random // ryan gosling *sigh*

I'll post something more *meaningful* in a bit; until then, enjoy the best website ever: http://ryangoslingvspuppy.tumblr.com/.

handmade // photography jewelry

I've been lusting after photo pendants for months and even bought supplies to make my own (as I do some dabbling in jewelry-making), but my perfectionism dismissed the ones I made myself as amateur and I sold them as imperfect "sale" items on my jewelry shop on Etsy.  Instead, I took inspiration from an interview on Handmadeology with a top-selling Etsy photographer who mentioned she collaborates with another Etsy seller to make her photo jewelry.

www.beautyspot.etsy.com

So, I contacted one of my favorite jewelry sellers on Etsy, BeautySpot, to see if they'd be interested in helping me create some photo jewelry I'd be proud to peddle.  Lucky for me, they agreed, and the sample images they've sent me are JUST what I had in mind! Thank you, Polina!!
 
I'm also looking forward to collaborating with Heartworks by Lori after the holiday rush has died down; she is super sweet and has some really beautiful pieces!

www.heartworksbylori.etsy.com

Bass Player Live in Hollywood

This weekend I went to Bass Player Live with my boyfriend to check out some vendors and bass player clinics.  Mind you, I do not play the bass guitar, but I do play piano and I used to play the drums and once dabbled in some acoustic guitar, so the intrinsic value of a gathering of musicians was not lost on me.

I particularly enjoyed a one-hour clinic put on by Janek Gwizdala who definitely jammed his instruments but also had keen insight into the world of self-marketing, branding, and creating an environment for yourself that facilitates doing what you love for a living.  His book is coming out in the spring 2012; I think Z and I will be co-investing in a copy.  :)

Fun photo of Z (who DOES play the bass) gettin' down with his new favorite instrument.

random // climate change is REAL!

Super interesting Eco Etsy post about climate change skepticism (and ways to combat it with words!).  For example, did you know that hurricanes are getting stronger and more destructive as global warming occurs?  Skeptical Science says it much more articulately than I.  :)

Memorable Imagery :: from Halyssa Riggins

Anna Delores Photography is featured on Halyssa's blog this week; check it out!  :)

Memorable Imagery: Do What You Love, Charge What You Deserve (II): In a fluctuating and competitive economy photographers may have many questions regarding how to introduce their work to the world whether a...

Doing it myself.

I love Etsy, and Pinterest, and I love "do it yourself" projects (aka DIY).  I love the idea of making an old wine bottle into a rustic farmhouse vase with just a ball of twine, or crafting paper flowers from old paint swatches, or fashioning felt coasters that slip over the base of your wine glass as a built-in coaster (Monica Gellar from "Friends," anyone?).  I always think, "I can totally do that," or "what a cute idea!"

But here is what tends to happen when I embark on DIY projects: I get damn impatient.  For some ridiculous reason or another that I can never articulate, I decide to take some kind of crafting shortcut that, in hindsight, is very obviously idiotic.  My impatience yields sloppiness, so my own DIY outcomes pretty much never come close to what I see in the magazine or blog photos.  I decide to buy a different color twine, or use wallpaper instead of paint swatches, or get different variations of felt, and thus manage to sabotage my projects from the start.

Slip-on felt coasters
www.DimmalimmHome.etsy.com

I really hate this about myself, but I'm not too sure how to remedy my impatience; it feels as though it's a laziness so ingrained in my psyche that I don't even recognize its presence in my projects until it's too late.

It also tends to encourage in me a certain level of skepticism about some projects; when I see something like a fuzzy felt slip-on coaster for wine glasses, I think to myself, "that's ridiculous; just use a regular coaster!"  I suppose, in this way, it can be construed as a positive flaw: my imperfection and tendency to screw up a perfectly reasonable DIY project actually manifests boundaries and tells me when to say "when" so that, to my boyfriend's benefit, my apartment is not covered in homemade burlap curtains, felted flower pillows, chalkboard coffee mugs, or upcycled book page lanterns.

I WANT all those things in my home, but I know I'd probably screw them up and ruin the intrinsic virtue that "DIY" is supposed to carry with it in the first place.

random // sick. of. warm. weather.

Okay, people, I know I live in LA, but it's mid-OCTOBER, for goodness sake!  We had some amazing rain and chilly nights last week, and now the damn forecast predicts a high of 89 degrees tomorrow! ARGH and GROSS! If my boyfriend wasn't so attached to So Cal, I'd be up in SF in an instant...

photography // new macro "studio"

I recently read an article on Strobist about how to make a DIY macro studio, which I love!  I found an old catalog box at work, put tissue paper on the sides, bought a desk lamp at Target, and voilà!  A macro studio of my very own.  My favorite photograph from my experimentations thus far is this one of a bowl of blackberries.  I then added a layer of pastel pink color in Photoshop to give it that soft "good morning" light.

Anna Delores Photography Giveaway

Hello friends!  Going on NOW: a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Anna Delores Photography (www.annadelores.etsy.com).  All you have to do:

1. Follow this blog.

2. "Like" Anna Delores Photography on Facebook.

3. Add Anna Delores Photography as a favorite shop on Etsy.

4. Comment on this post that you've done these three things and you'd like to enter! :)

handmade // holiday wish list

The first of what I'm sure will be a plethora of Etsy holiday wishlists I'll create this season... Holiday Wish List.