gingerandgeorge

DIY Dads

Father's Day this year happens on the 17th June, exactly one month from today. My dad doesn't really hold with such celebrations, but - sshh, don't tell - he was definitely the person I had in mind when I made a set of five fatherly cards for this month's issue of PaperCraft Inspirations. 

You can find the templates for three of them over at the PI blog now (full instructions and finished cards are in the issue), and there's also a fun little add-on project which I'll make sure to share here in a couple of weeks. 

In the meantime, and because it's not Father's Day just yet, I'm quite safe to randomly say, Dad - you're amazing and I love you heaps.

x 

Palette Pingpong (No.46) : Special Every Day

Palette Pingpong this week is inspired by two of my favourite people. First of all - and as almost-always - Gabrielle, who challenged me with the prettiest of pictures. Sadly, I'm not sure my palette quite does justice to the gentle, dainty nature of the original image (you can find it over at Gabrielle's blog):

Comparing and contrasting, I think it's the tiny amounts of colour, plus the warm neutrals in the challenge picture which look so lovely. Bigger patches of those same colours somehow don't have the same impact. Bearing that in mind, I made a print-at-home poster, inspired by a conversation with my sister last week.

She is very special to me, every day, and although I know for certain she's special to a lot of other people too, I'm sneakily and selfishly pleased I'm the only one who gets to have her as a sister.  

Mwah-ha-ha. And so on.

So, what about you? I mean, obviously you're special - that's a given - but after you print off your chosen poster (in charcoal or white), who are you going to give it to, and why?

Spill me some beans in the comments below. I am both nosy and secretly less frosty than you might think.

x

Way Back Wednesday: Eraser Stamping

Carving your own stamps from household erasers is much easier than you might think. It’s a slightly more sophisticated take on the classic classroom art of potato-stamping. But unlike potatoes (which are a lot trickier to cut smoothly in half than most children’s craft books will admit) erasers offer a completely flat surface which is perfect for creating stamped impressions. You can use them to carve all sorts of designs, from simple solid shapes to more detailed pictures, words and line-drawings. The fact that erasers – without wanting to cast even more aspersions on les spuds - won’t shrivel up and start to rot after a day or two means your stamps will last much longer, too.

 

Tools of the trade

:: Large, flat plain erasers

:: A fine marker pen or sharp pencil

:: A craft knife

:: Inkpads or acrylic paint

:: A surface to stamp on (e.g. paper, card or fabric)

 

Step by step

1. Decide on a simple design and draw it on the surface of your eraser with a pencil or fine marker pen. (If you’re not confident drawing freehand or just want some extra inspiration, try printing out clip-art shapes or images from a picture font.)

2. Using a craft knife, carefully cut around the outline. Don’t cut right through the full depth of the eraser – a few millimetres is enough.

3. Make smaller cuts going out to the edges of the eraser to divide the negative space of the design into smaller sections.

4. Now, working from the side edges, begin to slice horizontally across the eraser towards the edges of your shape. Lift out each section of negative space as you cut.

5. hen you’ve finished, your design should be raised above the remaining part of the eraser. Don’t worry if the cut-away pieces around the edges look messy – as long as your design has a good, smooth outline, it will stamp perfectly.

6. Tap an inkpad over the surface of the shape and then press down firmly onto a piece of paper or card.

7. Add any extra details (entirely optional) with a fine marker or sharp pencil.

8. Turn your stamped impression into anything you like - with a few scraps of patterned paper, this one became a tiny collage.

Ready made

Shaped erasers are a quick and super-easy alternative to carving your own. There are all sorts of cute designs available, and you can stamp with them just as you would with a hand-carved version.

Lines and details

Once you get a little more confident at carving your own designs, you might want to try adding more detail. To do this, you’ll ideally need to invest in a lino-cutting tool. I found mine at a local art shop for just a few pounds, but a quick Google search gives you plenty of online options, too.

Using the finest tip on the tool, it’s quite simple to trace over the outline of a drawing to create something like this:

You can also combine the idea with your shaped stamp designs.

 

NB. Don’t forget words will appear as a mirror image when you stamp. To avoid a carving disaster, write them onto plain paper first, flip it over and then trace onto the surface of your eraser. 

You can also use the lino-cutter to carve away the inner parts of a design (i.e. areas you wouldn’t be able to trim with a craft knife), again creating a slightly more complicated image.

Adding several stamped shapes together, you can build up different types of pictures and scenes.

And, as with the house collage before, you can use them to make finished projects, like this fun birthday card.

TAKE CARE!

Obviously, craft knives are very sharp, and the same is true of lino-cutting tools. If you’re not happy for your children to use them, it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy an activity like this – you’ll just need to work on it together. They can draw out the shapes and designs, you can take care of the tricky cutting and carving part, and they can take over again when it comes to creating inky impressions with the finished stamps.

x

 

Happy Sunday

x

Way Back Wednesday: Fancy Flowers + Swashbuckling Pirates

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so I thought a little revisit of a favourite project from last year was in order. As much as I enjoyed making these easy appliqué t-shirts, I loved seeing my nephew wearing the pirate version even more, especially as he's super-fussy about his clothes. When it comes to job satisfaction, there's nothing quite as good the approval of a discerning 5-year-old.

These simple appliqué t-shirts can be made for children of any age, using either a new, inexpensive tee or an older one in need of a quick makeover. The details are made from scraps of fabric and felt in colours of your choice, and the very basic stitches make it a perfect project for beginners. Older children should be able to give it a go with minimum supervision (and maybe have fun adding their own extra details) while younger ones will need a little more help, but will hopefully learn some great new skills.

The idea can also be adapted to work on other items, e.g. jeans, jackets, bags, hats, cushions, etc.. and if you have something in your own wardrobe that needs a quick update, there's no reason you can't join in with the stitching, too.

YOU WILL NEED:

A t-shirt

Scraps of fabric and/or felt

Fusible webbing (e.g. BondaWeb, Heat'n'Bond, WonderUnder)

Iron and ironing board

Pencil

Scissors

Needle

Embroidery thread

Erasable fabric pen (optional)

Buttons (for flower appliqué only)

 

STEP-BY-STEP | Pirate t-shirt

:: Print out the pirate templates (skull, bones and eyepatch) and then trace onto the paper side of fusible webbing. Roughly cut out each piece of webbing, leaving a small border outside your drawn outlines. 

:: Iron the three pieces onto the reverse of your chosen fabrics. I used a different print for each one, but you might prefer to have matching skull and crossbones with just the eyepatch in a contrasting print or colour. 

:: Cut out the three pieces, snipping through fabric and webbing, and this time following the drawn outlines precisely. (Don't worry if 'precise' is tricky for little hands - neatness isn't the primary objective here, and the templates are pretty forgiving).

:: Peel the paper backing off each shape and position on your t-shirt. Once you're happy with the way they look, carefully iron to fix in place. 

:: Take a length of embroidery thread in a shade to match the skull fabric, and separate it so you're only stitching with 2 or 3 of the six strands (this makes it much easier for beginners to handle and also gives a smoother, flatter finish). Knot the end and start sewing simple running stitches around the outside edge of the skull. They can be as neat or as messy as you like (or can manage!). If you run out of thread, secure the end at the back of your work, and carry on stitching with a new piece.

:: Sew around the outside of the eye socket, the nose, the crossed bones and the curved part of the eye patch in the same way.

:: Using pencil (which will wash out later) or an erasable fabric marker, draw a line diagonally across the head to mark a 'strap' for the eye patch. Draw a curved line at the bottom of the skull to mark the mouth.

:: Sew along the strap line, using backstitch. (I used the full six strands of thread for this to create a slightly thicker line, but it would work just as well with 2 or 3 if you find that easier). 

:: Sew along the mouth line, again using backstitch. Add some big single stitches going across the mouth line at random intervals. 

:: Run the iron over your finished applique one more time, and it's then ready to wear. 

STEP-BY-STEP | Flower t-shirt

:: Print out the flower templates (petals, centres and leaves) and then trace onto the paper side of fusible webbing. Roughly cut out each piece of webbing, leaving a small border outside your drawn outlines. 

:: Iron the pieces onto the reverse of your chosen fabrics. I made two totally different flowers, but you might prefer to go for a matching pair. 

:: Cut out all pieces, snipping through fabric and webbing, and this time following the drawn outlines precisely. (Don't worry if 'precise' is tricky for little hands - neatness isn't the primary objective here, and the templates are pretty forgiving).

:: Peel the paper backing off the petal and centre pieces and position on your t-shirt (set the leaves aside for now). Once you're happy with the way they look, carefully iron to fix in place. 

:: Take a length of embroidery thread in a contrasting colour, and separate it so you're only stitching with 2 or 3 of the six strands (this makes it much easier for beginners to handle and also gives a smoother, flatter finish). Knot the end and start sewing simple running stitches across the flower petals and in towards the centre. The stitches can be as neat or as messy as you like (or can manage!). If you run out of thread, secure the end at the back of your work, and carry on stitching with a new piece.

:: When you've stitched across all of the petals, sew a button in the centre of each flower.

:: Using pencil (which will wash out later) or an erasable fabric marker, draw a a straight line beneath each flower as a stem.

:: Sew along each stem, using backstitch. (I used four strands of thread for this to create a slightly thicker line, but it would work just as well with 2 or 3, as before). 

::  Peel the paper backing off the leaf pieces you cut out earlier and position them along the stem. You can add as many or as few leaves as you like. Iron into place, and then sew along the centre of each one, using running stitch again.

:: Iron your finished applique one more time, and it's ready to wear. 

If you're a parent, you know how this goes, but please obviously ensure children are supervised and very careful when using sharp scissors, needles and most especially a hot iron. If in any doubt, you might prefer to do the cutting out and ironing stages yourself.

 

TIPS

:: Appliqué is the perfect way to cover up stains or marks on clothing which no amount of washing will get rid of (marker-pen, bleach, etc..), and can also be used to disguise small holes or rips. 

:: Don't forget, girls can be pirates, too! Choose pretty floral patterns or softer colours to give the template a more feminine look, and try stitching a bow to the top of the skull as a cute finishing touch. Similarly, fabric and stitching projects aren't just for girls - basic sewing skills are useful for boys too, and a fun pirate-themed project like this could be just the thing to change their mind about what is often perceived as a girls-only activity. 

:: If you're not an especially confident stitcher yourself, or need to refresh your skills, you can find a step-by-step guide to the basics over at one of my favourite blogs, Wild Olive. The post on starting/strands and this one on running/backstitch will probably be the most useful, and the guide also includes alternative instructions for left-handers. 

:: The templates and ideas here are really just a starting point. You can apply the same basic principles to all sorts of different pictures and shapes. Start by sketching out your idea, trying to keep details relatively simple, and then break it down into component parts. Trace each one onto fusible webbing, and apply as described above. If you're not confident about drawing your own designs, search online for suitable clip-art images or find simple, traceable pictures in your child's favourite colouring book.

x

Happy days

In the last couple of months, both of my parents have accidentally retired. My dad had been pondering the whens and hows of it for around 18 months, when circumstances contrived to make it happen a little sooner than planned. It's possible he over-egged the telling once it was finally decided (even my birthday card this year included the phrase 'have I told you I'm retired?'), which should hopefully go a little way to explaining the inspiration behind the 'happy retirement' card I made for him.

It seems like he set a trend, because a few weeks ago, my mum also joined the retirement party earlier than expected. She's gone for the keeping-ridiculously-busy approach to it so far, rather than my dad's share-it-and-share-it-again option. 

I, meanwhile, have gone for butterflies and flowers on retirement card no.2,  plus a little wish for (lots of) happy days.

(The card is also my take on this month's Hambly sketch challenge, which you can find over at the blog now, along with info on how you can join in.)

Happy retirement, Mum & Dad - may it be long, relaxing and thoroughly marvellous.

xx

Palette Pingpong (No.45)

Hola Pingpong pals. 

Shall we keep things brief and perfectly to the point? In this week's pong-tastic episode, it was my turn to choose an image for Gabrielle, and by way of overcompensating for the grey and grisly world currently outside my window, I went with this one:

Spied on the ever-awseome Decor8, the image is actually from a book, La Tartine Gourmande, by Béatrice Peltre. I'm not generally a big user of cookery books, but with photos this beautiful, I could be converted. Heaven knows, it wouldn't hurt. Let's compare the eggs above to one of mine, shall we?

It can only be a matter of time before Nigella's people come a-knocking, I think.

Culinary exploits aside, you should probably be heading over to Gabrielle's blog to see what she's made with the lovelier of those two images. Rumour has it a palette and a fancy freebie are yours for the admiring and the snapping up. 

(Please note: no chickens were harmed in the making of this blog post.)

x

 

Fancy Painted Glassware

Despite the simplicity of this project, it actually took me an age to put together this week. Spray painting glass jars and bottles outdoors, in between the heaviest and most determined of downpours? Not the best idea. If you fancy giving it a go yourself, don't be an impatient idiot like me. Hold out for a dry day instead, and everything else should be easy-breezy.

You can find a quick step-by-step tutorial over at the Hambly blog, and in case you were wondering (you wouldn't be the first), all of the photos are in colour; it's just the glassware and the wallpaper background which are in black and white.

x

Sing A Song Of (not even) Sixpence

A couple of months ago, I put together ten cards for a feature in PaperCraft Inspirations. All of them featured sentiments based on song titles - a Truly, Madly, Deeply wedding card, an Isn't She Lovely new baby greeting, and so on. There were a few which didn't quite make the cut (Every Day I Love You Less And Less, Shoplifters Of The World Unite), but . . . you know, maybe one day.

For now, though, you can find and download the whole feature over at The Making Spot website for free. As in, it won't even cost you sixpence to get all ten songs wedged in your brain for hours on end. 

You're welcome. 

So, if you were going to pick out a song to inspire a card, what would it be? 

x

PS. Despite the feature mentioning soupy old Rose Royce, you know and I know the only worthy version of Wishing On A Star is the Paul Weller one, right? Just to be clear. 

Palette Pingpong (No.44) : Retro Lamp

This week's Palette Pingpong challenge finally helped me get around to a small but long overdue makeover project. You can find Gabrielle's original picture over at the green gables (along with a terrific book review she posted earlier in the week), and this is the palette it inspired:

Generally speaking, I'm not overly fond of pink or purple, but I do have the biggest crush on Melody Miller's Ruby Star fabric line just now. The colour scheme above matches perfectly with this print in particular, so - strictly in the interests of Palette Pingpong and not at all because I was looking for any excuse to buy some - I, um . . . bought some. And teamed with a freshly-painted lamp base, I think it does the job pretty well.

From this:

To this:

It's the first time I've used one of our swatches for a home decor project, and I'm now thinking it might be fun to try it out on something bigger - a quilt maybe, or even the colour scheme for a whole room. If you've got a picture you think would be an especially good source of inspiration, I'd love to see it. Leave a link below, and you never know what it might lead to.

Similarly, if you've made something inspired by a Pingpong palette, please do get in touch so we can (a) come and have a nosy, and (b) share it here, for everyone else to enjoy, too.   

x