Something I've never done before was design a website logo. I guess "never" is a thing of the past now. A friend of mine named Ella, one who I am in the process of making her wedding suite and logo, apparently through word of mouth told her friend that I do calligraphy works. This is how I met Cinderella in the cyber world. She's a lifestyle blogger who was in the process of sprucing up her website and needed a logo. Being a first timer I gave the disclaimer that I HAVE NOT DONE THIS BEFORE but I'm willing to give it a try. I had a rough idea how the process would go but haven't actually done it. But what the heck right? Why let the opportunity fly by? The process alone would be a learning experience. Not to mention having the finished work displayed for all the internet world to see. So I started out sketching her name "Cinderella Merz" in pencil then once happy went over it again with my bordeaux Cocoiro Brush Pen. After I was happy with the handwritten part, I scanned it on the computer and exported the image on Adobe Illustrator for even more fine tuning. Here's the fresh scanned image. As you can see there were a lot of things I needed to erase --- like the place where my fingers smudged the ink at the end of the letter "a". So I did all that on Adobe Illustrator. Working with paths and vectors is quite intimidating at first but after you get the hang of it you'll find that there's a lot you can do on the application to improve but still retain the spirit of your lettering. So many dots! That's what the vectorized image looks like! You can manipulate all those individual points to make the stroke thinner, smother, fatter or gone all together. Youtube is a rich resource on how to use Adobe Illustrator. Don't be afraid to research and learn. Finally, it was on to photoshop for the FINAL fine tuning like adding color, background and more text. Some letters were resized, others stretched, etc. This is the longest part of the process and where there are the most changes. Brightness was tweaked. So was the contrast until the final product was perfect for Cinderella's website. So here's a look at what her site is now. Do check it out as well for all the beauty tips found inside. :)
0 Comments
I posted previously about joining the Mille-Crepe bandwagon and trying out a recipe on my own. And the photo above is proof that IT IS POSSIBLE to recreate online video recipes with some success! To start off, I'd like to confess that I didnt use mascarpone cheese because it isnt available here. So as a substitute I used a mix of cream cheese, milk and sour cream. My mistake was not evenly mixing the three so I ended up with some cream cheese lumps in the filling. With patience perhaps, I'd have beaten those lumps out. You also need a good non-stick pan. Making crepes on a stainless cooking pan will be horrible. Do yourself a favor and get a non-stick pan. I was able purchase one for Php 700 (about USD15) in the local department store. If you may notice this recipe isnt a "baking" recipe at all. The hard part is preparing the necessary items for the "assembly process". So most of your time will be in making the cream and the crepes. But it is extremely satisfying when you are actually making the mille cake by overlapping crepe-cream-crepe-cream-crepe and so on. The cake is very simple but the finished product looks as if it's a lot of work -- BUT IT ISNT-- so don't be intimidated. Another tip is to make the crepes thin. As you can see in my photos my crepes werent that thin at all, learning curve. The next time i make this I'll just use the 1/4c as my measuring tool to scoop the batter into the pan. The first time around I used the 1/3cup. Also make sure that the pan isnt too hot so you can swirl the batter around more efficiently. Keep the fire on low. And when it does get too hot have a wet towel on hand where you can lay the pan for a few seconds to cool. But most of all have fun! This recipe is easy and simple but has got WOW factor. So if you do make it I'm sure you'd impress a lot of people in the process. The internet and the food industry has gone crazy over these decadent mille cakes! You see people filling up their food-porn feeds with photos of these layered cakes that are essentially crepes sandwiching a cream filling. So, I have decided to make one too! Where I live, these mille cakes are hard to find so necessity is the mother of invention in this case. If you cant buy it, MAKE IT! Luckily, facebook has also been posting a crazy amount of how-to food videos and I stumbled across one by Tasty teaching people how to make a TIRAMISU MILLE CAKE. Isn't that just gorgeous?? I was just drooling watching the video and it looks quite simple. The only thing that will take a lot of your time is the preparation and after that assembly is a breeze!
So this is my baking challenge this week. I dont even know if I should call it that considering this doesnt need any baking. I'll post photos soon of the finished product. hahaha A few weeks ago I wrote about my first international commission. Well here it is!! Last July 15, I wrote how a freelance designer contacted me via Instagram for a commission. You can read all about it here.
Well that designer is Alex-Anna based in the United States. Please do check out her Instagram account (here) and website (here) to learn more about all the gorgeous work she has created. This collaboration came out of nowhere but I'm so happy with the result. The calligraphy is mine but the design is all hers. And this labor of love is all for Alex-Anna's friend Samantha. The wedding suite is simple and is one I would have chosen for myself four years ago when planning my own wedding. Another realization is "who would've thought" I'd even get international reach? When this all started it was primarily a way for me to de-stress and now I've got 2 other brides lined up for weddings happening next year. Quite exciting work coming out from something that was initially a hobby right? That's it for now. Remember to always be creating! A few days ago I got a DM on my IG account from a graphic designer the United States -- out of the blue!! She asked if I was willing to help her by writing a few names in calligraphy for a wedding suite she was making. Of course I jumped at the chance!! So, I asked what she needed and a style peg so I know what design aesthetic she was going for. Totally excited while emailing of course coz this was going to be my FIRST INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION. Here's a snap of our chat -- I'm blurring out his/her name to be revealed when the final suite comes out! :) Another reason why I'm super gung-ho to do this is because of Procreate. For those who havent seen the countless #ipadlettering photos and videos that have gone online in Instagram, there is this app which has become quite famous among letterers especially when the Apple Pencil was released. It allows you to do lettering on your ipad and mimics quite well what a calligraphed finish product would look like. Plus there are numerous tools (ie brushes) at your disposal and if you arent satisfied you can create your own! So to make the work for this commission I skipped the whole pencil and paper part and went straight to digital. However, I am NOT using an apple pencil simply because that device only works for IPAD Pros and i only have the ipad mini version 2.0. Luckily, through research I found out that the #wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 2 could work for my ipad and with the new updates now on Procreate i have now been able to doodle to my hearts content producing professional looking work! Below are a few of my "Tries" and "misses". thats it for now. in a few days im thinking of sharing a couple of floral procreate brushes i made. stay tuned for that PLUS the big reveal of how the finished international commission looks like!
Keep creating! |
Who is sab_adventures?I have always wanted to write. This will now be a creative outlet-- home to all my arts and crafts. So feel free to browse around my everyday adventures. Interests
All
History
November 2016
|