I got my button badge maker out today for the first time in 2 years.
I thought I’d try and use Canva to make a template for the designs (in circles) and I just about managed it.
The text ones I had to shrink down a bit once I figured out they were just a smidgeon too big.
But I just used old designs/ patterns I had already made on Canva previously.
They’re a bit naff but I was more bothered about the size of the templates and whether I’d measured them right.
I like the marbled ones the best!
I’m annoyed that I have to use the white plastic backing bits that came with the badge maker. I bought a little pack of the metal ones and they look and feel much better, but they don’t fit properly in the maker…even though they’re technically the same size!
But, I shall use up the plastic ones I suppose!
I think I need to design some more with crafting in mind.
Like My Fabric Stash, My Knitting Stash, My Wool Stash etc.
I’m still playing around with getting the sizing right for them. But it’s fun for something different.
It took an embarrassingly long time yesterday to figure it out though. I forgot which way to put the metal pieces!
I quickly knocked up a simple colouring page using a font I got from Creative Fabrica and uploaded into Canva and I also used free elements from Canva itself for the pictures.
Here is the link to the font below from Creative Fabrica if you want to have a go at creating something with the same font:
Do you have any ideas for a free printable you would like to see?
Colouring pages for kids/adults, planners, checklists, that kind of thing?
Pop your suggestions in the comments and I’ll have a go! I ain’t the best designer in the world, but it’s all good practise!
[This post contains affiliate links which means if you click the link and make a purchase, I get a small commission of that purchase at no extra cost to you!]
I’ve been busy the past few months, getting into designing and writing. I’m not the world’s best writer but I’ve always loved it! And reading books too.
Lately, I’ve been looking into writing as a career, I’m not ready to jump head first into anything yet. Honestly, it’s mostly still at the research stage but so far I write on two places – here and on Medium.
I’ve looked into Fiverr and that might be good fit in a little while, once I finish a few other projects first. I’m not sure though as I’ve heard mixed results about that platform (and other ones like Upwork).
Since I’ve been creating printables for my new Etsy shop which I will be opening soon, I also made a couple of sheets for freelancing. I doubt I’ll be putting these in the shop! They were just a play around.
See what you think and if you want to download them you can (as always these are only for personal use, you may not sell or share them in any way).
Lately I’ve been using Canva LOADS to make patterns, pages, covers and repeat patterns. I am blown away by how easy it is to make a repeat pattern on Canva. But, that’s a tale for another day. Today is something completely different.
Since I’ve been spending so much time on there lately, I figured out how to remove the background from photos and decided to use some free graphics to make a little game.
So, here goes…
On my walk today I got a little lost. I looked at the signpost and somehow, instead of ending up back at my house…somehow I ended up by the sea!
How many free graphics/ clipart pictures can you find in the picture below? You get 10 points if you can find all 12 of them. You also get an extra 10 point bonus if you find the knitting needles in a ball of wool.
With signposts like these, you can see why I got lost!
How did I end up by the sea? I don’t know, I must have just kept on walking. In fact, I walked so much that it was dark by the time I got there.
How many graphics can you spot in this one? 10 points if you find them all. And the knitting needles in a ball of wool get you an extra 10 points too!
Hint: for the white stars in the background there are 2 types of graphic…I realise that might look a bit confusing!
It seems there was a part going on when I arrived. Good timing!
Somehow, what with the party happening right next to the sea front, I must have fallen in the sea. But it wasn’t a wasted trip…I ended up in Paris (this is beginning to sound like a dream I had last night…).
10 points if you find all the graphics…and an extra 10 if you find the knitting needles.
I don’t know whether to make a pun about Under Da Sea or Bobbing Along on the Bottom of the Beautiful Briny Sea!
I had a great time with Attina (yes, that IS Ariel’s sister!) and was so thankful that she called me an SUBer to get home (see what I did there?!). I think from now on I’m going to be very careful on the next walk I do…I don’t know where I could end up!
How did you do?
Photo 1: 12 graphics – knitting needles in the hedge!
Caravan, background with trees, sun and clouds is all technically ONE graphic (haha! sneaky!), 2 x yellow flower bunches, bunting, signposts, person, green alien, knitting needles, 3 orange flowers (singles- I grouped them into 3!)
Photo 2: 15 graphics – knitting needles on the astronaut
Earth, pink planet, moon, astronaut, knitting needles, white drawn star in bottom right, general white stars across the sky, ship with yellow sails, black outline ship, lights (I’ll class it as 1), lighthouse, shooting star, rocket, person with drink, 2 people dancing (they are ONE graphic!)
Photo 3: 9 graphics – knitting needles in the brown seaweed
Seaweed in the right (the brown and green are ONE), knitting needles, 2 x seaweed to the left, mermaid, shark, fish, 2 x bubbles
Did you get 30/30?
Then you get a prize…my respect! There you go – it’s yours!
[I’m not working out the numbers if you only found 3 or whatever…I mean come on, life’s too short!!]
Definitely have a look at Canva if you want an easy platform to use for writing or creating designs. It does have a few limitations- I would LOVE to have a cursor option when writing instead of all the text boxes…but you can’t have everything!
I do like how you can mess around with things and have a play…one thing I find with applications like Photoshop is that they are difficult to play with. With those types of software you have to have an end goal in mind, whereas at least with Canva you can just have fun!
Just a couple of things…all of the photos I changed were taken by me. All of the free graphics I used were from Canva, where there license states I can use them for personal or commercial use, and since this is just a lil game and I’m not selling the ‘artwork’ in any way…well, I think we’re all good here!
I finally got the Canva Pro account a week or two ago and I’m loving it!
Who knew being able to export a PNG with a transparent background could lead to the possibility of creating this little fella here?
Isn’t he a cutie?! All made with their free stock media too…
And I like the fact that you can choose which page to export too. Oh and the curved text feature.
Which allows me to create this lil lady here…
And there’s even a way to share copies of files without changing the ‘Master’ copy. That part is genius.
If you’re not great with the technical elements to design then Canva is a great place to start- they have free option too, just less flexibility with the free option.
I’ve been playing with fonts too and uploading them into Canva. I wish there was some way of categorising or sorting them once you’ve uploaded them, that would be helpful. Like, having different branding sections of the upload page, but oh well. You can’t have everything!
Not quite at the sell your font level yet…but this is a vast improvement from my first one a few posts ago, right?!
The kerning is a little off. Kerning. I love that word, it means the spacing between the letters (I think!).
Yep, I’ve been creating again. This time something useful, a printable to help organise your day.
What is the most important thing you need to do today?
Instead of getting bogged down with all the little nothings of the day, this time focus on what you REALLY need to get done today.
I’ve kept it simple as I prefer more space to actually write stuff, as opposed to lots of decorations which take up room (I have big handwriting so I need more room lol!).
And I drew the trees on Procreate. Next I need to learn vectors so I can scale up any pictures I draw properly, I did just download Affinity Designer this week which does vectors…then soon I’ll be on my way to making graphics and digital stickers for my blog.
Affinity Designer looks like it’s a step up from procreate though…I’m still getting my head around nodes and paths!
Anyway, if this is useful to you, great! If not…well, then don’t download it!
Simple but useful!
And here’s the PDF for you to download (for personal use ONLY as usual).
What kind of challenge I hear ask…any kind you like! Weight loss, Fitness, Crafting, Reading, Writing – literally ANYTHING you want to do!
I am still figuring out the line thickness in Canva…if I did this again I would add a few more much thinner lines, but I know for next time. The trouble with Canva is that something looks fine on the screen, but when you print it off you realise just how MASSIVE the text and the lines are!!
I think I’m going to do a 30 day writing challenge and try and get some blog posts scheduled, some actual digital download printables created and maybe work on my e-book some more (don’t ask me about that one, I have about 3 ideas on the go right now, with bits and pieces of different ones in different places – creative minds and all that).
I did write one out for February for writing but I made my goals things I couldn’t do in one day such as write a chapter, write 20 blog posts – hahaha! This time I will make ACHIEVABLE goals (is it STEM or something for goals?!).
Anyway, here’s what the printable looks like (with a couple of extra lined pages in the file under the 30 day challenge one for general notes).
Write what your challenge is on the top line and either write in a specific task for each day or simply colour in the boxes as you progress through the challenge.
How about a UFO challenge for you knitters and crocheters and sewers out there where you work on one of your Unfinished Objects to try and get it finished? Or how about you just knit or crochet for 20 minutes every day?
And here’s the printable for you to download for your own personal use.
Woolly Orbit 