands, especially where a lot of detail is involved. I chose this colour palette as it's a water snake year. You might see a tiny issue there, but I'm not going to tell you - anyone's capable of a derp from time to time. It sticks out like a sore thumb to me but apparently some don't notice until it's pointed out.

The lanterns were made without a template, except for the script, of course. I had an idea, ran with it, and it worked out just fine. I couldn't use real lanterns because they set off the security system at night - I think these are a nice substitute.

The scroll was built using parts from an old Chinese New Year decoration that I butchered for the purpose. It took more trial and error than the other parts, if not as much time.

The display will be completed shortly with the addition of some work from kids' club - hence the empty spaces. If need be the scroll will be relocated.

But in the meantime I'm really happy with the way this came out!

Christmas Cards on Etsy

These are just a couple of the cards I've listed on my Etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/geekishcrafts

I've substantially reduced the prices from those I was charging at the Christmas fair and other placements. If you're in Australia and order by the 18th they will get to you in time - if not some of them would be great for any occasion! I'll be listing some more general-purpose cards after Christmas.

Babies and Christmas

A staggering number of people I know have been having babies lately (or so it seems). I made a couple of cards for some of the most recent arrivals today - one boy and one girl.

This card is for a neighbour who has just had a baby - an excellent reason to use a gorgeous paper I bought quite some time ago and have been waiting for a reason to use.

This one is for a friend's baby - I've deliberately made it somewhat less blatantly gendered. Opinions vary, but I am sure that this baby already has more than enough pink (though it is not entirely lacking here)

Christmas is getting entirely too close for comfort and I have made a huge number of Christmas cards lately. These are two of those I'm most pleased with.

This card was based on a stamp that I couldn't initially see a lot of use for - until I took a craft knife to the stamped image. Now the possibilities seem quite endless. I'm sure I'll be getting plenty of use from this one.

This card also allowed me to use a really gorgeous piece of paper I had sitting about the place.

Before these two I'd had very few cards with stamped images that I'd been happy with - cutting them out and adding a bit of dimension to them makes the world of difference. Now I have more use for my picture stamps that came with the word stamps I bought the sets for...

Tutorial: Bigger-on-the-inside TARDIS card

Time for the promised TARDIS card tutorial! As an added bonus this tutorial shows you my method of making standard card blanks. This is the first tutorial I have made, so if you have any feedback do let me know so future tutorials might be improved...

In order to avoid sounding like a broken record I'll let you know right here that you need to be quite precise here. It'll really show in the results. On with the tutorial - Allons-y!

These are the tools used. With one exception - the glue marker. How I could forget such a useful object is beyond me.

Tools and materials:
TARDIS blue cardstock - A4 or 12" square
Black cardstock - scrap is OK
White cardstock - scrap is OK
White printer paper
Self-healing cutting mat
Clear quilting ruler
Metal ruler
Rotary cutter
Craft knife
Bone folder
Glue stick
Glue marker
Glue tape
Fine silver paint or gel pen
Black fineliner - 0.1
Pencil

The first step is to make the card blank. Start by cutting an 8"x6" piece of TARDIS blue card. Keep the scraps, you'll need them later. The best way to make the larger cuts is with a quilting ruler and rotary cutter. The cuts are kept straight and it's very easy to line things up precisely (don't use a craft knife with a quilting ruler, you'll kill the ruler).

Using the bone folder, score a line at the 4" mark on the long side. If the paper is textured, score on the side that will be the inside. Fold along the line and, with the card folded, run the flat of the folder along the crease to sharpen it.

Cut the top inch from the side that will become the front cover, and prepare for one of the trickier sections.

Keeping in mind you will need to erase later, rule a pencil line one inch from the top in line with the previous cut(not shown in the picture). Measuring up from here rule a line at 3/8", 1/8" and 1/8". This should leave 3/8" at the top.

As per the lower left section of the picture above, n the lowest ruled section draw vertical lines 1/4" from each side. In the next section draw lines 1/2" from each side. In the top section draw lines around a 1/4" section at the centre. Join this to the tier below with a diagonal line.

Cut around this outline using a metal ruler and craft knife. You may find it easiest to cut small sections away. Erase the remaining pencil lines.

Cut a section of black cardboard 1/4"x3.5", or slightly shorter if you prefer (see right side pictures). Write on the card with a silver paint or gel pen as shown. Stick in place with glue stick or marker.

Cut a 1/4" square of white card. Stick to form the light at the top of the card. That's the top section complete! Next, on to the front.

Cut four 1.5" squares, four in blue, two in white.

Cut a blue strip 1/8" wide and at least 4.5" long. Don't worry if it curves a bit, that's fairly unavoidable. Cut it into three 1.5" sections.

Using a glue marker, stick the strips on to form a window pattern.

On the front flap of the card, stick the blue and white squares. They should be 1/4" from the edge of the card and 1/8" from the top, bottom and other squares. You can use any kind of paper glue here, but glue tape doesn't have a drying time so you can continue on without fear of shifting things. Repeat for the other side.

Cut a piece of white card or printer paper 1"x3/4" and write on it with a fineliner as shown. Glue it to the centre left panel. While you're at it, why not add a silver doorknob?

Congratulations! The front is complete. The rest should, by comparison, be very easy.

The pop-up that will form the inside is a map fold. There's a great tutorial for it on this website (link replaced Feb 2015) which I doubt I can improve on. Use an 8"x8" square. The tutorial uses a rectangle, but squares are fine.

If you put it in your card you'll likely find it's marginally large. No worries! Cut off 1/8" and get the added bonus of an extremely tidy visible end.

Use glue tape on one side and stick the folded paper in with the centre line 2.5" from the bottom. Be sure to get the point right into the fold of the paper. Put glue tape onto the other side, press the card firmly shut, then re-open...

Ta-da! It's bigger on the inside!

 With Adelaide's famous Christmas Pageant on tomorrow and as I'm also preparing a lot of work for a stall I'll have at St John's Anglican Church Christmas Fair (Friday 16th November, 6p.m., Church Gardens at 379 Halifax Street, Adelaide) I'm in a very Christmassy frame of mind. I twisted together sparkly pipe cleaners and made a wreath to make a Christmas TARDIS.

That concludes my first tutorial! I hope you liked it - I expect I'll make more in future. If you use this tutorial, either as-is or with modifications, I'd love to see what you do!  Please do not use this to produce items for sale.

Do, however, feel free to share the tutorial further. By all means use the first or last image as a link, but please link to this blog for the rest of the tutorial.

P.S. The link marked as replaced in 2015 was changed as the original site was now just throwing particularly dubious looking ads. Sorry about that, and hopefully the replacement will stay... if it should fail again, search 'map fold tutorial', there are quite a few about - Heather