Font Selection Matters: Fonts and the Il1 Rule:

Scrapbookers, as a whole, care a lot about fonts. So do bloggers. When I'm making roundups or pins, I spend more time with font selection than anything else. Good font choices are easy to read and reinforce the mood, tone, or topic of the graphic.  

Let's try an experiment. I'll use identical photos, with the same text in the same place with the same colors, changing only the fonts... 

  

On the left photo, I used the same font for both text blocks. It's an easy-to-read simple serif. On the right, I used a Gothic-inspired font that's hard to read, then a bleeding vampire-inspired font that's particularly disturbing in red. The two clash with each other and with the photo. Toto looks worried. 

Anyway, the main reason I'm blogging about fonts is to share an infographic from Website Magazine created by Gut Feeling that I found fascinating. 

Scrolling through it, I see that many of my favorite fonts follow the "Il1" rule. Not all, but most. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind in the future. How do your most-used fonts do with the "Il1" rule?

Cardboard Tube Wizard of Oz: Dorothy and Toto

When I was cleaning out my scraps last week, I came across a blue gingham paper that totally reminded me of Dorothy's dress in the Wizard of Oz. So naturally, I used the paper to make Cardboard Tube Dorothy Gale. (Isn't that what anyone would do? No?)

---------

Cardboard Tube Dorothy Gale

Materials:

• cardboard tube
• skin tone paint
• brown yarn
• scissors
• white paper
• gingham paper
• coffee filter
• red paper
• red Stickles
• brown paper
• googly eyes
• black Sharpie
• craft glue

Steps:

Paint the cardboard tube with the skin tone paint. Set it aside to dry.

Cut about twenty 6" lengths of yarn. Gather them together, then use two more pieces of yarn to tie the bundle together, approximately 1" from each side. Cut off the excess from the yarn you used to tie knots. Cut two skinny strips of gingham paper and glue them around the yarn at the two locations where you tied it. 

Cut the coffee filter so that you have an arc. It will be the underskirt of Dorothy's dress.

Use the coffee filter to trace the shape of Dorothy's skirt. Extend the inner and outer arcs a bit so that there is enough paper to wrap around the back of the tube. Cut out the skirt. 

Cut a strip of white paper and glue it to the cardboard tube where the neck would be. Glue a strip of gingham paper 1/2" below that. Cut two skinny strips and glue them to the front of the dress to make the straps. 

Wrap the coffee filter around the bottom of the tube, gluing it at the top only. You want the bottom to billow out like a skirt. 

Wrap the skirt piece around the tube, leaving 1/4" of the coffee filter underskirt showing. 

Cut two cone-shaped pieces of red paper for Dorothy's slippers. Add a thin coat of Stickles to the pointed ends for sparkle. Set them aside to dry.

Put a line of glue around the top of the head, then place it upside down on a piece of brown paper. Let it dry, then trim the edges flush with the tube. (This is to give the hair a place to stick.)

Glue the googly eyes in place, then use the Sharpie to add a nose and a mouth. Add a generous amount of glue to the head and place the yarn on top. (In retrospect, it might look better if the hair was in two sections, giving her a part. Up to you.) I used a rubber band to hold the hair in place while the glue was drying. 

Fold the red papers so that they have a 90° bend. Position the slippers so that the sparkly toes are sticking out from her dress and the other ends are flush against the inside of the tube. Glue them in place.

That's all there is to it! "But what about Toto?" you may be asking. You can find that tutorial here. I didn't realize at the time that I was making Toto, but he's perfect to accompany Dorothy!

Should I make more Wizard of Oz characters? It might be a fun challenge...

Six New Additions to the 50 States Album

I just finished updating my United States Travel Resource with the six new states we visited this summer.

I also added the completed pages from Trevor's 50 State Album. These are the six new pages.

  

  

We're at 28 states visited... and counting! I can't wait for the next trip!

Making Cards from Scraps

When my friends and I got together to scrapbook last Saturday, I didn't actually do any scrapbooking. Instead, I tackled my bin of scraps, which had gotten completely out of control. As I worked, I set aside any scraps that were too small to keep for scrapbooking, but would work well for a card. Here are some of the cards I made. You might recognize some of the scraps from recent projects; others go WAY back...

  

  

  

I'm happy with the cards and even more happy with how neat and organized my scraps are now! And, I had a great time catching up with my friends. Win, win, and win!

The MAKE Party

I've been wanting to check out MAKE in nearby Vacaville for a long time, so I was thrilled when I learned my goddaughters would be having their birthday party there. MAKE is an art studio and it is awesome. 

The space at MAKE is divided into a small lobby, a main room with supplies and tables, a paint area, a party room, and a designated glitter space. 

After a tour, we were given free reign to create. It was overwhelming, because they have literally every art supply you could think of. I started the background for a painting, set that aside to dry, and then started really digging through the dozens of bins of supplies for inspiration to strike.

Meanwhile, Trevor had said, "What should I make?" and someone answered, "Parakeet." He gathered a bunch of supplies, sat down, and started creating.   

I wandered around looking at what everyone was making, spent some time taking photos, and then sat down with an empty frame.

I have a clean and simple aesthetic, but have always wanted to try just gluing a big pile of random bits to something to see how it would turn out. I scooped a few handfuls from the bin of game pieces, grabbed a glue gun, and jumped in. Everything about this was completely different from what I'd normally make. I didn't plan ahead, didn't edit, and didn't hold back. It was a lot of fun. 

I did put some thought into the items I chose to glue on the frame. You'll see our initials, my birthdate (3/12), our family colors, and tokens from our favorite games. Amazingly, even though I was just gluing stuff on haphazardly, I still managed to make something that: a) I like; and b) is still quite Cindy. 

 

That's Trevor's parakeet leaning up against my frame. He turned a glass bottle upside down, glued half of a plastic egg to it, then added tissue paper and built up the features from there. Super cute and so creative! 

Happiest of birthdays, Kylinn and Ellia! We had a blast celebrating with you.

And I can't wait to go back to MAKE! Check it out if you are local. Better yet, let me know when you're going and I'll meet you there!