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!