Printable thank you card

Another fun goody! Jennifer Ferguson, the artist behind the Etsy shop Squirrel in the Attic, draws quirky greetings with patterned backgrounds. Her cards are printed on heavy recycled paper and are even cuter in person. I know cuz I've bought some before. I asked Jennifer if she'd pretty please share a print-it-yourself version of one of her cards, and she agreed. It's one of the designs in her 6-card thank you set. (Do you think it would be weird if I mailed it back to her as a thank you?)

Help yourself to the printable PDF. Then download, open in Adobe Reader, print, trim and fold.

Free needlepoint pattern from Felicity Hall

While poking around The Making Spot blog recently, I ended up at Felicity Hall's website. She's based in the UK and designs contemporary needlepoint kits. I'll admit that I'm way too impatient for embroidery, and the only needlepoint I've admired is a pillow or two from Jonathan Adler. But check out Felicity's letters and numbers! Reminds me of Jessica Hisch's Daily Drop Cap project, only in wool. Pretty cool.

You can download a complimentary chart to make the word "love" here.

Or purchase charts for individual numbers and letters. Make a pillow with your friend's wedding date, spell out some words to hang on the wall, or stitch your initials.

Printable gift tag freebie from Hello!Lucky

I didn't think I was ready to see holiday cards yet, but when the folks at Hello!Lucky wrote to introduce their shiny new website and greeting card lines, I got excited despite myself. Browsing through the site is like visiting a contemporary stationery hall of fame.

A couple of my favorite designers: Darling Clementine, above. Lab Partners, below. Those holiday city cards are killing me, and they come in wedding options, too. The gorgeous photography is by Edyta Szyszlo.

The site also sports a new tool that lets you choose fonts and colors and drop pictures easily into photo card designs, so you can customize away.

And guys, guess what. I batted my eyelashes and suggested it would be pretty awesome if we had a sheet of printable gift tags with some of the new designs. Lo and behold! You can download free pages of holiday gift tags here:
The 2011 version
The 2012 version

They're created by Eunice Moyle based on holiday card designs by SusyJack*. (Thanks a bunch!) And they don't scream Christmas, so you can use them for other things, too. Download, print, and cut them out. Enjoy!

A bonanza of Halloween printable labels

Want to thrill the kids with creepy Halloween treats? Hostess with the Mostess is offering a huge array of well-designed labels for gross party food. (Well, gross, but not as gross as this. Shudder.) Get jar and candy labels here and drink labels and flags here.

Halloween printables: free invitations and papertoys

You and the kids can print and assemble cute (and free!) Halloween goodies, compliments of the generous people of the internet. Get a massive "Boo"-themed party set by Love Party Printables, featured at Catch My Party. Or make paper Frankensteins by Bob Canada. Find a Halloween treat box template from Draw! Pilgrim—the link is at the bottom of Pilgrim's post.

Desktop wallpaper for creative types

These are my marching orders for today. This applies to every single item on my to-do list, including continuing work on a branding project, a DIY chair makeover, a small alteration to a bridesmaid dress, and my laundry. Get iPhone, iPad, and desktop wallpaper versions of Andrew Power's "Make It Look Nice" design right here.

Free halloween papercraft calendar

The ladies and gentlemen of Scout Creative (you might remember them from their previous incarnation, The Curiosity Group) have released another printable calendar of the month. October's build-it-yourself edition features a collection of spooky heads, arms and bodies. Mix and match to make your own hideous little creature. Get it here!

Tailgate party free printable invitation

Compliments of the team at Ellinée, get a free printable PDF you can customize with your own information, inviting your buddies to a tailgate party.

Free printable cards and illustrations

Find a pile of charming illustrations you can print out at The Handmade Home, including a set of retro automobiles. You can also download an alphabet for the nursery, kitchen utensils, campers, and more. Use them as postcards, gift tags, framed art, you name it. See all the free printables here. Also: it would be kind of awesome if I drove an orange station wagon.

Vintage-inspired desktop wallpapers at Fossil

The graphics gurus at Fossil have released another set of wallpapers for your computer, smart phone, or tablet. Choose from eight designs. To grab them, visit Fossil Life Style, select "Love our Graphics" from the category drop-down menu, and click on Wallpapers: Favorite Fall Graphics.

Beer and baseball printable collection

Tricia of Every Nothing Wonderful has designed a free, printable invitation suite with editable text fields. Just decide what kind of celebration you'd like to have and type your info into the PDF. She suggests holding a birthday party, a baseball game championship event, a rootbeer float social, or a beer and brats cook-off. Get the invitation and labels here.

Funny things for graphic and web designers

While poking around Don't Fear the Internet, a site that teaches non-web designers (like moi!) how to make a website, I found this desktop wallpaper. If you've ever monkeyed around with code, it will make you giggle. The wallpaper is from Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer, the masterminds behind the website.



Speaking of giggling, you might be familiar with the fake Latin text Lorem Ipsum that designers stick into their layouts as placeholder copy. Lorem Ipsum is available in a variety of awesome and inappropriate flavors. Designers, check out Hipster Ipsum, Gangsta Lorem Ipsum, and Bacon Ipsum. Or head over to the Greeking Machine to pick up some Hillbilly, Marketing, or Pseudo German Ipsum (though this last site could do with a few more short words and articles to mimic the rhythm of real copy). Enjoy.

Monster-movie wallpapers for type lovers

What do you get when you mix '50s monster movies with typographic terms? Computer wallpapers! Veer's witty series of free images for desktop, iPhone, and iPad crack me up. Get them here.

A Collection a Day desktop wallpaper

You may have seen Lisa Congdon's project A Collection a Day mentioned here and there around the internet. If you'd like to put one of Lisa's photos on your computer desktop, get three images right here at The Fox is Black. Suddenly I want to go to Athens or Cairo and place an item in a hat rack.

Free printable cards and invitations

In my neck of the woods, babies keep popping out all over the place. Now I'll be ready to pounce on them with a "welcome baby" card. Find boy and girl versions of Olliegraphic's free printable at Oh My! Handmade Goodness.

Amy Moss of Eat Drink Chic continues to churn out beautifully styled stationery to print yourself. Get her DIY picnic invitation set right here.

Print your own recipe cards featuring hand-drawn owls by Suz Sanchez, free from My Owl Barn. Download the PDF here.

Printable recipe cards

A take-off on the iconic "I love NY" logo, this "I love my food" recipe set from Scissors Paper Wok is a nifty download. Print your own cards for soup, salad, sauce, baking, roast, drink, dessert, bread, breakfast, main dish and side dish. Though if I had my way, I'd eat only bread and dessert, but I've heard you're not supposed to do that. Get the cards right here.

16 printable party invitations (free!)

HGTV features a collection of all-occasion party invitations to download and print. If you've got a party coming up and the stick people you've scrawled on your homemade invites don't look quite right, click here! Created by different designers, there's something for everyone.

Free font: Ostrich Sans

Greetings, font hoarders. You might enjoy adding Tyler Finck's Ostrich Sans to your ever-growing collection of type. It comes in six styles, including dashed and rounded—all available for free at The League of Moveable Type.

Print it yourself: Airmail thank you notes

Hello, everyone! I've returned from the Pacific Northwest and planned to hit the ground running today... until the electricity went out first thing this morning after a brief storm. It's expected to take a few days to restore power to the entire Chicago area, so I'm typing from the public library. Alex and I have hauled a pile of gadgets over here, including my desktop computer with its large monitor (good for graphic design work, but not ultra portable) along with various cords, phones, the iPad, and some rechargeable batteries for my booklight. I considered bringing along the the refrigerator, but concluded that might be a bit much. We plan to suck up as much power as they'll let us tonight before heading home to our sauna of an apartment.

On the bright side: Amy Lowry of Vancouver's Thank You Cards Shop has created a charming free printable just for How About Orange readers. Who doesn't love an airmail theme, especially when it's done up in summery pink and orange? Download the three-page PDF right here, complete with note paper, matching envelope, and zillions of coordinating stickers. If you'd like a personalized version of the notecard with a custom postmark and wording, head to Amy's shop where they're available for purchase in six colors.

DIY printable thank you notes

Do-It-Yourself Invitations sent over a link to their latest batch of free printables: a selection of thank you cards with matching patterned envelopes. Choose from six designs to print and assemble yourself.