Well hello there, stranger

Yes. Yes I know. It’s been awhile. It’s kind of depressing, really, how long it has been. So I won’t even go into it. Suffice it to say 5-month old baby, attention whore, can’t wipe my own ass without being watched by wee little eyes (in a “my child needs me” way, not a “pervert” way), sewing machine getting dusty, etc etc.

One thing I made recently I DID want to share though, because I impressed even myself. I was going to a bridal shower for a friend of mine and Pete’s, and I wanted to bring something a little more than the standard “off-the-registry” hand mixer or something. I know what you’re thinking: “You asshole. Registries exist for a reason. Get her the Le Creuset and shut the fuck up”. And I agree to an extent. But I also want to make people I like something a little special. Don’t worry, I also got a gift card.

Since I didn’t have time to really plan anything out, I needed to work with what I had. Luckily, I hoard craft supplies (a trait Mr. Jennysold isn’t all that fond of, but it’s served me well, so he can suck it). What I ended up with was a beautiful little wall hanging for their new home together. Here’s how I made it:

1: Start with a 5 inch mini canvas, a stapler, and a swatch of fabric big enough to wrap the canvas in.
2-4: Fold the edges over so it’s nice and clean, staple down on the back and sides (where the second set of folds will cover).
5-7: Cut some of the bulk off of the fabric; staple on the back only.
8-10: Tie a knot in the middle of a ribbon approximately a foot long, staple the ends on the top two back corners. Since it is a square, I don’t think the “top” designation really matters, but whatever. You know what I mean.
11: Prepare the chosen graphic for cutting on Silhouette Stencil Vinyl; I designed a type graphic with their names and wedding date on it in Illustrator and converted it to a Silhouette file. From scratch – that’s how I roll.
12-14 After the graphic is cut into the vinyl, remove the parts that are to be stenciled, adhere to the fabric and paint in with the Silhouette fabric paint. I chose to be a little less than careful so it had more of a handmade look (a little less crisp around the edges etc). You can do anything really: hand paint, iron-on transfer, etc. It will all look good :)

The bride did say that it was one of the best gifts she had ever received. Ever.

BOOM.

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Presents for Peepers First Birthday (Thank You, Silhouette Cameo)

My adorable little niece Penelope (heretofore known as Peepers) turned 1 in July, and for some reason, I am just getting around to posting about her gifts. What does one get for a 1 year old? They really don’t understand opening presents just yet; they’re often more entertained by crinkling the wrapping… banging the empty boxes together… banging the empty boxes on the dog. They will quickly grow out of expensive (read: anything pricier than Target) clothing, toys are mostly only useful for a 3-month span until developmentally they are onto something else, and just money or a savings bond – while very smart and appreciated – seems so anticlimactic, even though, yes, the kid doesn’t really understand present opening.

On another note, I just got a new Silhouette Cameo machine. I am not being paid or anything to pimp out the Cameo. Just mentioning it because at the time I was trying to figure out what to do for Peepers, I had JUST gotten the Cameo, and I wanted to play. This thing will cut paper, interfaced fabric, heat transfer vinyl, paper, templates for screen printing-esque fabric paint templates and I am sure more. I got a starter kit for the fabric printing and happen to have a bin full of scrapbooking paper (though I don’t really know why as I am not a scrapbooker). Bingo! Let’s kill two birds with one stone and make Peepers some gifts, seen below.

 

Shadowbox name decoration for nursery/bedroom and “screen print” tee shirt.

I really wanted to try out the screen print fabric paint, since I have some other ideas to work on for the Jennysold Etsy shop that would benefit from such a small-run production option. Yes, I know I said clothes are grown out of too quickly, but this was handmade, and the shirt was from Target, so I think that gives it a pass. I haven’t played with/perfected the use of the process yet, so I don’t want to post on it until I do, but suffice it to say that it’s pretty easy. However, I think if you plan on doing multiple runs of a same design, you’ll want to make sure it’s on the simpler side, as the more intricate designs take a decent amount of time to transfer. As far as the design, the nesting doll and the flower came from the free $10 artwork purchase starter card that comes with the Cameo. They’re on average $1/personal use; some have staged pricing for commercial use, and some aren’t available for commercial use at all.

Luckily, with the Cameo, you can upgrade from the free software to the $50 Designer Edition, which allows you to use any artwork you’ve created in Illustrator saved as an SVG file. This, to be totally honest, is what sold me on the machine immediately. That and the fabric arts options. Anyway, I used Illustrator to create Peeps’ name for the shadowbox and save as outlines so that when I imported the artwork, it was good to go. I believe you can also use all your own fonts in the standard edition of the software as well, but since I am way more comfy rendering art in Illustrator, and I wanted to try that out, I went there. Like above with the fabric paint, I haven’t done tons of work in it thus far so I don’t want to write about the process, but will at some point later. All said and done, it was pretty easy; I just should have picked a slightly thicker paper as the one I used was a little thin for the delicacy of the letters. Regardless, the shadowbox turned out beautifully for as simple as the design is, and I think she will really like having something “hers” like this that her Aunt Jenny made for her when she was a wee one. At least I hope so :)