I decided it was time to create some more brushes. Hopefully these will warm you from the inside during these cold winter months (its cold where I am).

These brushes are big, and meant for print. You can use them for Web stuff as well, but you might need to size them down. Most of them are around 1800 pixels wide. Here’s a few examples from the Fresh Foliage [Part I] Set:

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Get The Photoshop Brushes Here ($12)

Try out the Photoshop brush sample first.

I noticed I was getting quite a few credit card offers but I didn’t realize how ridiculous it was until I saved them for a while. I didn’t count the whole pile, but I grabbed about one-forth of it and there were about 40 offers. That totals to roughly 160 in 4 months. It’s a bit annoying. However, because of these offers I’ve been able to carry some credit card debt for about 5 years without any finance charges or transfer fees. So thanks for that. It’s very simple, with this many offers, you just wait for the ones that say 0% APR for one year and no balance transfer fees. Then, you just transfer to those cards and cancel your old ones.

My favorite offers are the ones that say 5.7% fixed or something like that. Hello, why would I choose 5.7% fixed if I can get 0% for 12 months and then just transfer to the next 0% that comes along, which I do. So thanks for all the offers credit card companies. As long I as I’m in debt, I welcome them.

Shortly after I posted this, Corey and I got all of his junk mail out and had a gay old time.

Check Out His Photos Here

Today I was at the grocery store gathering a few necessities such as trash bags, and milk. I think I speak for most of us when I say the natural desire is to park as close to the door as possible. Yes there is the occasional ass that parks at the back of the lot sprawling diagonally over 2 spaces, but even he probably doesn’t want to park too far away. We do this as an instinct in order to reduce the amount of effort it will take for us to get there. I’ve witnessed drivers that will conveniently stop traffic while waiting for the perfect spot. And we’ve all seen the vultures that circle just to gain a few extra feet toward the glorious door—as they dart for the space that opens up.

There are a few occasions where this is acceptable—rain, too hot, too cold, handicapped, or if acid is falling from the sky. But I’d say most of us are just lazy. More of us should consider parking farther away. We need the exercise, it’s good to be outside, and it’s much more convenient for the rest of the drivers if you will just park in the first space you see.

If you really are concerned about walking have you considered the fact that you have to walk the cart back to the store? If you don’t walk the cart back, you really should take a look in the mirror for a few hours. In many locations, the closest parking space is still pretty far away when you consider returning that cart to the store front. Although I haven’t measured a test group of grocery stores, I firmly believe the best place to park is directly next to the cart return. There is a nominal amount of extra walking if you have a cart because you don’t have to take the cart back to the store, these spaces are usually available, you don’t annoy as many other drivers, and you feel good about making an intelligent decision. So park by the cart return and begin to judge the vultures from your pedestal of intelligence.

I realized today that I’ve been accepting this notion of “Open Recent Files” for quite some time. The idea is simple. In my mind, as an end user, it means that I should be able to open a file I was working on yesterday or perhaps one that I’ve saved and closed in the previous 5-10 minutes, or hours. Whatever the case may be, for as long as I can remember “Open Recent Files” doesn’t actually show a list of the most recent files I’ve worked on. Perhaps on some days it works as desired, but most of the time it shows something I worked on several days ago, or in this case lists the same file “GenericPoster.ai” 5 times. Now I know for a fact that I worked on other things in this particular program after I worked on the Generic Poster. And, I haven’t opened that file in a week. So, this morning, I went to “Open Recent Files” in Illustrator in an effort to open a file I worked on last night, and of course, it’s not listed. I somewhat recall a similar phenomenon when working on Windows XP, however I’m not completely sure.

I’m a believer in creating reasonable expectations in order to avoid the frustration of unkept promises. So maybe it should say something more like “Open Random, Semi Recent Files” to clear up the confusion. Okay, I think “Semi Recent” should have a hyphen, but I don’t want to fix the jpg. That was probably the attitude of the programmer, so I guess I’m not one to judge. Also, is it necessary to repeat the file multiple times? Absolutely not. This software isn’t cheap, and neither is the hardware, or the operating system. Its nearly 2006, we’ve cloned things, and we haven’t worked this one out yet. Interesting.

If you are new to the brushes that I make, you should know that they are mainly for working with materials meant for print. You can use them for Web stuff as well, but you might need to size them down. Most of the brushes are around 1800 pixels wide. Again, I created a few images so you can see them in context.

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Important Information

Adobe Photoshop CS, CS2 or higher on OSX or Windows. However, I have divided the brushes into layers to support Photoshop 7 and previous versions, so now everyone can enjoy.

Download Instructions

1. Download the brushes here (23.1 MB)
2. Select the paint brush in the Photoshop tools.
3. From the brushes palate choose “Load brushes…”
4. Navigate to your brand new brushes and happy times begin.

Layers

I’ve had a lot of requests for these brushes to be compatible with Photoshop 7 and previous versions. To save time, I’ve divided each design into a photoshop layer. You get one file with several designs, each on it’s own layer. If you’d like to convert these into brushes, it’s easy. Simply turn on one of the layers and go to edit>define brushes. After this, your brush will appear in the brushes palate.

1. Download the layers file here [Part III] (31 MB)

Brush Usage Rights
Please ask for permission for any use of this brush set and/or vector set that is not covered in the Terms Of Use. You may NOT use these brushes on designs for sale on stock photography sites!

In the past few days I have encountered several so-called re-sealable packages that boast things such as “resealable zipper,” “reclosable package,” “seal and store,” and other phrases that tell anyone living in the year 2005 that the product is enclosed in a basic storage bag with a plastic zipper that closes when you squeeze your fingers around it and slide them from one end to the other. I believe these bags were originally invented by Glad Corporation sometime in the early 1960s. So, by now I assume most of the patents are expired, and apparently everyone is now free to do what they want with the original idea.

For me, the re-sealable bag is a great idea. If I were in the meetings back in the ’60s I would probably be brainstorming with other co-workers about ways to meet the demand for a disposable container that would actually keep food fresh, how to improve on the fold over sandwich bag, or the original twist tie baggie. I imagine at some point one of the inventors in the meeting might have mentioned the need for efficiency. Think of the time that one could save while making their lunch if we didn’t have to put a twisty tie on our bags, if they would only seal themselves, or somehow stick together. Perhaps they weren’t as concerned with time then as we are now, but there was a definite reason for this wonderful zipper seal invention. The value for me is the ability to open and close my product quickly and easily.

Consider going to the kitchen, opening a cabinet, removing the bag of granola cereal, opening the convenient seal, pouring a handful of granola, and then attempting to close the “resealable bag” with a the slight disadvantage of a fist full of granola. Most people, including myself, would use the full hand to simply pinch one end of the bag between thumb and index finger, and simply slide the other hand across the top while squeezing between thumb and index finger, toss the sealed bag back into the cabinet, shut the door and walk off while simultaneously snacking on the granola.

This was my intention today when I accessed the Back to Nature—Cranberry Pecan Granola bag and could not close the zipper with this method. As I was fumbling with the seal and considering grabbing a plate, or perhaps standing there eating my granola until I could use both hands to full capacity to attempt the reseal, I thought about the Tyson—Pre-Cooked Bacon package the day before, and the Pepper-jack cheese package I had struggled with. Then I remembered the bag of Tyson Chicken that is in the freezer that I was completely unsuccessful in ever re-sealing. In that particular case, the idea of “resealable” was false advertising and I was forced to use my favorite method of folding over the top and clamping it closed with a clothespin.

So why is this packaging that should be efficient and useful, simply lacking in ability to fulfill its original purpose? Why in 2005 can we as a technology driven nation not figure out a way to duplicate the perfection of the Glad Corporation’s invention? Why do manufacturers want to piss me off with unfulfilled promises of resealability?

I’m utterly confused and frustrated by this phenomenon.

Watch the video

I couldn’t resist. I had so much fun making the first round of brushes I stayed up last night making these. Again these are quite large brushes, so they are mainly for working with materials meant for print. You can use them for Web stuff as well, but you might need to size them down. Most of the brushes are around 1800 pixels wide.

Oh, and I also couldn’t resist using them. So I created a few images so you can see them in context.

Select Brush Samples (not actual size)

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Important Information

Adobe Photoshop CS, CS2 or higher on OSX or Windows. However, I have divided the brushes into layers to support Photoshop 7 and previous versions, so now everyone can enjoy.

Download Instructions

1. Download the brushes here (23.1 MB)
2. Select the paint brush in the Photoshop tools.
3. From the brushes palate choose “Load brushes…”
4. Navigate to your brand new brushes and happy times begin.

Layers

I’ve had a lot of requests for these brushes to be compatible with Photoshop 7 and previous versions. To save time, I’ve divided each design into a photoshop layer. You get one file with several designs, each on it’s own layer. If you’d like to convert these into brushes, it’s easy. Simply turn on one of the layers and go to edit>define brushes. After this, your brush will appear in the brushes palate.

1. Download the layers file here [Part II] (33 MB)

Brush Usage Rights
Please ask for permission for any use of this brush set and/or vector set that is not covered in the Terms Of Use. You may NOT use these brushes on designs for sale on stock photography sites!