Browse Expensive, Buy Cheap!

I was looking at some high priced tshirts the other day, and realized that the difference between them and the ones you can buy on the web, at shops like my own and the others listed on the right, is pretty negligible.  That led me to do some comparison shopping. Here's what I came up with:

At Neiman Marcus,

John Varvatos Star USA
Peace Graphic Knit Tee, Gray  $88

At Scarebaby Design, a Cafepress Shop
Peace tee 100% cotton, $26.99

From Bloomingdales, John Varvatos USA Peace Rocks Tee  Currently on sale for $46.80

At Scarebaby Design, a Cafepress Shop:

Purple PEACE NOW Fingers Shirt  $21.99

Check out thousands more tshirts at reasonable prices by clicking the links on the right!

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a program that allows free download of thousands of art images, for non-commercial use?  It's part of a trend among prestigious museums, who recognize that their purpose -- to showcase fine art -- is enhanced by making art available to everyone.

Artist: Carlo Pellegrini (Italian, Capua 1839–1889 London)

Sitter: Portrait of James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)

Date: 1881

The program, titled Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC), provides high resolution digital images of public domain works held by the museum.  You could easily spend a full day or even longer just browsing the online collections they offer.  From Whistler (beyond his mother) to Goya, Georgia O'Keefe, Sargent, and Rembrandt, to Impressionists, Native American art, and more, it's a feast for the senses.

Obviously, you cannot (without permission and a fee) use the downloaded art for commercial purposes such as reselling on prints, cards, etc.

Visit the FAQ page for important information.

Canada Day and 4th of July Freebies

I have some great images for you to download to help celebrate Canada Day and 4th of July Holidays.  First is a terrific Canada Coat of Arms graphic and a map of Canada with the Canadian flag as an overlay image on it.

Here are two terrific Patriotic USA  graphics for your projects. The first is the American flag in color with text art saying Happy 4th of July. The second image is a vintage US soldier with raised arm holding the American flag.

Happy Canada Day and 4th of July to all you Canadians and Americans out there from us at Graphics Genie.

Lovely public domain line art featured today. Download this black and white floral circle with graceful swirled leaves. Then save this second circle design too. This one features a graceful circle motif with an Orient look. Both would be wonderful decorative touches for many craft projects.

Lovely vintage display of various toadstools, mushrooms and other fungi in color. Makes a nice reference if printed, or cut the various images out for decoupage and other art and craft projects.

Fact...There’s no scientifically accepted difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. You sometimes see the term being used interchangeably to refer to the same types of fungus. Most of the time though, people are using the name toadstool to refer to the inedible varieties.

Another interesting fact...The name Toadstool dates back to the 14th Century. Sometimes recorded as "tadstoles". Toadstools were thought to be favored places for Toads to sit. Toads were considered poisonous and diseased. This was then transferred they thought by the Toad to the Toadstool.

Today's Freebie: Vintage Image from the Betty Fairy Book

Today's vintage image is from The Betty Fairy Book of 1915.

It depicts a winged ship with a little fairy in green.  The original illustration was whiter and brighter than this vintage image, which was taken directly from my copy of the original book.  I chose not to try to brighten it in photoshop, because I like the vintage look.  But if you want to do so, feel free.

The poem is part of the larger story of the book.  It's such a pretty illustration, done by Margaret Evans Price, who, incidentally, was one of the later founders of Fisher-Price Toys!

The Betty Fairy Book was written by Helen E. Flint in 1915.  It tells the story of a little girl who unintentionally angers the fairies, by finding a  fairy crown and dancing on fairy land.  The fairies banish her to the boat pictured above.  I wouldn't mind a sail on that pretty thing!

Anyway, the story ends happily, both for Betty and the fairies.

We'll be offering more illustrations from this lovely vintage children's book in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy this one, and feel free to download and use for your own purposes.

Here are two free seamless tile patterns for you to download. These designs are opposite in style. The top tile is abstract and has a flowing feel to it in purple, blue and green. While the bottom vintage pattern is a daffodil floral in white, gold and green, with a very stylized look.  Both are lovely in their own way. Right click on each of these to save to your computer.