The case of the missing blogger

Guys, I'm frazzled. I had gotten into the groove of putting something up here every day, but not so this week. What with the trip last week, work at the studio where I freelance, overnight guests, the national women's conference hosted by our church that I'm trying to attend as much as I can, and freelance jobs I'm working on between conference sessions, I'm going a little crazy. Also, have you noticed I haven't done any sort of crafty project for a long while? No time, which is a bummer, since it promotes my mental health. I need a vacation. Oh, wait. I just took one.
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My favorite thing about Italy

The guys selling fake Gucci bags on the street? No! The coffee. Swiss Ms. and Mr. gave me some espresso and a frother as an early birthday present, so now I can make some foamy cappuccinos of my very own. I found even more inspiration for myself at the Metropolis website, where I uncovered this latte art video. I love Metropolis so. I love coffee so.

I love the macro setting on my camera so.
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Useful design-related info

Judging by all the emails I get with questions from people asking how to do stuff, the following might be helpful information for some of you. And for me, too :)

Decor8's recent post "Turning patterns into product" has lots of tips in the comments about how to approach getting your artwork printed on everything from fabric to paper.

If you ever need a logo from a well-known company, try Logo Orange's Famous Brands Glossary. You can learn the history of tons of famous logos and in many cases, download a vector file. Are they the official logo files from the various companies, legal to use? I have no idea. Proceed at your own risk.

Lynda.com is an online training library of tutorials for design software. I haven't poked around much yet to test it—maybe it will benefit folks with Photoshop questions. Check it out.
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What I did on my Easter vacation

Alex and I spent last week with our good buddies Swiss Ms. and Mr. in Lugano, Switzerland. (That's Lugano, above. Population 50,000 or so, located in an Italian-speaking state on the Swiss-Italian border.) We had a fantastic time with our friends. But as far as design inspiration goes, my hopes were dashed. I couldn't find any cool fabrics or interesting stationery in Lugano. Just lots of graffiti, frequently spelling out the word "Pooh." Lugano does have a really nice gummy candy selection in the outdoor market, though. That's something.

Check out this cell phone company, photographed through the car window. I wanted to go in and tell them I speak Orange.

The four of us drove to Venice and spent a night. Before the trip, I'd imagined it as a magical, romantic place. I have to admit it was better in my head. Don't get me wrong—it's beautiful. But it feels more like a big amusement park than a real town where normal human beings live. It's overrun with tourists, souvenir carnival mask shops, and street vendors selling weird little squishy rubber dolls in rainbow colors. But the coffee is great, and so was the company. I'm really glad we went.

Above is St. Mark's Square. Home to 42% of the world's pigeon poop.

I liked the pink glass street lights.

Looks like a movie set, doesn't it? So lovely.

This is inside a church on the island of Murano, famous for glass-making. A few of the workshops were open despite it being Holy Week, and it was fascinating to watch the artisans at work.

It was a great trip. And now, back to real life.
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Leaving on a jet plane

Farewell for a week! I'm leaving the country tomorrow, so this ol' blog will be lying around untended while I'm gone. Have a great week, everybody.

(Travel poster by Donald Brun from Un Deux Trois Galerie.)
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Dye eggs with stuff from the produce aisle

Learn how to dye Easter eggs using cabbage, beets, spinach, and all kinds of other things kids hate to eat. Project instructions and lovely photo by Chris at Curbly.
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The Little Zoo

This series of Polaroids carefully shot by Elizabeth Soule is completely enchanting. See all of her animal portraits in The Little Zoo gallery on Flickr or purchase prints and cards in her shop. Check out her blog and website, too.
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Free bag pattern

Okay. I might as well stop writing my blog and just put a big old link to Caroline's website up here and call it a day. All I do anymore is link to her projects. But I can't stop myself, because she just put up a tutorial for making a really cute hobo bag. It's curvy, it's casual, it's got a zippered pocket inside. Get the free downloadable pattern and detailed steps with photos here.

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Goodbye Evite, hello Pingg

Finally, a more attractive option than Evite. Has anybody out there tried sending email invitations using Pingg? I think I'll have to next time. The invitations look a lot cleaner. A simple graphic and text, period. You can also upload your own art.
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Free blog headers

For those of you who have asked where to get free blog headers, here you go. Smashing Magazine has put together a gallery of submissions from designers, free for the download. In many cases you can also get the editable Photoshop file. Help yourself! (Of course, don't be surprised if you see your new header on someone else's blog.)
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Leaflet shoulder bag

I know you guys will probably barf if I say one more thing about the fabric, but I can't resist. How cool is this shoulder bag available from Etsy seller Black Bags?
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DIY computer boosters


Don't you hate it when your computer monitor is not at eye level, and you have to slump way down in your chair to get your head directly in front your screen? To solve this problem we'd been using stacks of books to hold up our machines. Tip: Dictionaries and big fat Bible commentaries work nicely. But they're unsightly, so Alex took matters into his own hands and made these out of scrap wood from Home Depot. Awesome! He just screwed the pieces together and painted them orange. He created a special feature on his booster so he can slide the keyboard under it, freeing up desk space. I, on the other hand, just use his desk space for my desk space. (Sorry, Sweetie. I love you!)
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Things to make with fabric

Some project ideas with instructions:

Amy Butler's yoga bag
Little girl's ruffled skirt from Grand Revival Design
Shoulder bag from Tiny Happy
How to reupholster an office chair at Curbly
Painted fabric wall art from Anna Maria Horner at Martha Stewart
Baby burp cloths at A Chelsea Morning
Lula Louise's reversible shoulder bag
Many kinds of headbands from Altered Cloth

(Fabric above is Whisper Wing from ReproDepot.com)
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By the way

Remember those orange clocks I took a fancy to? Ta da! A Christmas present from the folks. Now that it's March, I thought I'd mention it.
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Rock on

Play this at full volume and snicker while you're designing that corporate brochure. Thanks a lot, Rich. Now it's stuck in my head.
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