Niki Jin Crafts

Playing with Polish

2011-09-04T09:25:00.005-04:00

I am in a bit of a nail polish phase right now. While I like to wear a classic red, pink, or neutral shade once in a while, I tend to gravitate toward the more unusual colors—gray, orange, blue... I wore a beautiful bright yellow a few months back without a protective base coat, and it stained my nails. They have been slowly growing back to normal, but I’ve been keeping my nails covered ever since. Not that I minded all that much. I just got to play with nail polish more often.

When it comes to mani/pedis, I’m a DIYer. I’ve gone to a parlor only once to get my nails done by a pro. It was fun, but not something I would do on a regular basis. I’ll leave that for special occasions. I have too much fun doing my own thing anyway.

I was fooling around with polish the other night and experimenting with different patterns and effects. This is some of what I came up with. Nothing really groundbreaking, but fun all the same. I tried to keep them simple since it can be hard to do anything too fancy when you’re painting your own nails. Depending on the amount of contrast and saturation in the shades you use, these methods can be as subtle and sophisticated or as funky and loud as you make them. If the idea of duplicating an effect on ten nails is too daunting, try creating just one or two accent nails.

Plaid

Materials:

-1 plain polish for the base color; This works best with a lighter shade. That way you can see your pattern.

-2 permanent markers, one thin tip, one thick

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the polish has dried, draw a grid on the nail with the thin tip marker. Make sure there is enough space between the lines for the thick lines.

3. With the thick tip marker, draw another grid in between the thin lines.

4. Once everything has dried, finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Antiquing effect

Materials:

-1 plain polish for the base color; Darker shades work best, as this lets the top metallic shade stand out more.

-1 metallic polish

-cotton swab

-nail polish remover

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the base coat has dried, apply a layer of the metallic polish. Let this dry.

3. Dip one end of the cotton swab into the nail polish remover. Rub this over the nail until some of the metallic polish starts to come off. Continue until you have the desired effect. Don’t rub in one spot for too long or the base coat will start to come off too.

4. Finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Polka Dots

Materials: -1 plain polish for the base color

-1 polish OR permanent marker in a contrasting color

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the base coat has dried, create polka dots with the polish or marker. Polish tends to create larger, more irregular dots. A marker will make smaller, more precise dots. Alternatively, you could use a nail art pen if you have one.

3. Finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Stripes

Materials:

-1 plain polish for the base color

-polish OR permanent marker in contrasting color(s)

-clear polish

1. Apply 1 or 2 coats of a base color.

2. Once the base coat has dried, create stripes with contrasting polish or marker in however many colors you want. Alternatively, you could use a nail art pen if you have one. Again, as with the polka dots, using polish creates larger, more irregular stripes. A marker can create thinner, sharper lines.

3. Finish off with a clear coat of polish.

Bonus! Make your own nail polish colors!

Part I: Clear polish + makeup pigment

One day I thought, “I wonder if you can make your own nail polish?” and then I Googled “make your own nail polish” and found this ingenious idea. There are a number of articles, blogs, and YouTube videos that cover this same concept. Of course when I came across it, I just had to try it. I had been searching stores for a good navy blue, but could not find one, so I decided to try that first. I was pretty happy with the results.

This is a good way to use up old makeup you have lying around. Or just go buy some in the shades you want. I bought a cheap-o eye shadow palette on clearance with tons of colors to play with.

Materials:

-1 bottle of clear or light-colored polish

-makeup pigments, such as powdered blush or eyeshadow

1. Take the desired pigment(s) and, if it is not already, crush it into a powder.

2. Add some to the nail polish bottle. Start off with a little as you can always add more. Add more than one color pigment to create your own unique shade. You can create a simple funnel with a rolled up piece of scrap paper.

3. Shake the bottle until everything is well mixed.

4. Test the polish. Add more pigment until you reach the desired shade.

Part II: Mix Polishes

Take two different colors of nail polish and mix to your heart’s content.

Part III: Layering

Another way to create your own color without any mixing is by layering sheer colors over a base color. For instance, a top coat of pale pink (the same type usually used in French manicures) is a good way to mute down a bright or metallic color for a more sophisticated look.

There’s an App For That, Photography

2011-08-27T07:59:00.021-04:00

I love technology and gadgets. While one of the great things about crafting is working with your hands, there are many great ways to incorporate technology, whether as a tool, for finding inspiration, or in new digital mediums.

I use a lot of Apple products. I’ve already explored a little bit of digital scrapbooking on my desktop computer (an iMac) using Adobe software. Back in March, I started using an iPhone. A few months later, I splurged on an iPad. Besides wasting countless hours with music, video, and gaming apps (Angry Birds, anyone?), I have been determined to find all the best apps for crafting and creativity. Here are some of the apps I like for my photos.

I love pictures. I love taking them, looking at them, playing with them. At family functions and other events, I am that person. The one with the camera that everyone hides from. The iPad is great for browsing photos. I’ve put my entire library onto mine. For a while, though, I didn’t do much with photos directly on my devices, but after discovering a few good apps, that has changed. Now I'm addicted to editing photos on my iPhone and iPad.

Snapseed (**my favorite photography app so far**)

Best used on: iPad

Cost: $4.99

What I like about Snapseed is that it has many of the features that are found in the other photography apps all in one place. There are basic photo editing features as well as filters and effects. The “center focus” is similar to the “tilt-shift” in Instagram. In addition, it allows you to shuffle the properties in some of the effects, such as texture, so that it doesn’t look the same in every picture you apply it to. I also really like the “compare” button, which allows you to see the photo before and after your adjustments.

Adobe Photoshop Express

Best used on: iPad

Cost: Free

This app is good for basic photo editing—cropping, straightening, contrast, saturation, etc. There are also a few filters, borders, and effects. Extra features are available to purchase within the app.

Pixlr-o-matic

Best used on: iPhone or iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Instagram

Best used on: iPhone or iPod Touch

Cost: Free

Pixlr-o-matic and Instagram are especially good for photos that are taken directly from the iPhone or iPad. Because of limited resolution and controls for cameraphones, pictures tend to be pretty poor. What I like about these apps are the filters. They enhance your blah cameraphone pictures, taking advantage of the low image quality to give pictures a “vintage” look.

Pixlr-o-matic also has different options for lighting effects and borders. Instagram is set up as a social network that automatically shares your photos in your own photo stream in your Instagram account. Instagram also has a cool and easy-to-use “tilt-shift” feature, which allows you to blur out the background and focus on the subject of the photo.

8mm Vintage Camera

Best used on: any

Cost: $1.99

8mm Vintage Camera is like the video version of these apps. The cool interface looks like a camera. You can choose between various lenses and films to create the look you want. There are also options for projector sound effects and random “jitters” to make a more authentic 8mm-like movie.

Pic Collage

Best used on: iPad

Cost: Free

This is a cute, simple app for creating quick collages with your photos on your device.

*Note: Though most of these apps will work on both the iPad and iPhone or iPod Touch, I have indicated which device with which I recommend using each. Generally speaking, some apps are better for iPhone because they were built to fit the smaller size, while others are better utilized on the iPad’s larger screen. Also note that some apps will not work on older generations of devices, and some apps have separate iPhone and iPad versions.

All photos © Nicole Jin Jones

Honeykuchen

2010-12-13T16:27:00.005-05:00

I created this illustrated recipe for the wonderful website They Draw and Cook. (Click on the image for better view.) I made honeykuchen for the holidays last year and enjoyed it. It is a sweet and sticky bread. It is meant to get better the longer it sits. The low moisture and high honey/sugar content keeps it from spoiling. Below is a picture of the loaves I made this year.

New Etsy Shop and Free Pattern

2010-12-05T21:47:00.009-05:00

I opened up a shop on etsy.com today. I've posted some sweaters for 11.5-inch dolls (I hope to post other types of items in the future). You can visit the shop here. These miniature sweaters were very fun to create. They are all designed and handknit by myself.

Most of the sweaters are knit using size 10 crochet thread and sock knitting needles. I like using the crochet thread because it is relatively inexpensive, comes in a wide array of colors, and is readily available from any store that sells craft supplies.

Here is a free pattern for a basic sweater, for those who would like to try making one yourself! Simply click on the image and save it to your computer (click and drag to your desktop or right click and select "Save Image As". I've also included a black and white version for easier printing.

**UPDATE** I've noticed that there is a mistake in my pattern. (SO sorry!) Apparently, I have trouble adding! Steps 3 and 6 of the Body instructions should say "Work in st st for 33 rows," not 31. The front and back should each have a total of 40 rows (6 edging rib + 33 even stockinette stitch + 1 row for neck opening). The diagram is still correct.

A Great Feast

2010-12-01T19:21:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone once more. During the month of November, my sisters and I enjoy cooking up smaller festive meals in preparation for the big day. This way, not only do we get to enjoy Thanksgiving all month long, but we also have a chance to experiment with new recipes that we may or may not want to incorporate into our actual holiday meal.

This year, we tried something a little different and fun. The previous month, we vacationed down in Orlando and visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. We absolutely loved the restaurant there called The Three Broomsticks. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and the food was delicious. The photos below show the dining room (top), a dinner of roast chicken (below left) and the butterbeer cart (below right) at the park.

We decided we wanted to recreate a typical meal served there. We called it our Great Feast. The menu included chicken, ribs, roasted potatoes and corn on the cob. This was our result:

We even whipped up our own version of butterbeer (cream soda + vanilla ice cream) and served it in the souvenir steins we brought home with us. For dessert, we poured homemade peanut butter sauce and strawberries over vanilla ice cream (not pictured). Mmmmm...

Cake

2010-10-04T19:11:00.007-04:00

It seems like I've been decorating a lot of cakes recently, so I decided to post a compilation of some that I've done over the past few years. The bottom two rows in the picture above were all done in the latter part of this year. I've never taken a class or anything--just a lot of playing around. I generally like good ol' frosting; I'm not really a fan of fondant, though maybe that's something I'll eventually try out. I like to find different sprinkles, candies, and frostings to decorate with. Usually I try to match birthday candles with the decor of the cake. Sometimes I even try to coordinate the color of the cake, like I did with the pink strawberry cake shown in the two photos in the bottom right corner. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Illustration Friday - Paisley

2010-06-22T20:30:00.001-04:00

Doll Clothes

2010-04-30T23:56:00.008-04:00

My latest craft project for the past couple weeks has been experimenting with designing and creating doll clothes. I am fascinated with handcrafted miniatures—scale models, stop-motion animation, and, of course, dolls—and I have always wanted to try creating my own.

Recently I have been teaching myself to make my own clothing patterns, and I used what I learned from that to draft miniature patterns for a Barbie doll.

Here are some of the first dresses I put together from the basic pattern shown above.

I also tried my hand at some miniature hand knits. I used crochet thread and size 0 knitting needles. I charted out some patterns for various Christmas sweaters with these results:

I designed and knitted up these sweater vests as well.

(Side note: If you think this is crazy, check out the video at the end of this blog entry featuring the crafter who created the knits used in the film Coraline.)

Overall, I've been happy with the results of my latest craft obsession. My patterns have been working pretty well. It's not too expensive; I can just use up fabric, yarn, and ribbon scraps I already have lying around. Also, I can finish up a project in a relatively small amount of time, which is good for my short attention span. Though it is a challenge to work at a small scale, I've found that it's a good way to combine some of my many interests—fashion, design, sewing, knitting, etc—into one fun project.

My Inspiration Board

2009-07-03T22:30:00.006-04:00

Here's a photo collage of a corkboard hanging next to my desk. I call it my "inspiration board." I've filled it with all sorts of pictures, sketches, paper scraps, photos, stickers, and other assorted things that I like. I put it next to where I draw for creative motivation and, of course, inspiration. And it just makes me happy! Click on the image for a larger view.

Gift Wrap

2009-06-22T21:49:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since my last post to this blog, but I'm determined to post more regularly.

I hope everyone had a nice Father's Day. One of the things I enjoy most about holidays like this (besides being with family and friends) is gift-giving. I love to wrap presents. Below are some examples of some of my favorite gift-wrap creations.

Usually when I wrap gifts, I like to choose a color scheme or a theme to tie them all together. Sometimes this is determined by another factor, such as other decorations for the event or the contents of the packages themselves. For example, I found a wrapping paper design to match my pink and gold Christmas tree one year. I also like to mix and match different patterns and solids. That way the gifts look like they belong together, yet have variety. I reuse and recycle a lot of materials. I always keep scraps of papers and ribbons. Some of the same papers/ribbons, etc were reused in the examples shown below, even for different occasions. I've accented gifts not only with ribbon, but also with more creative materials such as strips of scrap wrapping paper, crepe paper, paper bags, cupcake paper cups, and even the netting bags that hold oranges.

Christmas Trees

2008-12-04T07:51:00.006-05:00

Well, Christmas season is in full swing now. I can openly listen to Christmas music now (which I've been doing since October...). Growing up, my family had a pretty traditional Christmas tree with a medley of ornaments collected through the years, some of which were hand-crafted by mine and my sisters' little hands. It was always fun to go through the ornaments every year while decorating the tree, pointing out favorites and reminiscing on Christmases past.

During my college years, we decided to try something different, and created color-themed trees. A lot of credit goes to my mom's skill as a floral designer. It was fun each year to find decorations that fit the color scheme. As a side note, my sisters and I were each "assigned" a color as children: pink, purple, and blue. (Mom liked to dress her triplet daughters in matching outfits in our colors.) The first year was purple.

The next year was a blue tree, accented with red. I especially liked the little family of cardinals. We even found blue candy canes.

Then, we had a pink tree. I found a beautiful pink and gold wrapping paper to match. My mom also made a coordinating wreath.

Now my sisters and I have our own house. We decided on a peppermint-inspired tree this year. Our colors are red and white. We included some of our original family ornaments in this tree.

Merry Christmas!

My Halloween Menu

2008-11-01T10:04:00.006-04:00

I had a great Halloween yesterday. I decided to make a nice little festive dinner for the holiday. I borrowed my ideas mostly from Martha Stewart and the Food Network, adding my own little flourishes here and there. It was fun and simple, as well as tasty.

This is tomato soup with "eyeballs" made from mozzarella balls and sliced green olives. I was reminded a little of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the scene where Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw are served some interesting entrees, such as monkey brains and eyeball soup.

I made black and orange grilled cheese sandwiches using dark and light rye bread and chedder cheese. I cut out pumpkin shapes with a small cookie cutter and put the two breads together like a puzzle.

I used yams and purple potatoes to make some baked chips in the appropriate color scheme.

For dessert, a dark chocolate cake with sprinkles and a candy corn border.

Pumpkins and Cranberries!

2008-10-31T14:30:00.007-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some images taken last weekend at the Keene, NH annual Pumpkin Festival. They didn't break the record this year (for the most lit jack-o-lanterns in one place), but it was still a lot of fun. As usual, there were lots of people, lots of yummy food, and, of course, lots of pumpkins.

My sisters and I contributed these three jack-o-lanterns.

Here's a little pumpkin pattern I've finished recently. It reminds me a little of the Charlie Brown "Great Pumpkin" cartoon.

With Halloween season ending, pretty soon I'll be gearing up for Thanksgiving, and I just love to bake pies. As sort of a little warm-up, I recently baked these cranberry tarts. I thought they turned out kind of cute. I've included a recipe below. Enjoy!

Cranberry Tarts

Ingredients:
3 cups cranberries
Zest and juice of one orange
1/2 cup water
1 3/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Pie pastry

Directions: Bring the water, cranberries, orange zest and juice to a boil. Lower the heat and add the dry ingredients. Cook until thick. Remove from the heat and cool. Prepare tops and bottoms of your pastry into whatever shapes you like for tarts (or make one whole pie if you like), and place the filling. I cut out circles from my pastry and put a couple spoonfuls on each of the bottom circles and topped with another circle for the tops, pinching the edges together to seal. Make sure there is a vent hole cut on the top crusts. I also like to brush my crust with egg white and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake at 425 degrees until golden. My small tarts only took about 25 minutes to bake, but a whole pie may take up to 35 to 40 minutes.

Happy Autumn!

2008-10-18T08:50:00.004-04:00

The air is getting crisper every day. We had our first frost this past week. Despite the cold, I have to say that autumn is my favorite season of the year, and New England is the perfect place to be right now. Here are some of my favorite fall images I've photographed this year so far. The first three were taken at an orchard in Vermont when I went with my family to go apple picking recently. The fourth is typical of the beautiful scenery one can enjoy while through NH and VT right now. The last picture is the view from my own window, looking out at the end of my driveway.

Here are some little doodles and ideas from my sketchbook inspired by these beautiful images.

Some Floral Sketches

2008-09-22T17:57:00.003-04:00

I’ve been working on creating some floral designs. Here are a few sketches I’ve come up with so far.

Garden Update

2008-09-17T18:46:00.004-04:00

Summer is winding down, and it will soon be time for Autumn. I’ve recently picked some of the last vegetables of the season out of my garden. Here are some images of the harvest. All in all, it was an OK year for gardening. With all the rain that came this year, I barely had to do any watering. I had a bit of a battle with the bugs, though.

Of course, as many gardeners do, I inevitably ended up with more vegetables than they could consume, so I did a little canning. I made some bread and butter pickle relish out of my cucumbers, and jelly from the hot peppers. Mmmm…

Although I will miss the season of summer fresh veggies, Fall = baking = more yummy goodness. Stay tuned for more posts of delicious goodies…

Design Sketches

2008-08-17T10:46:00.010-04:00

Recently, I've been exploring surface design and patterns. This interest kind of evolved naturally from my love for all things crafty, from fabrics to gift wrap, greeting cards, scrapbooking papers and embellishments, home decor and so on. I wanted to figure out more on how to design myself. I found a Dover book at the library called Pattern Design, which was interesting to read. It explores the evolution of design throughout history, as well as explains different types of pattern and ornament. I found it gave me good starting point. By seeing how it was done in the past, I could create new designs myself employing similar techniques.

Here's a little glimpse at the various doodles and drawings inside my sketchbook:

Here's an example of a sketch that I put into a final pattern design.

Stay tuned...I've been working on building up a portfolio these past few months so that I can try my hand at licensing my work. It's something that's been in the back of my mind for a while, and I've decided to just dive in and do it. There's a whole lot more that I can't wait to show everyone.

But more on that later. Bye for now.
NJ

My Garden

2008-07-17T12:52:00.005-04:00

I'm having tons of fun gardening this summer. I had a little bit of a rough start, but it's coming along nicely now. I'm starting to harvest zucchini and cucumbers, and I'll be having plenty of tomatoes soon. I made some gardening-related sketches, seen above. Below are some images of my garden, from seedlings to full garden. Happy Summer!

My First Digital Scrapbooking Kit

2008-05-25T23:22:00.005-04:00

I've previously written a post about digital scrapbooking. (Click here to see it.) I mentioned that I wanted to start creating some of my own papers and embellishments for use in my pages. I finally started playing around with this recently, and I completed my first digital kit.

I started by creating a 12x12 paper design, around which I would base the entire kit. I kept it pretty simple, using easy geometric shapes and an uncomplicated design.

I then created some more papers to complement the main design.

No scrapbooking kit would be complete without it's various embellishments and alphabet. Again, nothing too complicated. I simply repeated colors and shapes used in the papers to create ribbons, buttons, and letters.

Below is a sample page I created using my newly designed kit. As in my previous scrapbooking post, this page features my cat, Sally.

JenKel Enterprises

2008-05-14T19:25:00.006-04:00

My mother Kellie and her friend Jen organize a local craft show twice a year, in the spring and fall, at a high school in my hometown of Keene, NH. It's always a big hit, and I've helped out at every show for the past few years.

Here are some images from the last show, which was in April.

My mom is a crafter herself, and she creates beautiful silk flower arrangements and wreaths like the one below.
To learn more about JenKel Enterprises and the craft shows, visit their website http://www.jenkelenterprises.com/

My Knitting Projects

2008-04-18T06:08:00.008-04:00

My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was about 10 or 11. I never really finished a project, but I remembered the basics. Then, while in college, I was walking through a craft store and found a free simple scarf pattern. I thought it might be fun to try, so I gave it a shot and haven't put down my needles since. In the picture above, you'll see a few of the scarves I finished, including that first one, which is in the middle. With some practice, I eventually moved on to sweaters. Here are some of my more successful projects. (Please excuse my ugly green carpet...)

Happy Birthday-Valentines!

2008-02-20T22:47:00.010-05:00

My sisters and I have fun every February because the 12th is our birthday. Being triplets, it is tons of fun to have a special day for all three of us to share. I decided this year that I was going to make Birthday-Valentine's cupcakes, to celebrate both holidays.

First, I made some chocolate candies using different colored melting chocolates and heart-shaped molds. I used the Valentines-appropriate colors pink, red, and white, along with dark chocolate. It was fun coming up with different designs to use in each one. I especially love the polka dots.

I used these cheerful chocolates to top my all-chocolate cupcakes.

To accompany my Birthday cupcakes, I wrapped my sisters' gifts in pretty red wrapping paper that I found on clearance (only $1!). I loved the velvety/shiny textures on it, and of course, the polka-dotted ribbon. I also used leftover chocolates to create a Valentine's candy box.

Digital Scrapbooking

2008-02-08T22:20:00.001-05:00

I love to take pictures, and one of the things that I like to do with them is to create digital scrapbook pages. Interestingly enough, I’ve never really tried the traditional craft of scrapbooking, with good ol’ paper, scissors, glue, and all that good stuff. Maybe I will one day…

Apart from the physical act of cutting and gluing, digital scrapbooking is a lot like the regular version. You take photos, backgrounds (the “paper”), and embellishments, and put them together to make a page. It’s just all done on the computer. It’s a great way to use all those pictures you have stored on your hard drive from your digital camera. I use a combination of Adobe programs (Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat) to create my pages, but probably the most widely-accepted and user-friendly software for digital scrapbooking is Adobe Photoshop Elements, a popular photo-editing program. There are several websites out there that provide tutorials for getting started. These websites may also sell digital “kits,” grouping themed papers and embellishments ready-to-use. Some even offer free downloads for personal use, which is great. Sometimes, I use my scanner to save digital versions of store-bought papers, wrapping paper scraps, ribbons, lettering, even tissue box patterns, for future use.

This is one of the pages that I’ve created, featuring my adorable cat Sally. Sometime, I would like to create my own digital kits to share and to use in my pages.

Here are a couple of websites that provide more information on digital scrapbooking, such as tutorials and free digital scrapbooking kits:
http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com/
http://www.shabbyprincess.com/

Super Bowl Snacks

2008-02-04T08:09:00.002-05:00

Well, Super Bowl XLII was yesterday, and unfortunately for me, I am a Patriots fan. They had a great season, though, and they still rule...

Of course, I had to make some snacks for the big game. We went shopping for food on Saturday and got a whole bunch of yummy stuff, including some cheese dip. However, we forgot to buy crackers to go with it. Not wanting to go back to the store, I whipped out my cookbooks and found a simple recipe for homemade crackers. They were actually quite easy and fast to make. They were kind of like making biscuits, except the dough was rolled out really thin so they came out nice and crispy. Before I put them in the oven, I brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled on some garlic salt. Mmmm... In addition to the crackers, my sister made a delicious guacamole. I also made a cilantro hummus dip by combining chick peas, cilantro, garlic cloves, and olive oil in my food processor.

Welcome to Niki Jin Crafts!

2008-02-01T21:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Niki Jin Crafts, my new blog where I can share my love for crafts, food, and everything in between! My interests include (but are in no way limited to) cooking, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, painting and illustration, film, music, gardening . . . I could go on and on. Stay tuned for future posts, where I will share my current projects, ideas, tips, and favorite things. Also, be sure to check out my other blog (www.nicolejinjones.blogspot.com) and website (www.nicolejinjones.com) to see some of my artwork.