Delightful Designing

 

 If you are like me, you wander around the fabric store looking for fabrics and patterns, but not really having a plan. Joann's is just about the only place to buy material in some areas (like where I live), so it's helpful to have a plan of attack for creating a budget friendly project. If you have a smart phone, I recommend their coupon app. It lets you have all available coupons ready to present on your phone, so that you don't forget any when checking out. Also, Joann's accepts Michael's coupons, at least the one I frequent. They are supposed to, anyway.

Very Cool Resources

• Design Seeds If you would like to find a particular palette for a project, this website offers great inspiration and something printable for you to take along to the store. I found this site courtesy of Dr. Julie-Ann's podcast about color on Grandma's Sewing Cabinet.

• Spoonflower This website provides a way to make custom fabric affordable and doable. This website has been featured on the Nate Show, among others. You submit a design/photo of your choice and choose the type of fabric you wish to have. Voila! Your very own unique fabric that absolutely no one else will have.

• Gimp So if you want to get all artsey fartsey and design stuff, but don't want to blow a couple months' paychecks on Photoshop, you can download this photo editing software. Be warned it is not for the faint of heart. I like to think that I am tech savvy, but this intimidates me just a little. It does do some really cool things though. It is a bit more advanced than, say Picasa's Picnik.

• Picnik (linked above) a very user friendly photo editing option that unfortunately will be lost after being acquired by Google. As of now, you can use the premium features of the program for free and edit photos from your computer or Picasa. Note that the editing fun ends April 19, 2012, so get your creative funkiness on with all the stickers and stuff you can add before it goes away.

All the editing fun you can have with Picnik!