Photography Practice: Using Adobe Lightroom

A photo after adjustments in Adobe Lightroom

The same photo before the adjustments

I've been working on my photographic skills since I didn't bother paying much attention when I took all those courses in high school and college. I never thought that taking good photographs would be so integral to my business as it is now. My motto is: It's never too late! So I've been walking the path of practice for the past year or so.

Step one was to get a good camera. It was a beautiful Canon Powershot and took great people photos, but I shoot invitations for my work. Step Two was to get another camera with interchangeable lenses called a DSLR 3 months later. This was a Nikon 3100 and a 50 mm prime lense. Much better. Several steps and a great workshop later, I'm feeling like I'm getting somewhere.

I'm at Step 48 (at about Step 40, I sold my Canon to my dad so it wouldn't be neglected) now and it was time for me to get some advanced software to help me adjust what I cannot achieve with the limitations of real life and my basic level skills/equipment. When choosing between Aperture and Lightroom (which are essentially the same) I went for Lightroom. The final decision was made because my photographer friends use it and I'd have a better chance of getting my questions answered if I was using something they knew all about. I gave it a go yesterday and I'm pleased to say that I do like it! I have imported my RAW images and played around with the tone and lighting, trying to fix shadowy spots, making light when there wasn't enough. That's about as far as I've gotten but it has made a difference so far! If you want to give it a try, you can download a trial version of Adobe Lightroom for 30 days from here.

P.S. Don't you think my dog is so cute?

Laser Tag Party Styling

My son's birthday is in January, which means all parties are INDOORS. So far we've done a Chuckie Cheese party, a Pump-It-Up party and a Sports Complex party. This year was the Laser Tag party. I must tell you, that it is tough for me to shell out the bucks for this kind of entertainment. The DIY party giver in me feels like every party should be crafted and presented in my home at very little cost. But as my sister and I have discussed, you really don't save any money by keeping the party at home. You spend the same amount of cash AND you have to clean up twice (before and after guests). And since Oliver is the charmed third child, we are all about simplicity and the least amount of cleaning as possible!

Having a party away from your home doesn't mean it can't have some great style and incorporate some DIY crafty enhanced details! The invitation was designed to look like lasers shooting across the card. I was actually petrified to show my son the design I made. I was certain that it would not appeal to him because it didn't have guns on the invitation, which any of you mothers of boys knows that guns and other projectiles are the ultimate in cool stuff. To my great surprise, he absolutely LOVED the invitation. And he got the laser beam concept right away. *whew!*

Since the invitation was the initiation to the party theme, we kept the laser beams throughout the other party fun. I created cupcake wraps to match and added another pattern to keep things from getting too visually boring. I designed 2" round stickers to use on the cupcake toppers and on the party gifts ($1 glow necklaces) and labels for mini bottles of water. I let the laser place take care of the plates and napkins since it was included in my party package.

One really fun addition to the party materials were arm bands that said "Team Oliver". I thought they'd be dual-purpose by helping me identify the kids as they ran amok in the laser arena and add an element of team spirit. Oliver was more than happy to help me put those together.

 Here are the simple instructions:
1. I cut strips of white muslin from a past/failed sewing project and left the edges raw. I can hear my older sister's silent screams of torture right now. She's a "real" sewer and raw edges give her conniptions. But I contest that raw edges are much more primitive and rugged in this instance! The length was about 18" and the width about 4".

2. Then I printed out the design onto the iron-on transfer paper and cut out the individual pieces. Remember the design has to be printed backwards!

3. Oliver helped me iron the design onto the fabric and ho! we were finished.

Laser Cupcakes
1. The cupcakes were frosted with vanilla buttercream.

2. The laser beam design was created by first melting some white chocolate (8 chips for each color--you don't need much) and tinting the chocolate with food coloring (red, blue & green).

3. I cooled the chocolate until it was still liquid but not burning hot and put it into a zip-top sandwich sized bag. I cut a tiny hole at the corner of the bag and made sweeping motions across the tray of cupcakes. And as I usually discover in life, less is more. Keep it simple, kid!

The laser invitations are available via Pingg as both a digital e-vite and a paper option. I will also set this party theme up as a printable on my Margot Madison Creative etsy shop. You can purchase the "blanks" or pay to have me personalize with your child's name and print out the party on your own.

DIY Friday: Gold Stamped Fruit

I stumbled upon this great idea from Victoria at the A Subtle Revelry blog earlier this week and felt the need to share. I love the slightly rustic look that the "imperfect" stamping gives. I love that it's in gold baking glitter too. I bought a little jar last year and I'm surprised how often I bring it out for random projects like glitter lip gloss and Christmas cookies. It looks like I'll be taking it out again! Wouldn't this also be cute for Thanksgiving place "cards"?

I haven't tried it yet, but from what I can tell on the pictorial tutorial (should those 2 words go together? Hmm) on Project Wedding is that you take a clean (unused) stamp and just press it into a pile of glitter. If I try this and it's any different, I'll let you know. If you already know, then please confirm that info. Thanks!

Recent Work: Acrylic Engraved Bar Mitzvah Invitations

I've been wanting to share this invitation for weeks now, but was waiting for them to get in the mail to the guests before I blew the surprise (I never know who is reading these posts!).

I was so excited to have the opportunity to work with this great family. They wanted modern, clean design and were willing to experiment with totally new concepts. Right away, I suggested engraving acrylic, crossing my fingers that they would be game, and to my great pleasure they were all for it! Since this was my first time using the medium, we requested samples of everything so that there would be no expensive surprises.

I was ecstatic when the invitations were finally boxed up and ready to ship. Every detail fell into place and even the mailing went well. *Phew!*

The invitation is for a Bar Mitzvah celebration with a hint of tennis in the theme. I didn't want to be too overt with the tennis theme and use tennis rackets, balls, or court green and white. The design of the logo used the tennis net pattern (the rounded squares) with a minimalist play on his name, and a handsome navy blue color. I used Helvetica Extra Thin as the font in the name logo, and continued to use Helvetica thin and medium for the rest of the invitation. True to the modern styling, the format used lots of white space and right justified text throughout each corresponding piece. The extra pages were held together with a screwpost on the top left corner, eliciting the edgy industrial feel for the invitation. The reply card was perforated from the larger piece so that everything could fit together cleanly.

Of course, making sure the invitation arrived in the same perfect condition it started with required some preparation. The invitation fit snugly into a metallic white cardboard box, which had some navy inside shred to lift it to the top. There was a sticker on the top of the box to further the logo branding of the event. Then the box was placed on a piece of navy matte board and secured with a band of cardstock printed in the navy squares pattern. Then that was placed on a bed of navy shred inside a white corrugated mailing box with a custom address sticker to seal it shut. Lots of work but completely worth it! The invitation arrived to the guests in perfect condition.

Recent design work: Little Yoga Sunshine Logo

Say "yoga logo" five times fast for a great tongue twister!

Speaking of twisting, my kids take a yoga class called Little Yoga Sunshine in Cincinnati, Ohio with the most wonderful instructor, Hollie J. Nesbitt. I never thought that they would love yoga the way I do but as soon as my son (7) and daughter (8) tried it, they were hooked! Now any time we have guests over, they pull out the mats and start contorting themselves into all shapes and sizes to prove their yoga savvy.

In the classes, Hollie tells engaging stories that move the children through the yoga poses. The giggles and squiggles are all part of the fun while the children learn ways to center themselves emotionally while they make their bodies stretch, twist and balance. It's amazing to watch her work the magic! Hollie J. takes Little Sunshine Yoga on the road, so if your school or group would like to invite her into your program mix, visit her website or facebook page for contact information and scheduling.

I don't take on much logo work these days but Hollie is a friend and she made the logo part easy by letting me do whatever I wanted. ;o) By the way, if you ever want to get the best out of an artist, all you have to do is say "Do what you think looks great." I don't know a single artist who doesn't love the idea of that! I was able to repurpose one of my mandala designs into the sun image. I also used a new-to-me font called Deming, which complimented the hand-written script of Angelina.

Aunt Sassy Cake

Is this not a gorgeous photograph of a most delicious cake? It was too pretty not to share with all of you. It was created by Karyn Hlad Miller, who can bake and take photographs among other amazing things. I like to keep bits of her stuff around me for inspiration. If you're up for the cake challenge, here is the link to the recipe.

Valentine's Day Ideas for kids on Pinterest

If you are not familiar with Pinterest, you may be especially interested in this link. Pinterest is a digital organizing system for the great ideas where you create "Pinboard" on-line. Each pinned item retains it's internet origin so you can actually go back to get the recipe, DIY instructions, or store where you found the item. So if you visit the pinboard above, you can click on the image you want to learn more about and find yourself on the website where I found it. You can have boards of any topic you decide, and once you get into things, you'll see how addictive and useful it is! Keep in mind that everything you see and pin is public, which means that what you pin can be re-pinned by someone else who likes it too. This is perfect for pictures of cupcakes you want to make, but not so great for the pictures of your kids you'd rather keep private. :o)

You can see more of my Valentine's Day inspiration on my pinboard here. If you'd like to start your own Pinterest account (it's free), let me know and I'll invite you, which is faster than the virtual waiting list.