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Ahoy there, shipmates.
This is the tale of a project made long ago, if not all that far away.
I have a fairly poor history when it comes to boats, from the time I almost died (of shame, not drowning) falling out of one on the Serpentine, to the time my mum almost died when my dad (accidentally) swung an anchor at her head. This boat, however, is pretty safe. Dry, anchor-free, way too small to actually set sail - it's my kind of vessel.
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Evening all.
I have a couple of speedy things to share with you before the Friday night partying kicks off in earnest. (And no arguing - cauliflower cheese and a Michael Frayn paperback definitely counts as partying.)
First of all, the GIRL planner I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is now finished, printed and ready to drop into your Etsy cart, should the fancy take you. The CustomPlanners shop is here, and you can also find a little competition over at the blog.
Which is a nice, neat, tied-up-with-a-ribbon segue into second of all - the winner of the 1000th comment giveaway posted here at the start of the week. Congratulations to Camilla Corrêa! I'll be in touch over the weekend, Camilla, so we can sort out the details of your Etsy gift certificate.
Thanks so much to everyone who entered - I especially loved that comments were scattered over such a wide range of posts. I'm planning to spend a few happy hours tomorrow posting replies and visiting blogs.
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This week's Palette Pingpong comes to you via a picture from Gabrielle, which you can find over at the green gal. At first glance, it's not the most obviously colourful of images, which makes it all the more surprising that I got such a big range of shades from it to begin with. Sometimes, that's the way it goes - subtlety can be an interesting and pretty wonderful thing. In the end, I chose to hone the palette down to something as softly simple and muted as the original image itself.
I'm less sure the project it inspired could be described as subtle or muted, but it is simple and hopefully fun, too.
For my part, the heartfelt thank you is aimed at everyone who's left a comment here this week (I'll post the 1000th commenter giveaway winner tomorrow). They've been kind, funny, definitely splendid and very much appreciated.
Want to pass on a similar sentiment? You can download any of the three card designs (kraft, red/orange, yellow/white or blue/green), print out, fold and trim to size.
It might be the easiest way ever to mind your Ps and Qs.
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Only a couple of months way-back, if I'm honest, but that just about qualifies, right?
The card above was very directly inspired by a fun challenge idea in this month's PaperCraft Inspirations magazine. You can find the details, plus my original card project, over at the PI blog. If you feel like using the inspiration a little less literally, the post also contains info on how to join in and try out your own prizes-to-be-won version.
The super-lazy among you might be pleased to know there's an even easier option heading this way tomorrow. Assuming a quick press of the 'print' button won't be too much of a strain, you'll be golden.
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Find them here, and don't forget you can still enter for the chance to win a gift certificate.
Happy Tuesday, blogettes.
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She's a clued-up kind of a gal, that caped super-crusader.
I have a handful of new things to add to my Etsy shop this week, starting with a downloadable tutorial which shows you how to make Supergirl and her pals, Pirate, Sweet Japanese Girl, Music Fan, Ms Beehive and Wizard Who May Or May Not Be Harry Potter.
You can find the tutorial - all super-detailed 15 pages of it - right here, should you be on the lookout for such a thing.
The remaining updates will happen throughout this week, and to celebrate I'm hosting a giveaway. Comment numbers here on the blog are nearing a thousand, and although I'm going to be cagey about exactly how many more it'll take to get there (random is more fun), the 1000th commenter will win a $25 gift certificate to spend in the shop. You can comment on any post - old or new - and if you want to enter more than once, well that's ok, too. Just please don't leave multiple, spammy comments on any single blog post (although I know you wouldn't, because you're awesome like that).
NB. If you buy something in the shop this week and then turn out to be Lucky Commenter No.1000, you can choose whether to spend your gift certificate on something else, have your earlier purchase refunded or a combination of the two, depending on the amounts in question.
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I'm never quite sure how well I manage to hide things here on the internet. You might not know, for instance, that I have a terrible weakness for tiny sweets which taste like soap, or that I used to be pretty good at juggling. Probably less of a secret is the fact I'm quite obsessive.
Which may explain the following.
Last week, I made some fancy strips of deco-tape and posted about them here. Lots of people seemed quite keen on the idea which (a) made me very happy (thank you, like-minded readers), and (b) was all the invitation I needed to go tape-crazy. Admittedly, a single comment would have done it. I like making tape.
You might also remember I had some leftover tissue paper hanging around and in a happy collision of ideas . . . say hello to DIY washi tape.
Made following exactly the same method as for the original envelope tape, you just need to be a little more careful working with tissue, which is obviously thinner and more prone to tearing than regular paper. On the plus side, however, it also means your finished tape is semi-transparent (like real washi-tape), so you can create slightly different effects when applying it to projects.
As well as a pack of regular, gift-wrap tissue (the stripes, which are by Caroline Gardner), I also used some leftover Decopatch sheets - an orange and white print, plus a wholly delicious woodgrain. And then I found another kind which seemed like a good idea.
Because if woodgrain tissue-tape is good, vintage sewing pattern tape is kind of awesome.
I'd love to tell you this whole thing stopped there, but the sewing patterns led me to a fresh box of papery goodness, and - like I mentioned back at the start - things got out of hand.
First of all, there were vintage books in the box, along with some Chinese text.
And then, origami papers.
Some old maps.
And a couple of IKEA tape measures (don't tell me you never swipe a few extras while you're there).
I suspect it will be quite a while before I run out of tape . . .
. . . or the urge to make things with it.
But if and when I do find something else which is begging to be tape-i-fied, I promise you'll be the first to know.
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