Saturday, June 4, 2011

30 Days of Creativity - Day 4: Athena's Armoury & Apothecary Product Label Work In Progress

Creativity today was a bit of a challenge, but not without trying.  I attempted to work on three different projects and couldn't finish any of them because I'm missing parts.  A trip to the hardware store after work tomorrow & I should have everything I need to keep me creatively busy for the next few days!

So, I moved onto another project that I've needed to do for a while now and must admit, I've been putting off.  I am NOT a graphic designer.  I can't even pretend to be.  But I need labels.  I've been promising to get my sore muscle salve into the shop for longer than I care to admit for people that are actually asking for it.  When I ran out of other projects today, I figured I should start working on it.  Well, let's just say that it's been a challenging afternoon.  I got Avery labels and figured that it would be easy enough to download their template and play around.  They only have templates for Microsoft Word & I use Open Office on my main computer.  Open Office can usually open any Word documents, but I'm guessing that opening a template is a little different.  Even when I found templates for Open Office, they weren't for the right Avery labels that I'm using.  So... I attempted to use the Avery Design Online software.  Needless to say, it's a little limiting.  Actually, it's very limiting.  It only uses specific file formats, so the picture that I originally wanted to use wasn't working.  I couldn't use my font of choice.  There was a crazy circle around the labels I couldn't get rid of...  GAH!!

At one point of great frustration, I just had to walk away from the computer for a few minutes.  I went outside and hung up a couple cute sun catchers (one of which, I realize, you can't see very well in this shot) and a really pretty chime.

sun catchers & chime

After spending a few minutes outside, I came back & started from scratch and figured a few things out.  The good news is that I learned how to make a transparent background on pictures and I finally have a work in progress label.  It's certainly not perfect (yet) but it's a start at least.  Here's a little glimpse of what I'm working on:

warrior salve label wip

Here's to the possibility of new labels at some point this evening and frustration free creativity for the next few days!!


By the way, I tried the homemade dishwasher detergent that I made on Day 2 last night & it worked prettty well!!


Psst: I just finished working on the Warrior Salve labels & should have it listed in the shop within the next few days!!!

2 comments:

Faerie♥Kat said...

Very nice job, AA! And I hear you about "missing parts". I run into that all the time, too. I'm constantly having to either redesign, substitute, or just set the project aside and wait until I can afford to get the right pieces. What usually ends up happening is that I forget about it for MONTHS. I just noticed the name change, now that you are offering the fruits of your herbal training in your boutique. Triple A, yay! I am such a sucker for alliteration. I'm still trying to find the right name for my shop; I don't know why it's so difficult. Please keep reminding me to drop in, because I'm months behind in my blog reading; your blog is emailed to me daily by FeedBlitz, but I've just been putting them in a "to be read later" folder because, well, something had to give. I feel like I'm spread thinner than gold plating!

Athena's Armoury said...

One stop to the hardware store & I think I have everything I need to complete those projects. Yay!

You'll find your name. I know you will.

I understand about feeling spread thin. No worries, chica. Making priorities is a good thing.