Star Wars Snowflake Christmas decorations - Pinterest Wednesday

I'm sat here listening to Christmas songs and Christmas has taken over all the shops, there is no avoiding it, 4 weeks today will be Christmas Day! =D

For me, that means I need to start planning, in fact I feel a little behind already! I have bought a few pressies so far, but am no where near finished. I'm also starting to think about the food, etc. I'm making alot of Christmas presents this year. I won't be able to post them all as I know a few friends and family read this blog, so it'll spoil the surprise, but I will do a 'home-made Christmas' blog post after the festivities.

My first Christmas Pinterest post is Star Wars Snowflakes after seeing this pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/365706432212810368/

The guy that designed them is called Anthony Herrera and he is kind enough to allow us to download them for personal use for free. Check out all his designs here: http://www.anthonyherreradesigns.com/index.php/8-ahd-blog/8-star-wars-snowflakes-2013

I love the way they've turned out, although mine are far from perfect, they were great fun to make =)

and here is a little Run DMC to get you in the festive mood:

Batteries - Pinterest Wednesday

I saw this pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/365706432212677393/ The one where you cut open an Energizer battery and find it is made up of watch batteries.

I've been meaning to see if this works for a while, but didn't have any Energizer batteries, so I tried it with a Duracell and a Sony battery.

The first one is the Sony and the second one was the Duracell (which was a bit leaky :-/). As you can see, neither of those brands are made up of the smaller batteries. They had both run out, so I didn't waste a battery. If I happen to come across an Energiser battery that has run out, I will open it up to see, but it did say on the pin that you must use that brand and model and that they couldn't guarantee any other brand, but I wanted to have a look to see anyway =)

Make your own Sketch Books - Pinterest Wednesday

I saw this pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/365706432212740978/ for designing the covers of your sketch books, but I thought I would take it one step further, using some of the skills I learnt on a recent course and thought I would do a blog post on making your own sketch books.

Depending on what type of paper you want to use (for this example, I used regular copy paper, but for a sketch book, I'd use good cartridge paper. Saying that though, it's your sketch book, so you could use it to collect pictures, magazine cut outs, etc. Anything at all really, even fabric)

What you'll need is some paper, linen thread (for this I used 15 inches, but it will depend on the thickness of your paper and how many sheets you're putting together), a tapemeasure, and a book binding needle.

To start with, fold the paper in half. Along the fold find the centre point and then measure 2 dots to either side at 3/4 of an inch interval:

Then, using your book binding needle, pierce a hole through each dot:

Thread the needle with your linen thread and start by going through the centre hole on the outside:

Then sew over to the next hole, bringing it through the other side:

 Then back up the next hole:

And so on:

 When you come back to the centre, you skip over it, and then go on to do the other side in the same way:

When you've sewn together the other side, you bring the thread up through the centre:

When you start to bring the thread up through the centre, bring it up on the other side of the thread, so that you can tie a knot around to secure the thread running through the middle:

Like so:

You can also bind many of these together to make a thicker, more secure book. This is the first one I made at college:

Then to decorate your sketch pad, draw a pattern that you like and decide which colours you'd like to use:

Voila!

In the New Year, I am planning to start doing some YouTube tutorial videos. I will do a video of this as I think it's a great little skill to have. I've found it really useful personally since I've started my Foundation Diploma in Art & Design as I can create sketchbooks with a theme.

I hope you find it useful. If you plan on making one also, please feel free to share a link to it, I'd love to see it =) x

Arty doodles - Pinterest Wednesday

Yes, on a Thursday again :-/ so sorry, I have been SO busy it's been ridiculous! I am going to try to be uber organised this week and make sure next weeks is written and ready on Wednesday!

While browsing through Pinterest this week, I came across this pin:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/365706432212714149/

I really like this as I love to doodle. I've also been experimenting with pattern alot at college, so this sprang out at me to give a go!

Here is my attempt that I put together whilst sat in front of the TV: