I just wanted to write a quick post sharing some craft projects I squeezed in recently when I had a moment to spare. It just goes to show you how easy these projects are. You only have to work on them a few minutes at a time and they’re fairly inexpensive. Cheap and quick? Me likey.

(I apologize in advance for the mobile photos, hopefully the cool Instagram filters will fool you into thinking they’re professional, ha!)

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I’ve had these plain IKEA wine glasses for at least a year (maybe two!). I had every intention of doing some cool silver lines or bubbles on them (something like this) but freaked out at not being able to find any “food safe” paint pens. Okay, I could have bought some online but I was lazy. Then I sort of forgot about them. Enter Pinterest, and I finally settled on an idea on what to do with them. Chalkboard paint! This is great for when you have guests and you all keep forgetting which wine glass is yours.

I sort of wish I had either painted all the way up the stem or just the base, but at least taping it off ensured all the wine glasses are painted the same. Also, the tutorial I linked has you dipping the glasses into the paint, but for less mess I just painted them on and did a second coat when I had another pocket of time the next day.

You’re already well aware of my love for giant letters, so it was only natural I would add this to my new entryway. I picked up a kraft brown big letter M (about 10″ in height) from Joann’s and painted it with some leftover kitchen wall paint. I love how sunny and yellow the M is and adds a pop of color to the shelves without being too bright.

I haven’t decided if I wanted to wrap yarn around it. I think it looks pretty good on its own.

What kind of fun projects have you gotten into lately?

So, you’ve seen the fun save the dates I made for Ashley and David with a DC skyline. This has been a big hit and I’ve gotten several requests from brides asking me to make different variations of that invite. So a big thank you to Ashley for inspiring the idea!

Ashley was so happy with her save the dates that she asked me to design her wedding invitations. This is something I have been wanting to do ever since Hey Love Designs was created, but it’s for someone to want to order invitations when the designer has nothing to show for it. Thankfully Ashley trusted me enough to take a chance, and after giving me some designs for inspiration, these lovely gems were created.

Ashley and David have a circle theme going on throughout their wedding so we thought it would be fun to have circle-shaped invitations. It adds a nice touch of fun flair to a simple but elegant invitation.

The RSVP cards were obviously inspired by the save the dates but still tied in with the invitations. Ashley also asked that they be made in postcard form and I loved the quirky response options that she showed me. We also came up with a little logo that could be used throughout the wedding that tied the couple with their love of DC.

Thank you so much to Ashley and David for giving me a chance and helping me break into the wedding world. I’m so happy with how these turned out and am looking forward to designing more wedding invitations for future brides!

And in other exciting news, I am now officially Hey Love Designs, LLC! Thank you, Virginia, for making it easy to become a limited liability company.

Pinterest is such a great way to gather ideas whether it’s what you’re going to make for dinner, how to style a party, design inspiration, home renovation ideas, etc. Businesses even have great ways of promoting their products with the community in a non-annoying way (is that a word)?

But of course with every great thing there are downsides. I’ve noticed lately that some pins don’t go to their original source. Picture this, a few weeks ago you repinned an image from another user of this awesome mac and cheese. So today you decide you want to hit the grocery store and gather the ingredients so you go back and click to that link. It doesn’t take you anywhere. Or it takes you to the main blog site but not the original post’s URL. Or it’s someone’s blog that just copied that photo but doesn’t include the recipe. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened and it’s beyond frustrating!

Here’s an example. I really like this dress below. If you click on it, it goes to some imgfav website. If I do a Google Image search (where you can just drag the photo into the search box, cool huh?) it basically leads to a bunch of blogs that have copied this image. But who designs it? Where can I buy it? How much does it cost?

Source: imgfave.com via Michelle on Pinterest

I’ve also seen how creative blogs aren’t happy with how people are using their images on Pinterest. Yes, Pinterest is a great way to promote your blog and ideas but some people will take a photo and not give credit to the original user. As a crafter and business owner, I haven’t faced this problem, but I totally understand where they’re coming from. Imagine you spent a lot of time writing a blog post and found out someone stole that post, word for word, and posted it on their site, pretending they wrote it. Sucks, right?

So then I came across this website. All of a sudden I knew it would change the way I use Pinterest.

Link With Love is a movement to protect intellectual property. Give credit where credit is due. When referencing an idea, make sure it links to the original source. This doesn’t just apply to Pinterest, however Pinterest makes it easy for the original source to get lost. Whenever possible, include the link. Before you repin, make sure that link goes to the original source.

From the Link With Love site:

HOW it works.

LINKwithlove is EASY. It is an expansion of what we all do naturally. We watch out for the people we care about. We share things. We engage each other. More and more – our daily lives and social networking takes place on the internet. By looking out for the people we connect with via our social networks (blogs, Facebooks, Twitter, Pinterest, etc) we increase our watchfulness.

LINKwithlove is about :

1. ACCEPTING that it is your responsibility to know better, do better and leave a legacy of internet kindness. Share the knowledge of proper use of intellectual property online.
2. RESPECTING the intellectual property of your own AND OTHERS. Lead by example when posting or sharing. Retain links. Post credits.
3. PROTECTING the rights of yourself and others by being watchful as you surf the internet. Draw attention to uncredited or unlinked work. A watchful eye is good defense against theft.

When we know better – WE DO BETTER. - Maya Angelou

Here’s how I will be Pinning from now on:

• Before repinning, make sure the image leads to the source. If it’s a recipe, there better damn well be a recipe at the page the image links to.
• When pinning, include the URL of the site or at least reference the blog/designer/brand name.
• Any existing pins that don’t link to a source website will be deleted. Yes, I will be going through all 1000+ of my pins.

I know there will be instances where it is difficult to cite the original source, but I’m going to try as hard as I can.

Please link with love whether it’s on Pinterest, on your blog, etc.

Cheers.

Whatever your relationship status, I hope you have a great day and do something to “treat yo’ self!”

I’m back baby! Sorry for not blogging for a while. In addition to getting a super fun side job teaching dance I’ve been designing away! More to come on that later. I hope you’ve all enjoyed your holidays and are starting off your new year on a positive note. For now, this is a blog post I’ve been meaning to write since I got an iPhone…. in October!

So in all the time that I had my Droid phone I kept thinking about how iPhone had all the cool cases. I guess it’s easier to build a case that’s almost all the same shape versus the various Android phones that are out there. So when the day came for me to finally purchase an iPhone case of my choice… well, the choices were more than overwhelming.

I like the stripes. The polka dots. The wooden cases. The ones that looked like cameras. The phone wallet. I couldn’t decide! If every case was five to ten bucks, fine, I could buy a variety. But at $30+ a pop, there was no way I could afford to get more than one. Plus I have design ADD. It’s hard to commit to a pattern since I’m always loving different trends. Chevron one minute and stripes or polka dots the next.

So as I hit Google for some inspiration I came upon an awesome idea. Interchangeable iPhone skins!

All you need to do is simply purchase a clear iPhone case. These can run pretty cheap if you buy it online but I just ran into the Apple Store so I could get started on this crafty project ASAP. You can then fill it with anything. In this example I used extra scrapbook paper but you can use any patterned paper, magazine, print-out, napkin, etc. The possibilities are truly endless.

If your case comes with an insert like mine did, use that to trace out your template. If not, then trace your phone, but know you’ll have to trim it a bit to fit into the case. To get the hole for the camera, simply place the case on top of the paper to trace out the hole.

To cut the hole you can use scissors, a knife tool, or the easiest option – a paper hole punch. It doesn’t have to be perfect as long as the camera can cleanly take photos.

Place the paper insert into the case and see how it fits. If it doesn’t lay flat, trim the sides as necessary. And that’s it!

Since discovering this trick I’ve gone from this paisley design shown above, to chevron, to Christmas stripes, and now currently big black and white stripes. In the future I may have some pre-designed patterns for you but for now you have a ton to work with. You can even do an image search for your favorite pattern (I did this with chevron) and just print then trim!

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays! (posed here with the guys of Onomonomedia)

Happy Holidays! Hey Love Designs will be taking a little holiday hiatus to spend time with loved ones. Business will resume on January 2, 2012. Any projects already in progress will still be worked on during this time.

I wish you all the best for the upcoming holidays and lots of peace, love, and prosperity in the new year.

See you in 2012!

michelle

Clockwise from top left: (1) (2) (3) (4)

So as you can see, this isn’t your grandmother’s calligraphy. I’m the type who would rather try and make something on my own (hello, queen of DIY over here!) so right now I’m teaching myself rather than taking a class (it’s pretty pricey). I’ve been practicing regularly and feel like I’m getting better over time. This is purely for my own personal entertainment and continuing education, however maybe one day this may be a new service to Hey Love.

Here’s some mobile pictures of the work I’ve been messing around with:

Using a regular fine tiped marker.

Practicing for my holiday cards.

And just for fun I had a calligraphy stamp designed by the one and only Primele! Her work is such an inspiration and after seeing these stamps I knew I had to have one of my own. I’d just figure out calligraphy on my own later. These look great on the back of my holiday cards. Here’s a sneak peek. My address isn’t shown for obvious reasons, but you can get an idea of what they would look like if you click here.

I picked up a calligraphy kit just yesterday – before I was using calligraphy “markers” – so stay tuned for more progress. I’m really excited that I’m able to teach myself and with a lot of practice, I’m eventually going to find my own personal style. I really love that I can teach myself new skills. Did you know that I taught myself how to use Photoshop (aside from a basics class back in high school) and Illustrator? And  I design all my print goods using those programs!

If you’re interested in learning calligraphy, here is a good tutorial which helped me out. You can also see if your local rec center or art studios offer classes.

Is it sad I’m totally geeking out over this? Are you working on any new projects? Do you get freakishly excited about this kind of stuff like I do?

(via)

A letterpress machine. To make awesome prints like this.

(via)

A spacious office to put said letterpress machine. With big windows for natural light. And to decorate. And to have dance parties.

(via)

A new Mac. Preferably an iMac. I WILL purchase one in 2012. While my MacBook still runs pretty well, sometimes it slows down SO much when my design programs are open and I could use the extra screen space. (No, little brother, I’m not going to give you my old laptop, ha.)

(via)

Wacom Bamboo tablet. For doodling! And designing.

(via)

Silhouette Machine! I could do so many more crafts with this.

There’s so much more I could add to this list, but I think it’s plenty long (and expensive!) enough. What do you want this Christmas?

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thank you to everyone who has helped support Hey Love Designs this past year. I couldn’t be more grateful for my supportive friends and family and my awesome clients. Enjoy the holiday and be sure to wear stretchy pants to dinner!

I’ve had the pleasure once before of working with Lisa for her sister’s baby shower invitations. Imagine my delight when she contacted me to work on her business cards!

Lisa runs Quarter Life 202, which specializes in vintage and thrift goods in the DC area. Her efforts are definitely gaining popularity as she hosts clothing swaps, blogs about the latest vintage finds, and educates fashionistas about the wonders of secondhand. It’s obvious she is going to need a lot of business cards to hand out!

I love that while Lisa didn’t have a specific design in mind, she gave me some words to help describe her style:

Quarter Life is: practical, realistic, classic, smart, and witty.
Quarter Life is not: glam, fashionista, trendy, or pink

Is she great or what? This really gave me great direction while still being freedom to think outside of the box. With a few tweaks, we came up with a simple background to highlight her logo.

Lisa also asked to have a variety of colors for the cards which made laying them out together fun. When I asked her if I could keep one, I had such a hard time choosing which color I liked best. So she let me have one of each!

Closer look at softened crosshatch detail:

I also designed these cards for the Moo mini cards size with Lisa’s personal information which she has ordered herself. I am looking forward to seeing my designs in itty bitty sizes!

PS: I’ve been working on giving the website a little bit of a makeover. You can see most of the changes already but if anything looks wonky, it’ll be back to normal soon. I’m still playing around with the header to see if I like it so I’ll post something when the website design is totally done.