she's 4 + pink

And I think she's already forgotten what life was like pre-mermaid Barbie.

We had a totally low-key birthday party, and it was the best. Lots of friends from church, hot dogs, fancy straws, and grocery store cake. 

I thought of some games beforehand (like duck duck goose) that we could play in case things got dull,

but the kids just ran wild in the yard for the whole 3 hours and it was awesome. 

I love my little crazy one. She is becoming so sweet and helpful and fun to be around. 

I've got a good feeling about 4, I do.

Tonight's project: glued to ebay -- the auction on my fingers-crossed-ball-gown ends tonight! 

That and my August blocks for the do. Good Stitches bee. I'm a leetle bit down to the wire, eek!

gimp girl tutorial: make + share simple wall art

I am loving your comments + emails about the last tutorial + ideas about what you'd like to learn, so keep it coming, ok?

Today's tutorial was inspired by Rachel of Maybe Matilda, who wanted to know how to add a background design to words.

I love art that has good words.

For this project, I've chosen a refrain from the beloved hymn, Count Your Blessings.
{I've been loving this bluegrass version -- it's at the bottom of the page.}

In this Gimp tutorial, you will learn how to:

Create a hi-res image suitable for printing

Add a background design as a new layer

Add text
Download + use special fonts 

Change text font, size, and color

Upload to a file sharing site

Create a "click to download" link for your blog

{Just joining us? Start here!}

Let's roll. 

Since we plan to print the image, we need to start with a high resolution.

Open Gimp and go to File > New.

Because we'll be printing the artwork, we'll set the resolution to 360 ppi (pixels per inch).

That way, the image will be nice and crisp when you print it.

When you're making an image for web display only, 72 ppi is all you need.

If you were to print out a 72 ppi image, it would look blurry.

Now you're ready to open your background pattern. 
Go to File > Open as Layers
and choose a pattern from your clip art stash.
I'm using some tasty chevron wallpaper from Erin Bradley Designs.

Opening the wallpaper as a layer accomplishes 2 things:

1) It opens a copy of the wallpaper directly into your image-in-process so that you don't have to mess with copying + pasting.

2) Since it's a copy, the original file remains unaltered.

Once your wallpaper is open, go to Image > Fit Canvas to Layers.

This makes your workspace and your wallpaper the same size.

Now we're ready to add text.

First, select the text tool.

Second, double-click-hold-drag on your image to create a text box 

(you can change its size and location later if you need to).

Third, type text into the Text Editor window.

You'll probably see right away that the text is teeeeeny tiny! 

Before we make it bigger, let's change the font.

In the Toolbox, click on Font and select a font from the drop-down menu.

I'm using Vive la Rivoluzione, one of my faves.

That font doesn't come with Gimp; you'll need to download and install it separately. 

After downloading the font of your choice, add it to your computer's font library.

You'll need to save your work + restart Gimp in order to use your new font.

Let's change the text size.

Click the up or down arrows next to Size in the Toolbox.

You can also play with the justification; I'm going to make my text right-justified.

The text is now larger than the size of the text box. 

To fix that, hover your cursor over the edge of the text box. 

Drag the edge down until all of the text is visible.

Now for my favorite part. Time to change the text color!

Double-click the rectangular box underneath the Text menu in the Toolbox. 

A separate Text Color window will pop up.

I'm feelin' a minty aqua for my text color today.

First, click on a spot on the vertical color spectrum bar that you like the look of.

Don't be shy! You're not painting the Taj Mahal.

Next, drag the crosshairs in the square color box on the left. Watch the color in the Current box (bottom left) until you see a color you like. Click OK.

Now we'll reposition the text.

Select the move tool.

Double-click and drag the text until you've got it where you want it.

All done! Save your work (I like to save one as an .xcf file and another copy as a .jpg).

Now we'll upload your new work of art to a file sharing site.

I've been using Sendspace. It's simple. No frills.

Upload the file. When it's done, you'll see this screen giving you a few different links to choose from.

Click on the second link ("Download Link").

Next screen. 

See the blue box towards the bottom that says "Click here to start download"?

Right-click that box and select Copy Link.

Now head over to Blogger (or your blog host of choice).

Just one step left: time to make the download link.

In my blog post, I've entered the text "Click here to download the print."

Highlight the word "here" and make a link. 

When it asks for the link URL, right-click and hit Paste.

When your readers click on the word "here," your print will automatically download to 

their computer -- without sending them away to a 3rd-party site. Win!

All done! You've got a kick-trash print, and you can share it, too!

{Click here to download the print!}

Sources:
Chevron wallpaper via Erin Bradley Designs
Chalkboard via Kitschy Digitals
Fonts: Cursive Standard, Impact Label, Vive la Rivoluzione

get ready, get set...

Head on over to the shop + see what's in the sample sale section!

Hope you had a delicious weekend. We are soaking up the last morsels of summer, even though it already feels like autumn here!

shop sale

A small stack of shop seconds has been slowly accumulating in my closet over the past year or so.

Time to offload! Snatch 'em up next week for a steal of a deal.

Or, as they say in the Intermountain West, a still of a dill.

Unrelated: I am listening to these peeps right now instead of doing my workout.

gallery: tulle

If I owe you an email or a phone call or a visit or a carrier pigeon or anything like that, you should blame it on the tulle.

Our Battalion (Army) Ball is coming up in a few weeks, and it is crunch time as far as dresses go. I was going into this ridiculous longing/despair/anger cycle about not being able to find something that is at once modest, affordable, and fabulous 

(and I am so not in the mood to sew a ball gown). 

And then it hit me. Tulle. 

Wonderfully, Etsy is crawling with fabulous vintage tulle dresses, though modest and affordable dresses still elude me.
Some of my fave candidates for modestification:

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That last one is, like, my dream dress. It has sleeves, for pete's sake. 

But the price tag makes me go ha-gullllp. (More of my favorites right here.)

So, question for you: if you were to go with a minty-colored sleeveless vintage tulle dress, but needed sleeves, how would you make it modest? 

(Not a black shrug.)

Also, our visit with Grandma + Grandpa was totally rad. 

I got a great video of my mom crashing into the  TV cabinet while dancing ballet, but I think she might kill me if I posted it here.

wildflower walks

There are always wildflowers in bloom in the North Country, all summer long. 

Lizzy loves to pick bouquets on our walks and bring them home to put them in little jars. 

She makes it look so pretty, and it always makes me so happy.

My parents are here for a short visit, so we're off having some fun for a few days!

15% off washi tape + more for modern marigold readers!

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Marigolders? marigoldlets? just what are we, here?

Now through August 19, take 15% off your entire order from Kawaii Goodies
with the code "themodernmarigold" at checkout, no minimum purchase required!
There are a ton of delish little goodies in this shop, but if you've never tried out washi tape
before, now's your big chance (watch out, it's dangerously addictive).

Kawaii Goodies is my absolute fave source for washi (that's where I got the tape for the bday giveway) --
she's got great selection, very reasonable shipping, and some good deals, too.
Thanks for the great coupon code, Kawaii Goodies!

Happy shopping!