I got issue #15 of Lula last week and I’m really loving it. It’s 300 pages of goodness, with only 25 pages of ads. It’s a little pricey, but it’s totally worth it for the 100′s of pages of great photos, typography, and inspiring layouts. I even managed to read two articles. :) The interview with Kara Hayward, the heroine of the Moonrise Kingdom, got me curious enough to check out the movie. Loved it — four thumbs up. There’s also a cool look back at Twiggy, too, with 40-year old photos that look as if they were taken just yesterday. If you want to see what some of the pages look like, check out Paula’s Lula post at Pink Bow.
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Over the years, I’ve collected many actions. Some I’ve downloaded for free and others I’ve bought. The right action can magically transform a stale photo into eye candy (hello, Instagram!). But, as much as I appreciate my massive collection of actions, I have too many and I’ve lost track of what each one does. For example, what will Vintage Unicorn Vision look like exactly? The only way I can find out is to run the action, and if it doesn’t suit my photo, I have to undo or revert. Doing this a couple of times is fine, but going through dozens of actions in search of the right one can be frustrating and time-consuming. It would be great if actions had built-in previews…
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I used to dislike tablets because they made my handwriting look like I had written it left-handed — and I’m right-handed! I even upgraded because I thought there was something wrong with my first tablet. To my surprise, the new tablet didn’t improve my handwriting. But, after lots of practice, I observed that my handwriting looked best when I used large brushes. And the inverse was true: it looked worse at smaller brush sizes. Since I didn’t want to write with a huge marker all the time, I had to find a way to write with a fine tip…
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That Dolce leopard skin dress is one of the beautiful things I just can’t see myself wearing — ever. I’m always covered from chin to toe, but still, I really do appreciate that lovely dress. Given the choice, I would always go with those clunky leopard pony creepers. I suppose that’s why I’m loving Vermandois, the font I used in the captions. It’s all over the place, but in a beautifully orchestrated way. I can see it as a drunken scrawl, or a harmonious web of curves — beautiful and awkward at the same time, with just the right amount of ugly.
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As I was painting my nails with a leopardy-like pattern, I flashed on something I read years ago about Poppy King, the Lipstick Queen. In a magazine interview, she said she loved to wear a leopard skin print with her matte red lipstick. At the time, I didn’t like leopard skin, but now that I’m more “mature” (with my blue leopardy-pattern manicure), I totally get it. As I was reminiscing, I dug out my collection of Lipstick Queen product packaging. Each lipstick has artwork that matches its personality. For example, Medieval has a tarot card look to it, and the Sinners and Saints are either a devilish red or a heavenly gold, and so on.
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