Taking some better shots of the mini embroidery hoop necklaces/ brooches… All about the lighting!
Category: Photography
A Few Changes
You may have noticed a few changes around here and on the Etsy:
A new spectacular logo and theme from the lovely Letty Ly @ Letty Loy Designs!
Things are coming together with this new cohesive theme, and look waaaaay more professional than my secondary school-level Photoshop skillz.
The Brand Guide gives me everything I need to keep the style consistent and cohesive:
Velvet Cactus Plush Keychain
Who doesn’t need a velvet cactus plush keychain? (Say that five times fast)
I made these a while ago, hence the reference to my Etsy shop, but I really enjoy the little cactus dude 🙂 They’re now up on the MadeIt shop, with super awesome updated keychains that I randomly found while clearing out my craft room. Just click on any of the pictures to be taken to it!
Button Earrings!
Okay, okay… I know they’ve been done 1,000x before… But I had such cute fabric, and they turned out so adorable!!!
Small update and miniature embroidery hoops!
Oh gosh, it’s been a while! My real job seems to have gotten in the way of doing anything on makeMonster, so I’ve had a backlog of things to write/update for a while now.
My meager efforts so far have bee building a Facebook page and uploading many random photos my Instagram.
So not a lot.
But but but! I have made some progress on this little pet project:
This has garnered more effort in terms of sourcing supplies than I would care to admit… Who knew trying to buy tiny metric screws was going to be so frustrating?!
The hoops themselves have been cut using a laser by Online Laser Cutting, out of sustainable bamboo. They’re absolutely perfect and I have a few more projects in my head that I’d like them to do!
(As a side note, if anyone needs any assistance re: buying a particular type of screw, nut, or bolt, let me know because I am not a self-professed expert.)
So this one is just a prototype so I could see how I went with the Dremel and the initial screw sizing. Way too long. And I am terrible at using the Dremel.
I’ve got some different screws on order, and I think they’ll be much more appropriate. Looking forward to using up some of my beautiful fabric stash for these babies!
Madeit Storefront
In an effort to just get out there, I’ve listed some things on my Madeit storefront! makeMonster @ MadeIt Currently I just have a few plushies and some embroidery art for now, but next weekend should have some jewellry up, and possibly I’ll get around to finishing some wallets or other Kraft-Tex things I’ve been working on 🙂 Preview: 
I may have to work on the old photography skills… CSC camera =/= instant photographic talent. My favourite is the Lovely Octopus!
I decided to go for MadeIt instead of Etsy, mostly due to the Australian-centric base of MadeIt which tends to stop re-sellers. It feels a bit more like a community, not unlike you’d get at a local craft fair! If you’ve never been to MadeIt.com.au, I would suggest just popping over and having a look. There’s some really talented artisans on there, and may have even seen them at your local craft show.
Japanese Seed Bead Wrap Necklaces and Packaging
Full disclosure: I’m not a jewelry person. I haven’t worn earrings since a New Years party… Nearly a year ago (side note, damn this year has gone fast). Necklaces for me are tiny neck prisons that always threaten to snag on an unseen nail somewhere and strangle me to death.
I felt this up until I started my recent purging and Ebaying of the majority of my crap in an effort to de-clutter. While cleaning out those IKEA drawers to get them ready for painting, I found an old necklace I made YEARS back.
It was my first attempt at making jewelry that didn’t involve embroidery floss and knitting. I thought it was pretty cool and I remember wearing it a few times! It was delicate enough to where it didn’t annoy me, was green, and asymmetrical (I’m not a fan of symmetry). Not blowing smoke up my butt, but I thought it was pretty cool 🙂
I became inspired to make the same style necklace, but also be able to have variable lengths depending on what mood you happened to be in. Long flapper style, doubled up, or 3 layers of a choker style. They can also be wrapped around your wrist/ ankle as a layering bracelet!
So, while messed up from my recent orthodontic adventures (re: not going outside because I look like a TMNT villain) I made one and became addicted. I ordered a fat stack of very nice seed beads and other bits from Fire Mountain Gems ($15 flat rate shipping to Oz, whoop whoop!) and went into production…
More photos of them later, when I can model (aka I’m not a hot mess from spending the day in the sun doing chores and crap) and show them off. But for now, here’s the packaging that I came up with!
Keeping with the “wrap” theme I modeled them off of embroidery floss bobbins. When I get the stamps I’ll put the logo and art on them.
The shadows are pretty awful since its so late in the day, but, oh em gee that orange…
Saturday Project: IKEA Moppe (or Fira / Mackis) Chest of Drawers Makeover
I think anyone who lives within a fifty mile radius of IKEA has one of these:
The classic IKEA wee chest of drawers that’s had a few names over the years. I think I bought mine when they were called a Fira, but they were also sold under the guise of a Moppe or Mackis. At any rate, I’m sure you have one banging around your house somewhere, most likely filled with random tatt as mine once were.
Continue reading Saturday Project: IKEA Moppe (or Fira / Mackis) Chest of Drawers Makeover
Adventures in smartphone photography, v1.1
(Points to large new header) Nice, ey? 🙂
I have a slight cold (sniff sniff) so I’ve spent the day wandering around the house in my pajamas, in some sort of vague consciousness. I really haven’t done a lot but sit and type and fanny around. I managed to sketch up a rough idea of the logo (can’t summon up the motivation to do a proper one in P’Shop just yet) and add it to the header (changing the theme again as well, as you do).
I also wanted to try to do some promo shots, to see how good my HTC One would be trying to take pro-looking photos (I can hear all the Nikon DSLR photo snobs gasping in shock). I don’t think it’s a good idea at the moment to drop $1,000 on a camera that I don’t really know how to use.
(Sidestep: Anyone in Newcastle want to lean me their precious expensive camera? Anyone? Anyone?…)
So, anyways, below are some of the shots I took today using my HTC One (the version with the known and dreaded “purple haze” in low light conditions) and some quazi-professional set-up. As in, I had some white paper and a drink tray I used to reflect some light.
Hello makeMonster
Something’s cooking…
make monster 