The Everyday Muse: June 2015

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Vintage Fashion Illustrations with a bit of bling

MY STORY

I have always loved vintage fashion and vintage fashion illustrations. One of my favorite illustrators is Hilda Glasgow. As a worker in the fashion industry for the last 20+ years, I admire her style and her story. Her daughter has continued her legacy through The White Cabinet - here is a little bio from their page which can be found here THE WHITE CABINET WEBSITE:

From the 1940's to the 1960's Hilda Glasgow was one of the top fashion illustrators in the industry. She was also my mother. As a woman ahead of her time, born in 1913, graduating from Pratt Institute in NYC in 1933, she illustrated the latest mid 20th century fashions for magazines such as Vogue and a variety of high end department stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Best & Co.

Her original pen and ink drawings had been hidden away for over 50 years in a white cabinet in her Manhattan apartment, now in my home. I decided it was time for the world to enjoy them again. Here they are in all their glory, as limited edition reproductions, and, partnering with The Pencil Factory, notecards, coloring books and more. You can even have Hilda's ladies gracing your home as wallpaper by Flavor Paper!

Please take a peek and enjoy. If you are a fan of "Funny Face", "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and that little black dress, then I think you'll find these vintage illustrations simply divine just like I do!

~Liz Glasgow

The website features great product featuring her illustrations -- from gift wrap paper to compact mirrors, and my new obsession, "Hilda's Sketchpad" -- a coloring book featuring vintage illustrations 1940 - 1970. This book is high quality and beautifully made.

I love coloring so this project was a perfect way to spend a relaxing afternoon in the studio. And my utilizing some of the product from THE BUCKLE BOUTIQUE, I was able to add some dimension and texture to these already beautiful illustrations. Hope you enjoy and check out both The White Cabinet and The Buckle Boutique for great inspirational ideas.

YOUR TURN

Before I started coloring, I made a few copies of the illustrations to practice colors, etc., on before I was confident to use the original pages.

No rules about coloring -- just relax and enjoy it. Since I was a kid, I found coloring and coloring books an almost meditative experience and that has not changed all these years later.

Once I finished the coloring, I chose some rhinestone adhesive stickers to pump up the picture. For the first example, I wanted to focus on the handbag and other accessories. From one of your copies cut out pieces of the bag and use as a template for cutting out the rhinestone. One of the great features of the Buckle Boutique product is that, no matter how small a piece you need, it is easy to peel away from the backing.

On the second illustration, I thought the original illustration lent itself to some bling on the dress itself in addition to the accessories. Same process as the first illustration.

I found these great frames at Michaels and I thought they were the perfect complement to the era of the illustrations. I still have 14 drawings left in my coloring book -- I can hardly wait to play with these as well.

Either the coloring book itself or the finished pieces would make a great gift for the fashionista in your life!!! Don't forget to check out The White Cabinet and The Buckle Boutique and get your fashion/creative mojo going!

Even Entertainment Weekly magazine had a recent article on the popularity of modern coloring books. Check out the article here ARTICLE.

Follow The Buckle Boutique at our Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest

Shop The Buckle Boutique at our Main Store and Etsy

Tips and videos for cutting our rhinestone sticker sheets can be found HERE

Are you a retailer who would like to carry The Buckle Boutique's products in your store?

Please contact us for wholesale pricing information.

A Gift Box For Baby

MY STORY

It's challenge time again at Decorate To Celebrate! If you need some great projects and inspiration for your next celebration check at their blog: Decorate To Celebrate

I love finding ideas for re-purposing or upcycling in my crafts. For this challenge, I created a gift box for the new baby which makes a nice keepsake item that the new parents can use. They can keep special items in it like that first lock of hair or first tooth or even remove the box cover and hang as wall art. Here we go!...

YOUR TURN

You will need very few supplies for this project:

Any size box
Paper of your choice - sample uses Paper Source paper
Backing papers - again using Paper Source product
Domino shaped wood pieces - from Michaels
White , gold acrylic paint and crackle paint - from Michaels
Stickers - from Michaels
Decorative clothespins - from Michaels

Paint the inside and all surfaces of your box -- this sample used gold acrylic paint, but use any color that complements your idea. Once dry, place the cover upside down on the reverse side of your paper and adhere. Handmade paper tends to be thinner than card stock, so be frugal with how much glue you use.

Paint the domino shaped wood pieces in white (or whichever color you have chosen). I like the look of a little rustic mixed with the metallic in the paper and stickers so after your color paint has dried, apply a layer of crackle paint. It takes about 2 -4 hours to dry and you will be left with a little weather beaten effect.

Once the paints have dried, apply your stickers as desired.

Then glue to a sheet of backing paper. (Currently I'm obsessed with the gold and light pink palette.) Cut out using decorative scissors. HINT: Based on the size of your box, and the amount of letters you need, lay down on the paper to insure everything fits on the box top. If you are using a lot of letters, you may need to trim your backing paper more than in this example.

Glue your backing paper with the wood shape onto another sheet of card stock -- for this example I used gold glimmer. Cut out.

Clip your clothespin onto the papers and glue into place.

I think this is an adorable way to give a gift to the new baby and their parents. Happy crafting!!

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Make your 4th sparkle with The Buckle Boutique

MY STORY

I love our flag and I am proud of everything it stands for -- freedom, history, sacrifice, hope. I picked up a bunch of flags to decorate our house -- in honor of the holiday and our US Marine Corps son!

While working on some table decorations, I thought one of the flags would look awesome in the centerpiece. And with using just a few scraps of the great rhinestone sheets from The Buckle Boutique, it will really make my holiday, and yours, sparkle! Check out all the amazing rhinestone sticker sheets at THE BUCKLE BOUTIQUE.

YOUR TURN

This concept is so easy and you can apply it to any holiday or celebration -- think pink and blues for baby showers, red and green for holidays, gold and browns for fall. These sheets stick on almost any surface so it is fast and easy to bring out your inner bling.

Taking a basic flag you can find this time of year at craft or dollar stores, I measured out the red stripes and simply cut and applied. That is all there is to it!

And a I had a red striped mug hanging around, so just added little strips of blue rhinestone, it becomes a fun July 4th decoration.

Happy July 4th -- have a fun and safe holiday from The Everyday Muse.

Follow The Buckle Boutique at our Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest

Shop The Buckle Boutique at our Main Store and Etsy

Tips and videos for cutting our rhinestone sticker sheets can be found HERE

Are you a retailer who would like to carry The Buckle Boutique's products in your store?

Please contact us for wholesale pricing information.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Legal Graffiti with The Buckle Boutique + a new customer coupon!!!!

MY STORY

As a lifelong New York City girl, graffiti has been a part of the landscape as much as skyscrapers and subways. Although there has been some amazing artwork generated from this underground movement, it is still frowned upon as vandalism and illegal. Regardless of your take on what is art or not, I had fun with manipulating some of my NYC photos.

Using only half of a rhinestone sticker sheet from The Buckle Boutique I was able to add some "legal" graffiti into my photos. These graffiti sheets are part of the Marisa Pawelko line. Check out the Buckle Boutique website for a look at all the amazing product available.

And if you act now, new customers receive 15% off their first order. This product is easy to cut, peel and apply and stick on to most surfaces (I've yet to find out that hasn't worked yet!). Here is the link to get your code: New customer coupon.

Now here is my legal graffiti:

YOUR TURN

You can use any photos that work for you, I took some recent pics on a trip in The Big Apple. Choose a photo and print out on regular paper.

Cut out the piece of the photo that you would like to replace with the graffiti sticker sheet. NOTE: these sheets go a LONG way, you will get addicted and not want to stop! Don't worry if you have to cut out big sections of your photo to get to the template. You won't need to keep the integrity of your original photo. HINT: If you have more than one placement, note the location on your paper template and then on the back of the corresponding sticker sheet. Saves time in figuring out where everything should be placed.

Once you have the paper template, place upside down on the BACK of your sticker sheet. This way you will have the right measurement when you go back to apply.

Cut out the piece / pieces as you have measured.

Print out the same photo on glossy photo paper -- no need to cut anything out. Just peel off the backing and adhere your sticker sheet onto the photo.

And that's it! This technique can be used in any format and with any photo -- think wedding shots, stationery, scrapbook layouts, canvas. It really is endless to what you can come up with. Here are more before / after photos. Happy Crafting!! And don't forget to get your hands on some rhinestone sticker sheets with the fantastic new customer coupon!!