Via my Instagram, cards paired with their original drawings
Christmas is around the corner! I'll be taking a break from blogging next week to spend a little time relaxing and enjoying the holidays. For now, here are my favorite things I've come across this week:
DESIGN // Birdbnb - Bird house models of real Airbnb listings!
EYE CANDY // In love with Cartolina's end grain block flooring for their studio.
SMALL BUSINESS // Have you seen Apple's new commercial? Here's Proof Branding's insight on the ad.
WATCH // Stanford d.school's Tina Seelig on "The 6 Characteristics of Truly Creative People."
I can't believe that the last few weeks of 2013 are flying by! Wow. Here's a round-up of some of my favorite calendars for 2014. One goal I have for next year is to get my act together and design a Happy Cactus calendar for 2015!
Social Print Studio creates a tiny tear-off calendar with your Instagram photos
Lydia & Pugs' Pug Calendar is so sweet!
Gorgeous Perennial Calendar by Saipua + Brown Parcel Press
1Canoe2's eye-catching XL Wall Calendar
Punch out each day with the Bubble Calendar
And here's the calendar I'll be using, the Tiny Calendar, printed by my buddy Kyle at Power and Light Press
The perfect baby gift combination: our Welcome Baby Rainbow Dots card with The Land of Nod's Rainbow Stacker!
Time to stock up on Christmas cards, thank you notes for presents you'll be receiving, and holiday gifts. Use code MERRY at checkout for free shipping. The code is valid through Saturday!
A few days late, but this week's "Pairs Well With..." features one of my favorite holiday card designs, Argyle Fir, with a beautiful long pine and teasel wreath from Terrain. You can find the card in the shop here!
When I first began Happy Cactus, all of my designs were one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn and hand-colored by me. Knowing that I wanted to produce cards in greater quantities at a faster rate, I was well aware that I needed to learn how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, and other Adobe programs. These programs would allow me to manipulate my scanned drawings, color them, make patterns, and lay them out so they are print ready.
I decided I needed to dive in and learn how to use the Adobe Creative Suite of software programs on my own. Many people are surprised to learn that I was able to become proficient in using these programs without some formal classwork. I was moving across the country at the time, so I taking an in-person class was not an option.
Here are the resources I recommend if you have little to no experience with Adobe's software and have the initiative to teach yourself and practice your skills on a daily basis.
YouTube - It takes a lot of time to search through the clutter on YouTube to find the right tutorial. I recommend searching by keywords. For example, when looking for a video on how to make patterns using Illustrator, I would search "tutorial Illustrator patterns" and sift through the results. The quality of the videos vary, but I was usually able to find fairly good explanations of techniques.
Adobe - Adobe hosts a number of tutorials on their site. These are great starting points if you are looking for technical help, are just getting started, or want to learn some basic skills.
Lynda - Lynda was my best investment when I started out learning Adobe software programs. For a minimal monthly fee, you get unlimited access to high quality video tutorials. For the classes I took, the teachers provided clear, detailed instruction and many provided practice files. I designed my first wholesale catalog using InDesign without any previous experience solely using Lynda tutorials.
Skillshare - Skillshare is a newer website where experts from a variety of fields teach informal online classes. Classes are fairly inexpensive and usually focus on pretty specific topics. For example, if you want to learn how to digitize your own hand lettering, there's a class for that taught by Sean McCabe, a well-known hand lettering artist. Skillshare didn't exist when I was first learning these programs, but I've taken a few classes over the past few months to develop my skills and learn new techniques.
Through these various online resources, I now feel confident working on a variety of projects, from retouching product photos to creating a catalog to laying out greeting cards.
I've mentioned here before that for about a year now I have been hand-painting porcelain pieces. It's something I've truly enjoyed doing, and I am so happy to share that I'm finally selling some pieces here in the online shop.
Previously, I've only sold my hand-painted porcelain items at craft shows or by custom order. I decided to share the pieces with a wider audience here after receiving such positive feedback about them during the various holiday shows I've participated in over the past month and a half.
The first item for sale is are small 3.5 inch gold dotted bowls. These little bowls were very popular at shows - all of them sold out within a few hours - so I've been busily painting more. They feature little gold dots all over - both inside and outside the bowl. I have a few in stock now and will be adding more soon. They are the perfect size for trinkets, nuts, or other little items. I use one by my bed to hold my rings at night and one on my desk to hold paper clips. They are food safe and dishwasher safe, too (although I recommend washing by hand). Here's a shot of me painting a bowl.
Find them in the shop here!
Over the past month, I've been super busy preparing personalized stationery and holiday card orders. Tomorrow (December 7) is the last day to place your order if you want to receive your items by December 24. Personalized stationery makes a fun, unique, and thoughtful gift. Browse through our digital lookbook for ideas and get in touch at hello{at}happycactudesigns.com.
Looking for a unique holiday gift? Look no further than Happy Cactus Designs! Here's a round-up of some of our favorite gifts to give this holiday season.
For Your Busy Mom Friends:
The Errands to Run Notepad - a fun and functional pad with spaces for all of your errands.
For Your Dad:
Custom Personalized Stationery - What's more special (and thoughtful) than personalized stationery? I've been whipping up a lot of personalized orders for men lately. Check out our digital lookbook for custom options.
For the Party Hostess:
Place Cards - Whether for seating arrangements or used on the buffet to identify dishes, these are a versatile gift any entertainer would enjoy.
For Your Neighbor:
Holiday Sticker Gift Tags - An affordable gift for the people on your block that they will use and appreciate!
For The Dog Lover:
Dog Collars - Our dog collars, made in "collar-boration" with Dixie Goods Company, will make all of your tail-wagging buddies look a little more stylish.
For Your Mom:
Hand-Painted Porcelain - Look no further than our unique hand-painted porcelain pieces for a gift your mom will cherish. Get in touch to inquire about the various pieces we have available.
For Your Niece or Nephew:
Personalized Kids Note Cards - Foster a love of note writing with the little ones in your life and give them a set of personalized note cards.
My sticker gift tags featuring hand-drawn trees have been a huge hit at the various holiday markets I have done this season. They are each 2 inches by 3.5 inches (the size of a standard business card) and are sold by the sheet with 12 tags per sheet. I finally added them to the shop just in time for all of your holiday wrapping!
I can also do custom orders of tags personalized with a name and/or message. At shows, I've had customers buy personalized tags for all of their neighbors - an easy and fun gift idea! Shop the tags here or contact me at hello{at}happycactusdesigns.com if you are interested in a custom order!
One more day to save on all orders in the online shop. Save 25% when you use code BLACK25 at checkout!
