Lyrics on a Canvas

I found this idea on a blog by Ellie Snow. She took the famous print "Homage to Music" by Matthew Heller (below the print is show in Molly Sim's apartment in InStyle Magazine), and made it her own. Her idea was to use lyrics to one of her and her husband's favorite songs and put it on a canvas in the same sort of style. Above is her result.



I took this idea and made my own version. My husband and I's song "The Luckiest", was a meaningful part of our wedding, and I thought it would be a great "first Christmas together" present for him. We don't have anything above our bed right now, so it was a win-win. Here is what I came up with.


After showing this to one of my friends, she thought it would be a great piece of artwork for a baby's room. Let us know if you need help with the file, Emery can set up the artwork and you can order the canvas.

We have had a couple of entries to the holiday tag contest, keep the entries coming, you have until Jan. 1st and then we will be picking a winner!

Studio and Holiday Glitz

Emily Butterworth Studio: I wanted to give a quick summary of what my studio is for those who might not know. I'm a graphic designer by day, and want to start doing more freelance work than I already do. My website, www.emilybutterworthstudio.com, is a way to visually show everyone my designs and also give Emery a little boost with a preview of the some of the items we have done so far.

I love doing invites and announcements. Ask me for quotes... its more economical than you think! I just love doing it and hope to incorporate it into Emery someday. The rest of the site is my graphic design work. I'm hoping to attract small unique businesses that might need postcards, letterhead, or logos, etc.

Ok, enough selling of myself. New Years Necklaces: I found these necklaces on an etsy site by BejewelledBespoke. I personally am a black dress only kind of girl so having a necklace like this for a holiday party or New Years would definitely make anyone stand out. I am currently making a bag with these T-shirt rosettes so maybe I'll have to try out the necklace look. If you want these for yourself, click here for the etsy site.

Emery Holiday Contest

We are going to do something fun and make YOU be creative this week! I saw this photo of placecards and loved them. I also loved how simple they were. So then I was thinking...those could be a lot of things. Placecards for a holiday dinner, wedding or shower...punch a hole in one side and those could be gift tags...lots of possibilities. We want to see what you come up with, so here is a printable pdf of some holiday designs (or anytime designs really). Print them out on cardstock or funky paper, and then email us a pic of what you did. We'll pick a winner by Jan. 1st and post the winning photo AND that person will receive an exclusive Emery product for being so creative. Have fun!

All Things Baby

My husband and I are expecting our first baby in May. So I'm pretty much into all things baby right now and I've got Aunt Emily brainstorming ideas too. It's hard to find the perfect products for the visions you have for your nursery. So then you just start thinking, 'We'll I'll just make something!' As we've mentioned before, Emery is developing its own line of products for babies called Cuddle. Lots of handmade items that will create the dream nursery you have in your head. And if you don't have an idea in your head, Emery will make you one :)

The first product we've explored for Cuddle is onesies. Mainly because they are so tiny and cute right?! We're coming up with different designs all the time with the main goal of being trendy and unique. We have a few photos (as promised) from the photo shoot we did a few months ago in Des Moines. The first one is a sample of some of Emery's first onesies. Each one is hand-painted and one-of-a-kind. These are going to make great gifts for baby showers!

The girls at the photo shoot were very excited about the onsies and suggested....well demanded...toddler shirts and expanding the designs to all sizes. I think someone even wanted one for their cat. Cute? Or just creepy? So there will definitely be more to come with this line!

The next picture is of some blankets we made using the same design from some of the onesies. One side is a t-shirt jersey material and the other is a minky fleece. The designs were hand-painted. Super soft and cuddly blankets-these have already been requested by more then just babies. My husband would like a jumbo one for himself so we'll see.

Emery is still working on more products for babies including burp clothes, cloth diapers, and fabric toys. We also want to expand on decorative items for nurseries such as wall canvases. Another fun idea Emily found recently was these decorative drawer fronts with knobs by Morgane Rouault on designspongeonline.com.

If you're interested in tackling this one yourself there is instructions at: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/07/diy-project-morganes-drawer-hangers.html. We think this has a lot of potential for a very cute addition to a baby or kid's room.

No Coast Craft-o-Rama

This Saturday, Emery went to No Coast Craft O Rama in midtown Minneapolis. We found some press online and thought we should check it out and see if we should apply to be a vendor in 2010. It turned out to be very worthwhile...we got lots of ideas, inspiration, and got to see a mob scene of people buying handmade which is always a good thing. The Midtown Global Market is an internationally-themed public market featuring fresh and prepared foods, restaurants, and a selection of arts and crafts from around the world. We thought this made a great venue for the booths and vendors, just made it a fun artsy atmosphere. Christopher Straub from this season of Project Runway was there and had a booth. Of course we got our picture with him! Big fans of the show. He was very pocket size in person..so I'm guessing Carol Hannah is VERY tiny. Here is one of his handbags he had for sale.



Overall there were a ton of great vendors so you check out the list here. But our favorites were Natalie and Friends, Fig and Ginger, Papered Together and Jenna Lou Designs. Pictured above is a wristlet from Jenna Lou and a necklace from Fig and Ginger. Emery is going to apply next year, we'll keep you posted and hopefully you all can come visit us!

Fabric covered magnets and thumbtacks

Fabric covered thumbtacks and magnets were something we saw in Des Moines at the Market Day event. I told you I was going to try making them...well, here they are. They were surprisingly very easy to make, just needed a little finger muscle. If you want to make them yourself, click here for a tutorial.


I decided to make magnets for myself and I made the thumbtacks for my mom for her corkboard wall. You just have to find covered buttons for a wedding dress at a fabric store..I found these at Hobby Lobby. Buy the kits and some fabric,magnets or thumbtacks, get out your glue gun and a wire cutter and you should be ready to go.


Here are the magnets, these were definitely hard to push in since they were larger, but showed more of the fabric which I liked.

And finally, here is the magnet board I found at a thrift store in Valley Junction in Des Moines. All of us girls thought it would be cute to put your Christmas cards on...with fabric magnets of course. Pretty easy and cute idea to change up your decor for the holidays.

New Obsessions: Felt and Knits

So as we have been looking for ideas on products to make for Emery, we are loving felt. Who knew right? A pillow idea is coming soon from us, but check out this headband. Carolyn and Judes take note...we want to make this!



Another thing we are loving is knits. This Thanksgiving weekend we are starting knitting lessons, so we'll post what we come up with in the near future. We love this scarf though and everything LoveandKnit makes.

A Pillow Vision

My husband, Andy, built us a new house before we got married this year. The entire year I would have these visions of what I wanted each room to look like. I never would have guessed how hard it was to decorate an entire house..don't get me wrong, it was fun too. :) I enlisted Megan to design some of the rooms, and I told her I wanted the bedroom all gray and white, so she picked out a relaxed navy for the walls to spice it up. Well, do you think I could find pillows that were gray and white for the bed and exactly the vision I had in my head? Of course not.


So thanks to my mom, who is giving me sewing lessons every Wednesday night, I just completed my vision of pillows yesterday. My mom is definitely a pattern girl, and when I told her I didn't have a pattern it was just a "vision", she said, "Emily, this is not Project Runway." Well, we made them "work". And Andy is happy our bedroom is now complete.

Adornments

I got this necklace for my friend, Kelsey (who is also the model in the photo), for her birthday..and asked the designer, Wendi Cupp, if I could use it in my photo shoot for my portfolio site. She designs and makes all of her own vintage jewelry. Check out her site here, she is having a 30% off sale right now to celebrate being in business for one year.

And yes, this means I have my photos..and my website should be up and running soon!

Thanksgiving Styling

Emily and I were recently talking about how we're not very good at "holiday decorating" in our houses. A lot of people seem to change up their decor by the season and get really into Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I think our problem is that we've perfectly planned every detail of our houses with our personal tastes, and the traditional holiday decor just doesn't fit our style. By traditional I mean ghosts, turkeys, and Santa Claus. So I decided to come up with a little something for Thanksgiving that is a little more "Emery".

I took a fake pumpkin, apple, and pear and updated them with paper and fabric. The nice thing about this little project was that Thanksgiving and fall decor is on clearance immediately following Halloween because the stores are all preparing for Christmas. I scored all three of these items for only $7!

The pumpkin was a wire form and I covered it in a jersey knit fabric. The custom part of this idea is that you can use any fabric to match your house. No more excuses for a pumpkin not fitting your style. I basically just wrapped, tucked, and pinned the fabric around the pumpkin giving it a quick makeover. Of course I added some fabric flowers too. What pumpkin is complete without them?!

With the apple and pear, I found a few fun papers (again any color or design you want) and just punched out several circles of each using a large circle punch. Starting at the bottom of each fruit, I glued the circles around and spiraled up. This gave them a unique texture that makes it a little more interesting.



These decorations can really be used anywhere. Set them on a window sill or on a desk for a cute accent.

As an extra touch on the coffee table:

On the dining table in a centerpiece:



You could make several and put them in a bowl or cornucopia if you had one. Another idea would be to paint your pumpkins either solid or with designs on them. I really love the look of white pumpkins. Hopefully this inspires those of you who are looking for something trendy in your holiday decor.

Easy Yet Creative Invites

We wanted to share how to make easy invites for a party or an announcement as we did with these invites for our mom's (and her twin sister's) 50th birthday. We got this idea from a smaller version that was a birth announcement.

1. Decide what size you want to do, envelope size is what we started with and picked A7. From there you need to measure in some to figure out what size your insert will be. A7 envelopes take 5x7 inserts. to have the pocket effect, add on 2.5 inches to your length. Design a card with the invite info to fit in this pocket. So we went in .25 inches on each side. (4.75x6.75).
2. Design a piece that will fit on the front pocket. (2.25x4.5) Make a cute saying or have a teaser to what the invite will say when pulled out. Example (use a cute quote): "A face with freckles is like a sky without stars."
   
3. Fold all the pockets up your 2.5" so you can slide your invite inside. Staple the sides of the pocket. Not the invite itself.



4. Want cool labels? Print these free labels from love.obsess.inspire. or make your own variation like we did.
5. Next step is to glue on the cards you made for the front of the pocket, we used scrapbooking glue dots. Staple a ribbon in a v-shape at the top or leave plain. (If you staple ribbon make sure everything is about an inch shorter in height to fit in your envelope.
6. Last step is to insert in envelope and adhere the labels. We handwrite all invites for a more personal touch. Send!
7. Can't figure it out or don't have time? Emery can do it for you :)
   

Birdie Pillow

Megan and I LOVE this pillow by jilliebeancraft. We are scared of birds but in a design we can handle it. The flowers are great, I would attach flowers to everything if I could.

Black Friday shopping

If you want somewhere unique to shop for Christmas gifts this year check this out. We went in October and snatched up a couple of good finds (Emery was scoping for next year, hopefully we'll be a vendor). Everything is handmade and very reasonably priced.

In November, Market Day will be on Black Friday on the 27th from 8a-6p downtown Des Moines.

Here are a couple of the things I bought:

Vintage Fabric Covered Button Thumb Tacks...super cute and I’m definitely going to try making these. I regretted not getting the magnet versions too.These were by Mary Marie.

Hand-Knit Chunky Cowl...I have seen these around lately but these were different...really good quality and very soft and chic. She makes custom ones and has good color options. I got this as a gift for someone for Christmas..so I guess we will wait and see who the lucky one is...

What is Emery made of?

You may be wondering what exactly our vision is and what kinds of handmade items we're talking about. Well, along with our recent photo shoot, we hammered out the different design lines we'd like to focus on.

The five lines of Emery are: Bliss, Cuddle, Dwell, Embellish, and Create. We'll continue to tell you more details on each specific line as we grow, but here is an overview to help you see where they are headed.

Bliss focuses on anything to make those wedding dreams a reality. From trendy wedding decor to unique invitations, anything to give you that one-of-a-kind day. You get engaged and start buying every wedding magazine in sight. You set your heart on all these great decorations you see, but then can never find in stores. We'll be able to make those ideas happen with this line.

Cuddle is all about babies. We want your little ones to have style. Onesies, blankets, toys, etc. We'll also offer custom baby announcements and birthday invitations.

Dwell is handmade decor for your home. Right now our ideas include table runners, pillows, dish towels, and wall canvases to name a few. We think this line will expand a lot as we explore new ideas for every room in your house.

Embellish will be handbags, totes, scarves, earrings, fabric magnets/push pins, and just about anything you can think of to adorn yourself or give that extra touch to something you've been searching for.

Create is for anything custom that you request. If you have a project, run it by us and we'll see what we can come up with. This will be a fun line as we are always up for a challenge.

So hopefully as we continue to give updates on our progress, we'll inspire you and you'll find you have an idea you think Emery could help with.

Who are these girls?

I’ll start with myself, my sister, Megan, fill you in on who she is. I am Emily Butterworth, grew up Emily Jensen. I have always had a passion for all things art. Megan and I used to make our own barbie furniture and had to decorate everything we could get our hands on. I always bossed her around and made sure she kept things organized and you can see some of this when we pull out our old barbie clothes and I made her categorize the brown paper bags she kept her clothes in. This is why we as sisters, have decided to join forces and use our skills for good.

During high school I took art classes from Mr. Hall and loved every class I was in and started to gain confidence this was something I was good at. Mr. Hall helped me get my stuff together and apply to the art program at UNI and I was accepted and started my next chapter there. I took all studio classes and started to realize I liked my design classes more than my art education classes. Was I really not going to be an art teacher? I decided to go the path of becoming a graphic designer.

From there I graduated with a degree in studio art and was on a quest for the perfect design studio job. If you are a graphic designer you realize what I’m talking about and what reality you really get when you start the job hunt. You think you are going to design for this hip little studio but you end up in a small office that needs a marketing person and they give you a PC and some programs they think might help you. I struggled though that first year and landed a job at Stelter in Des Moines designing newsletters for non- profits. Here I met some of the best friends I will ever have. After four years, I reconnected with Andy Butterworth who was living in Spirit Lake. We quickly fell in love and I took the plunge to move back to the area we wanted to have a family grow up in.

Here I am today working full time as a graphic designer for Bank Midwest, but doing freelance work on the side..and starting this idea with my sister to satisfy our creative needs.

We kicked off Emery last weekend, Oct. 24, 2009. I had a photo shoot with Crystal Newcomb, who I worked with at Stelter in Des Moines. She photographed my graphic design work for my freelance site I’m working on launching in the next month and we also photographed a preview of Emery. Megan was along to help direct the shoot and we hope to have photos soon to show you what we have started.

Now I'll let Megan let you know where she is...

Hello, All. I'm Megan Donnenwerth, Emily's sister and now business partner. I want to tell you a little bit about myself and hopefully get you as excited about Emery as we are.

Just like Emily has told you, ever since we were little Jensen girls, our minds have been churning with crafty ideas. From our lamps made of marbles and toothpaste lids for our Barbie house to friendship bracelets to sell at our Mom's garage sales to jungle safari Halloween costumes in college, we've always been thinking outside of the box with do-it-yourself projects.

I also had taken art classes throughout high school, but never really thought I could cut it in the professional world as an artist. Keep in mind I was the third Jensen kid following behind two amazing talents (my brother, Adam, and of course Emily). So when I went off to college at UNI, I had it in my head that I was going to be an accountant. You know, use my brains and try and make the big bucks. Well, I made it through just one accounting class before I realized the creative side of me was going to be completely unhappy if I didn't take a risk on what I really wanted to do. I changed my major and ended up earning my Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design with a minor in Business.

Immediately following college, I married my high school sweetheart, Luke Donnenwerth. We moved to Iowa City and have been living here for the last 4 years almost. I am currently working at AEGON, a life insurance and investment company. I've been trying to help out friends and family with design ideas for their houses whenever I can. It has been a struggle to find something in my field so it's definitely exciting to finally have this business forming on the side where I know I can satisfy my creative passions.

Having an interior design background, I have a real love for textiles and a good eye for color. I find that I am constantly drawn to cool things wondering how they were made or thinking of what I could do with them. Emily and I cannot go shopping together without finding something and being like, "Oh, we could totally make this!"

This is going to be an interesting/challenging/fun journey for us and we're excited to share the progress with you.

What is Emery?

Emery is a business idea my sister and I have. There is a handmade craze right now and we are going to be a part of it. We have been talking for years about joining forces on our artistic talents. This year we are going to make it happen.

We are going to blog about who we are, interesting things we find, our handmade items in action, making our etsy site, our logo, our brand...and everything else along the way. We will go back and forth on who blogs to keep things interesting. We plan to have a launch in 2010, so keep checking in, we hope to have lots to share with you along the way.