(nagel’s pencil #1 // pastry images from babycakesnyc.com)

The other day I mentioned that I would share some pencil brushes I’ve found online. Why do I think this is noteworthy? Well, handwritten notes can add personality to your photos and collages. For example, Garance Dore, A Beautiful Mess, and DesignLoveFest, use this technique effectively on their photos.

In the spirit of experimentation, I tested a bunch of brushes and I list my favorites below. I chose these pencils using a purely subjective standard: did it make my handwriting look good (we can argue about whether my handwriting looks good, but let’s just assume that it does, okay)? A few of my choices were actually chalk brushes, which implies a thicker tip. I found that if I minimized the tip to 4px, chalk makes a nice “soft” pencil that is just right for me.

Of all the brushes I tested, only one of them, the pencil brush by Vin Rowe, was pressure-sensitive and would stroke lighter or darker depending on the pressure. It was technically the most realistic pencil, but it wasn’t my favorite of favorites. My most favorite is the pencil by KoiFishSushi from DeviantArt. You’ll have to try these brushes yourself to find the one that suits your style the best. Or, you can make your own pencil brush by following this helpful tutorial.

pencil/chalk brushes (in order of appearance below)

• Vin Rowe
• KoiFishSushi
• Andantoniu
• Dave Nagel

Some of you have asked whether I use a tablet and the answer is yes, I do. I use a Wacom Intuos. I also have an older Wacom Graphire, which has some limitations that make me want to murmur obscenities and throw it out the window. That’s why I upgraded to the Intuos! :)

I’ve been scribbling a lot on my tablet, and for fun, I put some of them together into this animated GIF.

Have a great weekend, guys! :D

Have you ever made something you love, then you sleep on it, and when you wake up the next day, you wanna change everything about it? That’s what happened with my hand-drawn calendar. When I looked at it the morning after without love goggles, I felt the urge to change it to a gray background. And I wanted to replace my scribbles with a nice clean font. And then there’s a Charles Eames quote that has been sticking with me for the last few days. I wanted to add that, too. It’s the kind of quote that will be meaningful for a good long while.

For messy desktops? WTF?

Okay, guys, if you’ve downloaded Part 1, you already know that this really isn’t a desktop design. It’s a solid color with a calendar in the lower left. Here’s my thinking. I’m usually working on several projects at once, with all the files on my desktop where I can get at them really quickly and easily. If you could see my actual computer desktop, you would wonder how I know where anything is — it looks crazy. But, that’s the way I work. Every icon placement is meaningful to me and only me. Imagine my desktop as a mind map. Anyway, that’s why there’s no graphic on it. A graphic design on a clean, empty desktop looks fantastic, but when you put a hundred icons on it, it contributes to my visual confusion. That’s why I say these calendars are for messy (and busy) desktops.

When I rolled over and looked my desktop in the face this morning, I still loved it. If it suits you and your messy (or impeccable!) desktop, you can download it after the jump. :)

This is not my tidy desktop. It’s a dramatization. :)

1280 x 800px proportions

iPhone preview (recommended for lock screens only)

Hey guys, I made a set of simple desktop calendars for 2012 and I want to share them with you. I got inspired to do a calendar in my own handwriting after watching the PBS American Masters documentary about Ray and Charles Eames. Ray scribbled prolifically (and charmingly) on everything she touched, including love letters, notes, receipts, tickets. I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making a calendar using my own handwriting rather than using the usual computer fonts. I made some small calendars for iPhones, too. You can download all of the desktop calendars after the jump. I hope you like them.

By the way, please check in later this week for a noteworthy post on Photoshop Pencil/chalk brushes. There’s currently a trend of bloggers adding hand-written notes to their blog posts. When it’s done right, it can add a cool personal touch. Designlovefest, A Beautiful Mess, Bleubird, Strawberry Koi, to name a few, are doing this to perfection.

Best wishes for 2012. Keep on doing the things you love. :)

Hey guys, I know that gingham isn’t something we normally associate with the holidays, but I really wanted to give you something you could use year round. I thought a texture would be nice. After all, we haven’t had a texture download since the Genuine Glitter Textures in August! So here are 9 gingham fabric JPG textures (sourced from real fabric as opposed to the Photoshop patterns I showed you how to make in this tutorial). I hope that you find many creative uses for them. ♥

Have a Happy Very Merry!

Weave shown as actual size.

These are large files. Please be patient while they download! :)

ps actions: wishwish1 // wishwish2 // wishwish3

I really like Carrie’s blog, WishWishWish. I like her style and her photos are always gorgeous. As I was looking through her archives for fashion inspiration, I found, lo and behold, that she made a tutorial showing how she edits her photos. I don’t know how I missed that one, but I was really happy to find it. In addition to the tutorial, she created some vintage-inspired actions and generously shared them. The actions come in three degrees of vintagey-ness: wishwish 1, wishwish 2, and wishwish 3. If you use Photoshop to perk up your pictures, her actions are worth downloading. And even if you’re not using PS, you really should check out her fun and beautiful blog. I got a chuckle from her evaluation of my favorite kicks. :)

Yesterday, I drove down the Peninsula to the typewriter store. At some point on the road, my stomach started driving and it spontaneously turned at Sand Hill Road and took us (me and my stomach) to the Stanford Shopping Center to buy some Sprinkles Cupcakes. On the walk to Sprinkles from my car, I saw the Kate Spade store and was astonished to see that it was decked out in their Color of the Month: MULTI.

Check this out guys: gold was their color in June and chocolate was the theme last month, and this month, it’s multiple colors. It’s cool how their branding extends from their website to their blog, through their ads and materializes in their retail stores. The consistency is very impressive.

Simple How-To

Anyway, as tempted as I was to buy this, I settled for taking some photos. Just looking at the floor made me all happy and giddy inside. Don’t worry, I didn’t actually act on my feelings at the time, but I did get the idea for creating a short and sweet tutorial about making your own multi-colored vertical (or horizontal) stripes. You can follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to make your own — it’s really easy and fun. I was going to do this with Stripe Generator initially, but their colors are limited to 2. Enjoy, guys!

P.S.
Oh, by the way, I eventually got to the typewriter shop and I’ll tell you more about it later. :)

Step 1: let’s begin!

Create a new 400 x 40 pixel document. Please feel free to alter these dimensions if you want narrower stripes.

Step 2: grid setup

Open File >> Preferences and set the Gridline to every 40 pixels.

Step 3: make the grid visible

From the menu, go to View >> Show >> Grid. Magnify document 300%.

Step 4: choose a background color

Open the Layers Palette (Window >> Layers). At this point, there’s only one layer — make sure it’s selected. Then, from the Menu, go to Layer >> New Fill Layer >> Solid Color. Choose a base/background color.

Step 5: Define your first color

From the Tool Box, choose the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Make sure your document is active and then select the 2nd grid (box) from the left. Right after you make the selection, go to the Menu and then go to Layer >> New Fill Layer >> Solid Color. Choose a color and hit OK.

Step 6: create a palette

Repeat Step 5 with the even numbered boxes, choosing a different color for each box.

Step 7: define your striped pattern

From the Menu, go to Edit >> Define Pattern. A dialogue box will appear. Name your new pattern and click on OK.

Step 8: Use your new pattern

Create a new document and then go to Edit >> Fill. A dialogue box will appear. Select the pattern you just made and click OK. That’s it — you’re done!

Optional: Save your PSD file

Save your work as PSD files. When you do, rename the layers with something meaningful (ie. numeric numbers for the colors in the order that they appear from left to right). When you save your work in PSD format, you can quickly access it later to add changes without having to recreate it from scratch.

Downloads (Freebie & Perk)

I made 4 multi-striped 1000 x 1000 pixel JPGs that everyone can download. And, all you members who want to create multi-colored stripes with your own colors, please download the 2 ready-made PSD files and customize to your heart’s content.

One more thing

If you enjoyed this tutorial, you may also want to check out my Parteee Confetti post!

Here’s another minimal Blogger layout for you guys, and it comes just in the nick of time — did you know that it’s National Blog Posting Month? I just found out yesterday (thanks, Dawn!). I call this layout Rum Raisin. This is a simple one-column blog that showcases your content. All of the widgets that would normally go along the sides have been moved to the 3-column footer.

Please note that images must be exactly 600 pixels to look good with this layout. If your images are over 600px, they will not look good with the scalloped background. However, you can easily make your own background image and customize the CSS as needed. Of course, these are just the default “Rum Raisin” settings and you can customize the layout to your heart’s content — I hope you enjoy this layout!

Features

• one column layout
• blog post images: 600 pixels
• text and image alignment
• clean header and footer
• active 3 column footer
• minimally-styled titles
• no post image drop shadows
• top navigation bar (for labels or static pages)
• 2 component background for seamless tiling across wide monitors (any size, really)
• design checked for consistency on multiple browsers and operating systems

2 Component Background

The background is composed of 2 components:

1. Scalloped background for the content area (included as a PSD file)
2. Tiled seamless background for the entire blog

Component #2 is NOT INCLUDED in the zip file. Please download the background tile directly from Josella’s beautiful site, Tackorama, the best free retro resource site for designers.

Learn how to install and customize Rum Raisin’s background by watching my short screencast below:

css for the scalloped background

add a nav bar

thank you, allen coté

And, thanks for sharing your happy music, Allen Coté — these tuts would be a bore to watch without your snappy tunes — THANKS A MILLION!

Important Disclaimer

Before downloading or installing any layout, please make a backup of your current template. You are welcome to make any adjustments you like. However, please be aware that you are making these changes at your own risk and that I do not provide tech support, nor do I provide support for customizations. Please follow the setup instructions in the video carefully. If you need assistance, please consult with someone who is familiar with Blogger templates.

Need a CSS review? Check out my Web Basics tutorials. How about a Firebug review? I used Firebug in these screencasts: Banish Drop Shadows, Horizontal Nav Bar Part 3.

Download Options (PLEASE READ TERMS of USE):

FREEBIE Rum Raisin Blogger Layout 1 XML, 1 PSD / size: 434 KB D O W N L O A D