Another year, another Project 365.  This was my third one, and I so enjoyed it!  These are a few of my favorite images.  You can see the rest on flickr or picasa (your choice – I’m in both places at the moment, waffling between which I prefer more).

This time around I gave myself a theme of “up close and personal” for two reasons:

1. it would force me to pay attention to the little things in life
2. it would give me some practice with close-up photography

I think it was a great success! Why? Because I had fun with it, because I am pleased with so many of the photos I took, because I’ve learned a thing or two, and because I am not ready to stop!

I felt this way when I did “a year of mornings” in 2010, too.

So, what’s on the docket for 2012′s daily photo project? I’ve decided to call it “a year in the life,” which is basically just a cheap way out of making a decision at all… I suspect there will be a lot of close-up shots taken in the morning, though… stick with what you love, right?

Speaking of things I love, would you like to see the 2011 handmades?

This isn’t just a highlights mosaic. This is all of them! I feel like maybe I was less prolific this year than in previous ones. There are still so many unfinished projects living in my brain (and some that have gotten a hold of my credit card to purchase supplies and are living in little bags my house).

You can see these completed projects up close here on the blog, or you can check them out on flickr or picasa.

So. It’s January, 2012. So many pictures to take and creative projects to tackle in the coming year.  The world is brand new with possibilities.  What should we do first?!

It may surprise you to hear that I don’t have a history of doing crafty projects with my kids all of the time.  My kids are plenty creative, but they’ve always preferred to do their making on their own terms.  They’re not much for planned projects.  That’s why, when I said, “hey, do you guys want to make some snowflakes?” it took roughly two weeks for someone to finally take me up on it.

My little victim partner this time was Eamonn, who had enough patience to make four snowflakes – two that were technical disasters and two that were quite fetching, as paper snowflakes go.  The trick, I told him after the first two fell apart in his hands, is to make sure you don’t completely cut the folded side.  That folded side is what is holding the whole thing together.

We hung our snowflakes, his two and my four, in the dining room.  We may not have a table in here still, but we’ve got our own personal small-scale Winter wonderland.

In fact, a table would just get in the way… a guy’s gotta be able to take a stroll through the falling snow when he wants to, doesn’t he?

(Told you I’d get more mileage out of these Christmas balls yet…)  Ok, so I’ve been super busy this week, but I have a bit of a breather today, and as luck would have it, serendipity gave me something seasonally-appropriate to blog about: gift tags!

See, I ordered this snazzy gift tag punch online last week, and it arrived a few days ago.  I had been planning on printing out some of my more festive photos and punching them into tag shapes to be used in my gift-wrapping later this month, when Tracey Clark‘s Picture the Holidays daily prompt arrived, and pushed up my plans a bit.

Turns out today’s prompt is about – you guessed it – making gift tags out of your photos.  Well, that’s cool.  Tracey provided a tutorial, but I haven’t actually looked at it yet, since I had my own ideas already percolating.

Plus, I was thinking of joining in on Mortal Muses‘ Nine Muses Musing which started today, and their prompt was “giving.”  Well, how could I not make tags and wrap my sister’s present right this very minute??

So here’s how I made the tags:

Feel free to play along

Pull the photos you want to use into your photo-editing software.  I used Paint Shop Pro X2.

For each different tag that you want to make, take the following steps:

1. Make a new working copy of your image
2. Use the CROP tool to give the image dimensions that are some multiple of 4×6, if necessary
3. RESIZE the image so that the longest side is 3.5 inches
4. Add a Raster layer with 50% opacity and fill it with solid white
5. Use the SELECT tool on the “rounded rectangle” setting, to select a box inside the image, leaving a fairly wide border
6. Invert the selection
7. Making sure you are working on the white-filled raster layer, delete the selected area – you should be left with a rounded translucent box in the middle of the image
8. Using the TEXT tool and your favorite font (I like French Script MT) add “to:” and “from:” to the translucent box
9. Save the image

TIP: If you are comfortable recording and using scripts, do so the first time you make a tag, so that you won’t have to repeat each step by hand for each image you want to use.

You can get eight tags on one page.  If you don’t have two that are naturally vertical, you’ll have to rotate two of your images before printing if you want to get the most out of a sheet of paper.

Print onto matte card stock.

Next you will punch out your tags.  While it’s easier to work the punch tool when it is right side up, I found doing it upside-down in this case was a better idea.  It allows you to center the image in the best possible way.

Last thing you’ll want to do is punch a small hole in the top of each tag so that you can tie them to your gifts.  Or just skip the hole and attach the tags with double-sided tape.

And there you have it!

Not up for all of this photo-editing stuff? You can skip it and just punch your tags out of heavy scrapbooking paper, or use plain card stock and doodle on it with a handful of Sharpies.  Maybe have your kids color them.

Or, maybe you’d like to use mine?  I’ve made up two pdfs with tags in two different designs.  They’re downloadable below. (Enter your name and email to download for free.)

Tutorials like this represent many hours of work. Consider showing your support by naming your own price. Thank you!

Gift Tags: Ornaments + Santa

Print your own holiday gift tags with two pdfs based on photos I took. One features glittery Christmas ornaments, and the other, a ceramic Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus.

This printable is available here for free, but you can also choose to pay for it. There is a suggested donation, but you may name your own price. I appreciate the support!

Price: $.99

By the way, if you don’t want to buy a special tag-shaped punch, you can cut your photo tags out by hand and just leave them rectangular.  Or use those scissors that have fancy blades and scalloped edges.

Let me share what I’ve been playing with today, because I think it’s really nifty.  Paige Balcer of Shutter Sisters shared this set of Photoshop templates that can be used to make a small photo calendar.  The resulting pages are the perfect size to fit inside a CD jewel case for display.  Alternately, a colorful binder clip or magnet clip can work.  Ooh, and I just thought of this – remember the padding compound from a few years ago?  That would be a great way to make a calendar with tear-off pages!

Anywho, I downloaded the templates, because Paint Shop Pro can read Photoshop .psd files, and inserted some of my favorite photos from this year into the appropriate months.  A January 2010 photo was inserted into the January 2011 calendar, February 2010 photo into February 2011 calendar, and so on. I haven’t done November and December yet, since it’s not really possible without a time machine…  What I did instead, though, was search Shutter Sisters for last year’s calendar (found it here) and made a November and December for 2010 from my 2009 photos.  Now I can use my calendar two days from now, instead of two months from now, which is so much better for those of us who are instant-gratification-inclined…

The great thing about this is its versatility.  I imagine there will be a number of ways to go with this, if you want to turn it into a Christmas gift-giving opportunity…  Kid drawings for a desk calendar for Daddy? Pictures of the kids for the grandparents? I’m definitely going to explore this a bit.

Now, let me share one little thing that I found helpful.  Each calendar template is a single image with two layers.  The bottom layer is white with the calendar on it, and the top layer is transparent with a photo-size blue rectangle in it.  The rectangle is meant as a way to guide your placement of your photo, and then the layer is supposed to be deleted.

I have a way of accurately placing photos that’s a tiny bit more foolproof, and guarantees that your images will always be perfectly aligned, and all pages will be consistent – not a pixel out of place.  I know most people probably don’t care about that, but I am strangely perfectionist about this one thing.  Don’t ask me why.

I opened one of the template files, and applied the following steps:

1. Select the layer called “Photo.”
2. Use the Magic Wand tool with match mode set to opacity to select the blue rectangle.
3. Select the layer called “Calendar”
4. Press the delete key to remove the white portion under the blue rectangle and reveal a transparent section in the Calendar layer.
5. Drag the Calendar layer above the Photo layer.
6. Select the Photo layer and rename it “Instructions.”
7. Insert a new transparent layer in between Instructions and Calendar and name it “Photo.”

(I didn’t do these steps by hand for every month – I recorded them to a script and just ran the script for each template.)

The image above shows the difference between the original layers and my layers.

Now inserting a photo is as simple as resizing it slightly larger than the instructions call for, and plopping it down on the Photo layer.  There is no need to delete the blue rectangle because the photo will be blocking it.  Plus, the calendar on top now acts as a frame and the photo can never extend beyond its boundaries.  Depending on how much larger than the opening the photo is, you can move the image around for optimal placement within the frame.

I hope that makes as much sense to you as it does to me – sometimes these things are hard to articulate! If my explanation is gobbledeygook, just ask and I will try to clarify

I don’t know if you’ll see this Paige, but thank you for the templates. As soon as I get more printer ink I’ll be hanging up my calendar – love it!

Pennamite

I think I find it easier to write these little blurbs for people who I only know through their blogs.  I’ve been staring at this page for 15 minutes unsure of where to start.

Penny and I met on a message board for mothers of babies born in March 2000 (mine actually showed up two weeks early in February – they let me stick around anyway).  We’ve exchanged CDs and enjoyed each others’ musical taste.  She’s given me valuable advice when I’ve needed it.  We’ve only met in person once.

I’ve always found Penny to be an interesting person.  And in that regard, with such content as My appalling birthplace (sixth in an infinite series) and Mocha Antlers Hat, her blog doesn’t disappoint.

If you’ve been here for any length of time, you might remember Penny’s winning bag from the Big Button Challenge we had in the Spring of 2009.

Q&A With Penny Richards

Penny is super creative, with a knack for thrift shopping, and a bold sense of style (not to mention an enviable collection of hats & shoes).  So let’s get on with the questions, shall we?

When and why did you start your blog?

I started blogging about disability topics at Disability Studies, Temple U., at the invitation of my friend Mike Dorn in 2005.  He thought it would suit my listserv editor’s love of sharing tidbits and gathering up links, and he was right.   I still blog there, too, but have since added… gulp… nine other blogs to my profile.  Pennamite is my personal blog; I have two project blogs (Letters from Sanquhar and Mordecai Female Academy), where I’m unfolding some history projects in blog format; I manage blogs for some local organizations (South Bay Hands on Art, Huntington Women’s Studies Seminars) and contribute to others (Art of Making Change, Madison School CSA).  I also sometimes contribute posts to The Thrifty Garde Robe and Indicommons, which aren’t local.  I think that’s it!

Has your blog evolved significantly since you began it, and if so, how?

Probably answered that above.  I like the possibilities of the blog format for seeing someone’s work evolve, and for gathering contributions and feedback from a wider audience.   But I also like having separate, very focused blogs for separate projects.

How does your blog fit in to your daily life?

Posting when the mood strikes, pretty much.  Blogging is a volunteer thing, I don’t want to feel obligated to it.  Some months I’ll have dozens of blog posts in me; some months, I might get around to doing five posts total.  If someone wants more from me, they can send me a check.

Is blogging something you can easily explain to your family and friends?

My mother comments on my personal blog!   Cracks me up.  Honestly, I don’t know who all reads what, anymore.  I guess a lot of folks read whatever gets linked at Facebook.  I just try to remember it’s all out there and anyone CAN read it, anytime.  That’s good for keeping me honest and civil.

How important are reader comments to you?

Comments are fun!  But would I blog without them?  Sure.  I like writing and I like making sites that reflect my interests and projects–that’s the main focus.  And it’s handy to have your favorite tutorials and lists and photos and recipes and whatnot all in a linkable, searchable format.

In what ways has blogging enhanced your life, if any?

The disability studies blog was a great place to start, and remains a valuable outlet for me.  I developed several posts from there into encyclopedia entries, for example.  The way blogs let you participate in larger conversations is also a joy (most of the time!).  I love organizing the Disability Blog Carnival (though I haven’t hosted an edition in years), and hosting editions of the History Carnival, and joining in blogswarms for various causes.

What are your thoughts about the ways blogging has morphed into a part of the whole social media picture?

I used to blog more, but now I find some of those functions are better served with Twitter or Facebook; many of my blog posts are only images from Flickr, which I started on because of YOU, Mrs. Clarke.  And… If I hadn’t started on Flickr, I wouldn’t have found the Flickr Commons, and then I wouldn’t have started making purses with their images, and then I wouldn’t have my Etsy shop.   So you and your blog are responsible for that, in many ways!

Thank you, Penny!  I enjoyed your answers, in particular the last one.  I will be keeping an eye out for my commission check

Want more?  You can find Penny in the following places:

• Blog: Pennamite
• Shop: Pennamite
• And all of those blogs listed in answer to the first question!

And yet, for all of my desire, I remained paralyzed.  Do I work on the new polymer clay cane design I had? Do I try tub dying? Do I jump into an image transfer project? Do I learn to knit, try crochet, buy myself a sewing machine? Ack!  It was all too much.  There were so many possibilities, I just didn’t know where to start.

Within a few months I managed to procure a sewing machine, and that was the trigger that unleashed a torrent of crafty projects that carried me easily through the next eight months.  It was a fabulous ride.

So here I am now, almost exactly three years later, and history is repeating itself.  I will liberate my sewing supplies from the basement and dive into one of the projects that has been taunting me for the last many weeks.  I will!  But not today.

No, today I got my geek on instead (which is often what I do when I am having trouble taking action).  Remember when I redesigned the blog and the shop a few months ago?  I thought that I could live with the two spaces looking significantly different from each other…  Turns out I can’t.  So, since I really like the blog’s design, I reworked the shop to look like that.  I’m mostly finished now, and I really like it!  It took a while, but I think I’ve struck a pleasing balance between content and white space.

And now in comparison, the blog looks too cluttered to me – go figure!  I suspect that will nag at me now, too, until I do something about it.  It never ends, eh?

Anyway.  Yes.  Sewing.  Soon, I promise. 

[In the time it took me to write this, my seven-year-old grabbed a stack of scrap paper, a pair of scissors and a glue stick, and launched into an ambitious craft project of his own accord.  Clearly he does not share my Seasonal Inspirational Overload Disorder.  I'm going to go hang out with him for a while and hope he rubs off on me!]

Over the course of this past autumn, I swore off shampoo, deodorant, and moisturizer.  I know. Either you’ve done this before yourself and are thinking “good for you” or you’ve never done it and are thinking I’m crazy (not to mention stinky).

Well, maybe I am a little bit crazy, but I smell just fine.  Plus, my hair is clean, and my skin has not felt this smooth in ages.

At some point, I do want to talk a little bit about what I’m doing with my hair (baking soda followed by vinegar, similar to Simple Mom), and my face (currently almond coconut milk soap followed by straight-up coconut oil), but for this post, I thought I’d focus on the deodorant issue.  Why?  Mainly because I made my deodorant look pretty this weekend, but I still don’t have a nice bottle for my “shampoo.”

You do know it’s all about the photo shoot, right? 

I’m not sure what made me try this powder.  I suppose it was the fact that the ingredients were simple, on-hand, and cheap.  And if it didn’t work, I’d have lost very little in the trying.  And trust me, I was a huge skeptic.  I’ve spent the last few years depending on stronger and stronger antiperpirants, right up until I was left the only option that didn’t disappoint me: the clinical strength stuff.  I could not imagine that a puff of powder from my kitchen would be even a little bit effective.

You can probably guess where I’m going with this… it worked!  I have used it every day for six months, and I have not been disappointed. Admittedly, I have not gone through a hot summer yet, and maybe I’ll change my tune a bit when I’m perspiring more regularly, but the sweaty situations I have experienced so far have been just fine. [I'll update here, if I discover otherwise once the hot weather arrives.]

To make the powder

Combine 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup corn starch in a glass container.  Add five or so drops of lavender essential oil, close the lid, and shake up the powder to thoroughly mix all of the ingredients.  Cinnamon, rose, and birch are also good options to try for their antibacterial properties and may be substituted for the lavender.

For my second batch, I used the last few drops of a honesuckle fragrance oil I’ve been hording since 1995.  I realize that cuts down on the all-naturalness of it, but the scent makes me happy, and I can live with that.

To apply the powder

Since my first batch was a test, I just used what I had handy: cotton balls.  I shook up the powder a bit, dipped the cotton ball into it, and patted it under my arm.  You can do the same with a powder puff, or if you’re kind of a nut, you can make your own applicator to match your bathroom.

I (being kind of a nut) eventually made an applicator.  I used a flower loom, but you can also use size 13 dpns in the round:

1. Cast on 12 stitches with a double-strand of cotton yarn, and knit 20 rounds.
2. Knit the next round of live stitches into the original cast-on stitches, rather than into the working yarn.  This will give you a folded-up double thickness of fabric, making your puff resemble a doughnut.  If you’re confused, think of it as making a hem. For a more detailed explanation, see these instructions for a tuck stripe (if using needles) or these directions for knitting a brim (if using a loom).
3. Bind off using the gather method.

You can use the gathered end as a handle, and dip the flared-out end into the powder.  If you make two, you can swap them out every now and then and toss them in the laundry.

Things to think about

If you’ve been using antiperspirants, you have to get used to the feel of sweat under your arms.  Deodorant (powder or otherwise) doesn’t stop you from sweating like an antiperspirant does.  Instead, it allows you to sweat, and then goes to work to neutralize any odor.  There were a few times in the beginning, when I would feel moisture under my arms and be sure that I must be rather “ripe,” but I wasn’t.  Just a little damp.

Depending on how much you sweat, you might have to re-apply the powder later in the day.  When I was using the clinical strength stuff, I could skip a day if I wanted to, and it would still be working.  That’s not the case with the deodorant powder, but it’s not really a big deal.  Put it on once in the morning, and once again in the evening, if necessary.  For me, a second application has only been necessary on rare days.

Gift-giving

A jar of powder, an applicator, a washcloth, and a bar of natural soap would make a nice gift for someone.  You can make everything yourself, or buy some of it from other crafty types.  Here are a few resources:

• The book Better Basics for the Home has a few chapters and skin/body care and includes this deodorant powder recipe as well as a coconut-oil-based moisturizing cream I’ve been wanting to try.
• This ballband dishcloth pattern makes a nice washcloth.  The pattern is also in Mason-Dixon Knitting.
• If you would rather buy a wash cloth, Carrie of Wash my Cloth crochets some nice ones, and often includes the soap and a soap dish as part of a set.
• If you plan on giving a lot of these, you can get a dozen glass jars at The Jar Store.
• There are a lot of handmade natural soaps on Etsy, but I’ve been experiencing unusually silky-smooth results under the influence of Rochelle Rose Almond Coconut Milk lately.

And just one little thing you might want to keep in mind – if you are giving a jar of deodorant powder as a gift, you might want to avoid calling it “Deodorant Powder.”  You wouldn’t want your giftee to read it as “you smell bad, please apply this as soon as possible.”  Just label it “Lavender Body Powder” and put “also effective as a deodorant” somewhere inconspicuous on the back of the tag…

Supplies

• fabric fat quarters (I used Amy Butler’s Daisy Chain)
• coordinating ribbons
• printable gift tags (I used Eat Drink Chic’s Love and Ice Cream)

Directions

1. Use a fat quarter to wrap each gift, in the same manner that you would use wrapping paper, but don’t tape it closed.
2. Sign the tag, punch a hole in it, and thread it onto the ribbon.
3. Tie the ribbon around the package in such a way as to secure the fabric flaps.

Voila!  Beautifully-wrapped gifts.  With luck, the recipient will give you back your fat quarters so you can use them again for another occasion

We’ve been on our own, the boys and I, since Thursday, when Neil left for the World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal.  We have separations like this from time to time, but this has been the longest one.  Even though we got to see him every day via Skype, we’re pretty much ready to have him back in person.

We thought it might be nice to welcome him home with a little bit of fanfare.

This is the birthday bunting I made about six months ago.  Today, the kids and I each decorated a third of the letters in the words, and used masking tape to attach them to the fabric.  When we’re done celebrating Neil’s homecoming, we can take off those letters and replace them with a new message.

The hardest part of the whole process is figuring out where and how to hang it up!

I’ve got a tendency to obsess.  That’s Neil‘s word, not mine, and while I don’t like the negative connotations of it, I’m at a loss to find another term that fits.  So obsession it is, I guess.  Polymer clay, sewing, knitting, website design…   I love making beautiful things, and I know that sometimes I am driven to do nothing but make beautiful things.  This is a problem.

If there were no such entities as laundry, dishwashing, and sole proprietorships, a fixation with living an artful life might be perfectly acceptable.   The truth is, though, that I neglect these less interesting responsibilities until they get entirely out of hand.  What starts as a few innocent dishes in the sink becomes, within a day or two, a mountain of cups and bowls so high that I can’t even rotate the faucet.  And the stress caused by living among such clutter and unfinished business has me retreating further into the safe, comfortable routine of making things.

…obsessive crafting => ignored responsibilities, clutter, mess & guilt => obsessive crafting to make myself feel better => ignored responsibilities, clutter, mess & guilt…

Oh, friends, this circle is just not good!

This weekend, I was taking a long drive by myself, and I suddenly felt an intense craving for simplicity.  And for true happiness.  I have nearly everything I ever wanted (with one notable exception that I wish I could just. get. over. already) – I should be deliriously happy, really!  But so often I’m just not.  I finally decided that something had to give.  Something had to change.  And the more I considered it, the more I started to feel that Balance was key: Pay more attention to the tedious responsibilities in life, feel more in control of my environment, live with less clutter, feel less guilt, get one step closer to happy delirium.

And so “Balance” has become my mantra.  And my lovely little Mantra Quilt wall-hanging as well.  (Heather of Beauty That Moves made it, and there are more in her shop, if you have a mantra of your own.)  I bought it in the hopes that seeing that word each morning will urge me not to hyperfocus on any one thing for the day.  And since I know myself well enough to realize that I need a little more structure than this pretty but subtle reminder, I’ve started what I like to call Project Balance…

I’m on Day Two now, and so far so good.  I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I work well with a checklist.  I’ve come up with a complex series of task lists spanning different times of day and different types of responsibilities:business, household, personal growth.  The idea is that once I’ve done the things on the lists, then I’m free to spend the rest of my time however I like.  And that includes knitting a big pile of hats, sewing more skirts, or drilling holes in polymer clay buttons, if that’s what I want to do!

Already my house is cleaner, my business is on track, and I am coming to my free time feeling like I really deserve it.  I feel healthier.  Balanced.  And it’s only been two days!  I truly hope that I am still saying this in a week, a month, at the end of the summer, next Christmas, and beyond!  My track record for sticking with things is not so hot, so wish me luck…

So.  How about you?  As long as we’re spilling our guts today, everything ok in your lives?