Monique Chvatal Designs

Chvatal Family X-Mas Card 2009

2009-12-03T17:05:00.001-06:00

Happy holidays everyone! Since I don't have all of your mailing addresses to actually send you our Christmas card I thought I would post it instead :)

From my family to yours, we wish you all the best this holiday season!

Borders, Borders, Borders

2009-12-02T14:40:00.000-06:00

I love borders! They are great for layering and can add so much pop to a design. Here are two sets that I recently posted to the shop. They work especially well in greeting card layouts and web design! You can even print them on heavy cardstock and cut them out by hand to add some detail and whimsy to craft projects. For now, these cute shapes are available in PNG format in my Etsy shop. Early next year I'll have EPS (vector), DXF (digital cutter), and GSD (digital cutter) files available on my website! Stay tuned to hear more about that.

Border Trio B

Border Trio A

Rudolph goes Applique

2009-12-02T12:23:00.003-06:00

It never ceases to amaze me how creative people can be with clip art! Sandra, from Applicatie-en-zo, has created some ADORABLE appliques using Classic Rudolph and Rudolph Trio from my shop. They are a perfect match to the clip art and would make an adorable decoration on any number of holiday goodies.

If you'd like to purchase these appliques from Sandra, you can visit her online store Applicatie-en-zo HERE. Or, visit her BLOG to see some of the other creative things she's done!

Sandra is in the Netherlands so let me know if you need assistance navigating the site or would like her contact information.

Changing Colors in Adobe Elements

2009-11-10T14:31:00.002-06:00

For those of you not familiar with it, Adobe Elements is a very affordable (approx. $100) and relatively user friendly photo editing software that can do some amazing things! It includes standard photo correction and editing features along with templates for scrapbook pages, photo books, and slide-shows. I could probably write a whole review about the benefits of this software but I only have 45 minutes until Brandon wakes up from his nap so I best get to the point.

One of the most beneficial features of Adobe Elements is that you can use it to re-color PNG images! This is especially beneficial if you are trying to match one element to another and/or coordinate your color pallet.

For the tutorial below, I'm working in Elements 6 but the steps should be pretty similar no matter which version you're using.

1. Open Elements and select Edit or go directly to the Editing screen.

2. Click File and then Open and select the PNG image you'd like to edit. I'll be using one of the birds in the Tweet Tweet - Ultra Brights set.

3. Use the paint bucket to fill in the color areas you want to change. Be careful and use the undo button if you accidentally fill the same color in two areas that are next to one another. Once you do that they will merge into one area. Use the color pallet box (second circle) to select the fill color.

4. When you are finished editing, click File and Save As. Make sure PNG is selected as the file type and rename the file so that it does not overwrite the old one. When you are finished, simply use the new file the same way you would have used the old one. :)

Some image files may not work (like if there's a lot of shading or drop shadows) but for the most part this should give you good results.

What is a PNG file anyway?

2009-11-09T13:21:00.001-06:00

PNG is a bitmap image format that allows for image compression and transfer on the web without a significant loss of data. It's very similar to GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) and was developed as an alternative to the aforementioned in the late 1980's.

The beauty of a PNG file is that it supports transparency within an image. So does GIF, but PNG goes even farther and allows for partially transparent values (think see through color spaces). This aspect is quite appealing when it comes to clip art and digital design elements. Having a transparent background and transparency within an image allows the user to overlap and layer elements within a design. This is especially important to designers working with publishing/photo software that does not support vector files (i.e. Microsoft Publisher, Photoshop, Invitation Software, etc.)

Although PNG files have been around for about 15 years many people don't know what they are and routinely request JPEG versions of my clip art.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a file format developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (hence the name) as a bitmap compression format for photographic images. It's the preferred file format for storing and transporting photo images but it has some limitations when it comes to clip art. The biggest drawback is that JPEG does not support transparency. That poses a problem for designers trying to create a layout with colored backgrounds or trying to layer one image on top of another. That annoying white box is always surrounding the element. It's not the JPEGs fault...it just wasn't designed for clip art!

I think the biggest fear of PNG files is that people aren't sure how to use them and if their software will support them. The good news is that you use PNG files the same way you would JPEGs. If you normally click "File", "Insert" and select a JPEG to put into your design you would do the same thing with the PNG version. Also, most software (unless you're using something pre-1995...in which case you might want to consider upgrading) will support PNG. If Microsoft Word can use it, chances are your software can too.

So give it a try, chances are you'll love it.

Here's a look at the difference between JPEG and PNG:

Turkey Tom Comes to Life

2009-11-05T09:22:00.002-06:00

So I'm finally getting the hang of turning my clip art into die cuts :) There are two different methods that I'm testing out. The first involves a print and cut (as seen in a previous post) and the other involves cutting each piece out of colored paper and then putting the layers back together again. I like the layered look much better!

Check out the similarities between the digital illustration and it's die cut cousin:

The die cut is about 6" x 6" and has the potential to make an adorable place card for Thanksgiving dinner. For now I'm going to make a few more as window decorations for the front door.

New Look

2009-11-04T10:29:00.000-06:00

So I've been playing around with the look and feel of the blog! I'm still having a hard time getting the right picture size to upload but for now this is close enough :)

Thank goodness for all of the wonderful people out there who posted tutorials on how to upload your own background. I was able to use a mix of the instructions to get something of my own posted. It still needs some tweaking so don't be surprised if you see something different every time you peek in.

Easy Holiday Cards (Word)

2009-10-20T14:47:00.003-05:00

Here's an easy project to ensure that you always have some holiday cards on hand when you need them. These are perfect for attaching to teacher gifts, distributing to co-workers, or sending to neighbors and friends.

To start, you're going to take an 8.5" x 11" piece of heavy cardstock and cut it in half length wise so that you end up with two 5.5" x 8.5" pieces. Cut as many pieces as you need and set aside until you're ready to print.

Instructions and images correspond to Word 2007. If you have an older version of Word, browse through the directions for custom envelopes here to see how to open and update settings.

1. Open up a new Word document.
2. Adjust the View settings (if needed) so that you are looking at the whole page at once.

To do this, click on "View", then "Zoom", and select "Whole Page"

3. Next we want to set up the page size to match our cardstock. 5.5" x 8.5" (You could choose to set up your card so that the page size remains 8.5" x 11" and simply rotate it to Landscape and then layout 2 cards on one page. However, I've found that you'll get better results by printing one card per sheet, the other way requires more trial and error which would be too complicated for this tutorial).

To change the page size, click on "Page Layout", "Size", and scroll down to "More Paper Sizes"

Next, you can either select "Statement" from the list if you have that as an option, or you can manually

type in 5.5" x 8.5".

Now your page should look something like this:

4. Let's insert the images :) You can use whatever clip art you have on hand! Select "Insert" from the top tabs, then click "Picture" and select the image from where you have it saved. Now your page will look something like this:

5. Next, we want to adjust the picture settings so that we can easily re-size the image and move it around by dragging with the mouse. To do this, you want to click once on the image so that it is selected (there is a box around it), then click "Format" from the top tab (this option will not be available if you don't click on the image first), and then click on "Text Wrapping" and select "In Front of Text". If you are working in an older version of Word, you'll want to double-click the image, select the "Layout" tab from the new box that pops open, and then select "In Front of Text".

6. Now we want to make the tree a little smaller and move it down towards the bottom of the page. The blue box below represents the ideal area to place objects for the front of your card. The gray area shows the amount of margin space you want to leave for your printer.

7. Now you can add your own text (I recommend using a text box so that you can easily drag the text to where you want it to be) or you can add some ready to go clip art text. To do so, just repeats steps 4-6 and adjust the images until you are happy with their placement. When you are finished, your image should look something like this:

8. Now just print and fold! Don't forget to adjust your print settings to reflect the new page size of 5.5" x 8.5". When folded, these cards fit prefectly into an A2 envelope.

This card was made using clip art from Holiday Set - A and the other card in the top picture was made from clip art using Mod Tree Set - Blue.

Like the cards but don't have the time to lay them out yourself? Just purchase the clip art and in the notes to seller tell me that you'd like a copy of the Holiday card for that set. (At the moment, only these two are available, but I'll post an update if I get a chance to create some more).

Coming Soon....

2009-10-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

I've been working on a new addition to my shop...die cuts of my clipart! These little guys probably won't be for sale until January, but I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peak :)

Below is a sample of Airplane A. As you can kind of see from the image, the plane is cut to size and ready to adhere to invitations, add to scrapbooks or other craft projects.

Here are a few other samples in their preliminary stages (these guys still need a bit of work!):

Bum Birdy

Baby Boo and Baby Bella (still rough around the edges)

I'll also be adding some basic shapes and design elements:

I'll be giving away some sample packs after the holidays so stay tuned :)

Oops

2009-09-28T20:57:00.001-05:00

Looks like I've been blocking everyone from leaving any comments on my blog! Sorry about that :) Things should be working properly now. I wonder why I never received any email notifications...I just assumed no one was reading!

How to Color An Object in Publisher

2009-05-07T10:44:00.006-05:00

1. Open up your document.

2. When you are ready to insert the image, click "Insert", "Picture", "From File" and select the graphic you would like to use.

3. When you are ready to re-color the image, right-click onto it and select "Format Picture". A new box will open.

4. From the Picture tab, click on "Recolor". A new box will pop open where you can change the color of the image.

5. Select the color you would like to use.

6. Click "Ok" twice and you are done!

Why can't I use the Fill tool from the main toolbar?

The fill feature will fill in the background of the image (which in this case was transparent since we used a transparent .png image) and not the object itself. The image below shows the difference between the two tools.
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How to Un-Zip A File

2009-05-01T10:37:00.008-05:00

Often times, high-quality digital images are too large to be emailed as is. That is why many people choose to use ZIP files to transfer their images via email or download. A ZIP file is one that has been compressed to reduce the file size and allow for faster transfer. Once a ZIP file has been transfered, it needs to be un-zipped in order to change it back to its original state and to use it properly. This process is quick, easy and painless once you know what to do!

How to Un-Zip a File:

1. Save the zipped file to your computer. In this example, we will save it to My Documents.

2. Open My Documents and right-click onto the zipped file. A menu will pop up and from that menu you will select “Extract All”.

3. The Extraction Wizard will open. Click “Next”

4. Now you will choose the folder where you want the files to be saved. It will automatically default to the same folder where the zipped file is. So, if you want it in My Documents, just click “Next”.

5. Your files will now extract and be saved in My Documents. Click “Finish”.

6. You can now delete the zipped file. Make sure you use images from the un-zipped file - otherwise they will not work properly.

Free Download

2009-05-01T10:05:00.002-05:00

American Craft Guide has featured one of my designs in their Freebie Friday giveaway! Visit their site to download our adorable tropical palm tree for free. Commercial Use is OK!!!

http://www.americancraftguide.com/2009/freebie-friday-tropical-download/

Custom Envelopes

2009-04-28T10:28:00.021-05:00

Did you know that you can create adorable (and inexpensive) custom envelopes for your business or for personal use? It's simple and all you need is Microsoft Word! These envelopes are easy to create, update and customize :)

In this example, we'll be making the Fleur-de-Lis envelope shown at the bottom of the picture you see above.

1. Open a new Word document.

We'll begin by changing some of the View settings to make editing easier and so that we are looking at the same thing.

2. Click "View" and select "Print Layout"

3. Click "View" again, select "Zoom" and in the pop up box select "Whole Page"

Your document should now look something like this:

Now it's time to set up the envelope. In this example, we'll be using a standard #10 - but you can use any envelope size that your printer can handle. You'll just have to modify the margins and placement of your images.

4. Click "File" and "Page Setup". A new box will pop open.

5. On the Margins tab fill in the following values:

Top: 0.5 Bottom: 0.5
Left: 1.13 Right: 1.0
Gutter: 0 Gutter Position: Left

Then select "Landscape" for the page orientation.

6. On the Paper tab select "Com10 Env." from the paper size menu list.

7. Click "Ok" when you are done.

(Step 5)

(Step 6)

At this point, your document should look something like this:

8. Now type in the information for the Return Address section. Highlight your text and change the font to Book Antiqua and the font size to 10pt. In the example, I have also highlighted and changed the first line of text to Bold.

9. Hit "Enter" (return) on your keyboard about 7 times to drop down to where the mailing address will be. Type in the mailing address, highlight it, and select "center". While everything is still highlighted, format the text to Bold and 12pt.

Now it's time to add some of the clip-art. For this example, I'm using the basic black Fleur-de-Lis from my shop. (It can be found here)

10. Click on "Insert", then select "Picture" and in the fly-out box select "From File". Find your image (from where you have it saved) and click "Insert". At this point, the image will skew your document a little bit, but don't worry as we're going to format it. It'll look something like this:

11. Double-click on the image and a new box will pop open where we can make formatting changes. On the Size tab change the Height to 1.13" and the Width to .73".

12. Then, click on the Layout tab and choose "In Front of Text" as the wrapping style. Now click on the "Advanced" button.

13. In the Advanced box, change the Horizontal Absolute Position to .25" to the right of Page and the Vertical Absolute Position to .13" below Page. Un-check the "Move Object with Text" box and click "Ok". Click "Ok" again to save your changes.

Your document should now look like this:

Now it's time to add the second Fleur-de-Lis....

14. Click on the Fleur-de-Lis already in the document (just once to select it). Now on your keyboard click CTRL + C (that means the Control button and while you are holding it down, click the letter C button as well). This is a keyboard shortcut to Copy. You can also right-click on the image and select Copy if that makes you more comfortable.

15. Now click CTRL + V to Paste the image into the document. (Or, you can right-click onto the document and select Paste).

You should now have 2 Fleur-de-Lis images in your document.

16. Double click on the 2nd one and change the image as follows (you'll be repeating steps 11-13 but with different values).

In the Size tab - change the Height to 2.88" and the Width to 1.85"

In the Picture tab - change the Brightness to 93% and the Contrast to 15%

In the Layout tab - select "Behind Text" as the wrapping style and then click the "Advanced" button

In the Advanced box - change the Horizontal Absolute Position to 2.75" to the right of Page and the Vertical Absolute Position to .75" below Page. Make sure the "Move Object with Text" box is still un-checked and then click "Ok" twice to save your changes.

Now, your document should look something like this:

The last thing we need to do is add two decorative lines above and below the return address.

17. First we need to make sure that your drawing toolbar is available. Click on "View", then click "Toolbards" and scroll down and make sure "Drawing" is checked. If not, click it. Now it should be available.

18. From the drawing toolbar, click on the line (see image above). A box might pop into your document that says create drawing here - IGNORE IT. Scroll up to the top of your document and draw a simple line above your return address. Don't worry if it's in the wrong spot or the wrong size. We will format it next.

19. Double-click on the line you just drew and make the following formatting changes:

In the Colors and Lines tab - change the Weight to 1.5

In the Size tab - change the Height to 0 and Width to 2"

In the Layout tab - select "In Front of Text" for the wrapping style and click on the "Advanced" button

In the Advanced box - make sure the "Move Object with Text" box is un-checked. Then, change the absolute positions to the following: Horizontal - 1.13" to the right of Page, Vertical - .4" below Page. Click "Ok" twice to save your changes.

20. Now, while the line is still selected, click CTRL + C and then CTRL + V to make a copy and paste it.

21. Double-click on the newly created copy and make the following changes:

In the layout tab - click on the "Advanced" button

In the Advanced tab - change the Horizontal absolute position to 1.13" to the right of Page and the Vertical position to 1.1" below Page.

Congratulations, you're done!

Your final document should look like this:

You can save this envelope and use it as a template. Each time you open it, just highlight the mailing address and type over it to customize.

Enjoy :)

Having trouble? If you have purchased the Fleur-de-Lis clip art from my shop, convo. me via Etsy to recieve a free copy of this Word template.

About Me

2009-04-24T13:30:00.003-05:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Monique Chvatal and I create affordable clip art for personal and commercial use. My shop can be found on Etsy.com - a wonderful outlet for selling handmade goods.

History:
I first opened my Etsy shop in August of 2008 with the intention of selling towel cakes and diaper cakes. Unfortunately the cakes didn't sell at all. They were cute, but they just couldn't complete with some of the amazing ones available on Etsy. Slowly, I started to play around with scrapbook papers and raffia and random crafting supplies from Hobby Lobby and eventually I came up with a few designs for wedding favors. My top seller (and really my only seller) was a small seed packet - an envelope made out of decorative paper with a packet of wildflower seeds & growing instructions inside, wrapped with a bow and a custom gift tag. After spending hours and hours making these favors for clients I realized that I didn’t really enjoy it! Having to measure, cut, glue and assemble hundreds of these things at a time sucked all of the fun out of it. I soon realized that the only part I did enjoy doing was designing the gift tag.

Eventually, something in my head clicked and I began to offer products that put my desktop publishing skills to use. However, this is where I hit a road block. I had the hardest time finding clip art to use in my designs. The first issue was that everything was way too CHEESY for my taste. It all looked like it came straight out of 1992. The second issue was that hardly anything was available for commercial use. If it was, it required that an additional commercial use license be purchased. Luckily (for my present day self and my clients) commercial licensing wasn’t in my budget. I wanted to offer many designs and couldn’t justify paying $20 - $100+ for one little aspect of the design. Add in the cost of paper, printing, Etsy fees, etc. and it would take me many sales of each product to make a profit. In addition, many of these licenses included print limits (can only use on 500 prints, etc.) and I was not about to create spreadsheets to count how many times I printed an image and so on.

So, I decided that I would make my own. I bought a graphic design software, started playing around to see what it can do and eventually I produced clip art. At first I simply used the images that I created in my own designs. Then one day in late January ’09, on a whim, I posted a few of the images in my Etsy shop. I didn’t really think they would sell, but they were cute and they made my shop look like it had more offerings. Not a day later the first one sold and they’ve been selling ever since!

My shop is now solely dedicated to clip art and graphic design and I feel like I’ve found the right fit for what I want to do with my life :)

Policies:
Because I was so ANNOYED with the commercial fees, limitations, and restrictions I came across in my search for clip art, I vowed to make my policies easy.

All images are available for both personal and commercial use. No extra fees, no restrictions on how many times an image can be used, no requirement to give credit (like I want someone else’s name on my invitations…), no hassles.

The only rules I have are put in place to protect my images from being re-sold as clip art. My full terms of use are posted here and I think that they’re pretty fair :)

Why the Blog?
I've found that many people have questions that mimic the same ones I had when I first started (What's a .png? How do you reverse an image? Can you do "fill in the blank" in Word?, etc., etc.) and I thought that it might be helpful to have an outlet to address these questions. Also, I thought it might be fun to share some DIY tutorials for fun projects and offer tips and tricks to use in basic software such as Word or Publisher.

So stay tuned as I'll be posting again soon!!