a peek into snap shot delight & a giveaway!

My latest class Snap Shot Delight goes live this Friday, June 21st! I've had so much fun creating this class and am excited to share all of my favorite creative tips and techniques  for taking photos. I can't give everything away but I wanted to share a little peek into one of my lessons on capturing details- below are two of my favorite EASY ways to take macro photographs.

P.S. I'm giving away 5 free spots in the class! Scroll to the bottom of the post for details on how to win!

Did you know that you can reverse your lens so that the back points outward and the front points inward? Its a really economic alternative to buying an expensive macro lens- there are all kinds of adapters and reverse rings for the process. Using a reverse ring is the "correct" way to reverse your lens but I actually don't own a reverse ring! Years ago I was teaching myself to take macro photographs and I had every intention of ordering a reverse ring for my camera but I started experimenting with taking photos without an adaptor. I tend to break lots of rules and am always trying to find fast ways to get results so I started experimented with reversing my lens and then tightly holding it in place to take macro photos. It worked so well for me that I never got around to ordering my reverse ring!

The key to this technique is holding your lens as tight as possible so that you are not letting light in. It is also best to have a steady hand since focussing depends on you and how close you are to the subject matter.

I typically have to take a handful of photos to get something that I like and I do a lot of fiddling with my light to get a shot that I am happy with. 

But the result is pretty darn wonderful and after practice, really easy and great for on the go macro photos!

These days there are ALL sorts of really neat bells and whistles you can incorporate into your camera phone photography, it seems you don't even need a fancy DSLR camera!
My favorite tool when taking macro photos with my iphone is a "macro cell lens band". 

 It's basically a rubber band with a built in macro lens (a plastic magnifying glass) it works with any mobile phone and is SUPER easy to use to capture the tiniest of details! 

I own a couple of these little bands and try to keep one in my purse and one the in car so I am able to take a macro shot at any time!

The result is BEAUTIFUL macro photos that are perfect inspiration for color, texture and pattern!

Class is on sale for $30 until June 22nd!
For all the details on Snap Shot Delight head on over to my SHOP



I am giving away 5 free spots in class! 
Leave me a comment- tell me your favorite subject matter to photograph
I'll randomly draw 5 names and announce the winners this weakend!


Class is on sale for $30 until 

wood burned blocks

My daughter Lucy loves to to build and stack things (blocks, legos, boxes, etc) so I couldn't resist making her some unique blocks. With just a few simple supplies I was able to create a whimsical little city that she loves to play with!

1. We do a lot of DIY projects around here and that means we have all kinds of scrap wood! I started by digging through our stash of bits and pieces and found a variety of different shapes and sizes. TIP- don't have scrap wood laying around? Try heading to your local lumber yard or home improvement store and dig through their scrap bin- typically located in the lumber aisle. Often they will sell them to you cheap or free if you ask nice!

2. Next I sanded all the rough edges and spots.

3. I pulled out my wood burning tool and let it heat up. Yes, I could have used paint or even pens but I love the look and feel of the burned wood- its something you cannot replicate with any other material.

4. I went to work drawing whimsical little houses and buildings with my wood burning tool. WORD OF WARNING- it can be a slow process to "draw" into wood and depending on the type of wood and the grain, it can be challenging.

The result is a set of wonderful and whimsical blocks perfect for a kiddo or even an adult!

Looking for more wood burning projects?

1. garden arrow markers  2. wooden bangles  3. wood burned spoons

fashion friday- tie dye love

source 1.   2.   3.   4.  5.  6.   7.   8.   9. 

exploring we will go

A while back we made the promise to each other to always make time to seek adventure as a family 

(you can read about it here). Exploration and going outside is a big part of our daily lives and 

once in a while I like to share a little peek into our adventures.

washi tape pencil pouch

I love washi tape (just like everyone else) and I am always looking for new ways to use it!  Since I've been known to sew with just about anything (I wrote a book on it!) I decided to try a sewing project with washi tape!

I treated this just like any of my sewing projects that involve sewing with bits and pieces of fabric or paper- lots of layers of color and shapes with messy stitching over the top.

1. I started by cutting a piece of quilt batting to my desired size (I made a pencil pouch but you could make just about anything).

2. Next, using washi tape, I covered my batting with the tape. There are all kinds of ways to do this- create a pattern, make stripes, go wild with pieces of tape, etc.

The best part is that the washi tape sticks to the surface of the batting (obviously) so there is no pinning things into place!

3. Next, I stitched all over the surface of the tape. There are a couple of ways that you could tackle this step- clean straight lines or messy free motion stitching (my preference).

I went WILD with stitching all over the tape and even added more layers of tape!

4. Last, I sewed my quilted "washi tape" surface into a pencil pouch.

a peek inside my sketchbook