Nice recycling idea. Link.
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January 2009
taking photos of your goodies – either to sell them online or to feature on your site – takes a bit of getting used to.
tips:
1. good lighting is essential – I prefer natural light – but if this is not possible – make a light box – it diffuses the light when using artificial lighting and doesn’t give you harsh shadows – (drawings in motion shows you how to make a really simple and cheap collapsible light box at home via craft) (here is another diy lightbox and another version)
2. Neutral background and a mini studio – if you have a clean white wall and white bench – perfect – ditch the clutter and mess – but if not why not keep a piece of white cardboard of fabric to use just for this purpose. For some tips on setting up a mini studio in your house – making use of natural light by using a white backdrop and relectors – check out quaint handmade’s post here. [here is another homemade studio - no lighting needed]
3. Take crisp – non blurry photos – use a tripod if you have one – if you don’t try these methods and these to keep your camera steady (try this)
4. Get in close – become familiar with macro photography – you can do macro with your point and shoot camera – get detail shots, interesting angles, learn about depth of field – blur out backgrounds and keep the main subject in sharp focus.
5. Use photo-editing software to make final adjustments – tweak the color and exposure, crop photos in as close as you can without cropping out interesting details and format your photos for the Web. Don’t add any sort of border to your photos – grunge borders or blurry borders can be annoying.
Check out the storque for more tips on good photos.
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Adam Norton, Australian artist, demonstrates various ways to ‘avoid’ – this work is called countermeasures and also includes fun things like reverse shoes (the footprint goes backward). This escape capsule includes everything you need to live – a long term hide away from the world. (the toileting facilities are not so hot) but its a neat idea. [via treehugger - more info on the project at adaptive reuse]
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Some geek crafting – this is so fun and cool, make this retro digital watch from this instructable. [via craft]
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This is the first sewing tutorial I’ve ever written. I almost gave up several times!
About the author: Joy is a work at home database programming Mom (with a capital M of course), of a 6 year old daughter. She hadn’t sewn for over 20 years and doesn’t know how she did without it – she blogs at 100 spools of thread
Supplies:
Outside Fabric good quality cotton fabric: 1 piece 9″x12″, 1 piece 9″x18″, 1 piece 7″x8 1/2″, 1 piece 2″x14″, 1 piece 3/4″x5″
Lining (cotton broadcloth) – 1 piece 9″x12″
Interfacing (Fusible Fleece) 1 piece 9″x12″ and 1 piece 7″x4 1/4″
1 Button (here used 9/16″ mother of pearl with a metal shank)
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Thanks to Candy and Chara for sending in these great pics of their gorgeous studios. You gals are soo lucky.
This is Chara’s studio: When they moved to a new city and were looking for places to live, they made it a priority find an apartment that had an extra room that could be turned into a studio/craft room. One of the main features of this room is the wonderful natural light – she has also made a lovely minimal inspiration wire right above her sewing space. Chara also loves her cutting bench – no need to clear the kitchen table whenever doing some sewing!
This is Candy’s space: Candy hand dyes a lot of her own fabric and needs space to store it all – I love the peg board above her sewing space – where she can hang her tools as well as any projects she is working on – it doubles as an inspiration board too. Candy also has neat storage ideas and her sewing bench was made by her talented husband – here is how he did it
[do you want your studio/crafting nook to be featured on whipup - send in a fab pic and link to whipup[at]gmail.com]
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Popular Mechanics When Duct Tape Just Isn’t Enough: Quick Fixes for Everyday Disasters
If you are a crafter, then chances are you are pretty handy with fixing things, or inventing solutions to household problems – sometimes though even I get stuck on occasion – for example – I have no idea what to do when a tile or a paver cracks, or when the bottoms of the metal chairs cut through the rubber bungs on the ends of the legs, or the gate is hanging a bit crooked, or the flushing toilet makes the shower scalding hot. Or a thousand million other little niggly things. While I am on top of most things in our house, sometimes I just don’t know where to start, or even who to ask about where to start, or when to call in the professionals.
Enter “When Duct Tape Just Isn’t Enough”. This little hardcover spiral bound book, one of the Popular Mechanics series, is a treasure. Ok, so it doesn’t tell me or my darling husband how to fix the thousand million niggly things, but probably a good couple of hundred of them. This book covers minor fixes in the areas of tools, cleaning, structural, electrical, plumbing, appliances, furniture and garden.
One feature that I really like about this book is at the start of each chapter, where it tells, the likes of me, the circumstances in which it is very wise to abandon all hope of doing-it-myself, and calling in the relevant trades person.
One hazard of this book is that while sitting and looking through it – I have identified so many niggly little things in our house that could do with a bit of fixing, and now I have the know-how at my fingertips. The hazardous part about this is that now I think that I should start fixing them, which will seriously cut into my limited crafting time…
About the reviewer: Kate is a busy mother of four and has far too many craft projects on the go at any one time. These could include, but are not limited to, crochet, sewing, dyeing, paper making, spinning, felting and bookbinding. Kate has challenges in the areas of finishing things, saying no and craft supplies storage. She also has a very very patient and tolerant husband.
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