The light studio

I've referred to it several times now (here and here and here and finally here): my homemade light studio. I'm still all excited about it! Making pictures of small and not so small objects has become a lot easier for me. I still need to work on getting the camera settings right, but being able to work in a controlled environment has made a huge difference already. I can highly recommend it to everyone!

So, this is what it looks like:

See the mess in and around it? That was in the excitement of the first time I put it into use. I grabbed everything within reach and photographed it...

On the internet you can find many different ways to make one of these - all more or less inexpensive.

A first method makes use of a simple cardboard box, where you make cut-outs on the sides and at the top, which you then cover with paper. A very good description of this method can be found here and here.

A second method - and this is the one I eventually chose for - makes use of foam boards. The reason I ended up making this one is because you can take it apart when done and store it away (not that I ever do this - mine has been sitting around in our living room (even) when not in use...). I found the link to the very clear and step-by-step instructions through One Pretty Thing.
The only alteration I've made is that I've made a cut-out in the top as described in the above box-method and next taped white tissue paper over it. I did this as I intended to use a light source coming from above.
This light studio will take you a little longer to assemble and involves precise cutting and measuring. Hence, don't try to make this one if you're not well-rested or with small children running around! But again, the main advantage of this one is that you can store it away, which comes in handy when you live in a (small) apartment as I do.
I might do a few more changes, like making a slit in the back over the entire length to be able to slide through the back-drop, which would be nice when using fabric as a background. Also, I've been considering to cut additional (interchangeable) side-boards with cut-outs like in the top one. This would allow me to use different light sources (from the top or the sides, or both) depending on what I want to photograph. Since this box is made like a puzzle, this is totally feasible. I'll keep you posted!

I'd like to mention a third method also, which makes use of simple household items like a laundry bin, which I'm sure everyone has sitting around, and which is described here. I stumbled on this one through Bricolagelife's blog after I finished mine already. This method is by far the simplest, as there is no cutting or precise measuring involved.

There are probably more ways to make one of these. Feel free to let me know! I'd be happy to add them.

Under a white blanket

This morning, Paris woke up covered under a white soft blanket. The girls couldn't leave early enough to school. Unfortunately, the snow probably didn't last until recess time as it started to rain. Bad luck again, as they were so desperate to build a snow man...

A little bit of everything

First of all I want to share something with you that made me really happy. Remember the Valentine's Day garland from a couple of days ago? Well, it made it into the Valentine's Day Round-up at One Pretty Thing! If you don't know One pretty thing yet - which I doubt - go check it out! It's the place to be if you're looking for inspiration, tutorials, seasonal crafts or crafts and pretty things in general. And I'm not just telling you that because my Valentine's hearts showed up there! The light-box I made last week: found the instructions through One Pretty Thing! The Obamicon-posters (here and here)? Found them through - yes! - One Pretty Thing! So, go over there and take a look!



As you might have noticed, I changed the // Between the lines // heading again. This time, it's a detail of a woven basket I bought earlier this week (I actually bought two...). At the Monoprix of all places! They're made of rolled-up newspaper strips - a nice way of recycling newspaper! I intend to use these baskets to organize some of my craft supplies. I really love them and so did the girls, who actually tried to claim them... These baskets made me think again about trying to weave, something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I got a nice book with weaving projects for kids a while ago - time to take a look at it! And as I was thinking about all this, I found these cute little Valentine's heart shaped baskets at Maya*Made ( maya*made: woven hearts: modernizing a classic). I've tried to make one yesterday and it looks like this technique might work well for making party hats, too. To be further investigated!



Also today, I started taking pictures of spices - make use of the light studio, of course! About ten years ago, on a short city trip to London with some friends, we ended up at Soho Spice for dinner, a (at that time) trendy Indian restaurant. I can't remember what we had for dinner, but I do remember their colorful walls and the place mats which were essentially pictures of spices on colorful backgrounds. I fell for these place mats and got a set from the waiter to take home. I framed them and had them up on our kitchen walls until we moved. They're probably still in a box somewhere on my in laws' attic. I definitely want to check next time we go. Anyway, when photographing the vegetables last weekend, I thought of those place mats and hence the spice-pictures. Work in progress...

Valentine :: a gri-gri

I mentioned this project a while ago and I also said I wouldn't disclose until after Valentine's day. Well, I changed my mind as I'm too excited about this one. I really like the way it came out! It's one of my favorite projects, so far. I keep my fingers crossed M. won't read my blog in the coming days...

I got the idea for this one on "one of my walks through Paris" (you've heard that line before), when I ended up at the boutique "Les Fleurs" -- they've got some really nice stuff there, though a little expensive in my opinion -- where I spotted these lucky charm dolls. Somehow, these stuck to my mind and then I came up with this "gri-gri"-idea. These are the kind of things that keep me from falling asleep at night or going to bed at a decent time... but this totally aside.

This is how I made it:

I used:
- a small piece of light colored fabric for the front - it needs to be light colored in order for the transfer to work
- another small piece of fabric for the back (did you recognize my backing fabric? - it's the same one as I used here)
- a clasp or key-chain ring
- a photograph to transfer onto the fabric
- iron-on transferring paper (freezer paper might work too I guess, though I have no experience using it as I can't find it around here)
- markers, pencils, crayons, soft pastels...
- needle and thread or sewing machine
- a photo-copier-printer
- a small amount of fiber fill
- a little piece of ribbon (mine is blue-ish velvet)

for the decorations (optional):

- a small end of narrow ribbon (I used embroidery silk ribbon), or anything else that might work to attach the decorations to - use your imagination
- a large bead (mine is crocheted, but you could use a felted bead as well, glass beads,.. again, that's totally up to your own taste and liking)
- a glass bead
- a little heart-shaped charm
- two headpins and jewelry making pliers


That may seem a lot of things, but it isn't, really. I had everything here except for the clasp and the crocheted bead.

For the first and most important step: choose a picture. This could be anything. Just make sure it has a good resolution. I chose a color photograph and changed it to sepia. I did this because I wanted the final picture to have a vintage look and I wanted to color it in. I've tried both, sepia and B&W, but sepia seemed to work best in my case. Print your picture, bigger than you intend to have it transferred later on. I used 8x10. This allows you to color it in more easily, as that's the next thing you'll need to do. So, take your markers and start to color in the accents you want to show up (I did mouth, hair and the details of the dress in marker, the cheeks with soft pastel.) This step is critical and a bit trial and error. When you're satisfied with the result, copy the picture, but this time reduced to the size you want to end up with on the gri-gri. You might have to repeat the coloring step a couple of times (if you don't want to waste too much paper and ink, print on the back of the paper and use a low print quality setting - this should be OK, except for your final print out). When happy with the result, cut out the outlines of the picture and next copy again, but to a white background this time. Check again for the result. Next, print onto some iron-on transfer paper. A little note here: if your picture has words or letters in it, don't forget to print in mirror-view (this is an option available on most printers these days). Cut out along the edges of your object. When done, take a deep breath as you've just finished the hardest part of this project!

Next, take the light colored fabric and iron-on the transfer you've just printed (read the instructions on the package for the right temperature settings and time needed!). Cut out the desired shape, taking into account a margin for sewing. Do the same with the fabric for the backing.

Time to start sewing, now. Put the pieces together as shown in the diagram below, the right sides of the fabric facing, and the loop with clasp sandwiched in between. The reason I have the clasp sewn in that way is because it didn't come with an opening to slide on the loop after assembling - unfortunately, I found this out the hard way... If you're using a regular key-chain ring you can leave it out while assembling and slide it on after. You can do the sewing either by hand or on the sewing machine. I used the sewing machine as it's faster. Also, I stitched back and forth a couple of times at the level of the loop to secure. Make sure to leave an opening at the bottom so you can turn inside out the gri-gri. If your piece is curvy, make sure to make little cuts perpendicularly to the stitches on the curvy parts.



Now, fill up with the fiber filling. Whip stitch the bottom closed.
We're almost done!



Now, comes the decoration, which is totally optional and up to your imagination. I used a crocheted bead, a glass bead and heart-shaped (Valentine's day!) charm.
If you don't know how to make a wire-wrap loop using headpins and pliers check here for a tutorial.



Tie, slide or loop the decoration around, on or through the key-chain ring.

Et voila! A gri-gri!

For the photographs, I borrowed M.'s little purse so you can see what it looks like when attached.
I'd better go check if I took it back off again...!!




A little note on the photograph I used for this project. The original picture was taken by the photographer Nancy Trapp-Chen, a couple of weeks before we moved from California to France. The pictures she made not only represent a nice memory of our life in California, but have been a great source of inspiration to me, as well. I've incorporated them in some of my favorite crafts... Thanks, Nancy!

Valentine :: a garland

I got this idea when I walked into one of my girls' rooms the other day. Both girls have their snowflake garland still up. Hence: "Why not make a valentine's heart garland?"
So, that's what I did last night and part of this morning.
Again this is a fairly simple little craft.

This time I used some left over wrapping paper -- though only two really tiny pieces left, I saved them because I really liked the print. And see! I already made use of it!
Also, some colorful origami paper and felted beads . The latter is totally optional and any bead would do. Though mainly decorative, by adding a bead at the bottom you weigh down the garland a little. And finally, I also used a heart template, which I found here -- lazy as I was. Although the template is a full heart, you can use just half of it and place it to the fold of your paper to get a full heart. But I guess that's pretty obvious. The nice thing about the template is that the heart comes in two sizes which saves you some time if you want to combine small and big hearts as I did.



Now for the cutting part, I used two folding techniques (ooohhh! big word: technique). As you can see in the picture above, one way to go is by folding the heart starting from the center (the green heart). The blue heart shows what it looks like when you fold from the bottom tip. Please, let me know if this doesn't sound clear - I guess I could add a little sketch. My initial idea was to cut out the words: "I love you". I thought I had it figured out - I even made a template with folding lines etc. But it didn't entirely work out the way I wanted for the simple reason the capital letter "L" isn't symmetrical. And since I wanted to have this little craft posted, I just gave up for the time being. I'll try it again and will let you know (as I'm writing this: you might as well cut out the "L" without any folding - why didn't I think of that...). Important note, though, when working with words: if you do want to cut out words and don't want to trace on the front of your paper but rather on the back, don't forget to trace the letters in mirror view - I know what I'm talking about...





After cutting out your hearts and snipping away the pieces, take your hearts to the ironing board and iron on a low setting -- for imprinted paper iron on the back and put something underneath in order to avoid the print rubbing of onto your iron or ironing board - I know what I'm talking about (the board now has a slightly red-ish flowery print in one particular spot - don't tell anyone). I'm not clumsy - I'm just a little tired!

Once done that, take everything to your sewing machine and stitch everything together. If you want to thread beads onto it, make sure to leave a long enough end of thread on either side you want the beads and at the top also include a margin to tie a loop for hanging.



Final step: you've just ironed everything flat, now you're going to fold the hearts a little closed again. This will allow the light to shine through and will give a nice twirl to your garland as well - as to the nice twirl, I know what I'm talking about as I'm the one who tried to make pictures in the light studio...

See them twirl...?

Et voila! A valentine's garland! The girls really liked the garlands and have already decided who get's which one...

Up and running :: Veggies

Some of today's pictures made in the light studio...

Up and running!!

I finally finished the light studio this morning and I'm all excited about it!
Details about how exactly I made it, will follow later, but here's already one picture I'm really happy with!