I needed labels for a small prototype run of a new product recently; lacking time to have these professionally made I bought some Avery-brand mailing labels and printed them myself on our color laser printer, finding that with careful design and a decent printer this type of label can produce surprisingly good results.

These 5195-type labels are 0.66 by 1.75 inch; 60 pieces come on an American letter-size sheet of backing paper. Avery provides templates for their label products in Microsoft Word format, which of course isn't good enough. I built a template in Adobe Illustrator instead and laid my design out on that grid. Because there's a small chance someone else in the world will find this useful, I'm writing this blog post and providing the AI template for download here.

• Avery 5195 Label Template, Adobe Illustrator

I spent a few days last week at a friend's house on Hutchinson Island, where I indulged my artistic side by stacking stones and shells on beach rocks after the manner (at least in my own small way) of Andy Goldsworthy. Hopefully somebody enjoyed it before the tide came in!