Craftsy is starting to sell patterns, and the Blue Brick pattern store is ready! Only 4 patterns are up so far but I’m looking forward to building a fun collection :)
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In the tradition of my other Inspira pieces I’ve created a bracelet inspired by the Lake of Quidi Vidi in St. Johns, Newfoundland:
Tito and I shot the lake during the blue hour. It was a very serene spot. I love the deep blues and the reflections in the water.
The Quidi Vidi bracelet was created using chocolate Japanese delicas, sterling silver bead caps, ocean blue Swarovski crystals and quartz crystal stones.
Western Canada is breathtaking – but give me the East Coast any day, that is where my heart lives :)
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Sexy and cute, designed to sit above the boot line and hug the back or side of your calf with ornamental cables and optional split lacing design. The boot toppers use up less than one skein of a luxurious sport weight yarn; Malabrigo’s new Arroyo and are finished by adding a bit of lace to tie up the backs. They’re worked flat on 2 needles. Use one skein for boot toppers, or 2 skeins for full length leg warmers – it’s up to you!
The cable is worked every right side row, resulting in something that looks deceptively complex but is easy to work. I named them after a dear friend who I shared my goth days with, and I think she would appreciate the design :)
If you’re a member of Ravelry you can purchase it here.
If you’re not, you can purchase it here:
Enjoy!
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West Indians will never refer to taking a photo. They always say ‘take out the photo’ – implying that the photo is a thing somehow extracted from the camera via magic. I think they’re onto something. Oh, and of course I’m not a photographer, I’m a ‘Photo-take-outter’. =D
This week I realized that the thing I love the most is the thing I blog the least about – photography! To remedy this oversight I’d like to start a new section where I get to share more about my favourite craft – taking beautiful pictures. Every Friday from now on will feature a photograph – with detail on whatever techniques/software/equipment I used to get the shot. I’ll try to include mini-tutorials, references and product reviews where it makes sense, and maybe even a little bit about why that photo was special to me :)
HDR, Macro, Photoshop, false bokeh, lens reviews… it’s all coming to the Blue Brick for ‘Photo-take-outter’ Friday!
‘Photo-take-outter’ Friday – Issue #1
For photo 1 I decided to use a shot from my beautiful hometown, Toronto.
This photo was taken during my favourite time of day for shooting: the Blue Hour. The Blue Hour is that magical time when the sky turns a deep, saturated blue and architecture just shines. I usually shoot in tungsten mode for this – it amplifies the intensity of the blues and tones back any yellow lights in the shot.
I took this with my faithful Canon 7D, and the Tokina 12-24 mm wide angle lens. I’ve had that lens since 2008 and I absolutely love it. Not only has it stood the test of time beautifully, but it delivers an incredibly sharp image for a non-prime lens.
The shot was taken in 3 increments, for a 3 photo vertical stitch. Before taking the 3 shots I locked my exposure by pressing the little button labelled with an asterisk on the 7D. Most cameras have some equivalent, but if yours doesn’t then you might have to do a little exposure matching in Photoshop later. I also used a tripod, and a remote shutter release so even my hands wouldn’t shake the camera.
The stitch itself was easy. I used Photoshop’s photomerge function on the default settings and it looked a great. A little straightening using the free transform tool and I was done!
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Last Christmas I bought my mom a digital camera for our vacation. Because I knew there would be snorkelling trips, I chose the waterproof Fuji FinePix XP30. I chose it because I bought the XP10 before going to Hawaii, and for such an affordable little camera I was pleased with the results.
The idea of snorkelling without being able to take pictures was a horrible thought to me, but the waterproof casing for my 7D was, the last I checked, completely beyond my finances (>4000 ish). By comparison I bought my mom the XP30 for about $150 Canadian.
The little camera is dust proof, shock proof and apparently freeze proof, in addition to being waterproof up to 10 feet. It takes pretty decent photos above water as well – here is a pic of a little hermit crab that we intruded upon.
The main problem I found with the underwater photos is the strong green tint, but you can see that I’ve fixed that with a little tinkering on a levels adjustment layer. A little work in photoshop produces a dramatic effect. Without it though, the photos are pretty green and the bright colour of sea creatures are muted.
The camera can certainly take a beating. We dropped ours, soaked it and left it in the sun for a while and it took it all in stride.
The main area on this camera that I couldn’t groove on is the underwater video. The sound of the motor in the camera when you zoom in and out is very loud in the video. The zoom quality is not great and the video is harder to colour correct than the photos are. However, for the price, and the fact that underwater video is tough for many reasons (stability, white balance etc.) I’d say it’s pretty good value for the price.
These photos were taken in Hawaii with the camera’s predecessor, the XP 10 – you can see the shots are gorgeous, albeit not very high res.
All in all I’d recommend this little guy. Mom had a blast with it, and so did we!
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I love hyacinths. Love love love. I love the scent, I love the colours, I love the shape of the little flowers, they are my very favourite flower. Tito found one for me at a Sobeys and brought it home – and of course before the blooms were done I had to press a few and make some jewellery :)
Preparing the hyacinth is tough. The blooms are small and delicate, and lose their colour if allowed to dry out too much. Press them too soon however and the juices in the petal make it stick to your pressing surface. I definitely had to work to find a sweet spot.
I love how these turned out – the colours are just gorgeous! The texture of the petals came through as well. I’ll definitely try this again, but with one of the bluer tones.
The care of a potted hyacinth is very easy, but I was dismayed to find out that store-bought indoor plants will really only bloom once. Something about the way the bulb is treated ‘forces’ it to bloom out of season and the result is a plant that will not bloom again afterwards. I don’t have a lot of experience with plants – does anyone know if this is true? Should I keep watering the plant, or say goodbye to it? So long as it looks alive I’m keeping it, even if it doesn’t bloom again. Anything else would feel mean.
The one above was a lark – I made that by crushing dried petals from the already dead blooms and mixing them in with the resin. The colour wasn’t retained as well, but the texture is interesting and I thought it was a worthwhile experiment.
Next up will be experiments using orchids, which I’ve never managed to keep alive, so I’m really crossing my fingers here ;)
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I hardly used the big camera on my trip – somehow walking around with 20 lbs of equipment in the caribbean didn’t seem as much of a groovy idea as it normally does. I think it’s because I was in tourist town, so there wasn’t much chance of wildlife. However I did manage a few shots that I was really proud of, and here they are!
I came back to a real storm at the office so postings have been thin and few, for which I apologize. I’ve got great things that I can post about soon though, including a new knitting pattern and jewellery made from hyacinth petals :)
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Last week my parents, Tito and I went on a family vacation – on the Ruby Princess for a week in the caribbean. It was mom’s call to do a cruise, and I never thought I would enjoy it. I love to backpack and I was worried that a cruise would be restrictive, crowded and boring. I couldn’t have been more wrong!
This boat had everything. Movie theatres, heated pools, a library, an art gallery, live performance venues, a spa, a gym, a bunch of restaurant and nightclub options, a few different bars, and even minigolf, (though I bet that would be frustrating, on a ship). There were 5000 folks or so on this boat with us and not once did we have to line up to get on or off the boat, to eat or to be served. No matter what kind of traveller you are, it’s hard not to enjoy being pampered so thoroughly. No matter what you like to do; quiet time with a book or mega party in the pool, this ship accommodates it.
My parents had so much fun that they’re already planning their next cruise. I think they’ve got the bug ;) This is my number one favourite pic of the vacation – they look so happy here, I love it!
Tito and I will be doing another one for sure as well – I think this is a great way to see places that otherwise might not be as easy to access – like Alaska. From a ship you can appreciate the beauty of glaciers and the arctic ocean – something I have always wanted to photograph. Not to mention northern lights….
We booked with Princess Cruises, and our ship was the Ruby Princess. Think of a hotel where everyone is positive and helpful, all the food is included, everyone is attending to your every tiny need and you wake up every day in a different paradise. Then you can really understand the appeal of cruising. We paid only for alcohol, shore activities, shopping and soda. We were amazed at how affordable the trip ended up being, for such a great and varied experience.
The gorgeous scenery inspired me to start putting colour pallets together again – not just for jewellery but (shhh!) I’m thinking of taking another crack at dying yarn! I’ll definitely post about my experiments, be they Kool-Aid or food colouring, or maybe I’ll brave the powdered dye kit I bought at the KW Fair 2 years ago….
The caribbean certainly offers no end of inspiration. Tomorrow I’ll share some of the wildlife we caught, on land and in the sea!
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Says a tired Tito to his friends. As if being tied to an insane photographer isn’t the best life ever! Well, I guess I can understand not wanting to drive up north, late at night, the same night that you’ve got a red-eye flight to Florida. pbbbtttthhhh.
We didn’t find them that night, but we did get some great shots nonetheless. We ended up driving to the Cheltenham Badlands for some midnight shooting.
Apparently poor farming practices have led to the incredible erosion that you see here. It forms a beautiful landscape, especially covered in snow.
These are the badlands as I shot them last October. You can really see the amount of iron in the soil, causing the intense reddish colour.
Lots of hiking trails lead in and out of the area, and it’s close to the beautiful Terra Cotta Conservation area.
We shot til a few hours before mom and dad came to pick up at 3 am ;) Then, less than 24 hours later, I was here:
But that is a post for tomorrow ;)
The Blue Brick 