DIY cat print tote!

I have had this DIY in mind since the first time I saw Leah Goren's cat print! It was way easier than I thought it would be, I was pretty sure the first tote would be a failure, and I can't wait to try this with more designs!

What you'll need:

• blank tote bag
• polymer clay small package - any color you want (I used the brand Fimo)
  (if you want a bigger stamp you can buy more/bigger polymer clay)
• tool to shape the clay, I bought this wooden thing for 85 cents, you can use whatever feels better to you, just don't use a craft knife because the clay is soft. (If you're making a stamp out of a harder material you can buy stamp-carving tools from craft stores.)
• fabric paint
• brush
• printed and cut shape for your stamp
• plastic bag or thick paper

Total cost: 9€ - but you use the paint, tool, brush and stamp more than once.

I googled "cat head silhouette" and found this really small image. I resized it to fit inside the clay's dimensions, printed it and cut it. I haven't took any photos of the stamp-making process because it was really trial-and-error, I hadn't used polymer clay before. Using the tool I pressed downward around the shape, I cut horizontally some parts that were sticking out and like a total amateur, pushed and cut around until I had a good shape of the cat head! I then baked this for about an hour (directions said 30 minutes but mine wasn't done even after 60, but I took it out anyway in fear of burning it).


Next, I used the brush to apply a medium-to-heavy coat of paint of the stamp.

An important thing to note is that you have to put something inside the bag so that the paint doesn't transfer from one side to the other. Not that the paint is runny or anything, I just noticed that in 2-3 of the stamps the paint passed through and it would have stained the back side hadn't I put a plastic bag in between. For the photos I used a paper sheet, you can use paper as well but a regular thin plastic bag  worked better for me.



Now another note when doing the stamping. My stamp's surface wasn't 100% even, I realised this when I tried it on paper and only 1/3 of the cat head got stamped. If you're not an expert or don't use a store-bought stamp you'll probably have the same issue. I didn't want to buy many tools for something I didn't know whether it would work or not and I wouldn't manage to make it absolutely even anyway.



The trick is in putting you other hand under the bag's fabric and under the plastic bag/paper sheet while stamping. I pressed the stamp on the bag with one hand and the bag to the stamp with the other. Did I confuse you yet?! Just use both your hands to make sure that the stamp has touched all of the fabric it's supposed to touch and that it won't leave unpainted parts.

I was thinking how would I achieve that distressed look in my pattern. I saw a tutorial where someone used tights or other fabrics, but guess what! These little cuties turned out perfect right away, I didn't do anything to make them look like that!



Now that I realised how easy that is, I plan on making more totes for Christmas presents! I've had the thought of making tote bags with gold foil or cross-stitching on them, but these are more time-consuming and expensive. For now I'll stick to fabric paint when I want to write or stamp a tote, can't wait to use the gold paint I got!

Feel free to ask about anything that wasn't clear enough or if you need any advice on how to do this! Hope you like it and happy crafting!

Photo editing resources and ideas

So, I've got many questions on how I edited my photos - which really are nothing special but anyway - so I thought I should give some insight of what I use to edit my photos and some examples!

1. First of, I use Photoshop. I used to spend hours searching for Photoshop Actions in deviantart, and now I have so many saved but use only 2-3! If you haven't had a look before I think you should, there are loooots of actions there and it's much easier to use an action instead of trying to do it on your own! (There are many pages that tell you how to install an action in photoshop in case you're clueless! ;))

The ones I still use are Carrie's from Wish Wish Wish, especially the first one which is really natural and simple!

2. The real saviour is Julia Trotti's photoshop curves. You install them in, and most of the times it doesn't need anything else than one curve, maybe a little lighting or contrast and adjusting the opacity of the curve. The majority of my photos in flickr are edited with these curves, my favourite ones is Humming Bees and Digital Film!

3. If you're ok with paying there is this awesomeness of a software called RadLab. It's like a photoshop add-on. You install it, open an image in photoshop, click on Filter > RadLab in the bottom of the menu.

If you have this you literally need nothing else! There are so many effects and you can customize each one totally controlling the outcome! They have a trial version, it's worth a shot!
(Cheat: if you have more than one email address you can use the trial more times! :P)

4. If photoshop sounds too difficult to you, there another cute solution. The ToyCamera AnalogColor! It has many toy camera effects and you can reduce the effect strength if you want something more natural looking. You just have to play around with it a little and it's lovely! My favourite feature is the light leaks!

In many photos I'used both curves and actions or curves and RadLab so the difference in some examples isn't that obvious.

I should also note that from the photos I post here and in flickr some are with my camera which is a compact one - hence the mediocre quality - and many are with friends' DSLRs, I just keep the photos that I took.

Hope that helped, I thought a more detailed guide would be better but I'm lacking the time, maybe another time!

DIY Make your own envelope!

Hello there!  I've been wanting to make this diy from the first envelope I made, some weeks before, but I didn't have the time..!  As you can see, I did the whole job on the floor of my room, in front of the window because the light was very dim! BelowI have everyhting you will need. Don't choose a thin paper because  I don't think it will make it through the mailing process..! I got mine for 0.80€ per piece of paper! As for the envelope you're going to use as a pattern, I browsed through my old collection of letter sets and chose one I found best. In some photos the lines of the shape don't show clearly, but if you view the full size image I'm sure it'll be clearer!!

I've made 3 or 4 of these envelopes and they look perfect! I'm sure both the recipients of my letters were really excited with them! :)
* If you have trouble thinking how to close/seal the envelope, here's what I did: I folded the top side inside of the envelope and to be sure, I sealed it with a label sticker (like the one above) where I wrote my address! Hope you like it!!