DIY Clay Gift Tags

I love thinking up ways to make my wrapped gifts special. The wrapping can be almost a present by itself! Make a bunch of these clay tags and have them ready for when for those late night gift wrapping sessions. They'd also be handy for when you're running out the door at the last minute and need to bundle up a hostess gift!

Here's what you'll need:

• Premier Air-Dry Clay
• Wax Paper 
• Rolling pin
• Cardstock tag templates. Mine were 1.5" x 2" and 1.5" x 3"
• Xacto knife
• Small cookie cutters or scrap pieces of cardstock to make your own
• Baker's twine
• Liquid Gold Leaf
• Paint brush
• Permanent marker or letter stamps and ink pad

Roll out a ball of clay with a rolling pin in between two layers of wax paper. Aim for about 1/8" thick. Lay the cardstock template over the clay and cut around it with the xacto knife.



Punch out a hole at the top of each using a pen cap or something similar. Cut the star shapes. If you don't have cookie cutters small enough (I didn't) just accordion fold a strip of cardstock 10 times. Glue both ends together. Ta-da! A star cutter that will last you for about 8-10 uses before it starts to fall apart. Perfect for this kind of job and it was free! Smooth out any rough edges with your fingers. Let dry on a drying rack for a few hours. I just left mine overnight.



Paint the edges with the liquid gold leaf and let dry. Stamp or write names on the tags. Tie up with baker's twine and add to your pretty packages! They look great layered!

Shop Updates!

vtwonen

Hi friends! There's a lot going in the Vitamini studios these days as I prepare for the up-coming holiday season, so here's a little update!

I was so thrilled to see a Vitamini screen print in this beautiful styled shot by vtwonen, via sfgirlbybay last week. I kicked things into high gear this week and now have these prints back in stock! Available in hot pink and black on thick, 100% cotton stock. You can find both in my shop, here.

I'm also getting ready for Re:Make in San Francisco! Come out to Fort Mason, September 13th to shop top-notch handmade brands and even make some crafts yourself! It's guaranteed to be a good time.

Happy friday to you!

Renegade Wrap-Up and New Products!

Hi friends! Thank you to all of the local peeps who stopped by my booth at Renegade SF last weekend! I had so much fun getting to meet you in person! It was a wonderful event and I'm already looking forward to the next one. Fort Mason is such a great venue, don't you think?



And to all of you who say MINIs are too small? Here's my Maxwell packed up and ready to hit the road, with room to spare, I might add! :)



I had a few brand new products make their debut at Renegade over the weekend that I'm excited to share with you.

Remember my Retro Ranch papercuts? I printed these "New Digs" cards featuring one of those papercuts and think they'd be perfect for a housewarming party or to let your friends know you have a cool new pad.



I have these cacti & succulent designs on cards and coasters, but now happy to announce they're on art prints and tea towels as well!



For all of you trailer enthusiasts, I have new art prints and tea towels! Wouldn't the towels be cute hanging in a little camper kitchen? 



Now I'm about to dive into the mad dash to get my apartment packed up for the move this weekend. Wish me luck! I'm looking forward to getting settled and jumping back into making DIY projects and tutorials!

Life, lately.

It's Friday! I have no idea where this week went! I'm busy getting ready for Renegade SF next weekend so I've been in production mode over here in the Vitamini studios. I have a few brand new products I'm working on that I can't wait to share with you!

In addition to all of this busy work, I'm moving at the end of the month! Maybe you've noticed more country shots in my Instagram feed? It's because I'll be living there soon! I'll miss the Los Gatos living that I've grown accustomed to, but I'm really looking forward to having more space for my business. The scenery isn't half bad, either. I took this double-exposed photo of the Monterey County hills mixed with a Los Gatos sunset. It's kinda where my head's at lately.  Here are a few other shots from my world lately.
 
New prints coming to the shop! That means lots and lots of trimming...


Can't resist a cactus.

 
Delicious coffee from my favorite local shop, Verve.


I'm making a bunch of paper flowers to take with me to Renegade. These graphic poppies may be my new favorite! Come visit my booth (#212) at Renegade to see them in person. They'll be for sale, too! Have a lovely weekend!

Pop-Up Event At West Elm!

Happy Friday! I've been getting ready for the SF Etsy Pop-Up Shop event this evening (5-9) at West Elm Emeryville. If you're in the area, stop by to hang out with a bunch of wonderful, local Etsy sellers, enjoy some treats, and take advantage of special deals! Speaking of special, I'll have some of my handmade flowers for sale. If they do well I may have to take a bunch to Renegade!

Have a great weekend!

New summer products in the shop!

Can someone explain to me how it's Friday already? I guess time's flying because I've been working on so many different projects. In addition to getting ready to sell at the West Elm Pop-Up Shop event in Emeryville next Friday and Renegade SF in a couple weeks I've been wrapping up a couple DIY projects and working on some guest posts for a couple other fabulous blogs. I can't wait to share those, but in the meantime I'll share a few brand new products that I just listed in the shop.



First of all, What the Flock? Available on white and magenta stock, this card features a flock of long-legged flamingos, just hanging out, asking the hard-hitting questions.



My friends and family know I love me a weiner dog. I can't believe it took me this long to design and a card featuring my favorite short-legged canine, but here it is! So Long! This card would be perfect as a "going away" card but would also work as an anytime card, because dachshunds are just so long, ya know?



New Vintage Trailer coasters. I have this design available on notebooks and cards, so I'm happy to add coasters to the trailer mix.



Speaking of trailers, Let's Go Camping features a Mini pulling a teardrop. Makes me want to plan a summer getaway to the redwoods.



And speaking of summer, Surf's Up! 



If you follow me on Instagram you got a peek at these designs. My new cacti and succulent cards and coasters are based on papercuts. I love them and I hope you do, too! Coming soon on tea towels!



Brand new thank you cards in black and swanky gold ink. This designs is also available as a rubber stamp so you can stamp your envelopes yourself.
 
That's a quick run-down of the new products I've added in the last week or so. All products available on my shop site or on Etsy here and here. Looking back it's no wonder I'm having a hard time keeping track of the days! I hope you have a nice weekend! 

Patchwork Show & My New Booth Sign

I had a great time at Patchwork on Sunday! Thanks to everyone who came out and said hi. I saw lots of friends from Craftcation and met lots of new crafty friends, too. There were so many cool handmade products and great brands, I wanted to buy everything! :) If you're in the Bay Area, there will be another Patchwork in the Fall. If you're in Socal you're in luck because the next two Patchwork events are coming up in Long Beach and Santa Ana. (Look closely you'll find me in that pic above from the Patchwork Flickr Album, deep in conversation.)

As you can probably imagine, I've been immersed in display design over the past few weeks. I've got most of the details ironed out now, and good thing since I have the SF Bazaar at Maker Faire coming up this weekend. Here's a little peek at some of my process and my finished display.



My booth sign was a big to-do item last week. I wanted something big and easy to read that would work with the rest of my set-up. I decided to make a painted muslin banner on wood dowels. The first step was to make a tracing paper transfer.



After I transferred the outline to the muslin I painted it in with black screen printing ink. Once the letters were painted I ironed some interfacing to the back and sewed pockets for the dowels. Here it is all done.



With the rest of my new display! I switched over from a two table display to one table and this crate shelving system.



And if you were curious, yes, all of this fits into the MINI, with room to spare! Everything I needed to build and stock my display is in this one car load. I love that MINI of mine. :)



Check out Everything Hunky Dory for a great summary of the day with lots of photos of beautiful handmade products.

Spring shows

Happy friday!! I've been busy getting ready for a couple craft fairs this month. If you're in the CA Bay Area I'd love to see you!

Come out to Oakland's Jack London Square on Sunday the 11th for Patchwork Show. Over 100 local handmade businesses, food vendors, music, crafts. Sounds like a party!

Maker Faire is coming up soon! May 17 and 18 at the San Mateo Event Center. I'll be there selling in the SF Bazaar tent, both days. Find more information on the Maker Faire website.

I've been re-working my display...as I tend to do every time a new show rolls around...but I'm really happy with how everything is coming together! I'll share photos and some process here on the blog. Have a wonderful weekend!