Sunnyside + Toy Story 3

This pretty much made my day.
Aaaaamazing.

DIY Desk Friends

If your workspace is getting lonely, you should consider making some friends. Literally.

Cubeecraft is a website with free printable templates for making little cube people from paper. All you need is a printer and scissors (and glue, if you're attempting to build a more complicated template). There are tons of characters to choose from - some are pop culture icons, and some come from the minds of different designers.

Check out my Cubeecraft Dream Team:

Venus de Milo, the Katamari Prince, Strongbad, and Karl from "Up".
There is seriously a Cubee for everyone.

I had some time to kill, so I decided to make a Cubee for myself! I chose to make a Stormtrooper, because I'm a geek (...and because I have a monochrome laser printer).

The stormtrooper template is an easy-level template. It requires no glue (though I did need a craft knife to score the paper in some places). Cutting out all the pieces took a good chunk of time... but being able to build everything up felt so rewarding afterward!

I used card stock instead of regular printer paper, and it really made assembly much easier. However, in working and folding the template, some of the ink started rubbing off the paper. Ink jet printers would eliminate this issue.

My stormtrooper is now standing guard near the rubber cement on my window ledge. Epic win. Try it yourself!

Before & After

My Thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Go Chicago.

Chicago Flag Vegan Soap Bar - available at Renegade Handmade

Etsy vs the World: Wishbones

Not unlike every other quirky creative female, in my free time I enjoy clicking through various online stores that attempt to mass-produce one-of-a-kind, hipster-approved items (ex. lace-covered anything, cameras with plastic lenses, punny office supplies, and INFINITE iterations of bird-in-a-cage jewelry).

Odd thing is, since I've started spending more time on Etsy, I've found that Etsy not only offers higher quality versions of products advertised in hipster stores - but they're often less expensive, actually one of a kind, & (honestly) so much cooler.

This realization has led me to start a new segment on sunnysidenotes called Etsy vs the World, in which I'll feature an advertised mass-produced item and use it as "inspiration" to find similarly-themed (but far superior!) Etsy items.

For the first post of Etsy vs the World, I give you: Wishbones!

It all starts with this (tiny!), $35 "metal" wishbone necklace from ModCloth.com...

...and ends with these three gorgeous Etsy finds!


1. See Those Wishbones Tee - organic cotton tee by KittenInTheEngine
2. One for You, One for Me - interactive postcard by Threefold
3. Big Wish - life-size brass-cast wishbone necklace by soradesigns


Happy shopping. :)

Cork Vases Tutorial

A fabulous tutorial has been floating around the craftier side of the internet recently.

I think it's a brilliant idea - I can't see how you could bring any more elegance to old soup tins. Cork has a nice texture all on its own - the fact that it doubles as a mini-gallery space is a bonus.

It could also be a clever way to store sewing pins & embroidery needles in your craft space...

Uncanny Cork Vases & Containers Tutorial via paper n stitch

Phonetographer

A couple snaps I took while waiting to be whisked away to a patio.

taken with Cross Process for iPhone
(it's rad - download it pronto).

Goodies: Mrs. Bear Wallpaper

Today I had a day off from work & spent the morning doodling in Photoshop. The result: a downloadable desktop just for you.

It features a lovely lady bear, underscored by a nifty quote.

Mrs. Bear comes in two resolutions. Click on the one that suits your needs best to see the full-size image.

1650 x 1050


1600 x 1200

Art Without Science

And Etsy knows it.

From huggable chlorophyll to estrogen pendants, these finds are sure to please any mad scientist.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Moo!

My Moo cards finally came in!

I'm so happy with how they turned out. The paper is smooth & thick, and the print quality is fantastic. Now all I have to do is find 50 people willing to take 'em!

I sincerely hope Moo will consider partnering with Etsy again (such a power couple).
'Til then, here's what's in my business card arsenal:

Mothers Day Poster Project

I'm smack dab in the middle of two weeks of job training, and (to my dismay!) I've had very little time to dedicate to my Etsy store, my blog, and artsy stuff in general. Things will settle down once my training is over – but in the meantime, I'm so happy Mother's Day gave me an opportunity to get back to the drawing table!

Just yesterday, I got my hands on the BBC documentary series "Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin". My mama had watched (& loved) it on television when it first came out 20 years ago, and I first heard about it recently through a podcast – so I figured Mother's Day was the perfect opportunity to cash in a lazy Sunday and watch a few episodes.

I decided to make a gift to go along with the traveling theme.

The process started by taking a peek at the iconic poster for Michael Todd's 1956 film version:

Next came an idea & a sketchbook:

I decided to put a Ukrainian spin on the classic movie poster. I wrote out the title in Ukrainian, replaced the dapper British voyager with a dashing Kozak, and substituted the tiny Eiffel tower and Big Ben with a Ukrainian monastery/national landmark. Here's the final result, which was propped up against some pretty posies on Mother's Day morning:

Aaaand a quick close-up:

Aaaand the ticket that accompanied it:

Happy Mother's Day.

May the Fourth be with You

Happy Star Wars day, friends!

(I must confess, I already celebrated by buying a print on Etsy...)

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Pack Set of 3 Stickers from hellowars
R2D2 Vinyl Laptop Decal from walkingdeadpromotion
Darth Vader Portrait Plate from BeatUpCreations
Chewbacca Calavera Gocco Serigraph from MisNopalesArt

Miss Matryoshka & Fancy That

I added two new items to the SunnysideAvenue store this afternoon!

Both items are part of a new style I'm exploring. Until recently, the only embroidery I had experience with was cross stitch. I'm finding hand-embroidery a lot more liberating - for starters, I don't have to follow any patterns! All of my designs are taken from sketches of mine, and I'm able to make changes to them while stitching.

Can't wait to make more!

Tweet Tweet

Hooray! Sunnysidenotes now has a home on Twitter, and I couldn't be more excited about it!


Follow me for art, craft, & design links that I *just* can't blog about fast enough, as well as blog & Etsy store updates. I'm especially looking forward to connecting with other Etsy sellers in the Twitterverse!

While on the subject, I want to share a tip about personalizing your own Twitter page. The default backgrounds are clean & adorable, but if you're looking for some customization (and you're even remotely familiar with Photoshop), I recommend downloading a template.

This was my first time using a template, and I found it made the whole process a breeze. It allowed me to drop in the colours & text I wanted without having to worry about any dimensions or divisions.

If you want to start from the ground up, Manifest Creative has a great, bare-bones template ready for download. All the safe zones are marked so that your important info stays visible.

The template I used was from Fabrice at Boinblog - but I did end up tweaking the dimensions of the "header" at the top of the page.

Try it out for yourself!

Satin Poppies

This past week has been a jumble of resumés, decisions, and interviews for me... so when I finally came across some craft time, I decided to be a little selfish and make something for myself.

It all started when I came across this Etsy listing for a poppy necklace:

from seller NoPlainTs

I was SMITTEN. I have always loved poppies, but this listing made me fall in love with bib necklaces for the first time. Eager to try something new, I did some research and tried to recreate the poppy necklace for myself.

First I went to the fabric store and chose out some satin in a navy colour. I was tempted by the higher quality satins, but figured that since this was an experimental project I should play it safe (financially speaking). I went with a thinner/cheaper satin (it ended up being a breeze to work with, anyway!).

Next, I cut the satin into little rounds/petals:


The next step involved singeing the petals so that the satin wouldn't fray. I held the petals close to a candle flame (not IN the candle flame) until the edge started melting (note that this only works with synthetic fabrics - natural fibers will burn!). I singed the edges unevenly, causing the fabric to pucker and look more "flower-y" than the petals in my photo inspiration.

Next, I assembled the petals into flowers and fastened them with a seed bead:


To create the necklace, I made a "bib" out of ribbon and felt, and then sewed the satin flowers to it. The final result (pardon the myspace'd photo... nicer pics to come!):



I'm ecstatic with how my poppy necklace turned out, but be warned: this project takes A LOT OF WORK. To achieve the fullness I wanted, I needed to cut and singe just under 100 fabric petals. The sewing also needed to be done completely by hand in order to stay "invisible".

I have so much love for this necklace! It looks elegant when matched with similar hues, and bold when worn with contrasting colours. It creates a sort of faux collar look for tees, for tanktops, and under cardigans.

I'm thinking I want a red one next... :)

Logos on the Brain

A little opportunity cropped up mid-week that had me devoting my free time to logo design.

A new Arts Festival is being introduced where my parents live, and the committee responsible for the whole shindig showed some love for local designers and held a contest to find a permanent festival logo.

Putting my entries together was a lot of fun, but admittedly stressful at times. Logo design is completely new to me, and although I've been reading a lot about typography, it's still difficult for me to make informed design decisions. I get so frustrated when my current skill set keeps me from recreating the image in my mind's eye on the screen.

Despite all that, after a few days with the pen tool and 3 pages full of thumbnail sketches, I had 5 solid entries to submit. The winner of the contest gets $2000 and the chance to see their work on promotional material all across town. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

In the spirit of things, I want to share a great online resource: The LogoPond Gallery. Browsing through the pages really made my gears turn - it was neat seeing how different designers managed to fit certain images and concepts together. It turned me on to new ways of thinking, which led to many new ideas, which led to entries I'm proud of. These are a few of the (geekier) gallery images I really took a liking to:



This week I was able to take a small peek at the world of logo design. I can't wait for my next opportunity to dive right in.

Guess What?

Find Supplies Outside the (Big)Box

Take a trip to almost any stripmall in North America and it's plain to see: craft supplies are a huge industry. I've even noticed that scrapbooking materials are starting to crop up at home goods stores and dollar stores.

Although this new accessibility is great for crafters who previously had a hard time finding the tools and supplies they need, it does come at a price. It's dangerously easy to get into the mindframe that everything you need can be found at a big box arts & crafts store – and when that happens, people tend to get a little less environmentally friendly and (dare I say it) a little less creative.

The best way to overcome that mentality is to be open-minded when looking at, well... stuff. Look for uses outside the obvious - chances are you'll come up with some great (and super affordable!) project ideas.

For example: This was left on the "take-what-you-can-we're-throwing-the-lot-out" table at my film school last year. It used to be a sampler-pack of different camera filters. Now it's my little reservoir of colored cellophane and metallic papers - perfect for embellishing cards and other paper projects.

Another great example comes from my friend Keri who re-purposes old film slides into greeting cards.

So keep an open mind. Look at your favourite projects: is there a material you currently use that can be substituted with something more eco-friendly or less expensive? Hit up garage sales and thrift stores, do the occasional Craigslist or Kajiji search... you might surprise yourself.

Here are a handful of wonderfully upcycled Etsy goodies for a little inspiration. Slides as pendants, sweaters as plushies, china as nightlights, bottlecaps as earrings... Man. People are clever:

1,2,3,4

8-bit Cross Stitch

I forgot to mention last week that I added a entirely new medium to my Etsy store: cross stitch!

I created three 8-bit samplers based on videogame characters all oldschool gamers know and love: Link, Mega Man, and Mario.

I've had some experience with geeky cross stitch already - this Christmas, I made my sweetheart two framed cross stitch pieces (a Mario triptych and a Space Invaders sampler). The reaction to both pieces was positive - and so I thought I'd make a few similar projects to feature in my store.

We'll see what happens!

Holy Cow

A new Paypal receipt just arrived to my inbox & it makes me very happy: 50 Moo cards for only $7 shipping!

Moo & Etsy have teamed up to offer a pretty sweet deal. If you're an Etsy seller, you can get 50 Moo cards for free (all you have to do is pay the S&H). The trade off? Your cards get printed with a little white bar along the bottom that features the Etsy logo and a discount code for Moo. As far as I know, the offer expires April 30th, so hop on it!

I had a lot of fun designing my cards. Although I could have uploaded 50 different images if I wanted to, I stuck with 4 final designs (and one "info side" to go with them). Two featured product shots; the other two were very simple and text-based. Here's a little sample (front + back):

I'm pretty pumped to see how they turn out!

Luxe Leather

I recently came across Welshman & artist Mark Evans' incredible leatherwork. Using a couple different knives and scalpels, he manages to etch gorgeously rendered portraits into huge leather canvases.

I've always thought of leather as a very wholesome material - and a quick Etsy search revealed in just how many ways leather can be manipulated. Etching, burning, carving, cutting, binding, shaping... here is a selection of leathery goodness:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Deer Friend & Mario Kard

This past weekend I had tons of energy and managed to design and produce two new greeting cards to add to my Etsy store! Meet 'Deer Friend' & 'Mario Kard':

Though the two cards make an odd couple, I feel that together they represent who I am as a (unsubstantiated) designer. I'm as partial to classic motifs as I am to geeky ones – but no matter the subject, I'm a stickler for clean lines and smart colours.

Anyhow, I'm just happy to be devoting more time to creating again.

Home Sweet Home(page)

Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the new SUNNYsidenotes blog!

This blog is a hodgepodge of behind-the-scenes updates from my Etsy store, creative projects/resources I stumble upon online, and fancies for the eyes & ears.

Have fun!