Brand Design Photography & Styling Clarity Consulting

Studio Hours: Wedding Lighting / Part 1





This past weekend, I was lucky enough to have my parents come and visit for a quick weekend trip. The drive is about 7 hours, so weekend trips can be tough. We had an amazing time just chatting away about wedding plans and eating tasty food.

Our goal for the weekend was to tackle some of our wedding DIYs we had on the list, the main one being the chandaliers that are going to hang above each farmhouse table. We were inspired by THIS image and took quite a bit of time sourcing the right materials to make them fit our aesthetic. We also put a lot of work into figuring out a better way to incorporate the mason jars with the wood beam…ultimately cutting holes and inserting the mason jar lids into the hole for a more seamless finish.

 

Materials we sourced:

1. Reclaimed wood panels – each was white washed and aged to perfection

2. Vintage Mason Jars –  ( similar to these )

3. Open Top Lids – to replace old lids ( buy here )

4. Vintage Utility Rope ( similar to this )

5. Hole Saw Drill Bit  + Drill ( buy here )

( More Lights By Veda House )

Inspired By: DIY Projects To Try


I wanted to thank everyone for the sincere comments yesterday. You guys made “launch day” really special, so Thanks!

On another note, I’ve always been a big DIY-er, especially when I find myself with a little extra down time. I’d always prefer to try and make something rather than spending the money on it. I’ve got a whole Pinterest board dedicated to a few DIYs I’d like to try in the future.

The DIY projects above are a few I’ve been eyeing recently. I love how simple each one is, but how much of an impact you get with the result. Most of them use very limited materials, so I’m assuming the cost to complete them is minimal.

Have you guys been thinking about tackling any DIYs recently. I’d love to see what you have in mind!

(project 1, project 2, project 3)

Knitting Adventure


So I’m off on a new adventure, something I hope sidetracks me enough to take me away from my computer screen. I’ve been surrounded by amazingly talented knitters over the past couple years, but never thought it was “for me”. Something has ignited an interest in me and now I’m on a mission to teach myself the basics of knitting. I really only have interest in knitting scarves at the moment, but if I become addicted, like most knitters tell me I will, I may try other items.

Over Christmas break I tapped into the resources shared by my dear friend, Emmadime. Emma said one of her favorite knitting websites was Wool and The Gang, and oh boy…she was right on. This website single-handedly taught me the basic stitches and how to start your first project. Amazing resource for any of you looking for some video tutorials to guide you through the process.

So far, I’m having fun.

Here are some images of knitted items that have gotten me excited to try something new. Cable knits are lovely aren’t they?? 🙂

Images: top, center left, center right, bottom

Holiday Wrapping DIY // Guest Blogging

Hey guys. I’m over on My Girl Thursday’s blog today sharing my holiday gift wrapping for this year. I was able to get my gift buying down a little earlier this year, which has left some time to experiment with packaging. I had a really fun time and I did it all for under $10.

Enjoy!

DIY: Doily Printed Dishes



I’ve got a long list of DIY project musts, but that list just got one item shorter. I’ve had the Doily Printed DIY sitting in my Pinterest just begging to be done. I finally gathered all the supplies (which are like a handful of things) and went for it. You’d be surprised how hard it was for me to track down some darn doilies!

OK. so the original DIY was in another language, but with fancy online translation technologies, the directions were easy peezy. Here is the original post–> Below I’ve translated it for you. If you have about $20 to spare, give it a try. Totally worth it.

*note: these two were my first go at it and I think I made them a bit too thin. I’d suggest rolling out the clay to be thicker than what was in the original directions. Also, try not to mess with the clay too much. My pieces have some indentations that could have been avoided if I would of stopped poking the crap out of everything. 😉

Materials Needed:
1. Efaplast or Self Drying Clay (I used a white self drying clay from an art supply store)
2. Rolling Pin
3. Large Bowls
4. Doilies ( I had two different lace patterns)
5. EDC knife
6. Cutting board or any other non porous surface
7. Sand paper, medium grit
8. Acrylic (white)

Step – By – Step: (note: there are images to go along with each step in the above link)
1. Roll out the clay on a  surface (about 3mm thick)
2. Once rolled out to the correct thickness place the doily on top and use it as a stamp by rolling the doily into the clay with a rolling pin.
3. Peal doily out of clay. Should come out easily.
4. Place any size bowl on top of the clay with doily pattern and use EDC knife to cut out the dough. If you are not having a EDC knife, then you must get one and must select the 11 best edc knives to cut the dough properly  (just like making one massive cookie) I used a 6″ diameter and 10″ diameter bowl.
5. Form the bowl shape by place the cut out piece of clay inside another bowl.
6. Let dry overnight or longer.
7. Use sand paper to lightly sand out any imperfections or rough edges.
8. Optional: Cure the bowl with white acrylic. I left mine without for now.

 I hope you enjoy this EASY DIY as much as I did. I’m thinking great x-mas gifts for the gals in my family 🙂

mini DIY: framed pressed flowers





Whenever I see a pretty flower just asking to be picked, I usually take it home and press it in my hand made flower press (see my Flowerpress DIY here) I picked these flowers mid summer when they were at their best. Now after months of pressing and aging to a beautiful brown color, they are ready to be framed.

I found this frame this summer at a near by town’s annual garage sale weekend. The lady I bought it from was quite old (and wise) and said that the frame has held her highschool graduation picture all these years and she’s just now getting rid of it. The story plus the $1.00 price tag mean the frame was coming home with me.

Not sure where I’m going to put it yet, but it has  temporary seat on my nightstand so I can stare at it.

Directions: Simply find a frame you love and some flowers to press. Press the flowers for about a month for the best results. Cut to the backing to the size of your piece of glass ( I used a cream colored watercolor paper for mine). Play with multiple ways of arranging the flowers until you settle on a composition that makes you happy. Next gently sandwich the piece of paper with flowers laying on top with a piece of glass. Slide the “sandwich” into the frame. I never use a glue adhesive in my pressed flower projects because it tends to destroy the flowers over time.

Let me know if you have any questions and happy pressing!

DIY: creating a photography shooting surface




I decided that I needed to create a new surface to shoot shop photos on. I really like the grayish wood surface I use, but MAN is that piece of wood heavy and almost impossible to transport. This time around I’m going for a nice clean white-washed look that will hopefully allow my Etsy shop products to pop a little more. I realized that if I was going to compulsive buy a lot of metal/gray items, that it might be nice NOT to have a gray surface. Smart cookie!

So I bought a super large sheet of birch plywood at the local Home Depot, had the man at the store cut it into smaller more manegable sections, bought two shades of white/super light gray, some paint brushes, and a couple levels of sand paper. Let’s just say I had NO idea what I was doing and was crossing my fingers that everything would work out.

After the mess was cleaned up I was pretty happy with the results. I ended up making two panels so I could keep one in the loft and use the other to cart around if need be.

What do you think?

DIY: glass bottle photo display


From left to right —-> bottle 1  //   bottle 2  //   bottle 3

I’ll have to admit that I haven’t tried this yet, and I blame my obsession with amber glass bottles. Because I snatch up every brown glass bottle/jar I can find at a reasonable price, I’ve had blinders on to the pretty clear bottles. Those blinders are now off and I’m on the hunt for some clear bottles. The fun thing about this is that you can always add to the collection, so their is no pressure to “finish” the project. My kind of project!!!!

This DIY project was first published in Yankee Magazine and has now been floating around the internet teasing me with it’s simplicity and beauty. (top image is from DIY) Hop on over to Yankee Magazine’s site for a full list of supplies and directions. You don’t really need directions if you think about it. Step one, collect bottles. Step 2, put photos in those bottles. Donzo. I also took the liberty to do some shopping for you. You’re welcome 😉  Don’t forget to check out the Etsy sellers highlighted in this post!

GIVEAWAY: hand printed fabric (ended aug 5th)


*click image to go to DIY step by step over @ Sometimes Sweet!

If you missed this morning’s post you need to stop by Danielle’s blog Sometimes Sweet where I am guest posting and sharing a DIY project (hand printed fabric). I thought it would be fun to give one lucky reader the finished product. The fabric is 42inches long by 27 inches wide, enough to make two small pillows 🙂

MAIN ENTRY
1. leave a comment telling me about your favorite summer memory so far
*you must be a Google Friend Connect follower of this blog to enter (see side bar)

ADDITIONAL ENTRY (please leave a separate comment for bonus entry)
2. follow this blog via Bloglovin’.

The winner will be randomly selected this Friday! Don’t forget to stop by Danielle’s blog and leave her a little note to come home to.

guest post DIY project over @ Sometimes Sweet

Today I am guest posting over @ Sometimes Sweet while Danielle is away on her east coast vacation. I chose to share a DIY project that I’ve had on my to-do list for some time now. Block printing your own fabric pattern is a lot simpler than you’d expect, once you get your hands a little dirty and try it out. Hop on over and follow the step-by-step process.

If you end up falling in love with the process like I have, here are some books to check out. Check back this afternoon because I’ll be giving away the fabric to one lucky reader!!

The Printmaking Bible –   The Street Art Stencil Book –  Lotta Prints

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