There won't be a new post this morning because I finally have a full-time job as a lighting designer! I am super excited about this opportunity but don't know if I will be able to keep blogging with the same frequency. I will continue to make cool things and keep you updated, but maybe only once every two weeks. I'm not sure yet. Today's post will hopefully happen later tonight and I will keep you updated with any other schedule changes. Thanks for your patience!
It took me almost two months but I didn't give up this time and I'm super happy with it! I am questioning the wisdom of making it white, because now I have to be extra careful not to spill anything on it. I still think the white is very pretty, though. What do you think?
Now I'm thinking of making up my own shawl pattern soon, though it might be a lot simpler than this one! Here is the shawl through its progression:
It seemed like the first couple repetitions took forever...
Finally the pattern started to appear. This is at 4 repetitions.
At about 3/4 of the way done, the end was in sight!
The knitting part is finally done!
While it was blocking I had to watch it carefullly to make sure the kitty didn't try to sleep on it.
And that's what I've been doing for two months. Until next week, I'll be wishing you floaty-lace dreams, and the grace not to spill hot chocolate on them!
I am in Portland, Oregon visiting friends and family this week but for those of you in Orange County, the fair starts this Friday, the 19th! It looks like it's going to be awesome, with lots of live entertainment, food, rides, and of course, all the great handmade stuff competing for ribbons!
I'm not sure exactly how the award process works, but if you get to vote, please consider voting for my wedding dress and miniature shoes in the sewing and crochet sections of the Fiber Arts category. Here is a link to the fair website if you would like to know more: http://www.ocfair.com/2015/
Wedding Dress
Cinderella Slippers
Bridal Red Bottom Shoes
Ruby Slippers
The fair runs through August 16th. I can't wait to check it out when I am back in town!
After I made my armature video last week, I decided to make an updated doll hair tutorial as well. I made one a couple years ago that some of you might remember, but I wanted to try it with my new filming process. I think this video came out much better, although there are still some blurry parts. I think I may have overdone the lighting in some shots. I should mention that my Mom, the remarkable Momma Cat, is the one who taught me the latch hook method as a great way to make doll hair!
Here is the video, let me know what you think! If you like it, please "like" and subscribe to my Youtube channel!
I will be dreaming Portland dreams next week but I do have a post prepared to go up while I am on vacation. I can't wait to see my family and friends up north!
I've finally finished my doll armature video tutorial! This video took a long time to make because I had to re-record the voiceover several times until it sounded okay. I'm not sure if it's my sound equipment of my actual voice, but when I talk naturally I sound to myself like a very little girl talking through a very big stuffy nose and when I attempt the Batman/Rorshcach voice I sound more like a normal person. I still ended up sounding more sad and bored than I should have, but I should get better at this with more practice.
The little tripod was a huge help for getting a better angle on the work while I'm doing it. In the past I just used the built-in webcam on my laptop, meant I had to hold everything up to the screen while I was working on it and my arms got tired! That inexpensive little tripod was definitely worth the small investment!
I've tried my hand at making videos a couple times in the past with "okay" results. I used to try and do the audio and visual stuff all at once, which makes editing nearly impossible and lets in a lot of awkward background noise, like when I accidentally kick a table leg or drop something. This time, I broke the process up into multiple steps that took a lot longer but also yielded much better results:
1. I filmed the construction process of the project without talking at all.
2. I plugged my camera into my computer and brought the video into iMovie. Then I separated the audio (just background noise like the clock ticking and me scooting supplies across the table) from the video and deleted all that.
3. Next I used iMovie to record a voice-over describing the process shown in the video. This made it much easier to edit the sound and video independently of each other, and eliminated any unnecessary background noise because I was able to keep completely still since I didn't need to build the project while talking about it. This also let me easily re-record the audio when I needed and eliminated a lot of stuttering since I am not the best at trying to work and talk at the same time!
4. Lastly, I added in background music with a title and credits.
Well, that's about it. I hope this helps someone like me who is trying to figure out how to get started on Youtube. Or, if a Youtube expert sees this and has any tips on how I could do better, let me know (nicely, of course)!
Without further ado, here is my new tutorial!
I'll see you next week, with dreams of dolls and video editing!
