CraftingPlay is on Zulily today!

I love myself some Zulily. How surprised and excited I was when I saw one of my illustrations for sale on their page today! If you aren't registered with Zulily, you may not be able to view the link. If that's the case, you can check out/ buy products with the same design directly from CafePress.

I created that design almost four years ago while we were waiting for Ethan's arrival. Pretty neato!

Skillshare Photo Series Class Discount Code

I'm so excited to be teaching a photography class at Skillshare!! 

For my blog readers, you can use discount code SAVE5 to save $5 from now until 12/10/14. That means the class is only $14! 

I love taking classes through Skillshare because they are a great online, self paced, opportunity to learn new skills. I can't be happier to see my content launched though such a great site.

Description

A photo series is a set of photographs created with the intent of telling a story, evoking emotion, or causing the viewer to take a closer look at something. Shooting a photo series can be a lot of fun, and working within the parameters of a series can ignite your creativity and advance your photography skills.

As a photographer, I love the creative spark that a photo series gives me. Not only do series inspire me to pick up my camera, but they also are a great way to create a cohesive project from start to finish. My current series, “Little Loves: Everyday Life” is a personal, longer and ongoing photo series that allows me to be mindful of the details and moments of my everyday life.  With this class, I want to share with you the joy and satisfaction of creating a photo series and then displaying it in a collage.

A collage is a great format to display your series (and all the work you put into it), and looks fabulous on a blog, Facebook, greeting cards, or printed and framed on your wall! 

What you’ll learn

In this class we will break down a photo series into manageable steps by:

• Defining a photo series by looking at examples and resources
• Learning to develop your idea though word lists, mood boards, and shot lists
• Discussing basic photo composition and how to strengthen your images
• Learning about basic photo editing and effects
• Creating a collage using 4-9 images from your series

Who is this class for?

This class is for anyone who enjoys taking pictures and is eager to take part in a photography challenge.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner, a photo enthusiast, a budding photojournalist, a parent, or heck, you just love documenting life with your camera…this class is for you.

Prerequisites

You can use any photo equipment you choose: a cell phone, a point and shoot, or an SLR. You also do not need to have any prior experience with photo editing, nor do you need any special software. I will demo how to use the free software at Pixlr.com to do our editing and collage, however you are free to use other editing software like Photoshop if you prefer.

Enroll here.  (remember to use code SAVE5)

Want a sneak peek?

Hope to see you in class!

Student Pottery Sale

This weekend went went to the student pottery sale at Millersville University. Was nice to be back at the Alma matter and supporting some very talented art students. Shout out to Alyssa Zimmerman, she made the two lovely pieces on the right. I love the form of the mug, and we can't wait to use the bowl for some guacamole! So excited to have these pieces as part of my art collection!

Ethan would have bought just about everything there if we had let him. He left with two small clay pendants of his own.

So my shopping tip? Keep an eye out for student sales. You'll be amazed with the quality of the pieces and you'll be supporting some wonderful artists who are just trying to get started. Win-win.

Six Little Paintings

It's been a long time since Ethan's fingerpainted. So when he asked, we went down into the studio and he got to work. One of my favorite parts of the studio space is our drying line. Not only does it look awesome when all the little paintings are hanging in a row, but I can see the excitement and sense of pride when Ethan gets to clip his masterpieces up there. It's really just a $9 retractable clothesline. Great for hanging artwork, but nice that it can easily slide away when not in use. 

I'm actually quite a fan of the red one in the middle. That might show up in a frame somewhere. Anyway, my main point is a just a little reminder that if it's been awhile, get out the paints again. It really is a lot of fun...And who doesn't want to preserve some little hand prints? They sure don't stay little for long...

Pom-pom Toe-ga Game

Recently at a yoga class, my instructor was having us do some "toe-ga" or feet strengthening exercises. I was doing a little research, and came across this great little children's yoga game. Basically, you dump a bunch of pom-poms on the floor. Each player gets a yoga mat. Picking up the pom-poms with your feet, you bring as many as you can back to your mat. Whoever has the most at the end, wins. 

We tried it out this weekend and it was a hit. At first, Ethan was pretty sure he couldn't possibly pick up the pom-pom with his toes, but once he did, he thought it was pretty cool. The game part fell apart a bit when I was only allowed to pick up the colors that he "didn't like," but it was still some good, fun, active play. And I'll tell you what, at then end, my feet were feeling pretty tired! 

I didn't get a photograph, but Ethan also thought it was fun to pick up the pom-poms with his feet and try putting them into an empty tissue box, similar to our old fill and spill game (in fact, it's the same pom-poms and the same tissue box).

Pom-pom Toe-ga game for the win.

Weeee!!!! Photoshop 101 Homework

Sorry for the double post today, but I'm taking a Photoshop 101 class with Melanie Burk though Nicole's Classes. Even though I have been using Photoshop for years, I've still learned quite a bit. It's been great! Anyway, I learned how to create an animated gif in Photoshop today. This is just a set of cell phone pics of Ethan and his daddy at the park the other evening, but they animate quite well I think. :)

PS- I created the images in my last post as part of the Photoshop 101 class as well. Good stuff. Do yourself a favor and check out Nicole's Classes!

Pretty Potted Plants on a Dime

I bought these pots for a dollar a piece at Target back in the spring. (They were actually ice cream cups from the kitchen section). I love the brilliant colors and had really good intentions of buying some artificial succulents to put in them... until I saw the price tags. No way I was going to pay $7 per piece to fill my dollar pots. I ended up getting these $1 aquarium plants from the pet store and dropped them in. 

Small inexpensive pots (I imagine you could paint some cheap clay pots at around $1 each) and aquarium plants. Easy-peasy!