Moved!

I've made the move to Wordpress!

Please visit my new site at http://www.thestudioalcantara.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

DIY Moving Announcements + Editable Printable

I know I've brought it up a few times in the last several posts and now moving day/week is finally upon us!

One of the things that has been on my to do list (aside from packing, packing, moving, packing) is to send out moving announcements.

Informing everyone of your change in address can be a pain, but not with these cute, DIY, printable moving announcements. Best thing of all, this PDF is editable, right in the program!

Here's what you get:

I've included 2 styles for this printable.

Editing Instructions:

Download the file here.

Open the file in Adobe Reader (You can download Adobe Reader here.)

Just click on the space beneath "Our New Address" and enter your info!

The second page is more customizable:

You can click directly onto the space beneath "We're Moving" and type in your info.

Or

Open a word processor such as Microsoft Word.

Type your desired text and format it to how you want it to look in the printable (change the font, size, spacing, italics, bold, etc)

Select and Copy your formatted text.

Go back to Adobe Reader.

Click on the space underneath "We're Moving" and paste your edited text there.

And you're ready to print.

*Note: you probably won't be able to save your edited changes so I suggest printing several copies of your final draft.

Now the fun part. How you use it, is up to you!

Some suggestions:

1) Print it out on thick card stock, cut up, and send as a postcard.

2) Print it out as a card, place in an envelope and mail out.

3) Or if you want to go all out like me....

I printed out the moving announcement on plain white paper and cut them up, along with some cardboard boxes.

(Not our real address by the way, friends.)

Added an address, a stamp, and here's our moving announcement all ready to go.

If you like this printable and do use it, please let me know! I'd love to hear all about it!
*Use as many times as you like, for personal use.

And now back to regular packing (um programming.)

Linked at Tip Me Tuesday, I Made This Tuesday, Strut Your Stuff Thursday, and the DIY Sweet Home Project.

Under Construction

Studio Alcantara is currently in the process of finding the right look, the right feel.

Hopefully I'll nail it when I get my own studio/office space after we move next week! Once we're settled in, I hope to finally be able to execute all these ideas I've got.

Not to mention March is my and my sister's birth month so lots of goodies planned, like more printables, new designs, and my first giveaway!

Stay tuned!

{Regular and Better Programming after THE MOVE}

Valentine Pillow Box Printable

In the celebratory spirit of Valentine's Day, here's my first printable, a Valentine's Pillow Box!

Easy Instructions:

• Download the file here (You'll need a PDF reader like Adobe Reader to open the file.)
• Print it out (I like to use thick cardstock for gift boxes.)
• Cut along the solid lines
• Score (trace with a bone knife or blunt butter knife) and fold along the dotted lines (I've found that using a CD or something similarly round helps score along curves.)
• Fold box in half, glue the flap onto opposite inner edge, and wait for it to dry
• Fold into Pillow Box Shape

And voila! This printable may be reduced in size for smaller pillow boxes. Perfect for little trinkets, sweet treats, and any other Valentine gift you can think of it.

Happy Pre-Valentine's Weekend, everyone!

Creating in Class

I miss being in a classroom. I miss learning, teaching, and all the fun stuff that goes with it.

Today, I had the privilege of joining my calligraphy teacher's advanced class as I walked them through... box making! Holly, my teacher, had requested that I come in and show her class how to make some favor boxes that they could embellish with calligraphy.

We had loads of fun assembling these boxes, talking about crafts, and these wonderful women showed off the lovely Valentine cards that they had made for class. One of them was even so kind as to bring us all Valentine's themed cupcakes complete with pretty red liners!

These are some of the boxes we made, adapted from templates I had found online (like from this website.) I copied them onto cardstock for everyone to cut up and assemble on their own.

And they gave me a pretty little gift (which I haven't even opened up yet because I wanted to photograph it first.) Isn't Holly's calligraphy lovely? I only hope to be able to write that beautifully someday!

If you live in the Bay Area and want to take up calligraphy, I strongly suggest taking it through the Orinda Recreational Center. Holly is a wonderful teacher and she's taught some of the best!

I'm so glad I got to meet up with these extremely talented women and I hope to be able to do it again!

More Mini Cards

Aside from being obsessed with miniature things, another design element I love is typography. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm an English teacher and I love language. I love words, definitions, scripts and serifs. 

These are another set of "L" minicards that I'm working on. I'm not too happy with the printing as I'm still using the old HP Deskjet all in one but... I've got a professional grade printer on the way! I'm super excited to go full speed ahead and print lots and lots of projects!

Square Mini Cards with Rounded Corners

Lots of things are on hold at the moment as we prepare to move... but once we do, I'll have my spanking brand new studio to work in! Once that's ready, I hope to expand hellowhimsy in all these different ways I've got mapped out in my ahead.

Now, all we've got to do is wait and actually make the move. (Yech. I can't wait to move but I hate moving.) But it's going to be worth it! I'm going to have to make moving announcements too!

Square Mini Cards with Kraft Paper Envelopes

Mini Cards + Envelopes

In art class, I liked doing things small. A lot of people would paint/make huge things, but I always like to confines of small spaces, tiny squares of watercolor paper and mini sketchbooks.

It's the same way with paper. I like to go SMALL.

One of my grandmas had a birthday coming up and I wanted to make her something special. So the mini cards + envelopes were born! (That's her last name on the front.)

I had to mail them out right away so I didn't really have time to take too many photos. These cards are folded cards, and they measure 3.5 x 2 inches when folded, just about the same size as regular business cards!

Perfect to slip in your purse, add as a gift tag, or even just for a short note! (Too bad the smallest size envelopes/postcards the post office will accept are 5 x 3.5 inches. I would have so loved to be able to mail these as is.)

The envelopes are a tiny bit bigger of course, just the right size to slip these babies in. I'm even thinking of making envelopes just for business cards! How cute would that be? And don't you just love the citrusy orange and green color combination?

I have so many fun color combinations and prints I want to make them in. Definitely lots more mini cards and envelopes in my future. And soon available in the hellowhimsy etsy store too.

And cause I'm super excited about all the new things coming into my etsy store, here's a coupon code for 10% off your first purchase from hellowhimsy!

Etsy Coupon Code: hellowhimsyonline515

Happy Monday Everyone!