I just got this amazing and cute-able little laptop. It’s called the Asus Eee and it’s extremely useful and generally amazing. I got the 4GB version, but it’s available in slightly cheaper versions too.
Also notable is that this little guy runs Linux and can be talked into running free programs (mine runs The GIMP and Inkscape) with a bit of fiddling around. I’ll go into more detail on the specifics in a later post…

If you’re freelance, you’ll need this. I created this simple spreadsheet in Open Office (a free version of Microsoft Office) for keeping track of your expenses in an organized way. The IRS requires that you divide your costs into different categories and this worksheet makes it easy to track totals and enter them when it’s Tax Season again.

I just got this really cute picture of how a lovely girl named Ivy framed one of my prints. Great idea, right?

Check it out! I’m on Design Sponge!! I hope you make and enjoy this simple pie.

But, I really hate those hideous chains that usually hold one to the ceiling. I figure that several lengths of ribbon should hold this one up.

Maybe I’m in an Anthropologie mood, but I’m loving these additions to a pair of Lowe’s lampshades. I glued some puff ball ribbon to one and some buttons on another.

This past year, I’ve been learning the basics of CSS and XHTML. For those who might need a really basic intro to these two guys, let me try to explain in the simplest terms i can:

If you’re used to dealing with tables for layout, using CSS and XHTML is a different (but actually way easier) way of thinking. Slicing up a large image in Photoshop seems easier, but if you currently have a table layout for your own site, check the “view source” (for Firefox - view>page source or apple U.) The code is an absolute MESS!

I won’t go too far into the detriments of using tables for layout, because I want to focus on the benefits of using CSS for layout.

When you’re building a site, start out not with the design, but with the content. This focus on content is vital; creating “meaningful markup” (h1 header tags for titles, p tags for paragraphs, “header” and “footer” for naming containers that will hold the header and footer information) will make sure that people with older browsers or non-traditional browsers (cell phone users, pda users, screen-readers) who won’t see your style sheet in action will be able to at least read the content of your site.

First, let’s talk about XHTML:

If you know HTML, then you basically know XHTML. XHTML is more strict than HTML is, and the main things you have to look out for are:

In your XHTML (), make sure that you leave out tags that describe how things should look. Focus as much as you can on what things are. For example, don’t use the “font” tag, because that describes what an element should look like. Don’t use a “h1″ tag for an element that you want to appear large, use this tag for an element that’s a title. “Meaningful” markup is the goal.

So, that’s the first part of what you need to know…

I’ll post abouut CSS later. Stay tuned!

This is not design-related, but it’s hopefully helpful…
Over the past few weeks I’ve learned more than a ton about buying a house. I am hoping to close this coming Friday, so there’ll be more to write about then, but so far, here’s what I’ve found out:

First of all, it’s not THAT hard to do. All you need to do is clean up your credit score, and get some money together. If you save 5% of the cost for your down payment and then count on $9,000 for closing costs, that’s about it. It may seem like way too much money to spend up front, and if that’s the case, you could do a no money down sort of thing, but your interest rate on your mortgage will be higher than if you put 5 or 10% down. In an ideal world, I would have put 20% down, but that’s just a bit outrageous at this point.

So, after figuring out what you can afford, and actually finding a house that you like (and you should definitely get the feeling that the house is a place that you could see yourself feeling good about even when you’re alone there at night - my fear always), you need to get the house inspected. This can be expensive; I paid around $500 total for the radon (do it!!) and the regular inspections. In Philly, there are a lot of old houses with lead drain pipes and “knob and tube” wiring. My house has both in parts. The inspection of my house revealed that both of these were present. So, this put the ball back in the Seller’s court; he had to agree to fix these problems before we could go to closing.

Since that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far with the buying part, I’m going to delve back into the prep work:

Getting a good mortgage rate can be hard if you don’t have good credit, so if you think that there’s even a remote possibility that you’d be interested in buying soonish, get your credit score in good shape. You can do a google search for a free credit report to find out what’s going on with your score for starters. I’m not an expert on whipping your credit into shape, but I’d guess that paying back debt is one major help.

If you’re self-employed like I am it can be hard to get a traditional mortgage. I had to do what’s called a “No Doc,” which means that the lender won’t look at things like my tax return (which is pathetic), or my past few years’ income, etc. Instead, I have to put 10% down (which I’ve been preparing for for quite a while, so luckily I have the money to do it) and have EXCELLENT credit.
However, if you have pretty good income from the past few years, a great way to show you’re a good bet for a loan of a lot of money is to diversify your assets. PLEASE don’t keep all of your money in a checking account. I’ll explain why.

My brother talked some sense into me and I began seeing my money in chunks of $5,000. If left alone in a checking account, these chunks suffered; they actually lost money for me. If you have a few thousand, put a chunk into a money market fund. Paypal has one of the highest rates at the moment - you can make 4% of your money back in a year just by having it in one of these funds. Another way to put money aside and have it work FOR you is to put some in a mutual fund. I’ve put some in an Index fund…I’ll write more on investing soon…

The point is, though, that having diverse assets can really help you make your money work for you. You’ll have more money when you want to buy a house AND you’ll have another way to show your mortgage lender that you’re a good bet, which may secure you a lower interest rate.

The following posts explain the basics of screenprinting. I hope they’re helpful…

with the image burned into the screen, align the screen with the guide image on the rig
(this guide image will be especially important if you are printing multiple layers of ink.)

use packing tape to tape off any edges that might not have emulsion applied to them
(this helps prevent ink coming through the screen in areas that aren’t intended.)

apply ink to the screen in an area that won’t touch the image (top or bottom)

with the screen lifted slightly, swipe a “flood stroke” to apply ink evenly to the screen.

allow the screen to be set down on the paper, and use pressure to “pull” the ink across the screen through
to the paper.

lift the screen and remove your print to let it dry.

*note, if you’re printing on fabric, you won’t use the same type of rig. instead, you can place a piece of
cardboard underneath the layer of fabric that you wish to print on and proceed.

Resources

www.victoryfactory.com
www.diehippiedie.com
www.tribe.net
www.diynet.com