by Linda | Aug 22, 2016 | DIY printables
Today I wanted to revive a printable I created years ago when experimenting with traditional mediums. I work primarily in a digital format but ideas always start as pencil and paper sketches. Sometimes I just stick with a traditional medium, like watercolor because it has such a unique look.
I have pretty shaky hands, so it’s a challenge to watercolor and by no means do I really know my stuff! But its fun to create anyway and wanted to share my early girl illustrations with you below.
Download Printable Buy More Cookies Shopping List PDF (631 kb)
Cookies always make me feel better, so we must stock up, right? That’s why I created this shopping list reminder… cute, yes? Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the freebie for your personal use.
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by Linda | Aug 8, 2016 | DIY printables, my creative journal
It’s hard to believe that summer is nearly coming to an end for many of us – yikes! I’ve been cleaning up my blog posts (slowly, but surely) and also finding my retired digital products here and there – so I thought why not share them as freebies on the blog, right?
My summertime printable embellishments are great for decorating snail mail, penpal letters, art journals and scrapbooks. I originally used them in my own scrapbook page of my little boy when he was only 5 months old.
Just download the free printable PDF in your preferred paper size and print away. There’s a variety of designs, tags and decorations to choose from with happy, summertime sayings.
I think that printable graphics are versatile and a great way to add little bits of pretty paper to all your crafty projects. Mini embellishments are always a great addition, whether in your next outgoing mail stack or your planner spread. Enjoy!
Download Summertime Printable PDF LETTER
Download Summertime Printable PDF – A4
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by Linda | Aug 1, 2016 | DIY printables
As part of the Coastal Bookmark challenge, I quickly whipped up a design from some coastal elements I had already created and wanted to offer it as a free downloadable to everyone. You can print my design of the coastal bookmark – perfect for your summer reading.
Download LTieu Coastal Bookmark PDF
The challenge was created by ArtLicensingShow.com as a way for members like me to showcase our artwork and get the word out. I was definitely interested to create a little something, because with the hectic life of parenting… there’s this crazy satisfaction in creating something and putting it out in the world. I suppose design is my salvation?
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by Linda | Jul 27, 2016 | DIY printables
I’m pretty sure you have witnessed the adult coloring book trend. It’s no surprise, since art therapists have been using similar techniques to help patients deal with anxiety and stress.
I think crafty folks like you and me have been doing this kind of therapy all along! Scrapbooking, cardmaking, playing with pretty paper – like coloring – can be another form of meditation, right?
However, I was surprised to learn learn that coloring allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts and focus on a simple activity whereas doodling and other forms of creation might not.
Apparently, when there are options and too many decisions to be made, it can be overwhelming. Coloring is much more simple with repetitive movement and simply filling in of areas.
Okay, maybe there are some people that do such fancy coloring, it might still be stress inducing for me – hah! But I thought Kathy Rac’s 30 Day coloring challenge over at TheDailyMarker.com would be a nice way to color your stress away! I’ve totally missed a huge part of it, but better late than never, right?
I also realized that I used to make so many black and white line drawing illustrations as digital stamps. It’s like a free library of printables that are great for coloring, so feel free to print and color along – link to a whole bunch of free printable designs below. It’ll be fun to join in on the challenge and super easy to color a little bit every day with these images…
I hope you are inspired to color away your stress with just a few minutes a day. Let me know what you think!? If you enjoy printables, sign up for my weekly newsletter to get the latest updates and freebies!
by Linda | Jul 25, 2016 | DIY printables
Sometimes good things happen – yay! But inevitably, bad things happen as well. Whatever the facts may be, I’ve realized that how we feel about a situation is ultimately a choice. We must mourn and do what we have to do, but we always have the power to be happy in the end.
We always have the choice to find the good, turn towards the light and make our own happiness.
Especially during this time when there is even more terror in the world, I immediately thought of creating a “Let Us Be Happy” art printable. Super simple and direct… because that’s how it can be. It’s not complicated to understand.
Let it remind you of small, simple moments and the power you have to choose how you want to feel. I often think of my children in these times of fear and remember that I don’t want to raise them in fear. I want them to know love, possibility and the happiness we can create for ourselves.
Download Let Us Be Happy Art Printable LETTER
Download Let Us Be Happy Art Printable A4
I know there’s also more that we can do, to take action and make change in this world, but I also believe it all starts with having love in your heart and soul… so that you can be happy yourself… in order to spread it. I hope this printable will remind you of that. First, let us be happy!
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by Linda | Jul 11, 2016 | DIY printables
This month on the Petit a Petit blog I shared a post with sunny side up printables and wanted to let you know! It was inspired by Celina’s sunny side up pinterest board and the happy egg motif is just too darn cute. I immediately printed out the papers to craft with.
I used the patterned papers to make a set of pocket notebooks and they are so cute and happy – it just makes me smile.
What will you create with the printables? Download the sunny side up printables here and tag photos of your creations with #pinandcreate on social media. Enjoy!
by Linda | Jul 6, 2016 | my creative journal
There’s pretty much no question about it. Artwork and creative play make this world a better place. Do you agree?
I know I’m not the only one who gets a bit down at times regarding creative work. I mean, it’s not life saving or world changing directly like a doctor or firefighter’s efforts. Sometimes I can be made to feel like my work is extra fluffy stuff that isn’t very meaningful. That isn’t exactly the best motivation to get things done!
But the demons in my head are all nonsense! It’s the monster in my head making up stuff, because creative work most definitely makes a positive difference in this world. I design a lot of printables and it may seem important only for hobbyists, but ultimately it means a lot more to me and you.
Let’s me share why I believe art and creativity make a difference in this world, whether it’s your job or just your hobby!
Aesthetics matter.
We don’t live in a black and white world and life would be horribly boring if there wasn’t decoration, clever design and just plain beauty. In fact, psychologically the experience is always better when it’s more aesthetically pleasing. Imagine getting a takeaway meal in broken, dirty, ugly box with a few flies buzzing around. Umm… immediately, your appetite is ruined. Instead, if you have a pretty, clean box with a clever cartoon on it, suddenly takeaway pizza night isn’t so bad! Aesthetics matter and make this life better.
Creative expression for you and for me.
When it comes to makers, those of us who create art whether for work or hobby, receive a whole lot of fulfillment in the process of creating. Again, it’s proven that making art is good for your soul and health! And for those who enjoy the final artwork, that’s a whole lot of enjoyment there as well? Sparking thought, conversation, emotion – all that good stuff.
Creativity for change and improvement.
Most of the discoveries of this world came from creative play, experiments and accidents. It’s only with curiosity and creativity that we can make change in this world. We all know it’s supremely important, so we can’t discount this “skill” for our children and ourselves. I think it’s just as important and reading and writing. We must learn to follow our creative instincts, experiment, try, fail, try again… be curious and go out and explore the world. That’s how we create amazing things, see the possibility and really change this world for the better.
There are many more reasons, some personal and some universal and I think we can come up with a pretty big list on this topic, no doubt. When you need some motivation for your line of work, don’t forget that all these reasons apply, no matter what you do.
If you are an artist or lover of art, I’m sure you know that art makes a positive difference in this world. There’s a great episode of MarieTV on this very topic as well.
Do you have ideas on how art makes a positive impact on our world? Please share in the comments below 🙂 Cheers to all of us that art and creativity exist!
by Linda | Jul 4, 2016 | DIY printables
A happy independence day to my fellow Americans and happy 4th to everyone, because each new day is a new opportunity to do good, right?
I’ve been blogging for quite some time, but never stuck to a schedule as it’s always been a side hustle (even now) – but in after combining my blogs I’m know a lot of cleanup is required to clear out old links and old useless content. I’m taking the opportunity to do so with a super old post that I am rewriting here and including an old design I have as a FREE printable.
A while back, I fell in love with printable graphics, because little mini embellishments were perfect for me to print at home and use in my papercrafting. I didn’t need a huge kit of supplies, just a little something. I made a lot of scrapbook pages with printable supplies back in the day.
For this 4th of July holiday I wanted to share a page of printable designs called Let Freedom Ring. It’s a mix of printable designs from journaling cards to little embellishments that is great for scrapbooking, art journaling, decoration of your planner and paper crafting projects. You can certainly include a little tidbit in your snail mail packages and letters, too!
LetFreedomRing-LETTER
LetFreedomRing-A4
Download your paper size and print away. I hope you enjoy for your personal use only use.
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by Linda | Jul 4, 2016 | DIY printables
Need some pretty snail mail stationery for your next correspondence? Be sure to take advantage of this free printable snail mail stationery set download!
To promote the fine art of letter writing, I wanted to create a set of printable stationery for my fellow Letter Writers Alliance members (and all stationery lovers out there) to use in their letterwriting hobby.
There’s something amazing about taking the time to sit down and handwrite a letter. Whether you are sending it across town or across the globe, your chosen envelope, paper and decorations with your handwritten words will be transported into the hands of another person. It’s magical! These letters create connection that no email, text message or even video message can do. It’s just not the same, right?
I have always written to my friends and family, but only just recently started various other pen pal related experiments and realizing there’s a real need for more stationery. I’ve created a stationery set for LWA last year, but thought it was definitely time to share again.
This time around I created a full-color and designed a cute little birdie snail mail illustration with matching envelope as printable stationery set. You can download and print as many copies as you need – that’s why I love printable stationery! There’s the option of Letter and A4 paper size PDFs to download as well, so good for everyone across the globe.
The stationery paper design is two on each sheet and if you can print up to the edge of paper with your printer that is great, if not just select “Autofit” in your printer, so it’ll automatically size the PDF to fit in your printing area. Then you can trim away the excess white if that bothers you. The envelope template is on the second page of the PDF download.
Download Snail Mail Stationery Set LETTER
Download Snail Mail Stationery Set A4
I hope you enjoy this snail mail stationery printable for personal use only. I’m always happy to hear that snail mailers enjoy using my designs and it feels great to do my little bit, since my thing is design. This is how I can contribute a little bit of good in the world.
These days it’s easy enough to print your own stationery at home. However, you can also send these files to your local print/copy shop if you want professional services or lots of copy to stock up on your favorite design. Your stationery cubby will be full of goodness 🙂
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by Linda | Jun 27, 2016 | DIY printables
Write a letter with rainbow stationery to make a difference!
There have been a lot of crazy, shocking and sad news lately in current affairs. Often I stay pretty quiet about such topics, because I really just don’t know what to say or do. One feels so small and helpless at times. But I’ve come to realize that we must all do whatever we can – however big or small it might be.
I’ve been thinking about how writing a letter can make such a big difference. It’s no surprise that formal communications are always written – it makes more impact! If you want to voice your opinion consider writing to your representative as LetterMo.com posts here. Write a letter and send more mail, because I believe it can make a difference.
I decided to do my part and also design some printable stationery to get you writing as well! I realize that I can do a little more by sharing more printable stationery – something that I love to create. So please enjoy the rainbow stationery download below and #sendmoremail.
Rainbow Stationery LETTER
Rainbow Stationery A4
For those outside the USA, you can also write letters to promote happiness and positive action. That also makes a difference in this world – and I think that’s why there has been such a trend of sending #happymail because it really does make folks happy. Think of your recipient and how it can change the course of their day! Small gesture, big return.
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