Cynthia Shaffer

Uniform Project : : The Making of the Little Black Dress

After a little bit of brainstorming, I was off and running, searching for the perfect black/dark gray fabric to make our uniforms from. 

We decided on the middle fabric that I found at Fabric Land, my local high-end fabric store. Here's a couple reasons why we loved this fabric ... First we all liked the deep dark color and secondly, the fiber content is a polyester and rayon blend. Easy to wash and wear, and that poly will make the dress industrial strength and the rayon adds a little bit of fluidity and swing.

After taking Jenny's measurements, I then drafted a pattern for her, referring to a little sketch I had drawn and shared with everyone. OH how I love to draft patterns. It had been a while since I had really drafted a pattern and had to use my skills from my days in the garment industry. I loved it then and love it now. There's a bit of creativity in drafting a pattern ... your brain needs to be able to think in 3D terms and there is also a certain amount of math and science involved, which I also love! 

After cutting all the pieces out, I then over-locked or serged all the edges and did a quick stay stitch around the neck front and back and marked the center front with a long hand sewn basting stitch.

Next, I pinned all the pieces together and then basted all the seams together, yes, I run over the pins with my sewing machine!

This dress can be worn forwards or backwards and the insertion of this little pleat in the back or front, depending on how you are wearing it, really gives the dress that extra little flare.

After fitting the dress to Jenny, little to no alterations were needed, so I sewed over all the seams and then pressed them open, set the sleeves, dropped in the facings, marked the buttonhole placement and then stitched the 10 buttonholes! Yes, 10 ... count them. Oh, then came the buttons ... I decided to just use a random assortment of vintage and not so vintage black and gray buttons that I found in my black button mason jar.

And then to finish the dress ... the hem!

Check out Jenny's blog today and check out how many people are receiving fresh clean water! 

She's got this dress all dolled up and ready for a day out!

 

Project Home Ec and Water.org

Have you visited Jenny Doh's blog in the past few days? If you have then you know that she is at it again. This time, in the spirit of the Uniform project, Jenny is wearing a uniform, a little black dress (designed and stitched by yours truly) everyday for the next 365 days, all in an effort to raise money for Water.org.

There's a few of us that will be doing the same, but probably not to the extreme that Jenny is taking it. My promise was to wear my not-so-little black drees, whenever I take a class, teach a class or meet with friends or am at Bible study and so far ... that has been 18 days in a row now!

In addition to wearing the black dress daily, we have all agreed to not purchase any new clothes for a year and instead, make do, mend and alter what we already own.

Welcome ... Project Home Ec.

Come join us won't you? 

 

Photography 101 : Bring It On!

I just spent the last several hours setting everything up for my Photography 101 class tomorrow and I can't wait!

There's 1 spot left in tomorrows class, and a few spots still available in the March 17th class.

Small vignettes and sets are peppered throughout the studio, so that after everyone has a pretty good grip on the basics, it will be all about playing and practicing!

I'll be shooting while tethered to my computer so everyone can see what happens when I change aperture, lenses and perspective.

If you're interested in joining us, check out the class registration information here!

 

Bokeh LOVE : : Fun Filter Tutorial

It's all about the bokeh these days ... you know the blur you get in the background of a photograph when you open up the aperture on your lens and then focus in on a subject that's pretty close. This works best with a focal length of 50mm or more and a wide open aperture! 

One important element that helps to accentuate this effect are twinkling lights in the background. It doesn't need to be twinkle lights really but just bits of light shinning through trees will help you get that effect also.

With a little bit of patience and practice you can add some really fun, cool affects to your photographs.

While focusing on a particular subject can be a little challenging, the look is just way to fun to not keep playing till you get a photo that really speak to you. LOVE this love photo!

Ok, how much fun is this photograph? The only thing missing are raindrops on the flower petals.

So ... here I'm purposely out of focus to accentuate the bokeh shaped raindrops.

I love this filter I made. Can you imagine photographing a church or an outdoor wedding using this effect? BEAUTIFUL if you ask me!

Here's what you do:

Trace the lens cap onto a black piece of card stock and cut out circle.

Using a light colored pencil, draw a small shape in the center of the black circle and then cut out using a craft knife.

Cut a strip of black card stock the circumference of the circle and then snip into the strip.

Wrap the clipped strip around the black circle and tape in place.

Now ... go play and experiment!

As you can imagine, the sky is the limit here!

Here are a few other bokeh filters I made. I shot all these at night ... forcing the bokeh effect with the twinkle lights that are hanging from my back patio all year long!

If you're new to this whole photography thing and want to take that DSLR out of auto mode ... You might want to consider taking this class I'm teaching ... Photography 101: Shooting Beyond Auto Mode. I know that the february date is nearly full, but there are still a few spot open for the March 17th date!

Photography 101 : : Shooting Beyond Auto Mode

I am so excited for this new year and to have the opportunity to teach Photography 101 ... Shooting Beyond Auto Mode. 

With just a few basic skills ... ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, and a little bit of knowledge of camera lenses under your belt, you will be up, off and running ... and then practicing what you learn.

The first part of the class will be very hands on ... in the studio shooting little vignette I will set up and ... learning and ... making mistakes.

The second half of the class time will be spent outside, shooting each other and the great architecture found in the area, then back into the studio for some uploading and photo manipulation. 

The time is now to capture great photographs of your art, family and details of everyday life. 

And trust me ... once you learn what your camera can do in the creative manual modes, you'll never turn that back knob to that green box again!

Ready? Sign up here ... Photography 101 

The Painting Studio : : Exploring, Sharing, Being

The Painting Studio is a safe place to explore ...

A place to share heart felt stories ... 

To be encouraged ...

It's a place to learn new skills ...

To make a mark or 10,000 ...

The Painting Studio is a place to listen ...

It's a place to connect with the essence of our loved ones ...

And a place to give a little piece of ourselves in every brush stroke ...

To try new things, then cover it up and start anew ...

It's a place to bring back the old and be willing to start fresh ...

And a safe place to make really bad choices ...

And best of all, it's the perfect place to see something through the good, the bad and then on to the even better and finally ...

To completion ... at least for now!

 

 

 

Infinity Scarf + Rolled Roses

How cute is this? Doubled up or hanging down!

While I'm on a roll here, making these infinity scarves from old tee-shirt, thought I'd show you my version made from a tee-shirt my husband tossed in the Goodwill bag!

The funny part to the tee-shirt story ... there's a part of this tee-shirt that I cut off and am saving for a later project that says ... "I'm probably not" ... Soooo my husband ... kind of surprised he was tossing this tee-shirt out.

Another infinity scarf, this time made from thrift store finds, then cut into strips and the tied together. This could be a no-sew project, although for this scarf, I did do a little hand sewing to add a little stitched interest.

Needless to say, the rolled roses are super addicting, and make that perfect little something to pull the scrappy look of the scarf altogether.

Oh, and these would make the best little decorations for ballet flats, headband, or just to clip on the outside of your purse!

Happy Thrifting ... Happy Crafting!

 

 

Yesterday : : So Cozy ... So Great!

Just a few photos of your 'Oh So Cozy" class yesterday at Studio Crescendoh ...

The room was set and ready ...

After everyone had arrived, Jenny gave a little welcome and housekeeping speech ...

Then a quick ice breaker with lots of laughter ...

And in no time we were doing a little embroidery ...

Doing a little planning, cutting and sewing of our neck cozies ...

And making these beautiful rolled roses, all from recycled thrift store finds ...

Here's Wendy and Lynn ... showing off their finished neck cozies ... so fun ...

And Amber arranging her neck cozy to show off the super fun screen printed words she loved ...

Even Baby Zsa Zsa was sporting a neck cozy by the end of our day ...

Here's Tracy Schultz demonstrating a few skills needed for Lorrie Spotts to finish up her cup cozy ...

And Jenny  helping out Lynn as she dives into the world of crochet ... 

In hopes of creating one of these Oh So Cute ... apple cozies ...

And best of all ... connecting with old friends and making some new firends all while crafting and creating during this Oh So busy time of year!

 

The Kits are Ready!

The kits are ready and my rolling crate is all packed with all the goodies needed for the 'Oh So Cozy' class this Saturday.

There's 3 very cute gift-giving projects being taught, just in time for the Christmas. This scarf is what I will be teaching ... Rolled Rose Brooch instructions included.

And in case anyone wants to purchase a cute gift for that crafty friend,I've put together a few rolled rose brooch kits with pre-cut strips, ready for crafting!

There's still a little time to sign up ... so hop on over here and check it out!

 

 Hope to see you on Saturday!

Flora Bowley's Workshop : : Evolution of a Painting

What a wonderful experience I had this past weekend in Flora Bowley's workshop. Just to be with her  and to watch her work and demonstrate techniques and create was truly a memorizing experience. 

As the class members arrived and settled in, Jenny and Flora were there to greet everyone and to welcome them to a fun filled weekend in a very, very cool studio space in downtown Santa Ana.

In no time, Flora gave us just enough instruction to put paint on our large canvases (30 x 30 inches)... we were off and painting.

We worked on 2 canvases at the same time which is a great way to keep your mojo going. You see while one painting is drying you move on to the next painting and so on.

And then boom ... it happened! Just when you are sort of getting attached to your paintings, you have to gift your neighbor with one of them. 

The above "work-in-progress" is the painting I held onto. The green and black piece is the canvas I gifted Lu Ann.

As the first day moved along and with instruction from flora, layers upon layers of paint were applied to our canvases.

And by the end of day one I thought my 2 painting were shaping up nicely. I was excited for Sunday to see how they would morph and to add the finishing details.

And ... here is one of the paintings after day two. If you can image, this painting is the one in the above photo that has a lot of black leafy marks on it, and the canvas that was gifted to me by a sweet workshop neighbor Kolleen.

And here is the other painting after day two. This is the very aqua and red painting  you see in the above photo. 

Can you even believe just how much these canvases changed over the span of a weekend? And here I am on Monday, looking at them leaning up against the aqua walls of my studio, plotting and planning that next layer of paint ...

Yes, I am thinking to change them yet again. 

Thanks Flora for reminding us that everything is on our canvas for a reason and ... that everything can change fast and ... to trust our instincts and intuition.