Archives for November 2016

November 26, 2016 by Kat

The Best Gift: Creating your own Greeting Cards Tutorial

What is the best gift you’ve ever gotten? Think for a moment… Bring up the gift in your mind. What was it, who gave it to you, how did it make you feel? It gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling, doesn’t it?

I’m going to take a wild guess… It probably wasn’t the latest electronic gadget or a kitchen appliance. It was probably something special, something where the giver thought about you in the choosing. Maybe it was something they had made.

I must admit, I’m partial to the handmade gift. I don’t get excited about the whole holiday shopping thing, but I love to give gifts, especially of my art. The problem is… It’s hard to give art as a gift. Choosing art for the walls of your home or office is a very personal thing. So if you give your art to someone, you risk that it may sit gathering dust in a drawer or closet, never to be used.

Over time I’ve learned that there is a great way to gift art that can work for everyone: Greeting cards.

Each year, for holiday gifts I create greeting card packs with new art pieces I’ve created in the last year. This way, I get to share my art in a format that everyone can use. The cards are blank inside and they can be used for any purpose, just write your own greeting and voila! You have a birthday card or a thank you card or whatever kind of card you choose. They are nicely packaged and can be re-gifted, if desired. I make different size packs, from three to six cards in a pack, and give these packs to coworkers, friends, and family. They have become quite the popular gift, with people letting me know how much they look forward to them!

Today, I’m going to share the ins and outs of creating your own greeting cards. I’m sharing all of the details from the card stock I use to the packaging I put them in. What I would like to encourage is less shopping and more creating this holiday season, because creating connections through art is one of the best gifts you can give.

Step One – The Paper

Finding a good greeting card paper is not easy. You want a paper that will give a nice-looking print, with good color and detail. You also want a paper stock that is enjoyable to write on, since it’s blank and the user will need to write in a greeting. You might also want the card stock pre-cut and pre-scored, so there aren’t a lot of extra steps to turn the paper into the card after printing.

I wanted all of these things, and after a lot of searching, I found Red River Paper inkjet greeting card stock. I first ordered the Sample Kit to test out the different paper stocks they offered, and then settled on the 60lb Polar Matte cardstock. This paper gives very nice detail and color and has a smooth finish which is lovely to write on. It is also pre-cut and pre-scored, which makes it super easy to create your own cards.

I buy the 7×10″ size which folds into a 5×7″ (A7) card.

Step Two – The Print

I do all of my printing through Lightroom, and if you do too, I’ll make things easy by providing a few templates for greeting cards. I’m not going to get into the details of getting a good fine art print, because that goes beyond this simple tutorial. (If you want to learn how to make a good fine art print using Lightroom or Photoshop, I recommend the eBook Making the Print by Martin Bailey.)

I’ve created three templates for the 7×10″ greeting card stock from Red River which you can download for import into Lightroom. These templates have a photo on one side and your name or website on the back. You will need to choose the correct template to ensure your image is oriented such that the card will open correctly. Download the templates here:
Square – Use for square photos
Horizontal – Use for rectangular photos in Landscape orientation
Vertical – Use for rectangular photos in Portrait orientation

To use these templates, first go into the Print Module, then right click on the template browser to create a new folder for your templates and then to import a template. Once your template is imported, click on it to select. You should see your chosen photo loaded into the template. Before printing, you will need to change the nameplate which current reads “Your Information Here.” Type in the information you would like to print on the back of the card. This would typically include your name or website address.

If you are using the square template, you need to have the bottom of the image facing toward the right side on the screen, as shown above. Unfortunately, the image will not auto-rotate to the correct orientation with a square format, so you will need to manually rotate the image before you print. Go into the Library Module and then rotate your image 90 degrees right before printing.

Before printing, check on your Print Job settings (right side menu) to ensure you have the correct printer settings and ICC profile loaded. You can get the printer settings and profile information on the 60lb Polar Matte stock from Red River here.

When you first use these templates, I recommend you run several test prints to ensure the color settings and orientation are correct. There is nothing worse than printing multiple cards that open the wrong way! Once you confirm everything is working correctly, you can print to your heart’s content.

Step Three – The Package

After the cards are ready, I add matching envelopes and then package as a gift. I’m all about simplicity, so for my gift packages, I use a simple clear bag or box with a stretch loop around it. The stretch loop gives it a nice gift-y feeling and can also hold a personalized holiday tag or note. Here is an example of a finished gift bag with three card/envelope sets inside:

I buy all of the packaging materials, including envelopes, from ClearBags. You can buy matching envelopes from Red River Paper, but I’ve found the ClearBags envelopes are also nice and are a bit cheaper when you buy in bulk. Here are the links:
Envelopes – White A7 size
Stretch Loops – The 10″ size works well for the A7 card bags and boxes below
Clear Boxes – You can easily fit 5-6 card/envelope sets in a box
Clear Bags – You can fit up to 3 card/envelope sets in a bag

I hope this tutorial helps you create some gifts with your art this year. Not only are greeting cards a great way to share your art, they also lead to meaningful connections between others as they are used. It’s one of the few gifts that truly keeps on giving.

If you don’t want to make your own greeting cards, I have sets created with my art available in my shop here. Custom orders are also available! Contact me for more info.

November 20, 2016 by Kat

Which wolf do you feed?

What leads to creativity? It’s a question many of us struggle with, especially in the dark times for our art. The times when nothing seems to come easily. When inspiration seems to have deserted us. In those times, there are things we can do to keep us going. We can read thought-provoking books, visit galleries with good art, learn something new, or talk to people about deep and meaningful things. Those are a few steps we can take.

And one other step? We can step away from things that we know bring us down, overwhelm us with stress and worry.

Earlier this year, I did that. I stepped away from something that was increasing my stress and anxiety, was fueling worry and was generating internal anger on a regular basis.

I stopped listening to the news.

It wasn’t just the election cycle, although that was a big part of it. It started with the Orlando shootings, and the obsessive coverage it got. And that turned into responses and sound bites from every direction. And it all felt so self-serving and sensationalist. The news outlets that covered it. The politicians who reacted to it. The conjecture and the analysis only served to fuel the hate. So I turned it off.

Instead, I’ve been listening to podcasts. I’ve found interesting, intelligent podcasts which stretch my mind, teach me new things, give a deeper story than a sound bite. After a few weeks of listening to podcasts I realized how much better I felt about the world. How much deeper I was thinking about it. How my thoughts were fueling more interesting conversations with those I interact with. How much happier I am, in my day-to-day life.

I still get the news, through the grapevine of coworkers, family, friends. If something happens I want to learn more about, I can go find a deeper analysis of it. Often in a podcast, on my terms.

And guess what? My creativity has responded, too. Without the extra stress and worry of how sad the world is these days and what might happen next, I am in a more positive place. My art doesn’t come when I’m working out my anxieties. My art comes when I take a deep breath and find quiet. Peace.

This week, I read a Cherokee legend in Arianna Huffington’s book, Thrive:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy, “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you — and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

This story resonated with me deeply. There is so much wisdom in these few words. If we dwell in the anger and hostility, we feed that wolf. If we step away from those negative sources, and fill the void with positive influences, we are feeding a different wolf.

Which wolf do you feed?

I thought I would share a list of my favorite podcasts with you, in case you would like to try something new. If you have other good podcasts you recommend, please leave a comment. I’m always interested in learning about more!

This American Life
Invisibilia
On Being
TED Radio Hour
Freakonomics

And, if you listen to podcasts, you need a good podcast app! My favorite podcast app is Pocket Casts, available for both iOS and Android. With this app, when you subscribe to a podcast, you can go into the settings to have it automatically download and add to the “Up Next” list, for continual podcast goodness without a lot of effort.

November 4, 2016 by Kat

Words Must Suffice

Picture this…

You are hiking in the autumn forest, enjoying the sunlight filtering through the few last vibrant leaves clinging to the branches. There is always a rewarding view at the top of this trail, and you are ready for it as you come out onto the sunny, open meadow crowning the hill. But when you reach the summit and look out onto the scene, you stop in surprise. All around, filling the expansive valley below you, is a rolling white layer of clouds reflecting the sunlight. A few hills and peaks share their summits with you above the fog, the last of their autumn color shining bright, but the rest of the world is hidden down below. You can hear there is a world down there… The sounds of the morning commute come through. You pause for the moment, realizing the people making their way through the world for their morning routine are experiencing a very different reality from you. They are surrounded by a chilly, dense fog, while you are in the warm and open sunlight, above it all. You pause, and enjoy the moment.

What do you think? Can you picture the scene?

I hope so, because I don’t have a photograph. For some reason, my trusty iPhone did not get charged last night. I plugged it in before bed, but something weird must have happened, because the battery died before I even started my ascent up the hill. Oh well, I thought. There will be other foggy mornings to photograph. I’m not missing anything.

And yet…

As I walked through the forest, I realized there won’t be other mornings like this morning. There was a beautiful layer of yellow leaves still clinging to some of the lower trees, while the oaks had lost all their leaves. OK, so I’ll miss that. Next time I’m on the same trail, at the same time of day, the leaves will all be down. A small moment of sadness, and then an increased awareness of my surroundings, realizing that my memory and experience will have to suffice. I can enjoy that.

And yet…

When I came out to the top of the hill and saw the valley shrouded in fog, I knew that this morning, this scene would never be repeated. The last of the autumn color was one thing, the perfect meeting of the fog and the sun and the autumn color was another thing altogether. I whole-heartedly wished my camera was working.

Because I couldn’t photograph it, I spent a lot of time looking at it. Memorizing it. I walked around the hill and to take in the scene from different angles and points of view. It’s still there, this image. It’s in my head, carefully stored away, for when I want to revisit it. A special moment in a familiar place.

While I wish I could have shared it with you through a photograph, mere words will have to suffice today.

I could write how this is a lesson in making sure your phone is charged, to have an extra battery pack with you, or whatever. That would be the great photography advice to give you.

But I think the lesson here is that you don’t always need a camera to capture the experience. We photographers can forget that. Because I couldn’t take any photographs, I spent more time within the moment than I otherwise would. I paid closer attention, so that I would remember the details. I savored the scene in a way I might not have, had the camera been available.

I would have spent so much time capturing the moment, I wouldn’t have experienced it.

Today, I’m happy for the experience. That’s all we really need.

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