DIY stitched Mother's Day Card

Need a last-minute Mother's Day card idea? Stitch one! Chronicle Books has offered us this tutorial from Jessica Marquez, author of Stitched Gifts. The book offers 25 simple embroidery projects for weddings, holidays, baby showers, anniversaries, or just because. Here's one for mums.

Stitching this card should take 30-45 minutes according to the directions, so you don't even need to start until about 10:30 PM on Saturday night, right?

Download the how-to PDF (4 MB, so give it a minute)
Download the stitching pattern

Only a couple types of stitches are needed. These steps are also included in the PDF, but if you need quick refresher...

How to backstitch:


How to make a French knot:

Happy stitching! For more projects, get the book Stitched Gifts right here.

Etsy pop-up shop at West Elm Chicago

Announcing a fun event for Chicagoans and visitors! West Elm asked for my input as they host a pop-up shop of local Etsy sellers inside their Lincoln Park store. The event will be Saturday, June 22 from 1pm – 6pm at the North Avenue location. Come hang out with me and browse through lovely handmade jewelry, art, home decor, stationery, and more. There will be delicious refreshments, plus I've heard rumors of a DJ and a photo booth...

For a complete list of the participating Etsy sellers, visit West Elm's blog. Find the event on Facebook here to RSVP or share with a friend. Grab somebody and come on out!

Here's sampling of the wares below. Better start planning right now where you're gonna hang that chipmunk.

A plant I can't kill

Check out my new house plant. It's healthy and thriving because I'm giving it the perfect amount of water and sunlight.


I made it from the cardboard kit, Port-a-Plant, sent over from Chronicle Books. It contains punch-out parts for three different paper succulents. The leaves can be a bit challenging to slip into their slots, so I think a child might have trouble with this. But a grown-up will conquer the cacti. Fun, right?

Lots of free, printable notecards

Caravan is a shop full of digital downloads created by Alma and Mike Loveland and Melanie Burk. And they've just made all of their printable stationery free! Find notecards for teachers, grads, birthdays, and more right here, including a bunch of chalkboard-style designs which are super trendy right now. Save yourself a trip to the store!

Framed origami animals

I amused myself the other day by making some little origami foxes using this diagram by Mark Leonard, and a whale using these traditional instructions. (The website where I found the fox is apparently no longer active or I'd link to it.)


I thought maybe these animals need a place to live, so I made them each a habitat.


You can download and print these backgrounds, then glue your own origami animals onto them if you like. Framed, they'd be cute in a kid's room.

Download the woods.
Download the sea.

Print out the sheets and leave them 8 1/2" x 11" or trim them a bit to 8" x 10", a more common frame size. The animals were made from 6" standard-size origami paper. A full square for the whale and a half sheet for each fox. You could also shrink everything to mini size and make some little cards if you have nimble fingers.

Make large-format wall art from engineering prints

Engineering prints (also known as draft prints, blueprint copies or architect prints) are currently all the rage with home owners looking for cheap DIY wall art. The grainy, photocopy-quality prints have a sort of vintage-looking charm, and you can't beat the price! It appears that most folks are outputting their large-format photos, quotes, and chalkboard-inspired art at Staples for a cost of $3-$7. To make your own posters, check out these projects for tips:
Above, giant photobooth wall art at Luxe Chandelier
Below, blown-up photos of photos by Jabaay Ave
Also see how to send images to Staples for printing and make a big frame by Dear Lillie
And don't forget my favorite: Designs Editor's free camera images.

DIY geometric art with simple stamps

The minimal, geometric designs that Fellow Fellow is sharing lately make me happy. Reducing objects to their most basic shapes is very satisfying, and these are great examples of what you can do with rectangles and triangles. Head to Fellow Fellow to see how to make your own stamps and create a village print.


Or grab the kids and stamp some animals together. Abstract patterns are pretty, too, when they've got that nice, stampy texture. Lovely work, Claire!

Decorating ideas using wallpaper

I've had wallpaper on my mind ever since Chasing Paper licensed one of my designs for their self-adhesive, removable wallpaper collection. I tried out one of the sample pieces on this TV tray. I might stick a chunk on the back of my iPad, too.

It's fun to think about ways to add wallpaper to a home without the cost of doing a wall or an entire room. The panels at Chasing Paper are 2 ft. x 4 ft., so perfect for smaller projects like these:

Source: Chris Everard

Frame out a large section of wallpaper with some crown molding.

Source: BHG

Cover a cart (or bookshelf on wheels) with wallpaper.

Source: House to Home

Stick wallpaper inside a bookshelf for a graphic patterned backdrop.

Source: BHG

Wallpaper a headboard.

Source: Chez Larsson

Give your stair risers some extra oomph. This is a Chasing Paper print.

Source: Aunt Peaches

Wallpaper your fridge. This is Chasing Paper, too!

Source: Waverly ad via More Design Please

Add pattern to the laundromat you manage.

Removable wallpaper from Chasing Paper

I'm pleased to announce a new print on a new product: removable wallpaper! Chasing Paper has just launched my Sunburst print in nine— that's right, NINE— colors in their shop.


I'm super excited. This stuff is like regular wallpaper, except it's self-adhesive and no paste is required. It's low-tack, so peeling it off won't harm your paint. (Or your 70s wood paneling.) Renters, rejoice! It's repositionable, so if you stick a piece on crooked or start putting it up on one wall and then decide it would look better somewhere else, no problem. Just move it. It's not contact paper; it's actually printed fabric and has a visibly woven texture so it looks richer than a wall decal. And it's wipeable!

Chasing Paper's wallpapers come in 2 ft. by 4 ft. panels, so you can buy a little for a small project, or a lot for a big project. Cover an accent wall. Or the inside of a bookshelf, or the top of a TV tray.






There's a bit of satin sheen to the paper.


I covered a plain white cabinet in my dining room.


Since I'm always skeptical about claims of durability, I decided to find out how easy this stuff is to clean. Let's pretend you accidentally throw some chocolate sauce at your wall.


It wipes off easily, leaving the wallpaper unharmed.


Let's pretend you accidentally run your wallpaper under some water. No problem. The ink doesn't run and you can dry it right off.

You know what that means. I have to put a wallpaper backsplash behind my sink.

12 May desktop wallpapers

There are a ton of pretty, floral May desktops out there, free for the taking. If your screen needs a May calendar or quote, consider one of these springy items from designers around the web:

1. Enchanted Woods
2. Emily Ley
3. Ruche
4. Sarah Hearts
5. Regina F. Silva
6. Grown-up Shoes
7. Caroline Johansson
8. La boom!
9. Jonathan Woodward
10. Pimpelmees
11. Love Creative
12. Rebekka Seale

Printable Mother's Day card

Mother's Day is coming up, so I made a little freebie you can download and print for your mum. It's a greeting card that fits in a standard A2 envelope. (4.25" x 5.5" after folding.) And it won't use up much of your ink cartridge. You could output this on linen-textured cardstock to make it really nice, and pair it with a red or green envelope. And a pie.

Download the card right here.

Design your own stamps

A package came in the mail today.


A stamp I designed! It's from Stamptitude, a shop offering custom-made, self-inking stamps. Run by a husband and wife team, the little company just opened their doors. They agreed to make me a complimentary product sample to review, so I simplified the design I'd put on those foil cards and sent it over. Voilà! It has been magically reincarnated as a pre-inked stamp! When the ink runs out someday, I can just pour in more. No need for a stamp pad.

This thing is going to be really useful. On envelopes and packages, at the top of note paper, on post-its, gift tags, wine bottle tags, treat bags, business cards... I might go around stamping everything. I totally love it.

Some of the first impressions I made with it were pretty patchy, but I figured out I needed to press harder and leave the design depressed against the paper longer. According the website's FAQ's, you can also adjust the amount of ink flow by using the "lift & twist" mechanism at the base of the handle.


Stamptitude's custom stamps are quite affordable; prices start at $12. Just create your design, choose a shape, size and ink color, and upload your artwork. They ship globally..