Finders Keepers: Wacom Inkling

Jake Blog Post Finders Keepers, Graphic Design, Technology, Video 902 Views

Source: Youtube
Wacom has been making pressure sensitive digital drawing tablets for over 25 years now. The tablets allow you to use a stylus pen to more organically draw on a computer. In 2009 I purchased my first tablet, and Jamie and I have used it on a number of projects. It’s very effective, but definitely takes a lot of practice, and doesn’t always look exactly like an actual hand drawn sketch. One of the biggest reasons it’s difficult is because you have to look at your computer screen, not your drawing surface, to see what you’re drawing. But Wacom’s latest model, the Inkling, eliminates the tablet itself and lets you draw right in your sketchbook like a normal drawing! It’s a revolutionary concept, and I can’t wait to see how well it works.
JakeFinders Keepers: Wacom Inkling

Featured on Victory Paper

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post 944 Views

A fellow blogger emailed me a few weeks back asking if she could interview me for her “In the Creative Suite” column. Of course I said yes. I had a lot of fun answering the questions and sharing my thoughts with her. Thanks for interviewing me Victoria! You can check out the interview on her blog here

Jamie BartlettFeatured on Victory Paper

The Face of Type “C”

Jake Blog Post Design, For the Taking, Graphic Design, The Face of Type, Typography 2712 Views

Last month was  Jamie’s favorite, and September is mine. And it’s my favorite for the same reason: this month is my birthday! This month’s “Face of Type” is our personal favorite, Clarendon. It’s a clean, slab-serif font named after the Clarendon Press in Oxford. It was the first typeface to be registered and patented, but expired after three years and was quickly copied by other type foundries.
Font Fun Facts: Clarendon is the first lead typeface we purchased for our letterpress, even before we had a letterpress! We also use it all over our website (the condensed version is in our header). It can also be seen across the U.S. on national state park roadsigns. 

Below are links to download images based on your screen’s resolution. If your resolution isn’t available just leave a comment with your desired resolution and we would be happy to add another size to our list. I’ve already put it on my phone’s wallpaper and it looks sweet!

Please read the Conditions of Use before downloading files from A Pair of Pears.

JakeThe Face of Type “C”

Charting the Beatles

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Artist, Design, Graphic Design, Music 1420 Views

I just recently came across these illustrations of the Beatles created by Oliver Barrett for his Charting the Beatles project. Aren’t they just lovely? I’m starting to run out of space on the walls of our little apartment, but I think I could make a little more room for these. Prints are available at imagekind.

Jamie BartlettCharting the Beatles

Morning Brew: Art History

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Artist, Design, Morning Brew 1142 Views

If you missed the chance to take an Art History class in college, here is the basic gist of it. In all seriousness though, take some time today to view these artist’s real masterpieces. I think it would be refreshing.

Source: In Genial

Jamie BartlettMorning Brew: Art History

Knitting 101

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post DIY, Inspiration, Knitting 1545 Views

Lately I’ve been in a mood for Fall. Fall is my favorite season. You get to start wearing warmer clothes and drinking hot apple cider. I’m getting excited just thinking about it. I love all things Fall! I came across a bunch of knitted items and thought they were so lovely, so in an effort to help Fall hurry up and get here, I decided to learn how to knit (or rather re-learn). I taught myself back in high school, but forgot everything. In my quest to re-learn knitting I found this blog called Craft Snob where there are videos on the basics of knitting. They we so easy to follow that I re-learned all the basics last night! The headband pictured below is first on my list to make. My friend Erika also knits, so I think a knitting night will be in the works very soon.

Source Left to Right: 1. Cozy Blanket;  2. Headband;  3. Men’s Tie;  4. Semolina Octopus;  5. Tea Cozy;  
6. Peruvian Legwarmers;  7. Lace Legwarmers

Some of these projects are probably out of my reach for a while, but I can dream. Jake and I are headed to Michigan for Christmas this year. It’s the perfect excuse to learn something new for the cold weather.

Jamie BartlettKnitting 101

DIY Vintage Party

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Baking, Birthday, Decor, Design, Food, Linocut, Party, Printmaking, Vintage 26705 Views

I had a lot of fun planing and putting together stuff for my vintage birthday party. There were so many of you that said how much you liked the post about my party a few days back so I thought I would share with you some of the things I did. That way if you ever have an urge to throw a vintage party you can plan one too!
  • Cake: We made a delicious snickerdoodle cake with brown sugar buttercream
  • Food: Watermelon and button butter cookies
  • Drinks: Pop in glass bottles
  • Party Favors: Mini Journals
  • Decor: Bunting cake topper, vintage tins & crates, paper straws, quilted picnic blankets
  • Games: Croquet, ladder ball, horse shoes, and bocce
If you missed the post of all the pictures and video from the party you can see it here.
For the party favors we made mini journals with animal silhouettes handprinted on the covers. I did three different animals: a rabbit, bear, and deer. Heres how you can make your own.
Supplies:
Step 1: Print your design out backwards on a piece of paper, or you can just draw your design right on the linoleum (if you do that skip to step 4).
Step 2: On the opposite side of the paper, scribble over the design with a pencil to create your own carbon paper.
Step 3: Place the paper scribble-side down on the linoleum and trace your design with a pencil. Use a lot of pressure in order for the design to transfer well.
Step 4: Now it is time to start cutting. You want to cut away all the linoleum around your design. That way the design is the only thing that gets inked. I like to start with the smallest blade and go all the way around the design. Then I switch to a bigger blade and cut out large portions at a time.
Step 5: Once you have cut around your design take a pair of scissors and cut as close to your design as possible.

Step 6: Now we need make the journal. Cut a 5″x 4″ piece for your cover. Lightly score where you will fold the journal in half. Then cut 8 sheets of printer paper to 4.75″x3.75″ for the inside.

Step 7: Stack all the sheets up and center them in the inside of the cover. Turn it over and staple in two spots.

Step 8: Carefully fold the journal in half using the scored line as a guide.

Step 9: On a smooth surface (I use a glass cutting board) roll your brayer in ink until it is evenly covered. Then ink your design. Try not to put too much ink on the linoleum or else your print won’t be clear.
Step 10: Put the inked design face down on the cover of the journal and use something with a flat bottom to press the design. Keep going over it until you feel like you have gotten it pressed evenly. You can even take a peek underneath to see how it is printing. If there are un-inked areas keep pressing.
Step 11: Take off the linoleum and let dry for a few hours. Then wrap with a pencil and string!
The cake bunting is really easy and adds a nice touch to your cake.
Supplies:
  • Xacto knife
  • Ruler
  • Wooden skewers
  • String
  • Double stick tape
  • Bunting design
Step 1: Once you have downloaded and printed the design, take a ruler and xacto knife and start cutting out each flag.
Step 2: Continue until you have them all cut out.

 

Step 3: Take the skewers and tie string in between them the distance you want.

 

Step 4: Lay a piece of double sided tape on a flag and place the string down the middle.
Step 5: Fold the flag in half over the string and press the two sides together.
Step 6: Continue adding more flags until the string is full. You can also add another string above the first one and fill with even more flags!
I hope you enjoyed these tutorials! If you decide to use them we’d love to hear about it. Send us an email at hello@apairofpears.com so we can see how it turned out!
Jamie BartlettDIY Vintage Party

Wedding invitation

Jamie Bartlett Blog Post Clients, Custom Work, Design, Graphic Design, Invitation, Wedding 3620 Views

You might have already seen this invitation in our design gallery we put up last week, but I wanted to write a post about it too just in case you missed it.

I love it when people come to me wanting wedding invitations. It’s such a different feel from the more corporate designs we do, which it why I love it. The Bride was such a pleasure to work with. She came to me with an idea of what she wanted, but for the most part let me have creative freedom to design something beautiful for her special day. She loved them and even told me that after she sent them out, her guest were calling and texting her telling how much they loved the invitations! That’s what I like to hear.

Jamie BartlettWedding invitation

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