Peel a potato, become a designer: How to transform plain throw pillows with a vegetable and some paint

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Lotta Jansdotter has been something of a universal design crush in the blog (and print) worlds for years now, and her latest contribution to the field is almost like a public service. In her book, Lotta Prints: How to Print with Anything, from Potatoes to Linoleum, she puts the power of production in our hands, and shows us the completely sophisticated (and expensive-looking) results you can get with the most 7th-grade-arts-and-crafts-class materials. The projects she shows are not the least bit intimidating, requiring no fancy, pricey equipment or specialized skills, and every one of them is something I would pay good money for if I saw it on the shelf at a store. She's even included 8 ready-to-use stencil pages, if you're not so confident about your drawing skills.

One of my favorite projects in the book is the potato-printed throw pillow design shown here. Lotta has generously allowed us to reprint the instructions for potato printing here; why not give it a try, and then go pick up the book to learn about rubber stamp printing, leaf printing, iron-ons, stencils, lino block printing, and screen printing, with ideas for customizing everything from wrapping paper to window sheers.

Lotta's Instructions for Potato Printing:

10 great rock posters to buy now*

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By now, gig posters—especially those letter-pressed or hand-screened—are more or less a part of the modern design canon. They are often affordable, worthy of custom framing, and fully able to telegraph one’s musical and aesthetic taste in one fell swoop, while also serving as sentimental reminders of great shows enjoyed. There’s no shortage of places to look for them, so we pulled together a survey of some of the best artists and sites (in our humble opinion), along with some of our favorite prints from each. For those about to buy rock posters, we salute you.

Screen Printing on Shine

Peel a potato, become a designer: How to transform plain throw pillows with a vegetable and some paint

10 great rock posters to buy now*