do it yourself

The New Mockeri Etsy Store is here!!

November 14, 2014

Some of you that follow my blog closely will already be aware of the fact that I have launched an Etsy store called Mockeri! Yes, folks, it’s live right now!

I’ve already written about a few items available in my store which include the 2015 Daily Planner Printable, Blog Schedule Planner and Budget Planner Printables. I’ve added a few extra cover options with the 2015 Daily Planner – Watermelons, Donuts and Black & White stripes.

I’ve also added some new items!

Tabs & Sections printable. I’ve created these colourful and bright tabs to organize your planner! There’s monthly, alphabet sections, business, fitness and ones for almost any occasion! The monthly sections are perfect for dividing up the 2015 Daily Planner Printable.

I have a baby. A 30-something kilo, black and tan furred, big eared German Shepherd named Rossy. He’s 11 months old (I can’t believe how fast time has gone by – see his puppy post here) and I need to be super organized with his meds. So, I designed this Pet Tracker. Record all your pet’s vaccines, next appointments, monthly medications and pet supply.Birthdays and Presents printable. Just a simple planner to record all the birthdays of the year. I’m really bad at birthdays. And more of my friends are having babies, which means even more birthdays to remember!

To keep track of my Etsy store I created this Small Business/Etsy Planner. Organize your general sales and earnings, as well as keep track of stats, expenses and items in your store.

Daily Expenses Log printable. Keep track of your daily expenses and track all your credit card purchases with this Daily Expenses Log Printable. This printable is a bit different to the Budget Planner printable in the way that it’s divided into categories (Transport, Groceries, Dining Out etc) and you record each expense under a category so you know exactly where you are spending your money the most.

So far all these printables are for planners A5 size (210 x 148mm or 5.8 x 8.3 inches). Check them all out here. They are perfect for Kikki.K’s personal planners or the A5 Filofaxes. Keep an eye on my store or this website as I’ll be introducing a lot more planners, fun colourful designs and more sizes such as the Kikki.K’s medium planner or Filofax Slimline and Personal size planners.

Hope you love them!

Super Easy! Decorating Plain Boxes

October 29, 2014

I found these 3 plain brown boxes at my local supermarket and wanted to transform them into cute storage boxes for my office. I had seen lots of Pinterest posts on dupes of the Kate Spade ones and wanted to recreate my own.

Here is what it looked like before. It was really plain, and really brown. I wanted to paint one with black and white stripes, one with black polka dots, and one wrapped in cute pattern wrapping paper.

It’s really simple and easy to do. First, I did 2 coats of white paint over the boxes. Leave these to dry. If you want to skip this step just buy white boxes already. These Ikea ones are pretty good!

For the stripes – measure the length and divide it evenly depending on the size of the box. I went for around 4cm, but you want to measure it evenly so you don’t even up with an uneven bit at the end. Then just tape every second stripe with painters tape. I really recommend painters tape as they peel off quite easily and don’t rip the cardboard underneath. I learnt the hard way when I used regular maskng or sticky tape! Paint the sections black with 2 coats. Let it dry then peel the tape off.

For the polka dots – I was going for a irregular free-hand sort of look. Using a brush I just painted circles on the box and filled them in making black dots. Eyeball the spacing between dots. If you are going for this look, don’t worry about making mistakes!

For the wrapping – I used cute food patterned wrapping from Frankie Magazine. Before starting, make sure you’ve got enough paper to wrap the entire box, and the lid! Using modge podge, paint one side of the box at a time. Stick the paper on the side, then fold in the edges and tape down (just like you are wrapping a present). Overlap with wrapping on the other sides. And that’s a wrap! (Get it?) heehee.

Super easy ways to decorate your boxes and have beautiful looking storage boxes on your shelves. I am storing spare notebooks, craft supplies and paint in mine!

Make Your Own Gold Leaf Quote

October 4, 2014

I love decorating my home with quote prints mixed in amongst photos and artwork. There’s something quite chic about the letters being in gold. Create a stunning gold word or short phrase to add a bit of shimmer to your walls or shelves.

SUPPLIES
// watercolour paper
// gold leafing sheets
// brush
// pencil
// small cloth or extra brush
// adhesive for gilding (for gold leaf)
// clear varnish sealer
// black ink (to practice with)

1. Decide on the word or phrase you want. Start writing it on paper in different ways and layouts, practicing the lettering until you are happy with how you want it. Use a brush with black ink to practice the strokes and get a feel of the brush as that’s how you’ll be applying the adhesive on the paper. It’s best to have the letters quite bold and not too thin.

2. When you are ready, take your sheet of watercolour paper and write your phrase down using your pencil. Erase mistakes and do over until you are happy.

3. Use a brush dipped into the adhesive gilding and paint over your pencil sketch. It’s hard to see the glue as it’s clear but if you turn the paper towards the light you’ll be able to see where you’ve painted. Really make sure you’ve got enough of the adhesive down on the paper, not a super thin coat and not a thick glob but something in between.

4. Wait a little bit for the adhesive to get tacky and lay your gold leaf sheet over the top. It’s okay if your sheet isn’t big enough, just take another and patch up where it didn’t reach. Pat the leafing down with a cloth or separate brush very gently making sure it adheres to the glue.

5. The gold leaf will work quite fast on the paper but you’ll need to wait 10-15min for it to dry. Then slowly start ripping the excess gold leaf off around the letters. Using a brush, or your finger with a soft cloth, start removing the gold leaf closer to the edge of the letters. If you’ve applied enough of the gilding adhesive it should come off quick cleanly. But if you haven’t (like me) then some of the gold leaf will actually come off the letters (see that V?). Don’t worry! We can fix this!

6. All you need to do is apply more of the gilding adhesive with the brush and gold leaf again. Patch up all the little areas that the gold leaf didn’t stick to the first time.

7. Brush off all the excess gold leaf. If you have a frame to put this in, then you are done! If you want to protect the quote, paint or spray a clear varnish sealer over the top. Wait for it to dry and voila!