There’s only one more day until the premiere of the final season of LOST.  My Chicago friends are behemothic LOST fans (one is even in a LOST novelty band, Sonic Weapon Fence).  Consequently, my life has been bombarded with LOST anticipation.  Gmail user images changed to both JACKFACE and Frank Lapidus a few days ago.  But even before that, discussions in regards to a LOST party occurred.  Well, “party” = “gathering to watch Lost,” because it’s a week night, and we are old kids with 9 to 5 jobs.  I offered (via a Gmail chain of emails, and in broken English now that I’m rereading my email) to contribute beer, with possible “little dharma labels.”

Possible = Scared to commit to something I might not follow through with.  OH but fear not, a day before the big PREMIERE, I have created my own Dharma Beer labels using this Dharma Initiative Logos font on dafont.  And I am sharing it with you today, so you can create your own Dharma Beer.

Download PDF here!

Simply cut, and tape (or if you are well-stocked in office supplies, perhaps print a page on sticker paper?).  There’s two labels per page, because there wasn’t enough room on a regular letter sized page for three labels.  So, I guess you’ll have the bottom strip to doodle- hooray!  Finally, I conceded that the labels aren’t authentic.  There are some letters and numbers at the bottom of the label, but I have spent too long squinting at this screen capture, trying to figure out what the numbers are.  While I’m confessing things, if you were wondering why I’d be drinking such unsightly beer, or, you know, were perceptive to notice the text “ALL NATURAL PURE FRUIT JUICE & SPARKLING WATER” at the top, IT’S NOT BEER.  It’s Izze.  I haven’t bought beer for tomorrow night’s festivities yet.

PS- Rabbit, rabbit!  Happy February!

I will readily admit that my love of books is an obsession that has extended beyond the normal. I spend more time drawing them than I do either reading them or writing them, though I’m probably better equipped for the later.

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart:  I am, I am, I am.

No matter! I am busy making a series of classic book desktop wallpapers! Remember, way back when, when I provided you with your very own Catcher in the Rye wallpaper!? Wasn’t that fun??? Yes? Good! Now for The Bell Jar! My edition of The Bell Jar is perhaps the ugliest in existence. I think it’s some movie edition (was there a movie???). But when I re-drew it in my ugly, wobbly hand, I found it weirdly more pleasing, math has never been my strong suit, but it is as if ugly squared = pretty!

If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I’m neurotic as hell.  I’ll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.

The silence depressed me.  It wasn’t the silence of silence.  It was my own silence.

So, I’ve got many sizes, shapes, and styles for you! I know everyone’s computer set-up and style is different. (My personally customized setup with my dual-screens is thus:)

But enough about me. Here’s some free backgrounds for you!!!

iphone / ipod touch

1280 x 800 (Version 1)

1280 x 800 (Version 2)

1440 x 900

1680 x 1050

1920 x 1080 (Version 1)

1920 x 1080 (Version 2)

1920 x 1200

Do these bright and cheery quotes make you want to read The Bell Jar? Have a go! With a better cover! Unless you like ugly covers for their kitsch value, then get this one. Or, check out Sylvia Plath’s fantastic sense of style in this old post, Sylvia Plath, Fashion Icon.

First of all, YES I made a Catcher in the Rye wallpaper / desktop background! YES I am still painting books. What are you going to do?! I read, write, and paint books. I can’t help it!!! (If you don’t like books, you can check out some various other Unemployment Projects here.)

Second of all, you can click on the above picture and you’ll get a much larger version, that YES would be *especially* perfect as a desktop background if you happen to have a 15″ Mac Book Pro, though I am sure it can be usable in other formats, especially if you just use the all-over design below.

Or, if you are unemployed, you can just go off and make your very own wallpaper, like me. The best part is you can tailor your paper to your exact needs and likes! For example, I started with the overall print (below) and then realized I HATE OVERALL PRINTS because all of my icons, which I keep on the right half of the screen, get visually lost. So, I made a new version (above) which has a clear side for my personal convenience.

Here is a larger version of the above wallpaper in case you need larger (just clicky):

Anyway, here’s a How To if you want to make your own book wallpaper like mine. As usual, I will stress that you can have very little drawing / painting ability to get something cool. For example, I have this brush which mightaswell be a collection of twenty bristly dog hairs. It’s horrible. And stumpy. No one should ever paint with it. Yet I do. Because I do not have another little brush. I actually cut it all up with scissors to make it smaller. It’s awful. Moral: Professionals need not apply.

You will need:

• Photoshop or other some-such program
• Scanner or possibly a camera
• Paint or artsy supplies
• Book you are obsessed with (must have simple background if you want it to be easy, dirty and creased is acceptable!)
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1. Paint a picture of your book. Ugly and miss-sized is okay. It will most likely look cute later. Let dry, then scan.
2. Scan the real book.
3. Use Photoshop to combine covers. For example, this is how I combined my covers. I used the Magic Wand Tool to cutout the background from the painted book, and then I used the Clone Stamp Tool to get rid of the words and designs of the real book. Then I put the painted book on top of the real book. (I did this in pieces, so I could re-size each piece.)
4. Fashion your layout. Make a page the same pixel size as your desktop. Group your combined book together (but save copies of it ungrouped!) and lay it out as you will, using different elements to spice it up as you like. For example, I used my rainbow in the upper corner of my first wallpaper and I also used the Eyedrop Tool to take the slightly-yellowed book-background for my wallpaper background. As I was doing this, I thought about all the awesome book screens in the Royal Tenenbaums movie:
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Yasmine just put up the newest issue of Parasol Magazine. I liked #1 but with #2… I am really in love. Honestly. THERE ARE CUPCAKES ON THE COVER (see picture below).

Consider this. It is 5:30 am and I am writing a post on this even though I have a combination of a headache & insomnia & the magazine was issued less than two hours ago.

It’s up in both an online Issuu version and a downloadable pdf. Download the pdf, yo. Above are some of the highlights, a little taster-sample so you will think, my god!!!!!!!, I need one of these myself! You WILL need one — it will inspire you to be creative, eat cupcakes, wear vintage jewelry, cute shoes, and paint pictures with rainbows. Bestest of all, it’s so ridiculously free there is no reason not to get it!

S&D “Media Kit”

I just wanted to mention a few things on this lovely Saturday evening (on which I have eaten way too many gummy bears). I’ve recently updated the About Page so that it more aptly claims what we’re about. It also tells the fabulous and true story of where, exactly, the name Stickers & Donuts came from. Surprisingly, it was not a sudden stroke of genius. It also has the “life stories” of all three of your writers. The page also indicates ways you can subscribe to S&D (daily emails, RSS, widget) if you can’t remember to come visit on your own.

Since I am in the way of general announcements, I’ll remind you that we also have our interviews collected here and our bookmarks of favorite blogs & web-pages here. Finally, please do leave comments or send an email if you like something we’re posting or just want to say hello. We are very kind and like to respond (Tricia often leaves several delightful anecdotes to commenters on her posts).

And, just for fun, so there is a visual element to this post, here are some icons. I can’t actually tell if they are necessarily Mac Dock Icons, or if you should just use them like a sticker on your sidebar. Anyway, I used this Social Bookmark Iconset as a template (which I found on Smashing Magazine’s collection of free RSS Icons). If you right click you can save ‘em and use ‘em, if you are so inclined.

Writing Implement Test Sheet in PDF

So, Tricia’s recent post on Brush Pens debuted the “Official StickersAndDonuts.com Writing Implement Test Sheet” (as seen above). I got a handful of requests for a pdf version of the test sheet, which I am presenting to you above (download it and you will see it’s a full, printable page). Feel free to test away with your various pens and pencils. (If you need help figuring out what to test, check out Tricia’s ever-popular guide to Pens and Pencils).

It’s almost election time, and that means lots of cool, free, printable posters by professional designers!

AIGA (the professional organization for designers) sponsored an awesome contest where members created and submitted VOTE posters. While the organization picked 24 winners, I had tons of fun going through all the posters to find which ones I liked best.

The one above is a winner in my heart. So funny, and true. So true, that when I posted it in my cubicle a coworker became so obsessed that she printed out about 10 tabloid sized AIGA posters, envisioning specific ones being plastered everywhere from the kitchen to the men’s bathroom. Success!

Anyway, the poster was created by Rob Alexander, who works at visitoffice.com, a design agency which I’ve just come to discovered does work for the McSweeney’s-related Pirate Supply Store (you know, the store that supports those kids’ writing centers).

Who wouldn’t want a bottle of Captain Blackbeard’s Dye and Scurvy BeGone Capsules? (I am actually totally in love with this stuff. You can shop for it here.)

I digress.

Back to the vote posters. (All of the ones below are free except for VOTE! by Obey. We don’t blame them, it’s a high-quality print!)

1. 4 Reasons Why You Should Vote by Katie Mangano. You can see why I love this. (Graphs.)
2. Spec Your Color by Kenneth Peters. This is a great one for designers.
3. VOTE by Bart Crosby. TRUE.
4. VOTE by Shepherd Fairey. I believe this is a sold-out screenprint. It was $50. Maybe you can make it your desktop background.
5. Church/STATE: Don’t Vote by BPN (from thingsarefine.org) (via crapwelike)
6. Antarctica: Farewell Tour (Don’t Vote) by BPN (from thingsarefine.org)

So, go to AIGA, checkout the posters, and download your favorites. Print them at work on tabloid paper. Post them everywhere. A BONUS Palin-related poster, after the jump! (more…)

The blog Kitsune Noir is currently hosting The Desktop Wallpaper Project where you can get fabulous, artsy computer wallpapers like the ones above and below. What’s even better is  that the wallpapers come in all different sizing, including ones for the iphone and PSP. (more…)

Just found this “Make Your Own Slime Creep Toy” at The Blog of Rowan Tedge (a pretty cool Australian illustrator). You can make your very own crazy toy by printing out this sheet & cutting & taping away!