Tennis Racket Mirrors

I have wanted to turn some tennis rackets into mirrors for some time now.  I first saw them on Pinterest and just loved the idea!  Fast forward to a week ago and I was perusing my local Goodwill just long enough to see some great vintage rackets priced very well indeed.  I took them to a local glass shop in Madison and they were happy to cut the mirror and glue it in!  They even said that they had done this project before!  Super nice people!

Either way, I am really excited to have the finished product, my roommates approve, and I think that they may sell well at the Elkhorn flea market if I get the chance.

Schoolwork Lately

I'm in the final round of completing Unit 2 of my Graphic Design class and so I am excited to share my latest work.  Everything we did involved our favorite song, mine was "le temps de l'amour" by francoise hardy, and one type face, mine being Didot.  

A lot of research took place to analyze words, sentences and stanzas within the song.  Oh and did I mention my song was in french?  I don't speak french but whatever.

These two images are the final broadsides, one containing the actual poster using some of the research I implemented and the second shows small thumbnails of all my best research.

Enjoy!

Gold Foil Personal Stationery

For a long time I was very mystified by foiled paper products.  I found them to be so beautiful but had no idea how to create them.  I found multiple Pinterest tutorials on how to 'DIY foil' but it only involved glue and foil, or worse--paint.

Sometime later, pretty recently actually, I found out that a machine does the work.  Basically it's like a giant heated stamp that pounds down on some special heat-transfer foil to make that oh-so gorgeous impression. That always bums me out because it means that I can't do whatever project I desire because my DIY toolkit does not include 'heavy-expensive-machinery'

Yeah. Whatever.

Anyways, so that is why I was beyond thrilled when my letterpress professor mentioned in an email that he was trying to work out the kinks in a donated foil machine that had been sitting around in the studio for two years.  

So here is the fruit of my labor: beautiful personal stationery--mine until I get married (didn't realize that one until I had already printed them) so just one more reason to hold off on a husband...or boyfriend for that matter...

Anyways, please enjoy.  I also hope to be creating some business cards soon as well.

Patch Work Office Chair

I forgot to mention earlier in the week that I am on Spring Break, besides going on an unplanned roadtrip (I will share more later) I also bought and attacked this chair with creative fervor.

I got the chair at the Wisconsin colleges recycle shop, the universities send everything they don't need to this shop and then sell everything quite cheap.  I did some research and finally decided to go this route with the chair.  The seat was covered in vinyl so I stripped it and then recovered it in this fabric.
Enjoy!

Ombre Shorts

When I saw theseshorts at Free People, I knew that they were gorgeous but easily DIY-able.  Fortunately, I had just sent my favorite black jeans to the clothes graveyard after a rather unfortunate crotch rip.  All this project involved was cutting off the pants legs and then dipping the shorts in a bin of bleach and water.  I left them there for about 3 hours to really soak.  After the soak I ran them through a cycle in the washer and dryer.  So easy anyone could do it!

My Apartment

I am constantly posting about other environments that inspire me.  Somehow though, it has been awhile since I have posted about the space that should inspire me the most; the one that I live in!  I am only in college, and therefore my budget is not much, hence my style is made up of freebies, handmades, and cheap finds.

My bedspread is from Ikea, as is the white pillow.  Those striped pillows (my favorite!) are from TJmaxx, but I recovered them in some striped cotton fabric I found at a rummage sale this past summer.  Such a great find!!!  That purple blanket was once a dingy white, I washed and dyed it after getting it for like $2 at a rummage sale, I then bleach-painted crosses all over it to sort of mimic one of my favorite designs.

You may remember my map and lamp from other posts, while the other posters are drawn, letter pressed, or painted.  Believe it or not, that cross flag was apart of a large linen shirt that I cut up.  I also get free posters whenever I purchase Frankie magazine, it’s so awesome, this intricately designed one on my wall is just one of them.

Here is just a small corner of my room, the other parts aren’t as lovely (my room is pretty small and cramped) but I hope this suffices for now!

Letterpress Collateral

I had so much fun working on these 'thank you for your purchase' cards.  I have started receiving more regular sales through my Etsy shop and I wanted to start improving the packaging experience for my customers.  I will (and already have) included one of these with each product I ship out.  

The floral design in the background was hand illustrated by yours truly.  I then created a polymer plate and ran Crane's Lettra paper in fluorescent white through our printing press in the studio.  I set some type and ran each card through again.  Whew!

I was so happy with the result that I wanted to photograph them for my portfolio too.  I started a portfolio on Behance (finally) and uploaded them there.

Resume Template

Today I am very excited to share this post with you!  This past fall I was applying for an internship and had to gather various things for my portfolio.  I have kept an updated resume for the past couple of years now; I am so glad that I have it because it came in handy on many occasions.  However, for this application, I wanted to do something special. 

  I had seen several examples (here is just one) of self-branding and info-graphics that performed as a sort of resume/self-promotion.  It gave me the inspiration I needed to create a well-designed resume that spoke to who I am and what my style is.  That also made me realize that there may be a need for unique resumes like my own by people that don’t have the knowledge to create such a thing.  

So today I am uploading my resume as an interactive PDF template.  You can download it for FREE and edit it to fit your own credentials.  The spaces are somewhat flexible, but to give you an idea of how I used them, below is an image of my finished resume as well.

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

front side

I mentioned a fewweeks ago of my new letterpress class that I am taking this semester.  It is going great, thank you.  My first assignment was to create a valentine on the press.  After the last stages of printing, I took some instagrams of the postcards I created, so here they are!

I used an old halftone of a heart with labels to depict the various parts.  At least I am pretty sure this is a heart…Anyways, I used it as a map.   I created my own polymer plate stamp too.  All in all, I am pretty excited about it!

back side

DIY Style II

Quite some time ago I purchased several old t-shirts from goodwill.  At the time I wanted to use them as fabric for some projects, but over my last few day s of break I got an even better idea. 

I had spent some time in Urban Outfitters and saw a sweet looking tee that had a crocheted cross on it.  It was out of my price range (which was like nothing other than free and the time) so I went home with idea to recreate it.

I always find it funny how ideas evolve over time.  I always marvel at how my projects turn out compared to how I imagine them, sometimes I’m thankful for the transformation, and sometimes not so much.  In this case, I was thankful, although I would still like to take a stab at that crocheted looking cross.

Upon arrival at Michaels I journeyed to the embroidery floss section.  Little did I know I would not even end up using that string of 37 cents.  I then ventured to the iron-on section and came across some stars that I fell in love with. 

Boom.  Then my whole idea changed.  I ended up using some screen printing ink that I had bought earlier in the year to paint on the arms of the cross.

This shirt was so easy to make, I would definitely recommend trying it out!

DIY Style

via lalalovely

I pinned this quite some time ago to my Style board.  I want to do it so bad!  Such a DIY friendly (not to mention cost friendly) update to a plain old tee.  I will get to this project one day, and when I do, I will for sure share!

Lights

Via AmericanMadeLighting

I have thought before about creating my own lighting company.  I love beautiful lights so much!  I also believe that a great light can really make a room.  I love searching for old lights to update in some way, but other times I have just gone from scratch.  Here are some of my favorites, enjoy!

Via Remodelista

Via Etsy

Via Ariel Alasko

Legacy Designs

Yesterday was a great day, my friends came to visit and it was a blast! Unfortunately I didn't get a post out though.  On Monday I told you about the T-shirt company I am working with. Here are some of the beginning designs.  Hope you like them!  Again, if you have any questions, email us at customerservice@legacyofkingsandqueens.com

Project Inspiration

via my pinterest

Before I got sick last thursday, I was starting to work on many projects that I've had my eyes on.  Now I have to take a little break while I get better, but I wanted to share my inspirations with everyone so that you know what to be expecting.  I can't wait to feel better and get started again.

via misswallflower

via etsy

New Store Additions

Now that finals are over, I have had the chance to work on some Christmas creations.  I handpainted these cards and gift wrap and uploaded them to my Etsy shop so go and check them out.

Unconventional Trees

Via 79ideas

Recently, I have seen a lot of nontraditional Christmas trees.  I love mixing up the idea of a Christmas tree, especially if you don't have the space for a real one.  Most of these ideas are actually pretty simple DIYs as well.  I think my favorite is the driftwood tree.

Via Liltherese

Via HouseofBliss

Via Vtwonen

Via Studiodees

Via Curbly

Via Restoration Hardware