1) Gather your paper scraps and illustrations.
2) Don’t forget to scan the illustrations or patterns that you want a record of, just in case. If it’s something you want to be able to use again, it’s best to have a digital ‘copy’ of it to print out and use again!
3) Gather up some plain card stock or ready made blank cards and suitable-sized envelopes.
4) Using a large circle paper punch (2 1/2 or 3 inches) or a glass with a suitable circumference, cut your illustration out into a circle. You could make it a square or some other shape, but circles are classy and easy. Make sure it’s not lopsided if you cut it out with scissors!
5) Paste it, centered, onto the blank card with double sided tape, a glue stick, or some other fixative. I like double sided tape because it’s quick and really sticky.
6) If your cardstock is black or something too dark to write a note on inside, make sure to stick on a light-colored piece of paper for the card’s message.

You’re done! Now get to work writing those past-due thank you notes or birthday cards!

Although I’m unfamiliar with the full story of the controversy behind the Crystal Bridges museum, how can one argue with a private art collection becoming accessible to the public, and for free?

This brings to mind other comparable museums, such as the Frye Art Museum here in Seattle or the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park. The Frye was created based on the collection of Charles and Emma Frye, and many precise stipulations were set forth to control the way in which the collection would be managed and displayed, as well as the condition that access to the collection would always be free.

What use is art if it is not enjoyed? It belongs not to the artist after all, but to those who view it, analyze it and let it change them.

Kudos to Alice Walton for sharing her private collection of art with the world; it seems like the perfect use of Wal-mart millions to me.

In case you’re unaware, I have two shops:

Vintage stuff: threewhitehorses

New stuff made from re-purposed stuff: dahliadesigns

I will be adding lots of new items over the next few days. I’ve got big plans up my sleeves, plans that include yo-yos…

Here are some ideas:

1. Unsubscribe from all of the unnecessary, ridiculous e-mails that clutter your inbox. You’ll save time and energy. Focus specifically on the e-mails that exist only so that you’ll buy something you don’t need.

2. Suggest to the people around you that asking for help is essential, but making it easy to help is even more essential.

3. Assess situations by asking yourself, “What would be the path of least resistance?”

4. Stop spending time on the pursuit of wealth, status and the accumulation of material items. Once you ‘let go’ you’ll have so much more time on your hands to do worthwhile things that bring true meaning to your life.

5. Look for the humor in everything around you. It’s all hilarious if you let it be.

It seems my posts lately have been mostly graphic design related, I suppose because that’s mostly what I’ve been doing with my time. Anyhow, a friend sent this link and it was too perfect not to share. My favorite part: “The cat is lost in the negative space.”

We hiked, we drank wine, we watched a movie and we took pictures. Not as many as I would have liked, but a few. We stopped at a view point and I cut some sprigs of sagebrush. I made a few smudge sticks, and boy, are they fragrant. There’s nothing like it.

The 'Mayan Sunburst' rock formation in Cowiche Canyon

What a day.

I am in awe of the windmills.

We feasted on cherries (Ranier! My fav!) all the way home.

Turn old hankies into a nice little brooch. Click the photo to see the post on Burdastyle.

 I’ve always loved to scan things in order to preserve them and digitize them, but I have to admit, I’d not thought to scan my hankies. Enter, Hankie Style by Amy Barickman.

I haven’t seen the book, but I do love how she talks about organizing your hankies into two categories – the ones you would gladly cut up, and the ones you would never dream of destroying. I think this method of categorizing could apply to most of the things I collect, and I’m going to use it.

I’m also pleased to know that I’m not totally insane for having absurd collections, such as my collection of greeting cards, my fabric collection, my paper ephemera collection, my pyrex bowls collection, and my vintage hankies and scarves collection. I suppose at some point the pyrex bowls thing will become a little much, but the rest of the collections can still be justified, right?

Anyhow, this whole scanning your hankies thing inspired me to scan some of my hankies….but to really get into it means I have to dig through my fabric stashes…. a project for another day.

Okay, so this isn't from a hankie - it's an ascot.

Pretty printed flowers from the corner of a hankie.

This hankie actually looks much nicer in person - I think some photoshopping would serve it well.

And here I go cheating again - this isn't a hankie, it's a napkin.

Remember the 100-mile-marathon, all-meat-eater woman that I met awhile back? Turns out that a few weeks ago I came home to a fully cooked dinner of pork and apples and roast asparagus. My man-love had gone grocery shopping, made dinner, and waited for me to come home to eat with him. It was extremely surreal. He had spoken to a coworker who was undergoing ketosis, and was partaking in the paleo diet. Turns out he and marathon-woman have both been drinking the same kool-aid.

But actually, I’m in full support of this hunter/gatherer diet. We are both more intentional about what we eat, and I’m not the only one feeding us. Hallelujah! There’s been a renewed interest in what we eat: “hey! what are we going to eat today? Why don’t we make something with leftovers, so we have lunch for tomorrow!” It’s as if we’re always thinking “hmmm, I better keep this for later…I’m going to need to eat something, and it sure as hell won’t be some crap saltines.”

Coming across an intriguing business card from the other side of the continent on the sidewalk is oh-so-different than coming across a blog article about the same restaurant on the internet. It has nowhere near the same amount of power to make you stop and reflect.

I struggle with the idea that print is dead and digital is the only way. I will protest that notion for as long as I have the ability to run my fingers over an embossed card, and as long as I have the ability to appreciate the contrast of shiny text on matte paper. Or the sensation of writing with a pen on paper.  There’s something so tactile and intentional about print and paper that the digital world will never, ever replicate. However, I had a conversation with a friend recently about humans one day evolving into beams of light. There’s a reason we’re told to never say never.

I recently received a copy of Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt. It was a gift from my boss, and it’s great. Why is it great? I’ll tell you.

Simple, easy-to-follow projects: with the exception of a handful of the projects, everything in this book is really EASY and requires everyday tools. That’s key for me these days. Elaborate equipment is out of the question. If it requires paper, paint, a ruler, tape, a cutting mat and an olfa, I’m in. When it gets into specialized products that I have to get my butt to a craft store in order to acquire – or even worse, an art supply store – then I’m out. Art supply stores are my weakness, and I can rarely escape without racking up bills of at least three digits.

Trendy yet timeless projects: good design doesn’t go out of style. The projects in this book are current but have a timeless quality to them, and can be modified by the printmaker in order to make them his or her own. There are templates for guiding those who need inspiration, but if you’ve got a design of our own in mind, you can take it and run with it.

Budget-friendly: I’m always a fan of projects that use reclaimed materials, turn everyday tools into art supplies, and don’t require any moolah. A triple threat!

Overall rating: It’s a winner! You won’t be disappointed.

Here are some of my recent print low-budget print experiments: