The images in this post are all images I created from scratch except the first one that I downloaded from an out-of-print book and cleaned up.
I thought I would share them, freely, as they are not the type of thing I can easily sell outside of a virtual world but they are occasionally of use for background images for blogs and such. Plus I like to give away stuff just for fun. Good karma you know. Enjoy.
If a link back to this site is provided by you, I would greatly appreciate it. I can use the link juice, as they call it these days.
In the next few days I will make these available as a set free for download as a test for a “gift shop” I will be adding to this site. Can’t wait! In the meanwhile, feel free to download and use as you see fit. Acknowledgment and/or a link back would be nice if you choose to use. Thanks!
GBE2: Week #105 Mentoring
I mentored myself, and sought out mentors, in Second Life® to learn how to “build” and create graphics in 2006 and 2007. I will never know their real names because we were all “avatars” with assumed identities due to the rules of participation in the Virtual world.
Some Days Nothing Gets Done
This was one of those days when writing just did not get done. What I did do today was focus on graphics for the BoomHer site and the new This Month in BoomHer History feature I am putting together.
Masks, Self, and Other
The word “mask” makes me think of the collection of masks from Mexico that were once a part of my daily life. Some creeped me out, some drew me in, some had a definite presence. I headed up the security section of the Arizona State Museum and routinely walked through and trained the gallery guards about the basics of an exhibit of 350 masks that was called Mexican Masks, Faces of Fiesta.
These amazing artifacts are the first thing that came to mind when I read about the Nablopomo theme on BlogHer for the month of October: Mask.
The second thing I thought of was the partial covering of a layer in of an image in a graphic.
The third thing I thought of was of the masks we all put on to cover, separate, or protect our private, personal selves from others. As a child I listened to the Beatles album, Revolver, over and over and over again. Eleanor Rigby, the woman in the song of the same on the album was described as “wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door.” I was always intrigued by the ambiguity of meaning in that phrase. McCartney wrote most of the lyrics. Only he knows what they really meant to him at the time, but to me it spoke of the masks we wear, the false faces we present to the world while really wanting someone to know the real us. In all of my wisdom, at age nine, I also thought of the cosmetic faces that women put on and how those are false faces we present too.
It is intriguing to me that masks can be used to an outer power into us, as when a mask is worn in a ritual to invoke a God or spirit, or that we can wear them to hide parts of our inner selves. Isn’t it strange that the word can cover such disparate behaviors.
As always, when I think about meaning I end up finding out something about myself. Durng the writing of this post I realized that when I used to don costumes for Halloween, that I never wore a mask. I think I used costumes to accentuate a part of myself rather than to hide a part of myself.
Costumes, masks, and avatars are wonderful semiotic elitication tools. How do you feel about masks?
App of the Week, Martha Stewart CraftStudio, Free through July 8th
Reason Creek’s Application of the Week for the iPad: Martha Stewart’s CraftStudio
The Martha Stewart Craft Studio application is free from the App Store until July 8th thanks to the sponsorship of Snapfish! No I’m not getting paid or reimbursed or anything for reviewing this app. I just stumbled across it and thought, “Hey, lots of folks are going to like this for a variety of reasons!”
While you may certainly use it to make cards, I immediately thought of doing quicky web graphics like the one above, although I am sure you can do better than I did. I just wanted to try out several of the features, such as stamps, stickers, background patterns, text, edge and corner treatments, color, and glitter and handwriting (I decided not to use the later two.)
It allows for undoing, layers, reordering of layers, deletion of elements, altering the color of elements. You can save to pictures, sent, and post.
I wholeheartedly recommend downloading it while it is free. The application allows you to purchase additional palettes or styles if you wish. I have not done that yet. But if I have a need for it, it is nice to know I can quickly make a cute graphic when I’m on the road with just my iPad. The app. will be $4.99 after July 8th.
I’m going to try to design some stickers using this app and print them out for my business promo to hand out at BlogHer using Avery stickers.
Graphic for a Viral Shop-In
I created this image/graphic so I would have a badge to use on my blogging site in support of the Shop-In to thank J C Penney for keeping Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson and not caving in to small but loud protests about naming her their spokesperson. Also if you do participate this Sunday, or if you do buy something at JCP later than Sunday to support their action, please let them know that you did so by telling the checkout person, or emailing corporate head quarters. The shop in had already gone viral by the time I wrote my post on my other blog and created a graphic. Now that is Trend Spotting for you. I tell you I am great at it.
Progressives and liberals ( and “Yes, Virginia, there is a difference”) need to do this as a matter of routine and to do this en masse as their conservative counterparts do the en masse and often thing very well as well as hiring people to do it. By presenting a graphic for people to use some people will notice and participate in this campaign or shop-in because the graphic got their attention when text or would not have grabbed it. Graphics are good business!
Remember, if you need a graphic for your website my rates are low and fare. Some graphics, specially created just for you for one time use on your website, are as low as $25.00.
A Not Entirely Wordless Wednesday
Today, I just couldn’t finish any of the meaty articles I have started but that still need work. So I made some graphics/textures I can use in a virtual world.
frame for use as window or as a frame – clear layers
wire wrapped rails – clear layers
This is an open weave fabric I created from scratch.
black stamped pattern over fabric
pillow with blanket stitched edge
just part of a spiral
candy cane stripes
geometric tile