Designing Again

It has been so hot here to think about the big stuff…so I thought I’d think about the little stuff!

I haven’t uploaded any new designs to RedBubble for awhile and lately I’ve been loving the geometric designs with bright colours and simple shapes.

I created these 4 designs on Canva where it is surprisingly easy to create a repeat pattern – much easier than Photoshop!

I’m never sure when it comes to repeating patterns though – do people prefer larger patterns or smaller repeating patterns (on things like pillows and bags etc.)?

When it comes to designing for RedBubble I try to make sure that the floor and throw pillows, for example, have the same pattern but in different sizes, so it’s a matching set kind of thing. And then you get a choice – big or small pattern!

I find it quite hard to place the pattern perfectly on things sometimes! There are some limitations with the software as it has to be accessible and usable by everyone, not just people who are professional designers. RedBubble is still my favourite Print On Demand platform for usability and the aesthetics of it. The others look a bit naff in comparison. Haha, oh well…it’s fun anyways!

It’s fun messing around with shapes and colours and seeing what you can come up with, I’m not an artist, not by a long stretch but I am starting to wish I’d done something more visual and creative at university than a foreign language!

I’m back in the mood for more creative stuff now!

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WoollyOrbit2000.redbubble.com

I wrote a design post on Medium about how I decide whether to use a tiny or a larger pattern on products. You can find the link here:

https://woollyorbit.medium.com/print-on-demand-tiny-pattern-repeats-or-big-ones-eee11e53849a

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Let’s Play A Little Game…

Let’s Play A Little Game…

…but not in a creepy serial killer kind of way!!

Canva

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!

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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!

Canva Gal

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!).

My First Font! (It’s quite bad!!)

Isn’t it funny how you start with one idea or purpose in mind and then end up with something totally different! Like, you start down one path and end up going in a completely different direction.

I’ve been looking at a lot of things to do with digital downloads and design software lately, getting to grips with design tools and elements and trying to figure out vectors for drawing and designing (I have NO graphic design experience or qualifications whatsoever by the way).

And then one day, after watching so many design videos on Youtube, I found a few videos about making your own fonts and I was hooked.

There are a few options as to how to make your own font, I should add I’m only looking at free ones or maybe pay a few pounds for an app. I’m not looking to spend thousands on professional design software!

There are apps such as ifontmaker or there’s Calligraphr. Which is what I used.

You sign up for a free account (or you can buy a paid one which gives you more characters to choose from – the free version only gives you 75 characters which isn’t very much, so if you wanted to make fonts to sell, then you would have to create a few more characters than 75).

Then you download a template, import the template into an app such as Procreate, which is what I used, write your letters or characters, export as a PNG and reupload it back to Calligraphr, mess around a bit with spacing and letter height and then create your font.

Once you download your font from Calligraphr, you can add it to your design software, I uploaded mine to my Canva account and I wrote the page below in Canva.

Now, this might sound like a lot of back and forth, it certainly looks it when I come to write all this out, but believe me it’s not. The whole process was quick and easy and a lot of fun.

But I now realise how terrible my handwriting is!! :O

Proving I had NO IDEA what to write when making this!!

And the pictures are my hand drawings from Procreate too. I can’t believe how the last month has been WHOOSH of technical stuff.

I dont know where this saying comes from but I feel it’s appropriate for me right now:

‘I didn’t know what I didn’t know!’

Want to have a go at creating your own font? Head over to Calligraphr it’s really easy.

You could create a birthday card or type a letter for someone if you wanted. Maybe even make an e-book with it. Or even sell it if it was any good.

Day #12 – Knitting vs. Crochet

CRAFTY 30 DAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE DAY #12

Day #12 Knitting vs. Crochet

Knitting

How long have I been doing it?

I learned at the start of 2016. I made a stocking stitch scarf and that was it, I was away. I taught myself from a few Youtube videos.

What level are you?

I would say I am an intermediate knitter. I haven’t done a lot of lace, cables or Fair Isle, although I’ve done some in the past. 

What kinds of things have you made so far?

Blankets, scarves, cowls, hats, random freebie patterns from magazines, a couple of knitted whale toys, hot water bottle covers, a coffee pot cover, cushion covers, one lone single sock, loads of Christmas decorations – baubles, mini stockings, hanging trees etc., 3 large Christmas stockings, a tea cosy in the shape of a pudding…

What techniques have you mastered so far?

Simple ones. Stocking stitch, rib, gartur stitch, moss/ seed stitch, patterns with knit and purl such as basket weave and waffle stitch, basic cabling, basic eyelets and button holes, baby jumpers/ cardigans, increases and decreases.

Would love to try entrelac, brioche and Double (reversible) Knitting next.

Crochet

How long have you been doing it?

About 12 -13 years. I learned at university and although I tried knitting at the same time, I found it too difficult at the time and just focused on crochet.

What level are you? 

I would say advanced. I understand how stitches are made and altered, even if I have to refer back to patterns for stitches sometimes. Most of the things I crochet I design myself as I tend to make quick and easy items.

What kinds of things have you made so far?

Blankets, scarves, hats, amigurumi figures, baby dress and waistcoat, balls and baubles, pot holders, trivets, a terrible top which I threw away!, decorations, bunting, granny squares, bags, cowls, cushion covers…

What techniques have you mastered?

Pretty much most of the basic ones and once you understand how crochet is done, it’s pretty much variations on a theme. A few techniques I haven’t tried yet in crochet is entrelac, broomstick lace and hairpin lace. 

Notes

I find crochet a lot quicker than knitting – I could crochet a scarf in an evening, depending on the stitch used. But I like the look of knitted stocking stitch better than crochet. 

I would prefer to have a knitted jumper rather than a crocheted one, although I could probably whip up the crochet one in half the time. 

As you can see from the answers above I tend to make household items, rather than pieces of clothing, whether for knitting or crochet. I don’t tend to do many small items such as toys or figures because I hate the fiddly bits and they never look ‘normal’ by the time I have sewn them up! I hate doing crochet amigurumi mostly, I have to be in the mood. 

In 2021, it is sweater knitting all the way, I have 3 on the go, as well as a knitted shawl and there are sewing projects getting lined up, so I don’t really have the desire to do small projects at the minute. Especially as Christmas is out of the way and I did quite a few small decorations last year.

So…if there was a contest between knitting and crochet, I think knitting would win, but not by much. I am equally a knitter and crocheter…I don’t discriminate, it’s all yarn!!

Day #7 My Crafty Childhood

CRAFTY 30 DAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE DAY #7

My Crafty Childhood

When I was little I had 3 books that inspired me to craft away. I even did some of the ‘makes’ in there.

The books were: My First Paint Book, My First Nature Book and My First Cook Book all published by Dorling Kindersley.

I can’t remember how old I was when I had them , definitely about 8 or 9 years old. So, early to mid 1990’s.

I remember I made an art box out of a shoe box – I painted it and even did the stencilled art palette on the top but I don’t think I did the red and yellow square edging.

I also painted a glass jar with lots of dots and that became my paint brush jar. I did the one with all the dots and little 9 year old me thought it looked rather AMAZING if I do say so myself!

It’s funny looking back at them now as an adult…how was I so enthralled with these books?! I did always want to try the bread rolls and the mini pizzas but I don’t think I ever did. Aw, childhood regrets…I didn’t make the pizza!!!

I remember I had an easel for Christmas one year and I did a paint-by-numbers picture on it, whilst wearing an old shirt to protect me from paint splatter!! I’m sure I looked the part!

I also had a Christmas Craft book from The Early Learning Centre which I loved looking at. (The Early Learning Centre shops might have disappeared from UK High Streets now, I’m not sure, but I used to love going into their stores as a kid – they had wooden train sets that you could pay with, I even had a set of my own with a bridge and everything).

I had a lot of craft books…don’t forget this was pre-Youtube and probably pre-internet too!! If you wanted inspiration you either had to read about it in a book, or watch it on terrestrial TV, which, if you missed an episode, you had to wait patiently until it was repeated.

Nowadays, as an adult, I still have a lot of craft books only now they are more specific – soap making, knitting, crochet, sewing, macrame, Top-Down Sweaters, Tunisian Crochet….I guess some things stay the same as you get older! 🙂