These times they are a trying. In times like these, when I can't seem to find any obvious solutions, I like to play this album. Those of you that know me know that I am not religious, much to my parent's dismay. I don't believe in organized religion. I never have. Maybe one day that will change. Until then, you can all breathe a sigh of relief to know that I'm not a complete heathen and I do listen to happy religious music. It makes me feel a light even though I don't always believe. It gives me hope. If you love bluegrass-y-type music, you'll love this album. These are songs my Grandma and Daddy used to sing around the house and at church. I play this album almost every night while I make dinner. The Mini Me loves it and always asks for it. Check it out.
http://thelowerlights.com/music/ You can listen to a few songs right here on their website or buy the digital album for $10. It's the best $10 I've spent in a long time.
I've attached a video of one of my favorite song for you to view.
Secret Prayer from The Lower Lights on Vimeo.
Hopefully the uplifting feeling will produce some sort of solution...
30 March 2011
23 March 2011
Om
I just got into one of those arguments with my husband. You know the ones. The ones where you fight over the intonation or the word. Just one word. Yet the fight will take an hour it seems. You've gone places you don't want to go and swore you would never go again just to prove your point (which is still right). So for the last twenty minutes, my chest has still been in turmoil. The storm is just raging inside. Like after watching a particularly surprising and terrifying or uncomfortable scene in a movie. It takes a little time for me to calm down.
But as I was perusing through my Google Reader, I came across this photo of a library in the woods. /sigh. Complete calm. My "happy place" that I go to when I need to calm down is a forest. A deep, dense forest alive with large, overgrown and untidy trees. When that doesn't work, I go to books. I escape into another world. I recently was reading a book and came across this paragraph that felt so familiar, like it was my own skin. "She threw herself into books, emulating each character she met. She never managed to find herself in these books no matter how she tried, exhuming traits from between the pages and donning them for an hour, a day, a week. We think, in some ways, we have all done this our whole lives, searching for the book that will give us the keys to ourselves, let us in to a wholly formed personality as though it were a furnished room to let."
So here, in this one photo, I have both the environmentally calming trees and the mind-numbing (or sometimes mind-raging) escape of books. Complete. Serenity.
But as I was perusing through my Google Reader, I came across this photo of a library in the woods. /sigh. Complete calm. My "happy place" that I go to when I need to calm down is a forest. A deep, dense forest alive with large, overgrown and untidy trees. When that doesn't work, I go to books. I escape into another world. I recently was reading a book and came across this paragraph that felt so familiar, like it was my own skin. "She threw herself into books, emulating each character she met. She never managed to find herself in these books no matter how she tried, exhuming traits from between the pages and donning them for an hour, a day, a week. We think, in some ways, we have all done this our whole lives, searching for the book that will give us the keys to ourselves, let us in to a wholly formed personality as though it were a furnished room to let."
So here, in this one photo, I have both the environmentally calming trees and the mind-numbing (or sometimes mind-raging) escape of books. Complete. Serenity.
Bring it on, Mister.
14 March 2011
Silhouette How-To
I've had a few people asking about the silhouette I did for the birthday party, so I decided to put up a step-by-step with tips. It was actually very simple with the exception of getting the child to remain still while you take numerous photos of their profile.
Step One
The first thing you want to think about is what you want each child to wear and how you want their hair - you want each child to be different so you can tell them apart. You can put them in something "showy" like a big collar or something, which helps when you have multiple kids so that you can make each of them stand out. My kid wears a lot of ponytails, and I thought a pony in a profile would be darling, so I chose that. You could do a bun, a cute little sprout on top, braids, leave it down, whatever. Choose what most describes the child.
Step Two
Once you get those things figured out, try to get them in front of a white wall or something light colored for the photo. Take a close up with just the bust in the photo - when looking in the viewfinder, have the child's head and bust fill the entire space without cutting the top or sides off. Take numerous photos so you can choose the best one later. My kid stayed still long enough for me to get about three - luckily she was pouting sufficiently enough in one that it made the perfect profile of her.
Step Three
Once you have enough photos, upload them to your computer. Use photo-editing software to maximize the contrast of the photo so that the outline becomes sharper. I use Picasa, so the tool I use is the "Shadows" tool. Don't completely wipe away features, just harden the lines.
These are the photos of my little one - I took some with a nice big collar and then with nothing to see which I liked better.
Step Four
Once you've chosen your photo and hardened the lines, print your photo to a size 8 x 10 (you can always make different sizes, but this size worked well with an 11 x 14 frame).
Step Five
Find yourself some really nice, thick, cardstock in your choice of color - I liked the traditional black. Use a minimal amount of double-sided tape or sticky dots to stick the photo to the cardstock. Very important: Make sure you place the tape on the outside of the profile!
Step Six
Take an x-acto knife and carefully cut around the shape. I didn't worry about hair whispies, I just did the solid shape of the head (except I kept her little pompadour she gets). I had to play with Rosslyn's hair a bit, the ends are perky, but its hard to cut them out, so I just did several jagged cuts for the hair.
That's it! It took me about an hour and a half once I got it in my head to do it - so for you savvy crafters, it shouldn't take too long. Good luck and if you guys do some, I'd love to see them!
Finished product:
Step One
The first thing you want to think about is what you want each child to wear and how you want their hair - you want each child to be different so you can tell them apart. You can put them in something "showy" like a big collar or something, which helps when you have multiple kids so that you can make each of them stand out. My kid wears a lot of ponytails, and I thought a pony in a profile would be darling, so I chose that. You could do a bun, a cute little sprout on top, braids, leave it down, whatever. Choose what most describes the child.
Step Two
Once you get those things figured out, try to get them in front of a white wall or something light colored for the photo. Take a close up with just the bust in the photo - when looking in the viewfinder, have the child's head and bust fill the entire space without cutting the top or sides off. Take numerous photos so you can choose the best one later. My kid stayed still long enough for me to get about three - luckily she was pouting sufficiently enough in one that it made the perfect profile of her.
Step Three
Once you have enough photos, upload them to your computer. Use photo-editing software to maximize the contrast of the photo so that the outline becomes sharper. I use Picasa, so the tool I use is the "Shadows" tool. Don't completely wipe away features, just harden the lines.
These are the photos of my little one - I took some with a nice big collar and then with nothing to see which I liked better.
Step Four
Once you've chosen your photo and hardened the lines, print your photo to a size 8 x 10 (you can always make different sizes, but this size worked well with an 11 x 14 frame).
Step Five
Find yourself some really nice, thick, cardstock in your choice of color - I liked the traditional black. Use a minimal amount of double-sided tape or sticky dots to stick the photo to the cardstock. Very important: Make sure you place the tape on the outside of the profile!
Step Six
Take an x-acto knife and carefully cut around the shape. I didn't worry about hair whispies, I just did the solid shape of the head (except I kept her little pompadour she gets). I had to play with Rosslyn's hair a bit, the ends are perky, but its hard to cut them out, so I just did several jagged cuts for the hair.
That's it! It took me about an hour and a half once I got it in my head to do it - so for you savvy crafters, it shouldn't take too long. Good luck and if you guys do some, I'd love to see them!
Finished product:
01 March 2011
A Craft a Day Keeps the Worries Away.
The Mini Me is having a birthday party this Saturday - which usually would elicit a "Yay!" response from me. This time, however, it snuck up on me in the midst of other stresses and its become more of a "Oh crap, I have no idea what's going on." Luckily, I had the forethought to hold the party at my sister's house in St. Augustine so she and my Mom have banded together to bring the party to fruition. I basically have let go of control over the details, but at least I can craft!
I have seen silhouettes all over the crafty blog world over the past year or so and have always wanted to try it, but never forced myself to stop long enough to try. That is the best thing about special occasions for me, it forces me to stop and do what I do best - create. So as I was sitting in my apartment yesterday not at all motivated to mother my poor, helpless, tv-watching daughter, I began to brainstorm and the silhouette and party crown slowly (and painfully) crept into being. The silhoutte was actually quite easy. That was accomplished in one episode of Curious George. (Although it took an additional Barney to pull it all together into the frame.)
I had cut out the template for the crown the night before, but I was absolutely stuck on what to put on it. All of the crowns I had seen on Etsy or in my Reader had the age sewn on or maybe initials - but I really just didn't like the primary look of it all. I really wanted something pretty, but this is usually where my crafting goes wrong. If I would make the crown for the mini me like I'm supposed to, it would be a whole heck of a lot easier (and more basic - shudder). Instead, I make it for me and force her into it - poor (stylish) dear. So six hours and three variations later, I finally put together a centerpiece and slowly figured out the details over two Redbridges and a movie. Finally, after poking and pulling and nearly rubbing skin sores into my poor tender fingers, I had created a crown for my Mini Me! Just so that she can wear it for ONE picture and then never glance at it again. /sigh.
Please do not laugh at my photography skills or lack thereof. One photography class does not a professional make.
I have seen silhouettes all over the crafty blog world over the past year or so and have always wanted to try it, but never forced myself to stop long enough to try. That is the best thing about special occasions for me, it forces me to stop and do what I do best - create. So as I was sitting in my apartment yesterday not at all motivated to mother my poor, helpless, tv-watching daughter, I began to brainstorm and the silhouette and party crown slowly (and painfully) crept into being. The silhoutte was actually quite easy. That was accomplished in one episode of Curious George. (Although it took an additional Barney to pull it all together into the frame.)
I had cut out the template for the crown the night before, but I was absolutely stuck on what to put on it. All of the crowns I had seen on Etsy or in my Reader had the age sewn on or maybe initials - but I really just didn't like the primary look of it all. I really wanted something pretty, but this is usually where my crafting goes wrong. If I would make the crown for the mini me like I'm supposed to, it would be a whole heck of a lot easier (and more basic - shudder). Instead, I make it for me and force her into it - poor (stylish) dear. So six hours and three variations later, I finally put together a centerpiece and slowly figured out the details over two Redbridges and a movie. Finally, after poking and pulling and nearly rubbing skin sores into my poor tender fingers, I had created a crown for my Mini Me! Just so that she can wear it for ONE picture and then never glance at it again. /sigh.
Please do not laugh at my photography skills or lack thereof. One photography class does not a professional make.
The flowers were made last year for her birthday party and have served as decoration for our apartment ever since. I'm thinking I'll be using them again this year sans ugly green floral foam and dollar store container.
Onward to further birthday crafts! I'll post today's accomplishments as well. I need oohs and ahhs people...
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