Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Russian graphic designers and insane Siberian clip art.

Hi-de-ho from my house to yours, boys and girls! It’s 3:30 Tuesday morning and I just woke up from a truly pleasant, FIVE-HOUR after-dinner nap in the family room. Holy mother of crap. I just realized that I probably won’t be able to go back to sleep until sun-up because now I’m getting comfortable at my desk, taking handfuls of pills and kibbitzing with you. I LOVE MY DRUGS. (No, seriously. I really do.)

I suppose I should interject here that the pain in my foot is way, way down after a thoroughly miserable weekend. On Saturday and Sunday my pain level was a 9 or 10. My current pain level appears below. This is huge.


We had some weirdo thunderstorms on Monday afternoon. I was sitting at my desk designing a coffee mug for The Howdygram Store on Zazzle (details to come) when I heard thunder in the distance ... coming from the wrong direction. Storms, and weather patterns in general, are supposed to travel west-to-east unless we’ve got a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, at which time storms travel due north and try to drown us. Anyway ... yesterday’s storms were closing in from the east and freaking me out. They were also VERY LARGE, as you can see from the weather map below. The red star denotes Howdygram headquarters.


Yesterday the nice people at Creative Market were giving away various packages for designers and I chose this one, which was labeled “Dakota Clip Art Collection.” I don’t really know what I was expecting — maybe Mount Rushmore heads? — but it definitely wasn’t this ... because bears, wolves and antlers all scream SIBERIA. And the artist is Russian.
I love the ridiculous area rugs on the backs of these animals. Do you think they’re supposed to be Siberian household pets, or what?



And now ... a teeny number of ADORABLE FREE FONTS for you and yours! “Nomura” includes a bunch of different styles — several levels of grunge effects, italics, and so on — and the other two fonts will be terrific for my greeting card designs. Download links appear after the graphic so you can add these to your personal collection. You’re welcome.



A few paragraphs back I mentioned The Howdygram Store, so I figure this might be a fine time to show you some of the projects I’ve been working on. Yes, even when I’m in pain! First, BOTTLE OPENERS. These are large, professional-grade “bar keys” with a spinner ring, made of stainless steel and measuring 1½" x 7".  The “Open All Night” design is personalized on reverse; the teal blue watercolor Bottle Opener is the same on both sides. Bottle Openers are sold in The Howdygram Store’s Party Night category and coordinate with my Playing Cards and Drink Coasters. (Juicy hint: These are excellent housewarming gifts and stocking stuffers.)
Next, COFFEE MUGS! I added a bunch of terrific designs over the weekend, two of which are illustrated below. These are sold in The Howdygram Store’s Desktop Chic category along with Mousepads, Wireless Mice, Padfolios and Spiral Notebooks. Most of my designs coordinate with other pieces in this category and I’ll be adding dozens more within the next couple of weeks. Raise your hand if this gets you excited.
And finally ... CAN COOLERS! At the moment my only designs are sold in the For the Bride category — for bridal showers and bachelorette parties — along with coordinating Guest Books, Spiral Notebooks to help organize the bridal party and various configurations of Thank You Notes. (I’ve got a lot more work to do in this category but it’s easy to get overwhelmed by Can Coolers. Everybody says so. Oy.)


Thank you for reading this and please do your best to remember the Alamo today.

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