Nitty.Gritty. boutique~

Okay~ Don't get too excited about these t-shirts, because so far they exist only on my computer screen. I have lots of designs for fun t-shirts in my head, but getting them into production is another story. It's not like I have a team of people behind me or my own label, like Heidi Swapp. I was just playing around with PhotoShop and thought the "Nitty.Gritty. Have you read my blog today?" t-shirt would be cute for me to wear while I sip out of my tumbler. And of course, I'd have to make a bunch of these for my kids to wear out and about.
Then I had flashbacks in my head to when I was young and I would see whole families and groups out at places like the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry or the good ol' Minnesota State Fair (yes, I'm a nice midwestern girl); all the people in these groups had matching t-shirts. I guess it's supposed to make it easier to spot someone when they stray from the group and get lost- but it always seemed to me it would be easier to lose someone with a matching shirt because it would be awhile before you noticed that person was missing.
Maybe that's not remotely funny to you- but it always made me laugh to see these matching-shirt field trip people... especially when it was a family event where even the "big kids" were wearing them, and you know that teenager was thinking, "I am so not going to meet any cool chics today wearing this neon yellow 'I belong to the Hansen Family' shirt." Of course, I know my shirts are cool to wear, but I may have to mix them up a bit before sending my relatives out in public in them. My hubby's would simply say, "Don't bring up my wife's blog." My Mom's would read, "If I wasn't scared to turn on a computer, I'd have my own blog!" and so on and so forth.
This probably doesn't even matter in the scheme of your existence, but it makes me smile thinking about it. Besides, I think I'm getting Christmas present ideas here- so just play along for my sake.
One more thing about these Nitty.Gritty. designs. I own a very old version of Adobe PhotoShop which I get some enjoyment out of from time to time. I know how to do some simple graphic design and photo manipulation with it. I usually use it to play with color and brightness and contrast on my photos and I also resize them for printing or posting online.
The tumbler I posted a couple of days ago was created using Microsoft Picture It! 2001. (I know, that's old too... but it still works for me!) This is for Wendy Smedley's inquiry as to how I did it. I guess I figured everyone could make one of them just by looking at mine and getting the idea. Here's a few more details- in my non-teaching, non-techinical terms.
I scanned the little paper insert that came with the cup and then I filled it with my chosen color of pink. Next, I added graphics to create the words, "nitty gritty"- which I got from the Shabby Shoppe online site. (www.theshabbyshoppe.com ) The letters are from the Tropical Winter kit- cute, cute...and costs about $5.95 for the kit. The rest of the little designs are actually fonts that I downloaded and purchased from Scrap-N-Fonts. They are Elsie Flannigan's CK High Energy Doodle, CK Funky, CK Circles & Swirls, and CK Bohemian. They cost $2.99 each- but I bought 'em on the 2 for 1 special last week. That's all I did. I played with the colors and placement and just printed it out- sized to fit my cup.
The cool thing is that these cups can be made with traditional scrap methods too. I made one earlier with patterned paper and stickers- and it turned out cool too. These are my new favorite tumblers. Even if you just cut a paper that you love and stick it in there, it looks cute. You can change the paper or images as often as you like, and trust me, the flavor of your beverage is enhanced just because you are drinking from a funky cup.
You could make political statements with your morning Chai Latte, or show off your funny wedding photos you've had hidden in your closet for years.The possibilities are endless! There you go! {Did you catch that, Wendy?!} Hope that helps! Think easy.