A little bit about me and my Facebook Live video with Makeful

Thursday, June 30, 2016


Hello there! Today I thought that I'd do a different post and introduce myself since I have not really done this before. 

If you have not met me in before you most likely don't know that I  love to craft, make things and take photos (lots of photos). I love to be creative, it's the first word that I have used to describe myself in any job interview I have ever been in. 

I'm also from a generation that did not grow up with computers, cell phones and social media. Yes, if you start to do the math, you will realize that I was born sometime in the sixties. The earliest memory that I have about learning anything about computers was in high school, maybe grade 12, and we punched holes into a series of long cards and then feed them into a machine to solve math equations (at least that is what I think we were doing!) In my last year at Queen's University (1983),I signed up for a brand new course that was offered called "Computers in Society". In that course I heard theories about how computers were eventually going to change the world and how we do things. All I got out of that class was a husband. No, really, for real - that is where my husband and I first met. He followed me home from class one day and asked to borrow my class notes as an excuse to talk to me. After university I studied Graphic Design at George Brown College and again, we did have computers. We learned how to hand letter use Letraset (which was basically sheets of rub on letters). I had been working as a Creative Director for more than 15 years when I decided to take six months off so I could go back to school and learn how to use Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign. I still remember when cell phones cell phones were the new "big thing" although if my memory is correct then they were about the same size as a Grande cup from Starbucks.

I'm trying to be social. Yes, I do have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram accounts but I'm not on them 24/7. Other than maybe Pinterest, I don't consider my self an "expert" in the area of social media. I started my Pinterest account when Pinterest was pretty much unknown - you had to get an invitation to have an account! I still remember getting personal emails in the first few months from Pinteret asking me questions like what could they do to improve the site and how could they make it more user friendly. I just signed up for an Instagram account last fall. Everyone kept telling me I should be on it Instagram because it's so visual and "me" but I resisted for so long because I thought that it was going to take away from what little me time I have already.  My teenage daughter gave me her old ipad and helped me to get set up on Instagram, and to be honest, I'm a little obsessed with it right now. I'm sure the novelty will wear off in a year or two (maybe). I am on Facebook but mostly just to see what family and  friends are doing. I don't post on Facebook very often and most likely should but then that would take away from my time to craft and make things. And I'd really much rather be making things.

When some of the ladies at Makeful asked me if I was interested in doing a Facebook Live video with them as part of the new Maker's Challenge using a cell phone case I said sure! I had NO IDEA what Facebook Live was. And even after looking at some videos of past Facebook Live videos, I still honestly thought we'd be shooting the video they would edit it and then we'd play it on Facebook later in the day. Nope. I was wrong. Live is Live. No do overs. Just relax and do it.

We shot the Makeful Challenge Facebook Live video yesterday morning. You can see it here. I have to be honest, I had so much fun doing it. I really did not know if people would tune in to watch it and connect with me as I was on camera working. But we did have an audience turn us on and the questions were awesome. I felt like we were all in the same room working on a project together - like a girls' night craft party (but without the wine!). 

If you love to craft as much as I do and you like to connect with other like minded creative people then you should join the Makeful community. I have met so many inspiring and talented people in the past year. People that I follow on social media (and they follow me), people that I feel that I can contact to ask questions or to work together on a project and people that I get together with for tea and now call my friends. And it's all because I've taken part in Makeful challenges, events and special projects like the Facebook Live video.

Have a great long weekend! Happy Canada Day here at home and Happy July 4th to my friends from the US. 

By the way, the photo above is the project that I created on the Facebook Live video.


Simple Daily DIY - twine challenge project

Wednesday, June 8, 2016


I'm taking part in the Simple Daily DIY challenge during the month of June. Have you heard about it? The first challenge was all about twine/jute. I created this unique photo display box using supplies I already had on hand.


My supplies - a wood shadow box (mine was purchased at Ikea a number of years ago), a birch branch wood slice (my Dad cut a bunch of these for me but they are easy to find), a screw eyelet, twine/jute, a photo and scrapbook paper. 


I measured the top of my shadow box to find the centre and drilled a hole in that spot. The hole was just large enough so I could feed the two ends of the twine through it. 

I left my shadow box with the natural unfinished wood but you could easily paint it at this point if you wanted to. 


I used a round paper punch to crop an old family photo so it would fit on my birch branch slice. I added the screw eyelet to the top of the birch slice and then glued the photo onto the birch slice so it would hang straight.


To suspend the branch slice in the box: 
1. centre a long piece of twine through the screw eyelet and tie a quick knot close to the screw eyelet, 2. feed both ends of the twine through the hole of the shadow box, 3. figure out where you want the branch slice to hang inside the box and tie a knot at the top of the box to keep it in place. I tied a bow at the top of the box and trimmed the twine to finish.

Note: As you are working with the placement of the branch slice inside the box, you may need to adjust the angle of the screw eyelet so that the branch faces forward. Just give it a little twist until you are happy with the placement.


I cut a  piece of scrapbook paper to fit the back of the shadow box to complete.

 I used a kraft and gold foil dot pattern to match my home decor. Instead of using a pattern paper background I could have added another photo as a background. For example, a scenic water/sky photo would have added to the boating theme and complimented the colours in my family photo. Another idea is to add sand or beach glass inside the bottom of the shadow box.

If you try this project I'd love to see what you made! Add your own spin to make it your own. I'm on Instragram and you can tag me at @lorrieeveritt or #lorrieeverittstudio. 

 You can view Sustain My Craft Habit's YouTube video here to find out more about the Simple Daily DIY Challenge.