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Archive: Design
August 10, 2009
Cross-stitch Printables & Stitched Typefaces
These cross-stitch printables are available from Wedding Style Guide but you could use it for any kind of party or crafty event in my book! The templates are for an invitation, monogram letter, drawstring bag pattern, cross-stitch booklet, and booklet cover. [ via iDiY ]
I'm always on the lookout for new fonts and love these stitched typefaces in a roundup compiled by iDiY.
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Aug 10, 2009 08:00 AM
Design, Paper Crafts, Parties, Weddings |
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August 7, 2009
Book Excerpt: Digital Textile Design by Melanie Bowles and Ceri Isaac
Last week I reviewed a new primer for design, Digital Textile Design, written by Melanie Bowles and Ceri Isaac (Laurence King Publishers). This week we have an excerpt to share: a tutorial on making custom plaid. Plaid is on everything in fashion right now. It's the print that unites grunge rock and school girls. And depending on the colors and line weights, it can be as unique as a thumbprint. Any crafter can learn to use Adobe Illustrator, and, with Bowles and Isaac's tutorial, create their own personal version of the classic and versatile printed plaid. The instructions for building the print are simple, and include images of the tools directly from the program.
Download the PDF to start working on a plaid. If you create one, share it in the CRAFT Flickr pool! And please visit Melanie Bowles' new blog, makeitdigital.
Posted by Brookelynn |
Aug 7, 2009 01:00 PM
Books and Magazines, Design, Technology |
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August 1, 2009
How-To: 3D Plush From Drawing To Reality
Lauren Venell of Sweet Meats fame has just published an epic tutorial on 3D plush. She takes you from idea to finished toy, and this isn't your childhood pudgy fabric sandwich, we're talking true 3D with features and draping, seaming and everything. Fantastic work!
Posted by Becky Stern |
Aug 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Design, Plush, Sewing |
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July 28, 2009
Capillary Calendar
I'm really digging this ink calendar by Oscar Diaz:
Spanish designer Oscar Diaz has designed a calendar that uses the capillary action of ink spreading across paper to display the date. Each month, a bottle of coloured ink spreads across a sheet of paper embossed with numbers, colouring them in as it goes.
(Thanks, Lauren Venell!)
Posted by Becky Stern |
Jul 28, 2009 09:00 AM
Arts & Design, Design |
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July 6, 2009
Adobe Sweet Cupcakes
I can imagine lots of software "sweets" recreated in cupcake form, which would be your favorite? I think I'd go for all Mozilla apps cupcakes. Yum! (Thanks Katie W.!)
Posted by Becky Stern |
Jul 6, 2009 04:00 PM
Design, Food |
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June 30, 2009
How-To: Make Your Own Wedding Emblem
How-To: Make Your Own Wedding Emblem
By Liz Grotyohann
Making yourself an emblem for your wedding is a great and simple way to weave a personalized theme through your wedding elements and get a very "pulled together" look for very little money. You can use your mark on your invitations, place cards, programs, favors, and thank you cards to add a personal and memorable touch.
Read full story
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Jun 30, 2009 05:00 PM
CRAFT Projects, Design, Weddings |
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June 18, 2009
Jane Austen Cross-Stitch Book Covers by Leigh-Anne Mullock
Designer Leigh-Anne Mullock created cross-stitched cover illustrations of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice as well as Mansfield Park. The illustrations feature imagery about their relationships the novel's protagonists might have been inspired to stitch. Can all Austen books be like this please?
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Jun 18, 2009 05:00 PM
Design, Hand Embroidery |
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June 17, 2009
Book Interview and Giveaway: Drip.Dot.Swirl.
Drip.Dot.Swirl. by Von Glitschka
Vonsterbooks.com
Artist Von Glitschka has a new book out called Drip.Dot.Swirl. 94 incredible patterns for design and illustration. The illustrative pattern book features a large collection of patterns to inspire you in your design work. In fact, the book comes with a companion DVD of all the vector patterns so you can modify them and use them in your own projects, from web site to promotional material, or even your digital craft projects. You can read more about Von's new book on his blog, Art Backwash and follow him on Twitter at @Vonster.
See more interiors from the book in the sample spreads PDF.
I was really inspired by Von's book and got a chance to ask him a few questions about design and illustration.
Natalie: Please tell us about your background in design and your new book.
Von: I've been doing what I call illustrative design for over 23 years now. My work reflects a good mix of both design and illustration so my new book which is all about illustrative pattern designs leverages both of these disciplines in a wide variety of styles.
Natalie: Where do you find your inspiration?
Von: So many things over the course of the year I worked on this played a part in inspiring me. Some specific sources were things I saw in nature, conceptual words I tried to visually create, doodles I did, old tapestries by William Morris influenced my design as well. Once you start creating patterns though, it's hard to turn it off. I just did this one the other day just for fun.
Natalie: Do you have any tips to our readers on how to create their own patterns?
Von: I put together this simple step-by-step tutorial that walks you through creating a tile pattern. The download includes 12 step-by-step images and a notes file.
Natalie: What are your must have "tools" you use to create (digital and/or real items)?
Von: Brain, pencil, paper, computer. Everything is birthed in analog and created in digital.
Natalie: What are you working on this summer?
Von: Starting a new book project due in about a year.
Book Giveaway Time!
One lucky CRAFT winner is going to win an autographed copy of Drip.Dot.Swirl. as well as a bonus set of 12 patterns not in the book! Just leave a comment to this post and tell us why you want this book. Make sure you enter in your email address in the form field (won't be published). All comments will be closed on Thursday at 5pm PST. The winner will be announced later this week on the site. Good luck!
Download this free "Memory Lock" pattern
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Jun 17, 2009 08:00 AM
Books and Magazines, Design |
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June 15, 2009
Needlework brings together programmers, crafters
Nice story about the Open Source Embroidery exhibition and movement over on Wired.com:
The movement brings together knitters, embroiderers and quilters who see parallels between the way they create their crafts and how open source software creators share their ideas. At the BildMuseet (art museum) at Umeå University in Sweden, an exhibition — also called Open Source Embroidery — showcases artworks that use embroidery and code as a tool for participatory production and distribution.
“The idea of collaboration has been made cool by open source software,” says Carpenter, the curator of the exhibition. “But artists have been working like this for a long time.”
Even the differences between needlework crafts and open source software are alike, she says. Embroidery is largely dominated by women, while software is created mostly by men, she says. In embroidery, tiny stitches come together to create a pattern visible on the front of the fabric, while its system is revealed on the back. It’s similar to how software is created.
The arguments about open source vs. free software can also be applied to embroidery, says Carpenter, where artists struggle with questions around borrowing and modifying patterns. “The Open Source Embroidery project simply attempts to provide a social and practical way of discussing these issues and trying out the practice,” says Carpenter.
There's also a nice shoutout to MAKE and CRAFT in the article, too!
Posted by Becky Stern |
Jun 15, 2009 09:00 AM
Design, Needlearts, Technology |
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June 11, 2009
Binary Winter Wise Robots
I love new takes on old classics, and this one definitely caught my eye at the Bazaar Bizarre at Maker Faire Bay Area a couple of weeks ago. Pictured above is Binary Winter's Wise Robots design, a futuristic twist on the old Japanese proverb sanzaru. Binary Winter definitely has a style all their own. From their site: "Our designs are an amalgam of the things we love best, from Art Nouveau to robots, satellites and the ballet of flight. We are smitten with willowy lines and charmed by the grace of machinery." Check out their Etsy page for more.
Posted by Goli Mohammadi |
Jun 11, 2009 11:00 AM
Design, Fashion |
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May 29, 2009
How To - Make an Accordion Wedding Album
Gail at Can't Stop Making Things has a tutorial on how to make an accordion wedding album / flip book. [ via Twitter @SisterDiane ]
Our DIY Wedding theme starts in June! If you have any handmade wedding stories or crafts you'd like to share, contact us!
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
May 29, 2009 08:00 AM
Design, Paper Crafts, Weddings |
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May 27, 2009
Finger Painting with the iPhone
Take a look at this June 1, 2009 cover of The New Yorker and you'd never know that the artwork was created digitally on an iPhone. Artist Jorge Colombo created this piece with nothing but his fingers and the Brushes app on his iPhone.
From The New Yorker site:
"I got a phone in the beginning of February, and I immediately got the program so I could entertain myself," says Colombo, who first published his drawings in The New Yorker in 1994. Colombo has been drawing since he was seven, but he discovered an advantage of digital drawing on a nighttime drive to Vermont. "Before, unless I had a flashlight or a miner's hat, I could not draw in the dark." (When the sun is up, it's a bit harder, "because of the glare on the phone," he says.) It also allows him to draw without being noticed; most pedestrians assume he's checking his e-mail.
Watch this video below to see how he composed the cover.
[ via iPhone J.D. ]
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
May 27, 2009 08:00 AM
Design, Gadgets, Technology |
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May 21, 2009
Free Stitched Fonts
I'm a type nerd who loves hand stitching, so I'm utterly grateful for Jessica of How About Orange posting links to these free "stitched" fonts. Can't wait to use them and get crafty even when I'm on the computer!
Posted by Rachel Hobson |
May 21, 2009 08:00 AM
Design, Needlearts |
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May 4, 2009
Mother's Day: Make an Envelope Photo Book
Make an Envelope Photo Book for Mother's Day
By Diane Gilleland
I love this small bound book as a way to present Mom with a special collection of photographs. It's like a scrapbook, but an unstructured one: the photos are collected in the envelope pockets, and arranged by theme.
Read full story
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
May 4, 2009 01:00 PM
Design, Holiday projects, Paper Crafts |
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April 18, 2009
Cardboard Box Slide Duplicator
Gareth @ MAKE found this simple setup for transferring your old film to digital. From the Flickr user svofski:
A lens (or a macro lens, or a lens with extension rings) is inserted in the circular hole in front. A negative holder made of two sheets of vinyl with spacers is at the opposite end. After film is inserted, the box is closed and camera is aligned.
Since any remote source of light will be hopelessly out of focus in such setup, no special diffuser is really necessary. I normally use LCD display.
Posted by Becky Stern |
Apr 18, 2009 12:00 PM
Design, Recycle, Technology, Tools, Vintage |
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April 3, 2009
How-To: Make Crochet Diagrams using Adobe Illustrator
Amie from Nexstitch has a series of in depth tutorials showing you how to use Adobe Illustrator to create crochet diagrams.
- Part 1: The Basics -Slip and Chain Stitches
- Part 2: Making Basic Stitches - Single, Double, and Treble Crochets
- Part 3: Working in Rows
[ via Crochet by Faye ]
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Apr 3, 2009 08:00 AM
Crochet, Design |
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March 20, 2009
DIY Baby Book
Sara of Party Perfect is a former art director for Martha Stewart's Babies and Kids magazines. In this weekend project, Sara made a baby book for her son Gram by taking photos of objects and spelling out the words with wooden letters. She then took all the photos into iPhoto and had her own book made!
Sara writes:
Last week we bought my son a 'first words' book. It had some common words like 'car' and 'ball'- but the car didn't look like ours and the neon orange soccer ball didn't look like any we owned. So I thought it might be nice to create a first words book exclusively for him, using objects that were more familiar to him and focusing on words that he was either already trying to grasp (ball, momma) or words that would be helpful to me (milk, water).
You can even take this great concept further and make simple flash cards for your baby by printing it on cardstock from your printer at home. [ via AT ohdeedoh ]
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Mar 20, 2009 11:00 AM
Babies, Design, Printing |
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March 18, 2009
How-To: Glass Photo Etching
Danielle at Etsy shows you the basics of glass photo etching in this fantastic tutorial. Danielle uses PNP Blue Transfer Paper, originally used to etch circuit boards and recently for etching jewelry to create this glass etching magic! [ via Gold School ]
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Mar 18, 2009 12:00 PM
Design, General |
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February 23, 2009
Glass Jar Frames
Turn bottles or jars into nifty glass jar frames in this tutorial by Photojojo.
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu |
Feb 23, 2009 10:00 PM
Design, Recycle |
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February 10, 2009
Flashback: Crafty Fabric Masterpiece
CRAFT Volume 02 hit newsstands back in January of 2007, and one of the featured major projects was the above-pictured lovely "Crafty Masterpiece" by Tricia Mills Gray. And oh-so-crafty it is! Ironically, Trish never fancied herself a "crafter," per se, but rather was just coming up with a solution to a problem. You see, Trish has been the senior development manager for the O'Reilly School of Technology for over a decade, helping folks reach their I.T. career goals. This programming goddess was merely trying to come up with the perfect wall hanging to match her living room furniture. She saw a painting by Emanuel Vardi she fell in love with and decided to pay homage to this fine artist by creating a fabric version (which quite perfectly fit the theme of Volume 02: Creative Clones).
Using her trusty laptop and a projector, she cast a downloaded image of the painting onto a wall and traced it onto posterboard. Essentially, she then cut out the shapes, covered each in a different fabric, put it all together, and added finishing touches, proving that necessity truly is the mother of invention. Pretty craft, Trish!
Here's a look at the project in our Digital Edition.
Learn how to make this fabric masterpiece, along with a crocheted retro purse, Hawaiian quilt, circuit board cabinet, needlepoint sandals, kombucha tea, freezer paper stencils, felted fruit, blue jean slippers, and more in CRAFT Volume 02.
Pick up this back issue in the Maker Shed:
Posted by Goli Mohammadi |
Feb 10, 2009 11:00 AM
Design, Home Decor |
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