Something cute to hang on a Christmas tree!
(Made with 2mm Swarovski round in golden shadow. Measures 3cm x 2cm.)
It’s getting to look a lot like Christmas! Time to send out this year’s homemade cards to my loved ones. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
A Louis Vuitton inspired handbag completed mostly with 3mm Swarovski bicone beads.
My latest completion. Still contemplating what it’s good for. Maybe a bridal shower favor?
In case anyone wants to know, the ballerina’s body is made up of 3mm and 4mm Swarovski bicone crystals in Light Amethyst AB.
I promised an account of my Blurb experience months ago but never got around to it. Before my memory fades, let me drop a few quick notes here for anyone looking to know more about publishing photobooks with Blurb. I won’t go into the details as there are plenty of reviews out there with better content. However, I would like to share some of the BKMs (Best Known Methods) that I learned from using BookSmart, the free software offered by Blurb that turns pictures into albums.
- The software is simple and easy to use, but it is also a MAJOR memory hog. My computer at home has 3 G (DDR3) memory, which I thought was sufficient. But running BookSmart slows everything else down.
- Importing pictures into BookSmart can be slow. This is especially true if you have more than 100 photos to import. Take a break while the software gets busy with copying pictures into its own work folder.
- If you want to go with full bleed on a page, remember that Blurb cuts away about 1/8 inch from each edge when your album goes to print. So take care not to move your focus object/subject too close to the border. Otherwise, visual balance will be off on that page.
- The gutter between opposing pages will take at least another 1/8 inch off from the page (if not more). If a picture is spread across 2 pages, don’t go for the perfect match across the split line. Instead, let a small part of the picture repeats near the center. Then you will come out with a good final product in print.
- I’m not sure if it has anything to do with my monitor setting, but pictures in the printed book usually come out one shade darker. Not a big deal for me, but in case you have higher standards, then check out the Blurb blog for color matching techniques.
- I don’t know what image compression ratio is used, but for my albums (most of them 7″x7″), the pictures usually come out a tiny bit grainy even when the original images were at high resolution (eg. 8 M pixel). With that said, the overall finish was still impressive. In fact, if a pair of newly-weds wanted to customize a wedding album for their parents, I’d say this would be good enough.
- The glossy finish on the dust jacket is extremely impressive. It makes the book look like it’s professionally made.
In terms of ordering and shipping, the instructions are easy enough to follow. They seem to always ship before the estimated completion date (which is good!), but the shipping charges are high (min $8) and there are not many coupons floating around. Also keep in mind that all Blurb coupon codes can only be used once per account. So plan ahead wisely (or register for multiple accounts) if you know there will be multiple purchases.
Here is a wedding program completed several months ago. The cover was relatively plain, so we decorated it with the wedding theme written in gold. The effect was achieved by first printing the words (in black, and by a laser printer only) on cardstock, then lightly taped a metallic heat transfer foil (in gold) on top before sending the same piece of cardstock through the laser printer again.
It was my first time playing with such foils. And after repeated trials and errors, here are my learnings:
- To make the foil transfer perfectly, pick paper with a smooth surface. We made the mistake of picking a textured linen cardstock, and hence saw a handful of misses in the final result
- Although most foils come with the instruction of using an iron to make the transfer, laser printer is actually the easiest way to go, and with the highest success rate
- If available, pick a laser printer that generates more heat when printing. When tried on my home printer, there were some hits and misses. But a bigger (and more heavy-duty) printer at a friend’s home produced much better results
- Printing a blank page is the best way to transfer the metallic foil onto paper (assuming the intended images or words are already printed on the paper)
- Curly and script-style fonts have a lower success rate of perfect transfer than non-script ones (eg. Century Gothic, Arial, Times New Roman, etc.)
For those interested, your local craft stores should carry the metallic heat transfer foils in different sizes and colors. Otherwise, online stores are always open and will likely carry even wider selections of the product.
Although we have yet to recover from the 2009 New Year bash, another celebration – the Lunar New Year – is already around the corner! Usually, new year day in the Lunar calendar lags the Gregorian one by about 1.5 months. But this time, the 4706th new year day for the Chinese will be arriving early on Jan 26.
With this early arrival of the Lunar new year, and most of our family elders living in the far East, I started preparing the new year’s cards soon after Christmas. Since it will be the Year of the Ox, so naturally all the cards will carry a cow (or ox) theme.
Card 1 - Beef Hot Pot
Card 2 - Cow + Bees
Red envelope with cherry blossom watermarks
Handmade Christmas cards that went out to friends and family this year:
2008 Christmas
2008 Christmas
My aunt is a master of crystal bead crafts. Show her anything you like, and she can usually reproduce it in beads. Since I share the same passion (although much less skillful or creative), she always sends over new recipes for her latest creations: jewelleries, teddy bears, tropical fruits, animals, even characters from Disney’s major move releases. Several weeks ago, I received another package from her. It was a box of little dolls made of crystal beads. They must be her latest projects! Looking at these dolls, an idea suddenly clicked in my head - wouldn’t they be nice as cake toppers?
To put that thought into action, I went to the stores for the wedding doll heads, then searched my own craft box for all other ingredients and tools. After hours of hard work, I’m proud to show off the fruits of my labor:
(In case you’re wondering, the bodies are made of 4mm Swarovski bicones. Each figurine comes out to just under 2 inches tall.
Cake topper in white wedding gown and black tux
A Chinese wedding cake topper
I can tell that wedding season will be long this year because of the invitations piling up on my desk. Judging from these invitations, monogram seems to be a popular trend. Personally, I’m partial to monograms because they seem more elegant and versatile than the elaborate floral patterns used in many wedding stationaries. In fact, I recently received a birth announcement with an ink stamp that looked oddly familiar. Later on, I found out from the new parents that it was in fact their wedding monogram, only it’s refreshed to include their son’s initial. So now the once wedding relic has become their new family stamp. What a great idea!
Another reason for my bias of monogram is that it can be made free at home! The recipe is quite simple. It calls for MS Powerpoint, a pool of fonts that you like and a bit of creativity. Here’re several examples:
(Check the bottom of this post for sources of fonts)
Fonts: Jacoba (W), Copperplate Gothic (Cara & Evan)
Watermark W:
- Screen capture textbox with W
- Crop and save as picture
- Re-insert picture into Powerpoint
- Right click –> Format Picture
- In Picture tab, under Image control, select Color: Washout
- Click ok
- Right click on picture again –> Order –> Send to back
Turning your final product into JPEG: (applicable to Powerpoint only)
- Select all text boxes, pictures, symbols, etc. that make up your monogram
- Group all selected components (right click –> Grouping –> Group)
- Right click again on the group –> Save as Picture…
- Enter file name. Also make sure you select the proper format in “Save as type:” before pressing Save
Tips:
- Make the monogram as big as possible. A small image runs the risk of poor resolution when it’s stretched to fit your invitations, programs, menus, etc. But if you start with a huge image, then scale down to fit your design, the monogram will remain crisp and clean at the right size.
- Scripts-style fonts typically appear smaller than comtemporary ones. Don’t be afraid to go with big font sizes! For the sample above, I used 300pt for the “W” in the background.
Fonts: mamma gamma
Notes: If the selected font(s) leave(s) too much space between lines, try putting the names/initials in seperate text boxes, then assemble them in Powerpoint any way you like until the desired effect is achieved.
Fonts: SF New Republic
Font: New Chuan B5 (Chinese), Michaelmas (English)
Watermark: Same as above
Notes: Be proud of your heritage! Feel free to put your name down in your mother language!
You may find the above fonts (and many more) from:
