I got a request for a print from a lady at the post office. She asked for a pomeranian. I don’t usually draw dogs, but this one is perfect for a cute art print. A little pom-pom is so easy to break down into simple shapes. He’ll be available soon.

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.

I really miss the Swell line at Target. Even though Swell is long gone, I did find these at everyone’s favorite store. They’re called “Typhoon Pantryware.”

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!

Take a look at Okanaga Touch Wood for some lovely wooden tulips and daffodils. I got some for the house; they’re really pretty.