Happy Unbirthday Card

People expect birthday cards, but they don’t expect unbirthday cards. I wanted to make an “all-purpose” card that could be given to someone at any time—akin to a “thinking of you” card.

Although an unbirthday is the opposite of a birthday, I still wanted to allude to the celebratory nature of birthdays (and I think most of us can agree that when we think about birthdays, we think about cake). With cake in mind, I stacked the type in a way that is reminiscent of a two-tiered cake, and then added a design glyph at the top to indicate a flame from a candle.

Hopefully this little card can brighten someone else’s day (it’s appropriate 364/365 days out of the year). So for those whose birthday is today, Happy Birthday! And for everyone else, Happy Unbirthday!

Danger!

I loved the 100 yen shops in Japan. I found the products there to be fascinating (maybe in part because I wasn’t sure what all of them were). But I also thought that the 100 yen products often looked better than those found at the American dollar stores; the stationary was cuter, the dishware was prettier and the food was more interesting (like chocolate filled mochi).

DIY: Paint Sample Index Card Pad

I had a stack of index cards that I was never going to use. Quite frankly, I wasn’t even sure why I had them since I’d never used them while in school (once upon a time ago). To finally use them, I decided to make a pad.

Just Give Me Money

I’m not particularly excited about giving money and gift cards as presents. It may be what the person in question actually wants, but it’s so impersonal. [Sigh.]

Link Me

I stumbled upon a book about chainmail jewelry while at the library, and immediately thought of the British having chainmail (like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail). In leafing through the book, there were many patterns to choose from (and varying in difficulty), but it looked like something I could do and decided to try it.

Cock and Bull Story Pad

I enjoy wordplay. Words carry so much within them: the meaning of the words themselves, the sounds they create when spoken and the surprise of unexpected words strung together in an interesting fashion.

You Must Be 20

Beer-chan pad (front)

Food with personality is funny to me. Characters that you can eat or drink, well, their fates are already sealed…and they were delicious.

DIY: Woven Paper Tags

I’ve been to a few paper shows. Not tons, but enough that I’ve accumulated a couple of boxes worth of stuff. A paper show, in case you don’t know, is just what it sounds like: a show about paper. People who use paper in their printing will go to these shows and talk to vendors about the different types of paper and pick up paper samples.

Warm Me Up

I love scarves. And heaven knows I have more than I need. But in the aisles of a craft store, I was fingering the different yarns and thought, “I should learn to knit.”

I’m Going to Hell Pad

As I was roaming a paper store, I came across blank pads and wanted to do something with them. I didn’t have an idea per se when I bought them, but what eventually came to mind was that a pad has two sides, and I wanted to use this double-sidedness to my advantage; like something dealing with opposites. Opposing forces. Polarizing sides. Good vs. Evil. And finally settled on heaven and hell.

Make a Statement

I was shopping at a clothing store and stopped to look at their costume jewelry; I found a necklace that I kind of liked that had various chains strung together. I checked the price, internally scoffed, and thought “I’m not paying that for this. I’ll just make it myself.”

DIY: Gift Card Pad (part 1)

If you’re like me, you get gift cards. Sometimes, the gift card design is pretty cute and I just don’t want to throw it away once I’ve used up the card. So I keep it because I’m a packrat and think I might use it at some point in time.

So, I decided make the cards into notepad covers.

Death Picnic 2008

Death Picnic card (front)

Some relatives I don’t see very often because they live far away. Funerals and weddings bring us together. This was the case in summer of 2008. Not one particular death, but a memorial service for a number of people who had died over the years.

Schizophrenic Crafter

There is something seriously wrong with me. I have an addiction: crafting. It’s a dangerous thing for me to walk into a craft/art/fabric store. I see all the possibilities. I pick up random things and think,” I could make this into something cool.” I don’t tell myself that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do something.

Nope. I randomly buy stuff (so much stuff), that I’ll be able to use “someday” (or so I hope). Every so often the voice of reason asks, “What’s the plan? What will you do with ‘fill in the blank’?” And that may make me pause long enough to put “fill in the blank” down. But far too often (especially if there’s a sale involved) I’ll just plan on figuring that all out later.

My lack of focus allows me to be attracted to all sorts of things: paper, hole punches, fabric, yarn, beads, chains, wood, pens, cutting tools, stamps and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s people like me that keep these stores in business, with my delusions of grandeur. Basically, I’m a schizophrenic crafter.

The Man, the Boy and the Donkey

I like things that are pretty and things that are pretty amusing—even better if they are both. So when I design for myself, my main focus is amusing myself and just making something that I like; I suppose that’s the purpose of this site as well.

What to expect? (Low expectations are always best, as not to be disappointed later.) For now, this site will focus on the array of craft projects I do for fun, design stories on projects I create (which I may sell at my Etsy shop), DIY projects and any other random tidbits I wish to share.

Maybe you’ll learn something. Maybe you’ll be inspired. Maybe you’ll be amused. Or maybe not. [Sigh.] You can’t please everyone and only a fool would attempt to do so. (Have we learned nothing from Aesop’s tale about “The Man, the Boy and the Donkey”?) You can only please yourself—but hopefully you’ll be pleased as well. [Pause.] We’ll see.