Lomography Fun: The Original Instagram

KC has had a collection of Lomography cameras for some time now and is really having a resurgence of interest in photography.  For her birthday in August I gave here a La Sardina camera in addition to the Holga and Diana F+ she already had.  For anyone hooked on Iinstagram (Which KC totally is!) we highly encourage you to try getting similar effects the authentic, natural way, with film that is developed!  Randomness in art is key with analogue and patience for seeing the results is a virtue.

Here are some of my favorites taken with the La Sardina:

Grazing, 2012  //  (Napa Valley)

Castello di Amorosa, 2012  //  (Napa Valley)

Grapes, 2012  //  (Napa Valley)

Leaves, 2012  //  (Culver City)

USS Iowa, 2012  //  (San Pedro)

Acapulco, 2012  //  (San Pedro)

Even more exciting is there is a new group we can join where all the members are as enthusiastic about lomography as we are! The Lomography Society has a Tumblr page where members can upload and submit their photos. The Tumblr can serve as a great source of inspiration and we look forward to taking some pictures to submit ourselves!

Stay tuned for more photo fun-

-- Kevin & KC

What I Wore: Friday meet Instagram Friday! 8/10/12

Hi Guys!!! I am so excited that it's Friday - TGIF!!!! I feel like this week has FLOWN by and I am amazed how much I was able to squeeze in this week.  With that being said, I have been inspired by bloggers I follow who post their Instagram photos on Friday and I thought I would post those in addition to what I wore today.

Here is the pattern of the dress I am wearing today.  I love the lavender mixed with the aqua, electric blue and navy.  The coloring makes even a busy pattern relaxing, a task that can be hard as busy doesn't correspond with relaxing effortlessly sometimes.  It is a hot one today so I chose this dress because it doesn't blow up easily in my fan (I have a turbo speed fan in my booth at CRAFTED I have to watch what I wear sitting close to it) and it is a modest sundress that is an easy wear in the summer heat.

Now Instagram Time:

Pictures from #promaballoona at Sew LA. Sew L.A. is a really amazing fabric shop and sewing classroom that is a wonderful place to pick up some sewing patterns or take some awesome classes. Want more info on all the cool stuff they do? Check out more details here.

Our Etsy Craft Party hosted by the CRAFTED Etsy Team at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles is coming up soon!!! The team has been busy gearing up for the largest craft party in SoCal and we hope you can join us! Go here for RSVP and details.

While gearing up for Etsy Craft Night we reached out to the artist who created the displays at the OC County Fair to see if we could incorporate some of their items into our display after the fair closes.  Fingers crossed we can collaborate with them to utilize some of their amazing displays!

It is always a hoot to see our buddy Ben wail on the harmonica at Villains Tavern on Thursday nights when they have the LA Hootenanny. The music is awesome, I am obsessed with the decor, plus as a major bonus to us True Blood Fans - experiencing Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur) rock out is pretty surreal.

Hope you have a stunning weekend!!!

XOXO, KC

Highlights of Unique LA's 4th Annual Spring Show

Hi guys!!! It has been a whirlwind week since we saw you at Unique LA and we wanted to share some highlights of the show.

Kevin and our Make Shop Live Table

Kevin does such a great job chatting with everyone! He really shines at the shows and without his help I wouldn't have the opportunity to shop the show looking for cool new items and artists.  Elizabeth from Please Note Paper did an amazing wrap-up of the show which I highly suggest you check out here. Also, I finally got some pictures up on our Facebook page of the show and you can see the album here.

We were able to take turns at Caine's Arcade and get some fun passes!!! If you have missed the story of Caine and his amazing cardboard arcade check out the video here telling his story.

Director Nirvan and Caine sporting their staff tees.  Kevin and I totally picked up some Caine's Arcade staff shirts at the show :)

As always Sonja totally outdid herself! The show is SOOOOO big it is a tough task to see everything.  Unique LA has great highlights on flickr and the album includes some celebrity sightings too!!! Scope out all the fun pictures here to see which celebs stopped for a photo op.

Have a wonderful weekend!!! More Unique shopping finds and artist highlights coming up all week so stay tuned.

XOXO, KC

How-To's Day: Take Better Pictures w/ a Homemade Lightbox

While at Craftcation one of my favorite sessions was Crafting a Lightbox with Radmegan! 

Everyone who sells on Etsy knows how important photography is when selling your goods online- But knowing it's importance vs. actually achieving amazing pictures can be tricky.

 With that in mind when I saw there was a session that would help me learn to make a lightbox cheap and efficiently I had to take it!

Here is an example of pictures taken of the same address book:

(one with and one without the lightbox)

Address Book taken w/o lightbox (mid-day, bright sun)

Taken with lightbox (mid-day, bright sun)

Big difference right?!? One of the amazing attendees who was in my class Stefanie Japel (of Stephanie Japel Knits) posted this on the results of her light box- check it out here. 

Make Your Own:

For our lightbox we started with a 14"X 14" X 14" box, an exacto blade, a metal ruler, waxed paper and both transparent as well as masking tape.

Tape the box together using sturdy tape.

Cut out four of the sides (I used a metal ruler as the guide, but you can cut out the frame however you'd like) as shown:

You don't want to make the frame left behind too skinny.  At this size the waxed paper barely fits. If I had known this I would have either left a bit more cardboard or purchased the extra wide waxed paper so it would fit better.

Lay the waxed paper across the tops of the openings on the left side, top side, and right side of the box and tape it secure. as shown above.

This will make the inside super clean as show bellow:

This way if anything happens to the wax paper it is really easy to reattach a fresh piece.

If the wax paper doesn't quite make it to the edge, use masking tape to cover up the difference so that harsh light doesn't sneak in.

Then you need some backdrops! Find some nice heavy weight paper in white, black and grey to attach to the back of your lightbox and you will have the perfect place to stage pictures with all of your small items :)

You want to cut it small enough to fit inside with enough length to give it a soft curve in the back.  This way the background looks seamless in your photos. 

Now its time for you to try it out and see how easy it is to jazz up your pictures :) *Also, Radmegan says she is posting her lightbox info soon, so I will do an update and share her video when it becomes available.

Enjoy! XOXO, KC

*NEW* Layout

What do you think about the new layout of the blog??? I spent today updating a lot of the features of the blog because it wasn't very easy to look at previous posts.

Now you can search on the right side by the posting labels, searching the blog archives by month, and 5 of the most popular posts are listed as well. Plus, I got my Pinterest link included which is super great because I love posting inspirational pictures there on my boards.

I haven't added all the new projects to the "Make" tab at the top of the blog, or put all my friends links in the section for that- but hopefully I can get everything linked up soon.

While this post is short, I feel like all the progress I made with the layout is more than adequate for me to  call it a night and start the weekend :)  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!! XOXO, KC

Wedding Wednesday- DIY Photobooth

I don't know why ever since my wedding I have been obsessed with weddings!  I think it is because there are so many possibilities for themes and feelings all within a single event.  I enjoy so many themes and styles that I feel like one wedding can't fit in all my wildest possibilities!!! Kevin needn't to worry, he can't shake me- so instead I am going to enjoy other peoples big days and do more party decorations :)

Since moving to LA, the planned, posed, photo opportunity has become a staple at every event we have attended.  The idea of the photo booth or the designated "off the red carpet picture spot"is a fun way to take your best photo to remember the affair.

There was a insert in the most recent Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine all about the beauty of having your own video photo booth at your wedding instead of a traditional guest book.  This option can be really helpful if you don't have access to a helper to man the photo booth and can just set up a tripod and a video camera.  Don't forget to let people know how they can see the fun later on your favors or take-away information to show how important they made your big day!

Make Your Own:
I saw this post on Curbly, an Eco blog I love to follow, all about making your own photo booth.  The post even has free software for Mac OS X users to quickly turn the pictures into a photo booth style strip that can be printed off for the guests to keep!. How awesome!!! Check it out here 

Holiday Show Applications

We've been busy enjoying visits from our Family.  My Dad came while I had my surgery and then Kevin's mom has been here until tomorrow.  Between all the excitement of seeing them and doing all of my Physical Therapy exercises suddenly the days have past...

One thing we can't over look in these busy times is the importance of Holiday Sales in relation to becoming a strong small arts & crafts business.  This is not only the best time for sales, but also the exposure in getting the word out at all of these events is an absolute must. The Holiday Show Applications periods are almost wrapped- up and we look forward to reporting back on our Holiday Schedule as soon as we get results :)

Here is a quick collage I sent out with some of the applications I thought might be nice to share on the blog too.  It has a range of most of our "staples" you can check out even more great products on our Flickr Photostream.