Graphics from the Willamette Valley

35 icons - Autumn, sweets & misc.

independence_or — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 04:27:30 GMT

These icons were all made last summer and fall, but I never got around to posting them. I've updated the Awards section of my profile, if you're interested in seeing which icons won awards. The seasonal timing for these is perfect, even if a year late. :)

Teasers:

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025	026	027


028	029	030


031	032	033


034	035	(no icon)

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons.
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using.
3. Enjoy the icons!

As always, thank you for visiting independence_or!

24 icons - Fruit & more

independence_or — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 05:29:41 GMT

The end of summer calls for harvest, as fruit makes up the majority of these icons. I have also reaped a good bounty of awards, having a good run in icontests for the month of August.

Teasers:

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022	023	024

Icons 005 and 017 tied for third place in total_icontest's Challenge 191: Shapes.

Icon 012 earned Mod's Choice in food_stillness's Challenge 155: Apples & Oranges.
(no banner yet)

Icon 019 earned Mod's Choice in iconstillness's Challenge 340: Morning.

Icon 002 won third place and Most Creative in basic_icontest's Challenge 145: Summer.

Icon 021 tied for second place in iconstillness's Challenge 341: Fruit.

Icon 022 tied for first place in total_icontest's Challenge 193: Windows.

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons.
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using.
3. Enjoy the icons!

The upcoming autumn is my favorite season of the year, so I look forward to the inspiration it brings. Thank you again for visiting independence_or!

24 icons - Summer stock

independence_or — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:47:52 GMT

'Tis the season for summer and all its goodness! Where I live, summer has been pretty mild so far; usually we get into the upper 80's and even 90's or above in July and August, but not as of yet. Still, we can all enjoy a summer treat now and then. :)

Teasers:

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Icons 001 & 002 tied for first place in iconstillness's Challenge 336: Beach.

Icon 003 earned a Mod's Choice in total_icontest's Challenge 189: Candy/Sweets.

Icon 013 earned a Mod's Choice in food_stillness's Challenge 153: Ice Cream/Lollies.
(no banner yet)

And finally, icon 020 earned a Mod's Choice in iconstilless's Challenge 334: Ice Cream. For some reason it's not posted in the winner's post, but I got a banner so it must be so.

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons.
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using.
3. Enjoy the icons!

Enjoy the remaining summer, and thank you for visiting independence_or!

25 icons - General stock, made for icontests

independence_or — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:22:30 GMT

My first icon post in just over three years, and it's a big one compared to my past offerings. Icontests have been a great way for me to get back into making icons, and I've found myself inspired once again.

Teasers:

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025	(no icon)	(no icon)

Icon #020 was selected for Mod's Choice at iconstillness in Challenge 332: Family.

Icon #024 won first place at total_icontest in Challenge 186: Art.

Icons #013 and #015 won first and third place, respectively, at food_stillness in Challenge 152: Cupcakes. Icons #012, #013, #014 and #015 won one of three best sets in the same challenge.

Icon #006 won third place at iconstillness - see previous post for result and banner.

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons.
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using.
3. Enjoy the icons!

It's certainly been a banner month; enjoy the summer, and thank you for supporting independence_or!

I still got it!

independence_or — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:46:18 GMT

I decided to try my hand at an icontest after all this time, and entered Challenge #330: Bad Habits over at iconstillness. Although there weren't very many entries, I snagged third place! Following are my two entries, including the winning entry, and my banner to show off.

My second entry:

The banner has been added to the rest of the collection in my updated profile.

I feel it's important to mention the other big reason I fell out of iconing and graphics in general for so long. Between fall 2008 and spring 2009 I had three catastrophic hard drive failures, and I believe it was in the second crash I lost all of my graphic design resources. Brushes, patterns, textures, gradients, and even a few stock photos were unrecoverable during data recovery, which was a huge blow to my already-waning inspiration at that time. Fortunately all of my icons and graphics were stored in my Photobucket account, so I didn't lose any of those, but I did lose the original PSDs for many of them. Thanks to my resources page, I've been able to track down many of my favorites and re-download some resources, along with finding new ones to experiment with, but it is a process that takes some time when real life comes into play.

I can only hope that there are some that will still follow my little journal, even if the updates are sporadic and the graphics aren't always icons. Thank you, as always, for visiting! :)

It's been a long time

independence_or — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:43:18 GMT

I think I lost my inspiration for a little while...well, a long while. It's slowly coming back, but unfortunately it's happened after LJ lost its mojo. Here's a couple of things I've done in the last week; not icons, just art.

Stock photo by George Marks, "Sow thistle on meadow (B&W)"

Photograph taken by me outside of our home while we still lived in Independence, OR

Also posted on my deviantART.

I recently updated the layout and Rules & Resource post to reflect current journaling sites, including Dreamwidth.

Thank you to all who have visited in spite of my absence, and to those who are viewing now. :)

Icon truth meme

independence_or — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:28:49 GMT

I just couldn't resist submitting this journal to the icon truth meme that's currently being circulated. I realize this is a small journal that's infrequently updated at best, but I've been posting icons here for more than a year and a half and would appreciate honest feedback, positive or negative. If you have a spare moment, click here for my thread and let me know what you think of my work--it's anonymous, so there's nothing to fear. Thanks for your time!

15 icons - Spring flowers & butterflies

independence_or — Sun, 25 May 2008 20:27:18 GMT

I wish this update was a bit more productive in the way of icon numbers, although I am glad to be posting after such a long break. Shortly after our move this last winter my trusty computer took a nosedive, one component after another. First was the monitor, which wasn't so bad since I got to upgrade from my old CRT to a fancy widescreen LCD. Next, however, was the CPU; the motherboard was suspected initially, and both have been replaced, but it was definitely the chip. The last part I replaced was my video card, and I'm hoping that my machine as it stands now will hold out for a little while longer.

In the meantime, here is my offering for spring, small as it may be. Summer will be here before we know it; the seasons seem to come and go faster as each year goes by.

Teasers:

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010	011	012


013	014	015

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons.
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using.
3. Enjoy the icons!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend, and thank you for continuing to support independence_or!

14 icons - Love & Valentine's Day + flowers

independence_or — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:18:44 GMT

Previously about half of the icons in this journal were hosted in two different places, on Photobucket (newer) and GreatestJournal (older). With GreatestJournal's continuing demise, I've since merged all of my icons over onto Photobucket, and corrected the image tags in all of the affected icon tables. The only downside is that I wasn't able to restore the exact places of each icon in the tables (same goes for the previews), since GJ used numbers for photos and PB uses the filenames, but every image has been restored--no more blank tables!

Here is my one Valentine for the year--a new batch of icons.

Teasers:

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010	011	012


013	014	(no icon)

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

Happy love day! :)

Icon textures for Valentine's Day

independence_or — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:46:50 GMT

This time I'm starting the New Year different by offering resources instead of icons. While browsing stocks for icons, it occurred to me that many of the images that I would not normally use for icons would be great for textures, especially for Valentine's Day next month. Follow the embedded link to my deviantART page, download, and enjoy!

Valentine Textures by ~kiya71677 on deviant ART

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if downloading the textures
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the textures!

Come back soon for Valentine's Day icons! :)

14 Christmas & winter icons

independence_or — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:51:54 GMT

Barely in the nick of time...

Teasers:

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Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

See you next year! :D

2007 icon archive

independence_or — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:32:21 GMT

Before I post my last new icons for this year, I'd like to wrap up 2007 with my personal favorites. Starting with Christmas/holidays 2006 through November 2007, the following icons are my picks for the best of the best.

Teasers:

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Here's looking forward to another great year! :)

15 icons - Thanksgiving, street signs, landscapes + gradients & brush set #2

independence_or — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:07:16 GMT

independence_or has survived an entire year, as of this last Wednesday!

Teasers:

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Blue gradients by ~kiya71677 on deviant ART

Bumpy Road by ~kiya71677 on deviant ART

Guidelines:
1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons, the gradients or the brushes
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons, and if you use either the gradients or the brushes, I'd love to see your work!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and remember to check back soon for Christmas icons! ;)

Happy Halloween!

independence_or — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:41:38 GMT

For the esteemed few that have chosen to friend this journal, here's a small batch of icons to adorn your journal for Halloween. Although this isn't a "friends only" locked post, these icons are only being displayed here--not in any other mass icon journals as has been the case during the existence of my icon journal. For the purposes of displaying my work to a large audience, such journals have been wonderful, but now it's time to show my appreciation to all 29 of you, for sticking around here over the last year.

I'd also like to extend a big thank-you to everyone who commented on my previous icon & brush post; the response was incredible! For every kind word and icon/resource credit, I appreciate it more than I can express in words. November 14, 2007 will mark independence_or's first anniversary; keep an eye out for a special post to celebrate one year. Now onto the icons...

Teasers:

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004	005	006

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

My favorite part of Halloween: the candy, of course! What's yours? :D

15 autumn icons + 1 brush set

independence_or — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:46:16 GMT

Teasers:

Autumn is my favorite of all the seasons. Here in the Pacific Northwest, summer ends on a warm (usually too warm for my taste) note, but the approaching fall begins with crisp, sunny days and cool, breezy nights. By this point in October, those sunny days are a distant memory as the perma-rain sets in, lasting for about the next eight to ten months (haha). However, the high point of autumn for me is the birth of my son; he was born five years ago today (October 17th, 2002), and I'm still amazed at how fast kids grow.

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Although this is not the first time I've made brushes, it is the first time I've offered brushes I've created for download. They are based on the font "Dead Letter Office" and were used in the postage stamp icons above. The READ ME file has more information about crediting, so be sure to check it out.

Click on the preview below to download the set at deviantART:

Postage Due by ~kiya71677 on deviant ART

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons or the brushes
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons, and if you use the brushes I'd love to see your work!

Before we know it the holidays will be upon us...;)

18 random icons, incl. flowers, butterflies, love & the ocean

independence_or — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:04:00 GMT

Teasers:

These will probably be the last spring and/or summer-themed icons I post for a while, since autumn and the holiday season (yikes!) are fast approaching. I will continue to icon flowers and butterflies year round, since they're two of my favorite subjects to icon, but I'll be moving on to themes of fall, winter and holidays in the coming months.

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Note: The character in icon #008 is Kanji for "cherry blossom."

I have finished my run in icontests for the time being, and I'm pleased to report that I have finished on a good note. Icon #007 was awarded Moderator's Choice by enriana at kismet_icontest, which came as a complete surprise since Mod's Choice wasn't announced until all of the winners' banners were posted.

Thank you, enriana!

Although the icon is not part of the table above, it is worth mentioning that the following icon took first place in anothericontest's recent Random Fandom: Beatles challenge.

First place at anothericontest

To top things off, for the summer months I participated in a LIMS (Last Icon Maker Standing) challenge, also at anothericontest. The theme was beauty, with one person being eliminated every two rounds since there were less than 10 participants. To my near-disbelief, I was indeed the last icon maker standing, due to waning participation and lack of communication by the other entrants. Below is my series of icons for anothericontest's Beauty LIMS:

Even though they aren't in the table, the Beatles icon and all of the beauty LIMS icons are up for grabs; just comment as usual if you've snagged any of the unnumbered icons. ;)

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

That's all for now; in the meantime, I'll be trying to squeeze out every last drop of sunshine as a reminder of summer, before the Oregon rain starts up in a few short weeks. Our days of sunlight are fast becoming numbered--before the end of October I'll have forgotten that the sun even exists, lol. :P

13 "mixed bag" icons

independence_or — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 04:18:19 GMT

Teasers:

Here in the heart of summertime we experience some of the finer points of the season: gorgeous sunny days, water (either in oceans or in pools, depending on your location), the sound of children at play as day turns to dusk, air conditioning (hallelujah!), and other such things that make summer so enjoyable. On the other hand, there's heat waves with humidity (again, depending on your location), the sound of the ice cream man driving kids to run away from their parents regardless of permission (and/or cash value, at least my kid, anyway), power surges affecting just the air conditioning (only during the heat wave, of course), and boredom that plagues both children and parents, with school still more than a month away. I've got to admit that summer isn't exactly my favorite season--I tend to favor autumn--but it's also a reminder that sometimes it's nice to take it slow, and enjoy life's little moments that seem too few or far away.

With this post I still feel as though this journal is a little schizophrenic, given the random nature of the subjects and what I feel is a lack of resources to offer the icon-making community. Part of this is the fact that many of my icons as of late have been entries for icontests, as I'm trying to establish a creative reputation for this journal, but I think I've probably reached the end of my run as a participant in such contests. As one can see when viewing the info page, I've accumulated a nice collection of awards, not even all of which are posted in the userinfo due to lack of banners for some winning/placing contests. It also looks like there are quite a few new "trends" in icon-making that may influence the outcome of some icontests, as voters and participants look and try to find the next best thing. With this journal's first year approaching in late fall, I hope to finally sit down and focus on both icon- and resource-making, without the distraction of looming deadlines or holding back icons for anonymity during voting. Perhaps I'll even find some time to assist one or more icon and/or resource communities; I'm currently a banner-maker at dream_contest, and wouldn't mind branching out just a little bit.

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013	(no icon)	(no icon)

There is one award in this batch that I'd like to share; icon #011 tied for third and scored Mod's Choice in a fairly new icontest community, still_silent.

Third place tied with jellyfish72

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

Now take some time to enjoy the end of summer, while it lasts. :)

6 nature & beauty icons + 1 journal layout w/header, banners & icons

independence_or — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 08:32:35 GMT

Teasers:

With this post I'm finally able to somewhat fulfill the "graphics" aspect of this journal, rather than carry on with a simple icon table. Of course there are icons, as usual, but I have another opportunity to share more than those little 100x100 squares that give personality to so many journals and communities here on LJ.

First, I'll start with the icons. There are only six new icons in this offering; however, two of them are first-place icons and one a third-place icon from two separate icontests. Icon #001 placed first in anothericontest's Stock Images: Mountains challenge late last month.

Icon #004 placed first as well, this time in 100x100beauty's Challenge 16. Also in 100x100beauty, icon #003 earned a third place award, again for Challenge 16. So far no banners yet, but once I receive them they will be promptly placed in the userinfo for this journal, if anyone is interested. ;)

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Second, two of my hobbies--website design/creation and art--have merged to produce a journal layout. I've been tinkering around in my personal journal for quite some time now in order to learn how to customize layouts using a combination of HTML, CSS and LiveJournal's own codes, and it inevitably led to a coded-from-scratch creation of my own, which I'm going to share here in case anyone happens to like and/or want to use it. I've been fascinated with Salvador Dali's art since I first learned of him and his works many years ago; I've iconed two of my favorite paintings of his, and have always wanted a custom journal using his work Untitled (Landscape of the Butterflies), ca. 1956. For the layout, I designed a custom header, which is available either as part of the layout menu or as a stand-alone, along with a Friends-Only banner based on his work Meditative Rose (1958). I am also re-posting both icons I made of these works, so that they can all be downloaded as a set. Now on to the layout! :D

Paysage Aux Papillons
Layout and graphics based on Salvador Dali's Untitled (Landscape of the Butterflies), ca. 1956, and Meditative Rose (1958)

Style: S2 Flexible Squares
Color scheme: Set to Nautical
Account type: Free & paid (what I've provided will work for both; paid accounts can do more customizations if desired)
Default website: Not needed
Default icon: Needed
View: 1024x768
Browser compatibility: Preferably Mozilla or Mozilla Firefox, Opera works well too. I don't recommend using Internet Explorer, especially if you have a paid account and choose to add a theme layer with further customization. Scrolling to the right in IE will make the layout misaligned; additionally, IE has no support for transparent .png image files that I'm aware of, so if you want to use any images with transparency they will need to be .gif, which does have a lower quality than .png.
Preview: I'm currently using this layout here at my personal journal; just keep in mind that I've put in a lot of customizations via a theme layer so it may look slightly different.

CSS:

body {
        background-color: #ffffff;
        background-image: url("YOUR BACKGROUND IMAGE URL HERE");
        background-attachment: fixed;
        color: #000000;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        margin: 20px 0 20px 0;
        }

a, a:link, a:visited {
        color: #f0ef8e;
        text-decoration: none;
        }

a:hover {
        color: #213659;
        text-decoration: underline;
        }

p, td, blockquote {
            font-size: 11px;
        }

code, kbd, pre, tt {
            font-family: monospace;
        }

#content
    {
        width: 950px;
        position: absolute; top: 50px; left: 0px;
        margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;
        padding: 15px;
	z-index: 1
    }

#maincontent {
        margin-top: 50px;
	margin-left: 40px;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        color: #000000;
        text-align: left;
	width:  700px
        }

#sidebar {
        padding-top: 15px;
        margin-top: 250px;
	position: absolute; left:  815px;
	width: 170px;
	float: right;
	text-align: left;
        font-size: 11px;
        font_family:  "Verdana", sans-serif;     
        }

#header {
	width:  650px
        padding: 10px 0px 20px 0px;
        margin: 0px;
        text-align: center;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        font-weight: bold;
        letter-spacing: 2px;
        color: #f0ef8e;
        }

#footer {
	width:  700px
        text-align: center;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        font-weight: bold;
        letter-spacing: 1px;
        color: #f0ef8e;
        z-index: 100;
        clear: both;

/* header -- links to views; title of journal; subtitle of journal */

div#header a, div#header a:link, div#header a:visited, div#footer a, div#footer a:link, div#footer a:visited {
        color: #335288;
    }

div#header a:hover, div#footer a:hover {
        color: #f0ef8e;
        text-decoration: none;
    }

ul.navheader
        {
        padding: 0px;
        margin: 0px;
        }

ul.navheader li  {
        display: inline;
        padding: 0 3px 0 3px;
        }

.title    {
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        font-weight: normal;
        line-height: 200%;
        top: 10px;
        }

.subtitle{
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        font-weight: normal;
        top: 10px;
        }

/* sidebar */

div#sidebar a, div#sidebar a:link, div#sidebar a:visited{
        color: #f0ef8e;
    }

div#sidebar a:hover {
        color: #335288;
        text-decoration: none;
    }

.defaultuserpic {
        text-align: center;
        }

.sbarheader {
        padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
        }

.sbarbody {
        padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
        }

.sbarbody2 {
        padding: 0 15px 0 15px;
    }

table.calendar {
        margin-right: auto;
        margin-left: auto;
        }

.sbarcalendar {
        text-align: center;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        }

.sbarcalendarposts {
        text-align: center;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        }

ul.sbarlist
    {
        padding-left: 0px;
        margin-left: 0px;
        list-style: none;
    }

li.sbaritem, .tagcloud
    {
        padding-left: 15px;
        list-style: none;
    }

li.sbartitle
    {
        padding-left: 15px;
        list-style: none;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        margin-bottom: 10px;
        margin-top: 10px;
    }

/* maincontent */

.subcontent {
    }

.entry    {
        margin: 0px 10px 10px 30px;
        padding: 10px;
        color: #000000;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        text-align: left;
        }

.entry ul li
        {
        padding-left: 5px;
        margin-left: 15px;
        }

.entry ol li
        {
        padding-left: 5px;
        margin-left: 15px;
        }

.userpic {
        }

.userpicfriends {
        position: relative;
        float: right;
        padding: 5px;
        margin: 10px;
        text-align: center;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        z-index: 15;
        }

.date {
        line-height: 200%;
        top: 5px;
        color: #000000;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        }

.subject {
        font-weight: bold;
        padding: 10px;
        color: #000000;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        }

.subject a, .subject a:link, .subject a:visited {
        color: #f0ef8e;
        }

.subject a:hover {
        color: #335288;
        }

.datesubject {
        padding: 5px;
        }

.currents, .currentmood, .currentmusic {
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        }

.comments {
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        text-align: right;
        padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
        position: relative;
        top: 15px;
        }

div.comments a, div.comments a:link, div.comments a:visited{
        color: #f0ef8e;
    }

div.comments a:hover {
        color: #335288;
        text-decoration: none;
    }

/* maincontent --  entry, reply pages */

.datesubjectcomment {
            padding: 5px;
            margin-top: 20px;
            }

.userpiccomment {
        position: relative;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        top: -30px;
        left: 0px;
        padding: 5px;
        margin: 10px 10px -20px 10px;
        z-index: 15;
        float: right;
        border-width: 1px;
        border-color: #213659;
        border-style: solid;
        }

.box {
        border-style: solid;
        border-width: 1px 0px 0px 0px;
        border-color: #335288;
        padding: 10px;
        clear: left;
        }

input, textarea {
        background-color: #ffffff;
        color: #335288;
        }

textarea.textbox  {
          width: 100% !important;
           }

.reply    {
        position: relative;
        margin: 20px 30px 10px 30px;
        padding: 25px 10px 10px 10px;
        text-align: left;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        font-size: 11px;
        line-height: 125%;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        color: #335288;
        }

.replytosubject {
        font-weight: bold;
        }

.commentreply {
        position: relative;
        margin: 10px;
        font-size: 11px;
        font_family: "Verdana", sans-serif;
        color: #335288;
        }

.commentbox {

border-color: #213659;
        border-width: 1px;
        border-style: solid;
        padding: 10px;
        margin: 10px;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        }

.datesubjectcomment a:link, .datesubjectcomment a:visited {
        color: #f0ef8e;
        }

.datesubjectcomment a:hover {
        color: #335288;
        }

.commentboxpartial {
        border-color: #213659;
        border-width: 1px;
        border-style: solid;
        padding: 10px;
        margin: 10px;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        }

.commentinfo {
        background-color: #ffffff;
        margin-top: 10px;
        width: 100%;
        }

/* maincontent -- year/achive pages */

ul.year {
        text-align: center;
        padding-bottom: 40px;
        }

ul.year li {
        display: inline;
        }

table.yeartable {
        margin-left: auto;
        margin-right: auto;
        }

table.yeartable td.yeardate, table.yeartable td.yearday {
        border-width: 1px;
        border-style: solid;
        border-color: #213659;
        }

table.yeartable td.yearday {
        background-color: #7fa1d5;
        text-align: center;
        }

td.yearmonth {
        border-style: none;
        }

/* footer */

ul.navfooter{
        padding: 0px;
        margin: 0px;
        }

ul.navfooter li  {
        display: inline;
        margin: 0 5px 0 5px;
        }

.clearfoot {
        clear: both;
        }

/* misc  */

.clear {
        height: 15px;
        }

.skiplinks {
        text-align: center;
        }

.headerimage {
	position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px;
	width: 1024px;
        height: 450px;
	margin-bottom: 0px
	background-image: url("YOUR HEADER IMAGE URL HERE"); 
	background-position: center
	background-repeat: no-repeat 
        }

.separator{
        position: relative;
	background-image: url("YOUR SEPARATOR IMAGE URL HERE");
        background-position: center;         
        background-repeat: no-repeat;
        height: 50px;
        width: 180px;
	margin-left: auto; 
	margin-right: auto; 
	margin-bottom: 20px;
	margin-top: 20px;
    }

To use the CSS, you will need to go to Customize Your Journal, then under Custom Options, select the link for Custom CSS. Make sure to select "No" in the drop-down menu for both "Use layout stylesheet(s)" and "Use layout stylesheet(s) when including custom external stylesheet." Leave the "Custom external stylesheet URL" box blank. Copy all of the codes from the box above, paste it into the "Custom Stylesheet" box, then click on Save Changes. If you don't want to use LiveJournal's custom stylesheet hosting, you can also host the stylesheet externally at a site such as ripway.com. In that case, you would enter your stylesheet URL in the "Custom external stylesheet URL" box, and leave the "Custom stylesheet" box blank.

You will need to replace the sections with "YOUR *** IMAGE URL HERE" with the actual URL of the image you have uploaded. If you have a paid or permanent account and want to customize the layout further, I recommend s2flexisquares and s2howto for excellent tutorials on working specifically with Flexible Squares and custom layouts. If you ever need help with the tutorials, s2flexisquares is great at answering questions in a very prompt and thorough manner.

Images:

Header (.jpg image, no transparency)
Background (.jpg image, no transparency)
Separator (.gif image, with transparency)

You will need to upload these and any other images to your own server in order to use them, in the event that the links change or I change the layout for my own journal, possibly resulting in their removal from my server. If you find that the images have been removed before you had an opportunity to upload them yourself, just leave a comment to this entry and I will temporarily repost them to my server so that you may upload them. Don't worry, they will be up for quite some time; I'm mostly thinking of anyone who may come across this several months or more than a year from now.

Finally, a few more goodies to accompany the layout, or to be used as stand-alones for a different layout.

Icons: (both of these have been posted previously, in this entry.)

Friends-Only banners:

Header (without layout formatting):

Both FO banners are .png images with transparency; if you view them in a browser with .png support against a background color other than white, you will see that there is no white border around the edges or text. The stand-alone header is also a .png image, but there is no transparency.

I attempted to make the Friends Only banners in .gif format, but the image quality was seriously deteriorated. If you want to use the layout but do not have .png support, and want to have the transparent properties, let me know and I will upload the .gif files I saved for the banners. Just be forewarned that they do not look nearly as nice as the .png images above.

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons, the layout or any corresponding images
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the graphics! :)

I leave you tonight with another quote from M. Dali himself:

"So little of what could happen does happen."

Now isn't that the truth. ;)

16 random icons & more awards

independence_or — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 01:35:37 GMT

Teasers:

As you will soon see, I've been a bit busy as of late testing my mettle by entering a few icontests around LJ. All of the following icons were created specifically for icontest entries; all but two were entered, and a select few even picked up some awards. Alas, there are no first place icons this time around, but it is still a privilege to be selected as one out of many.

001	002	003


004	005	006


007	008	009


010	011	012


013	014	015


016	(no icon)	(no icon)

Note that the last two icons in the table are "no icon" space fillers, and are not up for grabs. :P

Icon #012 scored a second place win at iconstillness's Challenge #121: Non-English Icons.

Also at iconstillness, icon #011 tied for second place with spooky_window in Challenge #122: Mind Games.

Over at basic_icontest, icon #010 and #009 picked up one award each, the first placing second and the next picking up a nod for Best Color.

Icon #006 snagged an award for Mod's Choice at anothericontest.

Icon #014 is still waiting for a banner, but also fared well in obsessive_icons' icontest community, oicontests by tying for third with melandry.

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

Have a great 4th of July! :)

12 floral icons

independence_or — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:22:06 GMT

Teasers:

This little thing called time just never seems to slow down; here we are in June already, and next thing you know it will officially be summer. Today's offering features a few of the things I love most about spring and summer, as the world around us begins to bloom.

For any questions regarding how to save and use icons (generally speaking, not just mine :P), please check out my Rules & Resource post. It also contains the general guidelines for this journal, where I keep track of where I found my resources, and if you're patient enough to scroll toward the bottom, I've made some promotional buttons available to get the word out about independence_or. It's worth taking a look; even I use it as a reference if I'm looking for a particular resource or journal that I can't quite remember, or even if I'm looking for a little something new.

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004	005	006


007	008	009


010	011	012

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

Happy summer! :)

12 butterfly icons

independence_or — Fri, 18 May 2007 08:07:36 GMT

Teasers:

You've come to the right place for more icons featuring the beauty of kingdom Animalia, division Rhopalocera, phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Lepidoptera, suborder Ditrysia in the superfamily Papilionoidea...

001	002	003


004	005	006


007	008	009


010	011	012

I'd like to mention that the images in icons 004-006 were made with brushes by spiritsighs on deviantART (credited in my resource post), and not stock photographs as is typical with many icons that I and other icon makers utilize. I used the brushes to create black and white images, hand-colored the objects in the newly created image, then applied border brushes and other effects as desired.

Icon 011 is also slightly different from the others, in that it is a piece of clip art that I found while searching Google Images--the exact source is unknown since I didn't bookmark it at the time. Rather than dramatically changing what the still image looked like, I resized it to fit LJ's icon parameters, then animated it to appear as a butterfly in flight. All I can say now is that since switching programs, and having time to get used to the new one, I'm totally in love with Photoshop CS2; it's hard to find anything that it can't do. ♥

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking any icons
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Textured blue gradient backgrounds

independence_or — Fri, 04 May 2007 03:45:04 GMT

My first attempt at a graphics/icon resource...

Blue gradient bg textures by ~kiya71677 on deviant ART

Download contains 15 abstract-like textures made from one of my own blue gradients. All of them have interesting effects and color placement, and can be used as backgrounds or texture effects. These are 100x100 px and were originally made in PS CS2, but can be used in most cases, since the files are .png and can be converted to patterns or textures for any graphics programs.

Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking
2. Definitely credit independence_or when used
3. Enjoy! :)

15 assorted icons + 2 Friends Only banners w/matching icons

independence_or — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:16:39 GMT

independence_or is back! After a brief hiatus and a new graphics program, I'm finally able to create and post my artwork again. I'm still learning how to use and navigate my new program, so I'm not quite as confident about this batch of icons, but I hope you'll bear with me as my learning curve straightens itself out. :P

Teasers:

001	002	003


004	005	006


007	008	009


010	011	012


013	014	015

Friends Only banners

There are two to choose from; keep in mind that they haven't been posted twice, but that each banner is available with or without the words "comment to be added." The matching icons are posted beneath each banner, and of course can be used as stand-alones if you don't need a banner. The banners were entered in an icontest for a layout change, but neither placed first, although the first banner did win for Most Creative.

If these are well received, I'll continue to work on banners for both Friends Only and userinfo pages.

1. Pastel flowers

(without additional text)

(with "comment to be added" included)

Icon:

2. Faerie and friends

(without additional text)

(with "comment to be added" included)

Icon:

Icon and Banner Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons and banners!

Thank you for waiting so patiently while I took care of some things (including the means to create my artwork), and I hope you will all come back soon! :)

Graphics program problems...

independence_or — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 05:07:52 GMT

A couple of things have occurred that will possibly delay my creating and posting of new icons and/or graphics until mid-April. First of all, I've been having troubles with my favorite graphics program that I use to make most of my icons and banners; it's become very unstable, crashing at the most inopportune times and making it impossible to create a finished product without crashing at least once. It started some time ago, but it was infrequent enough that I could still work--now it's happening even during saving, resulting in the total loss of creative works, even in the beginning stages. I do have another program that I can use, but I'm not as familiar with it, nor does it have all of the resources the other does, namely brushes. I've been tearing my hair out trying to see if there is any way to batch-convert image packs to brushes into my secondary program to avoid having to hand-convert individual images to custom brushes, but either I don't know how to read or it simply doesn't exist.

The second cause of a delay in icon posting is personal, and I'd rather not divulge details here in my icon journal. I will be away from my computer for a week starting on April 1st; once I'm back and this graphics program issue gets straightened out, this journal will eventually spurt back to life. Until then, any and all new or returning visitors may feel free to enjoy what is already posted here as per my guidelines, as well as looking forward to at least a couple more awards to be posted (icontests already won/placed in, just no banners yet) in the meantime.

Thanks for visiting independence_or, and I'll be back soon! :)

15 "mixed bag" icons

independence_or — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:25:58 GMT

For anyone who has read my previous post, you will know that this new set of icons has been a long time coming, albeit a little delayed. I was curious to see if independence_or could hold its own against my fellow icon makers, and as mentioned previously I was glad to report some fantastic results. There is even more to add to the growing list of award-winning icons, which I'll include in this post.

If you haven't visited this journal lately, I recommend checking out my post beneath this one, containing independence_or's first batch of award-winning icons. The icons in my previous post are of course up for grabs as per the usual guidelines (abridged version: comment, credit, enjoy); however, it should go without saying that the accompanying banners are not up for grabs, but are the property of their makers, the icontest journal from which they originated, and myself.

Teasers:

001	002	003


004	005	006


007	008	009


010	011	012


013	014	015

I'd like to note that I intentionally put up identical icons for #01 and #02, one with text and one without, so that if anyone would like me to customize #01 I'll be happy to do so. The same goes for most of my textless icons, as long as I can make the text fit without interfering with the icon's theme; all I ask is that requests for customizations be made here (or in the respective icon's post), since I don't consider all textless icons as bases, and that proper credit is given. As an example I customized the same icon with this journal's name; if you would like it customized with your username, first name, nickname or otherwise, simply say so in a comment and it will be done. Also let me know if you have a particular font in mind; icon #15 uses the font violation, while this journal's icon uses the font High Strung. If customization requests start coming more frequently, I'll make a table of the fonts I do have available; if the font you're looking for isn't one I have, you may provide a link where I can download it, provided it's a non-commercial (i.e. free) font.

Icons #07 and #08 are also worth noting, as recent entries in iconstillness' Challenge #108 and placing 1st and 3rd, respectively.

Both banners created by stepinsidelove at iconstillness

Tied for 3rd with alivicwil and slowwhipper_gfx

Although I've only been posting icons in this journal, I've been busy making banners as well, which are something I would like to be able to offer here, among other things. Most notably, however, is the recent Special Challenge #1 by basic_icontest, for a new userinfo banner and matching icon, with the theme being "time." My entry didn't earn a spot on the userinfo page, but it did place second, while my matching icon is part of the community's icons.

Banner by cosmicfish at basic_icontest

All contest banners will be featured on the Profile page of this journal.

Phew! I think this is it for now; any new information will be added to the Rules & Resources post, including that about customizing textless icons as mentioned above.

Icon Guidelines:

1. Please comment in this entry if taking (except the banners above--those aren't for grabs ;P)
2. Definitely credit independence_or when using
3. Enjoy the icons!

Come back soon to independence_or! :)

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