Daily Drawing #3

Some of my roommates from college came to visit this weekend and we had such a good time! Apartment 2102!

Inspiration: Betsey Johnson

NYC Fashion Week 2010 ends today, and there has been some really fun and inspiring stuff. Am I thrilled that a major trend looking to hit next spring is BEIGE? No... I'm not. I'll probably stick with my bright colors...

Which is why I'm happy Betsey Johnson had quite the colorful runway (as always) showcasing her Spring 2011 collection, and thats my inspiration this week. All photos are from the official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week website, so for even more inspiration and to see what other designers have coming, take a look there.

Now I'm not saying we should all go purchase a neon multi colored, ruffle layered, full circle dress... but we can let the colors, shapes, fabrics, or overall youthful & child-like atmosphere inspire our own work, whatever that may be!

Inspiration: Lights in the Night

A huge part of what attracts me to NYC, and cities in general, is the late night landscape. Its surreal to be in a place where it feels as light out at 3am as it does at 3pm.

I'm calling this week's inspiration "Lights in the Night". Something about the illuminated out-of-focus quality creates magical moments & colors that don't exist in the real world.

These abstract shots are also the easiest style to achieve for an amateur photographer. Just go wave your camera around in the city, bar, or full moon light to get some inspiration of your own!

campfires, AZ & MA:

neon signage, UT:

hookah bar, RI:

Carter & Steven's Farm grill night, MA:

misc lighting:

stage lighting, NY & CT:

Tuesday Tutorial: Small Pouch

I'm excited about where my blog is going, I have a variety of steady post categories cropping up—Crafter Profiles, Thursday Inspiration, and now Tuesday Tutorials!

Sometimes I like to make a quick nonsense project for myself or just as an experiment. Now on Tuesdays, I'll share tutorials on those projects here.

Below are the steps to make the small pouch bag pictured above. This pouch took me a couple hours one evening, so its a great quick project when you have a little free time or want to update your accessories wardrobe for the coming season.

You should know this is my first time even attempting to provide a tutorial for one of my projects... usually I just make the project from scratch and don't concentrate on creating clear and understandable instructions. So if this first tutorial seems a bit rough, be patient and they will get better as the weeks go on!

Materials:

Scrap Paper (for patterns)

Fabric - one type for the outside and another for the lining

Scissors

Marker or Pencil

Pins

Thread

Sewing Machine (or a needle for hand sewing)

Instructions:

1. Measure & cut your patterns.

2. Fold your fabric in half, pin your patterns with the straight side along the fold and cut your fabric. Repeat this step for the lining. In this tutorial the outside fabric is striped and the lining is yellow.

3. Stack your outside and lining fabric inside out (front sides facing each other). Pin the top parts as I've shown below, about .25" from the edge. Sew where you have pinned (the bottom part will get sewn later.

4. Turn the sewn pieces right side out.

5. Stack both pieces inside out (with the outside fabrics facing each other). Pin the bottom which hasn't been sewn yet, about .25" from the edge. Sew where you have pinned.

6. Turn right side out and you have your basic pouch! Now its time to embellish however you choose—add a strap with extra fabric or ribbon, add a closure such as a snap, button or velcro, and add extras like tassels or patches.

In the comments section below please post links to photos of your bag once you try the project for yourself, along with any questions or tips!

Inspiration: Flower Garden

The end of the week is upon us and you may be running out of creative steam. In that case, here is some colorful inspiration to keep you going!

August Alphabet Posters are on Etsy!

July posters, "C" and "D", are finally posted on Etsy! For more info on the series check out my previous post.

Looking for a specific letter? Here's the timeline:

July 2010: A, B

August: C, D

September: E, F

October: G, H

November: I, J

December: K, L

January 2011: M, N

February: O, P

March: Q, R

April: S, T

May: U, V

June: W, X

July: Y, Z

Colored Pencil Case

My birthday just passed and this hand crafted colored pencil case was one of my gifts!

I have such crafty, talented friends (many of which have not been mentioned on this blog and thats crazy... I need to start writing about them more often)!

My friend, Emily, made this for me... and I love it! I wanted to hang it on the wall in my office because its so colorful and fun, but that defeats the entire purpose of it being a convenient travel case for colored pencils. So now it sits in my backpack waiting to go to an outdoor concert tonight - hooray hand crafted gifts, hooray art, hooray summer :)

Thanks Emily!!

And like I said, all you crafty friends will get recognition soon enough!