Thursday Threads #16

Camping

I love camping. I'm an outdoorsy type (although I hate the heat >_<). I've actually gone camping in both extremes though. Well, as extreme as Texas gets anyway. We went camping in August once (a mild August, I think it was just in the upper 90s), and we camped several times over New Year's (temps in the 20s). I love being able to disconnect and just spend time with nature ♥ At first I was going to throw in some beautiful photos from weheartit, but now I've decided to share with you some personal photos instead. I hope that's ok?

(This was our first camping trip! Yeah, he's whittling :D)

(This was the August trip. Couldn't sleep the first night, so we got a fan! haha)

(This was one of our New Year's camping trips. I believe the sentiment was "Never again.")

Ah, nostalgia....I mean, er, Ah, camping :-) Soon it will happen again! Looks like we may be in for another August trip...And maybe I'll give you the pretty found camping photos later ;) Happy Wednesday :D

Any other campers out there?

Etsy Finds: Greeting Cards

I searched Etsy high and low to find some awesome greeting cards! I love all of these for separate reasons :D

I love this Thank You Card by finedaypress for its simple beauty.

I love these Woohoo Greeting Cards by IttyBittyPress because they're exciting!

I love this Nerd Greeting Card by InvitaPaperStudio because I'm a nerd (and it has a great style!):

I love this Make a Wish card by craftedbylindy because it has cupcakes AND a polaroid!

I love this City Scape greeting card by blancucha for its modern, architectural design:

I love this Get well card by DankhCreations because band-aids are cute:

I love this Bling Bling engagement card by claireeyedesign because it's funny (and it rhymes!).

I love this You Rock greeting card by glademade because sometimes that's all you need to say:

I love this Sweet greeting card by LittleLadyCompany because it's short and sweet ;)

I love these Illustrated cards by SomethingBunny for the awesome illutrations!

So many lovely cards! Well done, Etsians :)

PS: Soon I hope to have some cards in my shop, too ;)

DIY Fabric Gift Tag!

 In case you didn't see my post on Saturday, I made a gift tag for my friends' wedding present! I was so excited about it that I decided to share a tutorial for it :D *yay!*

First things first, pick out your fabric. I chose a fabric to match their wedding colors. I cut my pieces to be 4x6" (so 4x3" folded). But the gift tag can be any size really - it's up to you. It's a great way to use scraps! You'll need:

• one 4x6" piece for the outside (my purple pattern)
• one 4x6" piece for the inside (I chose off-white, so it wold be easy to write on)
• one 4x6" piece of interfacing (I use iron-on)

Cut your pieces and iron them out (so glad I started ironing all my sewing projects!). Iron on your interfacing, if you're using iron-on like I did, in between the two other pieces.

Now sew the pieces together! (You can pin first if you like.) I sewed two lines to make sure the sides were secure.

Now trim off the excess. Then all you have to do is fold in half and iron!

Voila! Gift tag! Grab a permanent marker to write your message, attach with ribbon, and you're set :D

You Amaze Me, Wine Bottles

Today we're taking a look at beautifully designed wine bottles. I think everyone has chosen wine based solely on the label. I think Alex and I are even worse because we're graphic designers! One day we'll learn about wine, but until then we sit and ponder over which is the best designed label before we buy (haha). Check out these awesome wine bottles!

This first one is actually a concept design (by Death By Colour), but I'd buy it!

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As the wine disappears, the label becomes clearer! How neat :D

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Simple and beautiful:

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Clever promotional packaging:

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Prettyyyy and eco-friendly:

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Monster Vineyards by Brandever:

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Okay, the casing of this wine turns into a lamp. Awesome. Check it out here.

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Maybe I should just become a product/packaging designer. How fun would that be?! In the meantime, I am impressed and awed by great wine labels and packaging :)

Wedding Card

I had the best idea this morning. Really. Here's how it happened:

A month ago I helped a friend pick out fabric for her wedding favors (covers for blueberry jam!). She cut too many, so she gifted me a big stack of beautiful squares :D

This morning I was using the fabric for a Craft Academy project...

[sneak peek!]

when I thought - OH! I can make a gift tag with these!!!!! Anyway, I found it exciting ;D I also got to use small leftovers of interfacing and cotton fabric. So now their wedding gift will have a gift tag that matches their colors and wedding favors! I think she'll appreciate it ;)

PS: I can't believe Craft Academy starts in just over a week!!! Have you signed up yet? It's going to be awesoooome :D