Panama Concrete wall blocks, the patterns therein

Recently I enjoyed visiting Panama. I noticed that their concrete divider walls and windows had more variety of patterns than I find in my part of the world. I sketched as many different ones as I could when I was there.  I used Paper 53 as my notepad. Then for this composite image I used Photoshop Touch on the iPad. These patterns might end up in future soap caddy bags. also here.

Hey I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog, but I moderate comments because it seems like most of the comments I have been getting are linkback spam.  That is, the comment doesn't seem to have anything to do with the blog post, just general flattery, or something to do with a key word in the most general way, and the purpose of the comment is to generate traffic for their own website. That's fine with me as long as it's a legit comment. 

Vinylschnitte Notebook

Finally got one of these notebooks listed.  A year or so ago I had a lot of ideas for notebooks.  The hanging chads issue is largely solved by using the multi-cut feature on the Cricut Expressions. Rounding the corners makes for an attractive edge without binding.  Cutwork is trending right now. Therefore, I hope these get some interest.

With this notebook the red insert is reversible to a teal color for a more subtle color combination. Or the insert could be left out entirely for a white background. Three colorways in one notebook!

I had been journalling on my iPad, but there's something about having a physical notebook to thumb through. I enjoyed looking at past sketches for cartoons, things I haven't done yet, as well as all that journalling. I think I'll start using a physical notebook again. After all, one never knows when the cloud will go "poof," and there goes all your entries.


Did you know that the German word for paper cutting is Scherenschnitte? I guess what I'm doing is Vinylschnitte.  

New Soap Tote listings

I made a bunch of new listings in my Etsy shop. Next up, I'm going to make some more things that I have been putting off.

Valentines Day Soap Tote

Well, with Valentine's Day drawing near, I thought I would make an Etsy product to go with that theme. It's done now and here it is:

Mini Travel Soap Handbags

I am excited about my newest product for Etsy. A prototype is pictured at right. It is a travel “handbag” for soap. It will have an inner mesh pocket that folds out so that the soap can air dry before it is sealed up again. The loop hooks onto the shower faucet, and the mesh holds the soap in ideal air drying position. I also like the Maidstone font that I used for the word “Soap”. It kind of has a 50s feel to it. I used the mesh from a yam bag from Christmas holidays. Now I have a use for all the grocery-store mesh produce bags! I am working out the order of operations for making these. I like that it’s different and stylish, and perhaps, affordable.

Now, using one of these, you can save those hotel soaps, or take your favourite soap or shampoo bar. It even works as a soapdish as long as you can hang it somewhere in the shower. I suppose you could take one of those vacuum hooks along to ensure you have a hook to hang the mini handbag on.

My Favourite Mark Twain Quote

"I can live for two months on a good compliment."

That used to be so true in my career, with my withholding boss. Fortunately, his boss would occasionally toss me a "Good!". In those drought-filled days, this was enough to keep me going.

There was some good feedback from some Etsians yesterday on my shop, my blog and on my latest coupon organizer wallet. What a boost!

Custom wallets on Etsy

I was thinking of offering custom wallets for sale on Etsy. Here's one of the popular names on Etsy according to the demographics, with a Mid Century Modern font and a nice graphic that celebrates the name. I could do this either by printing the design on fabric then waterproofing the fabric, or by using billboard vinyl and a stencil cutting technique.

Accordian player from Entertainment 1 font by Helen Duggan. Text font is Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly.