Lulu and Nina 6 months

Lulu

I've been trying to photograph Lulu and Nina as they grow to see how much they've changed since I first photographed them.  They are almost 6 months old now and kind of have that gawky adolescent look to them.  Their ears can't quite decide if they want to stay up or go down and in the past week they've started losing their baby teeth.  For this shoot I decided to just use natural light and a reflector and I love the look of the painted wood on the porch. 

Lulu

Nina

Nina mimicking a groundhog

Funny Face Collage

Created from 45 different images I made this collage for my family of each of us making all kinds of different faces.  It was pretty hilarious and each time I see this collage it makes me smile.  Putting this collage together was pretty simple. Since we were having a birthday party for my brother and his wife I set up a black backdrop and a stool in the garage and photographed everybody over the course of a couple hours. Using natural light I set the stool at the front edge of the garage.  This allowed the person to be well lit but the backdrop to stay dark.  Then using lightroom I edited the images, created a template and dropped in the images I wanted.  Printed and framed I think it turned out a pretty unique gift for my family. 

Doggie Bandanas

Feeling the winter blues lately I decided to make something summery for Lulu, Nina, and my brother's dogs Perry (Lulu and Nina's dad) and Luna.  While visiting my brother Tony a couple weeks ago my mom and I found a wonderful set of fat quarters in dog themed fabric at Joann's Fabric.  I love to make things that do double duty and decided to make double-sided bandanas for all the dogs in my family.  For some odd reason when I decide to make something I have to make fifty of them.  There were five different fabrics in the set so I made Lulu two bandanas that were double-sided and one solid bandana.

Doesn't Lulu look cute modeling her bandana.  It even looks great with her winter fleece shirt on.
This fabric reminds me of sherbert. Sigh.. I can't wait for warmer weather.

The kind that I decided to make fits over that collar so that it doesn't fall off.  When worn you only see one side of the fabric which gives you a variety of style options for your pup.    Start by measuring the length of your dog's collar.  I measured from the metal loop that you put the dog tag on around to about an inch before the clasp on the other side.  This measurement was 7" for Lulu and for my brother's pit mix Luna it was 15".  Since Lulu, Nina, and Perry are all about the same size I used the same measurement for all of them.  I added half an inch for seam allowance and cut out a 7 1/2" square from a piece of paper for my template.  You can either work with one square of fabric to make one bandana or two squares if you want it double-sided (makes two bandanas). 

Using your template cut your squares from your fabric. If you want a double-sided bandana cut your squares in half corner to corner making two equal triangles.  Take two of your triangles from different fabrics place them right sides together and sew along the top edge (the longest side).  Flatten out and iron down the seam as you see above.  Next measure the width of your dog's collar.  Lulu's is 1/2" wide.  I added 1/2" for seam allowance and room for the collar to fit through.  Using a ruler measure 2" across the corner of your square where the seam meets and mark with a pencil.  Do the same on the opposite side and cut off these two corners, use the photo above as a reference.  Fold the two cut corners in about 1/4", pin and sew.  I used a zigzag stich for reinforcement since that will be the opening for the collar. 

Once you've done this fold right sides together again, pin and sew along the edge.  Make sure not to sew over your openings where you did the zigzag stitches or you won't have a place to put your collar through or be able to turn it right sides out.  After you've sewn the edges turn the bandana right sides out and iron.  Now you're just about done. 

These 2 images are the front and back of one bandana

 The last step is to do a stitch on the outside to finish off the bandana and make a tube for the collar to slide through.  You're basically going to stitch a triangle as you see above, this leaves a 1" tube for the collar to slide through.  You can use a decorative stitch or a straight stich depending on what you like. If you want to do a bandana out of one kind of fabric skip straight to cutting off the corners.  Now your pup will look smashing for the spring and summer months.   

Multi-Layer Bracelets

I love to make presents for my family and friends for holidays, besides the paintings, I made each of my close friends a multi-layered bracelet in their favorite color.  It's a fun and easy project that only takes a couple of hours to complete and when you're done you have a beautiful bracelet that doesn't look homemade.  I used memory wire that comes in pre-cut or one long piece that you can cut to the size you want.  I figured out how long I wanted each bracelet to be and cut the wire.   At the end make a loop with needle nose pliers so that your beads don't fall off.  The first time I tried this I made my loop going in which would be against your wrist, not so comfortable.  Make sure to make your loop going out, away from the inside of the bracelet.  As you can see above I have six different colors of green, one for each circle of wire.  This makes it look like you have several different bracelets on, even though it's just one long spiral.  You can use different shades of the same color or all different colors, either way it turns out awesome. 

Thread your beads onto the wire until you come around to where you started from, then start your next color.  Repeat this until you get to the end of your wire and finish off with another loop.  If you choose you can add a little bead charm to the beginning and ending loop to give your bracelet and pretty, finished look.  Thread one bead onto a head or eye pin, finish off with a loop, and add to your bracelet.

Paintings

For Christmas I wanted to do something really special for my friends so working off an idea that I used for a button I created a couple years ago I made these paintings for my friends.  I wanted something that represented my friends families, be it a pet family or a human family but also to have a interesting abstract quality.  I began by splatter painting each canvas with a rainbow of acrylic colors and then painted over that the representation of each family.

Lulu & Nina 11wks

Having a puppy has been a lot of work to say the least.  Lulu and Nina are 4 months old now and though Lulu suffered a fracture in her leg last week they are both doing well.  Last month I did a 3 month shoot with them that shows how much they've changed and how big Nina's ears are.  I'm working on ideas for a new shoot for this month so I can follow their progression as they grow.   Hopefully they'll continue to cooperate.

Bezel Necklaces



In November I decided it was time for me to update my space at the West James Gallery in Columbus where my mom, sometimes my uncle, and I sell a variety of arts and crafts.  I added some framed photography and a variety of new jewelry.  I've been trying some new techniques and came up with a couple different styles of necklaces and bracelets.  These necklaces I've been having fun working on the past couple weeks and I love how they turned out.  The cool thing is that there are so many different ways you can work with the bezels, filling them with any variety of materials.  My first try I cut out images from a magazine but when I added the clear resin the colors were dulled and the text from the opposite side came through, all in all it did not turn out so good.  I tried some different things but so far this is my favorite. I wanted something bright with rich color. One day I picked up a new nail polish, a deep sparkly blue, and the thought just struck me.  It was exactly what I wanted.



I started by doing a test to make sure that the nail polish would work with the bezels and the clear epoxy I bought to fill the bezel.  I used a material called Glossy Accents but there are many options you can use.  If you want to be professional about it use an actual resin, but it can be quite difficult to work with.  Other alternatives would be something called Diamond Glaze or DG3 Art Gel.  I couldn't find these at the craft store I went to but the Glossy Accents has worked great so far.  It basically seals in whatever material you put in your bezel and gives you a hard glossy finish.  I put in two thin layers of nail polish in the bottom of the bezel and let it dry.  I left them sit for a couple days until the nail polish smell went away and then put in a layer of the Glossy Accents.  Be careful to look for bubbles so you don't end up having them in your final piece.  You can use a pin or toothpick to pull the bubble to the side and pop it.  Let it dry on a flat surface for 24-48 hours.  After that you can add your pendant to a chain or make your own like the one above.