City Chic Country Mouse are in Etsy's Storque!!

My etsy pals at City Chic Country Mouse are in Etsy's Storque! Click here so you can enjoy the article too. It's so fun to see and learn about etsy friends!

Jamie and her mom, Carmen, with some fabric goodness.

photo by SLGDesigns

I'm still loving all the goodies I got from them and use them on a daily basis. They make me smile.

A heart-felt thanks to Jamie and Carmen for the nod to Whisker Graphics and me in their article. So very kind of you.

Editable PDF Recipe Cards - New Design - So Handy

I've added a new editable recipe card design to the shop (with a couple more designs coming in the next day or two). The set comes with 4 editable cards, 4 lined fill-in-by-hand cards and a coordinating mini file folder.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a baker, nor a cook, but these just came in so handy for me today. Our son is turning 15 tomorrow and the LOML and I are going to make him a cake. I'm in charge of the frosting. I remembered Martha Stewart had a great buttercream frosting recipe in one of her recent issues and when I found it, the pages were stuck together with previous baking supplies (food, ick). So I quickly went to her website, searched Basic Buttercream, copy and pasted it into my pdf recipe card. While I was on her site I found 3 cookie recipes that looked yummy and copy/pasted them too. Next time I need the Buttercream Frosting recipe I can quickly find it in my recipe box.

So simple.

these are some recipes I printed out a few days ago

Maker Faire is Coming - A Creative Mojo Jump Start

Last May my family and I attended one day of the Maker Faire. It was a lot of fun. We're going this year.

In case you're near San Mateo, CA at the end of May, check it out. You can buy your tickets early on-line and save some $.

Click on the photo to go to their website.

Easy Peasy Way to Keep Up on Your Blog Reads

I'm not tech savvy. I don't get the appeal of Twitter (for those interested, I ate a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast) and I'm barely getting the hang of blogging. So you may already know about this handy tool to help you keep up on all your blog reading. It's Google Reader.

I love this thing! I keep a tab open in Firefox dedicated to Google Reader and I can see any new posts that come in on any of the blogs I like to read. No more bookmarking each blog I enjoy and then remembering to go check and see if there is a new post. It's all at my fingertips now. And it's so easy to use. Maybe I'm the last person to know about Google Reader, but just in case I'm not, you can go get it here.

a sample screen shot of my Google Reader in action.

Design Greatness = Eye Candy

A couple months ago I bought a copy of Design for Mankind's digital magazine. Inside was a link to the website graphic-exchange. There is nothing on this site but design greatness. Eye candy indeed. Go take a look.

photos from graphic-exchange website

www.muccadesign.com

www.paulleedesign.com

New for the Shop - Printable and Editable PDF Templates

I'm so excited about these!

I just finished updating the PDF templates in my etsy shop to be editable. So now, rather than printing generic paper goods, they can be personalized, customized or easier to fill in.


With the editable Recipe Cards you can type your recipe right into the PDF or copy/paste recipes from the web and print. No More Handwriting!! You can edit the recipe in the PDF too. Add your own notes or substitutions. Of course, you can still print them blank to use or give.



These 2" square tags/labels I created with the hobbyist or etsy shop owner in mind, but they could be handy for anyone (personal calling cards or address labels). They come blank and the text can be formatted in MS Word or such and pasted into the PDF. The above Crown tags all came from one sheet. Print them on cardstock or label paper. So MANY possibilities!

I'll share new designs as I create them.

A BIG THANK YOU to those who were kind enough to do the testing for this process. I really appreciate it!

Whitney

Out of Boredom Comes Art

Little Cat A has been on TV and computer restriction. This has caused her to look for other sources of entertainment. Lots of painting and reading have been happening in her life. Last weekend she focused on 3-D art. She rummaged through my ribbon stash, got inspired and went to work. I thought what she came up with was so clever I told her I'd blog about it. She blushed.

You can click on photos to enlarge.

She searched the web for a dog outline. Enlarged it on our printer. Glued eyelash ribbon like crazy. Coiled bits of pipe cleaner for the eye and nose. Added blue ribbon and bit of tinsel pipe cleaner for the collar and tag. Such a clever girl!

The finished pooch! (It's a West Highland Terrier)

Cute Free Downloads

Here are a couple of cute free downloads for you to enjoy.

Click here to get these wickedly creative gift tags from Gina at Doe-C-Doe (discovered via How About Orange). Great for the sewer in your life.

And the ever creative Miss B over at Bla Bla Blag is offering this fun mini notebook download. I want to make my with grid paper inside.You can get the notebook covers and directions here.

Enjoy!

Better Photos?? I'm trying - Here's a Few Tips

I'm not a photographer. It's very evident if you look at my product photos in my etsy shop. I've been going crazy the last few weeks trying to learn how to take better photos. I've read again and again how natural light and no flash are the answer. But that is not always (read:hardly ever) convenient. I think I'm making some progress, so I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned so far.

#1 - Get to know your camera. Read the boring manual. I have a Pentax Optio S60 - Point and Shoot. I can't change too many settings, BUT I did learn about changing the White Balance. Very important to set it to the correct lighting.

#2 - Lighting - Miss B over BlahBlahBlag found some great lights here, but they were out of my budget, so I found these. You can get them here. $15 each. I put 2 in lamps with clamps (from my garage, but you can buy them at a hardware store) and 1 in a desk lamp from IKEA

Heres what my "photo studio" looks like. Swanky, no?
I clamped the lamps onto some overhead cabinets. Sometimes I use a light tent, but I'm finding with these bulbs, I don't need need it. Got bigger stuff to shoot like aprons or ironing board covers? Take a look at this article.

I also wrapped two pieces of scrap cardboard; one in tan linen fabric (left over from the bottom of my bedroom drapes from IKEA) and one in robin's egg blue kitchen towel (from Target - Easter clearance - $1.25). I secured the fabric by hot glueing it in the back. These are backdrops.

Here's an un-retouched photo with the bulbs and the correct camera settings and my new backdrops.

It's a big improvement over what I've done in the past. I still need to get LOTS better at staging the photo. I'm on the search for props and such.

#3 - Retouching - If the correct camera setting and lights still don't deliver what you want, there's Photoshop. There is this very helpful article from The Switchboards.com. I learned a lot from the article, but I was still having trouble getting my whites white without messing up my other colors. Well, last week, my son's friend showed me how to fix that. With your photo open in Photoshop click on the "Image" menu, go down to "Adjustments" and select "Selective Color". You can then play with each color independently of all the other colors.

Here is the original photo...
Here's the same photo after using the Selective Color controls in Photoshop. No, it's not the best photo in the world, but it is more accurate of what the product looks like.
I hope this information helps someone. I've so appreciated others who have given tips. There is Pioneer Woman's blog which is incredibly generous and knowledgeable.

Now if I could just figure out why all my photos are a tad hazy!

How Easily Influenced Are We? a.k.a Dressing Like a Tissue Box

Apparently I'm easy, or at least easily influenced.
My dressing routine each morning involves gathering parts of my "outfit" from various places (the closet, the dresser, the armoire) and setting them on the bathroom counter while I take my shower. This morning, as I set my clothes down, I noticed I would be matching my tissue box!


I wonder what else is influencing me that I'm not even aware of?!

Check out these lovelies!

These beauties arrived in my mailbox today. I haven't stopped smiling since.

A darling apple tote/shopping bag that is sturdy and roomy. The tree is stitched and the apples are cut out of fabric, then stitched on. Too cute!

A snappy oven mitt made from two coordinating fabrics. There is something crinkly and magical in between the layers so hands stay nice and safe.

An ironing board cover. Mine is not in this fabric, but in the floral fabric of the oven mitt. But, I like this one too!

Jamie and her mom, Carmen, of City Chic Country Mouse create the most charming items that make your domestic tasks a much prettier experience. They offer all these goodies and more (some dang cute half aprons) in their etsy shop. And if you are the sewing type, visit Jamie's blog and see her tutorial on making napkin rings right here.

I'm still smiling. Thanks Jamie and Carmen!
xo
Whitney

A Mention on a Beautiful Blog

Last Friday Whisker Graphics got a mention from Wanwisa on her beautiful blog, Modern Vintage. Her site was a new discovery for me and now I have it safely bookmarked so I can visit often. I got blissfully lost in visiting all her posts! She featured some of my PDF template designs. (After seeing my product photos compared to other photos on her site, it is glaringly apparent that I really must get better at taking photos. I'm trying, really I am.) Go take a look here.
Thanks Wanwisa!
xo
Whitney

Two Exercises to Get You Thinking (the start of Nurture Network)

I received the nicest email over the weekend from someone wondering how I got started in my "career". While responding back to her, I realized the thing that prompted me to start Whisker Graphics might be of some use to others. I've been thinking of sharing this for some time, so here goes...

Early in 2008 I was feeling frustrated with the conversations I was having with other women. I thought I would pull my hair out if one more conversation focused on a home remodel, kids, or kids sports activities. I started wondering who were these women in my community BK (before kids)? What did they do? What had they aspired to? What was laying dormant in them now while they were meeting the day-to-day needs of everyone else? I'm no leading-edge thinker, so I figured if I was having these thoughts, so were other women. Maybe we just didn't feel comfortable venturing beyond the safe/average/normal/boring topics. Who knows. But, while at a kid's birthday party (of course) I expressed my frustrations with a few other moms. Lo and behold, they felt the same! I made a few phone calls to see who wanted to play and Nurture Network was born.

I wanted Nurture Network to be about supporting (nurturing) each other into thinking beyond day-to-day tasks. To help each other expand and explore what "lights us up". To share resources. To help each other stay on track of our dreams. To inspire each other. So far, I think its working. :) We meet the first Monday of each month (it used to be every 2 weeks, but that was a bigger time commitment than some members wanted) for approx 2 hours. We rotate hosting with the requirement being minimal effort expended (we each bring our own beverage and there is no pressure to provide snacks) because this is not about entertaining or one more thing to do, but about taking a couple of hours with women we trust and focusing on ourselves. We've been meeting for about a year now. The group is about to grow to 6 members. We feel this is a good size to provide enough time, intimacy and variety.

If you want to play along, grab a notebook/journal.

Here are the two exercises I assigned at our first meeting. Best done in order.
Exercise #1- Rampage of Appreciation -- See this post here for guidelines. This is to get you in a good feeling place to do Exercise #2.
Exercise #2- At the top of a page write "Wouldn't It Be Nice If..." and then write 50 things.

On my "Wouldn't It Be Nice" list was "I had a successful line of stationery". (Also included was "I had new pots and pans" and "I lived in the present moment more often". I don't have new pots and pans yet, but I am much more present than I used to be.)

The following meeting I told each member to pick 2-3 things from their "Nice" list and see what they wanted to put into action on those items. I didn't tell anyone that their "Nice" list was going to be an action list (so act like you don't know). The purpose was to have each person feel free and dream.

Anyway, that's how my current "career" of Whisker Graphics started. But the real purpose of this post is to see if you'd like me to include future Nurture Network blog entries so maybe we could create a virtual Nurture Network. Though we couldn't really meet and talk, maybe I could share exercises (of the mental variety) we are doing or books we are reading or info on how we run the meetings in case you would want to start a local Nurture Network of your own.

Leave a comment and let me know if you want more of this stuff. In any case, I hope you have fun making your lists!
xo
Whitney

A New Blog I'm Groov'n On

I received a nice etsy convo on April Fool's Day. It was no joke or trick, but a note to let me know that two of my stationery designs were featured on the sender's blog. Of course, I had to immediately go take a look. (You can too right here.) What a treat I discovered! A new blog to groove on and the talented Marta is having a give-away right now for one of her mini diaries. Go on, go enter. It ends Sunday night, so hurry.