Michelle

I have another awesome friend named Michelle!  I met her through a little store called Surfas, where I also met Alyson.  Aly, Mich and I are all good pals and we like to go out and explore Los Angeles together. :)  Aly and Mich taught me how to dance!  There's a fun fact. They are also both completely awesome people.  

Michelle DOES NOT LIKE POSING FOR PICTURES.  I probably would have taken more of her, but that will have to come later.  I'm lucky I got these out of her.  She looks super cute in them!!  GO MICH!!  You can do it!!  (put your ass into it)

<3

New Pictures

Hey everyone!

I just did a photoshoot with my sister today! We took some really fun pictures for her jewelry site.  This was the first time that I completely used Lightroom to process my photos.  To be completely honest, I accidently overexposed the heck out of these photos, and Lightroom brought some of the picture information back.  It was like magic! Since I'm pretty new to lightroom, I must say that the end product isn't exactly what I would have normally done in Photoshop.  It would be fun to see a processing comparison between Photoshop and Lightroom...some other time ;)

Anyway, the pictures will be going on Etsy soon, but for now, you can check out and "like" her Facebook page.

ENJOY! 

https://www.facebook.com/touchofshanajewelry

Here are some pics you will see:

February

Last month in pictures...

1. I was first introduced to Seedbombs by Matt and Paula.  They gave them out as a wedding favor at their wedding last year.  One day after work I suddenly decided to go on an shopping trip at the Westside Pavillion in West Los Angeles, and instead of paying for parking in the structure, decided to park two blocks away on a small residential street.  I just happened to park right next to a house with a seedbomb vending machine right in front! I knew these vending machines were around Los Angeles, but I never imagined one would be in front of someone's house! 

2. I've been determined lately to get a wig, so one day Michelle, Balike, Hazel and I went to a place called Robinson Beautilities to see if we would have any luck on our wig hunt.  We had a lot of fun looking throughout the store trying on wigs and hats and looking at all of the costumes, but I went away empty handed.  Hazel had some luck and got a great wig, though. 

3.  I LOVE sushi.  I think if I had to have one last meal, salmon sashimi might be it.  I remember being STARVING, and this sushi from Sushi Stop saved my life and made me very happy :) This place is awesome.  Cheap and good eats.

4. My friend Aly recently told me about this place.  Not the name or the exact street, just that the make coffee like it is a science. She told me the general location, so I thought I would go on a scavenger hunt and find the place that made what she called "Cyphon Coffee".  The place happens to be called Balconi Coffee Company.  I really wanted to try the mad scientist coffee that she was talking about, but when I got there, the girl in front of me in line had a latte that looked so delicious that I opted for that instead.  I want to go back one day and get their science coffee.

5, 6. Royal T is a really cool cafe, gift shop and gallery that is really fun to visit!  B, Hazel, Mich and I went there for Milk Tea.  I love browsing the gift shop.  They always have interesting Japanese things there. 

7. I guess the problem with developing a blog post at 3 in the morning is that sometimes you forget how to count.  I don't have a picture for seven, but to make seven interesting, I will tell you that it is my "lucky number".  We all have a lucky number, right?

8.  I decided to treat myself to a day at LACMA for the In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States exhibit.  I was showing one of my friends the dress I wore to the museum, because as you know, you must always look cute for museums :)

9.  Everyone in LA knows the landmark of Chris Burden's "Urban Light" sculpture.  I thought taking a picture from a far away angle would be cool, not many people do that.  (Someone was in my shot, though).

10.  I was walking past the "Urban Light" sculpture, and I noticed my shadow on the ground.  It made me realize that I never think about shadows, and I almost forgot about them, but this one was in front of me and very dark and pronounced.  

11, 12. Some art work from the Wonderland exhibit.  I was very happy to see a Frida Kahlo painting in person.  I have been drawn to her art since I was first introduced to her in elementary school.  The second painting is by Remedios Varo.  I thought her paintings were very Tim Burton-esque.  

13.  Valentines Day, ooooooh Valentines Day...

14.  My Grandmother and my Mom on my Grandmother's 85th birthday!

15, 16.  Whenever I want to walk around in what seems like a perfect universe, I head down to Abbott Kinney and browse the shops and drink the amazing coffee they have at Intelligentsia or GTA.  I don't usually take pictures of quotes unless they stick out to me.  That one certainly did.

17, 18.  Lauren is my awesome friend who is always making tasty vegan treats.  She invited me and Mich over one night to sample her strawberry balsamic muffins and strawberry balsamic ice cream.  It was SO delicious.  I wish she lived closer so I could sample her treats more often :)

19.   BACON WRAPPED DATES!  I first heard about them after Mich, Aly and I went to a place called Cobras and Matadors They were absolutely delicious, but the restaurant only gave us about 5.  We decided to try to make them one night, and they are the easiest thing in the world to make, and you get about 20.  I think ours even tasted better too!  It is a party hors d'oeuvre staple.  We even made them for super bowl!

20.  Aly and I went for a stroll down Fairfax one day and decided to browse a little shop called Tini

It was fun.  They have a bunch of neat antique furniture and chotchkies, and most importantly (for Aly), old typewriters. After that we decided to stroll to LACMA to hang out at Ray's and Stark Bar.

On the way we saw a dead guy!  WHAT!?  That was a first for me.  I mean, we didn't SEE him, but there were a bunch of cops and yellow tape, and someone lying on the ground with a white sheet over them.  It was so unusual that we weren't sure if it was real or not until we walked further down the block and saw an ambulence with it's lights on parked around the corner.  Very strange.

How To Make an Owl Ornament

Hey everyone!  It has been a while since my last post!  I saw this really cute idea 
for making owl ornaments on Swiss Miss.  While I thought the idea was super cute, I also thought that the owls could use a little extra craft magic, so I set out to make it a little more special.  With Christmas around the corner, this would make a great DIY gift for family or friends.  Try making one!

Here is how I did it...

The first thing is getting a toilet paper roll and pressing the top down until you create two points.

Then, take a pencil and draw your owl design.  Be creative!

Next, take a sharpie or dark marker and draw over the pencil.  I used my old Prismacolor marker.

When you've finished outlining in marker, you can get to the fun stuff.  Time to choose your color palette.  I chose the colors from a vintage fabric that I bought at a garage sale years ago.

Here is the color palette I used.  I got most of the colors from the vintage fabric.

Just like a rainbow!  kinda.

Before I started painting, I made the owl's eye glittery by using a packet of purple glitter and some craft glue.  I have found that using a brush to paint on the glue in tight spaces works really well to create clean lines.  I used makeup brushes since they are good quality and I get them at a discount :).

Now it is time to paint your owl!

I got about half way through painting, got impatient and wanted to apply the fabric, so I measured out the fabric to just a little past the diameter of the toilet paper roll, then used craft glue to glue it to the back of the owl.

I glued the fabric to the back of the owl and held it with clothes pins until it dried.  Tip: Cut a little more fabric then you will need, then fold in the edges about a quarter inch.  Glue the folded in edge of the fabric wherever you would like it to start on the owl, then lightly brush on glue to the owl's back and apply the fabric.

The next morning when the fabric glue was dry,  I continued to paint the front of the owl.

If the paint looks a little messy you can clean up the lines with a marker, as long as you are using dark colors like I did for the feathers.  After that I went over it with more paint to fill the yellow back in.  I kept doing that until I got the result that I wanted.  The picture below still has messy lines.

To make the owl into an ornament,  I used ornament string that I got when I bought a bunch of ornaments at what I like to call "the fake 99 cents store".  I used a sewing pin to push the ornament string through the top of the owl.  I then tied a super tight knot.  I super glued the knot to make sure that sucker doesn't come undone.

Here is what it looks like finished!

I think it would look super cute on a Christmas tree around other ornaments and strings of lights.  Unfortunately this little Jewish girl doesn't have a tree.

I think I might do my next owl using this vintage fabric and color palette

 

And here she is all finished...

Happy crafting and Merry Christmas everyone!!!

One last note:

If you don't have all of the supplies that I have mentioned, you can still decorate an owl any way you like!  Check out these owls that my friend did.  They look amazing, and she didn't use any fabric or paint...

My Baby

That's right.  I have a new baby. Not really the crying, napping, diaper and bib wearing kind.  More of the staying out all hours of the night, memory making, sleek, sophisticated-ish, electronic kind of baby.  It is...

The Canon EOS Rebel T3. I bought it just a couple of weeks before I shot my first wedding, so I was in a crunch to learn how to use it properly.  Luckily, my new baby didn't fail me, and along with the help from my extra fabulous camera assistant Rachelle, and from my seriously awesome new buddy Brian R. for letting me borrow his 50mm lens, I think I actually pulled the wedding off with a (hopefully) satisfied customer :)

I think Rachelle and I shot around 3000 pictures.  I sent them around 750 of the best ones!

The most difficult part of shooting the wedding was timing.  I was hoping to get some really nice shots of the bride in the hotel room, but we were on a time crunch and that didn't happen.  Another difficult aspect of shooting the wedding was choosing a flattering location to do family pictures.  Parking lots are generally not so beautiful, but we didn't have many options since at that particular time the courtyard was off limits,  and for whatever reason, the family gravitated toward the parking lot.

Next time if I do this again, I will be more demanding with a schedule, mostly to ensure the bride and groom get the great pictures and cherished memories that they are paying for.  I think I might also have to buy a second external flash for the assistant's camera (my old G9), since a lot of the pictures came out dark just from using the built-in camera flash.

Next time I need to also wear black.  I was in a flowered dress at the ceremony right next to the preacher and all up in the bride's grill just to get a shot.  The least I can do next time is wear black, so I blend in a little better.  I need a nice black dress with pockets.  If you see one, let me know!

Pictures of the wedding to come soon!!

For now, here are some pictures of me and my baby...

Halloween Party  (i.e. flash photography bootcamp)

Snapping pictures at the wedding (snapped by Rachelle)

Business cards/magnets I made for the event

Have a great week everyone!