Make envelopes out of patterned paper

Here's a blank envelope template you can download. (Either print it on plain cardstock to cut out as a template for tracing around, or print it directly on the back of your patterned paper like I did here). Of course, you can also take apart any envelope, flatten it out, and use that as a template, too.

This envelope, after folding, is 5.75 x 4.5 inches. It holds a 5.5 x 4.25 enclosure (a quarter of a letter-sized sheet).

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In case of birthday emergency, download and print.

Ever realize that you need a birthday card, but you can't get to the store in time? Here's a printable card and envelope I designed with the vines. I left a lot of white space so it won't use up an entire ink cartridge. If you want, you can download the card PDF and the envelope PDF and print them in the event of a birthday emergency.

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Speaking of Photoshop...

I read several weeks ago in USA Today that Annie Leibovitz is photographing celebrities as fairy tale characters for Disney's Year of a Million Dreams campaign. I can't wait to see the rest of the photos, since these are gorgeous. Here are David Beckham as Sleeping Beauty's Prince Phillip and Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella. Read more and see the Alice shot.

Photos by Annie Leibovitz, via Fanpop.

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Free online photo editing

Those without access to high-end image editing software like Photoshop might be interested in some online resources. One is Snipshot. It allows you to upload a photo, perform simple edits like cropping, resizing, rotating, and adjusting brightness and contrast, and then resave your picture as one of several file types. For a comprehensive list of other online image editors and a chart comparing their features, click here.

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A peek inside my home office

I'm admiring people's arty walls over at decor8, and got inspired to post some pix of what I'm looking at right now as I sit here and type.

Alex and I each have a desk. That's mine on the left. He (an engineer) decided to have an inspiration board too, to help him get in touch with his creative side. He's so adorable and great.

Bet you've seen this stuff on our Art Shelf before--my paintings that I need to do something with, and a Mark Rothko print.

These are our cheapo but nice and functional lights and shelves from Ikea.



This is what's on my bulletin board. Jesus, hippos, and counterfeit money. The $70 cracks me up. It's the payment I received in the mail from a friend in exchange for some little illustrations for a project she was doing. Yep, I'm making the big bucks. :)


This is what's on Alex's board. He enjoys trying to cook eggs, especially poached eggs. After countless experiments and attempts, he has finally perfected his technique. And I don't know who that feisty looking military man is.

This is my good old computer. I know, I'm a little behind.
[July update: Bye bye, old computer. Hello new mac + 20-inch monitor!)

Here's my wastebasket from CB2.

This is a Kleenex box from Target. It makes me happy. I'm so glad somebody finally started making more attractive boxes. Good job, Kleenex. Did you know you can even design your own Kleenex box? That's nutty.

Here's a cool plastic coaster I got in Tokyo at FrancFranc. Four different designs came in a translucent plastic envelope, and I love them. I sent one set to a friend, but didn't have the heart to part with the other one. If you check out FrancFranc online, don't miss the calendar wallpaper downloads.

And that concludes this tour of my desk. See, my whole office isn't orange! That would be a little much, even for me.

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Test your design IQ

I'm a sucker for quizzes, and this one will tell you how design-savvy you are. (The focus is on design and architectural styles.) The quiz gave me a pep talk: "Rising Star: You really know your stuff, and should definitely consider pursuing your dream of becoming a designer!" Whew, that's a relief, since I've already got a degree.

Take the 10 question quiz here.

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A nice gift for that someone special

Husband Alex has been pining away for an iPhone ever since he watched Steve Jobs' demo. Well, they're not out yet, and we can't afford one anyhow, but when Alex came back from his business trip last week, guess what was waiting for him on his desk! Okay, so it's made out of paper. But he can dream...

If you feel the need to make one, download the template here from Creative Techs.

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To etsy, or not to etsy

I've gotten a handful of emails and comments from people asking if I sell stuff anywhere. I don't. But I've thought about it a lot, and wavered continuously. Help me. I'm so indecisive. Here's the deal: I don't have any interest in making any two things exactly alike, and 3 or 4 is the most I can make of stuff that's even remotely similar before I'm bored to death. I'll never be the person who makes hundreds of cute coin purses and sells them at craft fairs. I just like trying different kinds of projects, and then helping other people figure out how to do them, too, because it's fun. I'll stick with graphic design as the way to make money.

BUT, I do need a way to get rid any decent stuff I've made. Maybe sell it on etsy?

So I bet a bunch of you who are reading this have etsy shops. Do you like it? Is it fun? Do you feel like you're being adequately compensated for the time you spend making your stuff? How do you figure out how to price stuff and package things? (For example, how do you mail a small brown canvas with vines painted on it--just hypothetically, of course :) How do you know how much postage will cost, so you can add the price to your item listing? And does all the packing, emailing, shipping and managing suck up tons of time?

Do you feel pressure to keep putting new stuff in your shop? Does it ever sit empty for a long time, when you get sick of making stuff? Is there anything you don't like about having an etsy shop? Should I do it? These are the things I wonder. Please, advise me if you have any thoughts!

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Little lonely painting

When I was on the vines kick, I made this 6" square guy. I thought I might hang him in the kitchen, but it turns out there's no wall space. Tragic. I guess he'll live on the shelf of paintings that might become presents someday.

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Make a virtual backyard paradise

Here's a quirky website. I don't remember how I found it, but at Off the Map, you can make an imaginary place. First choose a virtual backyard. "Then scavenge through some 'junk drawers' to find 'objects of delight' that you can use to create your own visionary world." You can also browse other people's worlds or email yours as a postcard to your friends. (Or maybe you won't want to tell anyone you wasted that much time.) I gave it a try. Here's my animal school yard, created one night when I was up WAY TOO LATE.

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Monochromatic meal

Here's Easter dinner at our place. We made Cornish hens (first time experiment) and had friends over. After putting out the food, it occurred to me that everything was the same color, except for the green beans down at the end. This is probably a culinary no-no. Alex kindly helped me cook and set the table, leading to a debate about HOW one properly arranges place settings. I have a nagging suspicion this isn't it, but none of us cared. I bet I could learn a lot if I spent some time browsing here at hostesswiththemostess.com, which just launched. The Hostess blog is great, too.

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Free clip art from Dover

You can sign up to get links to free historical clip art emailed to you every Wednesday over at Dover publications. These are some samples (reduced size). The files you get are low res, but big enough to use for....something. For example, the William Morris print at the top was 6"x9". To browse the entire digital clip art library, click here.

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Happy Easter

Easter has great significance to me. Peeps do not. But I love them anyway. I ate 5, one after the other yesterday. Mmmm. Chocolate covered marshmallow eggs are even better, but I ate up all those last week. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend, whether you celebrate Easter or not, and perhaps you might consider hosting a Peep Jousting tournament if you get bored.

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A loving tribute to my proffreeder

Hello, dear Proffreeder, sitting in your basement office, hundreds of miles from where I live. Thank you for faithfully reading my blog. Thank you for faithfully sending me an email whenever I spell something wrong or make a typo. Thanks for your loving support. Thanks for giving birth to me. :) I deeply appreciate it.

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Quiz: Art or Crap?

Mod or Fraud was fun, right? In case you didn't browse the other quizes there and missed this one, make sure you try out Art or Crap, and see if you can tell which piece is junk, and which is fine art. And after you fail miserably, don't forget to click on "Find out why you sucked so bad" at the bottom, which will explain for you the history behind the pieces. Take the quiz here.

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Birthday goodies

These are lovely things I got for my birthday that I can't resist showing you. Jim and Jill know my style; aren't these placemats cool? And Megumi MADE this little zippered bag and tiny pin cushions and mailed them from Japan. The pin cushions are like little brightly colored mushrooms and so adorable I want to eat them.

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Easter projects you can do

From around the web:
A variety of egg decorating ideas from Martha Stewart
A bunny garland from the same, complete with downloadable template
A daffodil papercraft project from a (Dutch?) seed company--click the button in the lower right corner
Instructions for folding your dinner napkins into rabbits here or here
A plush cashmere bunny tutorial from Betz White
Simple candy cups decked out in fancy paper from Better Homes and Gardens

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New kitchen curtains

This weekend I sewed some curtains for our miniscule kitchen. This brown dotted fabric comes from an Ikea quilt cover that I chopped up.

These curtains are actually my second attempt. Attempt No. 1 was made out of a happy flowery print that seemed like a good idea when it was still on the bolt. Once it was sewed into curtains, however, it became a wee bit overpowering. The final straw came when Alex sheepishly admitted a couple weeks ago, "Well, um, I didn't want to say anything, but I really don't like those at all. Too FLOWERY." He'll let me do anything I want, short of flowery. So now, I guess the valance can be... a table runner?

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