So I came across a very cool website a few months back called Colour Lovers that I wanted to share. Many moons ago I was a photography student and after faffing around in black and white film for a bunch of classes, I eventually found my way into a color photography class. We were the very last class to actually use slides. After us, all color was taught digitally. Makes me a little sad although I'm not sure why since slides were a pain to get developed. No one had the machines to do them anymore! That aside, my color photo class awakened a love of colors I did not know I had before then as my experience had been in the gritty black and white world of the photo lab. I was transfixed by how colors work together ... or didn't... and I learned quite a bit about using color to create interest.
Fast forward years later and along comes
ColourLovers.com and I am in love all over again. This site is so easy to use and I've been inspired by so many of the user made palettes. I've even created a few myself! What I really like is that you really don't need any experience in graphic design or visual arts, you can just jump right in.
What I mean by that is I sometimes get this good feeling when I look at a photo... and sometimes I don't really know what it is that I exactly like about it, I just know I like how it all works together. Well, enter ColourLovers. I can link the URL of the image and ColourLovers will pull colors out of it. It deconstructs it for me. I can then translate what I like... lil bit of this and that into my crafting hoopla.
I admit, sometimes I will just gather colorful things on my desk for no other reason than I want to see them together. Buttons are even grouped in containers with their colors in mind. Maybe I need an intervention!
SQ
Sure I'm a little excited about that! :)
Thanks for the feature Becky! What a great idea for a blog!
SQ
Well yesterday I set the impossible task of putting together a tote for the
Crafty Chica tote challenge. Of course the deadline was today! Here is my entry!
I sustained only minor injuries and broke only 1 needle! Pretty good I think! There are some very nice totes submitted to the challenge. Competition will be tough. :) I'm thinking about possibly offering the tote for sale but I might like it too much. We'll see I suppose... I have 3 other blank totes around here so perhaps this is the first of many designs!
After finishing up the tote we went to my husband's parents' house for lunch and my little niece was over visiting. She approved of the tote and then started goofing off in front of the camera. What a ham!
SQ
Fall is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it. Gathering supplies for a new school year, the beautiful colors on the trees, breathing in the crisp air, picking apples and pumpkins, and most of all jumping around in piles of leaves!
Well last night I stayed up WAY past my bedtime stitching together something new for the shop.
I think it came out well so I am going to list it on Etsy and ArtFire today on my lunchbreak! I can't wait to start putting together more color combinations! Unfortunately it will have to wait as there is much school work to do in the meantime. My last class is August 3rd so from then until mid-September I am going to make the most of the extra free time!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a talented Etsyian through Indiepublic.com and guess what... her name is StephD! Obviously I had to reply to her post as I am a StephQ and favorited her shop
SewFierce on Etsy immediately. She has beautiful handmade clothes and dresses for little girls. I had flashbacks to my mom sewing all my dresses particularly one lovely blue Easter dress with a filly apron that tied in the back. Believe it or not, I used to wear dresses when I was little! Not so much anymore but I still love frilly aprons... :)
SQ
Blessings-Glassworks: I like buttons!
I just came across this post by Mary of Blessings-Glassworks about her recent move into button "freakdom" and I have to admit... I would move into button "freakdom" for those buttons too!! They are absolutely beautiful as is all of her work in her ArtFire store. Although the buttons are not ready for sale yet, I immediately thought they would be great for some "special edition" QQ felt flowers.
I highly recommend checking out all of her pieces. Not only are they so very
unique but they are also wonderfully vivid and whimsical. My favorite in her store right now is "Tend you Garden" which you can see
right here. From the little watering can to the bitty gardening tools, smiling catapillar and blooming flowers... I can't even wrap my head around the skill needed to make such perfect little flowers out of glass.
Not only are the pieces lovely but Mary herself is too! Within a day of opening shop over at ArtFire.com and adding her to one of my favorites I recieved a cheerful "Good Morning" message. It turns out we are both vintage Pyrex fans! I can't wait to see the new buttons once they pop up in her ArtFire store. I hope you love her work as much as I do!
SQ
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Monday nights are class night for me this summer. Knowing that I didn't get as much done this weekend as expected, Q gave me a jumpstart on the light box Monday night by taking a cardboard box we had laying around and cutting out the frame for me! He taped it together with the free express mail tape you get from the post office, clever! So yesterday after work I settled down to finish the light box while watching Deadliest Catch... the ONLY tv show I actually watch live from week to week! (It was a sad one).
My ultimate goal for the light box was to make it using stuff that we either already had laying around or was free as I've finally made enough QQ flower sales that I'm out of the red. Enter the post office AGAIN. While mailing a few records at the post office yesterday Q picked up a bunch of those Express Mail tyvek envelopes. Even though there was printing on the outside, the inside was perfect for covering up the frame... also free.
I used a glue stick to put it all together and rummaged around for some lights. I used 2 lamps. One overhead with a 60 watt blub and another small desk lamp at 40 watts. After taking a few photos I found that because the bulbs were not natural light ones, they cast a horrible yellow glow. I should have known better!
Fortunately I have a digital SLR (
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT) so I was able to manually reset the white balance on the camera... a relatively simple prodecure detailed in the user manual thank goodness. This allowed me to take decent photos so I could at least list a few things today. I'm on the fence as to whether I should buy the natural light bulbs at a higher wattage to avoid having to reset white balance and do photoshopping. I would need 2 lamps too as the desk lamps can't handle anything more than 60s.
As for now, the box is built and it works! So far the cost has been free. That makes me happy.
SQ
Honestly one minute it is Thursday afternoon and the next it is Monday morning. Where does all the time go?!
Unfortunately a headache struck Friday and I was laid up all day instead of taking care of all the errands and house tidying that I had planned. That on top of a graduation party for Q's cousin on Saturday and a trip with the M.I.N.I. Club to the Kane County Cougars baseball game Sunday pushed the light box project to this week. I've also been cooking up some ideas for remodeling our laundry area in our little home. All this makes for little crafting time.
That being said, I did sell 2 flowers over the weekend! One pretty in pink (which I am now calling the Talula Flower) and a Celebration Blossom! I plan on making Q's grandmother a blue flower for her birthday. We are celebrating with her this upcoming Sunday. So somewhere between my homework for class and Rudy horse is going to be some crafting time! Finally!
SQ
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Well it appears that NOW is the time for Christmas to start on Etsy and ArtFire! I totally get that people want to get their shopping done early. Really, really early apparently! Thanks to my friend Jenn, I am full of ideas for Christmas items so it is time I got started on those. Couldn't hurt to be well prepared. I think I'll also be doing some fall colors and different designs like maple leaves.
In an effort to make space in my shops (particularly ArtFire where I only have 12 spaces to sell) I reduced the price of my red, white and blue items. Here's hoping that they will have new homes by the time I have my fall and winter items ready! If not, no biggie as I have a plan b for all of them. :)
SQ
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Part of the joy in shopping handmade items online... particularly on Etsy... is just how beautiful everything looks. I've read a few threads here and there on the Etsy and Artfire forums about how important it is to have great looking photos when listing items for sale online. I totally get that! I love looking at beautiful things bathed in the soft glow of light.
Reality check. I work fulltime and the weekends are always crazy. Between work, class, Rudy horse, and Mini madness there are not enough daylight hours to take advantage of beautiful natural light. In addition to that, who can depend on the sun to shine on the one afternoon you have free? My solution = fake it! And I found two guides about how to do it :)
I quite like the second guide by MAKE because there is not a lot of cutting and taping and fixing and adhering. I can see both working well. I will hopefully have a chance to put something together this week or weekend so I can actually photograph my items at night when I have time! Maybe Q can help me out.
It would be great to be feautred on the front page of Etsy... although it sometimes feels like you have to have the same cookie cutter photo of the item super zoomed in with a white background and a little bit out of focus for depth. Ah well.
After almost a week away in Winona, Minnesota we are back from Mini Meet 2009 and it was a blast! We traveled up north with a mixed group of about 12 including Classic Minis and Newer MINIs... and a few more on trailers. The weather was a bit crummy with cloudy skies and rain for most of the week... but I think Minnesota was just providing us with authentic British weather to celebrate the Mini's 50th Birthday. Here are a few photos of the fun!
Driving up north...
"Family Photo" during the Show & Shine gathering....
M.I.N.I. (Minis in Northern Illinois) Family Photo... (my car is on the faaaarrr left with the U-Stripe)
Q and I even made it on the nightly news!!
... along with my car "Bender"!
After all the excitement was over with Mini Meet... we headed home with our friends Cathy and Gary.
Of course we HAD to take the scenic route and visit the SPAM Museum in Austin, MN.
Then we HAD to head over to Dubuque, IA to visit the Kalmes Diner as recommended by Alton Brown on the show and in the book "Feasting on Asphalt".
The ride home along the Mississippi River was very scenic and we stopped in a few small towns. Much better than the highway! As soon as I get all our photos up on my Shutterfly I will be sure to post the link.
So that about does it! We are home! Time to catch up on a lot of homework... and crafting too! Until next time.
SQ
PS Here is the photo album!!
http://minimadness.shutterfly.com/minimeet2009
