plainbellied productions

get your hero on.

2012-02-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

This is a 'privacy protected' version of a birthday party invitation I did for my sister this past summer. Unfortunately, the red border got cropped unevenly in the final printing of it, but I had a lot of fun designing it.

Vormator Project

2012-02-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was teaching Art for Kids and had them all making these great cityscapes, I've been wanting to do one of my own. When the assignment came up to 'make something with these shapes', I was determined to get a cityscape out of it. These were the rules: use every shape at least once, keep all of the proportions of the shapes, only make changes that can be done with Illustrator's pathfinder tool, and no gradients. I created it in grayscale first so I could focus on the composition, then went through a series of color variations, but this is the one I submitted. I was going for a poster-art feel, with strong contrast and sense of pattern. This is my first assignment in my class on Illustrator. (I've just been fighting with Pages to make my designs until now.)

My teacher borrowed this project, so if you want to learn more about the concept behind it or the shapes I had to use, take a look.

Valentine Craft - Magnetic Bookmark & Fingerprint Heart

2010-02-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law got a set of three magnetic bookmarks for Christmas a couple of months ago. I had never seen anything like it, but I loved it. She very, very sweetly gave me one and it is just as great as I thought it would be. I knew I would be making them for everyone before the year was out.

Her Nibs class is having a Valentine's party next Friday and I am slated to lead a craft. I decided to go for a gift for parents, and who couldn't use a magnetic bookmark? This craft is so, so simple but it does have a lot of steps, so let me break it down for you.

Supplies

Magnetic Bookmark:

very light-weight cardboard or very heavy cardstock
adhesive magnets for business cards
red ink pad
paper towel
fine tip permanent marker

Card:

heavy paper
decorations (pretty papers for hearts, borders, etc)
exacto knife

Optional items: spray paint, separate paper for fingerprint

Directions - Bookmark

I recommend doing all cuts with a paper cutter instead of scissors. If you don't have one, draw your lines using a ruler and cut as cleanly as you can.

cut cardboard/cardstock in 1.5 inch by 4 inch pieces. fold in half. spray paint (optional). take a paper towel and rub a part of it on the ink pad. rub the inky portion of the paper towel along the cut (not folded) edges of the cardboard/cardstock. (this gives a more finished edge).

cut magnets in half length-wise (one inch). cut one inch strips to just under 1.5 inches in length. save magnet remnants for another day. each business card size magnet should yield 4 pieces. stick two pieces together, flipping around to get most exact fit possible. keep magnets together. remove one of the backings and stick magnet inside your folded cardboard/cardstock piece. place it as far away from the folded side as possible without letting it stick out past the edge. magnets may not line up exactly, so be sure the lower piece of magnet will not stick out. remove the backing for the other magnet (still keeping magnets together) and push cardboard/cardstock piece closed to adhere. open cardboard/cardstock now, and magnets should separate.

You just made your own awesome magnetic bookmark! Now for the Valentine part.

I found that the ink didn't stick to the spray painted background well. So I cut small paper pieces to 1 inch by 1.25 inches. I rubbed the edges of this with ink as well.

press finger on ink pad. make a "V" with inked finger, reapplying ink if necessary. this is your heart. you may want to practice on another paper first.

With Her Nibs class, I will not glue on the small papers in advance. If they mess up on their fingerprint heart, the can use the back of it, or a new paper (I made lots of extras). Then we will glue this paper onto the bookmark. Use a fine-tipped permanent marker to write your name (or your child's) on the back, along with the year.

Directions - Card

cut heavy weight paper in half to make two 8.5 by 5.5 pieces per standard sheet. {I printed the inside of the cards on the computer (since I needed over 20 of them for kindergartners) before cutting.}fold in half for a 4.25 by 5.5 inch card. in the top 2.5 inches of the inside right-hand side of the card, write "you hold a place in my".

using an exacto knife, make a 2 inch cut centered below your text about 2.75 inches up from the bottom. decorate and inscribe the card with pink and red paper scraps (or glitter or stickers, or gel pens... you get the idea). Her Nibs chose to use scrapbook tags and pop-out hearts. when the card is done and dry, open card. open book mark. slide back half of bookmark through the slit in the card. close bookmark. admire. close card. admire some more. give to someone on Valentine's Day to completely make someone's day.

My Kid Could Do That -- Fall Show 2009

2009-12-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

Children's art is generally under-rated and under-appreciated. Most of the time, they are given supplies like dull construction paper that fades quickly and crayons that are more wax than pigment. In these conditions, could you create something you would want to hang in your home?

Pablo Picasso said, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Children are naturally creative and work with an instinctual sense of abandon. They have fabulous line quality and original ideas, but they rarely have access to decent materials or learn principles of art and design to refine their work.

During a course of 10 weeks, these artists, all between the ages of 5 and 8, worked with high quality materials. They focused on specific elements of art and design, and learned a variety of media and techniques. Each one of these young artists created beautiful, finished works of art.

Here are some pictures of the show taken at the closing reception.

Christmas Poster

2009-11-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

I've been designing posters, flyers and handouts for church activities for around 5 years now, but this is my first Christmas poster design. For more on what a "Night in Bethlehem" means, take a look here.