This isn’t a new year’s resolution, just a fulfillment of a goal I’ve had for a while: to move my cookie designs onto more permanent formats. In recent posts I’ve unveiled numerous cookie designs that I’ve transformed into paintings. Now some of those paintings are giclee prints, and as of today, some are greeting cards. And they’re all available in my little Etsy store! (which is about to go through a little sprucing up). I’ll preview new cards as I make them here.

And of course, I’ll be making new cookies. Yes, yes, yes!

Just before Valentine’s Day, I mentioned that one of my goals this year is to move some of my cookie designs to other formats, like paper and fabric. This bulldog, who you might recognize from my main site’s banner, is the first attempt. He was lovingly replicated using Adobe Illustrator, a not very friendly program, but ultimately a very useful program. Every time I mess up in Illustrator, I cuss and swear that it requires another advanced degree to master. Well, I’m up to my very thick eyebrows in student loans, so I’m not going to grad school anytime soon. Actually, make that never again. I don’t care if I am someday regarded as undereducated.

Calling all artists, illustrators, graphic geniuses and everyday people with good taste to kindly give me some feedback. I hope to put Mr. Bulldog on a few cards and tags. Should he remain white?

Have a dawg of a week.

I’ve been experimenting with different ways of transferring my cookie designs to other media such as paper and fabric. The process has required me to learn a little more about Photoshop and Illustrator, and the learning curve has been a bit steep. But enlightening, too.

This isn’t the first time I’ve made little tags with photos of my edible works. A couple of years ago I inserted a picture of some Christmas cookies into a tag using Microsoft Word, a most evil program. I couldn’t move the picture where I wanted to, and I couldn’t align the text the way I wanted. Although the results were eventually acceptable, the experience made me want to see what I could do with other programs. The verdict? Photoshop and Illustrator are much less evil programs. Evilness is determined by how often I am reduced to a pathetic, frustrated mess.

Feel free to download these tags in either evil Word or in less evil PDF format. And if you have any funny stories to tell if you used them, please let me know. I’m up for non-evil funny-happy stories. Sorry, these tags are no longer available for free download. A new improved version will soon be in my Etsy Store. ~mari, 1.27.2010

After downloading, you can print them out on nice card stock paper, or slightly evil Avery 8373 business cards. Or on regular paper. And remember to change your printer settings to the best possible.