As you well know, I’ve been really crazy about photography lately. I’ve gone so far as to learn how to edit photos in Photoshop. Its actually not as hard as I thought it would be. So I thought that since I’ve been learning the Photoshop ropes, it would be simple to design my very own holiday card.
Nope, I was wrong. The design process was not very hard. I found some digital scrapbook paper, picked out a font, drew out a design and put it all together. Easy. The bad part came when it was time to print. If your a graphic designer or photographer, you know what I’m talking about. WHY WON’T THE PRINTER PRINT THE SAME COLORS THAT ARE ON MY MONITOR? Why? Somebody please tell me. Pretty please.
After doing some research, changing settings a million times, printing more than 20 tests, banging my head on my desk, freaking out, yelling at the printer, recalibrating my new monitor, and basically going insane, I finally got what I wanted…a mere FIVE hours later. (That’s five hours spent on the printing issues alone!)
Here it is.
The inside:
…and the back.
I found the little deer in a dingbat font collection. Isn’t he the cutest ever? I put that little heart on him. Really, it was the moment I was most impressed with myself all week. I even made a custom shape. You want it?
Here ya go. Just click on the deer or the link to download.
deer-heart-ashleysbusy
UPDATE: After being asked where the digiscrapbook paper came from, I searched my files and realized that the paper wasn’t labeled. I then scoured the web trying to find it again. Finally, I found it. Only it wasn’t scrapbook paper, it’s a fabric swatch. Ha. Here’s the link: Panda Print Lemon.
This weekend Dameian and I are heading to the NC mountains for my darling cousin Stephanie’s wedding. Dameian is thrilled, of course. He totally hearts weddings. I, on the other hand, have been planning for months. Is it ok to wear a “lbd” to an evening wedding? I hope so, because that’s what I’m wearing.
Sure, my cousin is registered at Macy’s. But I couldn’t resist making their gift.
Oooohhh, don’t they look scrumptious? That’s vintage lace trim around the gift. Plus, a graceful fabric flower attached with a heart brad. The “Love” tags can be found at PaperCrave. Just print on card stock and cut.
I made the envelope for the card out of my favorite wrapping paper. It’s yellow with tiny polka dots. I love it and will be so sad when the roll is gone. Found it on clearance at Target a while back. The blue scalloped label can be found at Tart Workshop.
Wondering what’s inside of these packages?
A name plaque. Smith, that is.
I stained a piece of wood then used transfer paper to write “SMITH.” Painted the name, added a border, and attached a saw tooth hanger to the back. The font is ArtStamp and I love it. I want to use it on everything.
The other gift is a custom order from my sister. She was my first Etsy shop, Sweet Averie, custom order. Isn’t she sweet?
Stephanie is going for an Earthy Mod look in her new house. I hope she likes these gifts.
Now, my favorite part. The card. I used this beautiful image of a girl and boy in a tree. The little girl has red hair, and so does my pretty cousin! I couldn’t resist. Do click on the image. It’s huge and gorgeous.
To download this image, “Belle and Boo” by Mandy Sutcliff, please go to Feed Your Soul: The Free Art Project. This peice is from March 2009. There are tons of really beautiful, and free, images for your enjoyment.
I’ll be back next week with wedding photos, I hope.
