Photo Light Box

My fabulous husband built me a photo light box.

This little gem should make editing pictures much easier and quicker.

He included a hole in the roof so I could take overhead shots.

And this is what an un-edited picture looks like

He based it on this tutorial, that we downloaded from this blog. We did make a few adjustments. Instead of foam we used painted hardboard because it was readily available and because we thought it might be more durable. White masking tape was impossible to find, so the only alternative we could find was white electrical tape.

I think I need stronger lights but I will have to hunt them down. Hopefully this will make the editing process more straight forward. Thank you brilliant husband.

I want one of these so much

If you remember not long ago I wanted one of these

So today I log into my email and discover this
The new Polaroid Two, a 5.0 Mega Pixel instant digital camera. I nearly bought it on the spot. This will definitely be coming home to live with us, and hopefully soon. I hope it is as much fun as the PoGo printer, which has provided much amusement.

Strange things - happy kitten

A strange thing happened on Thursday.... I just chilled out. I know how weird was that. Work was good - kids are doing exams so they have study leave in the afternoon and teachers have marking leave. I came home and did very little. No sewing, no photography, just surfed and had a cat nap - oh I missed those. My sleep levels are coming back up to minimum from critical and that makes all difference.



The weekend will continue this way and I will hopefully get caught up on some TV.

Etsy Favorites

I need to stop adding things to my Etsy favorites.

For those not yet aquainted with Etsy, favorites and hearts, it's sort of like a wish list. You see an item and you can add it to your favorites (sellers also), so if you want to go back and buy the item it is easy to find. The seller on the other end gets a heart, to tell them they are liked :0) {Apologies to those who know}.

The reason why I need to stop is I want to buy all my choices - mostly fabrics. I have been trying to hold back on buying more material as I have loads (& loads &loads), but I am really struggling.

See why...... I could just a litlle bit of this and just square of japanese fabric.

Craft Fair - An update and a ponder

As regular readers will know I was attending a craft fair at the weekend. It was situated in the lovely grounds of Mount Stewart, which is a national trust property. It was an outdoor craft and garden fair, with the option of trading in a marquee. I opted for a marque stall.


To say the weather didn't work in our favour was a little of an understatement. It rained most of the first day and when it wasn't wet it was so windy, we thought the marquee might take off. This did not encourage visitors. The second day was so cold in the morning it was like a winters day in November, certainly not like a day in late spring. I spent most of the morning wrapped up in a fleece and my waterproof coat (even my husband was cold and he's a polar bear), clutching coffee. Of course our thermos flask decided it wasn't going to keep the water warm, so many trips to the coffee stand was required. It did eventually brighten and warm up a little.

Trading on both days was slow for all, with some of the traders complaining it hadn't been so slow for over 7 years. I would admit that although my bags would be considered a luxury item, I sold enough to just about justify being there. I did meet lots of lovely people (& many pretty dogs). I made a few contacts and even got an invite or two to a few other craft fairs.

It is one of the big problems about doing a craft fair for the first time, you don't know what to expect or what products will sell well. I feel that after people had paid a hefty £7.50 ($11) to get in, they wanted to look around and only make smaller purchases. I did go home on the Saturday night and make another 10 mini clutches to boost that group, which sold well.

Whether I would go again or not, I'm not sure. I don't really want to misjudge it on one wash-out of a weekend but I did put a lot of work in preparing and I'm not sure from that point of view if it was worth it. I am left with a lot of stock, which while it will not go to waste and many pieces have already been listed in my shop, is unusual. I don't usually like to have so much of my resources tied up in stock. Upside is I have already had a little rush of sales.

A return to Mount Stewart is one that I will have to ponder over for a while.

Etsy Finds - Umbrellas

All it has done here lately is rain (including the whole weekend of my craft fair, but more of that later)..... & while that is not unusual for Northern Ireland, the type of rain we have been getting is a little odd for mid May. It's the sort of rain if you get caught in it, you feel like you have had a shower with your clothes on. So this recent odd weather inspired this week's Etsy Finds - Umbrella's - a girl (or guys) best friend.

This pretty scrabble pendant is made by intelligent design and has a nice summery appeal to it.

This lovely cat print by artractions makes me think of Mary Poppins, wouldn't it be great to be able to travel by umbrella - no more traffic. Check out their fab notebooks as well.

This cheeky little pin by Kelly Zarb is called Rain Go Away and is how we all feel about the rain.

This super cute little zip purse made by Madame Cupcake is made with lovely Japanese material.

I have this lovey colourful umbrella fabric, makes lovely bags and always begs for the comment "rainy day purse", it is available from karaku

Hippo-tastic

My little hippo mini clutch has been included in a fab treasury by sassybellewares