Free Twitter Background Template

I’ve had a few questions regarding the tutorial I posted a few months ago about how to make your own Twitter Background. I’ve tried to respond to each question individually. However, I noticed that Fuel Your Creativity posted a free template last week, and I thought I’d do the same for you guys. Their template is different than mine; I hope you find value in both.

Click here to download a PSD (with layers!) of my Twitter background template. The file size is about 472 KB. Go here for instructions on using the template.

Click here to visit Fuel Your Creativity and check out the template they have available.

How to Make Your Own Stencil

I’ve created a basic how-to tutorial for making your own stencils. As simple as stencil-making can be, I was intimidated to begin. However, I’m glad that I did, and I hope the following tutorial will give you the information you need to get started. You can download a free PDF of this tutorial here.

Stencil-making is a simple and fun way to express your creativity, and it’s the first step most people take when they begin experimenting with graffiti art or guerrilla art. Learning to make your own stencils vastly increases the options and ability to use original art to create one-of-a-kind stencils. In addition, stencil-making also increases awareness of positive and negative space, expanding your creative skill set and allowing you to create customized art pieces.

Supplies

• Cutting mat OR
• Light board with healing mat surface
• Xacto knife
• Original art
• Pen or pencil
• Transfer material (transparent contact paper, brown craft paper, or cardboard)

Step 1: Create a Stencil Template
Create a stencil template by placing your artwork on the cutting mat and using your Xacto knife to carefully cut it out, keeping all elements intact. When you are finished, the artwork should pull away from the stencil in one piece.

Step 2: Trace Out the New Stencil
Then, place your stencil template over your craft paper or cardboard. Use a pen or pencil to trace the outline of the stencil. Remove your template and store it together with the original artwork.

Step 3: Cut out the Stencil
Finally, use the Xacto knife to cut out your stencil. Make sure your stencil medium is fully on the cutting mat or lightboard and use your Xacto knife to carefully cut out the image. You want to keep the image seamless, so that when you remove the stencil from the artwork, each element is in one piece. For example, a letter A stencil typically looks like this:

Transparent contact is an ideal medium for stencils because it is self-adhering and allows you to maintain greater detail in the stencil design. In addition, there is no need to create a stencil template. Simply lay the contact paper over the original artwork and trace out the stencil (Step 2). All done!

Top 5 Print Making Tutorials

Part of expanding your creative toolkit is learning new skills and finding ways to incorporate them into you art and creative process. Learning a new skill or application can also help you overcome the limits of your own medium.

Print  making is so much fun, and it can help you change your perspectives of color and shadow, positive and negative space, and how colors relate to each other. To get you started in the world of printmaking, here are my top five (in no particular order) favorite online printing tutorials:

1. Block Print Tutorial by Lizzy House
2. How to Silkscreen Posters and T-Shirts by No Media Kings
3. Lino Print Tutorial by Fanny
4. Relief Printing by TskTsk
5. Leaf Printing Tutorial by One Girl DesignWrks

Okay… and one more (six!) because it’s just such fun and too hands-on not to include!

6. Lino printing tutorial for absolute beginners (like me) by Lemonlight

You can find print making supplies at your local craft store. However, if your local shop is like mine, the variety of options may be limited. Dick Blick offers a variety of quality tools and supplies for block printing and screen printing. They also have a special 10% discount promotion through May 18, 2009 and shipping for a flat rate of just $5.95. If you choose Dick Blick, use offer code CCFV.

How to Keep a Stockpile of Creative Resources

Photo by fuque, SXC.hu

Earlier this week I wrote about how building your arsenal of creative resources can inspire creativity and provide a well of creative insight to draw upon. If you don’t have a stockpile yet, here’s how you can begin to build your own:

1. Take stock. First, you need to know what you have and what you’re missing. Do you have lots of fabrics and papers, or not many at all? Do you have a variety of colors, or are most of theme in the same color scheme? Do you have real fiber brushes but no synthetic? Wide sponges but not narrow ones? Are all of your props modern, vintage, girly, rustic? Look for trends and loopholes.
2. Organize by category. As an artist, my stockpile contains far more than just paints and brushes. I also have inks, pencils, markers, fabrics, papers, film, yarn, twine, glassware, vintage knick knacks, et cetera et al. Keeping my arsenal of resources organized is key to being able to use them effectively. I’ll be writing on this in more detail for a Weekend Project post. However, the best place to begin is to organize what you have by category.
3. Identify what you need. As an artist, there are certain supplies you need to do your work well. Look at your stockpile and identify what is missing. Also, make note of what you use most and run out of fastest.
4. Plan purchases ahead of time. There are many great ways to get good deals on premium quality supplies like paints, brushes, and canvases. Dick Blick
   is one of my favorite online options, but you can also utilize in-store discount coupons, free shipping offers, etc. The key is to snagging these great deals is to plan ahead of time. By identifying what you need, you can make purchases when discounts are at a premium.
5. Subscribe to creative magazines. There is so much art and creativity going on in the world, and subscribing to magazines who keep a tap on all of the very best work can provide a consistent stream of inspiration. There are many fashion, photography, design, architecture, decor, techy, and crafty magazines available on the market in both print and digital versions. I personally subscribe to the print versions of Dwell and HOW Design – partly because I am still one of those people that prefers print over digital, and partly because I love having a tangible object on hand that I can refer to later. The physical interaction of tagging and earmarking pages adds to the creative experience for me.
6. Build your library. Books are a more permanent resource than magazines, but share a similar purpose. I love works like Post Secret, and I am really looking forward to receiving Marc Johns’ book of art titled Serious Drawings. Post Secret makes me want to play with collage in my art, while Serious Drawings makes me want to learn to use ink and watercolor. My husband refers to photography books and magazines for ideas about lighting setup and scene design.
7. Keep it fun – Go treasure hunting! I’ve written about my treasure hunting escapades with my husband before, but I can’t emphasize it enough. The best, most creative finds are often those that are hidden, that unless you’re paying attention, you might easily miss. My favorite places to go treasure hunting are antique shops – I find vintage fabrics and the most unique props. However, visiting a new fabric shop, specialty art supply store, photo gallery, or museum can be a great source of inspiration as well as resources. Be spontaneous, and you’ll be surprised at the creative inspiration waiting for you around the corner.

If you’ve been building your stockpile for a while and have tips to share, please post them in the comments!

Seven Tutorial Blogs for Creatives

This morning’s post in the How to Get Your Creative Groove On series focused on the importance of expanding your skill set to increase creativity. While dedicated tutorial blogs are difficult to find, there are many excellent blogs by fellow creatives willing to share the knowledge. Here are ten great tutorial blogs to help you get started:

1. Line25. http://line25.com. This blog is a new favorite of mine. It has an entire category dedicating to providing simple, user friendly tutorials for advanced creative and techie applications.
2. Design View. http://andyrutledge.com. Andy provides incredible design insight and industry experience. His posts are in depth and are a great tool for developing your design skills.
3. Decor8. http://decor8blog.com. Founder Holly Becker wrote a really insightful ten-week creativity series and occasionally features really fun tutorials.
4. Mary Gatling. http://marygatling.com. Mary is an artist and writer, and she facilitates creativity workshops. Through her blog Mary shares her art, creativity insights, and mini-tutorials in which she demonstrates how she achieved specific painting effects.
5. Tutorial Blog. http://www.tutorialblog.org. TutorialBlog covers the widest range of tutorial topics pertaining to artists and creatives that I have found. You can find tutorials for everything from Photoshop to PowerPoint to SEO optimization. Fantastic general tutorials blog.
6. DIY Photography. http://www.diyphotography.net. This site is an incredible tool for Photographers. I recognized the top post immediately as my husband just made his own snoot. (If you don’t know what that is, you definitely want to visit this site and find out!)
7. Tutorial 9. http://www.tutorial9.net. This is a great site for free tutorials about web and photography. Some of it is basic, but they cover a wide spectrum of topics.

If you have a favorite blog that features tutorials for creatives, please post it in the comments!

Every Monday is Tip Day! This Week: Make Your Own Twitter Background

Every Monday is Tip Day! Grab a cup of coffee and get over the Monday morning bump with tips, tools, and inspiration from Perch.

This Week:  Make Your Own Twitter Background

Saturday night was a long one for me – lots of homework, lots of work in general. I took a break after watching Saturday Night Live to try to customize my Twitter background. I was inspired by Gwen Bell’s design and a few others I’ve seen lately, and I thought it would be fun to try to match my Twitter background to my blog template for Perch. I was surprised to find that it’s incredibly easy. If you’re looking for a simple creative exercise with some fun benefits, try this out.

First, check out this tutorial from Geek Entrepreneur. They do an incredible job of walking you through all of the steps. I recommend reading the entire article before you get started. Also, one note – they recommend a 450 left margin; I recommend 225 instead. Most computer screens are not panoramic; if you use GE’s recommendation, half of your left sidebar will get cut off.

Next, plan your artwork. Geek Entrepreneur glosses over this step, but it’s a very important one. What information do you want to include? How do you use Twitter most, for social networking with friends and family, or for business? Include your logo if you have one, and maybe consider including a picture, too. I designed my background in artwork and tried to match it to my blog template. I wasn’t able to include as much in the left sidebar as I’d like, but I’m excited about experimenting more with it in the future. One last thing – if you’re working in Photoshop, use layers! This will allow you to make simple changes when you’re testing out your design.

Time to get to work! Here are two great articles with some extra tips:

1. Life of Justin – “Brand Yourself with a Twitter Background“
2. Croncast – “Just One Show”

And a few of my favorite Twitter backgrounds to inspire you:

1. Gwen Bell – @gwenbell
2. Mavin Digital – @mavindigital
3. Jeremy Cowart – @jeremycowart

And don’t forget to check mine out – Twitter.com/dee_wilcox.

Have fun!