not a local » crafts

I am a Creative

Christina — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:43:34 +0000

I create.

I create new ways to create new things.

I take new things and create them into something to be created that can create new creations.

I think.

Either which way, I’m a creative. This thought may be old news to some of you, but I just realized it today. In a conversation with a coworker, the phrase rolled off my tongue and it hit me.

I am a creative.

Being creative isn’t just about creating things, I’m learning. It’s about finding new avenues for oozing creative juices. I guess I’m a creative with ADD; I often get bored with one medium and as soon as I’ve “mastered” it, I’m off searching for new things. Or at least trying to plug in new things here and there to spice it up.

On top of creating, I also love to collaborate. I love the creativity that bringing in others forces out of me and seeing that same “iron sharpening iron” effect on others.

That’s why Etsy has been so great for me. I can make stuff and make money at the same time. There’s no method or rule to selling stuff on Etsy, so I’m free to put up whatever my little heart can dream up.

So on the dawn of brewing up a new collaboration, I’ll direct you to my Etsy store. There’s some new stuff up there!

More to come on that “new collaboration”. I’ve got to think through the logistics and send some emails.

New Love

Christina — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:42:11 +0000

I have new love in my life. Handwritten type. I’ve always wanted to master this skill and I’m quite pleased with what a little practice has produced.

A Deer of a Day

Christina — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:16:22 +0000

Today was the first day of my “weekend.” I have a long list of things to do before work on Wednesday and half of it involved scrubbing my house. Six hours of spring cleaning later, I’ve finally finished my domestic-list. Tomorrow will be filled with editing photos and working on my portfolio website (more on that when it’s actually finished).

There was one thing I did today that never saw my list. And rightly so. Had I known it was going to take a cumulative 4 hours to complete and an exacto-bruise on my left forefinger, I would have waited. I’m glad I didn’t.

I’ve finally figured out what to do with this wall. My apartment is complete. (-:

Hearts and Flair

Christina — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:56:31 +0000

This year, I decided to make valentines. I haven’t made it a habit to give them out every year, but a few weeks ago I had an overwhelming desire to craft. And so craft I did; 29 times.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Put a Lumberjack on Your Wall: A Tutorial

Christina — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:05:17 +0000

I’m almost done (5 months later) decorating my apartment. My last task is to tackle this huge empty wall in my living room. In an effort to just get something up there, I pulled out my contact paper and vector art. Ridiculousness ensued.

My original intent was to put up a 6 foot tree, but I didn’t like any of the tree vectors I was finding and had no patience to make my own. So on a whim, I started digging through my character silhouettes. Instead of a tree on my wall, I decided to decorate with a lumberjack.

You can too; I’ll show you how:

Step one: Lay out your contact paper to be sure of how much you have to work with. In this case, I had just enough to make a 3-foot(ish) lumberjack.

Step two: In Photoshop, create a document the desired size of your lumberjack and a second document the size of a piece of paper (if you can print 11×17, that’s great, but in my case I needed to print on 8.5×11). Find your vector image and size it appropriately in document #1. Drag it into document #2. From here, you’ll only be able to see sections of your image at a time; this is the point. You’ll have to print those sections one at a time (ex. his head, then his shoulders, then the axe, etc.), but the most important thing here is to move the next viewable section on your document so there is some overlap between sections. It is also very important to come up with a system for how you move the lumberjack to print the separate sections, so you don’t forget later and accidentally paste his axe to his foot. I came up with a numbering system and wrote the key on a post-it.

Steps 3-500: Trim the white edges off your individual sheets of paper to make your puzzle easier. Tape your paper silhouette together. Trim the white edges around your lumberjack and with and exacto knife and cutting board, cut small rectangles out of the black space; it will look like swiss cheese when you’re done. From here, set the silhouette on your contact paper and tape down the edges. With small pieces of tape, tape over the swiss cheese; this acts as a second anchor to the contact paper and makes the cutting process easier). From here, use your exacto knife and cutting board again to trim around the edge of your lumberjack. Remove the left over paper and tape.

Installation: I used masking tape to set him on the wall where I wanted him, then from there, I removed the back of the contact paper from his feet up. When I got to his waist, I stuck his legs and feet on the wall. Next, I removed the tape hanging him to the wall and pulled off the rest of the backing and stuck his torso, shoulders and head to the wall.

The end.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do with the rest of the wall, please post a comment. I’m obviously open to anything.

What I’ve been up to

Christina — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:18:54 +0000

So I had that ridiculously long vacation a week ago and was planning on blogging a ton, but didn’t. Instead, I:

Created my own pattern and sewed together a purse (it came out awful, but with some pattern-adjusting, round 2 should be excellent)
Once again, came up with a pattern and made a skirt for Easter Sunday (this came out fantastic, but the fabric holds a wrinkle very well, so it’ll need to be ironed frequently)
Made cupcakes for Easter Sunday dinner, complete with fondant icing (store-bought fondant is awful, I made mine from scratch, see below)
Got my haircut by someone other than my mom
Played a new favorite game with some of my new favorite people
Slept in ’til 9 am every day (except for Easter Sunday, I was up at 5)

Then, I went back to work and immediately got sick. Figures. Since then, I’ve had a friend in town and I’ve had to prepare for and execute a retreat weekend for mothers and daughters.

This is why this blog has been neglected. I will neither apologize or recognize fault for said neglect. It’s my blog, I make the rules.