How to take better pictures

Blog reader Andrea wrote a post this week summarizing what she learned in a digital photography class. She kindly made her notes available right here. Anyone interested in product photography might find this DIY collapsible light box tutorial useful, compliments of Amy Kingman. I myself am not a stellar photographer, but as for my two cents, I got a new digital camera for Christmas this year. So far I love it. It's a Canon Digital Rebel XSi. (This picture is my old camera taken with my new camera.) My single best tip for taking decent photos: study the instruction manual that came with your camera. I know you're squirming with dread at the thought, but seriously, it will help you.

Update: More useful tutorials here, at I Heart Faces.

Curtain turned tote bag

At a moving sale recently, I picked up an old curtain with a few holes. Yesterday I sewed it into a little tote, just the right size for taking a novel or two to the coffee shop. The fabric is pretty heavy, so I didn't line it; just used French seams to hide the raw edges, which works beautifully. And I like to think it gives the bag a certain cosmopolitan air, because "French seams" sounds so fancy and sophisticated. For an excellent tutorial on making a simple, unlined tote bag, click here. I sure wish I could see the original room that had blue peacock drapes.

Update: Just in from the woman who sold me the curtain: It originally belonged to her mother-in-law, a decorating genius named Ozie Lee. These panels hung in a living room with a plum couch, light blue walls and a bright green rug. Sounds rather wonderful to me.

Simple computer desktops

I'll tell you a secret. I post tons of links to desktop wallpaper on here because I love illustrations and artwork. But I hardly use any of them since I just can't work with a crazy, distracting background. Only minimal ones make the cut, so imagine my delight when I found Simple Desktops, a collection of... simple desktops. (Via Coudal, I believe.) Love that phone booth!

Vintage clip art source

The Graphics Fairy posts a free piece of vintage clip art every day, perhaps useful for your next craft project. There are more than 1,000 graphics to choose from, plus tutorials showing different methods for transferring images—a lovely example is this drawer knob project.

Vancouver Olympics mascots

My name is Jessica and I'm an Olympics addict. I have zero interest in sports outside of two weeks every two years. Then if I could have my way, I'd never leave my house at night so I could stay permanently glued to my TV set. I love watching people who work really, really hard experience the sheer joy of victory. I also like watching people fall down and get back up again. Human beings are amazing and bewildering creatures.

Wow, I'm chatty this morning. What I set out to mention was Vancouver's completely adorable Olympics mascots, created by the design studio Meomi. The Olympics have had mascots since 1968, and these characters must be among the cutest. According to the Vancouver Olympic committee, Miga is a snowboarding Orca whale-turned-bear, Quatchi is a shy and gentle sasquatch, and Sumi is an animal spirit who wears an orca whale hat, has the wings of a thunderbird, and the legs of a black bear. So round up the kiddies and send them to the official mascot site, where they can watch videos, play games, download desktop wallpaper, print coloring pages, and make paper models of these guys. Awww.

2010 Oscar party bingo

Update: Looking for 2011 Oscar bingo? Get it right here.

Looking for extra entertainment during the Academy Awards on March 7? Back by popular demand, it's Oscar bingo. I made cards for our party last year, and it was really fun to play. You can download this year's bingo cards right here; it's a PDF with 12 different sheets. My big disclaimer: I have no idea if it will be possible to win at all, or perhaps someone could win ten minutes into the telecast. If it's a bust, please don't send me hate mail. To supplement your bingo game, you can download and print out the official ballot of nominees right here. It's always fun to see who guesses the most winners. And who guesses the least, so you can make fun of them.

Computer desktops and backgrounds

Find an enormous stash of free desktop wallpapers and background patterns, all designed by Sarah at Totally Severe. According to Sarah's bio, she was raised and educated by pirates. That explains a lot of the wackiness in her artwork, I imagine. Pirates are always so silly.

And a tip about background patterns for the non-computer savvy: when you download a file and want to make the pattern cover your desktop or Twitter page, there should be an option called "Tile" in your settings. Select it, and the pattern will repeat across your screen.