Lots of free, printable notecards

Caravan is a shop full of digital downloads created by Alma and Mike Loveland and Melanie Burk. And they've just made all of their printable stationery free! Find notecards for teachers, grads, birthdays, and more right here, including a bunch of chalkboard-style designs which are super trendy right now. Save yourself a trip to the store!

Framed origami animals

I amused myself the other day by making some little origami foxes using this diagram by Mark Leonard, and a whale using these traditional instructions. (The website where I found the fox is apparently no longer active or I'd link to it.)


I thought maybe these animals need a place to live, so I made them each a habitat.


You can download and print these backgrounds, then glue your own origami animals onto them if you like. Framed, they'd be cute in a kid's room.

Download the woods.
Download the sea.

Print out the sheets and leave them 8 1/2" x 11" or trim them a bit to 8" x 10", a more common frame size. The animals were made from 6" standard-size origami paper. A full square for the whale and a half sheet for each fox. You could also shrink everything to mini size and make some little cards if you have nimble fingers.

12 May desktop wallpapers

There are a ton of pretty, floral May desktops out there, free for the taking. If your screen needs a May calendar or quote, consider one of these springy items from designers around the web:

1. Enchanted Woods
2. Emily Ley
3. Ruche
4. Sarah Hearts
5. Regina F. Silva
6. Grown-up Shoes
7. Caroline Johansson
8. La boom!
9. Jonathan Woodward
10. Pimpelmees
11. Love Creative
12. Rebekka Seale

Printable Mother's Day card

Mother's Day is coming up, so I made a little freebie you can download and print for your mum. It's a greeting card that fits in a standard A2 envelope. (4.25" x 5.5" after folding.) And it won't use up much of your ink cartridge. You could output this on linen-textured cardstock to make it really nice, and pair it with a red or green envelope. And a pie.

Download the card right here.

Build your own paper globe

I just came across Joachim Robert's Le Paper Globe, a free papercraft model you can build. Download and print the pieces in English or French, A4 or letter size. Click through the step-by-step assembly instructions on the website for how to construct this terrestrial ball.

The PDF is editable in Adobe Illustrator, so feel free to make any customizations you like. See globes made by others on Le Paper Globe's Facebook page. Globes shown here are by An-Magritt Moen, Georgia Polo, and A Merry Mishap.

Free font: Cherry Swash

Need a pretty little slab serif typeface? Check out Cherry Swash, designed by Natalia Kasatkina. It's available right here from Font Squirrel, free for commercial use.

Scalloped desktop wallpaper freebies

Everything is gloomy today. The news. The weather. Is spring ever going to come? I tried to console myself by making desktop wallpapers in fun colors. I stole the scallops from the printable stationery I made the other day and turned them into backgrounds simple enough to find my files easily. Help yourself!

Download your choice of: green, gray, pink, or teal (2880x1800 px).

Select the fit-to-screen option for your monitor, or whatever setting looks best.

DIY printable neon stationery set

Neon is a trend that's still going strong. If it's important that your life have more of it, consider printing your own neon DIY stationery set with this downloadable freebie. April is National Card and Letter Writing month, so let's send some mail!

I've designed notepaper and a matching envelope in two patterns: scallops and stripes. They turned out a bit Kate Spade-y, no? You can mix them or match them.


I printed the designs on sheets from a pack of Astrobright Neon paper I bought at Office Max. It's a common brand available at most office stores. But if neon scalds your eyeballs or reminds you too painfully of junior high, use any paper you like. Brown kraft paper would be cool, too.

Download the free, printable PDF right here.

The document has four pages; print out the pages you need at 100%.


Trim out the notepaper sheets.


Cut out the envelope templates, score along the fold lines, and fold the flaps inward. Secure them with a glue stick.

Mail a note to a buddy. Or print up sets of these, tie them with black ribbon or neon twine (I spotted some at Paper Source the other day) and give them as small gifts or party favors.

Free, printable thank you cards

I like these simple, modern thank you cards, a free download from Love Vs. Design. They look cool printed on kraft paper, too! Check them out here and download your own set.

Free watercolor desktop wallpapers

If your desktop needs a little cheering up, try one of the watercolor backgrounds posted at Design Love Fest. They come in pink and blue and remind me of spring— unlike the weather right now, which is depressing. I'll take whatever bright things I can find!

Printable Mad Men paper dolls

Ready for Sunday's Mad Men premiere? I'm looking forward to it, even though Alex and I turn to each other after every episode and say, "Why do we watch this show?" It's miserable. But so well done we can't tear our eyes away. And the decor! The clothes! Speaking of which, Dyna Moe has illustrated Joan and Megan paper dolls with outfits from last season. Download Joan here and Megan here. Print and cut! Or post an entire sheet on your bulletin board just because they look fun.

Free font: Corki v.2

If you compulsively collect fonts, you might want to grab Corki v.2 from Type Depot. It's a condensed slab serif that comes in four styles. Download the family for free right here!

Leather backgrounds for desktops and devices

Hermès is offering a collection of free "screen leather" backgrounds. Grab some calfskin, alligator, or buffalo for your phone, tablet or desktop. The orange calfskin I downloaded is 2560x1600 px, so these are big files. Choose your favorite here.

Easy washi tape Easter egg holders

If you need something to keep your boiled eggs from rolling all over the table, try making paper holders decorated with washi tape.

Download and print the egg holder template at 100%.


Apply decorative tape over the surface of each band. I used washi tape and patterned duct tape.

Cut out the bands and the slots. Since washi tape is slightly translucent, it's easy to see the trim lines through the tape.


Form each band into a circle and hook the slots together.

Have a beautiful Easter weekend, everyone!

Floral Easter eggs with printable decals

I dug out some old hand-drawn illustrations I did ages ago and arranged them into little tattoos for Easter eggs.

If you'd like to make some eggs like this, download the free sheet of decals.


Print it on ink jet temporary tattoo paper and follow the application instructions on the package. It's super easy. After the decals are prepared, just place a trimmed shape on an egg (or yourself), hold a wet cloth on it for 10 seconds, and pull off the paper backing. Smooth out any wrinkles with your finger.

I used Silhouette brand tattoo paper purchased at my local PaperSource last year, but you can also get similar stuff from DecalPaper.com.

DIY woven paper flag garlands

Remember Paper Matrix, the team behind those amazing woven paper hot air balloons? Now you can download templates for making fancy woven paper bunting. I love the scalloped ones. Head over and grab the PDFs!

Make a paper Hermès clutch

If you need a fancy paper envelope for a card or gift, check out these DIY Hermès Jigé Clasp clutch purses. Choose your favorite design, print the PDF (fit-to-page setting), cut, score the folds, and assemble with a bit of glue.


I didn't make the Kelly bag when it was available, but figured I should give this one a shot just to see if it works. It was a bit unclear how the side gussets were supposed to go together, but I ended up folding a crease down the center of each panel and trimming a bit off the top so the sides would align with the front panel of the purse.

Choose from these designs:

Pretty, spring-like desktop wallpapers

It's a new week. Perhaps it's time to freshen up your desktop wallpaper or give your iPad or phone a facelift? Take a look at these lovely freebies from freelance designer Breanna Rose in Minneapolis.

And if you live in Minneapolis, my condolences. I've heard that today is blizzardy. Chicago is gloomy and wet. Ugh, I can't wait for spring.

Library of Congress images for download

I'm always on the lookout for photo and illustration sources for work or personal use. When I saw this wall art idea in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living, I followed the source of the balloon illustrations back to the Library of Congress's prints and photographs catalog. It's a gallery of digitized images you can download and print, sorted by collection. All the images I looked at had "no known restrictions on publication," and in most cases, you can grab high res files ranging from 3"x5" to 11"x16" at 300 dpi.

The hot air balloons on the clipboards are from this collection. I also loved the WPA poster collection. Enjoy!

Manlike, a free font

Roydon Misseldine recently created Manlike, a free font with a name that made me smile. You may need to do a little custom kerning and some leading adjustments, but Manlike might be just the thing for a quirky logo or bit of headline type. Download it here at Pixel Pixel Pixel.