Orange accessories

Next up for Orange Week: orange accessories. Glasses, polish, scarf, purse, umbrella, bags, pouch.

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Orange home

Orangify your home with these furnishings! Rug, dishes, sofa, bookcase, screen, chair, bins, pillow.

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Orange wardrobe

Orange Week continues! Top, unmentionables, solid dress, socks, striped dress, shoes, jeans.

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Orange art

Welcome to Orange Week, featuring a healthy dose of orange goodness every day. I'm on vacation this week, but pre-scheduled posts will keep the blog living up to its name. Artwork kicks things off! Perhaps you need gin, Johnny Cash, bikes, or a llama?

Or try birds, kitty, coffee, or cart.

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Free font: Trocchi

If you're up for a Friday freebie, you might go grab Trocchi, a Clarendon-like slab serif type family by Vernon Adams. Bold and regular weights are available for download right here at Font Squirrel.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday, everyone! I'm on vacation next week, but I've prepared some posts ahead of time. I'm designating it Orange Week. Prepare to feast your eyes on orange galore! I've scoured the internet for the best orange things to put on, carry around, gaze at, sit on, and decorate with.

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Make a simple, stitched vinyl wallet

My hubby Alex likes to carry around a slim, fold-in-half vinyl wallet sometimes, but his isn't quite the right size to fit a dollar bill folded in half. He has to perform some kind of weird origami quarter-fold to make cash fit, so I thought I'd see if I could make a better one.

Tragically the fabric store didn't have orange vinyl, but I made do. I used one color for the outside and another for contrasting pockets. (I folded the wallets a little bit crooked in the photo above so you can see a hint of pocket peeking out.)

These would be simple gifts to whip up as graduation presents or Father's Day gifts, and especially fun with cash or a gift card tucked inside.

The measurements I used:
Outer piece = 4.5" x 6.5"
Each pocket = 4.5" x 2.5"

Or adjust as needed to make business card holders, recipe card holders, you name it.

On the outer piece, get crazy with your sewing machine and stitch some lines using contrasting thread. I made some straight stitches on one version, then tried one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine that I never use.

Instead of backstitching to secure the ends of the decorative stitches (that's unsightly!) pick at the last stitch on the reverse side until you can pull the thread from the front side back through and then knot the loose ends. Secure all the stitches this way.

Then sew on the two pockets by stitching around the edges of the wallet. When you're finished, slice off any overhanging bits with a rotary cutter and a ruler to tidy up the edges.

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Free vintage printable images

Vintage Printable is a fascinating (though difficult to browse) archive of vintage photos, illustrations, and page scans. Files vary in resolution and the usage restrictions are a bit murky; most state "image in the public domain believed to be free to use without restriction in the US." I wouldn't build a corporate ad campaign based on "believed to be," but you could certainly make yourself some wall art, desktop wallpaper, or fun projects for personal use. Via Curbly.

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Free Photoshop and Illustrator tutorials

Those who want to learn useful techniques in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and photography might be interested in Nicole's Classes. Find an ever-growing series of free video tutorials, how-tos, and downloads. Or sign up for classes you can take at home in the comfort of your pajamas (one of my favorite working uniforms, I admit). New, helpful content is posted every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Here's an example of one of the goodies offered on the site: printable Summer Reading bookmarks in two designs. Help yourself right here and learn a couple of Illustrator tips along the way.

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How to make party decorations out of paper

There's something really satisfying about making your own... anything. And if you're throwing a party for someone, what better way to say "I like you" than to make the decorations by hand. Not to mention, it's cheaper. Not to mention, you can cut and assemble these while watching TV, so you'll feel productive and proud of yourself instead of like a guilty couch potato. Learn to make the paper flower centerpiece above at Santa Barbara Wedding Style.

Download free printable templates for mini candy boxes at Gi Det Videre. The PDFs have editable text fields so you can easily type in guests' names and use them as place cards or favor boxes. Check back at Gi Det Videre this week for more matching printables to add to the set.

Get a template and instructions from HGTV for making this party flag garland. Use paper in colors that match your plates, napkins and other party stuff, and you'll look like a pro.

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DIY geometric felt bookmarks

Remember the boxes I made with stiffened felt from the craft store? I found it was easy to cut the stuff by hand with an X-acto knife, so I used the leftover scraps to make bookmarks with geometric cutouts. Kinda like the laser-cut items that are really popular right now, but without the laser.

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Summer t-shirt DIY projects

Have you heard? Gap and Threadless are teaming up for a series of "TIY" (T-It-Yourself) tutorials, with a new one posted every Friday on Gap's Facebook page. Photo instructions will demonstrate how to turn old shirts into fun accessories including flip flops, laptop sleeves, and beach bags. I'm curious to see what they come up with. See the flip flop project here.

The idea, according to the PR email I received, is for us to make crafts with our old t-shirts so we'll have more room to fit Gap's new Ts into our wardrobe. I'm not sure the campaign will cause me to buy t-shirts, but this photo is inspiring me to finally remove January's last remaining flecks of old nail polish from my toes and paint them pink.

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Printable owl bookmark and card

Look at the printable owl bookmarks made by Irene at Gi Det Videre! You can print out a card with a branch on which to perch a little bird, just in case you want to give one as a gift. Completely charming and perfect for mailing to a kid. Or keeping for yourself in case you need a dose of cuteness.

Via I Share Printables.

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Vintage illustrations as desktop wallpaper

Maraid Design, a small firm in York, England, regularly posts scans of vintage book illustrations blown up to desktop wallpaper sizes. Pick the design that fits your monitor and add some retro goodness to your office! The blue lady gazing lovingly at her refrigerator is keeping me company today. Via the Herman Miller blog.

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Practical Origami book

While we're on the topic of origami, the publisher of Practical Origami: Folding Your Way to Everyday Accessories sent over a review copy the other day. Take a peek at what you can make! The book is full of instructions for folding boxes, bags, envelopes, containers, coasters, flowers and more. The illustrations and written directions are clear and simple to follow, and there's a guide to the symbols and types of folds at the beginning of the book. Find it here at Amazon.

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Make an origami dress card

A simple origami dress makes a sweet DIY greeting card. It's a good option for Mother's Day, bridesmaids and bridal showers, or birthday cards for fancy ladies. I made a quick chevron pattern in Illustrator and printed it on computer paper, then folded this little frock from a 4-inch square. I printed a greeting on plain cardstock and attached the dress with double-stick tape. Using a map or old book pages would be nice, too. Follow this video to learn how to fold the origami dress.

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Fabric sighting at Decaf Plush

Whew. The last couple days have been a whirlwind of client revisions and crazy deadlines. My poor blog collects dust when graphic design jobs take precedent. But I did want to pop in to share something that made me happy recently. Decaf Plush, a company that makes appliqued cushions and children's clothing, is using Outside Oslo in their fall line! It's fun to see home dec fabric used for dresses. Maybe I need to make myself a skirt— minus the applique. (Or better yet, cajole Mum into making it for me...)

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Modern cross stitch patterns

While browsing on Etsy I bumped into Tiny Modernist, a shop selling cross stitch patterns for little mid-century items. Make four-inch Barcelona chairs, Airstream campers, and more. Cute stuff! I'm not a cross stitcher, but if I were, I'd grab one of these PDF patterns for five bucks.

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Free printable Mother's Day card

Need a simple Mother's Day card you can print immediately? Download my watercolor freebie right here. The finished card is 5.5" x 4.25", sized for a standard A-2 announcement envelope. Be sure to print at 100% without a shrink-to-fit option checked.

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Valentina typeface

Valentina is a beautiful didone typeface designed by Pedro Arilla and named after his grandmother. It's available for use in personal or commercial work. So lovely! Download it here for free, or make a donation to keep Pedro going.

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A handful of sewing tutorials

New tutorials are constantly materializing on the internet. So if you like material, here are a few sewing projects you might attempt!
Retro travel bag by Melissa Mortenson at Riley Blake Designs
Sweet little coin purse from Sew Spoiled
Shoulder bag by Sew Christine
Simple envelope pillows at Teal & Lime

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DIY stiffened felt boxes

I love the thick wool felt that's increasingly popular, but man. Wool felt in the 3mm to 5mm range is really expensive ($130/yard or so). The boxes, bowls, and vessels made with it are very cool, though. So when I was poking around my local craft store, I found a poor girl's substitute: Eazy Felt. You know it's cheap when "easy" is spelled with a Z instead of an S on the product label. It's regular craft felt that's been stiffened into sturdy sheets, and cost me $1.78 per 12"x18" sheet.

To make felt boxes, I cut a 9" square for the bottom piece, then added four slits and four diagonal cuts to trim away some of the excess felt on the tabs. See my pattern here. (This diagram is not to size; use it as a reference to see where to mark points on your felt.)

I used a rotary cutter and ruler to cut out the main shape, then made the slits and diagonal cuts with an X-acto knife. The stiffened felt cuts quite eazily. I didn't trace a pattern onto the felt; just measured with a ruler, marked the points, and sliced.

The box top is similar, except the center area is larger to fit over the box bottom, and the sides are half the height. See the template here.

After the pieces are cut, crease the tabs against the edge of a ruler to make assembly easier.

Fold the triangular tabs inward and bring the sides of the box up. (To allow for the thickness of the felt, you may need to trim an eighth inch off the edge of the triangle tabs so they don't poke out past the sides of the box.) Then secure the flaps with a hot glue gun. Do the same for the box lid. All done!

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Origami hugs-and-kisses garland

Leyla Torres demonstrates how to fold a paper chain of hugs and kisses, fun party decorations. Watch the video to learn how to make the garland from strips of colored paper.

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