wishful thinking

DIY — Done! Wedding Card Album

illumenme — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:00:41 +0000

DIY photo source: Something Turquoise Blog via Christin on Pinterest

When I saw this project by Something Turquoise, I knew I had to make it happen. All our wedding cards had just been lying around, tied up with yarn into three stacks in a box where no one could enjoy them. This project was so quick—I picked up the supplies from Michael’s after work on a Tuesday, and the whole album was finished that night! You can find the directionson the Something Turquoise blog. They were really detailed and so easy to follow (lots of pictures too)! If you’ve already organized your cards somehow, this would make an awesome one-of-a-kind shower gift.

I picked out cardstock for the covers in our wedding colors—gray and purple—and I was lucky to have some ribbon leftover from some wedding crafts still in my stash.

Craft Tips:

1. I found big chipboard self-adhesive glitter letters at Michael’s. SO THANKFUL for self-adhesive-craft anything! I think the chipboard letters add a lot of dimension over stickers. Go with chipboard, you’ll thank yourself.

2. The metal rings were in the sewing section with the embroidery thread. Buy a larger one than you think. Cards add thickness FAST.

3. I’ve never used the crop-a-dile hole punch that was mentioned in the original post, but it looks amazing!! I had a regular old hole punch and felt like my hand was going to fall off by the end. If you use a regular hole punch, take things one layer at a time—don’t try to punch through a triple folded card all at once. I added the Crop-A-Dile punch to my wish list—if only my birthday wasn’t 5 months away!

4. Not all my cards fit in this one album. I put in the cards of people who wrote notes, are family, were in the wedding party, or are special friends. Buy a larger metal ring than you think you’ll need, or make two!

I am a designer

illumenme — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:12:37 +0000

Sometimes I just get so excited when a good idea hits me while I’m designing. I have to do something to express my joy that the idea “came to me”—such as wave my hands or jump up and down or punch the air like I’m beating down all the bad ideas. This is how I know I should be a designer.

Today it was creating an awesome lighting effect in photoshop. LOVE IT.

Detail of Requiem poster by me! via carbonmade portfolio

I Love Lucy!

illumenme — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:12:43 +0000

I’ve been watching a lot of I Love Lucy lately ever since my husband got me the 9 season, 2 bonus disc, collector’s edition box set for our anniversary. Happy two years, Honey!

I have loved that show ever since I was a kid—recording three hours off Nick At Nite each week in the summer, finding Lucy mugs and postcards, and even having a Lucy themed party for my 11th birthday. My mom made it special by creating a retro theme and bought everything she could find that was Lucy. She even had cupcakes made with the little dolls you can put in the top to make the cake look like the skirt. The cake maker dyed their hair red at my mom’s request, just like Lucy’s! It was pretty special—thanks Mom!!

I realized last night as I watched “The Audition” (which I discovered is the same exact plot—AND script!—as the unreleased pilot, discovered in 1990 or something like that) that this is the 60th anniversary of the first season of the show! I just love the simplistic, slap-stick, hilarity that is I Love Lucy, and I think that is why so many people like me have fallen in love with the show over the years. So happy anniversary, Lucy! I’m enjoying watching the show even a lifetime later!

I Love Lucy Watercolor Painting by Soo210 on Etsy.com

DIY – Done!

illumenme — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:21:33 +0000

DIY photo source: The Etsy Blog via Christin on Pinterest

Pinterest is definitely a wonderful thing. Consuming? Yes, but also totally helpful in collecting all the DIY stuff I want to try out. I’ve had these cute little Fabric Nesting Dolls from the Etsy Blog pinned on my DIY board for a while now. They are SO CUTE! I wanted to put my own little characters on them.

Sketching out the dolls on front fabric. Used an industrial sharpie—no bleed, VERY permanent.

I made a four sets this week—one for my newborn neice, two for a friend of mine, Dawn, and a fourth for a friend who will get them in the mail soon! Surprise! My neice will have to wait a while to play with her’s (probably until she develops motor skills). Dawn’s set, the two shown, represent her grandkids.

DIY instructions can be found in the Etsy Blog article, Handmade Kids How-To: Fabric Nesting Dolls

Books and Babies

illumenme — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:59:09 +0000

I received a large box in the mail yesterday from my mother. Inside, amidst a TON of packing tissue, was the baby book she had kept during my first three years. It was fun to see names of family friends, find out who gave me that figurine of a gymnast I loved as a kid, and get a feel for my parents life back then. It’s just coincidence that today Martha’s Crafts Dept. blog featured the sweet book inspired baby shower. I’m loving this shower idea that I’ve seen floating around the blog world recently, and I think you’ll love it too!

Photo from theCraftsDept

Isn’t this garland the cutest! I love the pink shades. And of course, the fact that they’re little handmade books! I also love the storybook invitation pictured below. What a great theme for a baby shower, and a perfect opportunity to give a baby book as a gift to the mother-to-be.

Photo from theCraftsDept

Long time coming

illumenme — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:05:46 +0000

It’s been a SUPER long time since I’ve posted anything to this blog! Guilt immediately washes over me every time I see my bookmark pointing to here. “Soon,” I think to myself, “Soon I will post again.” Well, “Again” is finally here. It was one crazy start of the year, and I feel like I don’t even know where the last 4 months of my life went. Here’s a peek into some of what’s been going on in my art world.

Custom Monogram Journals for Senior Gifts

Custom Monogram “Memory” Journal

New items in Etsy Shop including Book Favors and Sketchbook Sets

I also have a few new ways in which you can keep up with all the news from me and my shop. One, you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/christinobryan. Two, you can sign up for my e-newsletter—which I promise is non-spammy and filled only with the most important details (sales, events and updates) sent once a quarter or so. All you have to do is sign up here.

Finally, there’s still time to take advantage of my Etsy shop’s spring sale! Just enter the code SPRING20 to receive 20% off your purchase at check out. Sale will end on May 31.

AH! Feels good to have posted again, and I promise never to stay away so long again!

Sketchbook Project in Atlanta

illumenme — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:34:46 +0000

Don’t forget to visit the Granite Room in Atlanta this weekend to see the almost 10,000 sketchbooks entered into The Sketchbook Project! April 8-9 the sketchbooks will be out for view, and you won’t want to miss some totally amazing art by several local, national, and international artists!

Here’s a few pages from my sketchbook—just ask for the sketchbook of Christin O’Bryan when you get there!

P.S. You can now follow me on Twitter! Just click the link in the left navigation and “follow!”

A Few New Goodies

illumenme — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:33:24 +0000

I’m so excited to announce a new set of felt brooches that feature handmade pottery buttons. This new set of brooches features beautiful pottery buttons made by Katie Coston of Illyria Pottery incorporated in the design. While I have been making the pins and adding unique buttons of all kinds for sometime now, I think the pottery buttons give an additional flair and class to the felt look. Five new brooches are already up in the Etsy shop, and more will be coming soon!

Click to view slideshow.

For more information about Katie and Illyria Pottery, visit her website www.IllryiaPottery or her Etsy shop, www.IllryiaPottery.etsy.com

Why Journal? :: Re-see the Past

illumenme — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:01:55 +0000

A friend of mine, Cara Ansley, shared an article with me from the current issue of O Magazine—the Oprah Magazine. It gave a sneak peek at a few entries of Oprah’s journals. My initial thought was, “I thought Oprah would have nicer handwriting!” I enjoyed seeing this look into her personal thought life—what she felt as a teenager, her real thoughts and feelings, her experience during a movie shoot. I was talking to Stephen recently over coffee at Starbucks about how seeing people during their downtime makes them seem more real, more human. That’s what Oprah’s journals helped me see—that she’s just a person like anyone else!

After not picking up my journal for about a month, I pulled the book off the shelf and opened it again to start sorting out some ideas that were going back and forth inside my head. I’ve found that writing with the intention of shedding light on what I’m feeling—just getting it out there and “talking” about it on the page instead of trying to keep things sorted inside my brain—is revelatory. Oprah said at the end of her article, “It’s astonishing to be able to track your own evolution—who I was, who I’m still becoming.” I could really relate to that. Between the last sentence of my entry a month ago and my newer entries, I could really see how I had come a long way in some ideas in just a few short weeks. Would I have realized that without a journal? Maybe. But it probably would have taken me a lot longer to realize that I’d gotten anywhere at all!

So I’ll keep following Oprah’s lead and jotting down my thoughts—who knows where I’ll be when I can show 20+ years of journaling?

Photo of Oprah’s March 2, 1979 journal from Oprah.com

You can read the article online and see photos of her journals here or pick up an issue of the April 2011 Oprah Magazine in your local bookstore.

Notes about Notes

illumenme — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:30:53 +0000

Hi faithful readers! You can now sign up for the Wishful Thinking newsletter! What are you signing up for? About once a quarter you’ll receive an awesome email with exclusive offers and special news about what’s going on at my studio and shop. Coupon codes? Definitely. The scoop on new products? Yep! All you have to do is sign up here.