believe

One Saturday afternoon last month, my friend Christina asked if I'd help her with a photo project. She needed it for a scholarship for art school. She had an amazing idea to start with - fabric leading from her sewing machine, spelling out the word 'believe' in the sky. We had only a faint idea of how we were going to make it happen, but armed with this information we hit JoAnn Fabric's, and then Meijer. During our extensive shopping trip we came up with the plan.

We bought a cardboard moving box, which came flat and was about 4'x2'. Christina traced out the word believe in cursive, and we cut it out with x-acto knives. We then spent the next hour or two hand sewing the fabric around the cardboard frame, trying to make it look as natural as possible. Then came the challenging part - hanging the thing up. We tied fishing wire to four points in the word, and used a piece of cardboard to measure the distance the strings would need to be from the ceiling. We wanted the word to trail up to the sky, so the strings toward the end of the word needed to be shorter (duh).

the set up

After that we tacked it to the ceiling with push pins. The cardboard frame was not as sturdy as we had hoped and we had to prop it up in spots with paint brushes and rulers. haha. So anyway, then we shot! These were the two favorites.

extras?

click to see the big versions! :)






It was a heck of a project, and took up our entire day but was well worth it. If only we could have recycled the lettering for another day :( but alas, it was too fragile. but we got some great pictures while it lasted.








hopefully she gets the scholarship. :)

what's in my bag

This video is quite different than my normal style. I blame it on Dulcie for introducing me to the world of YouTube glamour gurus. I just thought it'd be interesting and I've been really wanting to make some nice videos since I got my new camera and it records in HD. :)

So what do you think? Should I do more of these kind of videos? Let me know on facebook.

adios amigos

chictopia!

finally updated my chictopia  :)

click the pics to see more.

ta ta!

march photo a day

march 15. car.

STICKER HEAVEN

working at a sign company means i basically make giant stickers all day. sometimes i get to make some for myself :)

march 16. sunglasses.

I HEART YOU

i have this thing for funky sunglasses, what can i say. i got these from Everybody's Everything, this crazy costume store here in town. ♥

march 17. green.

SIGNS OF SPRING

or is it summer already? because it sure feels like it outside today. 75? really michigan? 

stay tuned for moreeeee

more march photo a day

march 12. fork.

iPHONE ART
feelin like absolute crap today, stopped by biggby to get some tea and saw this. wished i had my actual camera but the iphone photo will have to do.

march 13. a sign.

ART & IMAGE
i work at a sign shop so this was pretty much a no brainer. here is the beginning of a sign - printing. also some cupcake stickers i made for Dulcie. hehe

march 14. clouds.

FLYING BY

sick. yuck. losing my motivation to do this thing but i will not give up! snapped this pic while riding in a car. turned out surprisingly good.

stay tuned for more march photo a day :)

march 11. someone you talked to today.

march 11. someone you talked to today.

LAZY SUNDAY

woke up sick and didnt talk to many people today, but here is somebody that i talk to every day. rain or shine.

coming up next: forks.

march photo a day

the march photo a day contest is going on and even though i came in late, i'm determined to give it a shot. here's what i've done so far.

march 6. 5pm.

BABY YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR

at 5pm today i was still working. i found out about this photo challenge at approximately 5:29pm today; thank you, Dulcie Stormo. this is the best i could do for an entrance, we'll see if the next few days prove more promising. 

march 7. something you wore.

LAST NIGHT'S PROJECT

my friend dulcie & i made jewelry last night & this is one of the pieces that i turned out with... a necklace made of odds and ends :) i love it.

 march 8. window.

SUN SPOTS

today was a blur for me. it was only around the time the sun finally set that i was able to slow down, and snap a photo. i love sun spots.

march 9. red.

CHARACTER

today was easy for me because a couple of days ago, i dyed parts of my hair that exact color. 'candy apple red' to be exact; thank you, special effects.

necklace courtesy of cindy sweeney.

march 10. loud.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

with the sound of music... dulcie & i went to riverview park today and adventured. it was like 57 outside, simply beautiful day for photos. saturdays in the park are to die for.

anyway dulcie started posing like this and it worked out pretty good for the photo challenge for today :)

look back tomorrow to see someone i talked to that day.

new camera!!!

with my tax return, i bought a canon eos rebel t3i.

i also bought a 16g SD card with the camera.

i filled it up in a week.

more coming very soon.

sorting through old pictures

oops, it seems to have been a while since i posted.

i got a new camera and i've been taking pics like MAD with it. but in the mean time, here's some old ones i've left behind:

this is a necklace i made out of buttons :)

benton harbor, michigan

lunch date at the phoenix, benton harbor

green eyes, green eyes

gone with the wind

winter vineyard

many more to come....

happy v-day

Today's St. Valentine's Day. This statement may either feel you with happiness, dread, elation, depression, or some combination of these.

For me, I'm filled with the desire to make desktops.

1920x1080

1024x768

I will leave you with a picture of me and my Valentine :)

clare + trevor :)

the valentine i made out of unused sales fliers from work

clarebees

When I was younger, my nickname was always Clarebees. Don't ask me why, it was started by one of my aunts for no reason in particular other than it sounded like it fit me. :) At least, as far as I know there's no crazy back story of me running from bees, and no I have never been a beekeeper. ANYWAY. That being said, seeing bees always reminds me of being younger and my family, so they're something I've always gravitated to.

On another note (that will tie in with the first in the next paragraph), my mother has always loved / purchased organic, natural things. When I was a kid I was like, EWWW NATURAL, thinking about the carrot juice she used to juice for us or the sucralose we used instead of white sugar. (Now of course, I'd love those things) But then around the age of 18 or 19 I started getting into the whole 'au naturale', earthy, hippie mentality where nature is my friend & I lived my life in the outdoors. Prior to this I was pale as a ghost, I sat inside on the computer every summer and I hated nature because of all the bugs. Yes, as much as I hate to admit this, it's the truth, and any one of my family members will readily attest to it. But anyway, with the love of nature comes the love of things that come from the earth, and not from chemicals & a factory. Right?

So anyway, then they come out with this great amazing organic line of products, Burt's Bees!

At first I didn't pay much attention to it. When I was a lot younger it was one of my mom's favorite line of products, and I could have cared less about it. Then I started using their lip balms and fell in love! They have since expanded their line to include everything you ever needed as far as personal care goes. Lotions, body wash, lip balm, cuticle cream, foot cream, face cream, eye cream... etc, etc, etc.

So for Christmas this year, and my birthday, (which as you may or may not know is the 9th of January, meaning I get an explosion of presents for two weeks out of the year and then diddly squat for the rest of it) I asked for Burt's Bees items.

Suffice it to say I got what I wanted. I was showered with presents this year and am now the proud owner of an extensive Burt's Bees collection. Some of my favorite products:

LIP BALM:

This stuff comes in so many varieties, and I love them all, seriously. The pomegranate one is especially nice because of the little bit of color it adds to your lips. Honestly I have about the palest lips imaginable so I look like a clown when I wear anything too dark. (and i freaking DESPISE clowns) The point is, I now have a lip balm or lip shimmer at both jobs, in my purse, and in some of my coat pockets so I am seriously SET. Which is great because I don't know about any of you, but this time of year my lips / skin gets unbelievable dry. Very annoying.

CUTICLE CREAM:

My mom got me this and at first I was more excited about the lemon scent of the product than what it would do for my nails. I really have never paid much attention to my cuticles but I started using this on an almost daily basis and now I'm hooked. It's also supposed to nourish weak nails which is something I really needed, my nails are constantly breaking off & then they look all ragged. Ha. 

I'll leave you with these two last links:

- An article on green products & green marketing, and Burt's Bees (of course)

- Burt's Bees Site - "Nature Becomes You"

Word of the Day, Day Three

There are those of us in this world who are PC People, and there are those of us who are Mac people. There are also those of us who are indifferent, but you will find some very strong opinions on either side.

My boyfriend, Trevor, is going to school for Computer Networking. He works at a computer repair store & he takes any opportunity he can to pick on Apple products. He is a PC person.

I am going to school for graphic design. I work at a sign shop and a janitorial supply company & I take any opportunity I can to show off my Apple products. I am a Mac person. Which brings us to today's word of the day.

Word #3 - Apple
There are two major companies named "APPLE" - One I'm sure you're very familiar with, & the other maybe not so much. But we've gotta start at the beginning of the story to get to the end without getting terribly lost along the way. ...And on that note -

Apple Records was a company founded by The Beatles (you know I'll throw in Beatle trivia anywhere I can fit it) in 1968, under the umbrella of Apple Corps. Other divisions of the company include Apple Electronics, Apple Films, Apple Publishing, and Apple Retail.

Apple records :)

The company mostly put out former Beatles' records, along with some Frank Sinatra, James Taylor, & Badfinger but it hasn't released anything non-Beatle since '74. (See the discog here.)

In '71 the Elastic Oz Band released the single "God Save Us" backed with "Do the Oz" on Apple Records. I'll leave you with that image. Moving on!

Apple, Inc. originally Apple Computer, was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak. Eight years after Apple Records, which was in its golden day at the time (remember how I said they haven't put out anything besides former Beatles' since 74?) but slowly fading. There are many legends floating around the internet as to why it was named the way it was. Here we will explore the top few.

Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak, windowtowallstreet.com                                 First Apple logo 

Hypothesis #1 - Steve Jobs was trying to rip off Apple Records.

A normal accusation to be thrown out, but somewhat unlikely in my opinion. This theory is widely disputed.

Hypothesis #2 - Steve Jobs was just feeling fruity.

Some rumors I've read say that Steve worked at an orchard. Others say he & Woz were driving along the freeway and he saw some orchards as they cruised. But Wikipedia had this to say -

"According to Steve Jobs, Apple was so named because Jobs was coming back from an apple farm, and he was on a fruitarian diet. He thought the name was "fun, spirited and not intimidating".^[170]"

^{- Wikipedia}

Hypothesis #3 - They wanted to think different.
It's no secret that in founding Apple, the Steves wanted to be different than the other cold, hard computer companies at the time. Perhaps they wanted to go with something softer, or more friendly.

All of this apple talk brings us to an important question. Are you a pc person or a mac person?

So there you have it folks.
On a side note, do you think Gwyneth Paltrow regrets naming her daughter Apple?

 Join us tomorrow for more words. Have a good evening!