Lets go fly a kite

We celebrated the Kite Festival in Houston last spring! My husband decided since we are obsessed with the Capcom game: Monster Hunter on the Nintendo 3DS, we should make Monster Hunter Kites! This awesome idea came the day before the festival. We were able to run to Home Depot and buy some dowels but everything else used to build the kite was already in our own kitchen! We invited a couple of friends over to create with us.

Our friends (Don and Thomas) and I made the traditional “diamond” kite following directions from here. Whereas my husband wanted something a bit larger for his Palico creation – which you can see the diagram here.

Here are the some pictures that showcase how we made the kites and how they flew!

The day was bright and lovely and can you believe it – our kites actually flew! This was actually my first time flying a kite!! It was so fun to make our own kites and see if they would actually get in the air.

The kite festival is coming up again this Sunday – April 3rd! If you can go, you really must! It is a fun event in Houston. Remember to bring sunblock and drink lots of water!

This post was written by:

MIJA VERA - (view all posts by Mija)
Mija has been a designer for the last 15 years. She is a paper obsessed fiend and loves working on new projects while listening to her kids and Maine Coon cat chatter around the house. You can email her at mija@mind-speaks.com

Supplies for wedding invites

Hey guys, we finished our first workshop at POP SHOP: DIY Wedding this past weekend. I just wanted to share some supplies that I recommend using when making invites!

1. Tape Runner. I love love using a tape runner – you can’t feel the adhesive when layering which is awesome. Don’t deal with messy spray glues, the tape runner is perfect and has easy replacement cartridges.

2. Paper Cutter. Why give yourself headaches with scissors or other hand tools. I love my cutters! Random fact: I have 2, one large full size and a travel size cutter.

3. Bakers Twine. Nowadays you can pick this up anywhere in variety of colors. Etsy and Paper Source carry them in different colors!

4. Heat Tool. I have a Martha Stewart heat tool for embossing. You can get these at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Paper Source. Hint hint if you want a pretty teal one go to Paper Source!

5. Embossing Powder. You can get a variety of colors and brands of powders. Depending if you want a metallic, glitter or plain solid colors – you can find them all at Paper Source. Make sure it is labeled EMBOSSING POWDER. Usually comes in a small container and sorted near normal glitter so read the label carefully. You can save on powder and reuse the excess with the help of a tray to catch any extra powder.

6. Ink Pads. OK This is the most important item on this list. In order to emboss correctly you want SLOW drying ink! I almost only ever use Tsukineko’s VersaMark. You can get this amazing ink pad at JoAnn’s, Michaels etc… The slow drying ink pads are usually with a black case. We want slow to give you enough time to apply the powder and add heat to the design.

7. Stamps! Rubber stamps are addicting to collect and fun to play with.

8. Vellum Paper. For creative layering and helps add elegance to your piece.

9. Card Stock. I love combining soft white or off white text paper with kraft cover paper. You can play around with colors and weights.

10. Full Sheet Labels. You can buy full label sheets and print out your address labels. I cut mine into strips which you can see here.

This post was written by:

MIJA VERA - (view all posts by Mija)
Mija has been a designer for the last 15 years. She is a paper obsessed fiend and loves working on new projects while listening to her kids and Maine Coon cat chatter around the house. You can email her at mija@mind-speaks.com

Pop Shop pics & DIY Corks

This weekend was amazing, we went out and did our very first workshop at Pop Shop Houston. We made over 1,600 cork discs for some stamping fun. The workshop was free and we only asked people to be creative! We had a HUGE turn out, we made over 600 cork creations with people and got a lot of feedback with fellow local artists. If you never checked out Pop Shop Houston, be sure to check out their site over here. They really did put together an amazing craft and design fair!

Houston really is the best~!!

You can view more photos here. Just in case you missed out on the fun here is the tutorial for those who want to do it at  home!

Supplies
– Regular Wine Corks (not wax corks)
– Acrylic Paint – various colors
– Stamps
– Quick drying pigment ink pad (dark and light colors)
– Saw & vice (make sure an adult is helping)
– Safety gloves and glasses (cork dust can get in your eyes)
– Sand paper
– Screw posts
– Twine or key rings
Optional
– Pipe cutter (ONLY if you have some wax or plastic corks to cut)

We start by sawing the corks into discs, 1 cork will usually make 4-5 discs. This is our main base for stamping. We use our sand paper and smooth down the side we want to paint on. You could just simply dye the corks but that can take up dying time and resources – we found it easier to use acrylic paint instead! We like acrylic because of its quick drying action. Drying usually takes about 15-20 minutes. After painting one side of our piece we let that dry. Our next step is the stamping! We love using a quick drying pigment ink pad. You can use large flourish stamps or simply use a small letter stamp to make your very own monogram piece. The pigment ink only takes a few minutes to dry! To finish the piece, we like using screw posts into the cork to allow us to string the cork or even make it into a key chain. The screw posts are so easy to put in the corks!

Be creative and use different colors of paint and inks! There is no right or wrong way to make these and they make the perfect gift to swap with friends.

Tips:
– Old corks tend to be very dry and may fall apart when sawing. Use fresh corks or “young” corks.
– Use a blending gel to help mix white with your color paint – the gel makes the blending smoother. Add white to your colors to make dreamy pastels!!
– Use more than one stamp and ink pad color! You can layer by adding a light color stamp with a darker color stamp on top! We did something similar on our heart pendant.
– You can also leave corks un-painted for a more natural look!

Corks are so versatile and so easy to work with!

This post was written by:

MIJA VERA - (view all posts by Mija)
Mija has been a designer for the last 15 years. She is a paper obsessed fiend and loves working on new projects while listening to her kids and Maine Coon cat chatter around the house. You can email her at mija@mind-speaks.com