Yardbird-Photography, Soap, Crafts and More

Lemons!

2012-01-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

My lovely husband got me a lemon tree for my birthday this year (May) and I finally have some lemons ready to eat! It's a small tree and only produced three, but it's already budding to make more!

Handprint Christmas Tree Topper

2011-12-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

We haven't had a star for the top of our Christmas tree for the last few years. We always ended up using an ornament. Rather than buying one, I decided to make one this year with my little helper.

Here's a little How-To:

First, gather materials: Construction paper, finger paint, tape/glue, scissors.

Start by making a few handprints on white paper. I think white is best for the most contrast and I choose green rather than red paint (might end up looking a little gory). I made sure to do several and spaced them far enough apart to have room to cut around:

Be prepared to get messy, we luckily only ended up with just a little on her shirt and forehead:

Cut out your favorite hand print. I tried a few different styles of cutting, but decided I liked the large circle the best:

Once cut, I glued it onto a piece of red construction paper:

Then I cut a small circle around the white out of the red:

Roll up a piece of green construction paper into a tube and tape or glue it together:

Then flatten it and cut off the bottom to an even edge. I applied glue to the top half of the cone:

Glue the hand part to the top of the cone. I wrote her name and the date on the back:

Finished tree topper!

Zander Olsen: Tree, Line.

2011-12-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

Really amazing series from artist/photographer Zander Olsen. Love. It.

Link

via poppytalk

Salad Jars

2011-11-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

I saw this on the Martha Stewart show the other day and needed to share it somewhere, sounds so delicious!

Link here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/869532/tuna-nicoise-salad-jars

Free Fabric!

2011-08-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

A new exhibit at my local museum, The Columbus Museum of Art, is giving away free fabric! The exhibit is by Stephanie Syjuco. It's called Pattern Migration, and the artist had 5,000 meters of plastic fabric manufactured in Beijing. The fabric design was inspired by an American coverlet from CMA’s Stuck Collection of coverlets from the nineteenth-century.

This is definitely something I'm going to check out! I'm not sure what I'm going to make with it (red and black isn't my favorite color scheme), but maybe some tote bags? It's actually plastic-y, like oil cloth. When you're done making something with it, you can share it on Flickr and tag with CMASyjuco. I'll put it on my to-do list (maybe it will get done in a couple of months-ha!).

For more information, visit the Museum blog here: http://www.columbusmuseum.org/blog/2011/08/16/free-syjuco-fabric/.

via CMA Blog

Portal!

2011-05-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Science!

I need Portal 2 gear!

Television Photos

2011-05-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

I love these! They are photographs of tube televisions the moment they are switched off by Stephan Tillmans.

Here's the link.

(via swissmiss)

Developer Trays

2011-04-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

I saw this wonderful photography project by John Cyr.

It documents various photographer's developer trays. If you have never been in a darkroom, you use various trays of chemicals to develop prints (developer, stop bath and fixer). The developer sort of stains the trays over time, and they get a great patina as they age. John Cyr (the artist) is trying to document part of this dying art form.

See them all at his website here.

(via swissmiss)

Royal Wedding Ice Cream?

2011-04-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Jeni's Ice Cream is pretty awesome if you haven't heard of it. It started in Columbus (where I live), and has thrived since it opened. They are known for local, seasonal and organic ingredients in their ice cream, and it is delicious! My favorite one, which I think is seasonal, is Violet Ice Cream. It was the most interesting ice cream I've ever had. It was more of a smell than a taste almost. I also love Sweet Butter Almond Brittle and Salty Carmel of course.

They are doing a Royal Wedding line of ice creams that is quite over the top. It's a bit pricey ($60) for the collection, but I'm almost considering it. Their ice cream is really that good. Maybe we'll have to stop in to try them tonight!

www.jenisicecreams.com

Ice Creams for the Royal Wedding (and Mother's Day!)
A Royal Wedding is history being made before our eyes. But, if you can't be with Prince William and Catherine Middleton in person Friday, April 29, at Westminster Abbey, our procession of limited-edition ice creams will transport you across the pond in majestic style and spirit. Each spirited flavor in the Ice Creams for the Royal Wedding collection is inspired by the refreshing, youthful energy of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
Prince William's Chocolate Biscuit Groom's Cake:
Dark Chocolate ice cream and rich butter biscuits soaked in Lyle's Golden Syrup, with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Eton Mess:
A tip of the hat to a dessert from Prince William's alma mater, Eton College, it's royal mess of hand-layered vanilla cream, strawberry sorbet, and raspberry sauce studded with hand-piped meringue stars.

The Royal Wedding Cake:
Molasses ice cream with brandied raisins, dates, and pineapple, with lemon zest, walnuts, and traditional spices.

White Stilton on Toast with Champagne-soaked Bilberries:
A Royal Champagne Brunch: pungent white Stilton cheese with brown bread crumbs and a generous helping of Champagne-plumped (blueberry-like) bilberries.

Light Painting

2011-04-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

I do Light Painting as one of my projects in my 8th and 9th grade class and I also show it as an option to my college classes for their motion project.


jediimind via Flickr

Although it looks complicated, light painting is actually pretty simple. All you need to do is take a long exposure (8 seconds is a good place to start) and shine some light source at or in front of the camera. The light will make streaks across the frame. You need to do this either at night or in a darkened room (it needs to be fairly dark or the light won't show up properly.


Burnt Umber via Flickr

One of my students turned me on to a really cool technique that he saw on Flickr. Instead of using a flashlight or phone (what we usually use for these), you light a piece of steel wool on fire and spin it around. It creates these crazy sparks that fall kind of like rain around your subject. These images are using the steel wool technique.

Simon D. Gardner via Flickr

MightyMe! via Flickr

TheFotoGraffer via Flickr

jon_beard via Flickr

TheFotoGraffer via Flickr

earsaregood via Flickr

There are many, many more on Flickr. I don't know who figured out this technique, but I think it's beautiful.

Spring Easter Table

2011-04-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to create a springy table for Easter. I already had Easter baskets and when I saw Grape Hyacinths on sale I grabbed them and put this together.

I used a tablecloth I made from my wedding as well as various things from around the house. I filled each basket with plastic eggs with jelly beans, chocolate eggs, peeps and peanut butter cups.

Cloth Diapers!

2011-04-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

I took the plunge into cloth diapers when Juniper was six months old. I had heard about them when I was pregnant and I had intended to buy them after I had the baby, but other things got in the way.

I had trouble choosing which brand I wanted to use, but I finally decided on Fuzzibunz. I bought one Fuzzibunz and one BumGenius to try them out. I really like the colors of the BumGenius better, but I like the Fuzzibunz as diapers much better.

I have other colors too, but I thought these looked nice together. There are pros and cons about them, but if cloth diapering is something you are interested in, these are a great place to start. There's tons of information on them out there, but I would recommend finding a store that sells them where you can talk to someone about them and see them in person. I bought mine from Tickleberry Moon.

New Book!

2011-04-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

I bought this today and I love it already! I've only read a few pages and laughed out loud so much! The cover weirds me out a little-maybe she'll explain it in the book.

Baby Soap?

2011-04-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Soap

I think I'm ready to start making soap again. I took a hiatus when I was pregnant (can't be breathing in those lye fumes) and sort of stopped after the baby. I also need to get my marketing a bit more together if I want to sell it. I really enjoy making soap, so I may just continue on to give it as gifts.

Citrus Soap, my favorite

One thing I do want to do differently is to use only natural ingredients. I already use about 98% natural ingredients in most of the soaps, but I was using fragrance oil for the scents. Fragrance oil is not natural and I actually don't even know what's in it (they won't tell you what's in it). There are benefits to using fragrance oil, the main one is that there are so many more scents available. It's also cheaper (not by a lot), but that's always nice too. But I've decided that I switching to all essential oils. All my soaps will be 100% (and I'm going to shoot for organic too). I will have a more limited range of scents to chose from, but they will smell more authentic and not so overwhelming and perfumy (as they tend to be with fragrance oil).

Lavender Soap

What brought this on is that I think I want to make baby soap. I have a baby soap that I like, but it's fairly pricey and I would rather use my own if I can. I can't really find any recipes for baby soap though. I've been to all my usual places, but none seem to have a soap specifically for babies. Maybe everyone uses the liquid? I think I'm going to have to make my own. I've been trying to decide what to put in it, but I think the less ingredients I have the better. It's going to be mostly olive oil, and maybe two more oils for hardening and bubbles. I think I want to stick to unscented, but I'm not sure.

Shared Intelligence Exhibit

2011-04-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is a current exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art (my local museum). I took my Saturday Morning class to see it, and I liked it quite a bit. There's a really nice mixture of painting and photography. I would recommend it if you live in the area. Here's the link.

And here's the description:

Painting and photography have had a long relationship in American art. Since its invention, photography has influenced the way we see the world as much as how paintings have for centuries. Shared Intelligence explores the dynamic ways visual artists have been inspired by and used the photograph. The exhibition of more than 75 paintings and photographs focuses on the work of American painters for whom the photograph has been essential to the development of their work, such as Thomas Eakins, Frederic Remington, Charles Sheeler, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, and contemporary artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, David Hockney, and Sherrie Levine. Major works by such ground-breaking photographers as Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, and Margaret Bourke-White will also be included.

The artwork from the image:

Barbara Kruger, Untitled, 1985, 9 color lithographs with photo-litho and silkscreen on paper, 20 ½ x 20 ½ (52.07 x 52.07), collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Walker Special Purchase Fund, 1985.

Yardbird!

2011-04-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed-I changed the title and header for the blog. I did this for a few reasons, (mostly because I'm fickle and I'm always trying to re-invent things), but also because I realize I talk about a lot more than just photography on here. It started out as a photography exercise, but has changed to be about everything that I love. Photography, soap, crafts, my family, etc. And of course I will continue to photograph everything I do.

And yardbird started out as the name for my soaps-yardbird soap, but I like to use it to talk about anything I'm doing. My husband drew the chicken logo and I've embellished it since then.

Happy Friday! I'm excited for the weekend, we're having a playdate tomorrow!

Young Adult Literature

2011-04-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

There was a class when I was in middle school called Young Adult Literature (everyone called it YAL-pronounced like ya'll). You had to take if you didn't take a foreign language. I took French, and never took the class. But the phrase pops into my head every so often.

I love to read, but not everything. I always look at the classics wall at Barnes and Noble and think about picking one up. I seem to always end up loving the young adult books-the ones meant for tweens. What does that say about me? Nothing good probably. But anyway, here's my newest favorite:

The Hunger Games is a sci-fi trilogy that has similarities to many books that I've read over the years. I'm sure it's nothing too original, but I like it quite a bit. It reminds me of a mix between 1984 (but not so depressing), The Golden Compass (I'm not too sure why), and Prelude to Foundation. It has elements of other books in there as well, but those three seem to keep coming up in places.

The three books are: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. They are written by Suzanne Collins. I'm sure I'm the last person that's heard of them, but I think they are worth a read. And no, I'm not reading Shakespeare, but at least I'm still reading something!

Home Improvement and Really Cool Paint

2011-04-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have several home improvement projects that I would love to do. We were going to start a few of them this summer. But we have a huge dentist bill that I didn't see coming (don't get me started) and the taxman is making us pay this year. Sigh.

Here was the original list:
1. Bust down the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Add cabinetry to the kitchen side and then a countertop for eating in the dining room.
2. Add cabinetry and finish the foyer/mudroom.
3. Repaint the kitchen cabinets and kitchen.
4. Finish the basement.
5. Landscaping, which I will still do, but probably on a much smaller scale.
6. I would love to put up a fence in the front yard, but who knows how much that even costs.

Anyway, the list could be endless. But I've had to pare it down a bit. Here's the revised (and hopefully somewhat do-able) list:

1. Finish foyer/mudroom with cheaper cabinetry, paint, coat hooks, etc.
2. Paint the kitchen cabinets, kitchen walls, dining room, living room, bathrooms.

And I would loooooovee to tear down the wall, but I really don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. But in order to stop dwelling on that, I've decided to concentrate on the foyer/mudroom first. It shouldn't be too much money, and I don't need to buy everything all at once.

Here's where the really cool paint part comes in. Since I have become (essentially) a stay-at-home mom, I've been sucked into some (eeek!) daytime television. Mainly just The Martha Stewart Show. I actually usually record it, and then watch it when during naptime or whenever I get a spare minute (haha). On yesterday's episode, they had this stuff called Idea Paint. I originally intended to create a chalk board on the basement door (using chalk board paint) in the mudroom to write the grocery list on, or notes or whatever. But I actually kind of hate chalk. I really don't like the way it feels or sounds or the dust, etc. But I was going to do anyway because I think it's cute.

But I saw this stuff called Idea Paint on the show. It's dry erase board paint! Yes-the perfect solution! The only thing is that it's a bit pricey ($75 for one box-which covers the area of a door). That's more than enough for what I need, but it sure isn't cheap. And they do have colors other than white, which is nice, but if you want the cheaper at home version ($75) it only come in white. The larger kits come in colors, but I think they are kind of odd choices of colors:

I'll probably be getting the white because it's a smaller kit, but I like the gray as well. I'm going to do some drawings and pictures to show soon!

Here's a link to their website.

More Scans

2011-04-05T18:00:00.001-07:00

Mama and baby hands

The cat

More Baby Feet

I wouldn't mind doing a series of these. Maybe documenting her hands once a month or something. We had fun doing this-I need to do the other cat too. He will probably be more difficult.

I got the idea from a project I do with my eighth and ninth grade class that I teach. It's called Face Your Pockets. Here's the link.

Scanner Fun

2011-04-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Juni & I had some scanner fun before we both got sick on Wednesday.

Baby Feet!
I wonder what the weight limit on my scanner is?
More to come later.

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

2011-03-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

I got this the other day in the mail. If you can't read this, it says that I officially paid of one of my student loans!!!!!!! It felt like that would never happen. It was the smallest one, and I have a long way to go, but hey-it's a start!

I kind of want to frame it or something.

Easter Things

2011-03-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

Target (and Babies R Us for that matter) need to be farther away from my house. I really can't get out of those stores without spending at least $50. I went to buy baby gates at Target the other day and was drawn into the Easter section by these beauties:

They're little felt baskets for collecting Easter Eggs. I know Juni can't really do that yet, but they were only two dollars! Two dollars! I couldn't help it.

They had quite a few designs, but I settled on three. Oh, and they had super cute laser cut ones as well, but they were $4 a piece.

A bunny.

The bees are so cute!

And Eggs.
I'm going to make them into a centerpiece. I'll fill them with some grassy stuff and put some eggs or candies in. Or I might make favors for a playdate, or both! I will document the final product!

I also am excited about decorating eggs with the little lady this year even though she's really kind of too little. I saw the Martha Stewart Egg Decorating app on Black Eiffel earlier, and it got me jazzed to do some interesting things this year. Here's the link.

By the way, I didn't end up getting the baby gates (of course)-they are like $75 (well, for the kind I need). The lady hasn't started crawling yet, but she's close. I need to get on that.

Weeks!

2011-03-15T06:35:00.001-07:00

OK, however much I want to say this was my idea, it wasn't. Really most of my crafty and clever things come from (or at least were inspired by) something else. These lovely week shots were from a delightful blog called Young House Love. They also have a daughter that is slightly older than mine, and started this project when she was born. I'm only showing every five weeks here, but I have done it every week. The effect is a little more dramatic with more space in between the shots.

If you want to see the originals from Young House Love, go here. I could go on with a stream of excuses of why there's are better than mine, but I won't. There's are better. And I'm a photographer, and they are not. Kind of embarrassing. Excuses, excuses, excuses......

It's crazy, but I look at the first week shot and it's hard to believe she was that little. That was only 7 months ago, but it seems like another baby. She will be 32 weeks this Friday!

Blankets!

2011-03-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

I made two blankets for Christmas presents this year. They may have been intended for last year's Christmas, but hey, they got done.

The first is a quilt I made for my father in law. It's a quilt made up of all of his old t-shirts. They have sort of a motorcycle theme. I did the surround fabric in a medium gray and the edging in red:

This is the back. It's a fabric called Bad-Danna. I thought it was perfect, and I ended up having to go to a few different stores to find enough of it:

This one was definitely more work. I may lay off the quilting for a while, even though I really like the finished result.

The second blanket is one that I knitted for my nephew. It's done in two shades of green, white and chocolate brown organic yarn. It matches the colors of his room.

It's a largish baby blanket. I didn't really make it a specific size. I just kept knitting until I thought it looked good.

It's very soft and warm, and I love it.

Next I need to work on knitting one for Juniper!

Life After Baby

2011-03-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, there is still life after baby. But I think I'm finally just getting a handle on balancing it.
This is Juniper Dorothy, she was born on August 6th 2010.

Her first picture:

Coming home from the hospital:

Feeties:

Red head (but I think it's fading now):

1 month (I think?):

Making Christmas Cookies (4 months):

Decorating the Christmas tree:

Teethies:

6 Months:

She's almost 7 months now! I can't believe it!
More updates soon....

Nursery

2010-07-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

Nursery!

Changing table with new framed artwork:

New artwork from an old How-to-draw book I found from the library:

Wall mural:

Hanging rack I made from my old changing table:

Quilts:

My favorite of her toys from Gwyn, Kate, Jaclyn, Molly and my sister:

Rocking chair reading area:

Lamp shade I recovered:

Pillows that I made:

Finally finished!

Blueberries!

2010-07-14T19:04:00.001-07:00

The blueberry pie I made from scratch from the blueberries I picked:

Ashley, Wit, Hollie & I at the blueberry farm:

Yay! It was a fun day, and really yummy pie.

Huge

2010-07-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

9 months or 36 Weeks

Bigger and bigger...

2010-06-06T19:33:00.001-07:00

7 months or 28 weeks

8 months or 32 weeks

Kevin, Dave & I at the movies in our 3D glasses.

Secret Garden

2010-04-15T17:48:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my secret garden, otherwise known as my front yard. We actually didn't realize any of these trees were flowering until yesterday, and they are awesome.
Dark pink:

Light pink:

And white (the most impressive one):

Yay spring!

fresh lilacs, flying cat and baby bump

2010-04-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

I don't think there is any smell I like more than fresh lilacs. And luckily, my new house has two lilac bushes.

They smell wonderful.

Also, Rory chasing his feather on a string on a stick. It's the best $8 I've ever spent. I'll probably be shooting this again, but I liked this one:

And the baby bump at 6 months or 24 weeks:

Blog

2010-04-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

I found this on one of the blogs I check when I can, SwissMiss. A very clever (and sometimes over my head technologically) graphic design blog.

A blog is a broadcast, not a publication. If it stops moving, it dies.
- Andrew Sullivan

And taking that idea to heart, along with the fact that I need to be more into the photo world, I'm going to resume making a new image every day. Or trying to at least. I think I'm going to use my film camera so I may not post everyday, but try to on the weekends. I need to process the film and scan it, so it takes quite a bit longer.

Anyway, I'm going to post my growing belly at six months tonight, so that will be a start.

In the meantime, here's the camera I want for my birthday, if anyone is feeling generous.

EOS 7D with EF 28-135IS

Digital SLR Camera

It's only $1899! It records HD video! You know you want to buy it for me!

Five Months

2010-03-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

I'm getting big...

Five Months

Baby

2010-03-10T17:44:00.000-08:00

We got our first ultrasound on Monday, and here are the images:

Arms! Although I don't really see them very well in this image.

Face? Who knows?

Spine, I can really it in this one.

I like the foot.

And it's a girl! Yay!

Updated Things

2010-02-11T18:42:00.001-08:00

Just some updated images....
I've been so busy, I know I haven't posted in forever, but it's a new year, let's try again.
Here's Christmas:

New Year's:

New Year's at Brad's House:

Dave got in trouble for spraying champagne all over the house:

My trip to Seattle, view from my hotel room:

Downtown Seattle from my hotel room:

Pike's Market in Seattle:

Really pretty produce:

And of course lots of fish:

Dave's Birthday was on Feb. 9th:

And my news, I'm 4 months pregnant, and starting to show:

Crazy! I'm due on July 31st!

Work Trip

2009-10-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

I went to Kansas City last week for work, and it was actually a pretty fun city. It helped that I went with someone this time. I usually travel by myself and I stay in my hotel room and read or something lame. We stayed at a hotel on the Plaza, which is a shopping district similar to Easton. We walked around there, but we were also really close to the museum, which I must say is pretty nice. Here's the back entrance:

This is a Claus Oldenburg installation of various shuttlecocks. I got yelled at for touching the art, oops:

Here's Kevin with a statue:

And also posing with a knight:

Kevin is a huge soccer fan, so we went to a MLS game while we were there. It was the Kansas City Wizards vs. the Seattle Sounders. We actually didn't stay for the very end, so I'm not sure who won, it was freeeezing.

Yay for doing stuff on work trips!

Our House....

2009-10-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

is a very, very, very fine house. Sorry. Anyway, here's a tour of our house for those of you who haven't been here yet, or can't be here yet.
Here's the front:

Front yard:

Front Porch:

Side of the house where you pull up:

Back yard:

Garage, notice the lack of cars in the garage, it's mostly a motorcycle storage garage:

First, this is the inspiration for the color palette that I'm going to implement (minus the pink), thoughts?

Laundry/Mud Room:

Kitchen:

Kitchen#2:

Kitchen #3:

And yes, that is a mirrored refrigerator, we're getting a new one:

Dining Room, with no table, use your imagination:

Dining Room #2 with working fireplace:

Living Room with new couch:

Living Room #2:

Half bath with lovely faux finish:

Here's the colors I've tested in the half bath, I'm not sure that I like any of them:

Our Bedroom, it's pretty big:

Bedroom #2:

Bedroom #3 is a mess:

Full Bath:

Basement:

Basement #2:

Basement #3, Chester is on the shelf, can you see her on the right?

And finally, creepy unfinished basement bathroom. Dave likes to call this is post-murder clean up room:

Yay House! Let me know if you like it or have any decorating suggestions!

Fire and Sunlight

2009-09-20T17:38:00.001-07:00

We made our first fire in our new house!

Trying to absorb some sunlight at work:

Canterns-How To

2009-09-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

How to make Canterns, or lanterns made from cans, like these beauties below. I made a TON of these for my wedding, but you could make a just a few to hang around the backyard.

1. First, gather your materials:

You will need cans obviously, and I found that asking friends and family helps out a lot, rather than trying to eat just soup and spaghettios for weeks.
Materials:
Cans (variety of sizes & shapes is nice)
Adhesive remover
Electric drill
Spray paint & primer
Floral wire
Gloves
Mask for spray paint

2. Next, Clean, Clean, Clean!

You need to first clean all food out of the cans. I rinsed mine, and let them soak in a sink filled with hot soapy water for awhile. This also helps with removing the labels and adhesive. So, once you've cleaned the can and removed the labels, you probably still have adhesive where the label was stuck to the can (pictured above). You can leave this, but if you want nice looking lanterns, I would remove it. So, the best bet to removing it is adhesive remover like Goo Gone. I actually just used cooking oil on a cloth, which makes a nice adhesive remover that you probably have around the house.

3. Now, you're ready to start drilling your holes. Try and get any excess remover/oil off before this step. You don't want the drill to slip off the can into your fingers (which may have happened to me-it hurts). So, now would be a good time to wear gloves!

I used my basic electric drill, which was plenty powerful. If you're thinking about not using drill, don't bother. I first tried to punch holes using a nail and hammer; the cans are too thick for this, and it's really not worth the effort.

As far as the bit, I used the 5/64 and 3/32 bits depending on what size holes you want. Using much bigger than this becomes difficult.

Start drilling! I started with the top edge to get my spacing right. I placed a hole about every inch. It depends on the size of the can, but this system seemed to work out well. I would do a whole row around the can, and then start the next row between the first two holes in the last row (below).

4. After you get all the holes drilled, you're almost there! The holes were the hard part. Now, you can start painting! Set up outside (please) with good ventilation and plastic/drop cloths underneath. I like to raise anything that I'm spray painting up on a surface that I can pick up and rotate. That way, you can turn it around, rather than having to keep circling around it. Also, it helps to rotate every part of the can into the light source, to see if you've covered it evenly. It may look nice in the shadow, but when turned towards the light, many flaws are revealed.

Prime, Prime, Prime! With any sort of spray painting project, priming saves time! Especially if the surface has never been painted. Now would be a great time to put on a mask! Spray paint floats in the air, and is very easily inhaled. I'm telling you this because after my first priming section, my nostrils and the inside of my nose was coated white! Not cool!

I only painted the outside surface of the cans, there's really no need to do the inside, plus the silver (or sometimes white) interiors are good at reflecting and bouncing the light around.

Paint! I had to do at least two coats with each color (I did my colors in batches). I also used glossy paint, a preference, but I think it resists wear better.

5. Assemble the lanterns! I used floral wire through two holes on the top rim, but you could do something more elegant if you like. Just make sure whatever you use isn't flammable. As far as candles, I used votives, but you could use tea lights, or larger candles. I thought votives were a good height for the lanterns. Keep in mind that the candles will melt into the bottom, so don't drill holes right at the bottom of the can.

And you can see my craziness (above) of how many I made, it took a while.

And Viola! Canterns!

I hung mine using twine (far enough away from the fire).

Poor Rory

2009-09-17T17:14:00.001-07:00

Rory got into a bit of a cat fight when we were moving (of course the night before we moved). He's been incapacitated and locked up in our spare bedroom since.

Poor guy, I finally set him free today.

Another Submission

2009-08-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Here's my final submission for the DIY wedding contest. These are my invites for the wedding, I love them:

Link to submission.
Here' the copy from the submission:
I wanted beautiful invitations like you see in Martha Stewart Weddings, but didn't have a huge budget for letterpress. My friend, Sara Brown, is an illustrator, and together we designed these beauties for my wedding. We were inspired by the flowers, colors, and destination for my wedding reception. She designed and printed the invitation, map, RSVP, and hotel info card. I purchased the envelopes from an online paper store. And just in time to send out the invites, the new king and queen of hearts stamps came out that matched everything perfectly. I'm still in love with the invites; they're simple, colorful, and reflect my personality entirely.
Check out Sara's Etsy store here: www.plumpuddingdesign.etsy.com

Some things I've been doing lately

2009-08-25T15:52:00.001-07:00

For one thing, I've been spending a lot of time at the laundromat. We are currently sans washer/dryer, and will be until (hopefully) we get our new house next week. So, I probably have one more trip to go, but hey, I get a lot of reading done.

The lovely orange chairs where I read:

And this was maybe my favorite thing at my cousin's baby shower. This little girl was feeding, very patiently waiting, huge dobermans. They are very good dogs, but I just loved how they waited their turns to get food when they could have easily taken it from her.

And this was my first carrot from the garden. I realized too late that it was very short. I guess they get width first, and then length.

And my soap is for sale at an actual store! Collier West on High Street.

Wheeeee!

Some sun and trees at lunch:

And another wedding shot of me and my friend Heather:

And of course Rory in a box:

Computer Problems? Love this...

2009-08-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is from xkcd, a site that my friend Kira sent me a while ago. It's pretty good.

via xkcd

Some old stuff

2009-08-21T18:37:00.001-07:00

So, I was backing up my old external hard drive last night, and happened upon some old stuff I'd forgotten about.
This is from a park (I can't remember which one), but I like it:

And these are some lovely blue Christmas lights we had in our bedroom at our old apartment, classy, I know. But I still kind of like the image.

Yay weekend, too bad I have to work tomorrow. I'll share some more finds soon.

Wedding Volume 1

2009-08-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the main actual wedding photos.
Getting ready:

Here's where I messed up and called myself David:

And this one too

2009-08-17T12:57:00.001-07:00

I figured you might want a closer look too.

From left to right: Mark (Dave's brother), Dave, Father Enke, Me, and Carrie (my sister).

For those interested...

2009-08-17T12:33:00.001-07:00

I am still in the middle of editing my wedding photos, and I want to post them together. But, I thought I would post at least one shot:

Outside the church after the ceremony
7/24/09

More Crafty Martha Submissions!

2009-08-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

More submissions for the DIY wedding contest:
My favorite thing that I made is my Guest Sign. I embroidered a canvas with our names and matching flowers from the invitations with yarn. It was very time consuming, but I LOVE the way it turned out. We had people at the wedding sign it with matching green markers:

Link to sign on Martha Stewart.

My other favorite thing, my canterns. Which I've explained on here before, but basically I took cans (soup, vegetable, ravioli, etc) and drilled holes in them, spray painted them, and hung them with floral wire:

Link to canterns.

I also made tablecloths using sheets that I found at the thrift store. I made the patterned parts as center pieces to act like runners:

Link to tablecloths.

And again, my candleholders made out of random glassware pieces from the thrift store as well. I was a good customer there these past few months.

Link to candleholders.

Blog!

2009-08-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots I submitted to Martha Stewart's DIY Wedding contest. I only have two that I've actually submitted so far, I need to re-shoot some things (hopefully tonight).

Here are the soap favors from my wedding reception:

Link to the submission.

The flowers and wine and water bottles I used for vases:

Link to submission.

And also all the various candleholders:

I don't think I'm going to use this picture. I'm going to take a new one involving more teacups. But you can rate the submissions online if you want, so please give me a good rating!

Bachelorette Party (a bit late too)

2009-07-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

The lovely ladies in my office threw me a bachelorette party a week or two before the wedding (no strippers, sorry to disappoint).
This is Danielle, me and Jaclyn. We ate at Martini's (it was really good).

And Jenn, Sara (the party planner), and Kira:

The restuarant gave me cake as a surprise, and everyone had some:

This was the table spread at Kira's house afterward (yummy!):

And I'm only including one present shot, but here's my favorite wrapping paper:

And Sara's idea was for everyone to make me underwear. So she bought packs of Hanes underwear, and everyone decorated a pair. This is Jaclyn on the left with her very professionally done looking pair, and Jenn on the right:

Kira's more traditonal pair (she also made some that were just tulle and ribbon):

And Danielle's with veil included and Sara's with glow in the dark puff paint:

Yay! It was a lot of fun!! Thank you ladies!

The 4th of July (a bit late)

2009-07-31T11:58:00.001-07:00

Better late than never, I suppose. And I give you a small snippet of the Granville (my hometown) Fourth of July.
Here's the parade, viewed from my friend Heather's parent's house (the best spot in town in my opinion). Here is the good old 4H band rolling by:

Here are those of us who chose to get up early enough to watch the parade:

This is a bit of my friend's (Hollie's) annual Fourth of July fish fry:

And also, Dave and I at the Street Fair in downtown Granville:

It was quite cold and rainy for July this year, that includes the day of my wedding reception, last Saturday. And hopefully I will be posting pictures from that as well. Yay married!

Updates

2009-07-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I lied yesterday, and I will give you some posts today! First off, the garden update. And these are squash flowers below, they only open up in the morning, so I had to get these before work:

And I'll remind you what the garden looked like before:
Garden as of June 2, 2009:

July 3, 2009:

It sort of exploded, especially the yellow squash in the bottom left:

Here's the yellow squash before:

And after:

Tomatoes before:

And after:

Cucumbers:

Carrots:

Lettuce:

The yellow squash I picked:

And I realize that it is kind of obvious that my garden was going to get bigger, but it's just amazing to see (to me) how much bigger it gets in such a short period of time.

Hello

2009-07-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Blog, I know it's been a while, sorry. I'm getting married NEXT WEEK! So, I've been a bit busy. I promise to post all the fun crafty things I've been doing for the wedding after it's over. And we put a bid in on a house yesterday, not that I don't already have enough to worry about. So, maybe I'll post something before next Saturday, but not likely. I do have some updated garden pictures that I need to share. The garden has exploded!
Good talking to you!
See you soon!
I hope I don't keel over from the stress before then!

Canterns, Comfest, and Cats

2009-06-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

So, here are the finished "can"terns for the wedding:

I'm also doing dark green, bright yellow and white.

And here are the tablecloths that I'm making. I got a bunch of sheets from the thrift store to use for the center portions:

And Dave and I:

Dave and Brad at Comfest on Saturday:

And I couldn't help but throw in the cats, they we're actually sitting close to each other (they're almost holding paws):

Chester & Rory

June Flowers

2009-06-22T18:48:00.001-07:00

These grow like weeds in my yard, I'm not sure what they are, but I like them:

Crazy Jenn's Cup Emporium!

2009-06-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

So, I've been trying to think of creative things for centerpieces that are cheap. And I went to the thrift store today, and basically bought the whole glass/ceramic section:

I'm pretty sure they hate me now, they had to wrap every piece in newspaper. There were close to 90 pieces. It took like half an hour to check out.

And I also bought cupcake stands! They were only $7!

And here's some pictures from Friday night. This is me and my friend Mary, who is probably en route to Tanzania right now:

This is Mary, her sister, Anne, and Monnie:

We went to Cafe Bella on campus, which was pretty awesome. I highly recommend it. It's an Italian restaurant run by some hippies who grow a lot of their produce on the back deck. You don't really order anything, they just bring out what they're making that night. We had a really good salad with some sort of mushroom dressing, eggplant Parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, and cannoli. It was delicious, and fairly cheap for all we got ($13 per person). You can also bring your alcohol, we brought some red wine. Fabulous!

Mixer!

2009-06-10T19:13:00.001-07:00

Look what came in the mail today! We got our first wedding present, a kitchenaid mixer! It got shipped from target, and came in this crazy huge red bag.

At least for today though, I think we had more fun with the bag:

It's huge! Will be great for a big Christmas present!

Garden Party

2009-06-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

So there was a gardening show at work today, which I enjoyed, obviously. It was held by the Garden Club of America, I'm assuming the Columbus Chapter.

There were different sections of different types of plants.

Hostas:

I love the display

And then's there's a stumpery:

More hostas (I'm kind of obsessed):

I think this was some variation of hydrangea:

Roses:

Another hydrangea:

Fern:

Clover thing:

Crafts

2009-06-09T17:25:00.001-07:00

So, I'm trying to make lanterns for my wedding. I'm using cans that I've punched holes in, and then spray painted:

Do you like them?

Unfinished cans:

Various greens and yellows:

And me and my friend Mary, home for a little while before she leaves for Peace Corps. She's going to Africa for two years! Crazy (and selfless).

I'll miss you Mary!

Garden!

2009-06-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

My garden with a few additions. I added a flower garden to the front (on the left) with bricks.

The yellow squash are doing particularly well:

Tomatoes:

Birthday and such

2009-06-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

So, it was my birthday and I've been doing wedding things all week, I apologize. But anyway, here's my office "decorated" for my birthday. Basically it got filled with crap, thank you co-workers.

And when I was trying to take a picture, Dave, one of my co-workers, jumped into the picture. He'll probably be mad that I posted it, but I thought it was great.

Thom's been on a sign kick lately, and I think this started it:

Cucumber!

2009-05-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

2009-05-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Coleus

The Flea

2009-05-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I did a sale with Collier West at their annual event called The Flea. They are one of my favorite shops in Columbus. They have very unique vintage and new eclectic items, and definitely worth a trip if you haven't been there.

This is the marketing material, there's a little blurb about me on the left.

These are various images from the event. I loved the old sign letters out front:

It wasn't held at the actual store, but at Sandbox, a new workspace for freelance workers.

Various images from around the sale:

Channel 4 was there doing a short for the news (of course I forgot to watch it).

Pillows, blankets, etc.

Chandeliers:

My table:

Another fellow artist and CCAD-er, Shaina Skeen, who makes really cute purses and bags.

And Maggie O'Reilly, also a CCAD student, and illustrator. Her etsy site here, and website here.

It was a good event, and hopefully will lead to future relationships.

From Friday

2009-05-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

It was Danielle's Birthday on Friday. Her office got "decorated" during her appointment:

It was also the work studies' last day :(
This is Sarah, Shannon and Angie:

And their cake (slightly eaten)

Happy Friday!

2009-05-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hostas!

Have a good weekend!

things...

2009-05-14T15:25:00.001-07:00

These are hydrangea leaves.

And this is new wedding location:

View out:

There's an inside too, but I couldn't get in to take pictures.

The radio sucks.

2009-05-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

My marigolds from the front yard.And I wish I had a million dollars to give to NPR, so their member drive would be over. The actual radio really, really sucks. I miss you NPR, I would give you money if I had any.

2009-05-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

My rhododendron is blooming!

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

These are from our work Cinco de Mayo outing the other day:

Kevin and Dave with their "medium" margaritas:

Stuff

2009-05-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Things that are awesome from the interweb:

Prints from Brainstorm prints:

Warm and cool butterfly prints for $35

Crazy awesome necklaces from BM Jewelry Designs on etsy:

Black Nautilus Shell Pendant $110

Olive Green Geode Pendant $77

And I really like this pillow from pillowhappy on etsy:

So Succulent Pillow $50

goodbyewafflemaker.com

2009-05-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

I found this through another blog that I read (swissmiss), and I thought I would share. Megan is a designer and writer currently in Detroit. She’ll soon be relocating to Greensboro, Alabama for a project to help the people of Hale county (one of the poorest counties in the US). In preparation for the year long project, she is selling everything that she owns. Check out the website: goodbyewafflemaker.com.

via swissmiss

Hard day's work folks.

2009-05-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

My lovely gardening clogs after a hard day's work:

We made my raised bed planter box! Yay! I'm not done with it yet, but it's in!

The seedlings are coming along well.

I think I'm going to plant next weekend!

Wedding things...

2009-04-30T18:29:00.001-07:00

So this is where my wedding party is going to be. It's sort of small, so we're going to get an add-on tent as well. It's July 25th by the way. Save the date!

This is the inside; it looks pretty shabby, but I can fix that.

Here's the view looking out:

And this is my inspiration wedding from Martha Stewart Weddings. I'm sort of obsessed. I sort of want to be Martha Stewart Weddings.

Love, love, love everything about this.

If you want to see the rest of the pictures, check them out here.

I found some inspiration

2009-04-28T15:55:00.001-07:00

When I got out the car after work I could smell my neighbor's lilac tree beckoning me. So, I may have borrowed a sprig (sorry neighbors!), I really couldn't help it. Lilac is my all time favorite flower ever. I think that heaven probably smells like fresh lilac.

And, my seeds are sprouting (squeaky giggle noise)!!!

Look at my pretties:

I actually have two trays of seedlings, which is actually 144 plants. So that's probably too many, so some of you may be getting gifted plants.

Here's my mesclun:

And these are peas:

Yay! Squeak!

Fired from blogging...

2009-04-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing a bit of gardening and relaxing lately and ignoring the blog. Maybe I just haven't been feeling particularly creative. But I thought I'd still keep you updated on what I'm doing. Here's the updated Etsy site:
I still need to add a few more bars, but you get the gist. Check it out here.

And I've also been reading this book called Made From Scratch. It's written by Jenna Woginrich, and it's basically about her becoming (and how to become) a frontierswoman. She not only makes soap and knits, but has chickens, bees, and grows all her own food. She makes me feel rather inadequate in the making things department, but I find it inspiring. I don't think Dave much appreciates the idea of me taking on more projects, but too bad. Here's the link for the book, it's pretty good, even if you don't plan on getting chickens or bees (or secretly aspire to like me). It has tons of tips on gardening, cooking, and making things from scratch.

Here's her blog (picture of the book in the right corner):

And I am really getting into (food) gardening this year. I mostly planted things before for show, but since Sara gave me all those seeds this year, I'm really excited about an edible garden. I ended up buying more seeds to add to the collection, and I'll show you later tonight how they're doing. I really excited about building raised garden beds, and I'll be sure to document the process. Does anyone have any cinder blocks they want to give me?

Look how cute Sara is...

2009-04-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Sara Brown, my co-worker, gave me some extra seeds that she had leftover today. It was so nice of her! Plus, she packaged them up for me so nicely, that I had to share. Everything she does is cute.

Thank you Sara!

2009-04-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

So my new cat seems to love plants a little too much, and loves to knock them over. So, I got out the hanging baskets and hung them up so he can't reach them. Yay plants!

I visited the Ohio Historical Society today

2009-04-21T18:26:00.001-07:00

I had a college fair at the Ohio Historical Society today (kind of a weird place for a college fair), but it was good, and we got to look around a bit. I had never been there before.

So here's a mastadon skeleton:

And a race car for Dave:

A horseshoe crab (or a trilobites in the sign):

And some creepy kitchen scene, I don't know what this was about:

2009-04-20T17:22:00.001-07:00

This is a really cute watercolor set that I got at the Austin Museum of Art. I gave it to my sister.

Art Sale Today!

2009-04-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

First off, I'm a slacker, and I'm sorry. I've been so bad this week. Now that the sale is over, I'll be better.

So anyway, I also made bath fizzies for the student art sale:

bath fizzies:

These are the final product at the sale:
Which I only actually sold one, I was kind of bummed out. I thought they were very cute.

Here's my booth at the art sale:
Needless to say, I really have a lot of soap. This isn't even all of it; it's only 10 bars of each kind.

My view of the show:
Yay! It was good, I made a pretty decent amount of money, and sold about 40 bars. I wish I could do this every Saturday.

I've really been a slacker lately...

2009-04-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

I was working on more etsy stuff, and trying to get ready for the art sale on Saturday. So, hopefully I'll be good after that. Here's the etsy site so far.

Here's a link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7122600

Droopy flowers in the rain...

2009-04-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

Texas Part 2

2009-04-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

So I've been slacking lately, but I'm finally posting the rest of my Texas trip.

This is driving to Austin. There are blue bells everywhere along the highway, very pretty. Not the best picture, I was driving.

This is downtown Austin:

More Austin:

Texas State House:

Tile that I liked:

Austin Museum of Art. Really small museum, but this exhibit was kind cool. I can't remember the guy's name, but it was all about these maps (they're his interpretation of the US, not accurate).

I'm really not a fan:

Super huge landscape photos, had tons of detail:

Hurricane waves, kind of scary really:

Palm tree:

Flowers:

View from my hotel in San Antonio:

Fountain in San Antonio:

I didn't really get to see much in San Antonio. I got there very late, and left right after I was done working. Oh well, Texas was nice.

In Cincinnati all weekend, will post when I get back! Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Friday

2009-04-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

So there's this cherry picker thing at work, and someone put vinyl stickers on it. If you can't read it, it says "Thin Poop." Love it.

And this is my friend Heather, Kevin, and Dave. Heather is visiting from Colorado, and they came over to visit tonight.

And this is for today's photo

2009-04-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

A tree in my backyard. It was pretty nice out today, I hope it stays that way.

I'm back!

2009-04-09T18:47:00.001-07:00

So I've been in Texas since Saturday, and I've documented my trip for you:

These are from Saturday, Sunday and Monday when I was in Houston. Houston was alright, but, I must say that driving in Houston was a nightmare. They have terrible traffic, and lots of confusing roads/toll roads.

This one is sort of the cheesy view from the plane window, but I really couldn't help it. I am always mesmerized by looking out the windows of planes:

This is my awesome ride (PT cruiser, ugh).

My obsession with palm trees (you'll see more later):

This is the Houston Convention Center where my college fair was on Sunday:

In case you don't know what I do, I sit at this lovely booth and answer questions and hand out brochures:

View of the college fair:

Crazy huge support poles:

A plant that I liked in the walkway:

Various shots of downtown Houston:

That's all for now. I'm going to post Austin and San Antonio tomorrow.

More magnolia

2009-04-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

This magnolia is growing right outside my window. If you can't tell by now, I really like plants/trees/flowers etc. I like how the middle of this looks like a little pink pineapple.

I'm leaving for Texas tomorrow, so I won't be posting most of this upcoming week. I'll still be taking pictures, so I make up for it when I get back. I hope I can get some good ones. This is my 100th post by the way. Yay! I can't believe it. Anyway, I'll be back next Thursday!

Spring!

2009-04-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

It was so nice out today, and my magnolia bush is blooming. I threw it out of focus with the sun behind it. I like it.

A couple of things...

2009-04-02T13:17:00.001-07:00

Go to the Student Art Sale if you live in or near Columbus! It will be fun, and I'll be there, so you can come and say hi, and buy some soap! (if you want of course).

GO!

And also a fellow photographer whose work is outstanding, and makes me want to give up (only a little).

Check him out at http://www.williambrinson.com

Etsy Page!

2009-04-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

So I haven't done a whole lot with it yet (only one item listed). But it's up! Yay! Finally. I need to do a banner and profile stuff too, ugh. But it's a start. If I would just stop watching movies at night, and do some work, then maybe it'll be done before I leave for Texas on Saturday!

Denny Crossing

2009-03-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

This is a sign someone put up at school today. I thought it was pretty clever. I wonder how long it will be up before it gets taken down.

And double cats:

Grrr

2009-03-30T18:36:00.001-07:00

I can't get my image to upload! Argh! It keeps telling me image upload error or just won't show anything at all. Sorry. Tomorrow I guess.

More soap things...

2009-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know this is yet another soap picture, but I'm working on them for the etsy site. I am putting up insulation in my basement today, so I'm kind of tired. But I promise tomorrow will be something other than soap.

Oops!

2009-03-28T10:15:00.001-07:00

I totally forgot to post yesterday. I don't know what happened, but I just forgot. So anyway, here's my hyacinth coming up that I planted last year:

And here's what I've been doing for the past few days, wrapping and packaging my soap!

Each different scent has it's own color and paper! Now I just need to finish and get them up on etsy.

Soap labels

2009-03-26T18:03:00.001-07:00

I made soap labels most of the day today. I finally finished. I'll wrap and shoot for my etsy site tomorrow.

Lame-a-tron

2009-03-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

That's about all I can say about this. Lame. And maybe lazy. Sorry.

A plant with a handle.

2009-03-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

I needed a pot for this cutting from the (succulent thing?) in my kitchen. And I stopped by target on the way home and saw this pail in the dollar section at the front. It was way cheaper than a real pot, and I love the color. All I had to do was punch some holes in the bottom and instant pot.

Giveaway?

2009-03-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

One of the design blogs I read, Greedy Girl, is doing a giveaway of some really cool pillows. The blog is updated pretty regularly with interesting home decor/fashion type items. It's worth checking out if you're into that kind of thing. I am trying to win the pillows below. Wish me luck, they're super cute. (Part of the contest is that I talk about it on my own blog, I know, I know, but I really like the pillows).

Here are some of the pillows:

Here's the link to the shop where you can buy them.