Two Side by Side

<div style=”clear: both;”></div>

AND SAVE IT, without going back to Visual Mode! (If you save in Visual mode you’ll delete the div tag) so you may want to do this LAST.

Single images, with text beside them:

This is text that shows us beside the image. These might be steps in a recipe, for example

test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test

Second set of text that shows us beside the image.

test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test

The HTML for this last part looks like this:

<h2>Single images, with text beside them:</h2>
<a href=”http://www.dabbledstudios.com/supperwhirl/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lemons.jpg”><img title=”lemons” src=”http://www.dabbledstudios.com/supperwhirl/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lemons-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /></a> This is text that shows us beside the image.

test text
<div style=”clear: both;”> </div>

<a href=”http://www.dabbledstudios.com/supperwhirl/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/freezing.jpg”><img src=”http://www.dabbledstudios.com/supperwhirl/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/freezing-300×208.jpg” alt=”” title=”freezing” width=”300″ height=”208″ /></a>This is text that shows us beside the image.

test text
<div style=”clear: both;”> </div>

Here is the same thing, except with a right picture. Works the same way as the left.

For just a picture by itself (no float) just use the None option when inserting the photo.

Hope this is useful to you! It was to me :) I try not to post too much web design related stuff here, since it’s not really the topic of this blog, but I figured this would be more universally useful. If you’re into this stuff, I post more if it at the DabbledStudios blog – latest was a post on troubleshooting problems with Contact Form 7, if you’re interested!

I use Photoshop all the time, but I hadn’t ever made any brushes.  I figured there are a ton of good brushes out there, why make my own? And I figured it was complicated.  But then I realized how easy they were to make, and that they could be really useful web work, using them basically as ‘stamps’ to create graphics that you use over and over. I used this technique to make the swirl for the Foodwhirl logo into a brush I could use whenever I needed it — easy peasy!

Here’s a quick 2 Step tutorial on how to easily make them, hope you find it useful!

Example 1: Make a brush with transparency, from scratch.

1.
Open a new file and create your shape. I created a 2000×2000 pixel file, Grayscale, with a transparent background (White background is fine too). Then I drew the black oval filling most of the space, and added a gray swirl to it. I then Trimmed it down to just the shape. Either white or transparent will show up as transparent on your brush. Shades of gray will be semi-transparent.

2.
Then I Defined the Brush Preset : Go to the Edit menu, pick Define Brush Preset.  Enter a name, and you’re done!  (Click to see these screenshots larger)

Example 2: Make a solid brush from an existing image.

So, what if you have an image that you want to make into a brush?
In this example, I wanted a brush of the Twitter bird.
I snagged the image from Twitter, turned it grayscale, and inverted it. Now it’s got a gray background and black center. The black center is what I want (black will be solid), but I want it surrounded by white. So I’m going to use Levels to get it just black and white.
Click on “Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer” on the Layers box, and choose Levels.

Then move the sliders until your image is just black and white. (You can darken or lighten grays this way, just play around with it).
(Zooming in helps)

Then just Define a New Brush Preset, and you’re ready to go!

The Dragon Cake I made for my 4 year old’s birthday was so popular, that I decided I’d better do a tutorial. Note, I am not a professional baker, and i’m sure there are things I’ve gotten ‘wrong’.. but that’s one reason i did this tutorial to show that you don’t have to be a professional to attempt something cool!

PS: You guys better appreciate this! I actually didn’t do the best job of documenting my process while making the Dragon Cake, so I took some of the leftovers and made a mini version just so I could get some good pics of the process. And since I did put a lot of work into this tutorial, I would be tickled pink if you’d link to it, stumble it, or share it around!

So, you have a couple of ways to see it…

I wrote the whole thing up as an instructable, here. If you’re really going to try it (or want ALL the details) be sure to read the instructable, as it’s much more thorough.

Or if you just want a quick and dirty version I documented the creation of the mini dragon as a photo-tutorial here and below.

Oh, I’ll do an entire Dragon Party Wrap Up(cakes, invites, favors, etc)
this week, so stay tuned.

1. A possible skull material (the original dragon’s skull was modeling chocolate), 2. “Skull” modeled out of Tootie Roll, 3. The guts! (cake ball material-but I do recommend a light color instead of red velvet), 4. kneading, 5. Rolled fondant for head., 6. a platform for holding the cake while draping, 7. molded dragon body, 8. Place cake on an upside down cup, and drape fondant., 9. Tuck the edges under, but leave the neck and tail ends untucked., 10. Layout, and place skull., 11. Cover skull in fondant., 12. Shape tail out of fondant., 13. Roll out a contrasting color, and cut into strips, 14. Cover joints with strips of fondant, 15. Cut out a wing shape., 16. Shape the wing, and Attach to toothpick, 17. jun09 240, 18. Use a large straw (or larger circle) to make dots., 19. To make the eyes, 20. The eyes!, 21. Cover a Ball with fondant, Mold Foot from Fondant., 22. Mold the Claw, 23. Place the Claw, 24. Finished Mini-Dragon

Get the whole thing here:

How to make a Dragon Cake – More DIY How To Projects

Related “Dragon Party” Posts:

• Download dragon thank you note and party invitation
• Finished Dragon Cake…
• Cake Baking Day!
• Dragon Wings…
• Dragon Invitation Graphic
  

Now, it wasn’t a small party (not only his friends from preschool, but our friends with kids were there), so I initially made 20 of these. Hence they are NOT high quality heirloom construction. You could easily modify these instructions (adding hems and what not) to make these more of a “finished” product. But for my purposes, I figured the quick and dirty version would do just fine. I also kept the design pretty cheap – I figure each one was about $1 in materials cost.

These would be great not only for favors, but for the “dress up box”, or if done a little nicer, for a gift too!

I promised a tutorial for both this and the Dragon Cake (done!), so here it is… Instructions are after the mosaic picture, but if you need more info, just email me or post here.

Note, ignore the different colors, i made a variety and used the best shots for the tutorial. I figured a mix of orange, pink, blue, and green would work for a mix of kids, and any kids who didn’t want “wings” could call it a prince or princess cape. Each square of fabric makes 4 capes.

1. Start with a piece of fabric at least 1 yd square. (larger for bigger kids) I did some at 36 in square (about the minimum for 4 year olds) and some a tad larger, which worked better. Measure against the wingspan of your sample child to figure out how much fabric to buy. I found that with 44 in broadcloth, 44 in square (about 1.25 yds) worked really well.
2. Trim fabric to a square. Save the excess. If you want to make the wrist straps more unubtrusive (for a cape look) use strips of the extra fabric for that.
3. Cut on the diagonal, to make 4 equal triangles., Start at each corner, and cut in a big X. that will make 4 capes.
4. 4 triangles, Yep, this will be 4 capes. The longest side of the triangle is the width of your step 2 square.
5. You end up with 4 triangles.,
6. Cut 4 lengths of ribbon about 15 inches each (measure around a child’s neck to be sure of length),
7. Center the ribbon on the long side of the triangle, fold the ribbon over in two, sandwiching the cloth, and pin. Guessimating is fine, i didn’t measure. Then pin about 2 inches from the center pin on either side to help you when you stitch.
8. Cut out Wrist Straps, either out of the same ribbon or from a strip of the excess cloth (i did both)
9. Pin the wrist straps in place, location depends on child size. Use your sample child to get an approximation. I found for the 36 in capes (for a 4 yr old) the straps should be almost at the end, where as the 44 in capes were about 6 inches in from the points.
10. Sew on the ribbon neckpiece, start sewing at the far pin, and sew to the near one. Again, quick and dirty, i wasn’t going for looks here, just attaching.
11. Look at that incredibly straight seam! uh, yeah, moving on…,
12. Sew on Wrist straps, Not rocket science, just a straight or zig zag stitch back and forth so they stay on.
13. Sew velcro on each end of the Ribbon. You could of course skip this and do longer ribbon and just tie it (which I would have done with older kids), but I figured better safe than sorry. This was the biggest pain, but since i wasn’t too worried about looks, not too bad.
14. dragonwings, Here they are in full view! This is one of the larger versions.
15. Back View

That’s all there is to it! Hope you enjoy, and if anyone makes a “nicer” version of these, please share it here!

Related “Dragon Party” Posts:

• Dragon Cake Tutorial!
• Download dragon thank you note and party invitation
  
• Finished Dragon Cake…
• Cake Baking Day!
• Dragon Wings…
• Dragon Invitation Graphic

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did… – Dot

How To Make Fused Plastic Sheets (from plastic bags)
…and then turn them into something neat!
1. Fusing Plastic Bags: Things you need, 2. Fusing Plastic Bags: The Bags!, 3. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step One, 4. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Two, 5. Fusing Plastic Bags: Don’t forget the Earth!, 6. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Three, 7. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Four, 8. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Five, 9. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Six, 10. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Seven, 11. Fusing Plastic Bags: The Motion in the Ocean, 12. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Eight, 13. Fusing Plastic Bags: Turn up the Heat!, 14. Fusing Plastic Bags: Aaaaand we’re GOOD!, 15. Fusing Plastic Bags: Step Nine, 16. Final step!The description of each picture gives you the scoop on what’s going on, so click through the links above for directions, or you can see all the steps here.

So what to do with it now?

“Just behave as if this cool, fused plastic sheet were a regular piece of fabric! It sews right through on a regular machine (won’t get stuck or not feed feed properly… it will smoothly go through just like any piece of fabric would!).

When you are cutting shapes out of it, I recommend you draw your shapes on the backside of the fused plastic using a permanent marker (so that it won’t smear and get all over you), and then cut them out. Do this instead of pinning pattern pieces to it because wherever you put your pins is going to leave a tiny hole in the plastic.

Just use a regular or universal needle, no leather needles needed… this stuff is actually quite soft and easy for a regular sewing machine to pierce right through!

And if using a sewing machine isn’t your gig, try your “hand”… haha… at hand sewing through your fused plastic! I’ve made some wonderful little accessories by “whipstitching” or “blanket stitching” around the edge with colorful embroidery thread and even yarn!

There are so many possibilities for what to do with this new eco fabric… dream up something useful for your new recycled fused plastic!”

Thanks Brooke, This is really cool, green, and inspiring!

All About Brooke, of So She Sews

“Imagine a young Cindi Lauper with Bob Villa composure.
Haha! Ok, well you can already tell that I’m a bit of a jokester. What is life if you can’t have fun, am I right? Basically I’ve been amazingly blessed all my life to pursue having fun for a living. And having fun to me is at the very core of creativity. I adore things with color, difference, functionality and good design. I learned to sew when I was very young, thanks to my amazing Mother (who will appreciate the Bob Villa reference), and I’ve been cultivating it since. I’ve done everything from altering wedding gowns to cutting faux fur all day long as a professional fabric cutter in a mascot costume factory. My education was in Costume Design for Theatre but my passion for vintage fashion has just as much to do with my design style. I care deeply about my impact on the earth, and hope one day to have my own “eco-home” with a little veggie garden in the back, and solar panels to power my sewing machine!”

Buy her stuff (Pictured above): Owl Purses, Dresses, Wallets

Check her out at
http://soshesews.etsy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soshesews/