I bought my first issue of Bullet last week. All I have to say about this magazine is that every page creates a conflict — I wanna linger and savor each page and at the same time, I can’t wait to flip the page to see what’s next. It’s so good! I bought an annual subscription today, my first subscription since Domino Magazine folded and substituted the remaining issues with Martha Stewart Living.
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I was reading Lula, Issue #13, and I noticed some instant-film-like photo frames in use in their Lula Loves section. At first I thought it was totally Photoshopped and then it occurred to me that there might be a square film format with clipped corners that I’m unaware of. I’ve also seen this contact-sheet effect in Wallpaper Magazine, in an article called The Collector (3/2012). I really like this frame style because it’s different from the other instant film formats I’ve seen.
Anyway, I thought that duplicating this frame would be a good chance to make a tutorial that demonstrates some Photoshop techniques. In the following tutorial, we’re going to:
After I updated Pugly Pixel a couple of weeks ago, I was pretty pleased with it. But seeing my wacky pom-pom photo every time I viewed a page became a bit annoying. Then I began to feel that the sidebar was a mile long. I had too much information spread over way too many widgets. So, I did a bit of housecleaning and moved my pom-pom pic back to my About page. And I returned the social links back to the top nav bar where they used to be.
Additionally, the Fonts, Blog Design Directory, Lynda.com, and Blog Bling Kit graphics were added to AdRotate. Instead of having 4 widgets, there’s only 1 and it’s randomized by the plugin. If you’re wondering what happened to the Fonts page or the Blog Design Directory, they’re still there but they may not appear every time you visit a page. If you want immediate links to those particular pages, please visit my About page where they’re listed under “Links”.
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Cooking shows… I love them. One of the most rewarding things I do is watch Fast Food My Way with Jacques Pepin while I’m eating my microwaved Palak Paneer and toasted naan bread, both from Trader Joe’s. Mmmmm. I may not cook, but I’m a really excellent eater and I appreciate those who love to transform raw ingredients into wonderful delicacies — the way Raiza does at Dulce Delight.
What’s really fun is watching Raiza do everything herself, with no camera crew backing her up and no one feeding her lines. She’s a dynamo! She sets up the cameras and moves them around between shots. She designs the sets and arranges the props for her shows and then she does all the awesome baking and cooking herself. I love her candid demeanor and she’s funny, too! After watching her construct those intricate Napoleons, I just wanted to lick the passion fruit frosting off my computer screen.
Oh, one more thing. My motto here at Pugly Pixel is that we’re Powered by Pastries and I’m happy to announce that Raiza’s beautiful photographs — many of yummy pastries — will be featured in some of my future tutorials. Hooray! ♥
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Elisabeth McNair’s illustrations have found a warm spot in my heart. She’s an artist who shares her work at Afternoon Pity Party. Beth was one of the first to adopt the Strawberry Shortcake Blogger template and I loved how her illustrations gave that layout a really sweet look. And now, she’s redesigned her blog and I love it more than ever!
Besides being an awesome illustrator and designer, Beth plays the keyboard for Noel Stephen and the Darlings. I LOVE NSATD, can you tell? I mean, I’ve featured their cool tunes here several times. Their music takes a fun and whimsical view of the events of everyday life. And, they’ve just released their second album, You and Me and Rufus Make Three. :)
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I gave Lemon Meringue a long overdue update today. Some people have reported difficulty activating Blogger’s threaded comments feature with the original LM. I’m not sure why it works on some blogs and not on others. If you know, please share the wealth! :) In any case, here is a sample of V.2 and the demo that shows you how to install it. I changed the look a bit, too. If you prefer version 1, you can still download it here. I hope to update my other Blogger child themes in due time. Happy weekend, guys!
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Lauren Harrison is an artist, graphic designer, and web developer. She also blogs at Animus, a treasure trove of pretty patterns and textures, brushes, and fonts. In fact, the chunky geometric font I used to create this post was made by Lauren. It’s called Retro Lights. The cloud brushes and floral textures were all designed by Lauren, as well. You’ll find a lot of great stuff at Animus! And, if you’re looking for a kick-ass web designer, you can check out her portfolio here. ♥
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I can hardly believe that this is Part 12 of our photo layouts download — Part TWELVE, guys! I was just looking through my tutorial archives and I realized that it was around this time of year two years ago that I wrote my very first Photoshop tutorial (please don’t attempt it now — it needs to be updated!). The inspiration for that post was Erin’s scalloped borders over at Calivintage. It was on April 13, 2010. I never would’ve thought I’d still be doing tutorials and blog resources 2 years later. I couldn’t have done it without you guys. :) It’s been a great and wild ride.
And now here we are with Photo Layouts Part 12. The borders in this set are composed of 5 stripes which can be colored to your taste with the color overlay adjustment layer. In the preview shots after the jump, notice the magnification circle that displays the actual size of the borders. For the previews, I made the borders a single color with no stripes because they do not render well at small sizes — my thumbnails are about 295 pixels wide. These layouts look best at full size (not resized).
If you’ve never worked with my photo layouts before, you can get a general idea of how they work in this screencast. And, if you’re not a member and you want to try them out, you can download a free set here.
I want to thank Eléonore Bridge for giving me permission to feature her beautiful photos! Thank you, Eléonore! By the way, Eléonore has a new wedding inspiratioin blog, Un Beau Jour. It has fun DIY projects, gorgeous wedding photography, and whimsical party ideas. It’s totally worth a look!
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Hey guys, here’s a free download of 15 fabric textures. There are samples of stretch knit, curdoroy, tweed, herringbone, houndstooth, and silky satin. These textures would make great backgrounds for letter cut-outs, especially if you have a big chunky geometric font. I hope you find these textures useful! :)
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Some geometric fonts are kind of illegible, awkward, and chunky, but I like them. For example, try to read the 3 letters in the picture above, the ones below my small banana cream pie. If you guessed O-M-G, you’re pretty good!
I first noticed geometric fonts in Bowie Style’s Print & Pattern, where it’s used on the cover and as the initials introducing each artist. There’s so little detail in these fonts that you really have to look twice or sometimes thrice. Geometric fonts are also used on the cover of Lomography’s Shoot Forever book, throughout Nylon Magazine, and as the nasty banner font on the Nasty Gal blog.
The font I’m using in this post is called Yume. If you want a version similar to the one used in Nylon Magazine or Lomography’s book, go to Dafont where you can download Disco Deck for free.
By the way, if you’re ever near Dolores Park in San Francisco, you have to stop by Tartine Bakery. Their banana cream pies are out of this world. This particular pastry powered me for 3 whole days! :D
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