Free Photoshop brushes

Download some free Photoshop brushes here. My favorites are the feathers. Via SwissMiss again.

Orange wall clocks—I'm in love

While browsing online for Christmas presents, I stumbled upon these. I don't really need a clock in my home office since I can see the time on my monitor. But... they're so cute! Left: from Target.com. Right: from Wrapables.com.

Make a messenger bag

I made a bag using this helpful tutorial at Craftster. I changed a couple things—most obviously, the orientation of the bag. I'm very slow at sewing, so I will never start a bag business. That's what I learned from this endeavor.

Cool red fabric on flap and lining is from my friend Megumi in Japan. Fun little button is compliments of Orange Beautiful's schwag bag.

Cream cheese chocolate cupcakes

I made this recipe recently and thought I'd share. I'm not a huge frosting fan, and I do love easy recipes, so this is the perfect rich and decadent cupcake to make, in my mind.

Filling:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter chips (or just use more chocolate if you want)

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

In a bowl, beat cream cheese. Add sugar, egg, salt. Mix well. Fold in chips. Set aside. For cupcakes, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix well. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter. Top each with 2 Tbs. of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Makes 18.

(Recipe copied from some cookbook at my mom's house a long time ago.)

A different kind of Christmas tree

From ijm.studio in Amsterdam, via SwissMiss. Clever.

Fun for the long weekend

This is my last post until next week. Happy Thanksgiving! If cooking a turkey isn't enough to keep you busy in the meantime, consider testing the reading level of your blog.
We all must be very smart if I'm writing and you're reading at this level. I seriously question the reliability of this test. (Via the Right Steel Navy.)

If you want to further test your vocabulary, visit FreeRice.com. Apparently for each word you get right, they donate ten grains of rice through the UN to end world hunger. My vocab level came up 40 and I just donated 130 grains of rice, so I feel I've done my part and can now stuff myself on green bean casserole without any guilt. But seriously, this would be a fun way to build your vocabulary. (Via BB-Blog.)

P.S. After some internet research, I found an estimate saying it takes about 3,500 grains of rice to feed one person. Looking at the "Totals" page on FreeRice is interesting.

Vectorize your images

VectorMagic, an online tool from some smart people at Stanford, will trace your raster image (an image made of pixels, like your digital photos are) and convert it to a vector image (an image made of smooth shapes and curves with hard edges that is completely scalable.) Here's my test. Via Photojojo.

Out for a walk

We went for a walk in the drizzle on Saturday to admire the leaves.

It was also a chance to use our umbrella for two that we bought on a whim in San Francisco during a downpour. We hope everyone in the passing cars admired it. You can get your own here.

I'm intrigued by this house up the street. Its owners had it painted at the end of the summer, and I swear it was fuchsia the first time I saw the new paint job. Two weeks later, it was this bright red. Still fun, but the hot pink was awesome! I had been planning to leave them a little anonymous card on their porch praising their bravery. But I guess they reconsidered.

These are some moldy berries. I don't have much to say about that.

Events

Emily of Orange Beautiful threw a wonderful party Friday night, an open house/meet-and-greet at her charming studio. I first learned of Orange Beautiful while flipping through a HOW Magazine awards annual and seeing her website featured. I liked it so much (and being a fan of orange, of course) I emailed to say how much I dig it. Ever since, we've been stalking each other's blogs and sending the occasional note, so I was excited to finally meet the girl. She's terrific, and so is her work. I loved talking with B, too. Thanks for throwing a great party, guys!

Thursday night was Design*Sponge's Chicago Biz Ladies Meet Up. I'm not planning to ditch graphic design and start sewing pillows for profit, but I am interested in the design licensing angle, so I thought I'd check it out. I enjoyed hearing from Stephanie Waddell of Agnes and Hoss, and you can download Grace's excellent presentation on marketing your products right here. Thanks to everyone who spoke and to Jayson Home and Garden who hosted.

Go forth and create!

Wow, thanks for all your thoughts on the Craft Controversy, everybody. I love interesting conversations, and I was hoping to stir the pot a bit. I must admit I've got a nasty streak of devil's advocate that emerges now and then, so I've been gleefully reading all of your comments and thinking you all make great points. Especially whoever mentioned the Midol.

But what I DON'T want is for anyone to feel discouraged about whatever it is that they make, for any reason. What ultimately matters is that we enjoy the creative process and find delight in making things. I think this is a divine gift, and it takes on all kinds of different expressions. So carry on! Go forth and make stuff!

I hate "Crafting"

I have to get something off my chest. The word "crafting" makes me squirm in distaste. As in, "I'm going to do some crafting now." I realize this is an inflammatory statement, and I'm honestly sorry if I've offended anyone. I imagine I'll dig myself into an even bigger hole here as I go on, and I'm going to start sounding snobbier by the second.

Here's the deal. Over time, I've realized I've begun to equate "crafts" and "crafting" with things that are not my style whatsoever. Like knitted tea cozies and wooden clothespin angels covered with glitter and silk flowers hot glued onto wreaths and pencil cups made out of popsicle sticks. Not so hip. When I hear "craft," I envision stuff like that. (Now certainly there could be outstanding examples of those items that are truly beautiful, and if you've ever made anything of the sort, I'm sure yours is fantastic and not the sort of thing I'm picturing.

I tend to avoid using the word "craft" on this blog, unless it's a cold, calculated attempt to get Google to list me when someone searches for a "craft" project. Or when I can't think of a better word. (And if I've ever linked to your project, that means I like it and it passed the coolness test in my head, even if I've referred to it as a craft.) Every single time I've used a form of this nasty word (another instance here), I grit my teeth. I'd rather say project, undertaking, do-it-yourself, or just plain "make something."

So let's talk about "DIY" (the handy little abbreviation for do-it-yourself). When pondering "DIY," I used to picture guys building stereos out of duct tape or constructing bar stools from recycled magazines and LED lights. Still not quite the thing I'm trying to find a word for, but at least it seems cooler and doesn't involve ruffles. But increasingly I'm seeing "DIY" used in nice places more popular with women, like Blueprint Magazine's blog, or Design*Sponge's "DIY Wednesday" posts. Doesn't a "decorative DIY project" sound so much more chic and modern than a "decorative craft project?" I think so.

I know this is all semantics. And I will probably continue to say "craft" occasionally in the future, at which time you will all pounce on me, especially the folks who truly love the term and feel mightily offended by the viewpoint I've expressed here. But unless anyone has a better word...

Down with "craft," up with "DIY," I say! What say you all?

Quiz: What's your design style?

Take this quiz at HGTV.com to find out your design style. I turned out to be "Eccentric with a touch of Hip." "For you, it's all about the mix... You're drawn to funky interiors and eye-catching color combinations (think red and blue, orange and turquoise, purple and gold). You like contrasting patterns and unconventional architecture..."

Early mini saddle-stitched booklet

It turns out Dad wasn't the only one to get special handmade presents. Mom sent over more pictures. Looks like I was trying to express love with every fiber of my little being.



Oops! Put my foot in my mouth there.

Whew, fixed it.

Well, the end.

Early DIY pencil cups

My mom just saw the previous post, commented "Still making pencil cups?" and took photos of a couple early iterations I apparently made. I have no memory of these, but obviously they're sitting in her house somewhere. Boy, are they awesome.

Whoops! Ran out of blue paint on the back?

I have mastered the scissors.

DIY pencil cup

A quick little pencil cup I made this weekend to satisfy a crafty urge:

Wash out an empty soup can and measure the height and circumference. (If you don't have a tape measure, just use a strip of paper and mark off the measurements on it.) Cut out a rectangle of felt to those dimensions. Be precise so that the ends of the felt will butt up together but not overlap when wrapped around the can.

Cut shapes into your felt; then cut coordinating fabric patches that will peek through your holes. Stick the scraps to the back side of your felt. (The felt should be fuzzy enough to hold them there temporarily.) Spray some adhesive onto your can and wrap it with the felt piece, taking care to match your seam nicely in the back. Fill with pencils. All done.

Download Eleanor Grosch desktop wallpaper

I'm a huge fan of Eleanor Grosch so I'm delighted to see she's got more free wallpaper to download: some fall and Christmas themes are available here. I've got Quail (pictured above) on my desktop now.

The most awesome video I have ever seen

If you're a graphic designer and you've worked with clients for awhile, you will die laughing when you watch the commercial for Make My Logo Bigger Cream, a special new product available to your clients.

I'm afraid the video won't be as funny to non-designers, but it could prove helpful nonetheless. If you're a client, it will arm you with plenty of suggestions you could present to your designer to make her throw up or pull her hair out. That could be fun. (Link via Graphic Design Bar.)

Kodak photo cards

I hate to say it, but I think those websites where you upload your own photos to print on cards usually have some pretty ugly designs. But I just saw these at Kodak. I think the accordion fold design is cool because they didn't muck it all up with decorative doodads. And I see they're offering Martha Stewart designs, too. I dare say they're actually cute.

Fall craft projects

If you feel a hankering to make some decorations before Thanksgiving rolls around, here are some ideas:

Twig coasters at Martha Stewart
Ultrasuede leaf placemats, also from Martha
Those fall leaf garlands everybody was making last year. Martha's leaf template seems to have disappeared when her new site launched, so you can use this one instead.
Roses made from maple leaves at haha.nu
Felted acorns made by Betz White

Coffee pot recommendation

We've had this Bialetti stovetop espresso maker for almost a year, and I love it. As Alex regularly reminds me: "You love that thing." So does he. We have the 6-cup stainless steel model. I'm not convinced it actually makes 6 espresso-sized cups, but it makes enough espresso for a latte for each of us. We put some milk in two cups and microwave it for a minute; then dump in the brewed espresso (we grind Metropolis beans). SO GOOD. Not to mention the pot design is very attractive and simple to clean.

(Image from Bialetti)

30 Days of Gifts to Sew

The folks over at Sew, Mama, Sew! have compiled "100 of the best sewing tutorials on the web" and will feature a couple each day during the month of November. And November starts today! So go have a look and see if you get inspired to make your own gifts this year. To view the schedule for the month, click here.

Have some orange for your desktop

I made some desktop wallpaper available in two sizes to download from my website. And then I got a new monitor with a wide screen that has a different aspect ratio, so I can't even use them on my own computer! So if anybody else wants a 1680x1050 version of this image, download it here. The other sizes are available here.

(Computer image from Apple. Wallpaper image from me.)