The online portfolio of Page Redford
In celebration of Dia De Los Muertos, I have added new Calavera greeting cards to my Etsy Shop! They are available in a number of awesome colors and comes with its own envelope. Each card is cut and hand-folded, and is made from my original illustration. They are great for Halloween or Day of the Dead, but could be used any time of year for yourself or to send to your spooky friends!
I spent the better part of this month talking about my Hylian Shield Tutorial. Now is your chance to see the shield in action! Presenting my HALLOWEEN COSTUME 2014: Link the Hero of Time! I spent a lot of time making the shield and sword look accurate. I also spent quite a bit of time on the costume itself. I included some details that you may not even see… I wore a locket around my neck with a Piece of Heart and a tiny Potion Bottle, had the Small Key and Dungeon Key, and I even had the boring-old compass! Here are some fun photos of my ADVENTURES AS LINK:
I am ready to fight for Princess Zelda!
I spent some time cutting down bushes for Rupees
and checking for Gold Skulltulas.
Here I am getting ready to fight an enemy.
Visiting the locals in the town…
…and SMASHING all their pots!
Now I am on my way to my next adventure…
Gosh, Can you believe we are almost done with October and that HALLOWEEN is only ONE WEEK away?! I can’t
I’m sure you know by now, but I am going to be LINK from the Legend of Zelda for Halloween. I already posted a tutorial with steps to make your own Hylian Shield, but I would like to share some more photographs that showcase my handiwork. I also want to show off my awesome Master Sword:
While I did not make the sword from scratch like I did the shield, I did do some alterations and a paint job. I painted the hilt, added some gold detailing, and wrapped the hilt with suede leather. She’s a pretty convincing Master Sword and well made too!
Detail of the sword and shield together.
The EYES have it!
Halloween is my favorite time of year. I love the changing seasons, and the chance to decorate my house with spiders and pumpkins is always a HUGE plus. This year I channeled my inner Martha Stuart and made some fun decorations!
Keep your EYES peeled.
This Eyeball Wreath was made from scratch by yours truly. It has is a wired chenille-like material for the base and is adorned with glittery eyeballs, glittery black and orange balls, and a glittery spider. I want to leave this Beauty up year ’round. (We’ll see what the boyfriend says about that…)
In the meanwhile, I will be working on making some new wreaths. I have some ideas in mind for some non-traditional holiday wreaths too. Perhaps even some wreaths that would actually look good on your door year ’round. Stay tuned!
I suppose I have made it pretty clear, but just in case you weren’t sure, I am going to be Link from the Legend of Zelda for Halloween. I’ve never been one to wear ready-made costumes; even as children we always had a handmade costume from Grandma R. As I’ve grown older, I continued that tradition, frequently making my own costumes. I was never really one for following the trends as it were.
The biggest challenge for this year’s costume was not the outfit itself (I basically had that together, save some time to embroider and work on accessories). The biggest challenge this year was Link’s shield and sword. Link is pretty recognizable, but if I were to dress up as Link without his trusty sword and shield…well, that wasn’t an option. I did some research at the beginning of the month to prepare myself for the “real deal” of making or finding a sword and shied that would work for my costume.
Looking online, there are very few options that look good and don’t cost an arm-and-a-leg. Since I need both my arms to swing my sword and use my shield, and since Rupees don’t grow on trees, I decided to make my own Hylian Shield. I styled the design after the shield from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. I chose this shield for a few reasons: The materials I had for Link’s tunic matched that character design perfectly, and I really like the way they designed the Master Sword and Hylian Shield in that game. Also, it was the last game where Link was playable as a left-handed character (on the Gamecube version) and I wanted to be true to the “Corrie-Fisted” Link I grew up with!
Concept artwork for Link in Twilight Princess.
Obviously I will share the costume itself, but in the next few posts I will share my progress in the making of the Hylian Shield. If you have any questions, please message me or add a comment. I hope my instructions will inspire other gamer girls (and boys!) to make their own Hylian Shield!
Until next time!
Sketching out to-scale drawings to make the shield.
If you need a to-scale example of the size of the shield I showed you how to make, here you go!
This shield is just the right size for my cat, Ferdinand. He is ready to go in to battle with the most ferocious of foes! Watch out!
Hi-yah!
Yesterday I started showing you how to make your own tiny Hylian Shield from the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. Today I am back to finish up the tutorial.
Step 6: Detailing What would the Hylian Shield be without its fine detailing? A Deku Shield? There are a lot of options for adding details to the center of your shield. With this smaller shield, I chose to use a combination of materials. For the Triforce, I used some thin cardboard. For the bird motif, I used my hot glue gun to paint the design. If you are not very good at freehand-drawing, I would suggest cutting out the design from your template. This was a little tricky, but I am pleased with the results. I may try something different on the larger shield, though.
The glue gun added a nice texture, but was difficult to control.
Step 7: Prime This is especially important if working with cardbard. The dark surface will be difficult to paint if you do not prime it.
The front after one coat of primer.
Be sure to get the front and the back. Let it dry completely between coats if a second coat is necessary.
The back of the shield after one coat of primer.
Step 8: Spray Paint Now it’s time for the fun part. Once you’ve let your coat of primer dry completely, you can add a coat of your Hammered Spray Paint. This paint is textured and does a great job of covering most surfaces evenly. I did not have any problems with my shield, but you may need to touch-up or add a second coat of paint. Be patient and let each coat dry before applying the next one.
Also, if you did cover the outside of the shield with masking tape, bear in mind that the paint will remain tacky there for a little while longer than it does on the cardboard. Be mindful of this when setting the shield down on surfaces while it dries.
Paint both sides of the shield.
Shield front after one coat of Hammered Silver paint.
Step 9: Paint and Detail. Once your silver paint has dried, it is time to add detail to the shield. I used a variety of small brushes and my acrylic paints to add the color to the front of the shield. I did the blue base first and then painted the red bird and Triforce, leaving the silver parts
Carefully adding blue paint.
Don’t forget to paint the back!
You may need to add several coats of paint. Depending on the type of paint you are using, you may also want to cover the shield in a clear gloss coat. As all of my paints were glossy, I did not do that for my shield. Once the paint has dried on the front and the back, it is time to add some hardware. On this small shield, I added a little loop to be used to hang or secure the shield. On a standard-size shield, it is even more important to add the correct hardware. This small loop will do for now, but if you make a larger shield in the future, be sure to make the straps and handle more secure.
Brads have proven to be very useful for this project.
Step 10: Sit back and admire your handy-work. Even if you have never touched a tool in your life, this project can be easy enough for any skill level. While this shield may not be big enough to defend yourself from even the smallest of Deku Shrubs, it is cool enough to display in your home or office. Many materials are ones that you may have on-hand.
With the leather loop on the back, you can easily hang this small shield somewhere where it can be seen!
I hope this tutorial was helpful! If you have any questions regarding the instructions or photographs please let me know. Share your finished projects too!!!
The other day I mentioned that I would be working on a DIY tutorial project. For those of you who guessed that I would be making a Hylian Shield, you are right! Congrats! I am going to be Link for Halloween, and I thought now is as good a time as ever to try my hand at writing an online tutorial for like-minded gamer girls!
Now, I am a rather practical and analytical person. I love working with new or challenging materials. Initially I had wanted to make my shield out of wood, but without a proper workspace, shared walls, and older neighbors, I thought that may prove to be too messy and noisy. I have worked with wood before, but always in a proper workspace like a garage or studio. I was also taught to “measure twice, cut once,” so I decided to make a small-scale version of the shield to get the materials and measurements right. These instructions will be for how to make a small “display” Hylian Shield measuring approximately 6.5 inches by 5.5 inches (16 x 14 cm).
Step 0: Decide which version of the Hylian Shield you would like to make. For the small shield I chose to make the shield from the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. For my larger shield, however, I will be using the designs from the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.
Step 1: Gather your materials:
YOU WILL NEED:
Cardboard (in large unbent pieces): I sourced mine from my local grocery store.
Newsprint: (or other scrap paper) to make your template drawings. Or print them out from images you find online. Be sure to make drawings for the front of the shield AND for the back of the shield.
Pencils and Bold Markers to make your drawings on the newsprint and on the cardboard
Brads: buy a lot of them, I went through close to 75 of them
Glue: I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue and it worked quite well
Masking Tape: .5 inches to 1 inch wide
Rust-oleum “Hammered” silver spray paint
Rust-oleum Primer (White)
X-Acto #11 Blade and Knife
Scraps of Leather or other durable brown fabric
Paint and Paintbrushes I used Martha Stewart’s High Gloss Acrylic Paints and an assortment of brushes
Measuring tools: Ruler, compass, protractor, measuring tape, etc.
Step 2: Make the shield base. Take your template drawing and trace it out on the cardboard three times.
Make sure you leave a little room around each piece to be able to cut safely.
This will create the piece for the front of the shield, the body of the shield, and the detailing for the back of the shield. Once you have traced and cut out the three pieces, cut out the outside boarder for the front of the shield. Use your template and cut out the inside design of the shield, leaving just the boarder as shown in the image below.
This will help give the shield more depth.
Step 3: Cut out the front and back pieces. Use your Xacto Blade to carefully cut around your templates to make the front and the back of the shield.
Step 4: Secure the shied pieces together. Using brads and glue, you will be making sure that this shield is as durable as possible. It is important to measure out where you want your brads to go to adorn both the front and back of the shield. They add a nice aesthetic, but they also serve to keep the several pieces of the shield from separating. I measured out the places where I wanted to put the brads and marked them with pencils. I found the brads were easier to push into place when I made a small cut with my blade as shown in the image below.
Sandwich the pieces together and use some of your glue of choice to make sure the pieces don’t go anywhere. I found it helpful to add a little glue to the hole where the brad was placed too.
Step 5: Tape it up. Once all the pieces are sufficiently glued together and brads are placed, flip the shield over and view from the side. Here is the downside of using corrugated cardboard: The edges are rough and porous. You will want to use your masking tape and run it around the outside of the shield. This will give the edges a finished look and will protect your shield from damage on the side. Trim the corners so that the tape does not bunch up too much.
You could also fill the holes with hot glue, but the tape is easier and cheaper.
The shield with 1/2 inch masking tape around the edges.
The tape adds a nice finished edge without taking away from the shield itself. It also protects the sides and keeps gunk from getting in there. Stay tuned next time for how to complete your shield!
Now, I suppose I should give you one more hint. I posted some of the supplies that I will be using for a project earlier today, but let’s give you all one more hint:
These three pieces are cut from cardboard.
Here is a photograph of the DIY project I am working on in one of its earliest stages. Does this help? Keep the guesses coming! I will be sure to let you know what I am working on in the next couple days. I will be posting lots of step-by-step photographs and instructions so that you can follow along at home!
This October I will be working on a couple DIY projects. In the spirit of Halloween, they will have a similar theme. I am wondering if you can guess what I will be making based on the supplies I am using!
These are most of the supplies I will use. I will also be using larger materials like paper, cardboard, and foam-core.
HEY LISTEN! Here are a few hints:
It’s something that you can hold. It won’t be too big nor too heavy, unless you are quite young.
It’s something that I’ve talked about before on this blog.
3 is an important number.
Page Redford 
