I decided to do something wild for a change and go to breakfast at Ella’s, a place I’d heard good things about. It’s not that Ella’s is so wild, it’s that I’m really not wild at all. When I say I’m not wild, I mean that I’m highly resistant to doing new things, even something as ordinary as going to a new, crowded, and kind-of-hip restaurant. Have I mentioned, I’m crowd-averse, too? So, when I saw that Ella’s was packed, I had my doubts. Then I thought, “You’re here. Go in, will ya?” To cut to the chase, I did go in and, fortunately, I found a quiet table in the back, right beside an elderly lady who ordered oatmeal and raisins. Well, after I finished my scrambled eggs with hash browns (they serve “Neo-classic American Cooking”), I settled into my coffee and checked my email and Instagram. And that’s when I started having a really good time. ;)
Anyway, all my big adventures aside, here are some photos I took over the last two weeks. More photos here. Have a great weekend, guys!
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I’ve spent the last few hours watching video tutorials at Method and Craft. I found myself gasping with amazement at the depth of the resources these leading professionals have generously shared for both Photoshop and Illustrator.
Method and Craft is all original content, with dozens of first-rate videos that made me say, “oh my gawd, so that’s how it’s supposed to be done” an embarrassing number of times. I’ve already watched half a dozen videos and I can hardly wait to watch the rest. If you’re learning Photoshop or Illustrator, you must take a look. :D
Tutorials I’ve Watched So Far
By the way, you’ve gotta check out Shyama Golden’s business cards — CUUUUUTE.
I’ve made quite a few animated GIFs here at Pugly Pixel and I’ve received numerous requests for a tutorial. Animated GIFs are simple to make — all you need is a sequence of images to stitch together using an image editor like Adobe Photoshop (I’m using CS3). When the browser loads the animated image, it displays the frames one at a time and that creates the animated effect. Animated GIFs can be composed of a lot of images, like the one I made above, which has 36 frames. Or, they can be small and simple like the one I’ll show you how to make in the tutorial.
To get the full effect of the first animated gif I made above, click the play button for You Light Me Up by Radio Spectacular, a husband and wife duo from Australia (check out Phebe’s blog here!). It’s a happy and catchy song that would be a perfect way to end a Zooey Deschanel chick flick! And for the smaller animated GIF below, I chose a song from one of my favorite groups, my heroes, FOTC — Who Likes to Rock the Party. :D
By the way, the first animated GIF will stop after 10 cycles, and the second one will play forever.
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I finally wrapped up my bookkeeping for 2011 and now I’m freeeee! Once-a-year bookkeeping sucks up an entire week. Lesson learned, again — for realz, this time. Well, despite being chained to my abacus, I found time for some surfing R&R. Here are some of the links I loved this week:
(another css-driven layout, may look weird from rss readers)
Back when I had my Etsy shop, one of the best selling items was my hand-punched heart garland kit. Unlike some of my other products, which required forever many hours to create (because of ink-drying considerations), heart garlands are easy to make and I’m gonna show you how. There’s nothing original about my method — it’s just a fun and simple project. Heart garlands make cute enclosures in cards and presents for your pals. I’ve mailed them to some friends and they said they loved them (I’m sure they didn’t say that just to make me feel good). ;)
By the way, since we’re on the topic of hearts and garlands, check out Sarah Goldschadt’s Mini Heart Garland printable freebie. They’re adorable! (via iartu)
Have a great weekend, guys!
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If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen the raw versions of these photos. I really got a kick out of taking these pictures — I snickered at the overwhelming silliness of the phrases on these pretty pastel hearts: pick me, tweet me, meet me, hug me, kiss me, crazy 4 u, shake it, and my favorite, u can do it. I’m not a romantic, but I’m obsessed with hearts and I thank Anna from Much Love for getting me involved in the cult of heart worship with her Much Love Monday series. I participated in MLM for several months, until I ran out of hearts! Anyway, with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the candy aisles are bursting with hearts and the heart-lover in me just had to bring home a bag full, including these Sweetheart Candies. By the way, they may be cheesy, but they’re pretty darn tasty. :D
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