The New DIY Sites Where You Get to Design-It-Yourself
Written by Urban Sherp on February 24th, 2010
I often consider Urban Sherp my very own file cabinet full of ideas, stores, designers and products that inspire me and whose eco and ethical design standards I admire. I’ve been incredibly inspired by the designers, store owners and crafters and their stories of how they brought their visions to life. It is hard to not get bitten by their creative drive which is why for the last few months I have been working with my dad building a piece of furniture. It has been an amazing experience so far, puzzling through the process, hammering out the kinks and actually working with my hands and with my dad which is always fun. So, I owe a thank you to all the people in my ‘file cabinet’ who have inspired me to create.
On that note, if you feel equally inspired, there are several (that I know of) websites out there that give you the chance to channel your creative side without having to become a professional at whatever it is your want to try out. Here are a few on my list to try out:
1) Karma Kraft - design your own fabric and purchase it by the yard or have them sew up pillows, bags or other items for you. Averages $28/yard with a couple of organic cotton options available.
2) Font Garden’s Font Shop – create your own font (an Urban Sherp font is in the works!) and you’ll be able to type in your own handwriting (perhaps, if I had that I ‘write’ more letters). And if can agree to sell your font in Font Garden’s Font Shop for a 25% commission on each sale, not bad..
3) Plywerk – create your own art gallery and have some of your own photos or your favorite photoes professionally mounted on eco-friendly Plywerk frames. Always fun to add a pop of color or a personal touch to yoru decor.
4) Wood Craft Projects – and then there is this site that I discovered once, where basically you draw up a design for a wood project and then commission someone to make it for you, and there are patterns you can buy or can bid on to make…. just can’t find it no matter what I type into google. Does this sound familiar to anyone???
UPDATE: I found it! PONOKO