When Makeful sent their challenge this month I was excited to see it was a phone case. I’ve been wanting to make my own simple case for a while now and this one only took about five minutes. Supplies
Acrylic paint
Brush
Water
Paper towel
Phone case
I made a template of what I wanted to paint on paper first so I could figure out the spacing.
Then I just painted inside the phone case and tried to fade the color a little bit as I went toward the center.
Wait for it to dry and voilà!
Be sure to head over to Cricut before 7/5 to try out two of my favorite “One Cut” cards! My Get Well Soon card and also my Thanks card are both available as part of their Cricut Free Cut of the Week program! They are both from my Simple Cards Cartridge – which is chock full of easy, fast and cute cards to make! When I was designing it, I kept thinking that I wanted something I could make for friends and family that had my own personal touch, but that was fast and easy to put together for those days when I had no extra hands and no time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Update!!!!!
Guys!!! I’m pretty sure the ENTIRE cartridge is free to use this week!!!! Go play!!!
I’m so excited to show you a lovely commission from from Sita Montgomey Interiors! She was looking for something light and airy to compliment her family room and decided a landscape would work best for what she had in mind.
I’ve followed Sita’s work for quite a while now, and have always loved how she incorporates classic styles with a contemporary twist.
We are so excited to show you the final project! Be sure to check out all the pics and our feature here at Sita Montgomery Interiors!!!! Watercolor Rhythm in Blush is now available as a print in the shop; you can find it here.
I’m so excited to show you the first installment of my newest line, Watercolor Wedding Vows for Cricut! I love how this print and cut series has everything designed for you, yet you can easily change the the wording to fit your occasion. Birthdays, baby announcements, tea parties…. the list goes on for cute occasions that would go well with this style of watercolor florals. I may have used it myself a time or two already!
I’m loving all the soft painted peonies and roses that are so on trend right now, and the Cricut showcases them so well in this collection. I cannot tell you how excited I get to print off my party goods and then sit and watch as my machine trims them all perfectly for me.
Cricut Meet the Maker Interview
You can catch me answering some questions about weddings, the new line, and my inspiration here on the Cricut “Meet the Maker” series! I love the way they let you get to know the artists behind their lines with their fun interviews – be sure to go check it out!
*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive compensation to feed the family and keep creating great content for you to enjoy.
I was so excited when Spoonflower asked me to film a video tutorial on how to make a DIY no sew Fleece Blanket with their brand new line of gorgeous fleece! Its heavenly soft, slightly stretchy, and Alice definitely approves. In fact, the two blankets I made seem to keep disappearing and I find them in all my kids’ rooms, so I think some more blanket making might be in order in the Malan household.
For this video tutorial I ordered a yard of my Persimmon spring fleece, and I also made a blanket out of our super popular Watercolor Peonies for Alice fleece as well. Find them in my Spoonflower store here. You could easily use two yards and make a double sided blanket, but I wanted a lighter weight blanket for the summer time and my diaper bag and this one has been wonderful. Be sure to check it out on their blog.
And if you’re looking to make a knit receiving blanket, be sure to check out this post of Alice’s newborn photos to see Watercolor Peonies for Alice in action in the hospital, and two more fun and free downloads for your delivery or nursery! Bassinet freebie here, Watercolor garland freebie here. Her swaddler is so simple it doesn’t even need a tutorial; just trim the edges off a yard of jersey and you’re set to swaddle!!!
Be sure to check out these adorable binkie clips from Trompe + Co as well! They’ve been such a lifesaver! Alice will only take a very specific pacifier, and it’s a nightmare when we lose it!!! Trompe + Co has so many cute colors and styles available that you’ll have a hard time choosing, but we went with Bubble gum, and Gold.
I promised my kids a library tote. We have made a new resolution to go to the library – even though two years ago they lost a teensy tiny little book that cost me $19 and I break out into a cold sweat and stop breathing every time they pick out books and my head is calculating any hypothetical lost book charges. So we took a break for a few years. But now we’re back! And the kids love it.
My Makeful tote arrived magically in the mail as I was contemplating what to load up our books in. And I knew it would be perfect. Seriously, I thought someone in their offices was reading my mind – the timing was perfect. It was a simple and fun project, and the gesso works as a great eraser if you make any marks you don’t love in the painting process.
DIY Tote Bag Supplies
Tote bag
Gesso
Acrylic Paints
Tempera Brushes (mine are from Hobby Lobby in a pack)
Use a brush to layer some gesso onto the tote. Let it dry.
Mist the paper towel on the plate with the spray bottle; you don’t want it soaking wet, just nice and damp. Put paints out onto a damp paper towel.
Start laying out your design, I like to take each color and put a few flowers around for balance.
Use your spray bottle to mist your paints periodically to keep them wet.
Add in stems and leaves in open spaces. Use gesso to correct anything that isn’t in a place you like. Keeping the flowers painted in similar colors (pink with red, yellow with orange) makes painting easier, and when they are dry, you can add interest with colorful centers. Be sure to think about scale as you are painting – a variety of large, medium and small flowers and leaves looks best.
Alt Summit……. Is definitely known for lovely dinners and parties! I was excited to be commissioned to create some custom stationary for the Cents of Style Dinner created by Food Made by Tom this year. They wanted a Pantone Rose Quartz theme with a watercolor airy feel and a modern clean twist, and I think we accomplished just that. Art direction by Jen Jurca from Elevate.
Printable Watercolor Menu
After a few rounds of revisions, we went with a Herringbone pattern, as a more contemporary take on it’s sister the Chevron – and it turned out beautifully. I can envision it as a Save the Date, Baby Announcement, Journaling card, Menu, NotePad, Honey do List, Laminated wipe off Board……. my list goes on and on….
Printable Watercolor Place Cards
The matching tented place cards come four to a page and print on a standard US letter sheet. Use your favorite software to add names, or whip out a great brush pen and calligraphy those names right on. We hope you love them as much as we do.
Statement Maker Printable
This one is just killer if your gallery wall is in need of a little pep talk and it prints beautifully as a 5×7. It’s fun and fab and we love how it ties Pantone’s color of the year into your space without the huge commitment of paint.
So thankful for these four littles and the way they keep me on my toes. Even on the hard days. And just in case you were wondering… this is what goes on under my desk when I’m illustrating…….
Included below are both the flat and folded files for some pretty Thanksgiving place cards for your table. They are cute tied to a napkin, in a holder, or folded by your plates. And you can easily add names in your favorite editing software in your favorite font, or print on cardstock and fill them in by hand.
The fabulous Melissa Esplin and I teamed up this year to bring you some sweet watercolor & calligraphy “Thanksgiving Thank you Postcards” as a free printable. So excited! That stunning calligraphy…….sigh…..gets me every time! I took Melissa’s class just over a year ago, and still think it was the best investment I’ve made in a very looooong time. She’s got a new website up at Calligraphy.org that you should go check out, and add a subscription to your Christmas list while you’re at it. You won’t regret it. Promise.
Thanksgiving Thank You Postcard
There are two fun options, and I have one Thanksgiving postcard in the link below, and be sure to head over to Melissa’s blog to grab the other for all your holiday note writing. And be sure to check back Monday for coordinating placards! There may also be a Black Friday Etsy Promo code and some fun shop updates in the near future as well…….. just saying…….