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I have been working on some new ideas for the holidays.
Let's just say the candy canes didn't turn out so well.
They might have to go into The Jar.
But I think Mr. Popper is a keeper. I am even toying with the idea of making a little igloo for him to live in...
But is it just me, or do you feel like you're going blind when you're sewing black? I swear I can't see anything, and this guy is darn lucky he didn't end up with three beaks!
I am very greatful that we are getting new doors and windows on the first floor of our house, because I will finally have my own studio. But the fact that the project is WAY over schedule and is now entering the Christmas production season is making me rather cross. So yesterday, extremely peeved to find out that the messiest part of the project has been delayed yet another week, I dragged our dining room table out from under drop cloths and shoved it back towards the window. Yeah, it takes me twice as long to find a spool of thread, and I keep tripping on the various pieces of lumber. But the outlet still works, and the lighting is actually brighter now that the light fixture above the table is just bare, slightly cobwebby bulbs.
And an elf's gotta do what an elf's gotta do, 'cause the sew must go on.
WARNING: This post will be incredibly boring unless you a) have a Mac and are interested in making a banner for your Etsy shop without a graphics program or b) you love laughing at how complicated Squirrel Momma can make things if she puts her mind to it.
I really enjoy putting fresh banners up for my Etsy shop as the seasons change. Unfortunately, that means I needed to make new banners, which, given the fact that the only graphics program on my Mac is Inkscape and I am a bear of very little brain when it comes to Inkscape, used to be a mighty painful process.
But awhile back I read a post in the Etsy forums about using word processing programs to create banners. Basically, an Etsy banner needs to be 760 pixels wide and 100 pixels high.
Yeah, I know. Pixels? I can't do pixels with Pages for the Mac!
But the forum post pointed out that if I make something 27 centimeters wide and 3.55 centimeters high it will be the right size! So to make an Etsy banner in Mac Pages you simply:
1. Change Page Setup to sideways.
2. In Preferences change the ruler units to centimeters, and enable the vertical ruler.
3. Open a blank page and create a graphics box that is 27 cm by 3.55 cm (I usually make it a smidge smaller, as part can get cropped off later on in this process).
4. Create your banner.
5. Export to your desktop as a PDF.
6. Open the PDF and use Grab...Selection to exactly outline your banner (keep the crosshairs just outside your banner so that you don't cut off your border if you have one).
7. Save your "grabbed selection" as a JPEG. Congratulations--your new banner is ready to upload!
Quite impressive in its Rube Goldberg convolutions, right? But don't get too impressed--I still haven't figured out this fancy schmancy Typepad yet.
