In this post, I’ll be showing you how to personalize a blank award ribbon rosette with a custom design, message, or personalization. This method is perfect for creating custom gifts, awards, or to celebrate unique celebration that would be hard to celebrate or find a card for. Using just about any vinyl cutting system such…
Before downsizing, I purchased a light box for my art studio. It was handy and worked great for finessing my art, but it was also expensive, bulky and difficult to use due to the electrical cord. I sold my light box in an estate sale when I moved to Seattle, but as I do more…
A departure from my typical DIY tutorials, here’s a step by step tech tutorial for taking old web galleries (created by Adobe PhotoShop 7 and similar versions of photoshop), which are now very out of date, and migrating them to a content management platform like WordPress where they can be adapted and modernized. In my early…
Setting your prices can be one of the hardest parts of having a flea market booth. How you price items determines how quickly your inventory will turn over, which impacts how customers experience your booth. If items catch their eye but the pricetag turns them away, the customer might not stay in your booth…
“Free inventory.” At the suggestion, you might think of curbside finds or perhaps a way to rid yourself of bad Christmas gifts, but as I’ve maintained a flea market booth, I’ve generated a surprising number of consistent sources of free inventory for my flea market booth. Below, I’ve outlined 5 of my best sources…
In Seattle, homes are not designed to be air-conditioner friendly. It was during one particularly hot streak last summer that I went to a big box home improvement store for some insulation to place around my apartment’s portable air conditioner vent and discovered along the way the best (and cheapest) photography light reflector I…
Whether you are creating fine art or a first-time concrete user making DIY planters for your houseplants, metallic gold can be a dramatic way to add visual interest to your project. Layers of metallic gold within a cement art object can create an effect that reminds me of geology, shaping the illusion that the pigment…
Before making a tutorial, I’ve usually completed the project successfully a few times and know how to add my own pointers to the tutorial to help you get an extra-nice result. Not so much this time, friends. The sequence captured in these photos didn’t quite work out the way I needed it to, but I…
In 2015 I was commissioned to create 5 sculptures riffing off of the themes in Henri Matisse’s painting “La Danse.” I knew I wanted to represent moving water in my interpretation, and the months that ensued between being commissioned and delivering the sculptures were filled with a maddening course of experimentation with materials, resin casting,…
Since moving into the urban equivalent of a tiny house, I’ve learned to be very, very creative with storage. One of the ways I keep my art supplies handy but neatly organized is by using vintage luggage- especially train cases. Train cases make perfect storage for illustration markers, artists paint storage, and place to tuck away…
How to Pack the Perfect Flea Market Caddy for Handling Restocking/Repricing Trips to your Booth After many trips hauling items home from garage sales to my own garage, then watching them clutter my garage while I waited to price, so I could “eventually” take the item to my fleamarket booth, I developed a new…
Maybe you’re planning a doggie door or perhaps you’ve already installed one and discovered the freedom a doggie door gives owners and the confidence that pups get from having their own freedom to go outside when needed. This article isn’t about doggie door installation. (Although, let me say, installing a doggie door into an exterior…
I used to wrestle with those plastic packages that makeup removal wipes come in. You know the type: crinkly plastic with supposedly “resealable” adhesive labels that never seemed to remain adhesive once they’ve come in contact with their contents. I’ve preferred makeup wipes to remove my makeup since I was a teenager, and for about…
A pint-sized flag centerpiece is a simple and cheap way to provide dramatic holiday decor around Independence Day or add a patriotic centerpiece for your mantle or dining table any time of year. This centerpiece takes 5 minutes to make and easily creates a dramatic and stylish centerpiece for an Americana themed party. See below…
Flat lay photography is surging in popularity but can be difficult to master- especially without the right tools. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a horizontal mount for a tripod so you can stabilize your camera at the perfect angle, leaving you free to stage your flat lay layout with an…
In order to graduate from the small ultra-conservative liberal arts college I attended after highschool, the eccentric little college required a potential graduate demonstrate two proficiencies above and beyond typical academic competency. Each student was required to (1) demonstrate proficiency in a swimming test, else be forced to take a semester of swimming lessons after…
One thing I envy about high-end modern furniture is that often pieces are designed to accommodate modern technology. Being a fan of vintage furniture, I assumed these worlds: tech-friendly furniture and vintage styles, would never meet- until I began experimenting with this DIY solution to add a hidden retractable phone charger to the back of the 1920’s…
