a big idea: heart bokeh photographs

I saw these photos at Dear Lizzy the other day, but no tutorial on how to turn the light in the photos into hearts.  :(

I was too impatient to wait for a tutorial to be posted so I searched and found a tutorial at A Bit of Sunshine.  Thanks Google!

Here are some photos of my dining room chandelier with my homemade filter.  How cool!

To make these pictures I used my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens.  I am no camera expert by any means.  I usually just play with buttons, take tons of pictures, and hope one turns out. 

For these pictures I used manual setting and unfocused the picture.  I put the f-stop as low as it would go and played with the ISO and exposure time until I ended up with the above pictures.  (ISO = 3200 and exposure time = 1/10 sec).

I had less luck trying out my homemade filter during the day.  This is a rosebush out back.  I did end up with a "happy accident" cute picture of my pup who was keeping me company outside.

I think this technique will be so neat for travel and holiday pictures.

These etsy shots are some great inspiration to keep learning how to perfect this technique!

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a big idea: light canvas & more love balls

Don't you just love this lighted canvas?  It's so pretty and simple and genius.  A snowflake or star design would be so pretty for Christmas.  I think I will be buying a big canvas and some twinkle lights in the near future.

Check out this great magnet idea by Diary of a Crafty Lady inspired by my love balls.  I just knew those clay balls could be used for something useful!

me: back to school

I always hoped I could sing...

I always wanted to learn how to play piano...

I always wished I could draw better...

I decided to do something about one of these dreams.  I am officially a community college student.  I'll be taking Drawing I on Monday and Wednesday evenings starting on June 6. 

I'm very excited, but also scared.  I've never taken a drawing class in my life and I haven't taken an art class since seventh grade.  I have no idea what supplies to take to the first class.  I want to wait and ask what sort of supplies to buy, but what if we have to draw something the first night?  Then I'll be the loser with no paper and no pencil.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being highest) I would rate my drawing abilities at about a 1 or 2.  I am fully prepared to be the absolute worst student in the class.  Failing doesn't bother me because I know I'll learn something and be better in the end.

So has anyone taken an drawing class before?  Do you have any advice? 

work in progress: memory clothesline

I'm home from a wonderful trip visiting family in Arizona.  I carried my squatty tote bag on the plane and it made it through security just fine (twice).  I read Scandinavian Stitches on the plane and picked up some new ideas.  I gave my mother the woven fabric pillow as a belated Mother's Day gift. 

All in all a great trip.  One to remember.

I picked up some Arizona post cards at the airport and decided to make a memory clothesline to hang some summer memories.

I screwed some hooks into my chalkboard cabinets and strung some jute between the hooks.  Then I used some pretty silver clips to hang my post cards.

I can't wait to add to my collection with flowers found on summer hikes, paper coasters collected from outdoor patio restaurants, nature brochures from camping trips, and whatever else I pick up this summer.

What would you collect on your memory clothesline?

work in progress: kitchen window part 1

Our kitchen is pretty much original and untouched in our early eighties home.  It's not as bad as it could be, but definitely not a showplace kitchen.  We are currently putting away money for a total regut-reconfiguration-serious-kitchen-redo which will probably happen in four years.  I have some little inexpensive projects lined up this summer to make the kitchen a bit more cute.

Last weekend I decided to make some kitchen curtains.  When we moved into our home there were standard mini blinds installed in this window.  Unfortunately if you didn't pull the cord just right when you tried to lower them, the blinds would completely fall down. 

So I removed the blinds and the window has been naked ever since.

Source: southernliving.com

I had intended to sew a simple valance, but then I saw this picture was inspired to sew some longer curtains.

I made my curtains from pretty natural linen fabric and some Martha Stewart ribbon I bought at Michaels awhile ago (proving that if you buy ribbon you will always eventually find something to use it for).  The curtains are pretty simple.  I just measured and cut and hemmed all the raw edges.  Since I used drape clips I didn't even sew a pocket for the curtain rod.

After much internal debate I put a little ruffle into the ribbon.  I folded and pined the ribbon into place and then sewed down both of the white stripes in the ribbon with white thread.  It worked great and easy peasy.

Spoiler Alert!  The grey in the ribbon will look great with the color I intend to use to paint the kitchen cabinets this summer.

Stay tuned for more inexpensive kitchen upgrades!