FreshlyPlanted

create (a life): Rachel's Ink (& Giveaway!)

By freshlyplanted - 10:34 PM

I was first introduced to the beautiful work of RachelInk by receiving one of her cards. It was her little cradle card, in blue, and I had it hanging on my memo board forever. It made me smile each time I looked at it, which made me eager to share the love. Her address labels have become one of my favorite anytime presents and her cards, well, speak for themselves. I was curious about what led her to become a designer- and to actually sell her designs instead of locking them away in a drawer. Here's some Q&A with the talented Rachel King Birch, stayed tuned for the giveaway at the end!

Cassidy: Myself and many of my readers are interested in nurturing a creative spirit in our children. How did your parents inspire and encourage you artistically while you were growing up?

RachelInk: My parents were both extremely supportive of my sister and me (and they still are) in our artistic and other endeavors. They were both teachers, my mom taught art and my dad taught high school math. They are also both makers - and I think this is where I got a lot of inspiration both as a child and as an adult. Their house is filled with furniture made by my dad and art painted by my mom. Instilled in our upbringing was the understanding that most things were better if they were handmade. Handmade birthday cards, cake always baked from scratch, chicken soup, pajamas, jewelry boxes... We also had a lot of unstructured time as children, especially with summers which were spent camping - no tv, lots of books, cards, board games. I think that the quiet of not having much to do (being bored, even) helped to foster our creativity.

Cassidy: I love the simplicity of your work! As an artist I've realized the simpler the image, the harder it can be to create. How did you get interested in design?

RachelInk: I have always loved drawing, though I don't really consider myself an artist. I went to school to study architecture because my high school drafting teacher told me I "had a good hand", and I was good at math. I love composition, order, history, and the way buildings come together through their detailing. While I do love to design, I also love the actual drafting of the details. Architectural drafting is peaceful to me, and comes together similar to the way a complicated math equation can be extracted down to one number. I find drawing my little drawings to give me that same peace of mind.

Cassidy: Every time I visit your shop, I'm always amazed at the myriad of images you've collected in one place! Where you do you find inspiration for your work?

RachelInk: Though it may seem a random collection, the drawings in my shop are essentially things that I love, or made for people who I love. The skylines are inspired by my love of the city, buildings and their details. My husband is a writer and collector of old and [mostly] beautiful things - books, typewriters, old radios, fountain pens, cars, (did I say books?) and many of my drawings are inspired by things in my home. I draw fishing cards for my dad, and flowers for my mom. I spend a lot of time with my kids, who are 4 and 7, and they are very inspiring. And some things are just fun to draw, like bikes!

Cassidy: Speaking of your shop, often artists struggle with the transition from just creating art to creating art and selling it. What helped you to make this leap?

RachelInk: I've never really made drawings with the intention of them being "art" - I've always just made cards for my friends and family. So when I found out about Etsy it seemed like a good venue to see if people would buy some of my cards.

Cassidy: What would a day of bliss look like for you for Valentine's day?

RachelInk: I would love to find a poem from my husband, construction paper valentine's from my kids, a meal prepared by someone else, and a little dark chocolate would be nice too.

Rachel's cards can be found in stores around the world- Philly, Knoxville, TN and Victoria, Australia to name just a few. She's also designs for pingg, the online invitation store. See her store, RachelInk, for venue details as well as more of her beautiful work!

And now for the giveaway! Rachel is graciously offering a set of these beautiful tulip bike postcards to one lucky reader:

(Five postcards with five envelopes)

To enter today's giveaway, please leave a comment (one entry per person, please) in today's post. ~~I'll close comments by 9pm EST on Monday, February 4th.~~ Comments closed. The random number generator chose #3 which is Crystal who said, "I love the colours and clean lines of her work. I send correspondence around the world, and these would be sure to brighten up anyone's day!" Thank you for your comment Crystal, enjoy your beautiful cards!

Thank you RachelInk!

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Creative Kids

create (with kids): Valentine's Week

By freshlyplanted - 7:22 PM

I've been thinking about prolonging Valentine's day around here. Of course we kinda are already- like creating a week's worth of Valentine's goodness the last week of January (ahem)- but I was thinking more along the lines of love notes and occasional treats. And I wanted us to create a special place for them together. Of course they could always be left under her pillow or placed in her cereal bowl, but I had Inspiration, here, which is the quickest way for us to find ourselves in the middle of a project!

Isia's been asking for glitter lately, and I've been dodging the question. I really want to be supportive of her choice of materials- I just have a difficult time getting out our little volatile bottle of glitter. I have found having a plan helps a lot, as do deep breaths (smile). For this activity, our plan was to capture the glitter on contact paper taped down to a cookie sheet. Using an art knife, I scored the inside of the contact paper leaving margains on the top and bottom.

And then the glitter ~~sprinkling~~ pouring began! To help move the glitter around the contact paper we borrowed one of our basting brushes from the kitchen. It's silicone and the glitter washed right out when we were done.

We shook the extra glitter off, removed the rest of the paper, and wrapped our glittery sheet around an empty salt container. Isia then picked out washi tape, which we used to decorate the top and bottom edges.

I cut out a mouth area on the top, which I lined with paper "teeth". I wanted to use googly eyes, but we didn't have any. So I created some eyes and a nose with glitter glue, which we never run out of these days.

Isia was tickled with it! Her favorite part, once it was dry, was pretending that it was eating her hand. She's yet to actually discover something in it, but I plan on changing that soon. Who can turn down love notes and treats? Certainly not this little girl. (smile)

Sneak Peek: Stay tuned for my next post, an interview with one of my favorite designers. Her store is RachelInk on Etsy, which is an array of sweet, whimsical loveliness. Come meet the artistic mama behind the pen, and get the chance to win a set of Valentine's day cards!

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Creative Kids

Valentine's Hot Glue Rubbing Plates

By freshlyplanted - 9:16 PM

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Creative Kids

create (with kids): Valentine's Week

By freshlyplanted - 3:28 PM

I have to admit, I was never much a fan of Valentine's day before we had kids. Cory and I would exchange small tokens, but never make a big fuss. And then we had kids. And all of a sudden heart-shaped food started to make its way to our table and I developed a liking for glitter. Who knew? It's been so much fun to celebrate Valentine's day with Isia, and this is our fourth one together. This year is especially fun, because she understands what it means to make something for someone you love. So this post kicks off a week of Valentine's day crafting fun. Simple, easy activities that you probably already have the supplies for. In fact, you just need cardboard, paper, and glue for today's project. We're going to put those all together and make a...

...book! I love making books, especially with kids. Is there any better place to keep all their special stories than a book they've made themselves? And this one is easy enough for them to make, with just a little assistance from you. Just make sure you make one for yourself too!

You'll need two squares of cardboard, and paper that's trimmed to fit inside it, with just a little allowance at the top and bottom.

The cardboard is going to become the covers of your book. Chipboard and wood are also good cover materials too- anything that has a bit of heft to it. If you want to cover your cardboard, cut a piece of paper for it that's about a half inch larger on all sides. Next cut away your corners, so that your paper doesn't overlap when you fold it up.

You'll fold and glue your cover next. Your trimmed edges should align nicely together. If they do overlap, just trim as necessary until they lay side by side. Using your cover as a guide, fold your paper once leaving about about 1/4" on each side so that it fits nicely inside your book. Continue to alternate folds down the length of your paper.

If you want to add extra pages, use your original pages as a guide to fold additional sheets. Then overlap the last page of your original with the first page of your additional sheet, matching the folds, and glue together. (Looking carefully, you might be able to see my sheets glued together in the middle of my book.) You'll glue your pages inside your first cover next. Before you glue on the second cover, make sure the final fold ends as you'd like it to. I like to have open folds on both sides of my book, so sometimes I need to trim a fold away to create this.

And then it's time to decorate your book! Isia scoured our collage box for worthy treasures. She also used markers and- her most favorite art material right now- glitter glue. She wants to give her book to Billy and said she was "choosing letters that he will like." (smile)

For my book, I added little pockets. I cut squares of embossed paper to fit on each page, then cut away a "lip" at the top to make it easy to get things in and out. I then put a thin line of glue on the three bottom edges and adhered them the page. Aren't they sweet? A perfect home for little treasures such as stickers, "tattoos," small notes- anything that's flat and long enough to stick out the top.

Now your book is ready to be enjoyed! We're big fans of just opening and closing them over and over again... somehow it never gets old.

ps. Speaking of opening them, one last thing. Since accordion books tend to open easily, we wrap ribbons or rubber bands around them when they're not in use. I also found some nice closure ideas here and here. Happy book-making!