Hi Lemonheads! I wanted to share something with you today that is a fun little toy to play with…ColorRotate. Michael Douma emailed me a few weeks ago to share this fun tool that he and his collegues have been working on. They wanted to create a color tool that was 3-D in nature, just like color. So, ColorRotate came into being. It is a neat tool to play with when you have a bit of down time.

For more information about the tool, visit http://learn.colorotate.org/. It has neat info about color and the ColorRotate tool.

Thanks for sharing, Michael!

Hi Lemonheads, it’s me, Kelly. Today, I am going to share a little different Terrific Tuesdays post. I have been asked about my design process, so I decided I would share a bit about it today. My design processes for various tasks are different, so today I will focus on designing some recipe cards that I posted on my blog as a freebie.

Don't you just love that George Harrison quote?

I use the whole Adobe design suite (ie. Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, etc) to do all of the tasks at hand as a graphic designer, but for this particular project, I used Illustrator. I use this most when designing Purple Lemon Designs items. So, my process…

I started by sketching my cupcake. Then I scanned it into my computer and opened Photoshop.

As you can see, I sketch on just about anything...

Then I cropped out the “junk”.

That's better!

Now for the fun part. I open it in Illustrator, and start tracing the scanned image with the pen tool.

It is starting to take shape now!

Lemonhead Tip: I draw the different parts of the cupcake onto different layers to make it easier later to select certain parts of the illustration.

One I finish with the initial drawing, it is tweaking time!

Let's do the tweak everybody!

Now that the outline is pretty much final, I have usable artwork. For this particular project, though I will need some color.

Fill 'er up!

To the top

Was yellow the right color? I am not so sure…

A cherry on top!

Now it is perfect for the recipe card! This cupcake was a pretty universal image that I could use for a kid’s stamp…

purplelemondesigns.etsy.com

or even a recipe stamp.

purplelemondesigns.etsy.com

So that is my process for design when I sketch an object. I also sometimes just start designing in Illustrator without a sketch. It just depends on how I feel that particular day, and how the images are floating around in my head.

Are you an artist? How do you design? I would love to know your story too. Maybe you would even like to share a guest post. If so, let me know in the comments!

photo credit biewoef on stock.xchange

The title of this post should be “Fonts I wish I was Using” because today’s set of fonts are some that I have downloaded, but have yet to put into use. I feel so strongly about them, though, that I have to post them. I love them all, and can’t wait to find a project for which they will be perfect! By the way, all of today’s fonts are free…Yippee!

So let’s get started…

First is VTKS Garota Bonita Font via fontspace.com

I love the handwritten quality of this font. I think I might use it in a casual custom stationery piece for the right person.

Second is GrutchShaded via dafont.com

I like the chalk quality of this font. It looks like someone wrote on a concrete wall. I think it will be useful in a poster or something of that nature.

Lastly is another font by Douglas Vitkauskas called D_Old Modern via fontspace.com

I love the intricacies of this font. It is so decorative. I might use it for a Christmas card design.

Do you have any fonts that you are loving right now? If you do, list them in the comments below!

My Little Piece of the World

I have been asked to share my “new and improved” creative space (this is for you mom!). The pics will you will get a little insight into my world.

My Desk in Action

First you will notice the desk I refinished. Over the last few months I have really broken it in and made it my own. Check out my cute Rosie the Pirate print by Emily of The Black Apple…Perfect for my red and black creative space!

My new storage book case

Next, you will see my new book case/storage. I found these great baskets at Wal-Mart. They were a perfect fit for all of my note cards. I just added a little pizazz to them with some grosgrain ribbon. I finally have a place to put all of the binders, boxes of envelopes, and crafting tools, etc, etc…I am a super organized person (maybe a little OCD), so you could imagine that all of the stuff now in the book case that used to be strewn all over my work room was really making me crazy! I am glad to have it all in one place now.

You will also notice the yellow dress to the left of the book case. That was a great vintage find through a fashion blog I read, Fashion Me Fabulous. They posted a photo of this dress available through a vintage shop in NY state, Old Clothes, and I just knew I had to have it. The best part about it was the dress turned out to be $15 total! I couldn’t believe it. I haven’t had an opportunity to wear it yet, so that is why it hangs in my work space. I love it so much and it just exudes inspirational powers that make me extra creative when I take a gander at it.

So there you have it, my creative space…Hope you enjoyed your trip to Corinth, Mississippi!

Don’t forget that my special Purple Lemon Designs Etsy store 15% discount ends tonight at midnight CDT. Don’t remember the details? Read about it here. Purchase some note cards for yourself or a friend right away!

I shared some of my favorite fonts a while back, but  I thought I would share some more now. I just found this little gem, Honey Script, courtesy of dafont.com. I am always looking for good script fonts, and this is an excellent one.

I also like “The Real Font” from 1001freefonts.com. It has some really nice lines and I love the way the bowl of the letter is set further down the ascenders of letters like b, d, and h. It is a great font to use when you want a serif type font, but you want something with a little pizazz.

The last font I am going to mention is akafrivolity, courtesy of dafont.com. I use this font a lot in my stationery designs. It is truly a fun font to me. I love the girly curliness of each letter. I like fonts that look handwritten, but better…Does that make sense?

Anyhoo, hope you can use these fonts for something cool.

photo credit Jonathan Ruchti

Inspired by poppytalk’s Type Tuesday, I thought I would share some of my current favorite fonts, too.

The first two fonts are from the fine folks at 1001fonts.com.

Extra Ornamental No.2

I love the hand sketched look of this font. It makes a statement when designing monograms, especially.

Fontleroy Brown

This is a more formal font that I like to use in invitations and such. Very pretty!

The follow font is from the cool kids at 1001freefonts.com.

Girls are Weird

I love the funkiness (is that a word? If not, I just made a new one!) of this font. It is nice for a casual fun party invitation or casual note card.

Any whooo, try them out, and let me know what you think.