Cross Stitched Pendants

This past Christmas, I made cross stitch pendants as gifts. I thought they could be used for necklaces, keychains or Christmas ornaments. I designed two patterns and used each pattern twice, using different color schemes.

Since the pendant was one inch in diameter, I wanted to have a finer stitch so there could be more detail in the design. I decided to use aida cloth that had about 26 stitches per inch (rather than the 14 stiches per inch that I’ve used in the past). The result: it took a lot longer to finish than I anticipated. But overall, it turned out fairly well.

Putting the finished cross stitch into the pendant also took some doing. I messed up the first time (which sucked). In the end, I cut out a chipboard circle that had a 0.875-inch diameter. I cut the cross stitch piece to a square (wider than one inch) and then trimmed the corners.

I placed the chipboard circle in the middle of the cross stitch piece and added book binding glue to the back of the chipboard circle and pressed the cloth edges around it. I applied glue to the pendant. Then I pressed the circle piece onto the pendant to adhere it to the glue. I tried my best to make sure the design was centered. It took some doing to get all the edges down within the pendent circle area; fingernails and tweezers helped to get the edges smoother.

I found cross stitching the designs to be fun and relaxing, but gluing the finished design was a bit stressful because if you mess up, you have to start all over (which happened).

Duly Noted Notepad

This holiday season, I made this notebook for my coworkers. I almost didn’t do anything as the holidays just sort of snuck up on me and suddenly I had little time left. I was ready to resign myself to doing nothing, when I had a burst of inspiration to create a notepad that was fairly simple in design and doable in my short time frame.

Things are constantly being reworked, edited and overhauled in advertising. I feel it all the time as a designer; “It’s great, but…” and then a list of things I need to change. It’s normal. Coworkers and clients look at something and want edits, then see those edits and want more edits. It’s a long ongoing process.

Thus, I thought this notepad would amuse my coworkers since they probably receive at least one of these suggestions daily. On the back I chose a quote that I felt was appropriate.

I also I created a bellyband for my holiday message. It has been “proofed” in red, and these changes should improve the copy.

Sweet and Spicy Calendar Card

I almost didn’t make any holiday-related design for this year. Thanksgiving rolled around and I hadn’t done anything (and was feeling rather uninspired and lazy). So I was on the fence on creating anything…but then I decided to just do it. Make something. I wanted to make something simple and useful—so I made a calendar recipe card.

I chose four recipes from blogs that I thought would be fairly easy for anyone to make (and would hopefully appeal to most palates). Admittedly, I haven’t made all of the recipes myself, but I trust that they’re delicious. I realized that they were all either sweet or spicy recipes and decided that that would be the theme for the card.

I wanted the card to be fun and have a slight retro vibe with the type and color. The only art I really did was the cover—I had to draw that by hand. It didn’t come together quite as quickly as I would have liked (it practically never does), but overall it didn’t take too long. A couple of hours here and there (and there) and it was done.

I also created a bellyband as my “tag” so I could put the recipient’s name on it. It also has a correlating message on it that ties in with the card itself.

Idiom Postcard Set

I love idioms; they’re like a coded part of language in that they often stem from historical or pop-culture references specific to that country. Even native speakers of a country are unlikely to know all idiom references for that country (especially if they’re more regional or they pertain to a specific time period).

Idioms are such an ingrained part of culture that mean so much with so few words—and everyone uses them. They’re in our everyday conversations, in TV commercials and TV shows, in songs and books—they’re pretty much inescapable. Everyday I must hear and use idioms dozens of times because using idioms are often a short cut to what you’re trying to say (assuming that all parties have knowledge of the meaning of that idiom). Instead of saying “You need to slow down and start enjoying life,” you can just say “Stop and smell the roses” and the underlying meaning is understood.

Congrats! Birthday Card

A couple of months ago I bought this flying pig finger puppet with a magnetic nose that I thought my brother would like as part of his birthday present. It’s perhaps a bit of an odd gift but I like things that are somewhat unexpected.

The night before his birthday I thought I should make a birthday card for him. Last year I made him a You’re #2 birthday card, and I decided to somehow combine that same sentiment with the flying pig puppet.

I Swear Mini Cards

Inspired by swear words (and substitution swear words), I created mini cards that each convey a swear word moment. I was actually inspired by substitution swear words first; when I posted What the Fudge! I thought of various faux swear words and “blowhole” stood out in my mind. I envisioned a cute whale with “You blowhole!” on it, and I thought I could create a series of cards using swear words and drawings.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Poster

While I was working on my Flashback to 1990’s TV Shows Notebooks, my mind veered into another direction: a Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster. My brother loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as do I), and I thought it would be fun to create a Buffy poster for him as a Christmas present.

Flashback to 1990s TV Shows Notebooks

Every so often I’d catch a stray episode of The X-Files on some random TV channel and was reminded of how much I liked the series. Many years had passed since I’d really watched it and I decided it was time to watch it again from the beginning (as I’d forgotten pretty much everything about it). The show still makes me smile; I find the weird and creepy stories quite entertaining, and enjoy the government conspiracies with its many shadowy figures. And of course, I like Mulder and Scully (as individuals as well as working as a team)…they amuse me.

Fairy Tale 2013 Calendar/Post Card Set

Most everyone grows up with fairy tales in some variation or another because they not only entertain children, they often have morals attached to them. They’re an ingrained part of our culture; they’re in our books, movies, advertisements, and often alluded to in everyday life.

In my post card set, I drew selected fairy tales that each contains a moral that I take from that story.

Evil Twin Notebook

How do you distinguish the “good” twin from the “evil” twin? Beards, moustaches and goatees all denote evil. It’s all about facial hair. Facial hair covers the face so it can mask the person themselves and their true maniacal intentions. When I think “evil twin”, I think about the parallel universe in Star Trek where evil Spock has a goatee. It’s been a long time since I saw that episode, but the “facial hair is evil” moral has stayed with me over the years.

2013 Calendar Re-issues: Idiom, Fake Ad and Chinese Zodiac

While the Retro Fake Ad Calendar and the I’m a Chinese Zodiac Animal Calendar art and format remained the same as last year, I decided to alter the Idiom Calendar. The format is now a small wall calendar where the pages are stapled together in the middle. In addition, there are two new idioms included: Tip of the Iceberg (cover) and Day in the Sun (last page).

Pattern Stamps

Recently, I spent a chunk of time carving stamps. I did some sketches of different patterns and chose some of my favorites to make into stamps. The faster and less involved way would have been to have a stamp company make them for me, and that would have made the most sense if they were highly intricate or type heavy, but my patterns were fairly doable to hand carve. Plus, I really like the imperfections and slightly off lines that make the stamps feel handmade and unique. It wasn’t exactly fun carving all my patterned stamps, but I’m happy with the results. I think they’re quite nice. Simple. Geometric.

You’re #2 Card

Everyone wants to be number one. Number one is (obviously) the best. We play to win; we don’t compete to be number two. We want to be number one with the prestige and big trophy (that we can then lord over everybody else).

TV Money Notebooks

When I was a kid, my parents tried to get my brother and me to read more and watch television less. I was probably around seven or eight years old when they instituted “TV Money” (where my brother and I had to pay to watch television). TV Money came in thirty and sixty-minute increments, and my dad designed them using family stuffed animals instead of American presidents for the faces on the “money” bills.

Tasty Money Robot Card

Sometimes when I give presents I don’t bother giving a card. It’s lazy but if it’s a present given in person, then it’s pretty obvious that I’m giving that person that present. It seems redundant to give a card, because usually cards are fairly generic and people will barely read them before they quickly move onto the main event: the present.

However, when a present is not thoughtful then I feel like I have to make up for it with a more personal or interesting card. A prime example is when I give money (or gift cards), a card seems more necessary not only as a vehicle to hold the money but also to show that I put a bit of thought into the present (instead of just opening my wallet and handing over some money).

So I decided to make a very simple card to hold money. The entire card is a robot head and it has two slits in the mouth to hold the money in place. (He just loves the taste of money and his eyes match its leafy green color when he’s eating his most beloved treat). The design is quite minimal using very basic shapes. It’s a silly card but it makes me smile.

Knock on Wood Notebook

I’d been eying this “wood” paper at the paper store for some time now. I’d pick it up, lustfully look at it and then reluctantly put it down because although I wanted it, I didn’t have a plan for it. The problem with the paper is that it’s not terribly versatile; it’s dark, heavy and textured—not good for printing. But it was pretty. And I like pretty things. So I finally decided on using this specialized paper in a project that would utilize its “wood” properties, and what came to mind was the idiom “Knock on Wood.” [I know. (Sigh.) I’m slightly addicted to using idioms in my designs.]

Lip Service Coupon

Lip service is what makes the world go ’round. We are all participants, with coworkers, classmates, friends, family, strangers; we all tell those little white lies that help to make social interactions go more smoothly. We generally know when we’re getting or giving lip service, but that doesn’t stop its persistence.

Idiom Calendar

Sometime in April I decided to create an idiom calendar for my “Make Something Present” for this year. I am particularly partial to wordplay and I love idioms. There are idioms for practically every situation and I find some quite amusing. Idioms paint visual pictures with just a few words and I wanted to portray that in my idiom calendar.

Animals Gone 7 Deadly Sins Calendar

Spring 2010. Although it was early, I thought that I should get started on my “Make Something Present”. I like making calendars, so I wanted to make another and came up with the format first. I wanted to create something with layers, so I decided on using different sized sheets that would go from the smallest size in the front to the largest size in the back.

Once I figured out how the calendar would be put together, I thought about what the calendar should be about. Suddenly it came to me: 7 Deadly Sins. With seven sins, I could divide the months up to two a sheet plus a cover sheet. But I didn’t want it to be a straight up “sins” calendar; I wanted to do something that would amuse me.

Retro Fake Ad Mini-Notebooks

Last year, I created mini-notebooks based upon my Retro Fake Ad Calendar. So in addition to the six fake ads I already had: Mad Cow Burgers, The Rabid Robots from Outer Space!, Princess Purge Dishwashing Detergent, Apollo Cigarettes, Candi Doll and Tasty Sucker, I created two new fake products: Spiked Punch and Mocha Mayhem Cereal.