by Linda | Dec 24, 2016 | DIY printables
It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve still got presents to wrap! Eeek! This is when printables really come in handy… just download, print and you’ve got ready to use goodies for your gift wrapping and holiday papercrafting needs. Here’s my little girl elf illustration from the design vault that I would love to share with you.
You can download the hi-resolution JPG image here and use as you please. Make her into a folded greeting card, gift tags, as deco for your holiday journal, planner – whatever floats your boat. I hope this printable can help you out this holiday season. Enjoy!
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by Linda | Dec 14, 2016 | DIY printables
From my digital design vault, here are a set of cute photo frame downloads to use with your photos and scrapbooking. I definitely had instagram on my mind when I created these, because suddenly everyday photo taking was expanded and considered normal across the board. It’s not just scrapbookers, but everyday we all have the ability to document our lives, since snapping a photo with our phones is so easy.
Now, it’s time to actually put those photos to use and print them out or put them together in an album. With a variety of photo frames to choose from, you can use my photo frame love designs on top of your own 4×6 photos! They make a great decoration and accent. You get high quality PNG files, so they are also great for printing and use as journaling cards or decoration for planners and art journaling.
Download Photo Frame Love ZIP file here
I hope you enjoy using these designs and let me know if you like them. Feel free to tag me on social media @tortagialla and if you like my designs, be sure to sign-up for my weekly newsletter for more.
by Linda | Oct 4, 2016 | DIY printables
I’m not sure what it is, but everyone seems to love the look and feel of vintage maps. I’m definitely no exception and one day would love to have a variety of vintage maps framed in my house. Besides the fun of learning a bit of geography when we look at maps, it’s also fun to discover what has changed since the map had been created. There are so many party games that can come out of having a few maps on your wall too! Anyway, I thought it would be cool to use a vintage world map as part of an airmail design that you can print and fold to become a postcard. I found this cool map that has different routes drawn out – like you are sending your postcard across the world.
I realize that a postcard needs to be of a certain thickness, so make sure you print this on thick cardstock that can be sent by post. Otherwise, you can even wrap this around an existing postcard to be sure it is sendable. Just download the file below in the paper format your prefer.
vintage-map-airmail-postcard-letter | vintage-map-airmail-postcard-a4
I would love to know what you think about printable postcard designs. Is it feasible for actual snail mail? Or will you use the design inside other packages? To decorate your planners, pocket letters and other correspondence? As always, would love to hear any design requests you might have as well.
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by Linda | Jan 31, 2012 | my creative journal
When you need to check yourself and really get planning and organized, use a weekly planner printable page to start.
I’m sitting in my room and it’s the last day of January 2012. I try to ignore the feeling, but now and again I get that numbness of realizing how old I am, how much time has passed already, and how little time there is left. Yes, I know it’s a bit morbid, but those thoughts pop up every now and again.
Download Cute Bird Weekly Planner Page PDF
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I would like to blame it on the snow outside and how everyone is grumbling about the troubles of bad weather. I would blame it on hormones and some kind of biological funk I can’t control. Maybe it’s the winter blues? I could blame it on something, but what’s the point? I realize that it’s totally okay to freak out a bit and worry about things. The bright side is that it means I’m alive and thirsting for more. There’s energy, perhaps misdirected, but it’s there.
Last year I started blogging creative business 101 posts, sharing my progress of building a profitable business. I was happy with the general progress, the accountability, the momentum of it all. Unfortunately, I fell off the wagon when the holidays rolled around. I totally lost my momentum and it’s the last day of the first month of the following year now. Jeepers.
I’ve been watching videos, reading blogs and listening to podcasts (all under the guise of researching) and slowly, but surely, realizing that I am failing myself. It wasn’t a dramatic or sudden epiphany – it was a bonk on the head in slow motion, because it took me so long to maybe, perhaps, snap out of it.
I have been avoiding those reality checks and simply brushing the surface with others, in attempts to avoid the truth. Total FAIL. This is when the Ice Cube song suddenly started to play in the soundtrack of my life, Check Yo Self.
No matter what the circumstances are in life, no matter what crazy huge mistakes I might have made, I always have the opportunity to check myself. That ultimately means I can change course and move forward in the right direction. And if you think about this rocky road of life, we always have to change course. Change with the times, because we never can predict how things will go.
The worse thing is stagnation and inaction. That’s how I’ve been feeling and it sucks. It’s about time to check myself out of this situation.
I’ll be taking some time to re-align, formulate a plan and actually use the resources that I have at hand.
Do you need to check yourself about something? I hope that by sharing the free printable, it might help spur some action in you as well. Sometimes you need someone to shake you to your senses, but sometimes it’s just a very slow and gradual realization. All that matters is that you want to move forward…
by Linda | Mar 9, 2011 | my creative journal
I’ve been designing and creating artwork for a while now, dabbling here and there, but sadly I’m nowhere near my ultimate goals. We all have fun pursuing our passions no matter what, but at the end of the day, it’s important to be moving forward towards your aspirations. I want and need to succeed in more concrete ways. Taking a step back and reviewing my current situation…sort of gives me a headache. I’m all over the place. I feel as if I need to start from square one again.
My goal is a be a licensed artist and I’ve already blogged my intentions to focus this year. I’ve come to realize that I’ve jumped into the sea of creative businesses without actually knowing how to swim properly. I don’t regret anything I’ve done though because it has helped me to come to this point. However, I do feel the struggle of trying to stay afloat and still going nowhere.
There are many creatives out there who have grown up knowing what they want to be. Then there are those like me, who sort of fall into related fields of work and struggle when it comes to breaking open the doors and saying, “Here I Am” and by the way I’m selling my work, too. I know, it can feel so odd to sell yourself – but let’s save that for later discussion…
Basically, I’m starting afresh and following my own Creative Business 101, using all the experience and knowledge I have under my belt. Oftentimes we already know what we need to do, but the volume overwhelms even the best of us. So I’m breaking it all down into an ordered task list, tackling each item one by one. Like many of you out there, I’ve bought those business books and read countless helpful blog posts. At some point you realize you know most of the important information already. It’s time to take action instead of floating on aimlessly. And yes, I will have to make time for this like a priority project, because it’s my dream – it should be the most important thing on my list of to dos. I will be challenging myself to build up my portfolio, my official professional artist presence, connections, submissions and overall marketing of myself and my work. Blogging about the process will keep me accountable and will allow me to share the steps and my experiences along the way. I hope that you’ll come along for the ride.
Finally, I would like to invite everyone who has a dream to follow along. Apply the ideas to your situation and join me! I do believe that doing things together – a collaborative spirit and effort – makes any task so much more enjoyable and approachable. If you blog about your experiences, I would love to follow along. It helps to motivate me in my ventures…so how about it? Let’s start our creative businesses together! Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter if you want to follow along and check the tortagialla.com box. Subscribe here! See you here next time for some creative kick-butt action – ciao ciao.
Note for those who actually get to the end of a post and want more. If you are interested in the resources, books, blogs that I mentioned briefly…you can follow the links below to do your own research. A few are affiliate links, so they will help support me – thanks in advance!
Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business
ArtLicensingInfo.com
ArtBizBlog.com
Scoutie Girl Free Resources
Design*Sponge Biz Ladies posts
HeartMadeBlog Biz Tips posts
The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line
Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business
Craft Inc. Business Planner
