Living the Creative Life

Got a bunch of new Blogger templates up in the shop recently. I also took out a lot of the older ones w/ the intention of simplifying them and re-uploading them, but of course I've been to busy to actually get them back up! Oops... Available for purchase . View the demo . Available for purchase . View the demo . Available for purchase . View the demo . Available for purchase . View the demo . Available for purchase . View the demo .

I recently finished up a fun web project for a social marketing start-up in New York City. I designed a mobile-responsive splash-page style website on the Squarespace platform. I wish I could say I had to travel there to consult for the project, but alas... I'm still here in sunny California. ;P See this design in action !

I was recently asked for a list of my favorite web design tutorials, and... well... I got a little carried away. So, here's my ultimate web design resource list! Merry Christmas! Basic Development Platforms Blogger : This one is free and very versatile, since you have full access to both the HTML structure of the site, as well as the CSS style sheets. They have a WYSIWYG editor, as well as a custom CSS editor, making it extremely easy to customize a basic blog or site very quickly. Wordpress : Though the basic software is free, this one does require you to purchase hosting. I personally find Wordpress cumbersome and annoying to code, but it can be extremely robust and versatile if you know what you're doing. There are many, many free and paid templates to choose from, which can give you a good starting ground for designing a site. (Or if you'd rather design a completely custom site, there are many people who specialize in coding Wordpress sites from scratch, which can b...

Available for purchase . View the demo . I added a new template to the shop today! I wanted to make a fun, summery design (even though it's almost winter).

Available for purchase . View the demo . Here's a fun new template for Blogger. I designed it with Irish alter-ego in mind (I actually really am part Irish, but when I'm playing Sims, sometimes Kate is my more-Irish, alter-ego name). ;)

I've added a few premade blog templates to my shop this week! I decided that even though I love doing custom work, it just hasn't been steady enough income to rely on that yet, so I figured it'd be smart to make some premade templates up too! That way it's a cheaper option for people, plus it gives me more ongoing practice with designing blogs. Available for purchase . View the demo . Available for purchase . View the demo .

Forget what I said earlier about states clip art . I found the research part of that project totally tedious and mind-numbing. I tried to push through and slave away at it, but it hit me this weekend... why am I slaving away at something that should be fun? I should be working on stuff to sell in my shop because it's interesting and makes me smile, not because it seemed like a great idea but now is a chore. So... I'm revamping my entire digital shop to include mainly blogging and scrapbooking elements, ranging in price from $2-$15. Ribbons, backgrounds, clip art, etc. I'm combing through my computer to find all the stuff that I've experimented with over the years to see if any of it will fit in my shop, then I'll work on expanding ideas, adding new stuff, combining stuff into related sets, etc. Basically my goal is to fill up my shop fast and sell lots! ;) Here are a few of the items I've listed this so far this weekend: Seamless Blog Backgrounds Seamless Blog B...

I'm in the middle of uploading a states-related project to my Society 6 shop . To be honest, I'd kind of forgotten I had that shop, but while I was working on my clip-art project for Etsy, I realized that these state outlines could easily be transformed cute merchandise over on Society 6! I've only got a few states up currently, but be on the look-up in the coming weeks as I roll out all 50 states! Prints, t-shirts, & other merchandise available at Society6 Prints, t-shirts, & other merchandise available at Society6 . Prints, t-shirts, & other merchandise available at Society6 .

How's it going, guys? My new job's been slow but fairly steady. I'm only working two days a week right now, but it's been fun to have some different projects to work on. I've worked on a couple logo designs and a page layout project, both of which I had to do about 10 million revisions on (not really). Sidenote --> If you're ever feeling creatively stuck, that's actually a very good exercise - take one design problem and solve it about 20 different ways. Then solve it again 20 more ways. By the end of that, you might actually have something good to show for it. ;) I've also started a new project for my Etsy shop. I'm making states-related clip art! I started with Oregon, since that's my home state, and I'm going to do California next. I'll probably work my way through the most populated states after that unless you guys have any preferences for a state you'd like to see sooner! ;) Get your auto-download today on Etsy for just $5! ...

So in my push to get my website done, I figured it was probably also a good idea to have a Facebook page ! Right now you'll see basically the same projects that are on my website, but I hope to soon include helpful links and tutorials on there as well. Basically if you love graphic design, you should "Like" this page !

I've been working on some clean, minimal Blogger templates this weekend! I have toyed with selling templates in the past but didn't really know what I was doing yet. I think I'm starting to wrap my head around CSS though, so that definitely helps a LOT when designing templates! Both are available for purchase on my Etsy shop for $40. You can expect a lot more templates coming this summer, so get ready! Fresh & Clean Template - Available in my Shop These two templates are very similar to each other - both are two-column templates with the same coloring. The one is 1110 pixels wide, allowing for an x-large sized photo in the post area. The "skinny" version is 900 pixels wide, allowing for a medium sized photo in the post area. Both also have mouse-over effects in the navbar and links! That was really fun to figure out how to do - it's one of my new favorite CSS tricks! ;) Fresh & Clean Skinny Template - Available in my Shop ***** What does your ideal Bl...

I had an idea recently to make skyline images in Adobe Illustrator. In honor of my upcoming move to Los Angeles, I decided to start with that skyline. It's strange, I don't generally think of LA as having a skyline, but it does. I don't think I've actually ever been to the downtown, skyscraper area of the city yet, even though I've been there many times. This is one spread out city, let me tell you! Lol. Anyway... I decided to give you this skyline for free as a desktop background! I made it in the resolution of my MacBook screen (1280x800), so if you need a different size, let me know and I can tweak it for you. Download FULL version here. Download FULL version here. Do you have a specific city that you'd like me to make next? List your requests below! I prefer making actual skyscraper cities, but you're free to try to sneak in other suggestions as well. Who knows, I just might make your cute little small town for you! ;) If I do make your request, I will...

You know you're a graphic designer when you can't seem to go a month without giving yourself a new blog design! Lol. Check out my new look! Besides moving my header to the left column, I also simplified my navigation system (putting most of the relevant links on my About Me page) and added links for my design services and portfolio ! If you were looking for a blog makeover of your own... I'm open for business! (hint... hint...) ;-D

It's been extremely gray here in Oregon this week... more than usual even. I kid you not, we haven't seen blue sky (or any sky, for that matter) in probably two weeks. It's been this weird, hazy, oppressive, dull gray, without even a cloud distinction to break up the monotony. Usually at least we have partially clear skies with clouds and rain thrown in for good measure. This week... nothing but flat gray nothingness that consumes all other colors previously viewable. It's like we're living in the black and white version of Kansas from the Wizard of Oz. So... I decided to compensate by brightening up my blog a little! I got a sweet background from Making' Cute Blogs and then simplified my layout a bit also. What do you think?

I found a YouTube channel today filled with some great drawing tutorials! This girl uses Copic markers to fill in the color and shadows on some of her drawings, which I've never heard of before but now I really, really want!! Have you used these markers before? Would you recommend them? They look to me a bit like watercolors in marker form. Would that be an accurate description? Here are a couple of my favorite videos from this channel, although she has a bunch more if you have time to browse. :)

Today I've got a few more designs to show you. These first two have been hanging out in my MacBook, half-finished for months now. They kept saying to me, "Finish me! Finish me!" so I finally listened. I think sometimes letting a design rest helps them to solidify a little better when you finally do finish them. It still blows my mind that so much of the design process is letting the idea marinate in your head. Your subconscious is more creative than you might think! Available on Etsy : $12 Available on Etsy : $12 I've also been re-making some of my older designs. Do you ever just look at a design and go, "What was I thinking??" I suppose it's only natural that my design eye would mature the more I learn. It's kind of funny though, to look back and see where I was a few months ago and where I am now. As you can probably tell, I'm currently leaning towards the clean and minimal look these days. BEFORE Available on Etsy : $12 BEFORE Available on Ets...

I've been working on some Fall/Halloween/Christmas banners lately for my shop . Believe it or not, people are buying Halloween shop banners already! Here's one of my favorite new fall banners - not quite the typical colors, but I love the rainy day vibe it has. Available on Etsy : $12 Also I got my 2nd official blog design client this past week! You'll have to wait until it's finished to see the whole thing, but here's a little sneak peak to tide you over.

I've been noticing trends in design lately towards a more minimalistic, clean style, and I had some designs in the back of my shop that really needed updating, so... I cleaned them up and revamped them a little. Wow! They look so much better! I forgot to save some of the old versions, but believe me, these have a much cleaner, refined feel than before, which I think makes them much stronger designs overall. Just goes to show, when it doubt... re-design! Available on Etsy Available on Etsy Available on Etsy

I've been working on some new designs for the shop this week. I've got some in autumn colors and shades of blue , and here are some in summer colors! Available on Etsy Available on Etsy I also added some new stitched social media icons. (Check out my sidebar ; I'm using some of them!) Below are some free icons for you to use. You can get other colors and icons in my Etsy shop for $5 a set.