Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

This is what it looks like outside my studio window right now! A very unusual sight for us in the south. The snowflakes are still falling!

We've got six inches so far. Is there any snow where you are?

Bricks Straight From the History Books

Arched Bridge in Williamsburg

We went to Colonial Williamsburg this weekend. It was a beautiful day, wonderfully sunny, but a touch cool for my liking. However, at least we weren't sweating to death as it would have been just a short month ago!

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg

Headstone at the church

Little feet walk along historic sidewalks

The end of the day, walking the path home (or, to the parking lot!)

I didn't have time to walk around with my art journal sketching the sights, so my camera had to make do. Maybe I'll work on a journal page about bricks...or maybe you might be inspired by these ancient bricks to do a journal page!

Autumn Leaves

the storm blowing in

The leaves have been slow to change this autumn in Eastern NC. Finally the maples and dogwoods, the first to turn, are a bright red. The oaks are still green, but a few other variety of trees are showing hints of yellow.

My son and I went out yesterday before a big storm rolled in to collect leaves to draw in our journals. We found some lovely reds from the crape myrtles and the neighbor's maple tree. Our little magnolia tree dropped a nice green leaf, and we collected two more from my rose of sharon and redbud trees.

This is my journal page. I used colored pencil to sketch the leaves and a rubber stamp of a splatter pattern to make the mottled brown on the maple and yellow rose of sharon leaves. I'll probably paint around them and embellish the page later.

Here is my five-year old's journal page. I think he did pretty good! Last year he was capable only of doing leaf rubbings. My how quickly they progress in just a year!

And finally, I leave you with this...

Our post-storm view! It was actually a double rainbow but the second one didn't show up very well in this shot.

Playing with Photos

Playing with images isn't just for the pages of my art journals. I've been tinkering with my digital photos, discovering what Photoshop Elements can do. I used these templates from flickr, one and two.

Snow Covered Hydrangea

photo by Studio B (UberArt)

I must confess, I spent about an hour trying to erase part of the image down to a transparent canvas. My hubby, who is a computer whiz, strolled in and said, "You're doing it the hard way." One click and he accomplished what it took me an hour to do. Duh.

A Quick Hello!

Just popping in to let you know I haven't forgotten you! Things have been so busy in my shop I barely have time to do anything but make books. I feel like the sleepwalking guy in those old Dunkin Donuts commercials..."Time to make the donuts"...only for me it's books!

Serenity now, serenity now...any Seinfeld fans out there?! (This picture is truly vintage, taken by my grandfather back in the 1960's. I think it is somewhere in Canada.)

In the midst of all this busyness my printer decided to act up. After much troubleshooting and calling in the hubby, we decided the problem was an internal part which cannot be replaced. And of course, it's just 2 weeks after the 1 year warranty expired!! So I had to get a new printer, and this time I got the extended warranty!

Signing off for now, over and out! ...Time to make the books...

The End Of An Era

Sorry to have left blogland for a week or so but I was thinking of you all. Things have been uber-busy in my shops and then I had to go out of town due to a death in the family. My last grandparent died this past week. It is the end of an era, no more grandparents are left. Now my parents are the grandparents and life goes on.

I went for a peaceful walk in the cemetery...well, as peaceful as it could be with three boys ages 4, 6, and 13 following behind! I took these photos to share with you.

A black swallowtail butterfly hovers around a red azalea.

And the grand finale...I was very moved by this headstone...Latin for "We had loved, We love, We loved".

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Photograph taken by me yesterday at the library.

Wordless Weekend

Fall blooming camilla from my Grandmother's bush that's over 30 years old.

Revamping My Shop

As the holidays draw near and I have a little time before things really get crazy, I thought I would take some time to examine my shop and perhaps change things up a bit.

This summer was a really busy time for me, both for my family and my shop. Due to time constraints, I let myself get into a rut of doing the same thing over and over.

Here are some of the things I critiqued in my shop:

1. I was making the same style of book, just in different colors.

2. I used the same shots for photographing the books. Again, all the same, just different colors. As a result, I think it made my shop look rather mass-produced and less handmade.
3. I had the same background in all my shots. This was a hard call for me because I've heard having the same background gives you some unity and cohesion to your shop, but for me it seemed to contribute to the mass-production effect.

Sooo....I set to work retaking photos of some of my books, trying different angles and backgrounds. This required me to break free of my little light box as it didn't allow me to get in there with the camera for special angles.

As a result of not using the light box I battled with glare and shadows. This photo of Autumn Paisley is actually more true to color than the original one. Next to it, the original looks washed out and overexposed.

Overall I'm pleased with the new photos until the time for my next critique comes around! But that's what it's all about--learning, growing, and changing for the better.

A Dreary Winter?

Now that the Christmas holiday is over I have nothing else to look forward to but a dreary winter until spring comes. Winter is not my favorite season. I am not a fan of being cold.

Photo taken by me in 1987

It's about this time of the year I begin dreaming of my wonderful garden I'm going to have in the spring. Usually I run out of steam come April during prime planting season and my dreams never quite materialize the way I envisioned them.

Photo taken by me in 1987

For Christmas this year, I received a negative scanner so I've been hard at work scanning some of my old pictures I took years ago. I've come across some really funny ones -- one where my sister and I were goofing off with a cheap camera in the backyard, taking stupid pictures of each other.

There's one of me hanging upside down from the clothesline, but the best one by far was one of my sister tied to a tree with a garden hose! I laughed out loud at that one and had to email it to her. The quality is pretty bad because it was a cheap camera and I don't think I got the film developed until three years later.Here she is, the poor girl! The dog is diligently keeping vigil by her side, ready to chew through the hose if I don't free her after I take the photo! Like you can really secure a garden hose tightly anyhow! I'm sure she could have busted it loose like the Incredible Hulk if she'd tried.

So that dreary winter might not be so bad after all if I continue my scanning old photos project. Who knows what other treasures I might find?!

Classic Southern Manors

I love old architecture! The details are so intricate, I could spend hours photographing the front of a building!

We went to New Bern last weekend, in the downtown historic district, for Mumfest. I didn't see many mums, but I saw a lot of cool old houses. Any excuse to have a festival, I suppose.

Here is a gorgeous bed and breakfast. The front porch is sweeping and wide, extending beyond the photo all the way to the left, where there is the main entrance. No, this isn't the main entrance! It's almost a side entrance, the way it is recessed.

Here's one that needs some TLC. It's for sale, any takers?
I thought this home was the grandest of all! It too needs some work, but the peeling paint just adds more charm! The details on the porch are amazing! I love the sunburst pattern on the ceiling where the light hangs.

The festival would have been really nice except for the rain! We took the little guy over to the kiddie rides. He had the time of his life, but wasn't too happy when it started raining on him while on the big swing ride. He was already a little scared of the ride, but really wanted to go on it. I had to stand out in the rain next to him to reassure him while the attendant was strapping everyone in. Rain was just streaming down my legs and pooling in my socks and shoes! The things mothers do for their kids! (Dad was standing under an overhang by a concession stand to keep dry. **rolls eyes** To his credit, he finally came over to take pictures.)

Good photographs sell!

One of the keys to successful selling online is having a good photo of your item. Since your customer cannot touch and see your item in person, you need an accurate representation of it.

Please don't think I am an expert photographer by any means, but here is what I've learned in my one year journey on Etsy...all mistakes revealed!

When I first started selling on Etsy, my photographs stunk! Just to prove it to you, here is one. I took the photo inside in a homemade lightbox. Not that there's anything wrong with a homemade lightbox--I had the box, just not the light! I was using an incandescent lamp and my picture turned out dull with yellow undertones. I know you can fix things like this with fancy software, but I barely know how to use the program that came with my camera.

A kind soul suggested I try using outdoor light, so I gathered up a bundle of fabrics to use as backdrops and headed outside. I tried photographing in the sun, but the bright light tended to wash out my pictures. I waited for the sun to move and tried again in the shade. The lighting was a major improvement over my previous picture, but the wrinkles in the blanket are just plain distracting!!

My next attempt was taken outdoors again in indirect light, using a pillow for a rich, neutral background. That took care of the wrinkles, but then I had a new problem. My challenge here was trying to get a decent shot without the deck, garden, and dog running around in the background. I draped a piece of brown fleece over the chair to block the distractions. I was quite pleased with the results, given what I started with! However, my camera was having difficulty with the contrast between the dark brown backdrop and the pale foreground, giving my photo a greyish tint.

Another important discovery was the macro button on my camera. If you're taking close shots of your work and have this feature, use it!! It makes a huge difference in the clarity of your photos.

I used a piece of decorative paper for my background and tried different camera angles to avoid getting my patio table and the dog in the picture. I cropped out whatever I couldn't avoid.

After much experimentation, I discovered the perfect time of day for taking my pictures, which of course changes with the seasons, so it's a never-ending process!!

For those who are curious, here is a shot before cropping. See my lovely table and all the journals stacked in the cue, waiting to be photographed?!

For further information and tutorials, check out Etsy's storque articles on this subject. Here is one Etsy published that is helpful. http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/howTos/article/shop-makeover-series-photographing-for-success/913/