My First Photography Contest

Now that I'm getting into photography I seem to keep finding all these photography contests out there for non professionals to enter.  Of course some are WAY out of my league...

...oh, how I dream of being in National Geographic

or Smithsonian magazine...

But I did find one contest that I just had to enter.  The great company where I have my 9-5 "Day Job" puts on a yearly photography contest for all employees.  And since all of us are professionals in something other than photography I figured I might even have a chance at winning!  The winners in each category (there are 12 total categories) make it onto the yearly company calendar that is given out to all 1000+ employees.

 Here are my entries (I did some last minute photoshop work and cropping before they were submitted that is no shown below):

Category: Children

This is my daughter on Christmas morning...need I say more?

Category:  Still Life

This is a shot from the World War II American Cemetery in Normandy, France.  There are over 9000 soldiers buried here.

Category: Landscape

This is a shot from a trip to the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru.  To explain the scale of these awesome ruins...the 'steps' you see are actually agriculture fields for crops and are each about 6 feet tall. 

(and yes, we climbed all the way to the small house at the top!)

Category: Animals

This is a shot from the St. Louis zoo...it was so hard to get one of these guys to stand still!  But when they did it made for a great shot.

Wish me luck! 

Girl's T-Shirt Dress

We are in for a treat! I have another guest tutorial from my super talented mom! She made my daughter about 5 of these super cute (and super easy) t-shirt dresses, and I just had to get her to write this tutorial so you all can make one!

This tutorial is for these super cute t-shirt dresses I recently made for my granddaughter. I bought some t-shirts off the clearance rack (these were all $3.00 each at Kohl's) and matched each one with some cotton fabric I already had. I used the overall measurement of 17” for all the dresses I made (we measured from my granddaughter's shoulder to her knee). You can use the size of the fabric scrap as the main deciding factor for how much of the dress was t-shirt and how much was skirt, but I also let the design on the t-shirt guide me. Most of the skirts are placed 1/2 to 1 inch below the design (remember to add seam allowance before you cut the t-shirt).

Once you have the general layout in mind, use a rotary cutter to trim of the bottom of the t-shirt to the desired length. When cutting the skirt fabric, be sure to add allowance for both the seam and the hem before you cut. For the desired fullness of the skirt consider cutting your fabric so that it is 1.5 to 2 times the bottom width of the t-shirt when not stretched.

Next, I hemmed the fabric for the skirt by folding the fabric under 1/4 inch and then another 1/2". You can hem it with just a straight stitch.

I then used a gathering stitch to finish the top of the skirt.

Putting the rights sides together, I then gathered the skirt to fit the size of the t-shirt and pinned it on. Using a stretch stitch, I attached the t-shirt to the skirt. I practiced on the t-shirt scrap to ensure it would stretch enough to make it comfortable to put on a squirming one-year old!

(We actually found out the hard way that you will need more stretch than you’d think in this seam. Also, as nice as it looks, do not top stitch this seam because it will take away the stretch and make the dress near impossible to put on!)

And for a second variation on this project use a onesie instead of a t-shirt.   I figured out this variation on the second set of dresses I made that using onesies for the top of the dress allowed me to make a pair of panties that are perfectly coordinated. After you cut the onesie in half just fold down the top edge of the lower half and sew a casing (again use a stretch stitch). Next, measure a piece of elastic to fit your little one’s waist and feed it through the top of the onesie. Secure with some quick stitches over the seam and you’re all done.

I hope you all have fun with this project! They are so easy and quick and make a wonderful personalized gift without much expense.

Well there you go...another great project we can all find the time for!

Monogrammed Wine Cork Wall Hanging

I have one more great project to show you for using up some of your wine corks. 

Although if you are like me and you've already made more than one Wine Cork Board and/or Wine Cork Trivet you are running low on wine corks!  That just means it's time to open another bottle...I love it! :)

This project is much more a piece of art than a practical and useful cork board, but still a very nice effect.  It's a Monogrammed Wine Cork wall hanging.

Supplies you'll need:

- wine corks (a variety of sizes and colors)

-hot glue gun

-frame

-foam board (if your frame doesn't have a back)

-knife

The first step will be to glue the back onto the frame.  My frames were the $2 ones from Ikea, so the didn't come with usable backs.  I substituted some foam board that I cut to the right size and painted black.  Using your hot glue gun make sure to get a good seal all the way around the frame.

Then you will start laying out the letter for the monogram.  You'll need to cut about 7 corks into discs if you're using an 8x10 frame.  I usually get 4 discs per cork.  And depending on how you lay out your letter you may need more or fewer discs.  But make sure to have fun with this part, and add a lot of visual interest to the wall hanging, by using corks with logos on the ends, or that were stained by red wine.  I also used a champagne cork with a star on it for the top of the "C" for another special touch.

Once you have the letter laid out, you'll need to fill in all the surrounding area with corks that have been cut in half length wise.  I always try to keep the logos whole when I cut corks in half, so my wall hanging will be very busy and graphic.  Unless you are squaring off the letter in your wall hanging, you will end up with a ton of usual angles that need to be filled by very rectangular corks.  It's not hard to get the entire background covered...just filled in as many whole corks as you can fit first (using the best designs, or course), and then started cutting them to fit.  I ended up with one row on top of the "C" that is only 1/4 of a cork, but as long as the black is mostly covered you'll get the right effect. 

Once you have your frame filled in the way you like simply glue each cork down one by one.  You might have to make some adjustments as you glue, so keep all your left over cork pieces handy to fill in any large gaps.

I made a second wall hanging for my brother-in-law and used a slightly larger frame.  The process was the same, but I liked how I added a row of 3 cork discs to each end of the "K" in this version.  I think it makes the letter look capitalized and more like a traditional monogram.  I'll definitely use that technique again when I make more of these.

Of course these wall hangings could be used as cork boards, but I think they are too nice to cover up.  I added picture hangers to the back of each one so they could go up anywhere the recipient has a photo grouping. 

I hope you like this idea for a way to repurpose used wine corks into a custom wall hanging...and that you can find the time to make one!