Papel Picado {Dia De Los Muertos}

Although this blog primarily features my crochet endeavors, It is true that my love for paper crafting far preceded development of my crochet skills.

A couple years ago I got a Silhouette machine on a fantastic Black Friday/ holiday type deal (read about other Silhouette crafts here). The depth and breadth of this machine is really awe-inspiring. It is a tough learning curve though, and I will admit that I have kept things pretty basic. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed developing my skills and trying new things! I posted this on Instagram earlier, the crafting process has begun!

The tradition of papel picado has always interested me. I remember visits to Olvera Street in Los Angeles. You can easily find all types of papel picado peppered throughout the shops, streets and merchant carts. Translating literally to "peckered paper" it is the art of cutting intricate designs out of paper. Usually it is done in a very light paper such as tissue paper. The thought of that actually kinda stresses me out, so today I will be doing my papel picado in cardstock. 

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The Mexican folk art tradition of papel picado is used to decorate at a variety of religious and non-religious celebrations. It is commonly associated with the ornate altars of Dia de los Muertos. This week I am presenting a Dia de los Muertos lesson to a group of youth. I am really excited because I have always been drawn to the color, vibrancy, respect, and honor that are associated with the celebrations. I feel Day of the Dead has really gained traction in mainstream USA culture in recent years. Before I think people regarded calaveras as pretty morbid. It's a skull, but also really pretty?! What is with that?! I love it because death is not to be feared. We can be with our loved ones always.

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I knew that this could be pretty easily done with the Silhouette software "trace" function. I just had to find the perfect template. After a bit of browsing I figured I didn't want to rip-off someone else's design, and I didn't want something so intricate that I would need a new blade, or be here all day while the machine cut. All that lead me to do something a bit uncharacteristic. I actually bought a set. I definitely got suckered in, because as I submitted my email for this FREE set of skulls, I got a 50% off coupon for this Day of the Dead printable craft set. I figured I would get some good use out of it, so I decided $2.50 was doable.

**Even if you do not have a Silhouette machine, the free calavera printable would be a blast to do with kids out of paper or tissue paper! Click here for link. **

From there I took a screen shot of the PDFs. Then I opened them in Microsoft paint and cleaned them up a bit (I erased the dotted line since I wouldn't be folding). After that I opened them in the Silhouette software and using the "trace" function I got had a cut file to work with! Below you can see all the tiny pieces left on the cutting mat. Just a little bit of a pain to clean. This particular calavera was one I got from the Silhouette design store with some credit from my initial machine purchase!



Ultimately I manipulated the banner designs, adding a little more ornamentation and on some. You might be able to tell the difference in the two garlands. Below are some of my favorite pieces of the garland. I am happy with the amount of detail, even if it isn't 100% authentic.


Since they are so lightweight, I just used some white yarn to string them, and tape to hang them. They go so perfectly above my Fall and Halloween themed table.

Bookish Wedding Card

This past week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend my best friend's wedding in Sacramento! It was, of course, and absolutely beautiful event. I don't know if I have seen a more adorable bride (and groom too). Happy people make me so happy!

It was a small event but not lacking in creativity or beauty. The bride and groom are definitely book people. Perhaps the book-iest couple I have ever met. Therefore these centerpieces were absolutely perfect and fitting. Gorgeous fresh flowers, stacks of books wrapped with lace and ribbon, and book page flowers.

I cannot take credit for the centerpieces, but I did want to share the card I made for the lovely bride and groom.

Of course it had to feature a book page flower. The book pages are so thin that the first time I ran it through my Silhouette Cameo, well, I will just say it- It was a complete disaster. :/ But I'm smart and I realized the problem could easily be fixed by very thoroughly adhering the book page to a piece of cardstock. Voila!

 

The peal accent is perfect because the bride's ring and earrings are pearls! The bride also loves polka dots so I thought an ivory (color of her dress!) ribbon would be perfect. 

I am very pleased with the way it turned out! I hope they like it. This is the inside of the card (before I wrote in it of course!). It features an intricate pop-up wedding cake! Fancy, but all done on the Silhouette so I can't take too much credit.

Congrats to the Bride and Groom on your marriage and continued journey together as a couple!

12DoST #8: Vehicle Origami

I used to go steady with origami. We had a nice solid relationship where I was totally obsessed. Birthdays and Christmas I would ask for origami paper, calendars, books. It probably started with Sadako and the Thousand Paper cranes. I thought of how incredible it would be to know how to make a paper crane AND make 1,000. Soon after, I learned how to make a paper crane. And it just took off from there. I would squirrel away scraps of paper and fold little boxes and flowers, lizards and goldfish.

Origami was so fantastic because it was like a smart kid puzzle I could do all by myself. I like visualizing things. I learned the symbols and folds and I forced myself to try and try again until I could execute the patterns perfectly. But enough of that poetry. Time to tie it in to the Twelve Days of Star Wars.

I'm not into trains, planes or cars in general. But the vehicles in Star Wars are incredible. I tend to be more interested in them than the creatures. They are just so fascinating. I knew that one of my countdown crafts had to include a starfighter or two.

It's been awhile since Origami and I fizzled out. Life gets busy and sometimes that happens *tear.* So what better way to re-kindle the fire then trying out some Star Wars origami?!

Most of the sources I used can be summed up quite nicely in this BuzzFeed Post.

Being the pack-rat that I am- I have this old origami calendar. It was (obviously) a genius idea to keep it because it came in handy today. The designs are intricate so it is a good idea to use thin origami paper. Even if it be from *gulp* 2005.

The first one I tried was the X-Wing Fighter by Alex Crosse HERE.



I'm obsessed with the way it turned out and proud that I was able to figure it out after all this time. I still got it! ;)

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Second I tried out the A-wing. It is listed as easy and I was riding high (pun intended) from my success with the X-wing. It didn't turn out as great as the X-wing But I like the way the red and white worked together perfectly.



Millennium Falcon was next from this infographic. It was definitely the simplest but... I'm not sure. Looks kinda like a blob. The orange paper isn't helping much either.



Lastly, a TIE Fighter from this YouTube video. I guess I saved the best for first because my first reaction after 5 minutes of trying to make it actually look like a TIE Fighter, was pants-wetting laughter.



You win some you lose some, but I had a blast trying them out and I definitely love the pattern for the X-wing.

This infographic is huge but check it out!

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12 Days of Star Wars #12: Snowflakes

Now that Thanksgiving is over, and we are well into December it's time to start counting down. Counting down to STAR WARS!!!

I've already got my ticket to see it Thursday December 17th. What a better way to anticipate the release than a count down with Star Wars themed creativity!

I presented The 12 Days of Star Wars! 

On the 12th day of Star Wars: 

While I was perusing for Star Wars themed crafts I found this amazingly talented person. 

This designer has created 33 different patterns for Star Wars snowflakes. They are all incredibly detailed. They are made the traditional way with folding and cutting. As magical as it is to unfold and see the creation, I just don't have the patience to make all those tiny little cuts. Instead I cheated. 

I dusted off my Silhouette machine.

Go ahead and pull the image you want into the Sillhouette software. Re-size however you'd like. 

Trace (on toolbar) > Select Trace Area > Highlight area to trace. 

Make sure to uncheck the High Pass Filter box > Trace button. 

Drag away the original image/ JPEG and delete. 

Right click > Release Compound Path

Now you can remove the square around the image as well as any details you don't want. I cleaned up some of the designs because they were too small and I didn't feel like weeding them. 

Watching my Silhouette at work never gets old. 

This project was even easier than I expected. Even the weeding took less time than I thought. 

I think the General Grievous is pretty cool. But I also really like the the BB-8. 

I strung them up with some embroidery thread. I usually can't stand my white walls but I love the way the snowflakes look against them. 

Hanging up with the other Christmas decorations. 

Day 12: COMPLETE!