Tutorials

Bookbinding Tutorial {Brought to You by Jessica of Greenleaf & Blueberry}

June 2, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 21 Comments
Guest Post· Inspiration· Sketchbook· Tutorials

Once upon a time in Europe, I met Jessica {of Greenleaf & Blueberry}. As roommates on our study abroad program, we immediately hit it off, successfully bringing out strange quirks in each other that rendered our fellow study abroad participants squeamish and confused. Jess’s affectionate nickname for me was “Pooky Bella” — “Pooky” because it’s the sort of name you just don’t call me due to my type-A, serious personality; and “Bella” because we heard it all over the streets of Italy from amorous Italian stallions. Once, we tried to survive on just leek broth for an entire day, that should have been three days, that actually only ended up being a morning. For several wonderful weeks, we shared custody of a small, plastic-bodied cereal box toy that must people would recognize as “The Joker” from Batman, but we christened him Edgar and hauled him around Europe, taking ample photos of him. {Edgar has now passed, but his memory lives on.}
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How to Use an Oblique Calligraphy Pen

May 21, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 40 Comments
Tutorials

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but if you’re in the northern hemisphere, it’s summer — and wedding and events season! With party season comes invitations, and with invitations comes invitation calligraphy.

It’s always been my philosophy that the envelope builds up anticipation for whatever is inside of the envelope. If the envelope is super-cool, just imagine what’s inside! Before I started selling calligraphy, I would look on Etsy and salivate at the amazing wedding calligraphy on the site. For months, I wondered, “HOW do they do that??” {as I used my cheating calligraphy method in the meantime}.
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How to Create a Watercolor Portrait

April 19, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 14 Comments
Inspiration· Tutorials

With Mother’s Day coming up, it’s time to start thinking about creative and cost-effective gifts. I’ve got the cure for what ails yeh: watercolor portraits. Trust me, watercolor portraits are not hard to make and practically anyone can create them. You can laugh and tell me you’re not artistically inclined, but I promise if you try, you will succeed.
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How to Create Envelope Calligraphy

April 12, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 10 Comments
Tutorials

A Google search for “how to create envelope calligraphy” turns up surprisingly empty (there even seem to be tumbleweeds blowing in the “DIY envelope calligraphy” search). Sure, there are results — but all of them seem to focus on who to hire to create calligraphy for you.

If you’re planning a wedding, you know that it’s good to cut corners financially where you can. At the same time, the first impression guests get of your upcoming celebration is that address written on the envelope. Creating your own, professional-looking calligraphy is perfectly do-able provided you’ve got the time and the patience.
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State Art Watercolor Tutorial

April 5, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 5 Comments
Inspiration· Tutorials

I love state art. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t live in my home state now or what, but I think art that calls back to your roots is awesome. A long time ago, I fell in love with the reckless abandon watercolor style state art on Etsy: particularly the “state love” watercolors. (Just Etsy search “[state name/country name] love” and you’ll see what I’m talking about.) I was tempted to buy one, but realized that I should probably try to make one instead. I thus developed a watercolor technique using stencils and salt that does the trick! It’s ridiculously easy. I’ll concede that at this point, it’s probably the quickest, lowest-hassle tutorial on TPK right now.
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Aluminum Handmade Gift Tag Tutorial

March 29, 2013 by Lindsey Bugbee 4 Comments
Inspiration· Tutorials

{Aluminum handmade gift tags make for a striking gift presentation.}

Hernán and I are celebrating our second anniversary on Monday, though when people ask how long we’ve been together, we usually say it’s been four years. Why? Because for the two years before we started dating, we were “dating and didn’t know it”, according to friends. Hernán was my best friend in college; we were attached at the hip. We went grocery shopping together, did laundry together, went to parties together … basically, you rarely saw one of us without the other. So, when we graduated, we realized we wanted to continue doing all those things together — plus we kinda liked each other (everyone else seemed to know this, it just took a long time for us to actually figure it out).
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