Precious Prep

Hi again!

Sorry for not posting in so long!  I have been so busy I've had almost no time at all to craft! :(

Anyways, I have just today opened shop on Etsy.com and I wanted you all to be the first to know!

I only have a few items so far but I am hoping to add more this weekend!  Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PreciousPrep

Hope you are having a great day!

Monogramed Chevron Poster

**Please follow me on Pinterest :) http://pinterest.com/kraftiekatie/
Hi again!

If you have seen my earlier post, How to Chevron, you know how much I love Chevron!

This craft is just another little poster for my dorm room, similar in size to the one in Dorm Décor.  I am still making a bunch of cute things to decorate these bare walls!

So here it is:

Like it? Love it? I do!

So follow my tutorial here to learn how to make the chevron pattern.  I drew it on a white and navy blue sheet of card stock, then cut out the blue stripes and glued them into place on the white.  If you don't draw the chevron on the white sheet you should be ok but for more precision go ahead and take the extra 5 minutes.

So after I had the chevron I was thrilled!  But then I came up with the idea to add a pretty K to the mix. So off I went to Pinterest in search of free font downloads!  And what do you know... Pinterest never fails!

I found exactly what I was looking for at this website:
http://www.fontspace.com/måns-grebäck/respective

I am on a Mac so these instructions may not work for everyone, sorry :( But if you don't know how to install a font (on a Mac) you just download it, double click on the download to open font book, hit the install font button on the version of the font you like (bottom right corner), then drag the font to 'computer' on the collection list (right next to the list of fonts you downloaded).  Then when you open Word or Pages you should be able to select your font as you would any other!

I created my letter in PowerPoint, here's how:

1.Open PowerPoint and type your initial in your desired font style
2.Change the page orientation to Portrait
3.Increase the font size to around 250, depending on your letter you may have to go up or down, just make it fit on the page with a little room around the edges.
4.Make the letter bold
5.Select your color, I chose "Banana"
6.Using the text effects, select 'glow' to define your letter, I didn't want too much glow but some is good.  I made mine navy
7.Print it!  Then carefully cut around the edges and glue to the center of your page :)

Really simple with really great results! Good luck and show me how yours turns out! :)

Please follow me on Pinterest 

http://pinterest.com/kraftiekatie/

How to Chevron

Check out my new blog: Sugar Spice and Sparkle!

My latest obsession (and it seems like everyone else's too) is the Chevron pattern!  I absolutely adore it! I love it in all colors and sizes and I want to cover everything with it!  Check out my Monogramed Chevron Poster!

So I am going to teach you how to draw using the computer :) I love computers!  So here we go:

First you need to decide how thick you want your stripes to be.  I like 2 inches so it is a nice, bold pattern, but depending on the size of your object you may want to go smaller or larger, if you do, just follow the steps with your number instead of 2 inches.

Next you need to cover whatever you are making (in this case we will say an 8.5" x 11" sheet of printer paper) with a grid of 2" squares, like so:

As you can see if you only want entire squares there will be excess on the edges when using a 2" square.  

Now we start the pattern.  I like to draw all of the lines in any one direction first, that way I don't have to keep shifting my ruler back and forth (the ruler is when I draw this, not do it on the computer lol)

So here are the first lines you draw: 

Then fill in the blank squares with lines going from the opposite corners:

Your final result before color:

A bunch of triangles!
How did it go? Please leave me any comments you have! You're almost done :)

Finally, add your color!  Do so as seen here:

Now the only step left is to erase the extra lines (assuming you want white as your 2nd color) and you are done!  Here is my virtual navy and white Chevron:

What do you think?  Easy enough right?! Now you too can fall in love with this great, easy DIY pattern!  The possibilities are endless!

Orange and Blue

Black and White

Lavender and Mint

Rainbow

Ombré

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Comments always welcome :)
Follow me on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/kraftiekatie/

Gift for Mom

If you are like me then your mom is the most important person in your life and your best friend!  One of  the greatest things about crafting is making things for others.  And who better to make something for than your favorite person?

So with my inspiration from Deal Wise Mommy and a few minutes of free time I was ready!  The gift would be a Post-It note holder, made from an inexpensive frame, some scrapbook paper and embellishments, and a pad of sticky notes!  So simple yet actually useful and all moms love anything you make for them :)

So here is my result:

 What do you think?

All I did was:

1. Select coordinating sticky note pad and scrapbook paper
2. Cut scrapbook paper down to size
3. Add 'mom' sticker embellishment to the top of the scrapbook sheet
4. Put paper behind glass
5. Glue sticky note pad to the glass
6. Tie a pretty ribbon on and tape into place on the back

Voila! A really simple gift that made my mom so happy!  I'm sure she will display it proudly on her desk at work (I hope!)

Why not take a few minutes to do your favorite thing, craft, for your favorite person?  It is the little things in life that make it worth living so make someones day, it is as simple as that :)

Have a great and safe Labor Day!