Tonight, I made a camera. *tutorial! (and Cyber Monday)

 I didn't make a real camera, although I think I may try one day... Check out this pinhole camera from Unplggd!!!

























Is that seriously awesome, or what? I've actually been wanting to try pinhole photography for a while... I love the images that people are creating.  Ethereal, magical.  But, no.  I didn't make that gorgeous thing that you see above.  I made this:

I just went on a tangent, didn't I?  Sorry.  Ok, back to the reason I'm posting  right now.  I've been looking at a few camera pendants just for fun.  I mean, they are really cute, right?  But, since I have decided that I should try to craft things more often, I decided to give my Shrinky Dinks a try.

First, I found a photo of a camera I wanted to make, and simply blew it up to the size I wanted, then printed it out and traced it onto my shrink plastic. I'm sure there are many of you out there that can draw your own.  After all, it's simply a rectangle with a few little additions.

 Seriously, I can't believe I'm letting you see my second grade drawing skills.  Ha!  Note how I let one edge of the page be the edge of my camera?  Less work! :)

Next, cut out carefully.  I also decided to make a separate "o" shape for the lens.  Make sure to punch a hole (or two, depending on how you'd like your camera to lay) before you bake. Color your camera however you'd like.  I'm thinking next time, I'll use something better than crayons, but they worked for my draft. 

Then, heat your oven to 325 and shrink away.  Please know that they will roll and look all out of shape while they bake.  It's normal!  Just wait a bit, and it will shrink up even more and flatten.

Now, I just added some hot glue to the "lens" and glued it in place, added a jump link, and put it on some ball chain.
Say Cheese!

Here, you can see the glue- I had to cut the excess off.  Not pretty.

hope you liked this- If you make your own, I would love to see it!  :)

Lastly, go visit my site if you are in Southern Cali.  Get 27% off of your session fee and the price of a CD when you book a session with me! :)

Happy Week-
Kristen

Small Business Saturday and some link party love.

What a fabulous week it has been for me.  It's been really nice to take a break from my Kindergarten class and focus on some things I've been wanting to do. I made the above necklace for my friend, and it's inspired me to add it to my shop. come visit my Etsy store.
So, have you been shopping for the holidays? I took advantage of a few Black Friday deals, but mostly, I bought for myself.  I've come to discover that I am a horrible shopper.  It's Small Business Saturday today, so I'm determined to buy things from other Etsy sellers today.  I'm also giving a special to all of my facebook fans.
Here are some of my favorite photos of my babies from this week, just for fun.  Head over to my site to see more of my work.

Have a great weekend! xoxo, Kristen


now, here is the fun part!  Let's have a link party!  I was inspired by Simply Designing and Under the Table and Dreaming to throw my own link party. Show me something that you've made recently. Please be sure to link up to a specific post, not your shop. Show some love to others, and please remember to link back to this post.  Thank ya!

how long has it been? decades?

It's been a looooooooong time, that's all I know.  A long time since blogging, and even longer since I've had things in my etsy store.  If you saw my last blog post, you'll know that I discovered a way to make my photos into jewelry. 

I have also decided to offer a 2011 Calendar!

so, Happy Thanksgiving... have a great week!

my first love marries my second love.

As some of you know, the reason I started this blog years ago was to show off some of the jewelry I was making.  Of course, when my daughter was born, (was it really almost 4 years ago now? Really?) I had little time for it, and found myself learning photography to fill that creative need.  I discovered an awesome tutorial on how to make photo pendants by Brigitte, and I just had to give it a try.

I think I may even open my Etsy store again!
:)

 I am definitely in need of some practice, but I absolutely love wearing them.  Here are my favorite two:

oh!  and one last thing....I made lasagna this week with homemade sauce from my sister-in-law's recipe.  Talk about Jersey Italian food.  YUM!!!!  Just check out this cheese, and inhale:

right?  yummmm.  Have a great weekend!

Shrinky Dinks and Sunday Love

They are on my mind today, and I think I'm going to need to take a trip to the local craft store and see if I can find some.  I'm thinking of making my own nameplate necklace and maybe a pumpkin or something for Lilly. 
My hubby is parked in front of the television for the remainder of the day, so he won't miss me at all. 
So, onto the things I'm looking at this week.  I think you may find that I seem to gravitate toward the same type of blog over and over again.  I love photography, jewelry, food, and crafting! 
So first:  Have you seen this coupon for Michaels? check this out.  Nice, right? Good for some shrinky dinks maybe?
I also spotted this mini tutorial on Clicknmom's website about taking portraits of kids.  I use a lot of those same methods, and I also tend to tell really corny jokes. 

It's my favorite time of year, Autumn.  The photo above was taken in New Jersey.  Unfortunately, here in Southern California, if you want to see color like this, you need to drive up to the mountains.  Fall means apple picking for our family, because I love making apple pie from scratch.  I never would have guessed it, but I have grown to love baking.  So, this is the recipe I use for my crust:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/crunch-top-apple-pie-recipe2/index.htm .  I need to tell you that this crust will have you making crust constantly.  Although I adore the crust in the above recipe, I really like my apple pie to be a subtle flavor.  I use this recipe with Winesap apples for the pie filling: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Apple-Pie/Detail.aspx .  Deeeeeeeeeelightful. 
Have a fabulous Sunday!
xoxo
Kristen

Modern Baby Portraits

So, in case you didn't know, I have a twin sister.  Yep.  We're fraternal, but as close as people can get, especially considering we live 3,000 miles apart.  We're so close, in fact, that she had her baby boy exactly one year to the date after I had my baby boy.  Just call us the Wonder Twins.  Mmmhmm.  We answer to that.
So when she had her baby boy, I flew out to New Jersey so I could meet the little man.  Did I mention that I flew by myself with two little ones?  See? Wonder Twin.  (If you don't count the escalator incident.  Which we won't mention.)

I love this family.  I seriously feel like the luckiest girl ever.

Summer just won't let go.

I was really hoping that last week's cooler weather was the signal that Fall would arrive on time.  I was wrong.  this upcoming week is supposed to be hotter than Hades, and I am not extremely happy about this.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I adore summer.  I'm just REALLY ready for fall.
So, having said all that, here are my favorite moments from this summer:

Smirk. top ten!!!

This post got 5th place!!!  yipeeeee!

Angelic?  I think not.  Perhaps devious would be a better word.  This is my entry for the weekly challenge at http://www.iheartfaces.com. This face, by the way, knows how to get her grandparents to do just about anything. Wonder where she learned that? *smirk.

ps- I'm hosting a week long photo scavenger hunt on facebook.  (just look for my fanpage link to the left and click).  Join in the fun!  :)
Kristen

Modern Family Photos

There's this gorgeous family I know.  They asked if I would take photos for them while I was out in New Jersey, and how could I resist?  After all, I love their two boys.  They are two of the best nephews a girl could ask for. 

After all, they allow my dear daughter to torture them as much as she wants to:

When my sister in law suggested that we go to the gazebo where she and my brother were married, we got a few more family shots.

And I couldn't resist getting my brother and Suzie to pose for me.

Much love, you four.  xoxoxoxo
Kristen

Sunday; lovin around the web.

I had a really nice birthday yesterday.  :)
I bought myself a canon 100mm 2.8 and a new website from Portfoliositez! I am so grateful to my mom for these gifts!  I literally can not wait to get my new lens and add more photos to my fanpage.
Since watching the inspiring and beautiful Jasmine Star workshop on creative live, I have been thinking of my 3 words.  I think they will be Natural, Intimate and Brilliant.  Like?
So, here are some wonderful things I have found around the web this week: Photo Freebies, adorable flowers to make for packages, hair ribbons, etc..., and finally a tutorial on how I got the above image.
Have a fantastic week, blog land!
love, Kristen

It's my birthday today! 9-11-10

Today is my birthday!  And my twin sister's, and my favorite cousin's!  I'm tuning 370 years old today.  ok, so I only feel like it's 370.  It's really just 37, but when you go to bed at 6 pm the night before your birthday, you tend to feel a little older than 37.  My birthday has been and always will be special to me, no matter what.  I LOVE that I have always gotten to share it with my fantastic sister.  I love the cake, the excuse to eat ice cream and chips and hotdogs all at once, and (I hate to admit it) the presents!!!!! I remember having a sleepover party while listening to Michael Jackson's newest album, "Thriller" and the year all we wanted was Cabbage Patch dolls.  Be quiet.  I already told you I feel old.
This year (as well as last year), my hubby is in Vegas with his buddies- doing a fantasy football thing.  So that leaves me here, by myself with my two adorable children.  Both of them are feeling a little under the weather, so my plans to drag them to the beach went flying out the window.  That's ok.  Matt is going to win me a million dollars this weekend, and the kiddos are going to let me be lazy.  But I still need a little somethin'-somethin' from you guys.  How about a birthday contest? Yeah?

Beginning today, September 11th, submit a photo of you on your birthday and tell me what you LOVE about your birthday. To submit a photo, either email it to kdmintz@hotmail.com or post it on my facebook fanpage under fan photos- the album labeled "Brithday 37 contest." The winner will receive a $75 credit toward their session. (pricing is to the left.)
Here are the details:

* One entry per person.
* You must be 18 or older.
* Picture can not be from another professional photographer.
* Photos will be accepted until next Saturday, September 18th 9pm Pacific time..
* Contest is open to everyone!!

HOW PHOTOS WILL BE JUDGED

* All entries will be uploaded into an album on my fanpage.
* To vote for a photo you MUST "like" Kristen Mintz Photography on facebook.
*Get your friends to vote for you!  (they must "like" Kristen Mintz Photography as well.)
* Click "like" for the photo you are voting for in the album labeled birthday 37 contest.
* Photo with the most "likes" will be the winner. Comments permitted, but WILL NOT count
towards the total number of votes.
* I will verify that all "likes" of the winning photo come from my facebook fans. "Likes" from non-fans will not be counted.
*Voting will close on Saturday, September 25th at 9 pm Pacific.
* Offical winner will be notified and announced no later than Sunday, September 26th!

Please post any questions you have in the comments section of the blog and I will be happy to answer them. I look forward to seeing all the entries!!

happy birthday toooo meeeeee (and my sister and my cousin)!
love, Kristen