Say howdy to fall in Texas

Say howdy to fall in Texas

Posted on by ssdp0d

Ok – if you don’t live in Texas, you may not realize that the big joke here is that we basically just have four variations of summer rather than the normal seasons everyone else has.

And that’s true for much of the state. If you live in the panhandle, you basically get summer and winter since it will snow there. But the rest of us get full on summer and summer lite. You can see why we also get fairly obsessed with fall things like pumpkin spice. Gotta get it somewhere!!!

Still, there is occasionally something you might call fall as the trees turn to orange and gold, and we spend Friday nights on the football field. I have a couple of designs celebrating the autumn season just here in Texas.

One is the howdy fall shown above, with the state shape filling in for the “A” in fall. Rust, yellow, orange and green leaves and dots add color. The other is a dramatic orange plaid state with the words “Fall in love with Texas”. As if you need to be told to do that!!!

Fall Texas Designs

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Electoral college maps to track the 2020 election

Posted on by ssdp0d

I was in third grade in 1980 when Jimmy Carter (from my then-state of Georgia) was running against Ronald Reagan.

Third grade was when we did Georgia history and all things Georgia, which that year included the presidential election. And probably way earlier than most kids ever get – an education in the electoral college.

My teacher sent each of us home with our own map of the United States so we could watch the returns that night and color in the states to reflect the winner. (This probably worked out OK for us in that we really only needed to stay up long enough to color Georgia. There is no way I was up late enough to get any of the west coast states, especially since things moved much slower in the days before 24-hour news.)

I’ve had the idea of recreating the map, both for budding politicos like my niece as well as classroom use. I have the states listed with their current electoral college counts (they’ll change by 2024 with the census) and a place for tracking and totaling. I listed democrats as blue and republicans with red just for standardization. Should there ever be a state that actually was claimed by one of the minor parties, you’re on your own to pick a color. 🙂

I have three different set-ups of the map, again mostly with classrooms in mind. But if your kids aren’t going back to the classroom this fall, the poster option might work well for you at home as well. You can choose from small to really big sizes on the poster.

There are also two paper pads – again thinking in terms of a sheet for each kid in a class – one with 25 larger 12″x18″ pages and the other with 40 letter size sheets.

Electoral College Maps To Color

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Colorful paw print tattoos

Posted on by ssdp0d

This particular design is so very basic, but that’s also part of what makes it so perfect!

It’s a sheet of temporary tattoos of solid colored paw prints. They’re great for a pet event or if your school mascot is a cat (tiger, lion, wildcat, bobcat, panther, cougar) or canine (bulldog, wolf, greyhound, husky, terrier). You could probably be creative in interpreting other animals that the prints might work for.

I have each sheet set up with an assortment of tattoos. The six large paws are approximately 2″ in size, the eight medium 1.5″ and the 16 small 1″. They come in green, purple, burnt orange, red, blue, orange, black and maroon, as well as a black paw print version. And except for the last, you can go into the design tool at Zazzle to change the colors and even rescale the sizes if you like. (Note that I don’t have lighter colors like yellow, gold or silver because those won’t show up well as a tattoo. Gotta stick with the darker/bolder shades.)

The sheets are about letter size and the non-colored area will be clear so your skin shows through. You’ll have to cut apart each of the tattoos. They’re designed to stay on for a few days and wipe off with baby oil.

Paw Print Temporary Tattoos

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Yes! I do custom designs

Posted on by ssdp0d

I occasionally get the question over on Zazzle about whether I can change up a design or help a customer do it themselves.

Most of the time, this just involves the design being rendered in a different set of colors than I chose (although, a lot of my designs are easy to customize yourself as far as colors go) or some help rearranging the design elements to better fit the customer’s needs.

But occasionally, I do a completely custom item because … well, there just isn’t any thing out there to be found!

Such was the case with this coffee mug. You can get designs like this all over the place, but invariably, they only involve the 50 states. And in this case, the daughter had been accepted to attend college in Abu Dhabi, which is a heck of a distance from Texas!!

So we wanted to create a similar design but in their favorite colors and with Texas and the UAE as the locations. It was a rewarding item to work on and made a fabulous birthday present for mom!

As a general rule, most of my really custom work would involve something like this, where we’re adjusting an existing concept to fit your specific needs. I’m not an artist, so there are limits to how much I can do.

And yes – there is a charge involved. Simple color alterations at Zazzle are generally done without a charge, but anything that starts to involve time or back and forth will have a fee. Just ask!

Contact Me

Curved Frame Graduation Photo Car Flags

Posted on by ssdp0d

Did you end up having a drive-by graduation celebration this year?

They were a pretty popular option given the stay-at-home restrictions most of us were operating under. Which probably explains why all my car flags got really popular!

One of the favorites was this design with a curved frame in the school colors and a large horizontal photo of the graduate. The emphasis is really put on the person rather than the school with these.

You can personalize with the class year, their name and the school name. And change the colors if you like, although I have them available in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, maroon, black and gold, so odds are good I have your school covered already. 

The flags run 10.5″ long and 15.5″ wide and are affordable enough for you to get one for each side of the car. They’re made of heavy duty double-ply fabric and super durable.

Curved Frame Graduation Photo Car Flags

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UTEP baby shower invitations

Posted on by ssdp0d

Miners fight!! There’s a new baby Miner on the way!

So, of course, there has to be a baby shower and that shower has got to be UTEP themed, right?

Introducing the perfect invites for such a shower. They incorporate the official University of Texas-El Paso colors of orange and navy blue, along with a cute little baby burro. The little girl donkey version has an orange bow on the top of her head, while the little boy sports a bowtie.

I have a flat card version that goes in an envelope – great if you plan to include enclosure cards or wishes for the baby. Above is the front side of the postcard version, with the backside shown here.

Both types of invites have room for the party details, names of the shower hosts, RSVP information and registry details.

UTEP baby shower invitations

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Family Reunion Shirts for All

Posted on by ssdp0d

If you’re still getting together for a family reunion this year, don’t forget to mark the occasion with a shirt for everyone!

I recently started designing invitations for family reunions and to coordinate with those, I have a line of t-shirts for the whole family.

Shirts are a great way to show yourself as a group if you’re at a park or campground, as well as just to remember the occasion. And since my shirts allow for the front to be customized with the name, you also can forego those annoying nametags!

The family reunion designs

I have three basic designs at the moment. The two shown here at the top are big and bold and involve trees. They come in bright standard colors such as red, blue, green, orange and purple. You can personalize with your name and the year as well individual family member names.

The other design I have features a piece of line art of a camping site in two colors. The art itself can be custom colored if you’d like (just go into the customizer) or you can choose from the muted shades I have already picked out. This design is already on other items such as plates and banners to help make your event special.

Family Reunion Shirts

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Texas Tech baby shower invitations

Posted on by ssdp0d

Guns up!! There’s a new baby Red Raider on the way!

So, of course, there has to be a baby shower and that shower has got to be Texas Tech themed, right?

Introducing the perfect invites for such a shower. They incorporate the official TTU colors of red and black, along with a cute little pony. The little girl horse version has a red polka dotted bow on the top of her head, while the little boy version sports a bowtie.

I have a flat card version that goes in an envelope – great if you plan to include enclosure cards or wishes for the baby. Above is the front side of the postcard version, with the backside shown here.

Both types of invites have room for the party details, names of the shower hosts, RSVP information and registry details.

Texas Tech baby shower invitations

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Quinceañera Planning Notebooks

Posted on by ssdp0d

There are so many things to keep up with when you are planning a quinceañera. Ideas for bands, music, food, flowers – you name it!

While there are entire binder systems out there to help you track it all, you might want to keep things simple (and less expensive!) for your big day.

I have a line of spiral notebooks over at Zazzle to help you out! They coordinate with the invitations I’ve designed, although there’s no reason you have to match those. These stand on their own!

But since they do go with the invites, there are several different designs to choose from. The one I’m highlighting here is a white silhouette of a girl in a ball gown against a pink moon and clouds. It’s super feminine, so great for the really girly girl. There are dark night sky versions with a huge gold moon that feature either a charro or crowned girl silhouette.

Then, there is the entire line of brocade dress designs. These show a ball gown with a black swirling design against various colors. Dress colors available include royal blue, rose pink, purple, turquoise, bright red, burgundy, green emerald, deep purple, coral and navy.

You can also choose from two different types of spiral notebooks for your quinceañera plans. There’s a smaller style called a photo notebook that is 80 lined pages and a smaller 6.5″x8.75″ size to make it easy to carry around. On this one, only the front cover is printed.

The other style is a standard 8.5″x11″ size and has several options for you to choose from. These print on the front and back covers (back cover to the above notebook is shown here) and the covers are laminated to ensure they’ll last the year.

Choose from six different spiral colors and eight page design options to make your one-of-a-kind notebook today. The lined college-ruled version is shown below.

All of these options include a place for you to customize them with your name on the front. You could even add the date of your event if you like.

Quinceañera spiral notebooks

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University of Texas baby shower invitations

Posted on by ssdp0d

Hook ‘Em!! There’s a new baby Longhorn on the way!

So, of course, there has to be a baby shower and that shower has got to be University of Texas themed, right?

Introducing the perfect invites for such a shower. They incorporate the official UT colors of burnt orange and gray, along with a cute little baby longhorn. The little girl version has a light gray bow with burnt orange polka dots on the top of her head. The little boy version sports a bowtie of the same pattern.

I have a flat card version that goes in an envelope – great if you plan to include enclosure cards or wishes for the baby. Above is the front side of the postcard version, with the backside shown here.

Both types of invites have room for the party details, names of the shower hosts, RSVP information and registry details.

University of Texas baby shower invitations

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