Homespun

You may have noticed that it has been a little quiet around here…on the blog, through social media, and at the studio. The truth is I have had to do a lot of thinking in the past few weeks. As you all probably know, I have poured my heart into Homespun. I have LOVED working with all of the artists that I’ve met and think they are all wonderfully talented. I have enjoyed (SO MUCH!) getting to know my Heights community. But sometimes opportunity knocks. You know it’s the right move, but it still hurts a little.

So…Homespun, as you know it, will be no more. Whew, there it is. I wrote the artists last week to tell them that consignment is ending and some of them have already picked up their wares. However, I still want to support the crafty/artist community in our neighborhood.  I will continue to offer up the space (at a VERY reasonable rate) to anyone that wants to hold a class (business or craft) in the studio. Sarah has mentioned teaching a sewing course in there soon and I have also had some other inquiries. If you have a course or workshop suggestion, by all means tell me and I will see what I can figure out. I will also be taking a more hands-off approach than I have before with classes. I am suggesting that instructors go through Skillshare to run their class/workshop. But I will gladly promote events on our Facebook page and calendar.

Now on to the opportunity that’s been knocking! Some of you may know this already, but I have been helping my friend Alicia with her new company, Whimseybox, on a very part-time basis. I have been super excited about it since she told our mastermind group late last year. She launched in December 2011. Fast forward to April and we will be shipping over 500 Whimseyboxes next week! In addition, Alicia applied (and was accepted to!) a start-up accelerator. For those of you who don’t know what that is, here is a short overview and a list of some of the top programs. This is where I come in. She has found a developer to join the team also and now we are three. While the two of them are busy for the summer (jealous?!), I will be holding down the fort here in Houston. Full-time. I’m all in. I will be wearing a lot of hats (in traditional start-up fashion) so I don’t have an official “title” yet. We are sort of figuring it out as we go along, but I have a pretty clear idea about what I’ll be doing in the near future. Just please don’t get mad at me if you are already a Whimseybox subscriber and your box gets screwed up this summer. Deal? J

So, please don’t be sad for me. I am incredibly excited to start this new journey that would have never been possible had Homespun never existed! Seriously. Crafts + business + technology? That’s right up my alley. And to get to do it with a person that I regard highly and consider a good friend is an extra special bonus. How blessed am I? Thank you to all who have supported us! XOXO!

Better late than never I suppose. I am a little late on this post because my week was filled with something I don’t wish on anybody: the flu. It was not I that had it, but worse – my daughter.

She went from this.

To this. A pic that I snapped yesterday. She has been battling this nasty bug since last Tuesday. She will probably kill me for this picture one day…

This is what she wanted for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If she even ate at all. Chicken noodle soup (photo taken on top of my vintage O’Keefe & Merritt stove. I heart it.).

To kill time, K-bug and I took silly-face pictures. She can raise one eyebrow like her momma. Comes in handy with the husband sometimes.

She also had a fairy-tale dress up day at school. Naturally she wore the flamenco dress that my mom got her from Spain.

Daddy brought flowers + a balloon on Friday since he had been out of town again all week. Her sister also brought home get well letters from her teacher and classmates.

I think someone else is happy that daddy is home, too. Yep. This is our lab…I have never seen another dog (big or small!) that has to cuddle like he does.

We are back to the doc today to see if there is something else going on besides the flu. Wish us luck. And we hope to open Homespun back up sometime this week!

Would you like to see more of what I am up to? Follow me on Instagram.

Leave your Instagram username in the comments and I will be sure to check out your pics also!

cool – these 0-9 number stamps from Present & Correct.

make – this diy feather arrow necklace tutorial from Oh The Lovely Things.

want – these think big vintage wooden letters from Vintage Marvels.

inspire – this sign via pinterest. author unknown.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned trying to DIY these spoons for an upcoming school auction. Here are the results! And tutorials. This was so easy that even I couldn’t mess it up. Here’s the tutorial:

After scouring the antique stores around Houston with no luck, I finally settled on these $2 spoons at my local restaurant supply store. As an added bonus I found a rolling pin that looked great painted also!

For the paint, I used acrylic since it is non-toxic. I used Americana brand in White Wash, Lamp (Ebony) Black, and Tomato Red.

I mixed one part paint, one part Multi-Purpose Sealer (also Americana brand) to help the paint with adhesion.

Using labels to tape off where I wanted the paint to stop is something I learned from Alicia.

Add a couple coats of paint.

And Viola! I told you it was super easy. I just wish I could have kept these for myself. These went into my daughter’s class auction basket.

P.S. Please make sure you hand wash only! No dishwasher for these babies.

What a week it has been! Busy with Homespun and with life in general. Pair that with an out of town husband and it was downright craziness. But, I did manage to capture a few moments to share with you.

Last Friday night we were back at Antidote. But instead of coffee and hot chocolate we had beers and Coca-Cola.

Saturday morning, I played host to a product photography workshop. Linnea + Christina were brilliant.

It’s been a little gloomy in Houston. This sweet bungalow brightened my run though.

This gentleman had headphones on. But I snuck up on em. He was repairing bricks. This old store is one of my favorite buildings in our neighborhood and is right around the corner from our house. I want to go in it sometime.

In the studio and about to start that DIY I talked about before. I will be posting that soon.

And finally, last night we had a crafts + cocktails event with Alicia from Dismount Creative (and Whimseybox!!). A SUPER fun time! Yep we made those bracelets. And here we are in the middle of making feather earrings.

Would you like to see more of what I am up to? Follow me on Instagram.

Leave your Instagram username in the comments and I will be sure to check out your pics also!

Vintage camera with retro pink polka dots by Libertad Leal, photo available at Homespun.

I know you all wish you could have been at our product photography workshop over the weekend, right? Well, I think it went so well and I learned so much that I am going to share some of it with you. Linnea and Christina did SUCH a wonderful job at dumbing it down for me! And when it comes down to talking f/stops or shutter speeds, that’s exactly what I need! Here’s the condensed version:

Why is product photography so important?

Your photographs of your goods reflect your brand. This is where your personality and values truly shine through. And because your potential customers cannot pick up and touch your goods, your photos are all that they have to go on.

Want your products featured on a prominent blog? Great photos will get you there. They want their site to look good, too.

The hard part: technical stuff.

Let’s see if I get all this right. First we will start with light, the most important factor when it comes to great photos. And natural light is best. If you are shooting outside, the best time of day is going to be in the beginning or end of the day. Light that is too bright can be harsh. If you are shooting inside, try to use a large window in order to get good light. Again, if you are finding that the light is too bright then you can use a piece of wax paper (or white sheet) to soften it.

Next up, The Exposure Triangle – ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture.

• ISO – How sensitive your camera is to light. What I took away from the workshop: An ISO of 100 is normal. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive to light your camera is. For the purpose of product photography we would not want to go above 200-400 or we risk getting a grainy look. The closer your ISO is to 100, the clearer and sharper your photos will be.
• Shutter Speed – How fast your shutter is opening and closing. What I took away from the workshop: Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of seconds (1/60, 1/100, 1/1000). A long shutter speed is going to let more light in and should only be used with a tripod, unless you want blurry photos. Aim for a high shutter speed so that you don’t have to worry about that.
• Aperture – The size of the opening of the lens. What I took away from the workshop: Apertures are measured in f-stops. A lower aperture let’s in more light, but less of the photo is in focus. A higher aperture let’s in less light and more of the photo is in focus. This setting can be fun to play with if you are shooting products up close. And another cool thing I learned is that most cameras have an Aperture Priority setting that allows you to change the aperture and automatically the ISO and Shutter Speed to what it needs to be.

I should also note that all three of these are interconnected. If you change one of them, it is likely that you will have to change the others. So best advice is practice! Play around with your camera’s settings and use the above information to understand what you are seeing and eventually get the results you want. For even more technical info this website is SUPER helpful.

 Tips for a great shoot.

• Your photos should be a reflection of your values and personality. What do you want someone to think when they look at them? Classy, edgy, modern, fun, vintage? Who is your ideal customer?
• Be sure props don’t take anything away from your product. They should enhance, not overpower.
• Your products should not blend in with your background. A background that contrast your product is best, especially for closeups. And don’t be afraid to make your own if you don’t have a great background. Think painted wood, a piece of furniture, or chalkboard.
• Aim for four photos of each product, showing all angles. Remember, your online customer cannot pick it up.
• Put your products on people. It helps with scale. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the size online.
• Be consistent in the background you choose when shooting products of the same collection.
• Look up the Rule of Thirds.
• Keep editing very basic. You want your customers to see what they are buying, not your artistic representation of it.
• Aim for 300 dpi when re-sizing, giving your photo the highest resolution possible.

There is so much more that I could share with you. Crazy, huh? I feel like this post  is a really long one. You will just have to come to the next one that we have. We also got to play around with our own cameras with Linnea and Christina helping us figure out how to use them, which is sort of hard to describe on a blog. HUGE, ENORMOUS, GIGANTIC thanks to these ladies for helping us out. Later gator!

Lately I have been taking a lot of pictures using Instagram in an attempt to start appreciating the beauty in the ordinary things of everyday life. And I think it’s working! Here is what I did outside of Homespun this past week.

Snapped this picture of Ginny at a 1920′s themed party.

Saw this on a run around the neighborhood with my husband. (Titled: Try and…)

Had “Happy Presidents Day” beers at Onion Creek after our run.

Enjoyed a coffee (hot chocolate for her!) at Antidote, my most favoritest coffee hangout.

Went shopping for antique wooden spoons at Grace Hart & Company.

Treated my girls to an afternoon sweet at Cricket’s Creamery.

Went on a field trip to the zoo (sorry about the elephant’s rear end…).

Got ready for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo BBQ Cook-off.

Would you like to see more of what I am up to? Follow me on Instagram.

Leave your Instagram username in the comments and I will be sure to check out your pics also!

And…don’t forget about our Product Photography Workshop THIS Saturday! XO!

1. Want – The Nest XXL by Zilalila.

2. Wear – Natural Rainbow Necklace by Jenny Hoople.

3. Home - Not All Who Wander Are Lost Wall Hanging by Ruggles Made.

4. Make – DIY Yarn Wrapped Bottles from Penelope and Pip.

It’s school auction time round these parts. I know what you are thinking…lame, right? No! Our school is SUPER cool and is even holding the event at this place! I am struggling with what to add to my second grader’s class basket though. You see, I am the class mom and I should really add something great. Our theme is a baking basket. Here are my thoughts…

This “From The Kitchen Of:” Stamp Kit from Yellow Owl Workshop.

Plus these recipe cards, also from Yellow Owl Workshop.

And here is the questionable DIY. Original product from Milk Farm Road.

How hard could this be, right? I’ll let you know if this turns out disastrous (which has been known to happen when I attempt DIYs) or not. And keeping on trend with the subject of auctions, I am hoping our auctioneer is as funny as Maya Randolph is in this preschool auction clip from an episode of Up All Night that I watched last night. Wish me luck!

Maybe I should have posted this sooner so my Valentine could have had the chance…but this is what I would buy me if I were him.

Letterpress Valentines by Pheasant Press.

Set of Graphite Hex Pencils by the big harumph.

Mint Green Heart Earrings by Dariami.

Red Cup Cozy by Natalya’s Studio.

Amor Vincit Omnia tiny text bowl by Paloma’s Nest.

j’adore Heart Cushion by love maki.

And for him? Arroyo Cactus Shaving Soap by Dirty Deeds Soaps.

And maybe this Colt Peacemaker Moleskin Journal by Subtle Acts.

What did you give and get today? Anything particularly great or thoughtful?