Thousands Of Free Fonts

thousands of free fonts

Description : Thousands Of Free Fonts in dozens of styles.

Craft Link : Thousands Of Free Fonts

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Renovating Masada (with Fotoflexer)

Fotoflexer is a free, online photo editing program that I use constantly. It’s not as full-service as one of the professional programs, but it is extremely intuitive. Here are some before and after photos of a day trip to Masada.

Original

Greyscale

Original

Border, Vignette

Original

Sketch

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Make It Your Own

Several years ago, while on vacation, my teenage daughter purchased a needlepoint kit for me. I wasn’t crazy about it. The colors were too subtle, the design too chunky and the directions called for the kit to be worked in long stitch, which I dislike. However, because it was a gift from my daughter, I knew it would be completed.

Instead of throwing the kit out, I redesigned it. The light yellow and pink were exchanged for a rich gold and burgandy, the blocky design was adjusted in certain areas, and the stitch changed from long to single. Suddenly, the needlepoint kit, was lovely! And, just as important, the prepackaged canvas was now a unique, one-of-a-kind design.

This experience taught me an important lesson: kits and projects designed by other folks need only be starting points. The projects can easily be changed a bit here or there without sacrificing the finished product. Now, I almost always make changes to prepackaged craft kits and projects.

Here are a couple of tips for making your next project more deeply reflective of your own taste…

…Start with the colors. If you dislike a color of fabric, yarn or paper that is supposed to be used for a project, feel free to hit the craft store for something more to your taste.

…Work with the small things. You might not feel comfortable changing the sleeve pattern on a blouse, but you might feel fine about adding or subtracting a pocket.

…Make small changes to the technique. Add a fancy stitch to your cross-stitch or use a special piping tip for your cake decorating. Just be aware that these changes may require the purchase of additional supplies.

…Embellish, embellish, embellish. Feel free to fold an origami flower to use with your scrapbooking kit or add a unique center square to your quilting pattern.

Warning: Avoid making really big changes unless you know the technique well. For instance, don’t make any structural changes to a knitted sweater unless you really understand how the changes will effect the finished garment.

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Pixlr

Description : I came across Pixlr while I was looking for a program to help me to touch up a photo of my mother-in-law. I tried out several online graphics editors and Pixlr was the favorite of the bunch.

Craft Link : Pixlr

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Sumo Paint

Description : According to the website, Sumo Paint is a free imaging editing software that gives the opportunity to create, edit and comment images online with powerful tools and layer support.

Craft Link : Sumo Paint

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7 Ways to Make Public Domain Graphics Personal

Unfortunately, I can’t draw. Even with numerous classes and lengthy practice sessions, I’m still dissatisfied with what comes off of my pencil. Since I love to design, that’s always been a problem for me.

How do I deal with my lack of talent?

By taking public domain graphics and changing them till they suit my needs and my taste.

Here are a couple of tricks I’ve picked up over the years.

1. Change the color of the central part of the graphic.

2. Change the color of the edges of the graphic.

3. Change the color surrounding the graphic.

4. Make multiples of the graphic.

5. Make multiples of the graphic and change the color.

6. Use sections of the image in a repeating collage design.

If you have any other ideas, please share them. I’m always looking for new ways to use old graphics.

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Microsoft Paint Tutorials

Microsoft Paint was the first graphics program I learned how to use. Nowadays, though I own several much more expensive programs, Paint is still my first choice 80% of the time.

Why?

Because Microsoft Paint can do some pretty cool things. I use this simple little program to crop, resize, edit and draw pretty much anything I need done. It’s just a matter of knowing how to use the tools.

Here are a couple of tutorials to show you how to get the most out of this gem.