9/29/2011

A little help from my friends.

I just had to share these cute behind-the-scenes photos of my little helper from my last etsy shoot:




He helped hold up the cards of hair clips in the light box and he also helped me set my white balance before I started shooting.



I have been an avid photographer ever since I was in high school and my father gave me his old Pentax that he used to take on hunting trips in the 70's. It fascinated me to no end and I loved the weight of it, the act of loading the film, manually focusing, feeling the shutter click, and having to advance the film. I even loved the beat-up old leather satchel that housed it and all the fancy lenses and other accessories. I still take a lot of photos with that camera, and now I have a fancy-schmancy digital one as well, along with a few old fun film cameras just for goofing around. I want to make photography a bigger part of my work life, so like I said in this post I am working on finding the perfect printers to make prints of my work to sell. But along with that, I have started doing product photography for people other than myself.




I recently teamed up with Errol Davis, one of the owners of Metaphor Organic, to take some new photos of his beautiful soaps so they can get their online shop up and running. I am very pleased with how they came out, and I think he is too, so hopefully I will be doing this more often. I have a new online portfolio of actual work-like photography I have done here: http://chaseclark.carbonmade.com/, so please check it out! If you are located in the San Francisco Bay Area and are looking to have some nice photographs taken, please drop me a line! I would also like to look into doing more portraits and maybe even trying my hand at some events like weddings or baby showers. I have never been the sole photographer for a wedding, so if someone around here wants a free photographer for their wedding, the first one to contact me and let me shoot for them will not have to pay a dime! Just let me know!

9/28/2011

Custom Owls For Sale!


If you remember in this post I talked about making a special edition set of my owl pincushions for the first A Fair to Remember I participated in. These little hipster owls have been all the rage and I am just about sold out, so I thought it would be fun to do another round. But this time, I will make you custom ones! All you have to do is tell me a few colors and I will find the perfect plaid fabric and felt combination to make it with. And of course, each owl comes with six custom-made pins that I hand-draw and assemble. They come with a moustache, lomo camera, fixie bike, typewriter, thick-rimmed glasses, and big retro headphones. The listing is up in the shop right now and if you miss out just convo me and I will make another listing of it for you!

9/27/2011

How-Tuesday #28!

Its How-Tuesday again! This week I have a lovely and easy to make dress, paper roses, and a single-serving peanut butter cake!


This dress reminds me a bit of the 15-Minute Babydoll Dress Tutorial I posted a while ago. Main difference: Pockets! Heck yes! Check out the tutorial here.


I love these rolled paper flowers and I want to make a bunch to decorate the house. They look super easy to make too. The photo tutorial can be found here.


My love of peanut butter in desserts is no secret around here. I love this little cake because it takes all of a minute to make in the microwave and it is single serving so I will not go overboard and eat an entire peanut butter confection all by myself! Here is the recipe.

9/26/2011

Shop Update... Also a Life Update!



Hi everyone! Times they are a-changin' around here as of late, and it is all very exciting but kinda scary at the same time. I have finally decided to switch day jobs and try to focus more on my own pursuits. Bum bum buuum! Thursday is my last day at the toy store and Friday is my first day at the new job. I will be working part time at the most amazing scrapbooking store I have ever set foot in and the rest of my time will be devoted to etsy and craft fairs, plus some other personal projects and such. Also, I am still trying to get up the guts to do more freelance photography jobs and/or sell prints of my favorite art photos, and I feel like having to make ends meet on a reduced salary will probably be the fire lit under my behind that gets me to do it. I have a lot of back-logged stuff to blog about, but for now I will just say that the shop has been updated with new hair clips, cake bunting, and squirrel ornaments, with more to come soon. Wish me luck!




9/24/2011

Versatile Blogger Award!


Limar over at On A Seperate Note gave me a Versatile Blogger Award! Hehe, this makes me happy because I really pride myself/drive myself crazy over the amount to different stuff I post on here because I am a chronic hobbyist. So I am supposed to list 7 things about myself and link to some other blogs I think are versatile, so here we go:

1. I have 3 half-sisters who are all nearly 20 years older than me.
2. I can solve a Rubix Cube in 3 minutes.
3. I love to play ukulele and sing, and I can rock a guitar too, but I cannot play drums to save my life.
4. I used to bellydance all through high-school.
5. I can speak French (took it in high school).
6. I want to get a total of 5 crafty tattoos someday, and I know what they all are and where they will go.
7. If I was doing a cross-country road trip in a van that held me and 5 other old men, I would invite David Hasselhoff, Sean Connery, Bruce Campbell, Jackie Chan, and Timothy Dalton. The old man "man van" is complete, oh yes.

And here are some blogs I think you guys should check out as there should be something for everyone:

http://une-deuxsenses.blogspot.com/
http://www.ijustmightexplode.com/
http://juriannematter.blogspot.com/
http://littlebiggirlstudio.blogspot.com/

And there are dozens more on my sidebar under Favorite Fellow Bloggers! Thanks Limar!

9/20/2011

How-Tuesday #27!

Howdy everyone! For this How-Tuesday we have a guide to table setting and etiquette, how to sew a faced invisible zipper, and a recipe for a cookie within a cookie. Om nom nom.


I stumbled upon this quick little tutorial explaining the proper way to set a table for a bunch of different kinds of events, including a buffet! I love learning about good old fashioned etiquette so this made me happy. And there are links to videos about dining etiquette too. Check it out here.


In the interest of being able to sew my own clothes a little more often, I found this tutorial to be a great help. It is just one of those nice finishing techniques that makes a garment really sing. The lovely tutorial can be found here.


Its an Oreo. Banked inside a chocolate chip cookie. Need I say more?

9/17/2011

A Fair to Remember, Round 2!


Hi all! I will be at A Fair to Remember again this month, sharing a booth with my new buddy Errol from Metaphor Organic Soaps. Kinda short notice, but it is tomorrow from 11-6ish. I will have owls (of course), notebooks, moustache straws, cards, cake bunting, and earrings as before. Also I have made some new goodies: loop scarves in lots of delicious fabrics, and a couple household cleaning products (more details to come). Wish me luck and come out and say hi if you can!

9/13/2011

How-Tuesday #26!

Happy How-Tuesday! This week we have a designer-style necklace, homemade eye makeup remover, and a stylish tomato soup recipe. Enjoy!


This is a great necklace, and it is a really well-done knock-off of a ridiculously expensive designer one. I love these kinds of things. Stick it to The Man here.


I recently started wearing a bit of makeup when I go out on the town, and I am running out of remover. As soon as do I will give this recipe a try! Check it out here.


And last, but certainly not least, is this ever-so-posh take on the traditional tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich combo. It looks delicious and I cannot wait to try it as soup weather will be upon us any day now. Here is the recipe.