the scatterbox organized

Best purchase of the summer

You know you want one!  And it was red and "white", and it was made by Slinky, which makes me also want a Slinky.  I'm so... six.

MAN, has this blog has been boring, or what?  That's my fault.  I've been hibernating like a champ as of late, for better or for worse.  On the good side, I'm getting back into the swing of re-vamping the shop, which will be more art-centric.  Just about everything on there at the moment is on clearance, and once I get enough new swag together to make for a nice update, I'll be removing those unsold items for good.  Hopefully this will take place by about October/early November at the latest, in time for the holidays.  Until then, I honestly don't mind hermiting away from the crap heat and humidity out there these days.  I was sweating from the kneecaps today.  Who does this?!?!  I spent a couple nice sweltering days at the Atlantic seashore recently, but really, fall needs to get here stat.

In case you had been looking for it, I closed down my photography site, Photobox.  The recent plan was to put everything in one shop, but now that I'm getting a better idea of what that will look like, the photos still cry for their own home.  The new site will be under a different shop name, which is good, because I'm going to bring them back with a little more... flair.  Stay tuned!

Photobama

I just came across a couple links of photographs of Mr. President Obama (hee hee!).  Things of note:

a) The crowds... GEEZ.

2) Political hoo-ha aside, I love the normalcy of this man and his family and their closeness.  I want to invite them over for dinner and Scrabble.

iii) So proud.  And I love how much he is admired around the globe.  I can only hope that those who object him on the simple grounds of color (and HALF color at that!), or because he doesn't have a starchy-white name (he's NOT Muslim, people), or who fail to realize that being "pro-choice" does NOT equal "pro-abortion", can put aside invalid fears and realize they are standing distressingly idle in an evolving world.

Boston.com - If you can, read some of the comments and stories left by readers, both here and abroad.  You just can't deny his influence, something I've never seen before in my lifetime, and that surely can only last be compared to with Kennedy.  In just skimming, the simplicity of this one stood out to me:

Congratulations Mr. President.  I may not be American but you make me proud to be human.  You are an inspiration to all.

With love from Canada.

Callie Shell - Personal insight from one of the campaign photographers.  Very candid.  Keep clicking the "show more pictures" link at the bottom of each page to view all.

And please, people, by all means - BEWARE or you might get recruited like this unsuspecting young soul!  ;)

Featured!

Just a quick note to let you know that this week, photobox is featured on the blog of fellow Etsy photographer, Past Perfect.  For a little more behind-the-lens info, read it here!

http://qbranchltd.blogspot.com/

Then go check out Past Perfect's photography here!  http://pastperfect.etsy.com

Thank you, Past Perfect!

***

I'll be away from the shop for the next week and a half, but there will be good stuff when I return, I promise.

Have a great week, everyone! :) 

And sketchbox makes three

Yes, it's true, I now have THREE shops on Etsy.  Glutton for punishment?  Meh.  Whooooaaa, killer!  Seems like I jumped the gun a bit.  After just a couple weeks, I started to re-think in what direction I ultimately wanted my scatterbox shop to head, and decided that eventually, these two shops wouldn't be that different from each other.  So I have closed up sketchbox, about as quickly as I opened it.  The artwork that was featured there can now be found in scatterbox.  I'm only partially crazy.  :)

In other shop news, I have a couple new nature-themed items in the scatterbox shop, including some nifty leaf garland to get you all geared up for the always-awesome autumn season.  The listings are in various sizes because of the felt I had on hand when I was experimenting.  If you'd like a custom listing, I can make them in 10-foot lengths.  Just give me a holla.  On the photobox front, I am happily awaiting the arrival of a purdy new digital SLR camera that should hopefully be here within the week!   Yessssssssss...  I'm also taking a trip next month that will undoubtedly provide some colorful and wonderful new snaps for your viewing pleasure.  But I'll keep that location under wraps for the time being.

And finally, for you local peeps out there, I have two shows coming up.  The first will be FestiFall in downtown Chapel Hill on Sunday, October 5th.  I will admit that I'm mildly wetting myself over this show because last year's attendance was over 10,000 people.  Yes, ten THOUSAND.  Ack.  Makes my brain shut down just thinking of what I need to do to prepare.  But the exposure potential is delicious.  The next show I have lined up is the Designer's Downtown Market, this time on Saturday, November 29th.  I was hoping to be in their September show, but alas, I will be on said trip mentioned above.  I'm pretty sure I'll get over it quickly.  ;)

Have a good weekend, ladies and gents!

August promotion!

Hello, ladies and gents!

Just a quick note to let you know that in both the scatterbox and photobox shops, there is a promotion for FREE shipping on all items purchased today through the end of the month, August 31st!

All jewelry items in both shops are always gift-boxed, so if you'd like to take advantage of this promotion and send a gift to someone special, just include the information during checkout along with your message to the recipient.

Happy Friday!

Through the Looking Glass

New snaps!

Finally in the photobox shop are the beginnings of my TTV collection.  TTV, or Through the Viewfinder, is a method that uses a modern digital camera to take pictures that appear in the viewfinders of vintage box cameras.  The models are usually the fabulous Kodak Duaflexes, which tend to have a dusty, linty tinge to them, which is what makes it all worthwhile.  I snagged a Duaflex I and II on eBay a little bit ago, and have been trying my hand at it ever since.  It takes a little getting used to... there's a contraption you have to make to block out the light, and because the image in the viewfinder is a mirror image (fixed in editing stages), it can throw you off until you get used to which way you have to hold the thing.  But the results are tres cool.  Very vintage.  Here's a collage of photos currently for sale:

The style tends to lend itself very well to basic, everyday shots and compositions, but looks awesome when you combine it with retro signage or carnival settings.

There's another kind of TTV out there that I'm still on the fence about.  They call it "fake TTV".  It looks like someone takes the fuzzy, imperfect attributes of a real box camera, shoots it with a white or otherwise blank background, and then the effect is superimposed onto regular digital shots.  Granted, some of the results I've seen are pretty impressive (though some are definitely fake if you know what goes into it), but there's just something real about doing it the old-fashioned way.  I, too, would love not to lug around an extra camera and my poster board/Pringles can/cereal box light-blocker, but I'm old school like that, I suppose.  If you want to see the way others use this fantabulous medium, search for TTV groups on Flickr.

Until next time, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

Spring Cleaning

Yeah, yeah... so what if it's summer.

I spent a good deal of time this weekend strolling around some of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro areas, which are always most pleasant to visit.  It was nice to just be outside, even though it was hot as poo, and it allowed me to take some new photographs, as well.  On Saturday, we were in Durham, and the mister came across this lovely sight:

  

Then at night, I got him to make me cookies again.  Chocolate with Reese's peanut butter chips.  Heh.

As mentioned, there is some spring cleaning going on in ye olde studio, both literally and figuratively.  I'm desperately trying to organize my little room, which is helping the clutter in the mind, too, thankfully.  I got some of those tall, plasticky, roller carts with drawers that have helped sooooo much.  Gets me all excited to think that I actually know where all my stuff is at any given moment!

In both shops, I'll be doing some re-vamping.  One of the first changes made was the decision to alter some of my pricing.  Most items have been lowered, including the map pendants.  My photographs have been dropped a tick, as well.  I'm primarily offering them in 5x7, but if you'd like an 8x10, just let me know and I'll work something out with you.  Some of them can't be done in that size due to quality, unfortunately.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to upgrade my camera and that won't be an issue, but for now, I don't want to sell anything too crappy, you know?

In the scatterbox shop, we've got the lower prices, and soon there will be some new items.  Some of these will be making a debut at my craft show this weekend, and some are still prying their way out of my brain.  We'll have a new option for you to convert any of the map pendants into a nifty keychain, as well.  And don't forget that if you are shopping for a boy, we can always leave the crystal sparkly off.  (Boo.)  In the photobox shop, I'll be introducing a new style of photography that I'm very excited about.  But I'll save that for later.  :o)

As a whole, I'll keep you updated on possible new fun stuff, retail outlets, gift certificates, coupons, and an improved look to this site.  I'm working on getting new, nicer biz cards, as well, with some great recycled cardstock from the good folks at Sustainable Group.

Don't forget that if you're in the Raleigh/Durham area to come check out me and other great craftists and artists at the Designer's Downtown Market this Saturday!  If they don't sell out, you might even find out a little more about these guys...

Feltastic

I have always been intrigued by little felt sculptures, from the simple to the intricate.  I got even further inspired after stumbling across Futuregirl's blog, who also happens to have nifty little tutorials for beginners.  So after a trip to the local crafty shop to buy a sheet in every single shade they had, I present to you my first endeavor!  This one's on sale right now in the scatterbox shop:

 

I'm thinking of making some little keychain funsies next.  I found a company that is also going to start selling their acrylic felt line that is made from recycled plastic bottles.  Love it!  I've already ordered my color swatches.

In the photobox shop, the newest arrival are pendants featuring some of my photographs:

 

I'm VERY much looking forward to getting out and about in the coming weeks and shooting some more day-in-the-life snaps for the shop, as well.  There's just something about the simple frozen moments of time.  Probably why I like folk art so much; it's all about common life.

Temps outside are getting ridiculous warm here for middish-April, but the birdies and blooms are making me happy.  Dogwoods and azaleas are prime right now, which means the magnolias aren't far behind!  Is it me, or don't they just have an awesome aroma...?  Kinda like lemon Pledge spray...

Yes, I know I'm weird.

Open for bidness!

I am so happy to announce the opening of photobox, a place for me to showcase the photography I've captured at home and while I'm out and about.  There are so many great places in this world, and I've been fortunate to see a few of them.  I started a new part-time job recently that will allow me to see even more, and I'm excited to see what new sights I can bring you!

On the scatterbox shop front, I'm beginning to get to the point where I will be making more updates, including new city map pendants and some new ideas altogether.  Don't forget that I gladly make custom orders for the pendants, so please give me a holla if there's one you have in mind.  Same price as the ready-made!

Happy upcoming St. Patrick's day to you all, as well!  I will be participating in the local parade with my roller derby league, though not on skates this year.  I managed to sprain my ankle last week... off a crack in a walkway, of all things.  Grace!  Then it's on to St. Pat's proper on Monday, where I *suppose* you'll have to twist my arm to have a pint of Guinness and some shepherd's pie.  O, the agony!  :oP