Friday, March 25, 2011

From boring to beautiful...

I have a fun project to share today...a little something I made for my flight instructor. The name plate in her office left a lot to be desired (see the before photo below), and frankly, as the chief flight instructor at my flight school, and a totally awesome person, she deserved better.

Now I didn't just spring this on her out of the blue...I'd given her a card in the past so I know she's a fan of all things crafty. So when I mentioned that her name plate needed a little jazzing up, she enthusiastically agreed!

The finished size is 2x8 inches. First I cut a piece of chipboard for a solid backing. Then it took me a little while to come up with the background paper, but one night it hit me...use an actual sectional chart!!! I had a couple of outdated sectionals on hand so cut out the appropriate areas. Vicky teaches at two locations, Norwood and Providence, and the area just below the airplanes on each name plate shows the respective airports.

I used the plane from my PTI Fly Away set and coloured it with copics. I added a little felt cloud using the small flat-bottom cloud die from MFT then added a little rhinestone swirl for a girlie feel. The little cities below the plane are from the Little City 2000 font at dafont.com...thanks for this font tip Regina!

The letters were done on my Silhouette machine. It was a Christmas gift and I haven't spent any time learning how to use it, so there was quite a learning curve figuring out how to do the letters and the mat, but well worth the effort.

It took me a couple of weeks from first mentioning the idea to the finished product, and when I installed the name plates last week, Vicky was thrilled (and so was I!).

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

16 comments:

Vicki Burdick said...

I can see why she was thrilled, bothe name plates are wonderful!!! LOVE them!!!

Dana White said...

As I told you when you showed me the work in progress these are FABULOUS!! OMG what a change from her original name plates!!

Nancy said...

How cool is this, Karen! The different airport elements are so clever.

Jodi Collins said...

SHUT up! This is AMAZING Saucy! LOVE the planes (so beautifully colored), the bling for the girly touch and the skyline of the city! These ROCK!!!

Jess Willison said...

These are fantastic! LOVE the planes and the skyline!

Tracy said...

Get out! OMG!!!! Karen I bet she flipped. This is so freakin' cute. How did you cut out the cockpit? Do you use a fingertip blade? I love how it looks.

Anonymous said...

These are fabulous Karen. SO creative and all around incredible. Even I wish I could have see Vicky's face when you gave these to her.

Leslie said...

Man, did she ever need a new name plate! These are fabulous and I love that you used REAL maps!!!

Christine Blain said...

What a fabulous gift! Love all the time, effort and detail that went into this; you are very clever!

carole (TruCarMa) said...

This is FANTASTIC, Karen -- what an awesome idea! Every kind of cute! I bet she was so thrilled. And I can't believe you're becoming a pilot! You go, girl! :)

Kimberly Gajewski said...

These are simply FABULOUS Karen! What a wonderful and thoughtful idea! LOVE the bling behind the planes...too cute! :D

Regina Mangum said...

This is so awesome, Karen! She is going to be the envy of everyone in the office. Thanks for the shout out! XOXO

Jan Castle said...

Crafty of you! Absolutely wonderful and sooooooooo useful!
Jan

Jen Tapler said...

You are AMAZING!! Now I want a name plate at work just so I can have something cool like that! ha!

Jami said...

This is seriously awesome! And so practical too!

Tammy T said...

You are so talented! I love coming by your blog and seeing what you have created!!! I think it is cool that you are learning to fly. Good luck with your training, these should get you some extra credit lol!!