NiftySwank

Patterns Patterns

2012-03-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a few patterns I've been working on. I just did them for fun and am not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. If you have any good ideas, let me know!

Vintage vs. Old

2012-03-05T09:29:00.005-07:00

Isn't it strange how something can have no value in one stage of life and high value in another? My parents own a department store in a small Montana town. I remember years ago people bringing in old mid-century furniture they wanted to get rid of that the store then re-sold cheaply in the used furniture section. Vintage couches, streamlined wood side tables, retro chairs. Fast-forward 15 years and those same things are sold in cool vintage furniture shops for way more than the original owners paid. It's kind of crazy how the value of something goes down when it's considered just old, but sky-rockets up once it's considered vintage. I was actually at a second-hand shop a few months ago and found this great retro black phone for five dollars. A few weeks later I saw the same phone in white at an antique shop for $65. Not to mention the retro 'hand-painted" phones Anthropologie had a while ago for $98. I just boggles my mind to think stuff we once thought was ugly out-of-style junk that we could have gotten for nothing is now stuff we realized is so-cool-how-did-we-miss-it that we must pay crazy prices for instead of getting free from our grandma's basement. Who knows what stuff we will all want next but think is super ugly now. Maybe I should start collecting those pastel-plaid couches from the 80's just in case.

With my love for retro things though, I did a screen-print of a rotary phone. I decided it needed friends so I added a radio and clock. I figured it might be more affordable to own a image of these things (you can get them here if you're so inclined) instead of paying a crazy price for the actual item. Unless I find it for five dollars somewhere.

The Good Life

2012-03-01T23:48:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I love sweets. Love them. Too much. I did this linocut letterpress print specifically to celebrate my love for sugary confections. I was originally going to do the phrase "just say no" with a picture of a cupcake on it, but then realized I was probably just going to look at it and crave cupcakes. So even though I really have been attempting to eat a little more balanced (no more cookies for breakfast!) I decided if I was going to put something down on paper, it should be about the simple pleasures of sweet things. What can I say? A little treat here and there just makes life a little sweeter.

Recent Designs

2012-02-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

I design a lot of scrapbooking products for my job at American Crafts and thought I would share some of the stuff I've worked on in the last few months. We recently acquired Crate Paper and I was lucky enough to be able to design one of their new lines. It's a lot of fun because I get to use a lot of color and illustration and this line was no exception!

You can see more from the line here and how some talented scrapbookers use it here and here.

Project No. 5 : Small Dining Set

2012-02-27T09:15:00.002-07:00

When my brother and sister-in-law got married, they were moving into a tiny apartment. Therefore, they needed tiny furniture (okay, just slightly more compact furniture). I got excited and made them this table and chairs set for their wedding present (sorry about the before picture, I actually remembered to take a picture this time, I just didn't do it until I already started the project). I was lucky enough to find a small chess table and two sets of chairs that went well together at a second hand store. I sanded everything down and painted the table base and chairs a rusty orange. Then I re-stained the table top a dark brown (the chess pattern was too cool to paint over) and found a brown and white damask pattern for the chairs to match. It was such a fun project and I got to introduce orange into their decor (and they couldn't do a thing about it). They actually really liked it though, which is the whole point right?

Random Thought of the Week

2012-02-24T09:24:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while I wonder what the point of alarm clocks are. I know they are supposed to wake you up in the morning, but does anyone actually get up the first time it rings? I would guess most people hit the snooze button at least once. Or, if you're like me, every morning you keep hitting the snooze alarm until an hour later you wake up in a panic realizing you have barely enough time to get ready and run out the door. Every. Single. Morning. Once I hit snooze so many times, it gave up on me. I woke up to a moment of bliss realizing the sun was actually out. Then I woke up to a moment of panic when I realized the sun was out, work started 15 minutes ago and I still had a half-hour commute to go. Of course I threw myself together, forgot my phone and if I turned off my straightener and realized my car was on empty, so I had to stop for gas. Not my best day. I felt betrayed by my alarm clock, it was supposed go off every ten minutes, reminding me I was supposed to get up ten minutes ago. So what is the point of this little monologue? There is no point, just like my alarm clock.

Vintage Florals

2012-02-22T00:39:00.001-07:00

I'm really in love with floral patterns with a vintage feel. Here are a few of my favorites!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

All About Events

2012-02-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I hosted a baby shower for one of my very best friends, Amanda. It was my first attempt doing something like this and I have to say it was pretty fun seeing it all come together. Dessert, design and good friends, how could you go wrong? (Normally this is where I would proceed to tell you how things went wrong, but it actually went pretty smooth. This time.)

In a way, doing an event (even if it's a small one like this one) is basically like branding a company or product (something I do in my field). It starts with idea and logo, or in my case an invitation, which you then build everything around. I did the invitations with a circus theme that included a perforated ticket and homemade lollipop and went from there.

I am no Amy Atlas and it was a small get together, so I just did a small dessert table that included popcorn, candy, cheesecake pops, cupcakes and lollipops. I designed popcorn bags, favors and a banner to match the invitation and color coordinated everything else as well.

It was a fun project and I am now pretty much an expert in cheesecake-pop and homemade-lollipop making (useful life skills). Overall, I think everyone had a good time, which should be the key ingredient in a successful get together.

(p.s. - Once again, sorry about blurry photography. Apparently I wasn't interested in actually seeing what was in the photos when I took them.)

Random Thought of the Week

2012-02-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Don't you love cough drops? The way they magically soothe your throat and keep you from making loud noises in quiet places? I do. In high school I didn't appreciate the wonder of cough drops. I hated the taste so I couldn't keep them in my mouth for more than 10 seconds. I remember taking the ACT (for the second time - even though I got a good score my mom had read you gain at least two point if you take it a second time - such a tiger mom) while I had a cold. In the middle of the test I started coughing (I occasionally get these coughing attacks where I can't stop coughing and my right eye waters uncontrollably). So here I am, in a room full of quiet students taking a test that will determine their future and I keep coughing like crazy and can't see the test anyway because my eye keeps watering. The test monitor took pity on me and let me go in the hall for a drink of water. I waited until my cough subsided, went back in, found a cough drop that I sucked on for dear life for the rest of the test. Needless to say, there was a two point difference from that ACT score and the first one, just not in the direction my mom hoped. The moral of the story is don't take the ACT when you're sick and cough drops are your best friend, especially in very quite places.

Tablecloths and Mexican Food

2012-02-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, so this isn't much of a post today. I've been sick and with all the birthdays and family in town, I haven't had a lot of time to figure out what to post.

I though I would show this image, which I love! It's actually the tablecloth from my favorite restaurant The Red Iguana which I went to for my birthday. The Red Iguana is excellent mexican food (my favorite!) and they definitely like bright colors in the decor, which makes it that much more fun. Isn't this such a gorgeous pattern! (And isn't Instagram awesome! It makes your photos look so much better.)

Project No. 4 : Dresser Overhaul

2012-02-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm probably a typical girl in the respect that I love shopping. I don't want to sound cliche (too late), but you could probably say I'm a shopaholic. For that reason, I usually try to avoid malls or shopping establishments of any kind. Because on the outside I might tell myself "I'll be good and only get the few things I'm looking for" and once I'm inside, something comes over me. I see the shiny store fronts filled with shoes, clothes, accessories, home furnishings and sweets and suddenly I need and want everything and all bets are off. I lose all discipline and couldn't care less about it. I usually feel a little differently when I come out of the store, but I'm afraid to go back in to return anything for fear I'll end up getting that extra dress I saw on my way out.

One of the places I go crazy like this is in a local second-hand store. I always see potential in furniture and dinnerware (the reason I have so many dishes) and almost always end up coming home with one of them. During the summer when my parents were visiting, we went to the second-hand store. On the way in I told everyone I had absolutely no plans to buy anything, especially furniture. As soon as I walked through the doors the "magical shopping syndrome" came over me and I saw a mid-century cabinet I suddenly had to have. I literally had just told everyone a minute before I would not buy anything and was now looking for an employee to put a sold sticker on it and put it in the back so I could take it home.

The piece that started it all (at least my second-hand furniture addiction, not the overall shopping problem) was this dresser. I needed one for a new place I moved into and I was not willing to spend a ton of money, so I picked this up at the second-hand store, took it home and re-made it over. I wish I would have thought to take before pictures, but once again, I didn't think that far ahead. I sanded it, painted it and added knobs from Anthropologie (the total amount of the knobs cost me more than the entire dresser! And I eventually changed the knobs to these) and lined the drawers with this beautiful fabric by Joel Dewberry.

I've had it for years, still love it and don't regret the furniture trend it started in my apartment (at least in the "buy cheap furniture and fix it up vs. buy a real piece of furniture at a real furniture store" way). Which is probably a good thing since I'm probably spending all that money saved in furniture in a mall somewhere. Probably on shoes.

Random Thought of the Week

2012-02-10T11:24:00.001-07:00

Birthdays are pretty great. Especially when you have about four of them in one week. I have a few friends and family members who all have birthdays coming up in the next few days. We just had one for my friend today and as we were standing around, staring at her while we sang "Happy Birthday" I thought, "Why do we do this? Where did standing around singing and staring awkwardly at the birthday person while that person tries to figure out where to look so it's less awkward, come from?" So I looked it up on my trusty source, the internet.

I found a page all about it here (well, actually all about the song, not so much why we do it - that remains a mystery). Turns out two sisters made up the song (there is some controversy that they made up the melody with different original words, but someone else used it without their permission and changed the words to "Happy Birthday to You") over a hundred years ago. One of the sisters eventually went to court over the copyright issue of the song and now the family was entitled to royalties every time it was sung for a commercial purpose. Then Warner Communications bought ownership of the song for over $28 million dollars. $28 million dollars to sing "Happy Birthday to You." I need to get into song writing.

There's nothing like celebrating the day someone you care about came into existence, even if you have to have an awkward singing bit in the middle. The good news is that "Happy Birthday to You" is in the public domain, so if you're singing it to a friend at a party that isn't for commercial gain, you probably won't get arrested. What's a better birthday present than that?

Awesome Stuff : Red and Pink

2012-02-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

Did you know red is on of the top two favorite colors of all people? Neither did I (I don't know what the other color is, my money is on blue). I read about it here, on one of my new favorite sites. The entire site is all about color, which I love, so of course I love this site.

I figured in honor of the upcoming holiday, I would find awesome stuff in red and pink. This color combination is so fun because it seems like it should clash too much but ends up working out since they are pretty much just different shades of the same color. I've always liked this color combo because it reminds me of my birthday, which is right around Valentine's day. I had some pretty awesome pink and red themed parties when I was little. My mom went all out. I'm talking heart-shaped cakes with handmade sugar flowers, homemade heart lollipops and once she even made me a full 3-D Garfield cake (which doesn't really have anything to do with Valentines, but I wanted to share.) Thanks Mom, for making my birthdays awesome! And making me love red and pink in the process.

Here are some red and pink things I think are awesome because:

1. Katharine Watson Monogram Card : individually they are beautiful, as a set they are amazing.
2. Misala Handmade Clutch : you can carry around needless things with you AND be stylish.
3. PrettyTape : it's red tape that's actually useful.
4. Modcloth Soda Fountain Dress : it's a retro looking red dress. What's more to say?
5. Ruche Flower Clip : it never hurts to add a little embellishment.
6. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies : they're cookies!
7. Paper Source Paper Straws : straws are just awesome, especially when they have stripes on them.
8. Yee Haw Letterpress Cards : the best way to tell someone you love them is with wood type!

Two Weeks for Everything

2012-02-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Moving is the worst. I just spent most of the weekend packing and moving from my cute apartment to a new place (with the help of some amazing friends and family. Thanks guys!)

I have this weird tendency to always think I have two weeks for everything. I remember once planning on going to a concert with a friend and thinking for a month I still had a couple of weeks to get the tickets. One day she called me and asked if I had gotten them yet. I said not yet, but I will in the next week or so. There was a second of silence and then she said, "Actually the tickets are sold out now, the show is tonight." I was shocked, where did the time go? I should still have two weeks! That's when I realized about my two-week syndrome. I try to stay aware of time, but I still have bouts of my little syndrome. Which is why I did pretty much all of my packing and moving my entire apartment in two days.

(Sorry for the low-res before photos. I didn't know I was going to post these someday when I moved in.)

But anyway, since one day I woke up in a fully furnished and decorated apartment and the next it was bare and I was in a new place surrounded by boxes, I thought I would reflect the transformation my apartment went over the last two years. I miss it already! But I'm excited for a change too.

Random Thought of the Week

2012-02-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe not really. I'm just moving today, so I didn't have time figure out what my real post would be. I guess my random thought of the week is that I hate moving. Seriously, how did I acquire so much stuff?!

Enjoy your Friday and think about how wonderful it is you get to stay put.

Awesome Stuff : Aqua and Orange

2012-02-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite color combinations is aqua and orange. I love the way they make each other pop since they are complimentary colors (color wheel stuff people). I love them so much that even when I try to add different colors to my apartment, somehow everything still ends up aqua and orange (and green, I do love green). Don't worry though, my place doesn't look like a shrine to the Miami Dolphins (one of two of my family members who actually pay attention to sports loves this team, that's the only reason I know who they are). Because I knew you were worried.

Awesome stuff I just wanted to post because:
1. Sara Wood poster : it has great patterns and makes you cooler if you own it.
2. Tree & Kimball MAEJA necklace : it's hand-dyed lace.
3. Anthropologie Chrysanthemum vase : who doesn't love a ceramic chrysanthemum.
4. Fruit Fly Pie ceramic owl bank : everyone knows owls make the best bankers.
5. Modcloth Too Much Fun dress : stripes are fun.
6. Erin Flett pillow : it's functional AND aesthetically pleasing.
7. Urban Outfitters heart rug : it's an orange heart!
8. Giardino napkins : it's hand printed and a gorgeous pattern.

Project No.3 : Reverse Applique

2012-01-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my parents were coming to visit and going to stay in my guest room (a.k.a my studio/junk/hoarder room). I knew I had to fix it up to enough to make it somewhat presentable. My mom always does a great job making home look great when I come to visit and I didn't want her to come to my place and me have to say "Here you go parents, your bed is that leaky air-mattress over there in-between the boxes I never unpacked when I moved in and the stack of unopened credit card offers I haven't gotten around to throwing away yet." I had been talking to my friend Lindsay (check out her awesome blog here) at work about reverse applique (here is a tutorial similar to what I did) and decided to try it out. I had some boring brown pillowcases and some extra fabric and decided to see what I could do with it.

I drew the 'left' and 'right' with one of those disappearing ink pens (super hard to see on brown when the ink is purple and keeps disappearing on you, hence the name) and then just stitched over it with embroidery thread. The '&' was a little harder since I had to pin and stitch the two layers together and then cut out the top layer. Overall though, it was a fun project that made my second room a little more hospitable for my parents. It's too bad that after they left, the pillows migrated to my room and the 'guest' room turned into a sad little junk room again. Oh well, some people have a junk drawer, but I like to do things big.

Random Thought of the Week

2012-01-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like the absent-minded professor (minus the professor part). Most people are pretty good at taking care of the everyday things that keep life running smoothly. Where are my keys, did I turn off the lights before I left the house, did I remember to activate the new iPhone I just got so I can stop using my hot pink phone I've had for the last four years? You know, typical stuff (and yes I'm still working on remembering to activate the new phone). I tend to forget things, not notice things and not always pay attention to the little things and it sometimes gets me into trouble. Case in point, earlier this week I was driving my normal commute to work, listening to an audiobook I was really into and failed to notice when everyone around me suddenly got slower. I did notice though, when a cop pulled up behind me and pulled me over. He got my license, went to his car and did whatever it is cops do before they give you your ticket then came back and said "Hey there, here's your ticket, also, did you know you have a warrant out for your arrest for an unpaid ticket in the next county over?" Wait, what?! I knew something had been nagging me in the back of my mind for a while, but of course, I couldn't remember what it was. I remembered now.

He let me go and as soon as I got to work I took care of it. I am now warrant free. It's a good thing I didn't get pulled over in the next county over, or this would be a very different story. Hopefully you don't think less of me for my near-arrest experience because of my absent-minded nature. Just remind me to pay the ticket I just got pulled over for so it doesn't happen again. I should probably get a planner.

Doing vs. Waiting

2012-01-25T00:43:00.000-07:00

I love this idea because it's so true, the best things really do come to people who work hard to achieve them. This is definitely a goal for me, because I am probably more of a waiting around type of person than a go-getter doer type. If only I was one of those people that gets up at five a.m. and gets things done all day instead of having barely enough time to get ready before leaving for work. (I'm not really a morning person. I'm not sure I'm really a night person either. More of a middle-of-the day person).

Hopefully someday I'll make a print of this, but for the moment it's just a file on my computer.* I guess I'm not following my own advice. See, I told you, waiter (as in waiting around, not waiting tables, as I'm sure you already figured out), not doer. That's what the New Year is for, right? Time for a change!

*Update: I now have digital prints of this available in my Etsy shop! I got around to it! Get it here.

Project No.2 : DIY Gift Wrap

2012-01-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about presents is the packaging. It can make that piece of jewelry you bought (that looked really cool surrounded by trendy booths at that indie boutique but somehow looks like something bought at Claire's at home) actually look cool again, or that scarf you knitted for your sister for Christmas (from that one knitting class you took that one time that taught you stuff you don't actually remember) look unique and textural instead of larger on one end and full of dropped stitches. I promise I try really hard to make or find unique and fun gifts, but these things have occasionally happened. The scarf one happened a few years ago when I tried to make my sister a Gryffindor scarf (she was really into Harry Potter back then). It started normal size on one end and somehow doubled in size by the time I was done. I think felt bad and eventually got her something else. I don't remember what it was exactly, probably the indie jewelry.

The whole point of this is that I like gift wrap and the whole overall look of gift packaging. I think it's almost as important to me as the actual gift (or possibly more if you consider the above paragraph). I'm really into hand-printing things and this gift wrap was something I did to try out making my own stamp. I got this idea from Lena Corwin's book Printing by Hand. I recommend checking it out, it has a lot of great project ideas and pretty clear instructions. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the process, but here's a quick breakdown of what you need and how to do it:

adhesive backed foam sheet (most crafts stores have these)
pencil, scissors, ink pad, acrylic stamp mount
paper to print on (I used the inside of a grocery bag)

Basically just draw a design on the foam sheet with a pencil (or trace a stencil if you are nervous about drawing freehand) and then cut it out, attach it to the acrylic mount and ink up. Then stamp the paper in whatever pattern you like. It's a great way to add something extra and make an awesome gift (or not-so-awesome gift) look even better!

Random Thought of the Week

2012-01-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

The other night I stayed up way to late obsessively checking my blog stats. I stayed up so late that by the time I finally went to bed, I couldn't fall asleep because I was suddenly incredibly hungry. So I did the only thing I could, I got up and ate some chocolate chip cookies. Normally this would be a very delicious treat because I have a very delicious recipe, but this particular batch wasn't up to par. I used self-rising flour instead of regular, so the dough ended up being super salty. I figured I could combat that by adding a ton of sugar. That should work right? Wrong. I ended up with slightly salty tasting sugar cookies that happened to contain chocolate chips.

Will I make that mistake again? No. Will I give my salty chocolate chip sugar cookies to unsuspecting cookie lovers? No. Will I still eat them as a midnight snack because they contain chocolate? Yes.

I think that about sums it up.

A Plug for Snail Mail

2012-01-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

Opening your mailbox is not the exciting adventure it once was. Instead of handwritten letters and pretty notecards, it's 6.99 haircut coupons (you know you are going to look awesome for 6.99) and credit card offers from companies you've never heard of (a company is definitely trustworthy if it says "We promise, we're legit, really" on the envelope.) Okay, so I might be exaggerating a bit. But it's not often you get a nice surprise instead of junk mail.

To combat this lack of real mail, I started an Etsy shop a few years ago. It combines my love of paper, design and stationary into one place. I started with note cards and added a few more things along the way. It's definitely more of a hobby at this point than a profitable side-business, but I love doing it anyway. I thought I would share some of the note cards I've done over the years. You can also check out the shop here. Go stationary!

Project No.1 : DIY Dinnerware

2012-01-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

I am in love with dinnerware. Every time I go to a second hand store, I mean to buy one or two specific things and somehow end up coming out with a new (to me) set of dishes (and usually a piece of furniture, knick knacks and old books). The amount of dinner, dessert and salad plates I own is astounding, especially since my kitchen is the size of a closet, so they are kind of stacked in weird places (I didn't really need space for the silverware right? Just kidding, mostly). I inherited this trait from my mother who owns enough dinner and glassware to line a very large wall (stacked) from floor to ceiling, which she actually does. They are in a nice (and huge) cabinet though, she's not a hoarder in case you were wondering. (Side note: Don't you find that show fascinating?) She also has a few cupboards of everyday dishes. You need fine china for a fancy dinner party? Check. Gold chargers for Christmas Eve? Check. Special plates for the birthday girl? Check. Need the right look for Halloween, Fourth of July and President's Day? Check, check and believe it or not, check. The two things she doesn't have are black and white dishes and really floral spring dishes, so my sister and I went to work creating a new set that combined both things for our mother for Christmas after I saw this project on Better Homes and Gardens.

I wish I had taken pictures as we were working on them, but I didn't think that far ahead, so here are some of the final product. Also sorry the photos are a little lame, I only own a point and shoot and I am no Ansel Adams.

Now I just need to make some for myself. I'm sure there's some extra room in the fridge.

Welcome!

2012-01-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Hi, welcome to NiftySwank! I'm Clairice, a graphic designer who loves everything design related, so of course I had to start a design blog (just like everyone else you know). Yeah creativity!