birthdays!

one of my friends recently had a japanese themed birthday party-- everyone contributed amazing japanese food, and donations for the disaster relief fund. in keeping with the theme, i whipped up a super simple japanese flag birthday card in about 2 minutes! i cut a piece of white cardstock to size, traced a circle (from a spool of thread) onto red cardstock, cut it out, smeared a bit of glue in the centre, and then sewed it on. super super easy!

remember to open the card before sewing! i forgot the first time, effectively sewing the card shut! *facepalm* but, a second card took NO time to reconstruct!

that same weekend, one of my dearest friends, a cycling enthusiast, celebrated her birthday so i made this tshirt for her! (well, i didn't make the shirt, but i stenciled it.)

it's a take on the classic 'I <3 NY' tshirts.

and while we're on the subject of stenciled tee's, here's another one i made a few months ago for grant, the lead singer of local band behind sapphire. the story is, i've seen them play numerous times (one of my amazingly talented friends often plays trumpet for them), and at one show, i noticed grant had created a sapphire out of blue painter's tape on the back on his shirt. (it's a sapphire on his back. 'behind sapphire', get it?) but since blue tape is low tack, it eventually fell off. i admired his ingenuity though, and promised him, sort of jokingly, that i'd make him a real shirt.

ironically, i used blue tape to stencil the lines. it works beautifully!

close up: nice crisp lines.

grant was a real sweetheart when i gave it to him at their tour kick show at st james hall. he wore it like a cape that night! i highly recommend you give them a listen, they are delightful!