We couldn't help ourselves. Flower it had to be. Spring has arrived late here in the northeast, but better late than never. flower as a concept is so wide open that it's ridiculous and I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with!
P.S. Of course my April entry is going to be late. But I can put this one up in pieces and the first piece should be up tomorrow. Pinky swear.
But not often in NYC...
I had a couple of different ideas for recycling. I did want to find some fabric to use for something else, but a couple of quick trips (read: kids were with me) to the local thrift shops did not yield anything hopeful. The thrift shops I visited all had nice things that you might still want to wear. That is not what I was looking for. I was hoping for some really thick polyester or some cute old curtains or an old beaded dress. I know some of you are laughing. It's ok. eBay has ruined me for most of the rest of the world. Anyway, the thrift shops were disappointing. I have no idea where to try next for real thrifting. I suppose I am going to do yard sales and estate sales and the flea market.
I already have a good idea for April's Get Your Craft On challenge APRON. That's the good news. The bad news is that I need to get to a flea market, a fabric store, and probably a thrift shop. And that's before I even start with anything. Sigh. I like the apron craft challenge. I am all about aprons these days.
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[I tried to put these in order of what comes first here in the great northeast. I keep having internal debates with myself. I am sure that the crocuses come first. The forsythia (which I always thought was quite ugly) is my first real harbinger of spring. The crocuses will come out so early that there is still cold weather to be had, but the forsythia does seem to wait until the all clear has been sounded. I'm hazy on the appearances of the Lily of the Valley and the pussy willows. I never see pussy willows in the wild. Lilacs are last, but I have a keen fondness for them. Every time we move I think I will plant lilacs at my house, to savor the few short weeks they are blooming. I never have, but I still intend to.]
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Ok, this month was a bust. It was good if I wanted to learn something, which I did. I learned a lot, such as:
1. Even though I carefully made the front and the back of the heart the same size and lined them up a million times, when I sewed them together they were misaligned and the heart looks bad on the bottom.
2. Sewing wire in between two pieces of thin cotton isn't all that fun.
3. 20 ga wire is too thick.
4. Expending time and energy on sewing the wire is no guarantee that the clam will actually be shape-able once finished.
So there you have it. A big bust, but a learning experience. I actually enjoyed it when I wasn't wrestling with the wire, string, and sewing machine all at once.
Next month I am doing something easier. Pinky swear.
If you know me, you know that it wasn't going to be too long until the monthly theme was something close to my heart. And what is closer to my heart than recycling? Well lots of stuff, actually, but not when it comes to crafting.
I love that Disney recycles cans and bottles from the hotel rooms. It always pains me when I stay somewhere and I see the cleaning people taking the cans that I have carefully rinsed and set in a neat row on the sink and throwing them immediately into the big trash bag. Wasn't my neat little row indication enough that I meant for the cans and bottles to be separated and recycled? As soon as I see them do that, I begin stashing the cans and bottles elsewhere so that I can recycle them myself.
The thing that Disney does not do that makes me a teensy bit crazy is they don't recycle paper. This trip I packed 2 paper bags and 4 or 5 plastic bags in the suitcases rather than throw them away. There was some more paper--a cardboard cup holder and some other bits that I desperately wanted to pack as well, but we left the packing to the last minute and we were running around like crazy and I just couldn't get my head around where to shove the other papers. I left them sitting on the kitchen counter with the pathetically small hope that someone would love them enough (or love land enough or trees) to recycle them. In my pleasant dreams they are recycled.
So recycling and crafting. Lovely concept. I haven't the faintest clue what I will be making this month, which is a tad bit disconcerting. However, since I haven't yet finished February's challenge I don't have time to worry about not having an idea for March.
Recycling. Is good. Let's see what you've got!
]]>The assignment was to shoot something you wouldn't normally shoot, to move out of your comfort zone, to try something new.
Lesson 4:
A photoshop thing. I used this photograph (again). I learned what actions were. I used Amber's actions. They did make my photograph look better.
Lesson 5:
More photoshop stuff. But a great assignment. Take a photo that tells a story. I suppose the best photos tell a story, or make you wonder about things, although I had never understood photography in quite those terms. So. A photo that tells a story. Is not the easiest thing in the world to do. No, not easy.
I shot a lot of photos. I came up with a lot of ideas. I tried to shoot strangers. (That was harder than I expected it would be.) I think the photo I chose to submit tells a story.
Here are some other photos which I took but didn't submit. I think some of them tell a story. It's a hard thing to know, since as the one taking the photo you know the story already.
Since the course is titled "Photographing the Everyday" and since we've discussed using natural light at length, well, I felt like I should try to take everyday shots of food using natural light. I stayed away from artsy shots of fruit and vegetables (which I may still take for myself). I stayed away from using the lights on the lightbox. I tried to answer the assignment as I believed it was intended to be answered. I ended up taking a lot of lousy shots of food.
It was an excellent lesson on composition and making your photographs more interesting and dynamic. I loved the lesson. The assignment made me think (hard) and challenged me and made me take a lot of photos. Which I assume means that the lesson was successful, even if I did not end up with any shots of which I am proud.
Amber is taking names for her next class. If you are somewhat familiar with your camera and you'd like to learn how to take shots of the everyday, and if you are interested in portraiture in particular, I'd encourage you to think about this class. It's got me thinking! (I'm not as much interested in portraiture as many of my classmates, but I have found all of the lessons relevant to my interests as well.) See Amber's blog for more information.
If you'd like to comment on individual photos (I love feedback. Love it! Especially constructive criticism.) check out the photos from this course on Flickr.
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I am obsessed with dioramas. I cannot tell you why. There doesn't seem to be any rational explanation for being obsessed with dioramas. Perhaps I was not forced to construct enough dioramas in elementary school. I can recall only one, and the details are fuzzy. Shoebox is as far as I can get. Whatever the reason I spend far too much time reflecting on dioramas.
When I try to get logical about it I realize that my diorama obsession most likely places me squarely in league with the dollhouse people. Not that I am saying that is a bad place to be. Tiny furniture, tiny kitchens with tiny mixers and tiny lifelike food, bathrooms with tiny rolls of toilet paper. Okay, perhaps it is an odd place to be. But I still love the dioramas.
To be honest I've been hiding my diorama obsession. There doesn't seem to be a way to bring it up that doesn't feel contrived. But today, today two of my passions collided so unexpectedly and spectacularly that I am forced to come forward.
I was reading the Flickr blog. I never get a chance to read it although I find it interesting. So I am skimming through and voila, I see an entry with a photograph by a woman who takes photos of the dioramas that she builds. Dioramas. And Photography. Together. In perfect harmony. Lightbulbs! Fireworks!!! Explosions of sound and noise and light!!!!! Photographs of dioramas. Why didn't I think of that?
The Flickr Photograph that started it all
Diorama Goodness:
Pirate shadow box on craftster.org
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Mr. Potter’s Curious Dioramas
The Dead Pals of Sam Sanfillippo
ann wood
Krista Peel (click on miniatures)
I had a bunch of diorama related links from a previous excursion with google. The links, they are gone! To a serial bookmarker like me this is serious. I found a few of them (see above). But the silver lining to all of this is that I just got another great idea for a documentary for K. and I. We are all about ideas for documentaries. Man, we are a goldmine of good docu ideas. Too bad we will never have to time make them all.
Googling "diorama" is one of those exercises in which you can lose several hours, if not days. There are all kinds of people making all kinds of dioramas out there. It warms my heart. And scares me. And makes me think that the dollhouse people are fairly regular folks after all.
P.S. If you google "diorama" you will see many, many historical and military scenes. I do not like those! No! No to tanks and battleships and tiny army guys. No! No! No!
A few weeks ago K. and I had a conversation about how everyone should know how to sew. I told him that all of the kids would learn how to use a sewing machine, even if just to sew something very easy. We also decided that the kids all needed to know how to: cook, do laundry, and use a hammer, screw driver, and saw.
A week later K. said, "I want to learn how to sew. Can you teach me how to sew?" Which is all well and good on the old machine, but on the new machine? I can't really sew yet. Plus K. is a Big Idea Guy, and so he wants to sew complicated things.
Anyway, he bought his fabric and I bought mine. I have no projects in mind. I just bought whatever struck my fancy.
P.S. I am on some kind of terrible novelty fabric kick. I will never sew with 90% of the fabrics I am attracted to right now. Perhaps I need some kind of intervention?
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If you'd like to comment on individual photos (I love feedback. Love it! Especially constructive criticism.) check out the photos from this course on Flickr.
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