Monthly Archives: December 2012

Getting it Right Online

Are you a big crafter?  Are you currently making money with your crafts?  Do you do craft shows?  And here's the biggie, do you have a website?  Well if your thinking about doing a craft website then here are some things to think about.

Two questions:
1. Who do you want your website to appeal to?
2. Once you get a customer to your website, Where do you want them to go?

Polly Dugdale wrote a very nice artical about the above.  She starts out giveing you some things to think about and then directly goes into what you should really be focusing on.  She gives some great examples so if you recently started up a website or thinking about doing so, then give this a read.

She is located in the UK and maintains her own site and blog.  Go here to check out her post titled "Tips on creating your successful craft website"

http://www.ukcraftblog.com/2012/11/tips-on-creating-your-successful-craft.html#.UNM84ximDQw

Are you into Scrapbooking?

This one is for all the scrapbooking people out there.  This person made their own mat cutters after seeing some in stores and on Ebay.  The best part of it is that they made several sets of them and are giving them away to other scrap bookers.  Although you will have to do some research to find the email address.

The author also gives you some tips on how to use such a cutter to perfectly and easily matt you photos.

Original Post : http://bit.ly/10jP9Af

Vector Art

Once again I have come across a post I have to share with you.  This one is a collection of 25 Tutorials on Vector Art to be used in Adobe Illustrator.  Lately I have posted a couple articles on Illustrator and its gotten me into the "mood", so if your into digital art then you might want to check this out.

Just to name a couple of the tutorials that are covered:
1. Create a Stylish, Vector Hair Typography Illustration.
2. How to Create a Tangled Test Effect.
3. How to Use Typography to Create a 3D Text Effect.
4. How to Create a Delicious Chocolate Text Effect.
5. Playing with Stationery Art Brushed and the Live Paint Bucket.

These tutorials range from difficult to beginner so take some time and go throught the ones that intrest you.

Thanks for looking.

Link to original
http://vector.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/25-creative-vector-text-art-tutorials-in-adobe-illustrator/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+vectortuts+%28Vectortuts+%29

The actor and artist James Franco is going to be working behind the counter at a store in Mayfair for the Christmas season.  The store is called "House of Voltaire" and is located in Adam's Row, Mayfair. The goal is to raise funds for a south London art Gallery.

Seems as if there are some other famous actors and actresses that will be donating their time for this cause.  Would be exciting to be out looking and shopping to find some of your favorite actors/actresses standing behind the counter.  Nevertheless im sure this will spike sales!  Great Marketing.

Here is the original artical in its entirety.  Give it a read.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/nov/20/james-franco-christmas-shop-art

Resting by Antonio Mancini

Found this to be pretty interesting.  Its a painting of a young woman resting in bed, so what is so interesting about that you ask?  Well after reading the article I learned that this particular painting is quite unique.  You see the paint is extremely thick.  They say that in some sections its over an inch thick. An inch! How in the world did he ever get it to dry?  My guess is that it was done in many different layers over a long period of time.

Here is the original article and more snapshots of the painting.  Give it a look as the painting is very good.

http://shellielewis.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/resting-by-antonio-mancini/

Friday Vector Video

Adobe Illustrator Tutorial :How to Make Vector Swirls, Swooshes, and Florals.

This is a great video.  Its about 20 minutes long but its going to teach you some great stuff.  This guy is obviously really good with illustrator and does an excellent job actually teaching you how to do this stuff.  I highly recommend watching and going through this video especially if you are a beginner as you can pick up some useful keyboard shortcuts and some great techniques.

Watercolour Painting Tips

Watch this video as Jason Y.F uses watercolors to paint this little stream along side a rocky mountain. The video is just over nine minutes.  There has been alot of editing but he basically takes you from start to finish, however there is only light music playing in the background and no narration from the artist himself.

Tech Stuff & Art!

This is for all the Adobe Illustrator users out there.  Came across this tutorial on how to make a vector drawing of the new iPhone and iPad lightning connector.  This is a really good and straight forward tutorial with illustrations however I dont see a big demand for a lightning connector vector.  I like doing these things for the experience and learning new techniques.  Plus I got a kick out of the comments that some of the users left.

Its only a 5 to 6 step process and will not take you to long at all.  Like I siad these things are fun just for the experience.  Give it a shot and let us know what you think.  Also if you come across any good tutorials leave us a message in the comments section and we will try and post them here.

Quick link to the tutorial.
http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-create-the-new-smart-phone-lightning-connector/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+vectortuts+%28Vectortuts+%29

Vector Avatar

Found this great tutorial over on tutsplus that shows you how to create an avatar from a picture.  Basicly take a snapshot of yourself and fire up Photoshop and follow this tutorial and you will end up with an awesome vector graphic that you can use all over the place.

The estimated time to complete is around 2 hours and is rated as "intermediate" on the difficulty scale.  They actually use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CS5.

Give it a shot and you might end up with an incredible looking avatar of yourself that you can use all over the net.

http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-create-a-simple-vector-avatar-from-a-stock-image/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+vectortuts+%28Vectortuts+%29

Here is a pretty crazy story of a lady that lost her "art collection".  She had been collecting post cards for years from all over the world.  She never really said if it was from places that she had traveled to or were they just post cards that she managed to get from various places. She did however say that they were very old post cards and now that they are gone, she is quite devistated.

Her collection isn't really lost it was stolen from her.  Seems she was letting in and taking care of a person that turned out to be a not so good person.  Imagine feeding and caring for someone only to have them turn and take advantage of you and then rob you!

Because of this she is now adding a new section to her blog for digitaly scanned postcards.  Cards she finds and other members are scanning (in high res) their post cards.  Having them on the computer (and backed up somewhere) is nice but it still not the same taking down that old shoe box in the closet and thumbing through the actual cards.

Here is the original story and post.
http://shellielewis.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/new-mail-art-category/