Showing posts with label calendar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calendar. Show all posts

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Craft Your Calendar: Paint February

Sometimes the best thing to do to beat the winter blues is to craft!  The next installment to my monthly calendar tutorial features a pretty hand-drawn picture that is sure to lighten your mood.  Since I've been learning a lot of painting techniques in my art class lately, I wanted to showcase the lovely world of watercolor.  Step-by-step below, I illustrate how to get started with painting in a simple and quick way by creating a wash, which is basically a light glaze of color.  For a quirky and creative spin, you can also apply white crayon beforehand to create a neat effect.  I hope you give painting a try—who knows, it could turn out to be your own hidden niche.

You really only need a few basic art materials for this project including the free printable February Template, watercolor paper, a white crayon, a set of watercolors, a watercolor palette for mixing, a paintbrush, a light source (a light box or a window works fine), water, and some paper towels.

1.  Print the template on regular printer-paper, and then cut a piece of watercolor paper to eight and one-half by eleven inches.  Layer the thicker paper over the template and trace over a light source using a white crayon.  This effect, while invisible at first, will create a waxy surface that will resist the water.

2.  Put some water in your paint and experiment by mixing colors to create neat shades and tints.  You don't want your paint consistency to be too thin or thick—somewhere in between works well.

3.  Using a paintbrush (I used a thick one to cover more area), cover you paper in a little water, so that the pores in the watercolor paper soak it up.  Then, paint over the paper, revealing the magic of the white crayon.  I suggest using a dark colored paint so that the white crayon will show though better.

4.  Fill in the detailed parts of the drawing with a smaller paintbrush. Next, dab over the white crayon using a paper towel to sop up any extra watercolor.  Let you calendar dry, and you're done!

5.  If you want to take full advantage of your leftover template, you can do a craft with it as well.  Using some thick markers, I colored my template, and put it in my school binder, to keep reminders for myself throughout the month.

If you enjoy watercolor, and have experimented with creating washes, try making a composition.  Above is the painting I made for my art class, which was the inspiration for this tutorial.  If you enjoyed this craft, don't forget to come by next month, and check out my calendar template for March.

Update: on the templates, I have left the days blank, so that his series can be used for many years to come!  Also, the names of the weeks have been omitted, so that any country can enjoy the calendar tutorials.  If you want, you can fill the blanks in by hand with a marker, to create the same effect as shown in the tutorial.

Happy Valentines day :)

Kelly

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Craft Your Calendar: Stitch January

Create your calendar this year by learning new crafting techniques every month and using my free printable templates.  For January, I decided to make a pretty wintery scene that captures the wonder of the frosty season.  In this tutorial, I wanted to showcase embroidering techniques for beginners in a simple, yet detailed way.  If you've never embroidered before, I encourage you to try it out—you may end up loving it!  However, if stitching isn't your thing, you can certainly do whatever kind of craft that suits your fancy!  You could color it in, decoupage it, paint it. . . the options are endless.  Once you're done, hang it on the wall for all to admire or put it in a binder as a reminder for school or work.

Step-by-step below, I'll demonstrate three basic embroidery stitches—the running stitch, the french knot, and the backstitch.  You can use these techniques however you want to on your template or use my examples as inspiration!

Materials:  Click and print the free January Template on thick paper, scissors, practice paper, needle, and embroidery floss in several complementary colors.
 
To prepare a needle and thread for embroidery stitches, cut a stretch of embroidery floss (no more than 18 inches so it doesn't tangle) and tie a knot close to one end.  Thread your needle onto the opposing side of the knot (use a wide-eyed needle to accommodate larger thread).

Note:  I recommend that before begin on your template, you practice and perfect these techniques on a recycled sheet of paper.

Here's how to do the running stitch. . .
This dashed stitch is a must-know because it is very common and easy to do.

1.  Poke your needle up through the paper and pull until you reach the knot.  Then, simulate an "under-over" pattern with the needle and thread, creating stitches about one centimeter long.  You'll notice that this stitch creates a line of dashes.

2.  On the backside of your paper, you should see your knot and the same dashed pattern.

In your template, you can apply the running stitch anywhere you want.  I used the same "under-over" concept of the running stitch to create a snowflake, instead of a line.

Here's how to do a french knot. . .
This embroidery technique is one of the prettiest stitches and is surprisingly easy to do.  Practice it a couple of times and you're sure to get it!  Note: this tutorial demonstrates the technique right-handed, but if you are left-handed, simply reverse the hand positions.

1.  Poke up through the spot you want to create a french knot.  In one hand, pull the thread coming though the paper taught and in the other hand, hold the needle.

2. Wrap the needle around the thread about two times.

3.  In a place close to where the thread came out, poke the needle back through the paper.

4.  Keep pulling the needle through until a little knot is created.

In all the places where there are dots on your template, you can apply the french knot.  If you don't want to do a french knot, another option would be to create little X's over the dots.

Here's how to do a backstitch . . .
The backstitch is a great technique to use if you want to create a solid line.

1.  Begin this stitch as you would for a running stitch: poke the needle up through the paper and go over, under, and come up again.  

2.  To fill in the gap created, go back to the last stitch made, and poke the needle through it about 1/4 way though.  Repeat this process by coming up to make a stitch again and then filling in the gap.

I used the backstitch for the solid lines in the template including the boots, tights, dress, and mittens of the girl.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and picked up a few embroidery techniques along the way.  I'm interested in knowing how you will decorate your template and how you're going to use it!  Remember to check back at the beginning of every month for a new template and craft that goes with it.  If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kelly