Cutie Queues - a homemade font!

CutieQueues.ttf is on DaFont!

CutieQueues was created by hand using my iPad, a stylus, and the Notability app along with a PDF template from MyScriptTemplate.com. Enjoy!

No Idle Hands Here

You know those times when you don't really have enough minutes to finish a project properly but there are too many minutes to just sit around doing nothing either? In those times, I get strange graphic design ideas, and this was one of them:

I decided that, for some reason, I needed to update my Facebook cover photo with a custom one. I had had a clever (but stolen) image there for awhile which featured two beloved comic icons of 80s pop culture:

But it was time to change, and I had 40 minutes, so I looked up writing quotes and found this gem of quote from Stephen King's On Writing, a book that is part biography and part writer's guide--an excellent resource. (Though I must always give the caveat that it does contain a sprinkling of King's token profanity.)

The background is the scanned image of a page from one of my tutoring sessions. The red spatter is stock photography. The font is Urban Jungle.

Project 365: 18/365 - Book Cover

Looooove making book covers. Finalized this one for the latest young writers group's novella, The Case of Dr. What.

Thai Eats Website

My mom is opening a Thai grocery, take-out, and workshops business here in town, so naturally, she asked me to create a website for her. Her signage is almost done, thus making time of the essence in finishing the site.

I opted to design through WordPress, as opposed to creating a full-blown, Photoshop-spiffified design. Her website needs were small, and the main content was to be an informational blog. WordPress fits that prospectus perfectly.

With so many incredible WordPress theme developers out there, I chose to simply modify an existing theme. I found this one by Eric Ulous and customized some of the key background and logo graphics. I rather like the result, and so does my mom. :o) Check it out:

Thai-Eats.com

Google Doodles

I love the look of an old Houdini poster that was created for today's Google Doodle, honoring Harry Houdini's birthday. If you've never seen or heard of a Google Doodle, here's an explanation.

They are usually quite clever, and my artist's heart thrills when I see a new, unexpected Google Doodle. You can find the entire archive of doodles from all countries around the world HERE.

Free Church Wi-Fi

One of our pastors recently made this request: Can we make a Sunday morning announcement slide that has the following message on it: Connect your wireless device using the "[network name]” wireless access point. The logon is: “[password]”

I love how I can always assume that "we" actually means "you." XD We must learn how to be perceptive in this job.

Anyway, I had way too much fun with this and delivered a snarky and non-snarky version of the requested slide.

Non-snarky:

Snarky:

Evangeline's New Site

I'm working on a new website for my friend Evangeline. It's an author site for her to use primarily as a marketing tool right now. She'll take it on as a full-fledged author site eventually, but we're starting small for now. Awaiting approval on the initial design:

Upcoming Young Writers Workshops

I am thrilled to let you know about an opportunity for young writers that will be offered beginning the second full week of January. Please feel free to pass this on to any young writers you know who might be interested in being a part of a group writing project.

Two young writers workshops will run for 6 weeks with 2-hour sessions each week, held at a local coffee shop or cafe. Together, the group will brainstorm and write a novella over the course of 6 weeks. Details on each group:

INKLINGS
Ages 9-12, Beginners
Wednesday mornings, 10-Noon
Einstein Bros. Bagels
Begins January 12, 2011

INKAHOLICS
Ages 13-18, Intermediate-Advanced
Saturday mornings, 9:00-11:00 a.m.
Panera Bread (S Carefree & Powers)
Begins January 15, 2011

Cost is $65 for the entire 6-week workshop. Students will have the option of purchasing a final, printed copy of the novella after the workshop ends.

If you have any questions, or if you're interested in attending a workshop--great! Shoot me an email (mangycat (at) gmail (dot) com) to let me know. I'll answer your questions and/or we can talk about forms of payment at that time.

Thank you for taking the time to consider these workshops for you or the young writers in your life.

Blessings on your week!

RAFL-LOL Blog Design

My friend Donita asked me to spruce up her literacy advocacy blog, RAFL-LOL, which is an acronym for "Reading Aloud For Literacy - Lots of Learning". Blogger has some fantastic template backgrounds these days, you just have to find the right one and give it a few tweaks to personalize.

At that point, all they need is a special header graphic to complete the scene. So this is what I came up with for Donita:



Check out the blog here.

Caregivers Team Logo...Controversy?

Does this remind you of the medical Mary Jane dispensary logos? Or does it work as a church care ministry logo?

Blog Header: Martial Arts Passion

I created this tonight in about an hour for one of my young friends on CleanPlace. She posted a request on Facebook for a graphic header for her Martial Arts blog. I had fun finding out how to make smoke and fire effects in Photoshop. (By the way, she liked it!)

Heavenly Bodies in the Cosmos

Thanks to my friend Puella, I spent a good deal of time on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website today. I created a desktop background image like this a long time ago, but the file was lost. Been meaning to create a new one for awhile now. I LOVE images of Heavenly bodies in the cosmos.

A New Book to Flaunt

One of the perks of winning NaNoWriMo this year is that winning wrimos may receive a free proof copy of their book through CreateSpace.com, a self-publishing company. While I'm adamantly opposed to self-publishing my own novels, I don't see any harm in printing a single copy of one of my novels for the...well, novelty of it.

There's no way in the Devil's household that I would EVER allow this self-published book on the market. NO WAY. (If I do, someone really needs to slap me silly.) But this will be fun to hold in my hands.

Because my NaNo novels are utterly unpublishable, I decided to submit the first novel I'd ever written. It was previously titled The Visitors, but I have subsequently decided that the title was too boring. New title and the book cover I designed:

iHeart Faces: Fix It Friday #14

Over at iHeartFaces.com, they have a weekly event during which they take a "not-so-good" photo and give it to their contributors to "fix" in whatever photo editor they wish to use. There's no prize, but it's something fun for design geeks like me to do on a Friday afternoon.

To the right is the image they provided for Fix-It-Friday, Week #14.

Below is how I edited it to my own liking.



This one might be a little over-the-top and overedited, but it's getting late and I don't want to have to come back to this tomorrow. *whistles*

I used Photoshop to touch up. Masks and several layers were used. Background is a part of an image I found on the web.

Please comment and let me know what you think!

There are a lot more images to check out from other contributors, so click on that link if you'd like to see them too.

iHeartFaces: Fix Friday #8

Over at iHeartFaces.com, they have a weekly event during which they take a "not-so-good" photo and give it to their contributors to "fix" in whatever photo editor they wish to use. There's no prize, but it's something fun for design geeks like me to do on a Friday afternoon.

Above is the image they provided for Fix-It-Friday, Week #8.

Below is how I edited it to my own liking.



This is another girl in a fantasy setting like I did for Fix It Friday #6. I don't know what it is about little girls; I always want to make them into whimsical fairies. Maybe they'll get an adult's picture up for F.I.T. one of these days, and I can be inspired some other way.

I used Photoshop's artistic filters, lighting effects, and overall color tweaking techniques. I'm a fan of masks and transparent duplicate layers. Various additional images were found around the web in bits and pieces.

I think I might have gone a little overboard on this one. LOL Please comment and let me know what you think!

There are a lot more images to check out from other contributors, so click on that link if you'd like to see them too.

Breathe In Breathe Out Promo Video

This is a video I edited for my friend Evangeline to promote her women's humor blog, Breathe In Breathe Out.



You may recall from my first Project 365 that I featured the photo I took for her banner last year.

iHeartFaces: Fix It Fridays #6

Over at iHeartFaces.com, they have a weekly event during which they take a "not-so-good" photo and give it to their contributors to "fix" in whatever photo editor they wish to use. There's no prize, but it's something fun for design geeks like me to do on a Friday afternoon.

To the right is the image they provided for Fix-It-Friday, Week #6.

Below is how I edited it to my own liking.



I really love the way this one turned out. Her face and expression lend themselves to the new fantasy setting.

I used Photoshop and many fun filters to get the sketchy appearance. Masks and high-transparency layers were used. Background is a part of an image I found on the web.

The "fairies" were created using various levels and types of lens flares.

Please comment and let me know what you think!

There are a lot more images to check out from other contributors, so click on that link if you'd like to see them too.

iHeartFaces: Fix-It-Fridays #5

Over at iHeartFaces.com, they have a weekly event during which they take a "not-so-good" photo and give it to their contributors to "fix" in whatever photo editor they wish to use. There's no prize, but it's something fun for design geeks like me to do on a Friday afternoon.

To the right is the image they provided for Fix-It-Friday, Week #5.

Below is how I edited it to my own liking.



The final image came out quite nicely if I may say so. :o)

I used Photoshop and many of its fun filters to get the overall look. A couple images I found on the web helped embelish the background and face.

The ear, I created mostly with the smudge and clone tools with a bit of paintbrushing too.

Please comment and let me know what you think!

There are a lot more images to check out from other contributors, so click on that link if you'd like to see them too.

Guilt Monkey

Never heard of a guilt monkey? Guilt monkeys are flying creatures (like in the Wizard of Oz) that come after you, then hang around you until you you feel guilty for not doing whatever it is that you're supposed to be doing.

I had need to send a guilt monkey to someone. So I created one. Muwahahahaha!