Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Illustrator Classes

It's funny how I've never thought of learning Illustrator before, when it's absolutely THE most amazing thing in the world! I can practically do anything in Illustrator! It's super versatile and super easy to use. I can't believe it took me this long to discover the incredible world of Illustrator! I could do a bunch of things that I could never get done in Photoshop. I guess because Photoshop was primarily made for editing, while illustrator was specifically made to create images and other things. (Yes, I just stated the obvious) You do see plenty of bad-ass art from Photoshop, though.

Right now, I'm taking some Illustrator and graphic design classes from Nicole's Classes, and I'm really enjoying it! I love my teacher's whimsical style -- pastels and soft shapes, it's and very gentle and easy on the eyes. This is great because I think it would be really helpful to learn from someone whose style you adore. Anyway, wish me luck!

Don't you just wish that school was like this? No grades, no exams, no pressure. It's just having fun while learning. :)

Friday, August 17, 2012

Great Finds

More great stuff from the world wide web!

More DIY's from Oh the Lovely Things.

Tutorials from Bubby and Bean.

And some more from Brit + co.


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Yum Yum Potato Salad

Another great find from Popptytalk! Yum. 


Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad

1/2 red onion, cut into strips
1/4 cup + 2 tbs cider vinegar
2 lbs baby potatoes
1 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil (or less)

Toss the red onion with the 2 tbs cider vinegar and let marinate for 30 mins. Drain.

Boil potatoes in medium sized pot until just tender, for about 15 mins.

Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining vinegar, salt, honey, and seasoning in a large bowl.

Peel potatoes while still warm (or not). Slice potatoes into quarters. Add quartered potatoes into the bowl with the vinegar and spices. Add in onion mixture and slowly pour in oil (you may not need all of it) and lightly toss. Add more seasoning and salt if desired. Serve at room temperature. Serves 4.





Saturday, August 11, 2012

DIY Bow Pillow


I'm loving this pretty bow pillow form Ariadne at Home.

Below are the instructions in english. (Thank you Google Translate!) Will def make time to make this. :-)



The feminine form of the bow fits perfectly in the BB-pane. And is very simple to make.

Materials:

0.80 m plaid fabric camellia Elmore 7460/49, 137 cm wide (Romo, 030-605 32 18, romo.com); fiberfill (haberdashery business); rectangular pillow 40 × 60 cm Fjädrar € 3.99 (Ikea Netherlands BV, Ikea. en).

How to make the Bardotstrik:

Cut out the fabric for the cushion cover 1 piece of 42 × 124 cm, for the band 1 piece of 32 × 58 cm and the mesh strip 1 piece of 32 × 72 cm.

Cut out the fiberfill for tie strip 1 piece of 32 × 72 cm.

Fold the cloth for the cushion cover double, so it's 42 × 62 cm. Stitch the short side with 2 inch seam, but leave a piece in the middle, and later open to reverse the pillow. Fold the seam towards the middle and stitch the long side with 1 cm seam. Turn the cover. Put the pillow in it and sew the opening closed.

Fold the band for the double, so he's 16 × 58 cm is. Stitch the long side with 1 cm seam and once the band. Stitch the ends with 1 cm seam together and once the seam on the inside.

Place the fiberfill-rag on the checkered cloth for tie strip and incorporate more layers as 1 layer. Fold the double, so he's 16 × 72 cm is. Stitch the short ends oblique, 45 degree angle, leaving the inclined lines are parallel to each other. Cut the excess fabric to 1 inch from the stitching. Stitch the long side close but leaves it open for a lot of times. Turn the assembly and sew the opening closed.

Fold the ribbon strip in half, so that the oblique lines aligned arrive. Stitch the strap just below the fold through all layers, so the tire can be pushed to the pillow and ribbon strip hangs underneath.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Illustrator Practice


So I'm currently learning Adobe Illustrator. I've been reading tutorials for the past few days, and I'm liking it very very much! Yes I know, I'm super behind. I had no idea how perfectly convenient and powerful and versatile Illustrator is. I've only ever used Photoshop. Everything I wanted to do I can now in Illustrator, with so much more ease. :)

I'm trying out some tutorials in Nicole's Classes. This one's on creating grid style art boards. I've always wondered how bloggers made theirs. I tried making one. (See previous blog) It didn't quite turn out that well. :P

I redid it based on this tutorial and there you have it :-) It's not that neat, but it'll have to do for now. I can't get the sizing right, though. I might have made the original image bigger that needed.