Lou's Designs - Part 2

Laughing Kookaburra Pictures

Kookaburra photo — The Kookaburra – an Australian Kingfisher

I get woken up (way too early I should add) by a variety of bird calls, but the laughing kookaburra certainly seems the loudest! Luckily I enjoy seeing a kookaburra in my garden so I don’t complain, well not too much anyway!

I have quite a few laughing kookaburra images to share and I’ve finally gotten around to creating my first kookaburra greeting card on Zazzle from one of my recent visits from a kookaburra.

As you know from earlier posts I do love birds and I have a variety of them residing in the trees around me from Turtle Spotted Doves to Rainbow Lorikeets, Australian Magpies to Kookaburras and many more. The Kookaburra is certainly loud enough to herald his presence, but I don’t catch a glimpse of him as often as the others.

Occasionally he’ll grace me with his presence, sometimes fleetingly and sometimes it’s as though he’s decided he wants to be a model as you can see here –

Kookaburra Images

He really did seem to want to make sure I got all of his sides, didn’t he? Definitely a model bird in the making!

After a while he seemed tired of my pool fence and flew up into one of the trees bordering my garden where he preened for the cameras for a little longer. One of those photographs is the one I’ve made this blank greeting card from –

Laughing Kookaburra Greeting Card

As you can see from his profile our Laughing Kookaburras belong to the kingfisher family.

Laughing Kookaburra pictures

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Cool Designer Mini Skirts

Are you bored of the constant plain black bodycon mini skirts that EVERYONE seems to have? Do something about it and check out some of the cool designer mini skirts available at Redbubble.

As a designer I’ve created a few mini skirts and here I’m featuring two of my designs that are influenced by nature.

Floral Print Mini Skirt

This fun design is based around an agapanthus, a beautiful purple floral graphic. This floral print designer mini skirt adds a pop of purple to your outfit which is one of those colors that is flattering to everyone.

If you’re having trouble pulling away from the generic black mini skirt, you should be happy to know this gorgeous design is also available on a couple of different tops.

The pattern on these designer mini skirts is repeated on the back as you can see (to a degree) on the side view of the skirts (above and below).

The material used is made up of 82% polyester and 18% elastane and as you can see from the images the waistband is one of the popular stretch waistbands.

Black & White Designer Mini Skirt

Besides flowers what else can be considered influenced by nature? Butterflies of course! I do love butterflies which is why this next skirt features a black and white butterfly!

This design is perfect because there’s no color to it (which seems to be very important with some sections of the population when it comes to fashion!) and yet it’s unique and will make you stand out in the crowd.

I hope you’ve enjoyed at least one of these two designer mini skirts that I’ve brought you today.

If a skirt isn’t quite your thing then there are some awesome black and white graphic t-shirt dresses or a selection of different t-shirts designed by yours truly which you are welcome to check out.

Selection of designer mini skirts

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Popular Pug Christmas Card Design

One of my more popular pug Christmas card designs came about by accident a few years ago as I was learning how to use Photoshop.

I love the look of pugs, they are just adorable and they are also very popular so a few years ago I decided I really had to make a pug Christmas card for one of my Zazzle stores.

The design started with this photograph of a black pug puppy –

pug puppy dog

I uploaded the photo into Photoshop and using the eraser tool deleted the background. I then found a creative commons vector image of a Santa hat and put that onto the pug’s head.

When I uploaded the photo to Zazzle to put on a card I realized that it accentuated all of the mistakes I had made with erasing the background as you can see –

Pug Christmas Card

The background appears very mottled instead of the pure white it was supposed to be. I had spent so much time that I could’ve cried, but then my daughter came in and saw the image and loved it, especially the mottled background! Instead of deleting it I published the card and waited to see what would happen.

I sold my first card within the first week which I thought was amazing, but I waited and waited to see if I would get a return – I got a re-order from the same person instead!

I’m so glad I didn’t delete it, my only wish now is that I could re-create the mottled looking background easily for some of my other designs! Over the past few years this card has continued to be a popular holiday card so the moral of the story is – even if your design isn’t as perfect as you wanted, it may be exactly what other people are looking for!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Owl Christmas Decor | Owl Christmas Gift Wrap & Cards

I love owls and especially during the holidays when I enjoy Owl Christmas Decor like tree ornaments or throw pillows. I also love to use owl Christmas gift wrap and send cards with owls on them.

If you love owls as well then why not have a ‘hoot’ of a festive season with some of the holiday owl designs I’ve found for you here –

Have a Hoot of a Christmas – Owl Xmas Collection
by Louanne Cox

Let’s look at my favorite Christmas owl design –

Owl Christmas Card

The image above was taken from a creative commons image of three owls on a branch, I changed the colors of the owls a bit and for the Christmas design I gave them all Santa hats.

I’ve used this design on lots of different products including owl Christmas wrapping paper and an owl Christmas pillow in fact you can check out some of the designs in the set below –

Christmas Owl Set

Buy These Designs Now!

Merry Christmas Owl Card | Christmas Owl Gift Wrap | Owl Christmas Pillow | Have a Hoot Christmas Card

There are some fantastic owl Christmas tree decorations available as well, both from my own Owl Zazzle Store and from other peoples, we just love Owl Christmas ornaments!

Owl Christmas Ornaments

You can buy these ornaments here –

I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at some of the Christmas owl designs available to spice up your holiday season.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Happy Rock Designs

I took a photo of something my daughter and I used to call Happy Rock quite a few years ago and the design is available on a couple of products on Zazzle.

It’s not often that I would point out graffiti as something positive, but this was just an ordinary rock by the side of the road until someone painted a happy face on it.

My daughter had just started Primary School when we first noticed Happy Rock (as we named this graffiti smiley faced rock) and on one day she was very grumpy and didn’t want to go to school. I happened to notice the rock and as there were no vehicles behind me I slowed down and reversed telling her to look out of the window.

‘It’s a Happy Rock!’ she exclaimed and from that morning on we would wave to ‘Happy Rock’ on our way to school. My daughter has long since left that school and I drove past the spot for the first time in years to see that Happy Rock is no longer there.

The photo I took was with a very old digital camera and really was very much a ‘snap’ as opposed to a well taken photo – the product is popular though.

I think what makes the design popular is definitely the subject so when you’re taking photos don’t forget to look outside of the box – a graffitied stone is not what I would think of photographing, but sometimes you capture an emotion at the same time.

Let me introduce you to Happy Rock –

Graffiti Happy Face Birthday Card Be Happy Poster

I’ll admit the poster hasn’t sold (in memory), but I like the idea of it, the birthday card has been and continues to be very popular however.

If you’re not smiling looking at these products then I’m a little concerned about you!

Happy Rock - Graffiti to make you smile

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Vintage Christmas Postage Stamps | Christmas Cards | Christmas Envelope Labels

Matching vintage Christmas card stationery If you’re after some vintage Christmas postage stamps then I have a few Zazzle sets here that you should enjoy. These sets include matching Christmas cards, Christmas envelope labels and postage stamps.

I am planning to bring you regular posts of Zazzle sets for you comprised of both my own designs and other peoples.

In a hurry?

=> Head straight to vintage Christmas postage stamps

=> Head straight to vintage Christmas envelope labels

=> Head straight to vintage Christmas cards

My vintage Christmas designs are based on creative commons images and here are a few of my favorites for you to enjoy –

Vintage Winter Snowman Christmas Card, Vintage Christmas Postage & Vintage Snowman Address Labels

This vintage rosy cheeked child and his newly made snowman is a gorgeous image for a vintage Christmas card and to be able to carry the image over to matching address labels and a Christmas postage stamp is great.

If you like the look of them then all you need to do is click below to buy them –

Vintage Snowman Christmas Card | Vintage Snowman Christmas Postage Stamp | Vintage Snowman Christmas Address Labels

Snowman Couple Christmas card, address label & postage stamp set

Want these gorgeous items? Well I don’t blame you I absolutely love the idea of a snow dog! If you want this snowman couple and their pet dog to come and stay with you this holiday season then you just to to click on these links –

Snowman Couple Postage Stamp | Snowman Couple Address Label | Snowman Couple Christmas Card

Vinage Christmas Card Set

If you like the look of this little vintage girl next to a very spiffy looking winter snowman then you’ll want to know where to get this matching Christmas stationery –

Vintage Christmas Card | Vintage Christmas Postage Stamp | Vintage Christmas Address Labels

In case you can’t guess I really do like snowmen on my Christmas greeting cards!

Match your Christmas stationery with cards, postage and address labels — **Feel Free to Pin!**

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Fun Christmas T-Shirts

Fun & Festive Christmas T-Shirts Do you enjoy a warm Christmas in a tropical area somewhere or in the Southern Hemisphere where Christmas occurs in the middle of summer? If so then you’ll be familiar with the idea of fun Christmas T-Shirts.

I was first introduced to the concept of a Christmas t-shirt when I was an adult and moved to the Southern Hemisphere. There are lots of different styles of Xmas shirts to choose from, but I do have a soft spot for the funny Christmas t-shirts myself.

Zazzle has a lot of these fun Christmas shirts to choose from, I have a collection of Christmas t-shirts that I’ve designed available here –

Christmas T-Shirts
by Louanne Cox

Here are my top 3 funny holiday shirts though –

Dreaming Of A Wine Christmas Funny T-Shirt ‘staching through the snow’ Funny Cchristmas T-Shirt Funny Retro Rum Man Christmas T-Shirt

Now those three aren’t my designs, but I think they’re perfect for the festive season.

If you live where Christmas is more likely to mean snow than a suntan then you’ll be happy to know that these funny festive designs are also available on sweatshirts and hoodies too!

Selection of fun Christmas t-shirts

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Beach Themed Coasters

If you love to use coasters for your drinks then I think you’ll fall in love with my selection of Beach Themed Coasters. These coasters are perfect for long, icy drinks in the summer especially outside enjoying the sun.

My beach themed coasters are all based on photographs that I took at – surprise, surprise – the beach! I have 3 available in my Beachcombing store –

Beach Theme Drink Coasters
by Louanne Cox

The first shell with the pinkish hue to it was photographed on Ohope Beach in New Zealand, the sand came out looking a lot darker in the photo than I remember it being, but I do love the pink hue in the sea shell.

The second coaster features a lifeguards hut on a beach at Mount Maunganui which is also in New Zealand. I love how in the photograph it looks like the waves are almost lapping at the feet of the hut, in reality just past the hut is a sharp drop and there’s more beach, although it was also high tide.

The shell in the third coaster has a sheen on it because it was still wet and was glistening under the sun. This photograph was taken at Wellington Point on the strip that leads out to King Island as the tide was going out. Wellington Point is in Australia.

I did have quite a few other beach theme drink coasters at one stage, but no one seemed interested in them so I’ve only kept the three that people seem to want to look at.

Although I haven’t designed any myself I do love the look of some of the vintage style beach themed drink coasters that you can get on Zazzle, here’s a few of my favorites –

Coasters Vintage Beach Flapper Purple suit Cloche Coasters Vintage Evening Beach Ball Flapper Cloche Baahamas Beach Vintage Stone Drinks Coaster Scenic Beach Stone Drinks Coaster

NOTE: If you purchase anything from one of these links I may receive a commission and perform a happy dance in my computer chair! Full details here.

Catherine Parr Greeting Card

When you’re creating a product using an image from the public domain how do you get it to stand out from the others? I usually upload the image to Photoshop and using the color dropper icon I simply pick a color from the image to use as a background or frame.

In my Images of History store I started off with Catherine of Aragon and one of her older sisters Juana. The next image I used was of Anne Boleyn and then I had to decide whether to stick with the rest of the ‘Spanish’ women or the other wives of Henry VIII. I decided to do Henry VIII’s six wives first.

When I found an image of Catherine Parr it was tall and not very wide so didn’t sit well on a greeting card. I picked a color from the skirt of her gown and put that as a background with the image over the top. That just made the image look flat and just ‘not right’.

I took a color from her kirtle and added that as a very thin frame around the image, but the background still didn’t seem right it needed texture.

I created an image of just the background color and used one of the filters on Photoshop to give the background some texture and then added the original image with it’s frame onto it.

This is the end result –

Catherine Parr Card by imagesofhistory

I think it turned out really good in the end, don’t you? If you know a fan of the Tudor image then you really should check out my store next time you want to send them a greeting card.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.

Funny Kiwi T-Shirts

I lived in New Zealand for 10 years and even ended up married to a Kiwi so we travel back regularly. I love some of the funny Kiwi sayings and so it came as no surprise to people who knew me when I decided I had to open up a Kiwi inspired shop on Zazzle – Kiwiana Shop.

I started this Zazzle store with Kiwi inspired t-shirts because Kiwis in general seem to love their t-shirts. No Worries Bro, Not Even Owl, Nek Minnit and other Kiwi sayings look great on tees.

The next ideas for t-shirts was place names and “add town” born style of t-shirts, but my personal favorite was yet to come.

I often find some of my most creative thoughts come to me in bed when I’m trying to sleep and the idea for this funny t-shirt was no exception. I was thinking of a Kiwi (bird) eating a Kiwi (fruit) and I thought to myself, “could you call that cannibalism” and started to giggle.

Here’s the result of that internal dialogue –

Kiwi Cannibalism Shirt

This funny t-shirt certainly isn’t my most popular Kiwi tee, but it’s my favorite and still brings a smile to my face when I see it.

Of course my Kiwiana Shop isn’t all about t-shirts as I’ve designed other products in it as well, but t-shirts is where this particular store started and it is the main product that I create for it. If there’s a Kiwi in your life you can find some cool gift ideas for them there.

Kiwi Cannibalism T-Shirts, just one funny Kiwi inspired tee.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article – more information can be found on our disclosure page.