Graphic Allusions

New Jewellery at Cafepress!

2012-02-22T03:40:00.001-08:00

When I started creating stuff for Cafepress last year, I got really hooked on the jewellery - it's really cute! You can design heart-shaped necklaces and earrings, charm bracelets, oval shaped pendants and more. It's been a little while, but I got back into it again this week and here's my latest jewellery collections - I hope you'll like them. :)

Baroque Gold Oval Pendant

Applique Flowers Heart Shaped Earrings

Red Velvet Jewel Heart Shaped Pendant

Cute Frog Charm Bracelet with Single Charm

Coming soon from Graphic Allusions, a brand new Zazzle Store!

2012-02-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Well, the title's pretty self-explanatory! Here's a sneak preview of a brand new sister store to Graphic Allusions at Zazzle, The Cute Kitchen! It'll feature fresh, new, colourful designs for all kinds of goodies for the kitchen, including coffee mugs, candy jars, placemats, coasters, decorative hanging ornaments and more! Here's a sneak peak below, and stay tuned! :)

The Happy Pig Hanging Ornament

Busy Bees Candy Jar

Purple and Gold Wood Carving Coffee Mug

Happy Black Cat Hanging Kitchen Ornament

Well, it's February again...

2012-02-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

And of course, that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner. That's a real mixed bag to people, I know. Some people revel in that kind of thing...romantic dates, gifts of chocolate, roses and ahem, unmentionable underwear! (Sorry, I guess because I went ahead and wrote about it now, it's not unmentionable anymore!) But, seriously, it means um, something much lower down on the food chain to some...and that's absolutely nothing. Not everybody has a romantic somebody in their life to get all gooey with on the big day itself. Ach, but so what, I say! (I'm one of them, so I should know) :)

But it's fun to think of cute little stuffed toys, and sweet little expressions anyway, (especially chocolate.....it's NEVER a bad time to think about chocolate!) So, without further ado, here's some sweet little expressions of my own...some new products I've created especially for those romantic times - whether it's Valentine's Day or not, and hey, just as Whitney Houston once sang, the 'greatest love of all' is yourself, so why not go ahead and spoil yourself if you feel like it. :)

I know what you're thinking...yes, there is definitely a puppydog theme goin' on here!

And..just one more thing before I let you start thinking about all those hearts and flowers to put you in the Valentine mood. I was a decidedly UNromantic schoolgirl. This is what I once wrote in a Valentine's message for a guy I, er, probably was trying to impress at the time believe it or not!

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
There's never been a boy,
As stinky as you!

(True story! And hey, I warned you about how UNromantic I was!)

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

It's the coolest Chinese New Year of all: The Year of the Dragon!! To celebrate, here's a few little dragon tidbits thanks to 'The Monsters Project Book' by Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow:

The word 'dragon' comes from the ancient Greek word drakon meaning 'sharp sighted one'. This later came to mean 'giant snake'.

In medieval times, dragons and serpents were called 'worms'.

Dragons of the West

In the western world and Africa, dragons are thought of as evil creatures. They are usually dangerous, fire breathing reptiles, that go around destroying land, killing people and demanding human sacrifices.

They are associated with demons and devils and are often the target for heroes to prove themselves by killing a dragon. The most famous dragon killer in western mythology is St. George. He saved the citizens of Sylene from a dragon that was terrorising the city. In return for killing the dragon, he demanded that the people of Sylene should become Christians.

There were different types of western dragons:

Wyverns
These were like flying serpents. they had no back legs and rested on their tails and front legs.

Boas
These were snake-like creatures who were accused of sucking herds of cattle dry before eating them.

Firedrakes
These were miniature fire-breathing dragons. They tended to guard great hoards of treasure and lived in deep caves.

But, this is the CHINESE New Year, so how do the dragons of Asia shape up? Well, for starters, they are very different creatures to the dragons of western culture; Asian dragons are the good guys!

Dragons of the East

In Chinese mythology, dragons (known as lung) were thought of as being kindly and benevolent. They were associated with the gods and became the symbol of power for many Chinese emporers. There were many festivals and celebrations in honour of dragons and even today, the dragon holds a special place in Chinese New Year celebrations.

Ti Lung
This dragon was the controller of all rivers and streams.

Tiens Lung
This dragon supported the mansions of the gods.

Shen Lung
This dragon was the bringer of rain.

To help celebrate the Year of the Dragon, you can find plenty of T-shirts and other items with dragons on right here:

Year of the Dragon Tote Bag

Year of the Dragon Men's T-Shirt

Year of the Dragon Pendant

More dragon stuff:

Ruby Dragon Men's T-shirt

Ruby Dragon Tote Bag

Amethyst Dragon iPhone 3 Case

Amethyst Dragon Women's Long Sleeved Shirt

Jade Dragon Mousepad

Jade Dragon Dark T-Shirt

Jade Dragon Necklace

New Cuties from Zazzle!

2012-01-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a freezing morning here in Melbourne this morning (so much for our Summer - bleuhch!!) and I'm back to creating the cute stuff again...it seems to be a cycle with me....cute...fantasy...cute...fantasy....cute....get my drift?! I dunno why when there is so much else to create in this world, so many other genres, I just like it and enjoy it the most, so I guess that's as good a reason as any, huh? :) Anyway, here are some of my latest cute designs...perfect for kids - big or little!

Smoky the Dragon Shopping/Diaper/Nappy Bag

Smoky the Dragon Girls Retro-look T-Shirt

Fantasy Flower Pot Babies Square Fridge Magnet

Fantasy Flower Pot Babies Infant's Onesie

Toot Toot Boy's T-shirt

Toot Toot Mousepad

Wizard Mouse Mug

Wizard Mouse Square Magnet

Dapper Mouse Children's Retro T-Shirt

Dapper Mouse Children's Party Plate

Thanks for looking. :)

New Fantasy-themed Products at Cafepress

2012-01-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

I've just started putting my fantasy art on accessories such as shoulder bags, coin purses and toiletry bags over at Cafepress. Let me know what you think! :)

Moonbathing Coin Purse by Graphic Allusions

Princess of the Forest Shoulder Bag

Ophelia's Last Repose Mini Wallet

Thanks for checking them out! And, have a great week. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2012-01-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

We kicked off 2012 down here in Melbourne with some stinking hot weather. I know people in the northern hemisphere find it strange to experience Christmas/New Years in the heat, but we're well used to it and have our rituals like going to the Boxing Day shopping sales (they're the kind of sales where you go out clad in a suit of armour and hope you're lucky enough to grab those last pair of blue patent leather shoes for half price that you've been eyeing off all year before some other enterprising chick with sharp elbows gets in your way ;-). Another ritual: heading to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the boxing day (cricket) test. And of course, Boxing Day is also traditional for heavy traffic on the roads where everyone (well, almost everybody at any rate!) are all headed to the beach/coastal resorts/mountains/interstate/wherever for their annual holidays. We know how to enjoy and make the most of the holiday period down here, that's for sure!

Anyway, I've been working...sigh...but here's the result of what I've done underneath....there's more fairies, and some new goth-inspired stuff for those who like that kinda stuff. Oh, and one more time, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2012 treats everyone kindly and you all get what you want out of the next 12 months!

New Product(s) Alert

New products from GraphicAllusions

Merry Christmas! Your presents are below...

2011-12-13T22:26:00.000-08:00

FREEBIE ALERT!

Here's some Christmas cheer! I whipped up a batch of brand new Christmas ornaments, (20 of them, in fact) all at 300 ppi and on transparent backgrounds in png format so that any graphics program can open, and use them. They're free for commercial as well as personal use. Please be sure to read the ReadMe file inside the zip package for more details. Have fun creating, and have a great Christmas and a very happy New Year everybody!!

Click on winzip icon below to download. Enjoy! :)

Put some glow into your Christmas designs!

2011-12-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick and dirty (i.e. 'easy and fast'!) tutorial for making your Christmas designs really glow this year. It can be done in any graphics program, so grab your weapon of choice, and let's go!

It requires a basic knowledge already of your graphics program, such as adding drop shadows, changing their color and blurring them because that's all we're going to be doing (told you it'd be quick and dirty!).

Step 1: Grab any image you like of anything with a Christmas theme: a tree, an angel, a Christmas decoration - anything with a Christmassy feel. The only proviso is that it MUST have a transparent background already such as a picture tube, a Photoshop brush, a png file etc. otherwise you'll be deleting the background out first, but that's another tutorial!

Step 2: We're going to add a drop-shadow to your image, but first we need to change the color to: R:252 G:181 B:56. This will give your shadow (i.e. the glow) a nice golden tone, as you can see below in my image, however the ultimate color can be anything you like, a red, green and so on, but don't hit the OK button on your shadow just yet...

Sep 3: BEFORE you actually add the shadow to your image, we must change the blur to a higher setting (in Paint Shop Pro I've gone with a blur setting of 50) and give it an opacity setting of around 50-75% - or just play around with the controls until you see something you're happy with.

Here's what I started with (note even though this image is shown on a white background, it was used on a transparent background while I working on it):

The end result. As you can see, I've added a black layer beneath the tree and added a Christmas message below. I chose black (yes, I know it's not a very Christmassy color!) because the glow effect looks more dramatic on darker colors. If you'd like a copy of the Christmas tree to use in anyway you wish (i.e. commercial use is fine) click on the little zip icon below, with my compliments. Merry Christmas!

Just published a whole new bunch of cute stuff for the junior geek! :)

2011-12-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

Replies to this email are not monitored. If you require assistance click here to contact customer service.

New Product(s) Alert

Hi z-238498099943997055,

New products from the stores you've liked are shown below.

New products from GraphicAllusions

– Zazzle

Links:

Visit the Zazzle Blog to stay updated on everything Zazzle
Send us your thoughts

Receiving too many email alerts? Manage your settings in My Account.
Zazzle Inc. 1900 Seaport Boulevard, Redwood City, CA 94063

New Wolf Products at Zazzle

2011-12-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

Wolves are beautiful, majestic creatures who have somehow developed a bad reputation over the centuries as being the bad guys. Too many fairytales, too many kids visiting Grandma's house and not returning! Unfortunately, in a wolf's life, the real bad guys are US. Man has slowly helped to destroy this amazing animal's habitat, and in the past hunted wolves to the extent now where many are endangered. This beautiful animals deserve a much better future than this.

You can check out these wolf-themed products at Zazzle by clicking HERE. Thanks for looking!

New Christmas Decorations and Ornaments from Zazzle

2011-11-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

It's (almost) that time of year again! Every year I say the same thing: that Christmas seems to come around faster and faster each year. I guess if this was true, then one day I'm going to wake up and and discover there are no more months left in between January and November! (or something like that?!) Anyway, here's some pretty tree ornaments to look at while you mull that one over. :)

	\\
Xmas Trees Hanging Ornament


Christmas Holly Tree Ornament


Blue Striped, Red Ribbon Christmas Tree Ornament


Baby Reindeer Hanging Xmas Ornament

Christmas Bell & Bauble Ornament

Happy Santa Tree Ornament

Red Xmas Holly Ornament

Green and Gold Christmas Hanging Ornament

Christmas Colors Hanging Tree Ornament

Christmas Candles Christmas Decoration

A Happy Discovery OR, How to to Increase the Font Size of Web Sites you visit...

2011-11-14T17:22:00.000-08:00

For as long as I can remember, I've needed glasses and contact lenses. I'm pretty much blind as a bat without them. So, when I discovered how to increase the font size of the sites I frequently visit (i.e. Facebook and just about everywhere else) I did the Happy Dance (several times!). Now this might be a trick known to a lot of people already, but *I* didn't know about it, so I'm happy to share.

To increase the size of fonts for most sites online, press the CTRL key while tapping the "+" (plus sign) key. Do it several times if you must, because every time you tap it you'll increase the font size by one increment. It also works in reverse, so if you want to decrease the font size, hold the CTRL key down while tapping the "-" (minus sign) key. Oh, and if you have a wheel mouse, it also works by pressing the CTRL key while you scroll your mouse down, or up, a notch.

As far as I know, this only works in Windows. As I don't have a Mac I have no idea if this trick will work or not for that, unfortunately.

In the meantime, happy increasing! (Or decreasing, if the case may be!)

What's sold recently at Zazzle

2011-11-13T21:06:00.001-08:00

Sorry I haven't been here for a few days....but anyway, here are the Zazzle products I've sold recently. :)


Golden Bass Cleff iPhone 3 Case


Pink Carousel Button Pin


Astral Star: Ruby Women's Hoodie

Gemma Fae Fridge Magnets

THANKS FOR LOOKING! :)

Recent Sales at Cafepress

2011-11-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share some of the recent sales I've had at CP...Zazzle sales coming up tomorrow. :)


Rat's Ass Mousepad


I Came, I Saw I Planked Organic Women's T-Shirt


Speedy Texter Shot Glass


Scottie Dog Mini Wallet


Rex the German Shepherd Long Sleeved Shirt


Golden Carousel Kid's Dark T-shirt


Golden Carousel Throw Pillow

Pink Carousel Baby's Blanket

Little Miss Ladybug Baby's Long-Sleeved Tee

Golden Carousel Trek Water Bottle

What's New at Graphic Allusions

2011-10-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

A whole bunch of new mousepads at Zazzle, that's what's new. :)

Pink Bubblegum Mousepad

Heart of the Rose Mousepad

Pyschadelic Squares Mousepad

Wavy Rainbow Mousepad

Rainbow Bars Mousepad

Tequila Sunrise Mousepad

Fantasy Realms: Icicle Moon Mousepad

Mystical Realms: The Fae

Golden Swirls Mousepad

Mystical Realms: The Rose Fae

Fantasy Heroine

Bad Faery Mousepad

The Best Australian Movie - EVER!

2011-10-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

To all who reads this, do yourselves a favour when this beautiful movie comes to your part of the world: see it! What movie am I talking about? The amazing Red Dog. This story is based on a real dog who lived, and roamed through the Pilbara region (outback, north-western Australia) in the 1970's. This wonderful film isn't your usual ''Lassie saves the world" type of dog story, it's much more than that. As a character from the movie says, "It's not what Red Dog does, it's who he is." You will laugh, cry, and thoroughly love this movie to bits! I can't recommend this film enough, and I can't wait to go see it again. :)

Red Dog on imdb
All about Koko (the dog who plays Red Dog)
Red Dog on Wikipedia

(and yes, it is sad in parts, but also a lot of fun, but oh, so good overall! And, you'll fall in love with Koko - that's guaranteed!)

What's New!

2011-10-14T03:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some new goodies I've got over at Zazzle this week:

Froggie Tote Bag

Froggie Kid's Shirt

Curious Kitten Tote Bag

Curious Kitten Coffee Mug

The Cobra Dark Tshirt

The Cobra Hat

The Cobra Beer Stein

Halloween's just around the corner, so I'll be back in a couple of days with some goodies for All Hallow's Eve. :) Speaking of holidays, I couldn't believe it today when I went grocery shopping....the Christmas stuff is all out! Last year it appeared early in November, this year, yes folks - forget about Christmas in July (or even where it's supposed to be, December!) it's now Christmas in October!

FREEBIE ALERT!

2011-10-13T03:45:00.000-07:00

I've just uploaded 10 new free tubes (some Halloween-themed, and all in png format for everybody - not just PSP users). Right here:

http://www.graphicallusions.com/tubes/freebiearchive.html

Enjoy! :)

Check out these lovely new country-themed goodies!

2011-10-04T04:34:00.000-07:00

My friend Cathy (a very talented digital artist) has just released these new goodies over at Zazzle ! Check 'em out: :)

http://rlv.zcache.com.au/garden_angel_2_mousepad-p144218878501935736aby_500.jpg

Garden Angel 2 Mouse Pads - Zazzle.com.au

http://www.zazzle.com.au/two_horses_in_field_with_trees_and_pond_bag-149685442467679395

http://www.zazzle.com.au/pink_delight_ornament-175958871417769176

http://www.zazzle.com.au/home_light_card-137670794034240177

http://www.zazzle.com.au/water_lily_photoenlargement-190608576180698849

Congratulations to Geelong, AFL Premiers for 2011!!

2011-10-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

Not usually a big footy fan, but like most (ahem) NON-Collingwood supporters, I was absolutely delighted to see Geelong (the Cats) knock over those black and white Magpie feathers at the MCG last Saturday!

I thought this fan (below) looked amazing....he was at the game and boy, what a get-up! lol. Oh, and do you think he's a happy boy?!!

Now, one REALLY big controversy was Meatloaf's pre-match entertainment gig before 100,000 people. I saw it on the TV and have one word for it: sad. The man is well past his use-by date and sounded absolutely woeful. That's a shame, because those great big songs of his, like Bat out of Hell et. al, (almost a rock opera in themselves) deserve much better treatment. I'm still trying to decide which was more offensive: the assault on my ears by his caterwauling or the site of his big yellow blob of chewing gum clearly showing! Yuck... Anyway, you can read more about this here: (and you should see the comments link too....it's entertaining to say the least! If you're feeling a bit down and can do with a laugh, this will give it to you guaranteed! :)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/music/afl-defends-meat-loaf-after-widely-criticised-pre-game-show/story-e6frf9hf-1226157581482

And if you think your ears are up to it (not to mention your eyes, lol) you can check out the ''performance'' for yourself right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwHbQyIILMw

My very First Multiple Order at Zazzle!

2011-09-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe it when I checked my email this morning...I've not only sold one of my trick or treat tote bags, but the order is for 26 of them! I couldn't believe my eyes! I'd be doing the Happy Happy Dance if I hadn't fallen into a drain a couple of days ago and badly twisted my ankle! (But that's another story!)

http://www.zazzle.com.au/evil_eyes_halloween_trick_or_treat_bag-149418050587116131?rf=238128988549013315

SOLD!

2011-09-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yes!! Just sold another product at Zazzle (I think it's the fourth...or maybe it's the fifth...I'm starting to lose count, which is probably a good thing, lol). I called it "Funny Keyboard" for obvious reasons!

Link: http://www.zazzle.com/funny_keyboard_adults_tshirt-235226016161413251

I love designing all kinds of things, but.....

2011-09-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

My absolute favourite would have to be handbags, purses and other girly kinda stuff. I've ALWAYS wanted to try creating purses and shoulder bags from scratch, and now I can do the next best thing! Cafepress have recently introduced ''real'' handbags (not just tote ones) and coin purses, and toiletry bags. I've already jumped in up to my eyebrows, lol, and have started designing like crazy. Here's a few examples of the toiletry bags I've done so far....I'm having a ball doing this, it's so addictive! :)

Diamond Ribbons Toiletry Bag

Scarlet Lace Toiletry Bag

Crimson Daisies Toiletry Bag

Gold and Blue Floral Toiletry Bag

Evening clutch bags and shoulder bags coming up soon! :)

Congratulations Melbourne!

2011-09-01T03:01:00.000-07:00

Congrats Marvellous Melbourne! Voted the World's Most Liveable City yet again. To celebrate I'm going to post some pics of my hometown. :)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-30/melbourne-wins-world27s-most-liveable-city/2862628

http://www.travelvictoria.com.au/melbourne/photos/

Can't believe we're now into the 2nd half of the year....

2011-08-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

And the countdown will soon be on to Christmas day (again!). Down here in Australia, we of course have opposite seasons to those in the northern hemisphere. So while we ALL don't literally do that old cliched event, the ''barbie on the beach'' (the majority of Christmas lunches/dinners are still spent within the family home or people will do the restaurant thing....) it will be summer for us, and not winter. The funny thing is, growing up with summer Christmases, we don't find it at all strange that traditional images of Christmas are all snow-bound santas, and deer....the whole Christmas ''is a winter-themed event" thing. It's all so ingrained in our psyche it would seem pretty strange - even to us christmas-is-in-summer people to NOT to think of Santa, his elves, the rheindeer et. al. as being in some snowbound, wintry environment full of snow-capped fir trees, icicles and frozen waterways. Strange that..... but there you go. :) Every now and then, you'll see some half-baked attempt at trying to ''Australianise'' santa. You'll see him on christmas cards, sitting on a beach somewhere...complete with big wooly, red suit and full beard, the sleigh, the deer.....with a cheery, sunny day in the background. Er...no...I don't think so! Call me a tranditonalist, but even in the summer we spray fake snow from cans over our windows, and hang plastic icicles from the eves of our houses, because....it's Christmas, that's why! :)

Anyway, with the countdown on now, I've decided to add a Christmas Shop to my Zazzle ''portfolio"...more coming on that over the coming weeks, but in the meantime I've decided to add some new ornaments to my current store, which can be used as Christmas ornaments or not....they always look great hanging from doorhandles, four-poster beds, or anywhere you like, at any time of the year. :)

Christmas Ornaments (or ornaments for any time of the year... :)

L'amour: a fresh, new romantic design!

2011-08-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample of the latest stuff I've created over at Zazzle. Spring is in the air (well, at least it is for us down here in Australia :) and so, I thought, let's do romance! :-)

L'amour Tote Bag

L'amour Mug

L'amour Necklace

L'amour Keyring/Keychain

L'amour Dark Tee Shirt

Jade Dragon Necklace from Zazzle.com

2011-08-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Yay!! Sold this today over at Zazzle:

Jade Dragon Necklace from Zazzle.com

Twitter Tutorial

2011-08-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can now add pictures to Twitter? And I don't mean a link that just takes you to an external site, say like Photobucket or Twitter's own TwitPix. You can now place a picture right there on your Twitter page for all your potential customers/friends/fellow twitterers to see. It will appear in the new Display Pane that runs down the right-hand side of the page.

Now, I'm still pretty new to Twitter in using it to promote my designs and my stores, however I have noticed that just by the very nature of it, it's not very image-friendly....and let's face it, if you're promoting a design on a new product you WANT people to be able to see it in as few mouse clicks as possible. So, here's how you can do it:

1. Enter your info. into the dialogue box as you normally would, and then click on the small grey camera icon underneath....(don't worry about the other icon...it's a compass. You click on that to let people know your location, but we won't worry about that here.)

2. The ''Add an image" prompt pops up. Click on the camera....

3. Browse to where your image is located on your computer, select it and click open to upload...

4. After you've done that, this is what you'll see... it's giving you a thumbnail preview of your image, and also reminds you that in your actual Twitter feed, the image will appear as a link, however.....

5. Press the Tweet button and you'll now see your finished tweet with a new image icon over on the right:

6. Click on the icon, or the little arrow next to it, and et voila.....

Your image is now out there in the new Display Plane for everybody to see. Just a couple of more points to finish off: That little arrow next to the image icon (see pic. 5 above) is useful to toggle back and forth between ''tweet'' view and the display pane. So when you want to go back to ''normal'' twitter view, it won't hog the screen.

What about acceptable image size? Twitter says that you can upload images up to 3MB in size - don't worry if it's a REALLY big image, it will be automatically resized. Image type? They say they accept jpg, png and gif, but will not accept bmp or tiff's. If you'd like to delete your image at some stage, you can always go back in and do that, simply by just deleting the tweet itself. If you'd like more info. on this, Twitter have a help page on it, which is here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/20156423

Happy tweeting those promo pics!!

Oh, and if you'd also like to follow me on Twitter, thanks!
https://twitter.com/#!/GraphicAllusion

New Keyrings for Zazzle

2011-08-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

I've just finished a big bunch of keyrings (as well as re-designing my Zazzle shop a bit) so now I actually have a keyring/keychain category full of nothing but.....yes, keychains, lol). Here's what I've been up to:

http://www.zazzle.com/graphicallusions/keychains?st=date_created#products

A little rant....(because I can, that's why!) ;-)

2011-08-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

O.k. after creating this blogger account over 2 weeks ago, I now have FINALLY figured out how to follow other people...it was driving me crazy so I just kind of crawled away with my tail between my legs and gave up every time I tried. I don't know WHY I couldn't figure it out for so long....I'm pretty computer/internet-savvy because I've been around for a long, long time online but one thing I've noticed: each year being online is getting more and more complicated. It's no longer just a simple case of find, register with an email addy and set your page up with a couple of simple, straightforward options. Nope, nada, nix...not anymore!

Now you have to jump through several assorted cyber hoops such as sign in with your Facebook/Twitter/Google/Schmoogle/ account, search here, search there....go through all the security options such as promising to hand over your first-born child or having to tell them the name of your great-great-grandmother's neighbour's dog.... (O.k. o.k. I know...there's no such thing as ''Schmoogle", but give it time, there will be one day!).

AND don't even get me started on those captcha things.....(o.k. I guess I started myself off here, so here goes a rant for that too!).

I HATE those things with a vengeance. They are NEVER clear enough to see properly (o.k. I admit I have crappy eyesight because I rely on contacts/glasses all the time) however, I sometimes think those cute little bouncy letters have been written by trained monkeys who have been on the sauce for too long...either that, or somewhere in this big, wide world there's a secret warehouse full of trained, dancing spiders who create those letters especially....

Recently, I tried signing up for something (God knows what....I've signed up for so many new things lately my memory has gone into a permanent marshmallow-like state) and came across my good friend, the captcha. The first time it didn't work...the SECOND time it didn't work...and then up popped a cute little sign that said (in plain English, thank God) "Wrong! Would you like another challenge?!" Well, no, I DON'T want to be challenged thanks very much, all I want to be able to do is enter a few simple letter combinations that are PLAIN to see, and be able to get on with the rest of my day instead of wasting my precious time on your fuzzy word puzzles. If I want to be challenged, I'll try something a bit easier - like jumping out of a plane over a field of cactus plants. Thank you, rant over. ;-)

Celtic Knot Sweatshirt Celtic Knot Graphic Allusions

2011-08-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yippee! I just sold this item over at CafePress:

Celtic Knot Sweatshirt Celtic Knot Graphic Allusions

FREEBIE ALERT!

2011-08-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

I've just uploaded some new freebies to my www.graphicallusions.com site (in png format for all):

http://www.graphicallusions.com/tubes/freebiearchive.html

Enjoy! :)

Dancing Cat

2011-08-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a kitty who knows how to boogie! You can check him out over at Zazzle:

http://www.zazzle.com/graphicallusions/gifts?cg=196927815973605820

Princess of the Forest for the iPad, iPhone 3 & iPhone 4:

2011-08-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

My brand new Princess of the Forest:
Princess of the Forest for the iPhone 3, 4, and the iPad:

Moonbathing iPhone 3 Case from Zazzle.com

2011-08-12T00:40:00.000-07:00

Because the world needs more fairies... ;-)

Moonbathing iPhone 3 Case from Zazzle.com :

Moonbathing iPhone 4 Case from Zazzle.com

Moonbathing iPad Case from Zazzle.com

New iTot 3.0 design for baby and toddler stuff.

2011-08-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

I've just uploaded some new stuff for Cafepress for the geek of the future. :) These iTot 3.0 t-shirts and gifts (also available with iTot 1.0 & iTot 2.0 designs) would make great presents for young children celebrating their first, second and third birthdays. The tote bags would make great nappy/diaper bags, and there are also foodwarmers and baby blankets. Here are some samples below:

http://www.cafepress.com/GraphicAllusions/7810086

Thanks for looking. :)

Visit to the Faery Garden from Zazzle.com

2011-08-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

Just completed my latest iPad case:

Visit to the Faery Garden from Zazzle.com

Tutorial: How to Make a Treasure Map in PSP 8

2011-08-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

This will be the first of a series of tutorials for Paint Shop Pro. Canny Photoshop users who know their program and its tools well should be able to adapt this to their program. Special note - all of the tutorials you'll see here on my blog will be for Paint Shop Pro 8. Yes, I know that's an older version now, but I still use PSP 8 for most things I create (I never did get around to upgrading!) and I think you'll find that these techniques will still be possible in the later versions. O.k. here we go with making a treasure map:

1. Open up a new image, 300 x 300 with a transparent background. Create a new layer: Layers>New Raster Layer. Right-click on the foreground color on the materials palette and change to this color: HTML: #800000 or R:128, G:0, B:0, or just click on the brown square in the color-picker as shown (below). Flood fill the new layer with this color, and stay on this layer as this is the one we'll be working on.

2. Open the Mesh Warp tool, which you'll find at the top of the toolbox on the fly-out under the Deformation tool (as shown below).

3. The first thing you'll see when you open up this tool (providing you haven't already been playing with it, that is) is the grid (see below, left). We don't need this, so go to the tool ribbon and turn it off by clicking on the tiny little check-mark next to the Show Grid box (see below right. Note: in some versions of PSP you will see 'Show Mesh' instead, but it's exactly the same.) Make sure you have these settings: Edge Mode=Background, Draft Quality=High, Final apply=Best quality.

4. Now we need to load a new deformation map, so click on the little open folder on the tool ribbon (as shown below).

5. You should now see the Load Deformation Map dialogue box:

6. Click on the drop-down box and you'll find the other available deformation maps. The one we want to use is Paper Edges, which you'll find at the bottom-left hand corner (see below). Click on this to select. Before you click on the Load button however, make sure the Replace Current Map and Fit to Layer options are selected and the Checkerboard size is set to Small. Now you can click on Load :)

7. Voila...your image has now been meshwarparized ;-) Now this next bit is a little tricky, but not too bad. With your magic wand tool, carefully click anywhere in between the edge of the image and the main image border (as shown below, left). If you get the Auto Actions message box pop-up, just hit OK to get rid of it, and if you need to, reclick again with the wand tool. You can eliminate these messages from popping up if you find them annoying by resetting them in your Preferences. Go to Selections>Invert. OK, now you should have just the brown part selected like I have (see below right).

8. Now to go Selections>Modify>Contract, and contract by 2 (see below, left). Leave selected. Go back to the materials palette, and right-click on the background fill box and change to this colour: HTML: #FDEFC2, or R:253, G:239, B:194, as shown (below right). Right-click to flood fill the selection, and then deselect.

9. You should now have what I have, below left. Now comes the 'fun' part ;-) Select the Burn brush from the toolbox (as shown at below, right) with these settings: Brush: default; Shape: round; Size: 20; Hardness: 50; Step: 25; Density: 100; Thickness: 100; Rotation: 0; Opacity: 75. Stroke should NOT be selected, and Limit should be set to None.

10. With the burn brush, carefully go over parts of the edges at random, to give it the burnt-edge look. This is where a Wacom pen comes in handy if you have one, but a mouse will do just fine as well. Just to prove this point, I did the right-hand side of the image (right) with the mouse, and the left-hand side with my Wacom pen. Try and go with the natural indentations that the mesh warp tool created to give it a more realistic look.

11. Well it looks kind of interesting, and definitely burnt, but there's one more thing we can do to give it that realistic edge (pun intended ;-). Choose the eraser tool and go with these settings: Eraser set to Default; Shape: Round; Size: 6; Hardness: 50; Step: 25; Density: 100; Thickness: 100; Rotation: 0 and Opacity 100. This is where that Wacom pen really comes in handy, but again, don't worry if you don't have one because a mouse will still do a pretty good job. Carefully go over the parts that you 'burnt' with the eraser, making sure you eliminate any edges you can still see under the burn marks, and any spare pixels that may get left behind. It's important to be really picky about this here because with the brush being set to such a small size, some pixels may be missed and we wouldn't want them showing up on the final image eh? Yuck!

12. When you've finished tidying up those burn marks, if you're happy with what you've got, go to the bottom layer and flood-fill with a colour of your choice. If all you're after is a blank, burnt parchment, voila, you've finished! But, if you'd like to make a treasure-map similar to what I have below, create a new layer on top of the burnt paper layer, and get as creative as you like - let your imagination run wild. I used the Vivaldi font to give the writing an old fashioned look, rotated the words when necessary, and drew in the rest by hand with the pen (you know the drill by now.....a mouse will also do the job just fine...yada yada yada ;-).

It doesn't matter how simple your drawing is, because let's face it, pirates were never known for their artistic abilities! When you've come up with something you like, go to the bottom layer, flood fill with whatever colour you like (I used a wood-grain pattern for mine on the first page, which you'll find on the patterns list on the materials palette - I changed the angle to 90 degrees to make the woodgrain run vertically). Now, merge all layers and you're done! I get to keep the treasure though eh?!

Ophelia's Last Repose iPad Case from Zazzle.com

2011-08-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Just finished my very first iPad case for Zazzle. It was a bit fiddly (I had to adjust an existing piece of art I'd done a while ago to fit the template) but it all came out good in the wash in the end. :)

Ophelia's Last Repose iPad Case from Zazzle.com

New Decorative Stuff at Zazzle

2011-08-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

Below are some new decorative items I've made for Zazzle. I loved making these - the metallic designs lend themselves very well to the round objects like the keyrings, button pins and necklaces. I hope you like! :)

Silver Spiral Necklace from Zazzle.com

2011-08-04T01:04:00.000-07:00

Silver Spiral Necklace from Zazzle.com

Celtic Knot Keyring Key Chains from Zazzle.com

2011-08-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

Celtic Knot Keyring Key Chains from Zazzle.com

Metallic Spider Necklace from Zazzle.com

2011-08-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Metallic Spider Necklace from Zazzle.com

Yippee! Sold my very first mouse pad today over at Cafepress!

2011-07-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

My very first mousepad sale! Doing the happy dance. :) Here it is, and a link to the actual mousepad itself:

I've sold this little guy on a t-shirt before, but not on a mousepad - and this is my very first mousepad sale of any of my designs - but not the last I hope, lol.

http://www.cafepress.com/GraphicAllusions.547197736

Feebies from Website

2011-07-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

After offering the faeries, I thought I may as well offer ALL of my current freebies here as well. These are all off my graphicallusions.com website (link below). I try and get in there and update them as often as I can (which kind of varies from several times a month to maybe only once a month or two, lol) but I do try and keep them ticking over. They will NOT be there permanently, but I'll leave them there for a few more weeks and gradually keep adding to them. They are all Poser-created images, royalty free, so you can use them for both commercial and personal stuff, but DO be sure to read the terms included in the file. Images themselves are all .png files with transparent backgrounds, so will be able to be used not only in Paint Shop Pro, but also Photoshop and more.

Previews are below. Enjoy and have fun with your creations! :)

http://www.graphicallusions.com/tubes/freebiearchive.html

Free Faeries!

2011-07-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

I had a few 'old' faeries lying around, so I thought I'd share. :) This is a pack of 12 fae altogether, of all shapes and sizes, they are all royalty-free so you are free to use them in commercial stuff as well as for your own personal use, but please remember to read the readme.txt file included as this is very important. Here's a couple of preview shots and the link is below. Enjoy!! :)

http://www.graphicallusions.com/zips/ga_freefaeriespack1.zip

My Keds Shoe Designs at Zazzle.

2011-07-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

I've started designing shoes over at Zazzle this week and so far I'm loving it! It's very addictive. Here's a sample of what I've done so far. You can find out more at:
http://www.zazzle.com/graphicallusions/gifts?cg=196606284647502613

I won an Award from Zazzle!

2011-07-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

My ''Salty the Crocodile'' design won a best of the day award from Zazzle. This is the design, on a tote bag:

Salty is also on a lot of other products including t-shirts, hoodies, keyrings and more. You can find him here:

http://www.zazzle.com.au/graphicallusions/gifts?cg=196504360004529810

First post!

2011-07-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

This will be a blog featuring a variety of stuff...from my latest t-shirt designs to all things graphic; an extension if you will of my existing Paint Shop Pro tubes site at: http://www.graphicallusions.com/index.html
my CafePress store featuring my t-shirt designs here:
http://www.cafepress.com.au/GraphicAllusions and my new Zazzle store featuring my designs here:
http://www.zazzle.com.au/graphicallusions

I'll be offering tips on graphic art and design, Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop and oh, yes FREEBIES. So keep an eye out for updates. :)

Graphic Allusions

New Jewellery at Cafepress!

Coming soon from Graphic Allusions, a brand new Zazzle Store!

Well, it's February again...

Happy Chinese New Year!

New Cuties from Zazzle!

New Fantasy-themed Products at Cafepress

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

New Product(s) Alert

New products from GraphicAllusions

Merry Christmas! Your presents are below...

Put some glow into your Christmas designs!

Just published a whole new bunch of cute stuff for the junior geek! :)

New Product(s) Alert

New products from GraphicAllusions

New Wolf Products at Zazzle

New Christmas Decorations and Ornaments from Zazzle

A Happy Discovery OR, How to to Increase the Font Size of Web Sites you visit...

What's sold recently at Zazzle

Recent Sales at Cafepress

What's New at Graphic Allusions

The Best Australian Movie - EVER!

What's New!

FREEBIE ALERT!

Check out these lovely new country-themed goodies!

Congratulations to Geelong, AFL Premiers for 2011!!

My very First Multiple Order at Zazzle!

SOLD!

I love designing all kinds of things, but.....

Congratulations Melbourne!

Can't believe we're now into the 2nd half of the year....

L'amour: a fresh, new romantic design!

Jade Dragon Necklace from Zazzle.com

Twitter Tutorial

New Keyrings for Zazzle

A little rant....(because I can, that's why!) ;-)

Celtic Knot Sweatshirt Celtic Knot Graphic Allusions

FREEBIE ALERT!

Dancing Cat

Princess of the Forest for the iPad, iPhone 3 & iPhone 4:

Moonbathing iPhone 3 Case from Zazzle.com

New iTot 3.0 design for baby and toddler stuff.

Visit to the Faery Garden from Zazzle.com

Tutorial: How to Make a Treasure Map in PSP 8

Ophelia's Last Repose iPad Case from Zazzle.com

New Decorative Stuff at Zazzle

Silver Spiral Necklace from Zazzle.com

Celtic Knot Keyring Key Chains from Zazzle.com

Metallic Spider Necklace from Zazzle.com

Yippee! Sold my very first mouse pad today over at Cafepress!

Feebies from Website

Free Faeries!

My Keds Shoe Designs at Zazzle.

I won an Award from Zazzle!

First post!