Color Inspiration from a DIY Gift Tag

Monday Hues: In honor spring, today's color inspiration comes from a flower I drew on scrap paper, and eventually turned into a gift tag. One of the things I like to do, is find the hidden colors within an image, rather than gravitating towards the obvious, which in this case would have been pink, blue green and yellow. Instead, we ended up with a palette which consists of plum, orange, mint green and chartreuse.

DIY Doodle Gift Tags
*Please note, affiliate links to some of my favorite drawing supplies are provided in the paragraphs below  

Supplies - below is a list of the supplies I used o create the gift tag:
• Black Sharpie Pen*
• 2"x3.5" piece of scrap card stock
• Metallic*, Moonlight* and Glaze* Sakura gel pens
• Washi Tape*

The Process
First I drew the flower with a black sharpie pen*, then I added color to it with different types of gel pens. While the pink Moonlight pen* is what gave the drawing the flat pink strong color, the yellow Glaze pen* gave the image its highlights with a bit of dimension and shine. The ink from the Glaze pens tends to dry raised and shiny, making your piece look as if it were embossed or treated with thermography - I love that! As a final touch, I trimmed the bottom edge with washi tape*, then punched a hole at the top to draw a string. And just like that, with a bit of scrap paper in hand, gel pens, and washi tape, I was able to create a gift tag AND draw color inspiration from it for future projects.

Happy Monday, my friends!

~Dio

A Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Halloween

This year, the entire family got into the Halloween spirit and we celebrated together with a costume party. My husband and I dressed up as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two very famous Mexican artists from the early 1900's.

Frida's artwork is a little too dark for my taste. It expresses a lot of tragedy, as well as emotional and physical pain that she endured throughout her lifetime. But after watching "Frida," a 2002 film starring Salma Hayek (as Frida) and Alfred Molina (as her husband, Diego Rivera), I learned to appreciate her work and talent.

Below is the image of Frida and Diego we tried to recreate:
From left to right, you'll see Alfred Molina and Salma Hayek, a painting of Diego and Frida in the center, and then my husband and I to the far right.

Being the crafty person that I am, instead of buying a painter's palette that I'd probably never use again, I created the one below out of chipboard.

I cut out pictures of Frida and Diego to represent the paint on the palette, which also served as a tool to explain to people who we were dressed as, in case they were not familiar with our characters. As an added touch, I taped two used brushes on the back for easy handling, so we weren't dropping our photo props all over the place.

The party was lots of fun, and hubby and I were very proud of our homemade costumes. We only spent $9 total, which went towards his clothes that we purchased at Goodwill.

Studio Updates, Work and Paper Cranes

I recently accepted a temporary full-time job through the end of December. Aside from that I am working on completing custom stationery for 2 weddings that I booked this summer, I am finalizing a corporate order of 4,000 (yes, four thousand) invitations for a holiday party, I'm responding to daily inquiries for items selling in my stationery shop, and I have a first grader that needs help with homework each night. Unfortunately that leaves very little time continue updating the blog several times as week as I was doing, but I will try my best to do so at least once a week so don't forget to stop by occasionally to see what I've been up to!
Hope you all a great Labor Day weekend. I had a great time with my sister and the rest of her bridesmaids who also happen to be our cousins.
We got together today to help her make cranes for her wedding decor. Above is a picture of my first crane on origami paper. Her wedding is going to be amazing. They are doing such a good job blending both cultures (Mexican and Japanese) and they're both very crafty so it's gonna be a DYI wedding, with lots of style. Can't wait!

Handmande Pom Pom Flowers

My sister text me the other day asking what I thought about not having real flowers at her wedding. My first reaction was "None? Oh, no!" but after a second I was struck by relief as I remembered how crafty her and her fiancee can be, and I know that whatever they choose to do will reflect their creativity.
I proceeded to suggest grass boxes instead of floral arrangements or maybe cactus in jars and nicely decorated cans. Everything displayed in a chic and eco-friendly fashion of course. My main concern is that whatever she chooses, is not too complex and remains easy to assemble the day of the wedding. She now has an idea of what she wants, but I'm not about to ruin the surprise by blogging about it. At least not now, hee, hee.
As I searched for inspiration to send her way, I came across this neat tutorial by DomestiFluff that provides step by sten instructions on how to create pom pom flowers. By glancing at the picture I would have never known those were made using ribbon! So, these may or may not be your ideal wedding DIY project, but it's definitely a neat find. Something to keep in mind another, less fancy occasion.

Bunting DIY projects

A couple of my favorite bloggers have recently shared step by step instructions to DIY stationery bunting projects. I am officially inspired by these adorable wedding invitations that were made using Japanese tape and a sewing machine!
Just hop on over to the Oh, Hello Friend blog to view images of the assembly process and instructions. If you're already married, keep in mind that you can apply this same technique to create other stationery items such as birthday invitations or greeting cards. If you're like me, and you don't own a sewing machine, don't worry! Check out this adorable mini bunting birthday card shared by Jessica Jones of Hello Orange. All you need is cord, paper, tape and a pair of scissors.
My wheels are turning...I'm thinking about using some of my scrap paper for bunting projects this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. =)

Add a fun "twist" to your reception

Browsing around for winter wedding inspiration I came accross these cute idea (via the preppy wedding blog) on how to liven up the presentation of your drinks. Amazing how such a simple "twist" can add some fun and flair to your beverages and reception!