Glass Totems and Photography

It's Thursday already and I am on a plane for a quick family trip.  There has been a lot of "real life stuff" taking up my time so I haven't been able to share many craft projects lately.  I recently ran across something interesting that was "new to me" that I want to share with you.

Our church has an Antiques Fair every November.  The proceeds are used for mission projects.  I try to help out with some volunteer time in the kitchen each year and we also do some shopping.  This year, one of the dealers had some interesting glass pieces that were created by assembling various vases, bowls, plates, candlesticks and other figures into interesting shapes.  The piece in the center of the photo above has eight items and is quite tall.

I wasn't sure where I could use the tall tower but I found this smaller one irresistible (my husband just shakes his head!).  When I got it home, I did a little research and found out that these are called glass totems and are frequently used in gardens.  If you search for "glass totem" or "glass garden totem" you will find lots of images and examples.  I have started  Pinterest board to save some of my favorites.

I thought this size would be nice to use on a tabletop.  I can even add some holiday decorations to it.  The bird on the top is a candle holder.  I wanted to take some photos to share this with you and I found that it is quite challenging to photograph something like this.  You want the bright sunlight to show off the sparkle but that results in not-so-attractive shadows.

 I set up two large pieces of white paper on the rug and the couch in our sunroom.  The light is good in that room but, as you see in the first photo of the set up - it doesn't work well with direct sun.  In the second photo, a bit later in the day, the room is still bright but there is not a strong light shining on the glass.

This photo was taken in the strong sunlight.  The base is not showing and the contrast of sun and shadow is distracting.

Cropping the image near the shadow line makes the background consistent and less distracting.

The sparkle from the sunlight is nice in this photo but the shadows make it difficult to see the shape of the piece.

In this shot, the light was coming from the left side and it was brighter at the base than the top.  If I edit to lighten the image the detail in the base is hard to see.

This angle from the top shows the full piece fairly well but there is still too much contrast in the light.

By taking lots of shots, in varying light conditions, and doing some careful cropping and editing, I finally got an image that I am happy with!

While I was experimenting with all of these photos, I noticed that from certain angles the green glass was reflected in the facets of the top plate making a diamond design.

When I cropped the photo to show this area the section at the top looks like two colors of glass fused together.

Have you seen these garden totems or heard about them?  I am inspired to take some of the bits and pieces I have around here and start building!  You can often find stray plates, vases and bowls at thrift shops or rummage sales for very little money.

I have seen several suggestions for the adhesive - the most popular seems to be an outdoor clear silicone caulk. When I try making one I'll test a few adhesives and let you know what works best.

We had a tiny bit of snow here Tuesday morning - winter is not far away!

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Veterans Day

 

Today we honor the men and women who have served in the US Armed Forces.  The date of November 11 was chosen because the armistice that ended World War I was signed on that date.  This date is celebrated in many other countries and is sometimes called Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Poppy Day.

My father and uncle both served in World War II.  Dad is the one on the left in both of the photos above.  Dad was sent over just as the war was ending and he served as a guard at the Nuremburg trials.  

Thank you to all of those who have served and who continue to serve our country.

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Bonfire Night (and more)

Yesterday was the fifth of November - Guy Fawkes Day.  In England, bonfires are burned to commemorate the failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605.  (You can read more about Guy Fawkes HERE).

We went to an event at Fruitlands this weekend.  It was a craft beer tasting with lots of delicious food.  I was the designated driver since I don't really care for the taste of beer.  Our son, his girlfriend and her parents joined us for the festivities.

I usually try to remember to take photos of signs and posters for events and places since they can be very useful in creating scrapbook pages later.

 I left the tent a few times to try to get some photos of the view.  I was hoping for an amazing sunset but it was too cloudy.

The sky and scenery were beautiful - the leaves are past their peak but there was still some nice color. 

There was a bonfire at the end of the evening so I had a chance to try out taking some photos in the dark and by the light of the fire.

The path to the bonfire was lined with luminaries.  We stopped to check out one of the sculptures along the way.

At the bonfire site, there was also a small fire for toasting marshmallows and making s'mores.  The dramatic sky and lighting made for some interesting photos.

The bonfire was built to resemble one of the art pieces made by this year's artist in residence, Jodi Coella (you can see a short video and learn more about her work HERE).  Visitors could write something on a paper and tuck it into the ball to release the wish or thought into the world through the fire.

The fire burned quickly after lighting.  It was amazing how quickly the heat became nearly unbearable.

 The bright light of the fire made interesting silhouettes of the trees against the dark sky.

As the fire burned, the wood started to fall down the hill.  Fortunately, the fire fighters had created a ring for safety and the fire stayed within the designated area.

After some of the wood fell the fire took on an interesting shape.  Watching the flames you could see images - just like you do when watching the clouds.  I thought this photo captured the fire as a tall woman in a dress with a train, can you see that image?

Before long the fire had burned down to embers and it was cold again in the evening air.

I like the dramatic effect of the extreme lighting in these photos.  It would be better to use a tripod in this sort of situation - I ended up with quite a few blurry shots.


Now, on a completely different topic, here are a few deals I wanted to let you know about...

If you have been thinking about getting a Silhouette Cameo, I saw a good deal at JCPenney (who knew that Penney's sold crafting tools?).  You can find a bundle HERE on their site for $285.  The bundle includes a couple of extra tools.  If you use the code "NOVSAVE" you will get 25% off making the total price $213.75 and shipping is free for purchases over $99.  I am not sure how long the code will be valid - it worked last night when I tested it.  I have no affiliation with JCPenney - just wanted to let you know about a good price!

It is Wednesday so you may also want to check out the "One Buck Wednesday" specials at Jessica Sprague HERE.  There are some nice Christmas items this week, including this full "Santa's Sleigh" collection for just $1 (regular price $14.99).

The free shape of the week from the Silhouette Online Store is this Merry Christmas title. 

There are also over 1300 shapes on sale for 25% off this week.  While the sign says "autumn-themed", when you click on the link the category is "Trees, Branches. Leaves" and there are quite a few Christmas items included.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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Happy Halloween (and a little enabling...)

Halloween is here and there are just two months left in 2013.  I know that many of you are busy preparing for Halloween festivities tonight.  I bought lots of candy this year since we have had more families with children move into the neighborhood.  I tried to choose candy that I don't like very much since the leftovers can be so tempting!

Do you like these candles?  True confessions time - I did not make them.  I was picking up more candy at Costco and stumbled on these LED candles randomly stacked on top of the candy.  The set of three was just $4.97 (hint - when a price at Costco ends in a "7" the item has been marked down).  I certainly couldn't make them for that price and it's great that they are totally safe - no live flame to worry about.  I don't know if you could still find them at your Costco but the item number is 647093 if you want to check.

I want to let you know about a few great deals at Lettering Delights that are also ending tonight.

Earlier this year I bought the Great Gift Giving Bundle, a bundle of 40 Cut-It sets on sale for $40 - this was a 75% savings on the individual prices which would add up to $170 when purchased individually.  You can see that post HERE.

Well, the deal is even better now - you can buy the bundle for just $30.  Here are a few screen shots showing some of my favorites of the 40 sets - there are 579 individual cutting files in this bundle!

The basket in the photo above is in the bottom row at the left.  I haven't cut the pennants yet but they are a very appealing set (I just need an occasion to use them).  The step card bases are also a big time saver if you like to make that style of card.

These Design Cards and Framed Salutations would be perfect for a Project Life style album and I think the delicate doilies are very pretty (and popular right now on scrapbook page and other projects). 

This bundle has so many great files that are very easy to use if you have a machine and software for cutting files in the following formats - .AI (v.8), .DXF, .EPS (v.8), .GSD, .PDF (v.1.5), and .SVG.   The bundle is only available at this special $30 price until 11:59 p.m. TODAY - October 31st and it will keep you busy until the end of the year or even longer cutting everything out!  Click HERE to see the Great Gift Giving Bundle.

To add even more to the temptation - there is a special bonus offer if you spend a total of $30 at  Lettering Delights by October 31st.  You must be logged in to your Lettering Delights account when you make your purchases.

The Christmas Village bundle includes the following sets and is a value of $29

• Christmas Village Graphic Set (16 individual .png files)
• Christmas Village Alphabet (77 individual .png files)
• Christmas Village Paper Pack
• Christmas Village Peeps Graphic Set (13 individual .png files)
• Christmas Village Peeps Cut Set (13 individual cut files)
• Christmas Village Cut Set (16 individual cut files)
• Christmas Village 3d Cut Projects (16 individual 3d cut files)

You can see all of the details and more images of the items in these files HERE.

So - if you purchase the Great Gift Giving Bundle at $30, you will qualify for the FREE Christmas Village Bundle - it will be added to your library automatically after you purchases total $30.   If you already have the Great Gift Giving bundle you can shop for other items totaling $30 to earn the Christmas Village bonus - there are some other items and bundles on sale.  Remember, you must complete the purchases TODAY - before 11:59 Mountain time.

Here is one more thing I found at Costco on my candy buying trip.  Of course it followed me home - this will be my Halloween treat!  There are 20 roll of washi tape in 10 colors and two widths with a nifty rotating dispenser- all for $19.99.  The item number for this was 705476 if you want to check availability at your store (apologies to those of you who don't have a Costco nearby).

Have fun tonight if you are trick-or-treating or handing out candy.  I wonder what our total number of visitors will be this year? 

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Princesses with Square1 Masterpiece

When my little neighbors turned four, I wanted to make them something special.  They are rather fascinated by princesses and frequently wear special dress-up clothes to play princesses.

This also includes dressing all of the princess dolls.  Belle and Ariel seem to be particular favorites but this can change from day to day.

I have been exploring the possibilities of the Square1 Masterpiece inkjet printable adhesive fabric and I realized that it would be perfect for my project.  This is a great alternative to vinyl and safer for children since it contains no PVC like regular vinyl.  The material is also much easier to work with as it has less of a tendency to cling to itself and get tangled.

I own some digital kits of Disney princess images and backgrounds that I bought several years ago when they were available from Creative Memories.  First I used one of the backgrounds and adapted it from a square shape to an 8 x 10 rectangle to fit the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of printable fabric.  I added the names at the bottom of each sparkly oval.  I printed these from my digital scrapbooking program (I did not make this a Silhouette print and cut so I could use the area that would be taken up by the registration marks and make the backgrounds as large as possible).

If you look closely at this photo you can see the woven texture of the Square1 Masterpiece printable material.

I brought the images into my Silhouette Studio software and created print and cut files.  The size of the princess images was determined by the available space on the background sheet.  I was able to test the images with the software to see how they would look on the background before cutting.

I needed a set of princesses for each girl, so I added two more princess images to the fourth and fifth sheets of printable fabric, along with a photo of each of the girls.

I used one more sheet of fabric to allow me to print extra images of the girls and some smaller princesses as well.  All four of these sheets were done as print and cut files with my Cameo.

The repositionable fabric photos of the girls blend in with the background nicely.

The backgrounds were trimmed with a regular paper cutter to remove the unprinted edges.

The wall decorations adhere easily to the wall next to the two beds and can be moved to another wall if they rearrange the room.  The repositionable adhesive Square1 Masterpiece material allows the images to be placed on the walls over and over again.

When the girls want a change, they can take off their photos and add whichever princess is their favorite of the day.

I made each girl an identical set of princess images so they could both choose the same princess without having to share the image and take turns placing it on their wall sign.

The girls needed a place to keep their extra images when they aren't in use on the wall signs.  I created small albums from office supply store plastic report folders and used some glitter Square1 Masterpiece material to add their names and a few stars to the front of each book.  I'll show how I made the books in another post.  The glitter material is amazing and you'll be seeing more projects made with it soon.

The twins loved their wall photos and the little books with all of the spare images.  I haven't checked lately to see how they are holding up to four year old wear and tear - I'll let you know!

Square1 Masterpiece has so many possible uses.  I am sure you can think of lots of ways to make some special projects for gifts or everyday. 

The company is launching a new program for people who want to earn some money with their crafts called the Creative Consultant Program.  You can see all of the details and the contents of the kits that are offered at Square1 Masterpiece.  This is not a direct sales party plan but rather a way for you to purchase product at a discount of 15-30 % and create items to sell at local fairs and shows.  Cara Miller will be providing a training program to help the Creative Consultants "Learn and Earn" as they develop projects for sale using the Square1 Masterpiece  materials.

Please be sure to let me know if you have any questions about the products or the Creative Consultant Program and I will do my best to help.

We made a quick trip to New Jersey last weekend to visit my sister and brother-in-law.  They are planning to move to Virginia to be closer to their grandchildren so this may be the last trip to their house. This photo was taken at sunrise from a third floor window - they have a fantastic view of New York City!  My sister and I had another adventure on Saturday morning - have any guesses about where we went?

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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission. I only participate in affiliate programs for products that I use or can recommend without reservation.