Welcome Back... 2018 the Year to Write

Crafting and art has taken a bit of a back stage in the last few years, but I am headed for change in the new year.

My goal this year is to write my first book and figure out all the challenges that go into transforming myself into a published writer.

As such I started by -
  Joining Willamette Writers (thanks to my Mom for an early Christmas gift)
  A local meet-up group Power of the Pen
  Began gathering sources to grow my craft...

Writers Forums 

• Absolute Write

Query Letters 

• http://queryshark.blogspot.com/ 
• http://queryletterhell.tumblr.com/

Beta Readers

• Still researching this one... 

Young Adult Writing 

• Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Oregon or SW Washington Chapter was recommended. 
• Bonus - apparently there are Saturday's meet ups just down the street at the Cascade Park Library and offers workshops.

And now I must write!

Fused Glass @ Aquila

Today Mom and I took a fused glass class at Aquila, compliments of a Groupon.

Instruction was straight and to the point, I liked the varied of projects they included to give you a feel for what you might enjoy. I would have to say my one qualm was that the glass selection felt very limited for our projects. 

Here is what mine looked like pre-kiln:















Curious to see the final result.

Getting near to the bottom of my craft list as I have been trying to clear our my queue before the babies arrive.

Painting Mt Saint Helens (Acrylic @ Vine Gogh)

Today Mom and I took at class at Vine Gogh in Sellwood another Groupon find.

I was really looking forward to this class, because I felt they had a wide variety of different styles (particularly with a more muted palette and replicas of asian style paintings)  and well it is super close to home (which allows for even a quick week night jaunt).

Our experience started off poorly. It turned into one heck of an ordeal trying to get them to accept my Groupon. I started truing to book in January and it seemed every class was booked that we tried to get into (and I tried about 5 getting put on wait lists). Finally I called in early/mid-February to be told all classes were full and there were over 300 people who bought the deal who waited to the last minute "like me." Too bad I would just have to redeem the face value at the next available class. When I went to use it just to get something booked out (so I could use the voucher before my babies get here), my voucher did not work on the website. Again I called back and got the lady at the front told me it was not her problem and I needed to get in contact with their webmaster. That was when I got pissed - what awful service! She was not only rude on each attempted contact, but accusing that I was slacking, and telling me to fix the problems of her site.

That is when I reached out to Groupon as I felt something was not right. I was trying actively trying to to book and after many rounds with the battle ram at the front desk I pulled Groupon into the whole ordeal who said I was right that I had the right to book a class at full value and if none were available as long as I booked before the expiration date they should make others available.  I forwarded the email to the store who forwarded it to the owner (Jenny) who took quick action to intervene and resolve the situation. Now she was very professional and resolved it with a kind manner with real customer service. Just a shame that it took the whole time to get to her! I was seriously ready to walk away from this place and she made me reconsider.

March's selection was disappointing to the previous months selections I had seen advertised, but was so glad to finally get enrolled that we picked one I thought the content was decent, but could play with the palette and darken it a bit to fit more the style I enjoy.

We got Paul for our instructor and he made the class very enjoyable. The teaching style was laid back and very free-flow. Less "teachy" then some other classes I have been to. Audience seemed to be a co-workers getting tipsy and going artsy vibe.

All-in-all mom and I were able to sit in our own space uninterrupted and do our own thing which made the night pass quickly and we both agreed we would go back and try again on a night the painting subject matter inspired us a bit more.

My work in progress -

The final result - 

 Mom putting the final touches on her painting -

Playing with Photo Print Options (Picaboo)

As an avid fan of social coupons to support my artistic passion I purchased a LivingSocial Deal for Picaboo some months back. My grand vision was to create a photo book from my adventures in Belize (from October of last year). Unfortunately, time has been passing in a frantic manner with twins on the way, work super busy, and our home re-model (which my husband is working on like a maniac). And for anyone who has designed a photo book - it is a fairly time intensive and cumbersome process if you are a perfectionist (such as myself).

So instead of using this coupon for a full photo book, I found a project more suitable to my time line and ended up exploring some of the other options Picaboo has to offer. I ended up doing two posters for Mom and I (my Belieze companion) to add some color to our cubes.

Voila... (very similar layouts but the one for me is on the left, and the one for mom is on the right)


With the remaining value, I explored their panel prints getting two for Mom (as an early Birthday present to go with her trip), one for our home, one for my desk, and one for Greg's desk. I liked the prints though one thing I would have to say is the color was a little washed on some of them and did not come out as vibrant as I anticipated. Here are the ones I chose to print:

Mom climbing a Mayan temple (one of my favorites of her on our Belize trip) -

Mom on top of the Caracul temple -

A photo of Crater Lake taken on our road trip (with Dave, Steph, and Liam) this summer - 

 A photo for my desk at work of Greg at Ruby Beach during our Olympic Peninsula trip -

 A desktop photo for Greg (for his future desk) one of my favorites from our Honeymoon in Hawaii -

Mission accomplished, I really liked the results!

Though the Belize book is still on the list...for another day.

Vintage Style Broaches

Pintrest has been a great forum for finding neat ideas and for some time I have been yearning to work on making some felt flowers. So last weekend my friend Tiffany braved a few differnt patterns.

• Dahlia
• Vintage-ish Broach
• Basic Five Point

After our brief exploration in the world of felt flowers I set out to do a batch of cute broaches for my girlfriends (to add to their holiday treat baskets). All-in-all I created about 10 broaches in one evening.

Here is what it took:

• Tools: Scissors, Hot Glue
• Materials: Felt, Stiffened Felt (nice backing for flower), Center Piece(s) (I like vintage buttons..but found a great look alike in covered bradlies), Something to Attach the Flower To (Pins, Barrettes, Ponytails, etc.)

Here is a shot of how they turned out:

<insert shot of vintage style broaches>

Photography Workshop for my B-Day!

Today I am taking a seminar on "Capturing True Emotion." This is my first training in photography. I have never taken a photography workshop or class really...though I did take a physics class once, "The Physics of Color Photography," but that was more a study of spectrum color.

I have decided it is time to actually learn formal technique and how to use all the power my equipment has to offer. Funny I spent so much time researching what to buy (from a technical perspective), yet I have not really taken the time to fully learn to use the equipment. I want to learn a lot this year!

The workshop was fairly basic, but it did force me to grab my manual to look up some things on my camera. After the workshop some of the group met to go put our skills to work at the zoo (though I think the zoo was a fairly odd selection for what we actually were trying to shoot). It was interesting, and I met a fellow photographer (Dave) that helped me stumble through finding some of the settings on my camera. This makes me realize I really should join a photo group to improve my skills.

For those who are interested in learning more (and summarizing helps me learn):

• Light - in every aspect of photography you are playing with light. Think of it as being an artist and painting with light!

• ISO - image sensitivity best correlates to the film speed in traditional photography this is how sensitive you want to image sensor to be to light. The higher your ISO, the more light it lets in. This does impact the quality of you photo (in grainy-ness/noise) so unless that is the desired effect you want to pay attention to the ISO you are shooting at.
• Low ISO (100-200) is for bright light days and high image quality.
• High ISO (>400) is for low light situations and reduce the image quality.

• Aperture - impacts light (low aperture lets in little light, high aperture lets in lots of light) and depth of field (i.e. what is in or our of focal range). If you want to blur objects in the background you have a short depth of field (much of this is controlled within your lens). If you want to see everything you need a shallow depth of field.
• Large Aperture (f/1.8,2,4,5.6) = shallow depth
• Practice using this, you want to zoom in and get close to your subject
• Small Aperture (f11,22,32) = longer depth
• Practice using this, you want to zoom out and get far from your subject

• Shutter Speed - impacts light (slow lets in little light, high lets in more) and controls motion.
• To freeze motion use a fast shutter speed (>1/500)
• Practice using this, water is a good subject.
• To blur motion use a slow shutter speed (<1/30)
• Practice using this, animals are a good subject.
• Note: if you are not using a tripod, you do not want to shoot below 1/60 to focus on your subject.

How this translates into digital photography (the modes on your camera):
AF Point: selects where you want to focus (center-weighted, spot, evaluate)

Metering Mode: measure the light for a specifics area in your scene that you want to use, then set to that desired metering mode for your image.

P (Programmable Mode): You control ISO (camera does the rest - watch the impact ISO has on aperture and shutter).
  *Practice by shooting in differnt light conditions. 
      If the shutter is slow, raise your ISO! (1/60 or faster if not on tripod!)
 
A/AV (Aperture Priority Mode): You set ISO + Aperture (camera controls the shutter speed).
  *Practice setting ISO and a desired aperture to accomplish different effects.
      If the shutter is slow, raise your ISO! (1/60 or faster if not on tripod!)

S/TV (Shutter Priority Mode): You control ISO + Shutter Speed.
  *Practice setting ISO and a desired shutter speed to accomplish different effects
      If the aperture can't open large enough, raise your ISO! (1/60 or faster if not on tripod!)

M (Manual Mode): You control ISO + Aperture + Shutter Speed.
  *Practice here is a mnemonic device to remember a good order for shooting in manual, remember -
   I AM So Freaking Cute:
     1) ISO - set based on lightening conditions (i.e. sunny, rainy, night)
     2) Aperture - set based on how much light you need for effect (i.e. short or deep field)
     3) Meter - measure and see light in a specific area of scene.
     4) Shutter Speed - set based on how much motion (try to get needle in the middle)
     5) Focus
     6) Compose

General Tips:

• Use your histogram to see the exposure levels (left is under exposed, right is over exposed).
• Your display lies.
• Things you want in composition: line, shape, form, color, texture, value, space.
• There are many elements, but start with mastering the above.
• Check out the Golden Section and Rule of Two Thirds for composition.
• Many examples out there to learn more.

Happy Birthday to me :)

Cupcakes

For Steve & Skye's 30th I signed up to do cupcakes.

With the fine help of Jason & Sara cupcakes were requested and we made some delicious Key Lime, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Rainbow Cupcakes with Moustaches.

 

I think they turned out fabulous and the chocolate peanut butter was a hit for sure!