Portrait with Sarah

I had a great time this past weekend photographing with my good friend Sarah and her two puppy dogs.  Yes we call them puppies even if they are old and gray.  We went out to Hobbs woods which has tons of great walking trails and we discovered is the place to go for fall portraits.  The colors were amazing and there are so many different spots to do photography.  But since that is one of the only places here that allows you bring your dog, everybody, their grandma, and their dog were there.  Fortunately we were able to find a couple great places to photograph that didn't have other people around which allowed Ashley and Hunter to calm down and allowed me to get some beautiful shots.  Here are some of my favorite shots of the day. 

Mirrors

Over the summer I worked on a couple painting projects for when I have my own place again.  One project I've been wanting to do for a while is painting the frames of a bunch of mirrors to later hang as a collage.  I bought 8 mirrors in different sizes and shapes and painted them three different colors.  I might add more mirrors later but I thought 8 was a good start.  It was fun trying to find different mirrors but I had the most luck at Goodwill and found all the mirrors there.

I started by taping off the edges of the mirror with a painters tape.  There are a variety of ways you could attack this project, you could remove the mirrors, tape them off, use a scrapper to scrape the paint off later, or just paint really carefully.  I would suggest sanding the surface of the frame a little bit as well to help the primer stick.  I prefer painting with a brush but you could use a spray primer too.  I primed all of the frames with two coats and let them dry over night. 

After the primer dried, I painted the frames in black, turquoise, and chartreuse. I painted them each a couple coats until the finish was nice and even.  To give the frames a little more depth I painted watered down black paint onto the colored frames and wiped it off with a rag.  This leaves the black paint in the carved areas making the raised areas pop out (see below). 

Let the paint dry, remove the tape or scrape off the paint on the mirrors and you have gorgeous refurbished mirrors to hang on the wall.  Most of the furniture I own is hand me downs or bought second hand so to give things a personality and a new life is important to me.  I can't wait to hang these up in my own place someday soon. 

Funky Purple Chair

A couple months back I was watching the Nate Burkus Show and I got inspired by this wonderful crafty woman he had on.  For a while I've been wanting to work on rehabing some furniture and different things for my house or my eventual home.   I was inspired by a chair Mandi, blogger of Vintage Revivals, created and while I was wandering around St. Vinny's found this chair on sale with a coupon for $12. 

Before

After

This was my first attempt at completely hehabing a chair and it turned out to be alot of fun.  Figuring out how the chair went together and how to put it back together after I took it apart was a challenge but a good challenge.  I think the end result is pretty cool and I can't wait to use it as a prop for my photography. 

First I had to take the chair completely apart.  I removed the fabric on the bottom of the chair and from there was able to unscrew the seat and remove the back.  The back had tons of staples and I ended up getting blisters on my fingers from pulling them all out. 

I used the fabric I removed from the back of the chair to make a template to cut out new pieces of fabric.  I left the old fabric on the seat and just covered over it with new fabric.  Saved me a few more blisters ( :  If you're using a fabric like mine that has a distinct pattern on it make sure you line it up so it's centered.  Also when you cut out a piece for the front of the chair make sure that pattern lines up with the seat so when it's all put together the lines aren't off. 

I stapled the fabric to the wood frame making sure to keep everything really tight as I went around.  After I finished stapling I cut off any excess fabric so that the seat would lay flat when I put it back on the frame.  Make sure to cut around the holes for the screws to make it easier when you put everything back together.

This is what the front looks like.

Next I worked on painting the frame of the chair.  Sand the frame down really good so that the primer and paint stick well.  From here you can either use a spray primer or brush on primer.  Either way use many thin coats to help the primer stick.  After you prime it and it's dried sufficiently you can paint it any color you want.  Again you can use spray paint or brush on paint.  I chose this bold magenta because I have purple couches and thought it would go well with them. 

A popular technique is to make a piece of furniture look a little aged and not completely perfect.  There are many ways to achieve this look and lots of tutorials out there to help you.  To get this look I used watered down black paint, a small paint brush, and paper towels.  It may take a little practice to get it right so I tried it on some mirrors that I was working on first.  Brush on the watered down paint and wipe it off with the paper towel going with the grain of the wood.  Keep adding paint and wiping until you get the look you want.  It helps to keep a damp paper towel nearby to remove the paint quickly if you mess up. 

Here's a close-up detail of the aging treatment.

After I finished painting I stapled the fabric backing and foam back onto the chair. Then I added a ribbon detail along the edge of the fabric to cover up the staples and screwed the seat back on.  Now I have a pretty cool prop for photography and a funky chair to put in my someday home. 

A. Sanders Family

 My profession is photography and I always love when I get a chance to do something fun for myself and the people I care about.  It's the best feeling when someone really loves a photograph or a piece of art I've done.  Months ago my brother asked me if I would do some family portraits for them and I finally got a chance this past weekend when I went down to visit them.

© J. Sanders Photography 2011

Amy saw this really cute little apple and peach orchard and thought it would be a great place to photograph.  There was this little old man sitting in the white chair above and I really wanted to photograph him but I didn't get a chance.  Instead I caught this interesting image of my nephews.  I love the wide angle feel and the contrast of the sky. 

© J. Sanders Photography 2011

This was the first image we tried to get.  Amber was a little freaked out to be sitting up on that branch at first but she was smiling in no time and I was able to get several photos of all three smiling.  All I used here was natural light and a reflector which Robby was nice enough to hold for me. 

© J. Sanders Photography 2011

© J. Sanders Photography 2011

Alex helped alot on this one, by trying to show me and Robby his apple he gave me the perfect opportunity to create a really interesting and visually dynamic image. 

© J. Sanders Photography 2011

The kids were having so much fun picking apples I asked them to show me the apples they picked.  One of my teachers once told me that hands are almost as expressive as the face and I've come to love trying to include shots of peoples hands in my photography.  There is so much personality there and I really like the contrast of color in the apples. 

© J. Sanders Photography

This is one of my favorite shots.  It's just love if you ask me. 

Pendant Making

Life this week has been crazy, and crazier.  Fortunately I have a great family and friends to help me through and finally have some time to write about the second part of the beading project.  Making a pendant.  This is a great trick to have in your jewelry making arsenal because there are so many ways to use pendants.  You can hang them from a chain (my personal favorite), add them to your beaded necklace, create little charms for a braclet, make a keychain for your mom, or just about anything your creative brain can think up.  As I wrote about last time, I recently visited my brother and very talented sister-in-law.  (Little brother you are very talented too (: )  I photographed Amy as she made a pendant for Melissa, my other sister-in-law's, pink necklace.  In later writing I'll show you more of the jewelry I've made but today I'm showcasing my sister-in-laws' (plural) talents.  Just cause I love them and they're awesome like that. 




Supplies:
-2 Needle Nose Pliers
 (Can use a Flat Nose Pliers
 for your second pliers)
-Beads
-Length of wire or a
 head pin or eye pin


Depending on the size of your pendant you can either purchase eye or head pins or make your own.  Here Amy makes an eye pin.  Eye pins have a loop at the bottom and head pins have a flat head and lay flush with the bottom of your pendant.  Many times you can buy a kit of findings that have eye/head pins, clasps, jump rings, etc already in them.  This can make things easier than buying a bunch of different pieces.  Start with a length of wire about 4" long or longer depending on the size of your pendant.  Using your needle nose pliers create a small loop at the end of the wire (see image).

Add your beads!!

The next part is kind of tricky and might take a couple tries till you get it right.  I'll try my best to explain it and use the images if you have trouble understanding my explaination.  About 1/2" above your top bead use your needle nose pliers to create a loop.  It'll be similar to the one on the bottom but you'll have a long tail (see image below).

Using your fingers you'll take the wire tail and wrap it around the wire underneath the loop.   When it gets too hard to wrap it with your fingers use a second pair of pliers to help guide it around. Continue wrapping the wire until you run out of wire or you get to the top of the bead.   If you still have wire left when you get to the top of your bead snip off the excess with a wire snippers.  Make sure the end of the wire is wrapped securely so it doesn't poke you when you're wearing your pendant. 

 

This is the finished pendant.  I've made several pendants but mine never look this nice up-close.

I photographed a couple of Amy's finished pieces with pendants to show you her awesome work and give you some inspiration.  Amy's working on a blog of her own so check her work out at www.tangentcolors.blogspot.com

My niece and nephew show me the beading they were working on.  I wish I still had the imagination of a child.  You never thought too seriously about what you were creating you would just create. 

Beading

I count myself lucky to be part of a family with so many talents.  This past weekend I went to visit my brother and his family and got to have some fun beading with my sister-in-laws (plural) and my little niece and nephews.  My brother's wife, Amy, is a very talented crafter/artist and showed us some basic beading techniques.  Today I'm going to show you how to start your own beaded necklace or bracelet.  In my next blog I'll give a tutorial on how to make a simple pendent to add to your necklace or bracelet. 

Supplies:                              
-A clasp of your choice
 (Toggle, Lobster, etc)
-2 crimp beads
-Fishing line, hemp, etc.
-Needle nose pliers
 or a Crimp tool
-Beads


 Start by cutting a length of fishing line (here we used fishing line but you can use any variety of things to string your beads onto, as long and it's good and sturdy like fishing line or hemp etc) long enough for a necklace or bracelet.  I would suggest making it longer than you think you need because you can always make it shorter but you can't make it longer.  A good starting point would be between 30-40 inches or longer. 



String a crimp bead and one half of your clasp onto your length of fishing line. Thread your line back through the crimp bead, leaving a tail of several inches.  You will thread the length of line and the tail through the beads as your working.  This will give you extra stability and lessen your chances of beads falling off later.  

You should now have a small loop coming out of your crimp bead that has your clasp hanging from it. Using a needle nose pliers press the crimp bead flat. Then going between your two pieces of line press perpendicular on the bead as well.  This will ensure the lines don't fall out of the crimp bead. 

Add your choice of beads until you get the length you want.  Make sure you leave several inches at the end of your line to add the other half of your clasp.  When you've finished adding your beads repeat Step 2 and 3 and thread your tail back through your beading.  Tada you have a beaded necklace.  You can add multiple lengths of beads to your clasp for a layered look or add a pendant for added interest.  You're only limited by your imagination and creativity.

Melissa, my youngest brother's wife, worked on a all pink necklace to which she added a pendant that I'll show you in my next tutorial. Below is one of Amy's many creations.  She loves to mix things up with color and texture.

Everybody got in on the act including my 2 year-old nephew who has already mastered the beading technique. 

Oakhaven Pottery





© Jackie Sanders Photography 2011

I love going to art fairs and supporting local artists.  Last week my mom and I went to Faire on the Green put on by Oshkosh's Paine Museum.  It started raining the minute we got in the car to 30 minutes later when we finally found a parking spot.  Luckily the rain stopped and we could enjoy the art fair, soggy though it was.  There were tons of amazing arts and crafts there and despite my lack of funds I usually like to get at least one thing to take home with me.  I had $20 in my pocket and after getting lunch had only $15 to find something awesome.  Finally at the very last booth I found this beautiful piece of pottery for $10.  I love blue pottery.  In a bin full of little glazed bowls this blue one stood out to me with it's hand pressed details and contrast of colors.  Plus it's just so tiny and adorable and perfect to hold little bits of jewelry.

© Jackie Sanders Photography 2011

The artist is a Wisconsin local Eileen McDaniel of Oakhaven Pottery. They had tons of gorgeous pottery that I would have loved to own.  If you like her work check out her website at www.oakhavenpottery.com