bad blogger. bad.

Slap on the wrist.  Make that two.  I have two hands for typing afterall.  Apparently, I’ve been blogging since the early 1980’s at the age of 2… 

Updates are to follow!  I want to share the verdict about the wedding once it’s written in stone — hoping to have it booked by next week.  I have my fingers crossed! There better be no blotches in the fine print, otherwise my super fantastic wedding of a lifetime will have to be put back to the drawing table.

Thank you SO much for all of your support and thoughtful replies and wonderful emails since my last post.  I have started to reply to comments from the previous post, but my eyes are now drooping.  1:00 am here and I am driving a whopping 750 km to New York tomorrow afternoon directly from the office (not the first time I’m doing this crazy solo drive since I last blogged).  I will continue with my replies when I’m back from New York.

Have a great weekend and enjoy my catch-up crafts coming right up!

christmas décor from office supplies

I’ve been busily crafting some chic (and unique!) Christmas décor out of office supplies.  Yup.  Office supplies.

I went to Staples and splurged on a box of 1,000 paper clips for $4, a container of 500 clear push pins for $6, and one hefty one-pounder bag of rubber bands for $4.

Out-of-the-ordinary Christmas décor coming your way over the next few posts…

breakfast television!

Good news!!!  I will be making a TV appearance tomorrow on Citytv’s Breakfast Television here in Toronto.  I’m excited!  I’m so honored to be invited by the team at Canadian Living to join them in presenting some fun Halloween ideas.  If you’re in Canada, you can watch Citytv live (from 5:30 am to 9:00 am Eastern Time) or online.

What will I be doing, you ask?

Well, I’ll be presenting some pumpkin carving ideas.  I’ve carved all these pumpkins here between yesterday and this evening.

I had a great time picking the pumpkins at Front Step Farms.  The owner Michael and his daughters graciously helped me with the picking.

Now, I’m off to bed at this early hour of 9 pm.  I must be up at 4 am and be on set by 5:30 am!  Wish me luck!  I’ll see if I can have the permission to post the video on this blog at a later date.

D-I-Y engagement photos: part 3 of 3 — beyond the camera and tripod

At last, Part 3!  It has been too long, here are reminders of the two D-I-Y engagement sessions that O.T. and I had back in the summer (is it really officially fall?!?).

Part 1: Ed Levin Park, Milpitas

Part 2: Napa Valley, California

As mentioned in the previous posts, we used a regular pocket-size digital camera, a tripod, and a heavy dose of post-processing.  In this part, I will discuss the challenges you’ll encounter as well as the techniques of achieving a “dreamy” soft focus to any of your regular pictures, even if you don’t have the most up-to-date equipment (as neither do I) and even if you don’t have Photoshop!

My modest little camera is an old Canon PowerShot SD870 IS purchased at the time of its release in 2007.  I really loved this camera when it came out; its performance outdoes most others in its category of compact digicams.  I am still quite happy with it after four functional years, however, lately I’ve become aware that it doesn’t successfully serve the purpose of this blog.  I do hope to retire it soon for a DSLR (*hint, hint, O.T* :p).  Regardless, this little gadget didn’t stop me from taking our own engagement photos or all the photos you’ve seen on this blog thus far.

I must forewarn: the set-up of shots takes the most time, more so than we anticipated.  We took turns setting up the shots.  While setting up the camera, one would tell where the other should stand, before bolting to take their place in the shot.  The timer was set to 20 seconds (which was sufficient time to bolt and freeze) with three consecutive shots at 5-second intervals.

The challenge of doing your own photography session is that no one will tell you that his hand is totally cropped out of the picture.  Or that your belt is not perfectly centered in the shot.  Or that your sweater is a bunched up hot mess. Or that your cupcake liner flower necklace (tutorial next!) has been turned over backwards by the wind.  You may be disappointed by the number of times you will have to run back and forth from the tripod (though exercise is good for us all).  But all in all, the efforts will be worth it!

We took 15 shots just for the scene with the “love at first flight” airplane props, until we both got annoyed and decided we’ll use whatever is “best”, even though there was none we were truly happy with.  Over the two days (a Friday at Ed Levin Park and a Sunday in Napa Valley), we took a combined 337 shots, out of which we were happy with about 60.  A more discerning photographer would likely be happy with about 6.  A professional photographer would likely be happy with none.  But we’re easy to please!

For post-processing, I found some helpful Photoshop tutorials online at: www.photoshopessentials.com.  I mainly used the techniques in the tutorials:

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/soft-focus/

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/soft-focus-lens/

The technique for a soft focus effect is incredibly simple:

1. Duplicate the layer, then choose Overlay as a blend mode,

2. Apply a Gaussian Blur filter to the overlaid layer, then adjust opacity, and

3. In most cases, a mask is required to remove the soft focus on parts of the photo that should be sharp, such as the face.

The above Photoshop-edited version has 30 pixel Gaussian Blur with 50% Overlay.

This is the unedited version:

I realize that not everyone has the access to Photoshop, so if you require a free photo-editing program, GIMP is available online for free download.  GIMP is a really impressive imitation of Photoshop, for the fact that it is free.  It offers the same filters (such as the Gaussian Blur that you’ll need) and blend modes (such as the Overlay that you’ll need).

This is the GIMP-edited version:

Of course, cropping provides impact in the composition of shots, as in the final chosen edit for the scene above:

There is also a trick you can do by adding lens flares in the photo-editing process, such as in these shots.  The tutorial is found here: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/lens-flare/

Just to give you an idea of how post-processing can change the life of your photos, here are some raw shots and their corresponding Photoshop-edited shots.

Play around with the blur and overlay to adjust the softness as you’d like.

Remember: a bulk of what you pay photographers is to compensate for the enormous time they spend on editing photos.  Some refuse to believe this fact: most award-winning professional wedding photographers heavily edit their work.  Plenty of photographers, professional and amateur, invest in add-on actions and presets, such as those found in Totally Rad!, in order to jazz up Photoshop and Lightroom photos in a few clicks.  I am so impressed by the things you’d find in Totally Rad!

If you already have a great camera, you are already half way there (even more ahead of me in these pictures I’ve taken with my PowerShot).  I suggest taking the time to study the work of your favorite wedding photographers.  Look at style and composition, such as subject placement, angle, perspective, frame.  Especially look at wedding photography trends.  Did you realize the more current wedding photos are composed with a lot of room above the head?  And that often the subjects are cropped in ways that aren’t conventional, such as the cropping of feet or of bodies?  After you analyze your favorite works, with a bit of help from Photoshop or Gimp, you can mimic the styles and save a lot of money.  They are not going to be perfect, but you cannot beat the personal touch of D-I-Y!  How many people have said they took their own engagement pictures?  Now you can!

Click on any of the above to enlarge.

calla lily tuile cookie with lemon ricotta

 The Iron Craft Challenge  is one of those things I wish I had time to accomplish since my recent life change.  I have set out ambitious plans for each of the weekly projects, but time has shuffled those ideas to the back burner.  However, this week, I had a couple of flower-making ideas slated for the blog in time for Mother’s Day and thought it was fitting for this week’s Iron Craft Challenge 18: April Showers.  The challenge is to bring May flowers, crafted any way you like.

As I have a penchant for crafting with food, I made bouquets of cally lily tuile cookies filled with lemon ricotta.  How?  Well, your simple fortune cookie batter just got reshaped into these spring flowers.

 

I had my first attempt at fortune cookies over ten years ago when my best friend shared her discovery of Martha Stewart’s recipe.  This was right when Martha catapulted fortune cookies into trend status.  Since then, I have made hundreds of fortune cookies for friends and family over the past decade.  I have also taken Martha’s trusted recipe to make my own creations from the batter.  The calla lily is one that I’ve been proud of creating, as well as a very simple and perfect food craft for this time of year.

 

To make your template, you will need: a 4″ x 4-1/2″ cut sheet of paper, a plastic cutting sheet (or similar flat plastic item), pencil, scissors, X-Acto knife, and cutting mat.

a. Fold your sheet of paper in half lengthwise.

b. Cut into a spade shape.

c. Trace on plastic cutting sheet.

d. Using an X-Acto knife, cut a hole through.  Insert your scissors through the hole, and cut on the marked line.

 

You are welcome to use your favorite tuile or fortune cookie recipe.  Here is the link to Martha Stewart’s fortune cookie recipe  that I’ve counted on for years.

Make the batter as instructed.  For this particular recipe, substitute with lemon extract and add a few drops of yellow food color. 

1. Spread a thin layer of batter over the stencil.  You can fit three in one cookie sheet, which is also the ideal number to get through the next step.

2. Bake until golden (with my oven, it takes three and a half minutes with a timer).  Quickly remove cookie from the pan with a spatula and roll up each side as shown.  Fold the sides with a slight curl.  You will need to work quickly while the cookie is hot, and quickly repeat for the remaining two cookies on the sheet.

3. Place on a cooling rack.

4. Pipe the lemon ricotta filling.

 For the lemon ricotta filling, you will need:

One package of stovetop lemon pie

2 cups of milk

1 cup of ricotta cheese

Yellow food color

Red food color.

Prepare the pie filling according to package instructions, however, substitute the water with milk.  Let cool.  Combine ricotta cheese.  Add a few drops of yellow food color and one drop of red food color for a light orange tint.

Once the lemon ricotta filling is piped, the cookie must be served immediately to maintain its crisp texture.

 This single recipe yields 4 dozen cookies — there’s enough cally lily tuile cookie bouquets to share with everyone!

Enjoy!

gold bean bangles

Yes, a few strips of paper, a small handful of beans, and the golden touch of paint can make quite some fashionista cuff bangles.

 

I was hoping this would be my third installment of my bean-by-number series (the first being the Turkish tiles back in November and the second, Venetian masks, for mardi gras in February).  However, the concept is so simple, there is no need to bean-by-number.  Just a few straight lines of beans do the trick.

You will need some beans, a sheet of cardstock, white glue, self-adhesive velcro (I got mine at the dollar store), and gold paint.  PLEASE NOTE: I wore my gold bean bangles to work today and small parts of the paint have chipped off.  If you are going to use spray paint, as I did, perhaps the problem would be negated by a bit of primer.  Or, what I would best suggest: use acrylic paint and a paint brush instead.  The finish would be quite different, however, the end result would look like brushed metal, which has as much impact.

1.. Cut cardboard to preferred width and length, taking into account the extra space required by the velcro.  Adhere velcro.

2. Bean away.  You don’t have to follow the straight patterns you see here.  You can create all sorts of shapes and curves, which I’d like to try, too.

3. Paint one side.  Let dry.  Paint other side.  Let dry.

I’d love to hear if you try this out and how you’ve managed to negate the issue of paint chipping.

sneak peek!

Tomorrow, I will be crafting on Canadian Living‘s The Craft Blog and of course, I would like you to be the first to have a peek here.   Clue: it’s a basket for your Easter eggs, however it’s crafted using a rather unlikely craft item I picked up at the dollar store.  You’ll find the project on their site tomorrow —  stay tuned!

everything on my plate

A slice of guilt.  A dash of fear.  Complemented by a healthy serving of optimism.

While waiting at the check-out at the drug store this afternoon, the latest issue of Toronto Life magazine caught my eye.  It’s their annual issue devoted entirely to weddings.  I picked it up, flipped through the pages and found a very brief (nevertheless, blissfully becoming) blurb about me and my recently euthanized business, out-of-the-box ideas.  I fought back the tears.

I’ve succeeded at fighting back the tears for a long time now.  There’s really no need to cry over failure.  Was it even failure?  Clearly, it couldn’t have been failure if the business (no longer in existence) is still being recommended by this city’s chic magazine, no?

Toronto Life Wedding Guide 2011, cover and page 107. "...one part Anna Wintour" just made my year! Maybe even my lifetime.

This made me re-evaluate the reasons why I threw in the towel and why, as of three weeks ago, I began full-time employment in a civil engineering office (a phenomenon I hadn’t experienced since 2006).  Perhaps it will take much longer than three weeks to mourn the past four and a half years I toiled as a business owner.  But I am moving on.

So, why did I throw away a sky-high limit, a flexible schedule, a pajama dress code, and a potential for greatness in my life?  Because:

-Sometimes, the sky is not the limit.  The limit is gravity.  No matter how high I reached, I was pulled down — grounded — by the things that are more seemingly real than what I was reaching for.  Sadly, those real things are mostly monetary.  Things like rent, a business loan, material and advertising expenses, a fluctuating revenue, and a seasonal market.

-Sometimes, a flexible schedule meant a three-hour lunch with a good friend followed by three consecutive days of three hours of sleep a night (or make that three consecutive weeks).  It meant working until three in the morning on many nights and being reduced to mental and emotional vacancy for long periods.

-Sometimes, pajamas were mandatory all day because there wasn’t even time to eat a proper meal, take a shower, let alone get out of sleeping clothes.  There were days it was work the microsecond I got out of bed.

I was afraid that leaving my business behind meant throwing away all potential for greatness in my life.  But it was no reason to fear.  Because I will never be rid of my own potential, no matter the obstacle.  I never threw away, will never throw away, the promise of being the best version of me I can be.  It’s a promise I make to myself daily.

Since I wrote my recent post about all the goings-on in my life, things changed dramatically in a matter of weeks and I am now getting over the shock of returning to the work force.  Yes, the best decision, among several choices I’ve been dealt, is full-time employment doing utility coordination at a civil engineering firm.  I do still work with children on weekends because, well, I need to work with children to feel sane and inspired and whole.

My reinstatement into daily cubicle life has enlightened me with a newfound reality.  The reality is: what I do from 9-5 does not dictate my capacity to be everything I can be after 5.   What you see right here, on this blog, is everything that makes me happy.  A hundred times more happy than making wedding invitations.  Thank you so much for being here to validate that purpose, for always reading and following along, despite life’s many changes.  There is more, so much more, in this life to create!  ♥

sneak peek!

I just finished writing a really fun St. Patrick’s craft tutorial for Canadian Living‘s The Craft Blog and of course, I’d like you to be the first to have a peek here.   You’ll find the project on their site this Friday, March 11 —  stay tuned!

peek-through valentine vases

Today you will find me crafting over at Canadian Living‘s The Craft Blog.  Remember those see-through hearts I posted in a sneak peek two weeks ago?  Well, they are actually peek-through Valentine vases made of plastic recyclables.  Head right over to Canadian Living’s The Craft Blog to read my super simple tutorial.

a year in review and many thanks to you!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!  How have you been celebrating the holidays?  I have been off the grid these past nine days, celebrating in Michigan at my parents’ with family and O.T.  It’s been the longest stretch without crafting or blogging since I got this thing started. 

 I started this blog shy of three months ago (I guess this is really more loosely three months in review).  This blog has given me an even stronger resolve that my purpose in life is to create for others.

 I would like to give you the warmest welcome and biggest thanks for being my reader, for inspiring me to keep on creating and to keep bettering my craft as I journey with you on this site.  I appreciate all of your wonderful comments (keep ’em coming)!!  I am equally delighted and grateful that many online editors have been gracious and open to my ideas by featuring my projects on their sites and publications, despite my infancy in the blogosphere.  To my astonishment and thrill, my DIY cookie stamps made it on blogs.com’s “Bloggers’ Best Holiday Cookies” short list of nine bloggers a couple of weeks ago — to be on a “Bloggers’ Best” list is more than I imagined at this early stage of blogging!  It motivates me to make even better projects.

 It’s been a magnificent time giving this blog its life, the most inspired I’ve felt in a while.  A business in wedding invitations coupled with an economic crisis is a combination that can strip even the most assured of optimism, so I put my mind on the projects you find here.  I’ve found hope and renewal in myself.  More importantly, I found all of you who share these passions with me and give me the nudge to keep making something day by day.

 Keep creating!  And keep posted — I have pages of to-do’s and cannot wait to get those projects started this new year when I get back to Toronto.  And yes, contact me — I’d love to hear about you and your creative interests and I’d love to see any of the crafts you’ve made from the tutorials you’ve found here!  Many thanks!

 Happy New Year to you and yours!  All the best in 2011! 

 -Jeromina

push pins for bright ideas

For those moments of “Eureka!”, pin up your bright ideas with these adorable push pins in the likeness of 1” miniaturized light bulbs.  I made them from materials I found in my crafting drawers, a couple of items from the hardware store, and a simple, bright idea.

I was motivated to make these in time for the New Year — isn’t it always our collective resolution to work harder and strive for better each coming year?   I hope these little pins will push forth forces of creativity in 2011.  I made and packaged this set for O.T., who is always brimming with bright ideas himself.

You will need:

a. If you don’t have a miniature light bulb (they’re hard to find now that everything is LED), you can use a marble and a 16×3/8″ socket set screw (it’s a screw that has a socket instead of a head).

b. Play-Doh

c. Plaster, a sandwich bag, and a disposable spoon.

d. Thumbtacks

e. An emery board or sand paper, yellow acrylic paint, silver paint or broad-tip silver marker, and Mod Podge gloss.

1. Glue together the marble and the socket set screw to create a light bulb shape.

2. Roll out the Play-Doh to about 1/2″ thick and cut into ten sections. 

3. Press the light bulb shape and pull carefully to create a mold.  Repeat on each section of Play-Doh.  You will notice that pressing the light bulb causes distortion in the shape of the dough, which is why it is best for the dough to be cut in sections for individual molds.  This prevents distorting the previously pressed shape.

4. Place three spoonfuls of plaster and one and a half spoonfuls of water into the sandwich bag.  Mix together by kneading the bag.  You may need to add a couple of drops of water to make sure the mixture is smooth and creamy and can be piped easily.  Cut the tip of the bag.

5. Pipe the plaster into the molds, working quickly as the plaster dries quickly.  Make sure to carefully tap each mold on the table several times to even out the plaster and to ensure there are no air bubbles.  Do not overfill.

6. Press a thumbtack into each.

7. Pipe a small amount of plaster around the tack.  Once more, carefully tap the mold on the table several times to even out the plaster and to ensure there are no air bubbles.

8. Let the plaster dry for an hour.  Remove the plaster from the molds and wipe away any residue of Play-Doh using a paper towel.  Make sure to get all the tiny spaces along the threads of the bulb.

9. Using an emery board or sand paper, carefully file away any uneven edges.

10. Paint the bulb using yellow acrylic paint.  I prefer using the tip of my fingers to paint so there are no brush strokes left behind.  Let dry.  Paint the screw with silver paint or broad-tip silver marker.  Let dry.  Seal with Mod Podge for a glossy finish.

Of course, if you don’t have a cork board and prefer to use a magnet board or the fridge for notes, simply skip the part about the thumbtacks and, after the plaster has dried, glue on magnets instead. 

 Happy creating!

music + kids = joy!

Next Saturday is the third annual “Music + Kids = Joy!” fundraiser here in Toronto.  For the past two years, planner extraordinaire Staffeen Thompson has selflessly offered her time and energy in creating and planning the event to raise money for the Children’s Breakfast Club, as she continues to do so this year.

It’s a very cool concept — a posh venue, a DJ, great music, door prizes, and a raffle — to get a fun adult crowd mingling together to raise awareness on children’s hunger.  If you’re in Toronto, come and drop by!

Last year, I was honored with the task of designing the treat boxes for all who came through the door, as my part of the effort.  This year, I’m thrilled to design and donate favors for the door prizes.  I’ve already got a good idea of the boxes I’m designing this year, it’s now just a matter of doing.  It’s a busy week ahead!

now that i’m warmed up

A warm “Welcome to my Blog”!

After many musings on establishing a crafts blog, I’m happy to concede now, in this significant month of October.  Significant how so?  Well, for starters, I’m a Halloween baby.  So it comes with no surprise that October is my favorite month and Halloween is my favorite occasion for crafts, tied with Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s.  Ok — I love holidays.  This year, Halloween is especially unique as I celebrate my champagne birthday.  I hate to give away my age, but there it went!

Reflecting back on my productivity in recent years (as appraisals are compulsory at the advent of one’s birthday), I realize there are many things I’ve done and made.

Out of my coffers, I would like to share with you some of my experiences and creations.  I hope they bring you as much joy, inspiration, and insight, as they have done for me throughout the years.

Jeromina