Friday 24 April 2015

So Many Letters

Hannah Rogge, Director of Product Development, and wearer of mostly blue outfits.
 


Having grown up in NYC, I’ve been a huge fan of graffiti-inspired letters since I started recognizing the alphabet. I like how these large-scale forms of color sometimes reveal a recognizable letter and are at other times so abstract that they can barely be “read” as letters.
I find letters are quite fun to draw! I used to take great pride in lettering the topics in my notebook or drawing my name over and over. Psych signs* were really big in my high school, and the girls with the best lettering skills always had waiting lists of people who wanted their names to be drawn. (I’m sure boys have great lettering skills, too, but my experience was at an all-girls school.)
*Oh, wait . . . not everyone has a school obsessed with psych signs? They’re signs with people’s names on them (usually very athletic people) to psych them up for a game and show support. Something like “Go Hannah” . . . except that I’m not terribly athletic. (But I still appreciated the vote of confidence.)
Note: This is a reproduction of the original art. 
Lizzy’s (my high school friend) was much better.

That’s where my interest in letters comes from and why I picked up Klutz’s Lettering book. 


Lettering makes it easy to have fun with a message. There’s a lot that kids (and adults!) can do with all of the stencil letters included in the kit.
Yes, exactly. You can say anything.
Perhaps . . .
Why, yes, they are. Thank you for noticing.

Making messages with this book is a lot of fun and super easy! Besides, there are important things to remember, like:

and
(Just like it was for me when I made these signs for the office.)

For reading this!

Friday 10 April 2015

Spring It On with Mini Pom-Pom Pets

Today’s post is brought you to by Flora Kim, a product editor with Klutz. 

Early spring in NYC is tough. One minute it’s sunny and gorgeous, and the next thing you know it’s freezing and you have to break out your giant puffy coat (again). While I was waiting for Mother Nature to make up her mind, I decided to craft a little springtime magic for myself with one of my favorite Klutz books: Mini Pom-Pom Pets.

All you need to create your own menagerie of pom-pom animals is a dinner fork and a little elbow grease. Wrap some yarn around a fork, tie it up in a bundle, a few snips with the scissors, and ta-da! A pom-pom is born.


Tip to the craft-wise: When I first cut the loops of my yarn bundle, my pom-pom looked . . . weird. I was a bit alarmed. But I promise you, after a good trim, no one will know if your pom-pom had a less-than-adorable start.

The book also comes with eyes, noses, and other extras that transform your plain pom-poms into cute critters. My favorite extra? The blush marker—it was the perfect finishing touch for my ducky.
 
I decided my new pet pal needed to be on display, so I made a mini springtime wreath. I crafted this wreath base by twisting some old packing paper, but you can use a premade wreath, too. After adding paper flowers and leaves, I glued on my ducky. How CUTE is this little guy?

Be sure to check out Mini Pom-Pom Pets, and I hope that you’re not waiting too long for spring, wherever you are!