Tag Archives: diy

meet wallace the whale.

September 4, 2015

bazaar, child's play, crafts, diy, illustration, loved by laura, made by me

for the past couple of weeks, i have been working on some animal illustrations for my dad to turn into toys on wheels. it started out with many doodles and sketches, until we finally got one that my mom & dad approved. once we had the shape nailed down, my dad cut the shapes out of wood, then hand-sanded and stained them with kid-safe stain.

we then named our new whale friend wallace, to give him some personality. next up i have to make the tags, with an accompanying background story, so we can help them find a new home.

the whales will be ready for adoption this winter at craft shows in ottawa.
stay tuned!

fun fact: the blue whale is the largest mammal to ever have lived on earth.

see more of what i’m up to on instagram: laura_weatherston

snail mail: gracie, meet chef gaston.

June 28, 2014

crafts, diy, gift giving, made by me, storytime

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after posting my snail mail to emma, today i’m sharing my mail for gracie.

gracie had asked for a picture of a person making cookies. i immediately thought i would do a french baker and have a little story for him. i named him monsieur gaston and his story is that he’s a baker in paris who has to make beacoup de cookies, cupcakes and cakes for a big fashion designer’s 50th birthday party. he’s writing to gracie to ask for her help to do some of the baking.

i made 2 cutouts on this card for some extra fun- the top cupboard door opened to show what’s inside, as well as the oven door, to see the cookies baking inside.

have a look below. that’s all for now.

snail mail: emma, meet clara the camel.

June 26, 2014

crafts, diy, gift giving, loved by laura, made by me

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my mommy cousin, kristy, recently told me how her girls needed some practice with their writing. i decided to make them each a little story card on a topic they had requested in passing last time i saw them.

emma, the cooky kid she is, asked for a picture of a desert. i’m guessing she has learned something in school, or on tv about deserts so her imagination is running wild.

as plain as deserts are, this was quite the challenge for me. as you’ll see below, drawing camels isn’t really my thing. i used 2 sheets of cardstock from michaels, my favourite black ink pens from dollarama, and plenty of pencil crayons. i started off with getting the basic shapes down and slowly filling them in with colour and some extra detail.

i wrote a little story about my camel, who i named clara. after having drawn her with 2 humps, i did some research and found out that the 2 hump camels apparently only live in china and mongolia, so i worked that in to the story. i had clara the camel go on a little adventure with her donkey friend into the mountains; i made sure to look up the animals who live in the area to be accurate (not that an 8 year old would know). this was just meant to be a starting point to get emma thinking about a kind of story she could write.

once the pieces were done, i stapled them together, licked the envelope shut and sealed it with a stamp. now i’m waiting to get some snail mail back from emma.

stay tuned for my snail mail to gracie!

home & garden show wrap-up

June 5, 2014

bazaar, crafts, diy, loved by laura, made by me

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the ouc home & garden show has come and gone. it was lots of work to prep for, set up, and get the design pieces done ahead of time, but was definetly a success.

i got to go home to ottawa for the weekend to see the show, as well as to celebrate my sister’s birthday. i packed light, so i have some iphone shots to share with you today!

welcome to the show! my dad cut out these wooden signs for the entrance, then my mom painted them to coordinate with the poster i had done for advertising.

The Home & Garden Show
This Way

the church was selling flowers and plants from laportes in ottawa as a fundraiser. they were so popular they sold out.

ouc flowers

i set up the display for my dad’s woodcrafts. he is a cabinetmaker by trade, and has recently spent his spare time making birdhouses, drink caddies, letter trains and toy cars. have a look at the photos of his product. he is the most talented dude i know- tradesmen are just so skilled! i even picked up a birdhouse for myself- white with a copper roof made with my grandfather’s copper.

i designed the first business card my dad has ever had for this show. his talent and word-of-mouth has always been enough for him to work with. they are super simple, but the great thing is that they’re printed by cards of wood on real oak. i thought this was a great touch for him since wood is the main material of everything he makes!

i also ended up selling some of the goodies my friend steph and i used to make when we were both living in ottawa. we had a registered business called lou&lau after our childhood nicknames, and sold at craft shows. we hand-silkscreened on american apparel tees, tanks and hoodies, as well as made jewellery using new and vintage material. check out some photos of my little table setup i snapped with my iphone .

the last of the lou&lau merch, as well as dean weatherston‘s woodcrafts will be on sale june 14th from 10am-4pm at the parkdale united church in ottawa. 429 parkdale avenue.

hope to see you there!

hooray for the home & garden show!

May 23, 2014

bazaar, crafts, diy, loved by laura

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this year the orleans united church decided to host a new event where they would sell flowers & plants, as well as, have local crafters sell their goodies. i was brought back in to help with design to help spread the word. may flowers mean cheery colours, organic lines and airiness. with this concept in mind, i came up with an illustration of flowers in a teacup- merging the main focus of the the event- flowers, with the other offering of the ouc- a little cafe where the shoppers can grab a tea and some homemade goodies. i used brushstrokes in illustrator to mimic the feel of watercolours so they appeared softer than a flat 2d shape. the poster was the first piece to roll out as advertisement in the community.

once i was done the illustration and lettering for the main poster, i had to design a simple brochure that could be printed at sure print, the local print shop. we went with their blue laser paper to tie in to the palette of the poster.

next up was an 11×17 poster to showcase the flowers they would be selling. i drew a garden pick to be used as a template that i could pop the flower photos into. next i hand-lettered the plant names, and we were ready for print.

one of the last advertising pieces for print was a poster for the digit gloves. the ouc got their hands on a ton of these gloves, which won’t be hitting stores like canadian tire and home depot until later this season. the gloves are specially designed to protect the tips of the fingers. for the ladies, this means no messing up your manicure while enjoying the great outdoors. check out their site to read more. before the show has even happened, they’ve sold over half of these gloves.

i’m on the train now back ottawa for the big show. i look forward to sharing some photos with you soon!

a 30 day drawing challenge

May 1, 2014

crafts, diy, gift giving, made by me, wrapping

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over the past couple years i’ve seen many drawing challenges on my facebook feed, as well as on pinterest.

this year for my cousin’s twin girls, emma and gracie, i decided i’d make up my own drawing challenge for their eighth birthday. they are always getting me to draw with them when i’m home visiting, so i thought this would be a hit.

it’s always fun for me to come up with a creative gift idea that doesn’t break the bank- but one of the best parts of this for me was the packaging. i hand-lettered a card for each of the thirty days and wrapped every day separately. for thirty days, they will be unwrapping a new drawing challenge.

this was day 2 | emma’s self-portrait

and gracie’s self-portrait – she’s got a picasso vibe going on with this one.

to finish off the gift, i got them their very own eco jot sketchbooks that i am so find of.
wrap them all up in my pam garrison paper from papayaart.com

crafting with my momma

April 30, 2014

bazaar, crafts, diy, made by me

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a few months back, i was back at home in ottawa for the weekend. i spent the weekend crafting with my mom ramping up for the upcoming craft sale my parents church is putting on. my mom had pulled out her scrapbook paper and some old comic books so we tested out a new diy project of blocks for the kiddos.

my dad rounded up some scrap wood and cut us some 2-inch blocks we used as a base. we then used mod podge to glue on the paper we cut out. to finish them off, we brushed on some acrylic paint around the edges to give the blocks a vintage look. take a look.

super easy diy and fun way to spend the afternoon. if you’re in ottawa, be sure to check out the home & garden show, may 24 at 9am until noon at the orleans united church! 1111 orleans boulevard.

oh, and i also made the poster to advertise. mark your calendars!