Earning A Patch In: Papercutting

What have I been doing while I've been away from you all this time Scouts? Well I decided to take up papercutting, of course! 

I stocked up on knives and cutting mats and cardstock during black Friday (holler at Joann's deal$$$), and looked at some online tutes. I dumbed down this tutorial to my cave-woman level equipment and finally completed my first piece. It's a little something to send my little niece for her birthday. I hope to eventually improve to more intricate work, like Rob Ryan and Suzy Taylor, but as they say: PRACTICE!

-

Step 1: The puzzle of figuring out exactly what to cut and what to leave and where to connect it all. Black permanent marker for cuts, white for keeps.

Step 2: Start cutting. Don't fuck it up.

Step 3: Gaze upon the beauty of your creation. 

-

The process reminds me a lot of linocutting, which I always enjoyed, but minus the actual linoleum and ink and supplies! I love how organic and yet structured this particular media is, as exemplified by the gorgeous paper cuts and other products based on the designs of Emily Brown at BirdMafia. 

I adore these simple Valentines and greetings from the Bird Mafia site! (Click photos to be taken directly to those items on etsy.) I can definitely see myself sending little paper-cut 'howdy's in the mail. So keep an eye out to see what else I cook up!

don't you lay those hallelujahs on those babies anymore,

cait

Friday's Awesome Five

Salut Lush Scouts! I have a roundup of my faves from this week, and there are some really great things, if I do say so myself, so read on!


1. I had a great birthday this year! My parents sent me a package of cool things (including a neat bulletin magnet board my mom hand crafted), Gu got me a couple vinyls, my niece made me a card and sent me a picture of a rainbow unicorn, I went to a concert with Gu and some rad dudes, Gu brought me a donut cake (yes, those are giant donuts sculpted in the shape of a hamburger and fries, and yes, it did have real bacon on it), and she also accompanied me to Von Trapp's to drink Austrian beer and eat Käsespätzle!

I even got to partake in the sharing of a boot of Radler! (I have been informed by my uncle that I have betrayed my German ancestors by drinking without the toe up. My bad!)

Which brings me to my next point...


2. While living in Austria, I discovered the most refreshing beverage on the planet: Radler. It is a beer based, mixed 50/50 with soda, drink that comes in a variety of flavors from lemon to lime to grapefruit to berry and in Austria you can even get an Almdudler mix (if you know where to look). It comes in bottles, it comes in cans, it comes branded, and it comes generic. Similar to the British 'Shandy,' but better, I'm always shocked that it hasn't caught on in America. There is nothing like carrying your groceries from the store to the streetcar, to your apartment, and up several flights of stairs, just knowing there is an ice cold Radler to cheer you when you get to the top.

3. On an unrelated note, I recently ran across Fashion to Figure on Pinterest and I'm a big big fan! It's affordable, on-trend clothes for me! There are already many things in my cart to purchase. I've been wanting a galaxy dress for a while and I really like the colour and the style (especially the sleeves) of the one below. I'm just kind of in love with the striped illusion dress, and that skirt is so so so intriguing. The skirt is sheer, but there are boyshorts inside of it. It's just so crazy! Also interesting fact, the founders are the great grandsons of the Lane Bryant and the store is named after something she said in Glamour: You should never ask women to conform their figures to fashion, but rather bring fashion to the figure.

4. I made Gu this little craft project quite a while ago. It's a canvas with raised letters, all painted the same colour. I was making frames for my niece and nephew to keep pictures of themself with their brand new baby brother and had leftovers so I made one for Gu. It took us all of 6 seconds to decide that it should say 'LESS MOPE MORE DOPE' because that's her favorite slogan after 'Life's A Beach'.  I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with mine, but I think I've finally decided and I'll maybe do a quick little DIY when I get around to making mine this weekend.

5. I am considering putting myself on the market for a rug to brighten up the floor of my room/protect my carpet and thus far I'm finding a few things that draw my eye over at Urban Outfitters. I really like the split rugs that they are offering. I like the idea of getting two prints for the price of one. I'm also always a sucker for bright bright florals. I really like the half polka-dot/half floral rug pictured below and I've included a bonus, because I just really like that mat!

She Moves In Mysterious Ways,

Cait!

A Labor of Love: How to DIY a Crappy Vintage Tee into an AWESOME Tank Top

I don't know if you've heard the news Lush Scouts, but I may be a little bit obsessed with Paul Simon.

Because of this, I've long been in the market for a Paul Simon shirt, but nothing meets my many requirements (the right print, the right colour, the right price). But my hours spent trolling ebay have not been for naught! After finishing my nightstand I was in need of a project and this shirt miraculously appeared on my radar!

The first thing that caught my eye was the price! Less than 10 dollars.

Second, I am a girl who is fond of RIT dye, so I can appreciate the blank canvas of a white shirt.

The most important thing I noticed was this massive stain across the upper shoulder!

As someone with the utmost reverence for Paul Simon memorabilia, I could tell it hadn't been treated with the respect that it deserved.

So I adopted the shirt as my new pet project.

The first step was much much bleaching. I used a toothbrush to specifically scrub the stains with bleach. This both worked really well and totally backfired. The stains disappeared, but the part that I had scrubbed was much brighter than the rest of the shirt! So the whole thing got a bath in some extremely diluted bleach. 

At this point I decided that lavender was the correct colour for the shirt. I gave it a bath in a little bit of purple dye and then a quick dip in some navy in order to get the colour I wanted. 

The colour is even lighted now after a good washing-machine wash and a couple of wears. It is very nice. 

The other important step I needed to take was to make it a tank top. Pro-tip for ladies with big tatas: cutting the sleeves off of a slightly-too-tight teeshirt and sewing back up the sides a little will make the shirt fit better than it had with the sleeves. I don't know why this works, but it always always does. It also allows you to stretch the shoulders out and make it a little longer.

So that is what happened next and now this shirt is my child. It goes to parties and work with me. It even went to the beach. Just another labor of love in honor of Paul Simon, and now treated with all the love and adoration it deserves.

Still Crazy After All These Years

Cait

A Wee Project: DIY Nightstand

Howdy Lushies,

I just thought I'd show you a wee project (that just took a couple months out of pure spite) that I finished a few weeks ago.

I found this heinous filing cabinet-y thing covered in cobwebs and abandoned in the hallway. It was maroon metal on most surfaces, some wood, and a piece of thick cardboard for the back.

I left it in the hallway for a couple of weeks, but at that point I decided it was fair game. I rapidly discovered why it had been abandoned as I dragged it pathetically into my apartment. This thing is solidly constructed of particle-board and metal and man is it heavy!

I took the back off, pulled out approximately one zillion staples, and wiped away the cobwebs, and after several weeks of modpodging and sanding and remodpodging, I finally had a night stand that only cost a few bucks (and a lot of patience.)

And the moment I finished this project, after significant procrastination, I've moved through several projects since (coming soooon!).

Nothing Compares To You,

Cait