Dear professional photographer friends, don't hate me. I hope we can still be friends even with my ghetto lighting ways.
Sometimes I have to burn the midnight oil in order to get any blog posts up. We've been a busy family this fall! It's nice to finally have a way to take decently lit photos without having to wait until the perfect time of day to shoot. Usually that perfect time of day lands during lunch time or mid-morning when I'm still in pajamas, sans makeup or shower.
There are a few things that I do to allow for more photography time. I have the 35mm prime lens which allows for a 1.8 aperature. It's slightly wider than the 50mm so it allows me to park my tripod only 8 feet away from me for a comfortable head-to-toe shot, without too much distortion. But a 1.8 aperature can only get me so far.
Let's talk artificial lighting.
I took the above photo at midnight. I boosted up the ISO and lowered the aperature, but the light is still too harsh. That's where lights come into play. Professional lighting systems can be expensive, so I made a hack to see if a pro lighting system was something that I should invest in. I've been asked by a few people what my solution is, so I figure I'd share it for all to see.
I'm using two
Ikea LERSTA lamps. They're cheap, portable and effective. I think I'd get a third lamp or a fourth if I were doing more night-time style shots, but the two lamps are great for small objects and for fill-light when the sun's not doing what it's supposed to.
Here's how to do it:
Step 1
As you're assembling the lamp, wrap the inner part of the lamp with tin foil. Make sure the foil is sort of crumpled so it will bounce more light around.
Step 2
Buy a
daylight fluorescent bulb. They're on sale at my local Home Depot. We've changed nearly all of our indoor lights with these. And they are awesome.
Step 3
Get a large bowl and cut out a circle from some white (like white, white) fabric. I'm using a white quilting cotton.
Step 4
Measure the circumference of your lamp's opening, cut a length of thin elastic just shy of the circumference.
Step 5
With your sewing machine on zig zag stitch, stretch the elastic as you sew it onto the outer edge of the circle of fabric. It won't be pretty, but it'll look sort of like a shower cap.
Fit that over your lamp and done!
Now you can illuminate basically anything.
I used the two lamps and my room's overhead light to light up the above outfit. Not bad for a 10:30 pm photoshoot, right? And since you're using daylight bulbs to illuminate the room, there's no need to adjust white balance. BOOYAH. Mic drop.
Was this DIY helpful? What will you light up?
I thought I'd take a minute to toot my own horn about a couple special deals this weekend. Hope you don't mind. If you've got a potential calligrapher on your list, or if you need to not-so-subtly hint for the gift of calligraphy, this is it. A calligraphy workshop in a box! I've put together a kit of my favorite supplies complete with a customizable hand-lettered tag and a coupon code for my online calligraphy class. The kit includes:
Get this giftable calligraphy kit for $117. Use discount code: GIVETHANKS for $10 off any purchase in the shop (valid through Monday December 2 11:59 PM MST). Kits are limited so get yours before they're gone!
Special deal #2 is all about Silhouette! If you're thinking about getting a Silhouette cutter or if you're thinking about stocking up on cutting supplies, now is the time to do it! Use code MELISSA at checkout. Click here to read more about what's included in each bundle.
There's so much to be thankful for. It's futile to try to think of everyone and everything. I write this with a thankful heart, feeling so grateful for all things large and small, good and bad that have come our family's way. Life isn't all waffles and doughnuts, but it has been wonderful for our family so far.
I'm grateful that I can connect with all of you via this wonderful thing called the internet. I'm thankful that Chris is willing to support me in my adventure to blog and 
This post is sponsored by 
We don't have any holiday decor. Holiday decor isn't something that can be purchased all at once like a couch, or bed linens. I feel like these things are collected over time. So this year I'm working on making and buying festive decor that will easily store and last for years to come. I'm hoping that my efforts this year will make a dent and make next year's decorating for the holidays just a little bit easier.
Just before Halloween, I found a few of these paper mache pumpkins while at Michael's. They're not there any more, but I've since found them online 
Is it strange that I'm still making fall/Thanksgiving decor even though most people have already decorated their homes to the gills for Christmas? Sometimes I feel behind the times, but I remind myself, "NOOOOO!! I'm going to enjoy Thanksgiving FIRST."
I simply grabbed a #2 liner brush, white ink and went to town on my little pumpkins. While "thanks giving" may lend itself most towards the holiday, it's a great mantra to have in the house all autumn long. I think these little babies will be a permanent part of my fall decor.
On another note, this is the first wall shelf that I've mounted in our new house (besides the utilitarian ones in my studios). I love having parts in my home strictly for decor that can be "untouchable"!
I loved how easy Way Basics's 
Also, I'm over at 
Chris and I have been working our tails off on a redesign of my calligraphy site, so the word automagical is an over-used term around our home. So I had to put it on one of Chris's boringly plain tees.
I used Bauhaus font, Silhouette's yellow flock heat transfer and my cutter, which are also very automagical things. I'm always surprised at how many fun things I can make with my Silhouette. Which brings me to the second reason of this post.
Yup. One of you U.S.-based readers will win one. Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter. Hopefully that's not annoying. Only one hoop to go through, though. Of course, the more hoops you go through, the more chances you have of winning. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced morning of November 28th. Good luck!
Before cutting up the precious yardage, I wanted to test out my vision. I'm glad I did! I love how this dress turned out with the fabric I used, but I don't think it would've made a good fit for my Mood yardage. I'm still trying to figure out my plans for that fabric.
I used a basic t-shirt block, and cut just above the bust line for an overlapped v-neck with leather piping at the seam. It turned out to be a really nice subtle detail, but if I were to do it again (and I just might), I think I'd create a slight curve to the line so it hits at a more natural spot at my under-arms.
The fabric itself is a soft knit with silver bumpy dots on it. The texture is really neat, actually. The thin knit is quite stable and opaque as well. I've mentioned my need for long sleeves this winter, but I decided that I'd much rather layer sweaters with this dress than tights. I love how it looks with this chunky knit sweater.
It's been a really warm fall this year, so it's been fun to be able to wear long skirts and dresses while out and about.
Outfit details:
The rich color palette was simply stunning, even more-so in person. All the textures make my eyeballs happy.
It was in the middle of a canyon near my house, freezing cold. The location was a bit out of the way, but simply magical.
To go with the natural glamorous theme, I lettered place cards on kraft stock with white ink, cranberry shadows, gold details with glitter.
The hand-lettered menu cards were printed with cranberry ink and gold details for an extra pop.
Do you ever wish that you could re-plan your wedding just for the sake of living in eye candy for a moment? I do sometimes. Then I sit back and think about how much I really loved that day with even with the road-blocks and compromises that came along with it.
See below for the full list of vendors:
I know a lot of people out there have different opinions about buying and using leather. I don't disagree with those feelings, I think leather is a great material that should never go to waste. It's incredibly strong and durable. The real shame in my opinion is if someone just neglects to take proper care of his/her leather goods and destroys it beyond repair.
My dad literally has shoes older than me. You wouldn't know it, though. Leather can last forever. It's a matter of protecting, cleaning and polishing regularly.
For my suede babies, I just prevent with 
Now these babies. I was at a photoshoot a month ago and we were stomping around in some serious mud. They're filthy and just about destroyed from all that mud and salt!
I use a leather cleaner (we got a bunch when we bought our house) to get most of the mud off. It works like a charm.
So much better, but it's still not quite there yet.
I don't know if other people use this method, but my dad taught me to put a sandwich bag around my finger and cloth on top for polishing shoes. It's a great way to spread polish and keep it from getting on my hands.
You can see a huge difference between the polished shoe (left) and the cleaned shoe (right). Now I can go trudge around town looking polished and put together (pun not intended). After polishing, I shine the shoes with a brush. DONE. All it takes is about 15-20 minutes.
Frankly, if you don't get the results you're looking for, take your shoes to a cobbler. I've had boots re-soled with a winter tread, zippers fixed and leather repaired. What can't a cobbler do? Really. They're not terribly expensive (certainly not more than buying a nice new pair) and they can save your favorite shoes from the dump.
Each of us has made something with our yardage. Check out what these uber talented ladies have made with their yardage (in order of appearance of the photo above):
I love this fabric so much, I want it all over my body at all times. What to make? A dress would showcase the fabric beautifully, but unfortunately the yardage is too short to just use for a simple shift (it shrunk a little in the pre-wash). I could do a raglan dress with the yardage, but I'm not stoked with the patterns I have. I tried to draft a raglan sleeve with my dress form, but the lack of shoulder/arm failed with the muslin test.
Sewing confidence is waning at this point. Also, I've been trying to be a good little girl and prioritize business to-dos over blog to dos this week. It's been hard to get anything done. Do you ever feel so busy that you just freeze up and can't do a thing? I'm going through that at the moment.
So in a moment of desperation, I made myself a skirt. Sort of. And I didn't have to commit to sewing or cutting up my precious yardage just yet.
Want to know a secret? I've actually done this very thing before. I needed a red skirt, but it was about 5 minutes before church so I grabbed red jersey, wrapped and walked out the door. This works surprisingly well.
Simply wrap and knot. Boom. Done. If you're looking for a cheap way to make your own mini, midi or maxi skirt and you don't know anything about sewing machines or knits. . . here you go.
Outfit Details:
I designed a tattoo-ish pattern with brushed aspirational adjectives.
It's hard to see the words perfectly. I kinda wish I had ordered the white case instead. Part of me really wanted to show off the gold aspect of the phone. A little vain much? I think I forgot to include humble on there. Woops.
The descriptive words are reminders of who I want to be and how I want people to think of me. I don't always embody each adjective, but I certainly hope the reminders will help me be better.
I want to guard it in my home, too. Christmas decor (not that I really have any) doesn't show up until after our blessed Thanksgiving weekend. Neither does the music. Perhaps there's so little Christmas music I actually like, I'd hate for it to be on repeat longer than 3 1/2 weeks.
How should we celebrate Thanksgiving? Is it just a day to be had towards the end of November where we eat more than we should have, nap and watch sports games? Or is it a day where we take stock in the life's many blessings? I'll be doing a little bit of both (minus sports, I don't do sports).
I encourage you to spend some time this month (we could all spare a half hour once a week, right?) to write a heartfelt thank you to someone who has inspired or helped you. To make things easy, I've designed "Thank You" postcard for you to print from home. I've done half the work for you. All you need is a pen and a stamp.
This month I'll be working on writing more Thank You notes and prepping for a meaningful Thanksgiving celebration. Having several of these postcards on hand will help me achieve that.
If you're looking for more styles and sizes, check out previous years' designs:
We're not doing a whole lot around our house today (although I did get the gold iPhone I ordered 6 weeks ago. Woot Woot!!!).
I couldn't let this day pass without doing something here to thank you for following along on all of my adventures; so I'm giving away a calligraphy kit! One lucky person will win a calligraphy kit, a 
Not having the most confidence in the world, I opted to draft a dart-less pattern from my wiggle skirt block. I borrowed Franciane's skirt to make sure that the proportions of leather and knit were just right then went to town.
And I was too lazy to make a muslin. Scary. I should've done a faux leather for the muslin, because I learned quite a few things along the way. And I messed up in a few spots. Do you see the puckering in the back zip? Yikes.
The knit I had on hand was not quite right. It completely justified a trip to JoAnn to see if they'd have anything remotely close to what I had in mind. Surprise, surprise, they had this lovely (super stretchy with great recovery) ponte-ish knit.
I didn't need much give since I was planning on a zipper for the waist, but I wanted it to have enough stretch that it would compensate for any fit issues on my part (as I'm no expert pattern drafter). Turns out it was a really great idea on my part. I should've cut the skirt a little bit bigger especially in the thighs, but it's not the end of the world.
The tightness creates of a va-va-voom effect. It's a little more restricting than my other pencil skirts, but that's not a problem. This is a dry clean only piece, so I won't want to wear it while chasing my kids anyway. I will, however be applying nikwax to protect the leather from damage.
I don't have big hips or thighs, so it really accentuates any hourglass that I may have. I'd say this kind of piece would be great on any body type.
Outfit Details: