This post is a bit belated, but before we get too far into August, I have one more July birthday project to share. This one was for my bestest friend, Dawn. Dawn has been an inspiration me in more ways than I can count. She's forever growing, expanding, and celebrating her latest, well-deserved success. She's been there through it all, ever since we became insta-friends 13 years ago, and I'm so grateful for her friendship, the memories we've created together, the crazy adventures we've had, and for the beautiful woman she is inside and out.
One the many things that adds to Dawn's fascinating character, is that she never stands still for too long. Whether it's a new degree, a new job or a new hobby, she always has something new and exciting in the works. Right now, she's planning a trip to Morocco and Spain, and I decided to make her a pair of cute luggage tags to celebrate her journey.
Whenever I think of Morocco, I can't help but think of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and that exotic, 1940s elegance of Casablanca, so that sparked my inspiration for the design. I also came across these cool old tags at
Fresh Vintage that she scored on an ebay auction...
I love the colors, the funky shapes, the simple illustration, the fonts... I just love me some vintage.
So, with a little fusion of ideas, I came up with these:
I started with some vintage travel posters of places she's been, like Australia and (of course) NY, and the places she's planning on going. I downloaded some
old stamp brushes for Photoshop to give it a parcel-y feel, and created a shipping label so her cargo can always find it's way home safely.
On the other side, I used an
old map texture in the background, and added her initials on top.
The tag itself is actually a manila folder. I couldn't find any manila tags in quantities less than 100 (well, I probably could have if I didn't wait till the last minute for everything), but I also needed to be able to print some of the graphics directly on the tag, like the map and the postal stamps. So I printed it on the folder, cut out a custom shape for the tag and "scrapbooked" everything together. Luckily, we have a laminating machine at work so I was able to laminate it for free. I think it was a little too thick though, because it took about seven passes through the laminator and I still couldn't get it to seal off right up to the edge. Oh well :) The silver rings are binder rings, which I had (98 of) left over from another project. They're easy to open and close so I thought they'd work perfectly to attach the tag to a suitcase.
Since I found all those paper supplies I forgot I had, I made her a birthday card, too. One of the things I found was a package of plain cards Dawn and I bought maybe 10 years ago. One day we decided to buy ourselves some Crayola watercolors and some rubber stamps, and we went to the park and painted cards for a few hours like little kids. Weren't we always getting ourselves into some random thing or another? Oh Dawn, you live too far away now!! I miss our shenanigans! {sigh} Anyway, that's what I used for the base of the card. I love that it has that little piece of history.
My other favorite part is the flower. I had this plain pink flower, but I thought it was a little blah so I added some embroidery floss to punch it up. First I poked a hole in it so I could attach it to the card later, and to hold it in place while I glued the thread on...
then, I took one piece of floss and looped it around and around, following the shape of the flower.
When it was dry, I poked a hole in the card and attached the flower with a button and some pink floss.
And there it is, handmade with love and best wishes for a beautiful year ahead, wherever your journey takes you!
