IHF: Anything but a Face

The theme at I Heart Faces is rather different this week. They usually ask that a human face be visible in every entry. This week, they want a human but not a face. I knew just what photo I wanted to enter. It may not be earth-shattering as far as photography goes, but it’s meaningful to me.

My hubby reads stories to the girls before bed. I love that time of night because everything calms down. Nothing is required of me. The kids are happy and spending quality time with their dad, who reads to them with all the voices, sound effects, and gusto a little girl could possibly hope for.

And I just feel so content.

Bedtime Stories

Gathered Clutch

My little sis had a birthday last month, and I took it as the perfect opportunity to use some of my extra fabric I had from some of my projects I did for Christmas. I made her a gathered clutch from a tutorial by Noodlehead that I’ve been meaning to try forever. This was my first time doing a gather! The tutorial is really helpful, and when I had a question, Anna e-mailed me back in a timely manner to help me out. I just love finding such talented and encouraging people online! I really like how the clutch turned out, and I hope my sister is enjoying it.

(back)Woops! Forgot to wash off the fabric pen for pictures!

I didn’t make the pockets tight for credit cards since my sister is only 14, so I doubt she carries much plastic. I put a big pocket on one side and two pockets on the other side.

Wanna know my worst crafting Achilles heel? I never get around to making things for myself/my home/my kids. I actually had enough fabric that I cut out pieces to make a slightly different one for myself. The pieces are still sitting on my dresser where I see them every day and think, “Oh yeah, I was going to make that for myself.” I think it’s hard for me to spend the time to make it when I’m doing it for myself; it feels like double selfishness (does that make any sense?). And when it comes to stuff for my house or my kids, I think the problem is that there’s no deadline. I can do it whenever I get around to it, so more important things like laundry, feeding kids, and (to be honest) loafing on the couch take priority. I do better with gifts because I know I have to finish them by a certain time. Not to mention the fact that if I don’t already have supplies for a project for myself, I have to justify spending money on myself to even get started. See? I have all sorts of hang-ups. Which is why that’s my crafting Achilles heel.

Do you have a crafting Achilles heel? Which do you make more, gifts or projects for your own home/family? Have you made anything fun lately? You’re always welcome here at the Spare Time Continuum. Feel free to join my followers. They are small in number but great in character.

I hope you’re having a wonderful week. Mine is about to become wonderful. My hubby’s on his way home from his last grad school class for the week, and my big sister is coming to visit for the weekend.

I’m sharing this post with . . .

 

*Personal note: given to Kenzie

Fridge Shnookie

I’d say it’s about high time I start documenting some of the gifts I made for Christmas! I’ve been meaning to get started all month, but well, I guess I’ve just been lazy. So to get me in the blogging mood, here is a little project I made.

We give my uncle the same thing every year because he’s one of those guys who has everything. There’s this soap that’s made locally that he loves, and since you run out of soap after you use it, we buy him more for Christmas every year. Every now and then, I like to throw in some fun little knick-knack to go along with it. I thought this fridge schnookie was perfect.Isn’t it cute?It can hold notes and pens and pencils!

I found the tutorial for this on a blog called Coloured Buttons. She has a lot of cute tutorials on her blog. This was just something fun and easy. In fact, I did most of it in the car on the way to my mother’s house.

Stay tuned! I’m going to try to kick myself into gear to show off all the other projects I did for Christmas presents. (If I don’t post any more soon, nag me!)

Personal note: given to U.F.B.

Maybe Flash Isn’t So Bad After All

For my birthday present (I turned the big 3-Oh a while ago), my husband said I could choose something fun for my photography hobby. So we went to our favorite trusted photography shop to take a look. I had a backpack in mind, or some sort of bag that would be better than the glorified lunch box-looking thing I’ve been carrying. While I’d love to get one of those camera bags that looks like a purse, I needed something more practical. Those purses aren’t exactly convenient for hiking. So I was perusing the backpacks.

While I looked, the shop owner, Mike, talked with us about my photography and what I should buy next. The idea of purchasing a flash was brought up a few times by my husband and by Mike. I finally told Mike that I had to be honest, I didn’t see the value in buying a flash since I avoid using flash if at all possible. So he began to explain to me the difference between the flash built into my camera and one I would purchase to connect to it. I was bending a little, but I still wasn’t convinced. When I brought out my camera to see how it fit in the backpack I had my eye on, Mike let me attach the flash and try a few shots. First, I took a few on auto white balance without flash. These are straight out of camera, no editing:

Then I tried a few with the flash pointed up at the ceiling (again, no editing):Wow! What a difference! Now, I could have stood there and adjusted my white balance on my camera until I found a better setting for the lighting situation and gotten close to that result and fixed the rest with post-processing, but the fact that I didn’t have to do that with flash was not lost on me. And my little tootsie wasn’t washed out with a black background (the way she would be if I had used my camera flash)! How exciting! Visions of indoor pictures without having to beg the kids to hold still for my slow shutter speed spun through my head. No more telling my in-laws I can’t take a family picture in their living room because I didn’t bring my tripod!

In short, I was sold. And since my hubby’s so sweet, he decided I deserved both the backpack and the flash. Besides, the flash wouldn’t have fit in my old bag, so it almost made the backpack necessary.

I’m so excited about my new flash. I’m sure there will be some learning curve to it, and I’ll still go without it when I have beautiful outdoor light. But I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun together. Here’s another example of the difference. My mother came to our house for a movie night with the girls and me. Without flash:

With flash:Isn’t my mother adorable? I love her guts!