Sidewalk Advice

Estate Sale Glitter & Gold

At a random stop-by-on-the-way sort of estate sale today, I found an incredible box of vintage glitter and metallic dust for $4!! Jackpot! I had just been looking at the fine mica powders on the McClain’s Printmaking Supplies website and was deterred by the prices their precious dusts commanded. I can’t wait to print my first sparkly mokuhanga piece!

How to: Mini-cards made with paper ephemera

I’m always looking for ways to use my ridiculously large collection of paper scraps and ephemera. Here’s an easy and chic way to transfer those wonderful children’s book illustrations, old greeting cards, or random vintage tid bits into something fabulous and functional.

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!

Noted: The Crystal Bridges Museum | The Etsy Blog

Noted: The Crystal Bridges Museum | The Etsy Blog.

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.

 

New Items on Etsy

It’s been awhile since I’ve really put effort into my etsy shops. A combination of free time and lack of finances have driven me to once again try to make it the real deal.

Rules to live by: keep it simple.

I could go in so many directions with this, but the direction I’ll take is this: cut out the crap and make things easier, not harder.

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.

Missing Missy

This is so classic.

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.”