Another Reason I Can't Use My Camera

This Memorial Day weekend, Sam and I went to his reunion in Oberlin. At Oberlin, they have reunions in clusters, so while Class of '03 was having their five year reunion, Class of '04 and Class of '02 (i.e. Sam) were there too. It was weird (but not a bad thing) staying in a dorm again. It brought back memories of college for me (it smelled like dorm!) and more, I am sure, for the people that actually went to Oberlin.

One of Sam's college bands played. They do punk renditions of Simon and Garfunkel, under a name not suitable to mention on a crafts blog. Here is a clip of a show they played in Boston last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igMZq37ZOdU

We did a "car share" with two nice Oberlin people (and Andy - who of course is also nice!) on Monday and drove for hoooooooooooours. We got back to Sam's place in Astoria and crashed (as in, bed - not crashed the car!)

Needless to say, I was exhausted and running late on Tuesday morning, so I left all my stuff at Sam's place and have yet to pick it up. My camera was there. (So was my phone charger!) So I have no pictures from the trip (and can take none of my latest star necklace).

I promise I will put one or two of our trip up here...and to prove that I am good on my word, I will finally put up some pictures I've been promising for a while.

Here is the custom bracelet - my first sale in 7 years:
And here is that rowdy (but soft, I' m sure!) alpaca that we met in Australia:

It worked!

My star experiment worked! I think it will look better in natural sunlight, but here it is! (Oh yeah, and a chain. That would help too...)

This weekend

was very productive! Obsessive, yes, but productive.

I had applied to be part of the Etsy Beadweavers Street Team a few days earlier, and on Friday, I was invited to join the group! They add new members' names to the blog on the first of every month, so my name is not quite up there yet, but just wait...because it will be soon! :-) Now I just have to finish going through all my Etsy

My next big feat was making my banner! I still want to change the font, but I'm super excited about it:
I spent Saturday night (see, I told you it was intense!) making this star of David necklace. I had noticed that with a little tweaking, the hexagon necklaces that I made for Angela, Hilary, and myself would make cool stars of David. I also figured out how to make it lie flat.

Sam's parents may or may not want this one for a bat mitzvah to which they are going next weekend. Either way, I plan to make more of these - it's really fun to see the star shape appear as I make them. I am also going to try to make a five pointed star.

Today, Sam came over to use my printer. He and his brothers are planning a 40th wedding anniversary party for their parents, and he had to print addresses on envelopes. The ordeal took almost the whole day, but it was a success!Meanwhile, I spent a few hours cleaning up my apartment, which had recently turned into more of a disaster zone than it already was. When I sat down to take a break, it turned into a necklace.

YouTube

My pieces were in a YouTube video! Courtesy of The Electric Diva. Isn't it awesome?! (If I do say so myself...) :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waMSpgoamLg

I made my first Etsy sale today!! That totally made my whole morning. :-)

On Blogging

I'm sitting here at work after hours, waiting for my evening plans to pull through. Most likely, it will be a movie with Sam and our friend, Adam, but we're not sure which borough yet. So for now, I am planted at my desk.

I've been spending a lot of time on my new business. I still needs some finishing touches (like, um, a banner!) but it has become more and more of an obsession. A very fun obsession.

So I've been thinking long and hard about whether to start a new blog solely about my business (as opposed to my all purpose craft blog). It's the word "knit" that does it. Don't get me wrong, I still love to knit, but I just don't knit as much as I used to. So I thought I about having two blogs - one about all of my crafting adventures, and one dedicated to my business.

But then I thought again. So what if "knit" is in the title?? It doesn't change the fact that this is the blog I have been writing in since 2006! Besides, the resurection of my beading obsession is documented here, and so is the evolution of my new business! So this knitstripedfrog is here to stay! It is my one and only.

And Now....

More on my Etsy obsession....

I have 35 items up now....

Etsy Buy Handmade adinahalperndesigns

I spent the entire day today adding fifteen of them! I didn't realize that adding the entries to Etsy would be so much work! A huge part of the reason for this is probably the fact that my apartment is so small that I have to "change the scenery" for everything I photograph, and this often invloves moving furniture (at least my desk chair) out of the way! I'm also learning what looks good as far as the photographs, and what doesn't. Today, I started to master that skill.

I've read that no flash and direct sunlight are best, and that cameras that have some manual features work best for detail. Needless to say, I don't really have access to any of these things. Having not sold anything yet, I just can't afford to buy an expensive new camera. And living in Manhattan, I have no yard at all to use to photograph. I could go to Central Park, but that would be kind of hard, especially on days like today when I have a lot of things to photograph, especially since I would have to take some of my own backgrounds with me (foam boards). So I open the shades of my apartment and only photograph during daylight hours, but especially on cloudy days like today, the flash on my very automatic camera turns itself on automatically. But I've learned that white backgrounds, ironically, work best to not reflect flashes and therefore to show jewelry in intricate detail and true to what it really looks like (for example, its true color). I've learned how to take pictures of myself in anklets without making them too distorted. I've also learned how to take photographs that will still look good when Etsy crops them to make them square. I will probably learn a lot more over the next few weeks and months, but I know so much more now than I did when I started - and that feels great!

Etsy

My etsy shop is up! I have four listings so far. (Picked randomly from a huuuuuge collection. I didn't realize how many pieces I had made to sell!) I also didn't realize how much work on-line selling would be! In order to get natural light, I have to photograph my pieces immediately before or after work (that is, when I'm not working overtime) or on the weekends. And since etsy crops the photos, I have to make sure everything will get in the actual picture (read: center, because I can't figure out how to crop them on my computer).

But to get those four images out there is such a rush! It really is a thrill!

Stay tuned, because I'm going to be adding a lot more images in the coming days and weeks!

And Sam wants me to tell you that he is cheering and bellowing me on in the background.

this and that

I'm still a little afraid of my camera right now, but I did take some pictures. I have yet to upload them, though.

I just finished my first commissioned work in about seven years. My co-worker's daughter's birthday is next week, so I really wanted to get this one done in time. I'm making two bracelets and a pair of earrings, but I'm going to give her the first bracelet tomorrow.

I took some pictures of it, so when I get through downloading my vacation pictures and taking old ones off my camera if necessary, I'll put them right up here. It's becoming increasingly clear to me that I'm going to need a better camera. From some tips on indiepublic (which I just joined, and which has already been extremely helpful for networking and tips!) I am also beginning to realize that I'm going to need more natural light for my photos, which might prove difficult in my tiny NYC studio.

Jetlag

Due to my jetlag, I've been awake since 5:15 this morning. Oh well, that's like a million times better than the night before last, when I could not fall asleep at all. Plus, today is my 8:30 day at work, so I would have had to be awake at 7 anyway.

My next big project is going to figuring out how to get the hundreds and hundreds photos from the trip onto my moody computer. But for now, the latest on my beading. (You didn't think I could go that long without writing about it, did you?)

I arrived home from Australia, equipped with the merchandise from my youth, to a package full of jewelry displays for necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings, so that's super exciting. Now I really do have to pin down a name. I'm still not hell bent on Funky Cold Adina, although I still like it a lot. But I was thinking, how about Adina Jessica? (Jessica is my middle name.) Or perhaps Adina Jessica Designs? Adina Halpern Designs, maybe. (Maybe not the most original naming idea, but it works...) Pleeeeeeeease comment here and let me know what you think! I need to get an etsy banner and business cards started. (Which will probably entail me paying someone on etsy to do it for me.)

I'm really surprising myself with this beading stuff. For example, I never pictured myself as a person who would use so much pink. And I can't believe how excited I am at the prospect of using bigger beads and crystals in my seed bead work. But enough of the revelations - I want to get some beading in before work!

G'Day from Sydney!

I'm in Sydney now - the land of my youth! I've done a lot since I got to Australia (including spend a few days in Canberra and Melbourne) but I haven't had much time for crafts here! I did, however, find the bag of jewelry I made to sell. Now I just have to go through it and figure out what is sellable!

Although I've done very little knitting (except for a tiny bit on the plane on the way over), I have two quick things to recount:

1) Alpacas are OUTTA CONTROL! Or at least that's what Sam found when one tried to bite his hand on a farm outside Melbourne (I have photos which I will put up soon, but I don't have time to upload them just yet). They are also pretty cute! (And, um, their wool is really soft. Yeah.)

2) In Canberra, on the way to Sydney, they forced me to either check or chuck my plastic knitting needles, even though THE SAME AIRLINE LET ME BRING THEM ON THE WAY THERE! Needless to say, I chose the former. Needless to say, this made me MAD! Grr!

Ah well. That is all for now. Lata!

I must admit, I'm going a little blog crazy

But I made this one (and it's twin!) for myself, so I couldn't resist the urge to put it up here.

The Case of the Missing Pictures

I found them! It seems that I am running out of memory on my memory card and that when I erase pictures, new ones take their places, literally. I'm used to seeing them at the end of the rows of pictures that I upload onto my computer, but I found these sneaky ones throughout. I found that picture of the red, white, and black necklace, and this blue one which I must say I am really pleased with.

More on this Naming Business

This has been on my mind so much that I am *gasp* blogging during my lunch break!

It occurred to me that I might someday want to have an internet domain. And suprise, suprise, adinadesigns.com already exists. All weekend I thought about this. Should I sign up with another name before it's too late? Before I *gasp* list something??

stripedfrog.com already exists, too. And Striped Frog Designs really sounds like it would be a website about striped frogs. (For some reason, way more than Striped Frog does.) I needed a new name. Something very me. Creative and a little bit funky.

Then it hit me! Last year for Valentines Day, Sam made me a mixed tape and called it "Funky Cold Adina." (A play on Funky Cold Medina). That is also the perfect name for my new business! Very funky and very me! :-)

What's in a Name

I'm almost ready to start selling my stuff (it'll probably be a month or six weeks) and I've been toying with name ideas for my business for a while. The last time I sold anything I made, I was sixteen, and sold my jewelry at market in Australia under a hand beaded sign that read "Beaded Bijoux." Other then the fact that I wouldn't have to make another sign (ha!), I wanted to think of something else for this time around because (a) although I'm mostly selling beaded things, I have a couple of things I've knit specifically to sell. I already have a crafts blog with the word "knit" in it, where knitting isn't always the only or even the primary thing I write about, and I want to give myself room to grow/change (if this ever amounts to anything!) and (b) Apart from what would meet a college language requirement, I don't actually speak French. In a world where crafts are often sold on the internet, I don't want to be misleading.

That meant I had to come up with a brand new name. I definitely want to start an etsy site, and I might even some day (gasp!) have my own website! The obvious choice was stripedfrog. That name just started out as a hotmail account when I was fifteen (that I still use) because I liked frogs and all of the other frogs (spottedfrog, polkadottedfrog, etc.) were taken. For some reason, that name has always gotten a lot of attention. People always ask me about my email address at random times. I just wish there was a more meaningful story behind it!

And then I could go with the more narcissistic option - "Adina Designs." It sounds professional, which is kind of what I'm going for. Plus, being of Eastern European Jewish origin, it is unlikely that I will name a child after myself (that's considered bad luck) so this business might be my only chance. (I mean, maybe I could name a pet after myself, but I think that would get a little confusing. It would also be very weird. "This is my dog, Adina, Jr. And this is my cat, Adina the Third.") Then there is the alliteration of the D. It sounds kind of cool to me.

I was going to ask around and get some opinions on this matter. But last yesterday, I was surfing etsy.com (as I often do) and came across this awesome painting by Hillarie Tasche. After going back and forth to it all day, I finally caved in and ordered it. But in order to do that, I had to get an etsy account, and in order to do that, I had to have a name! And etsy warns to choose one's name carefully because it can never be changed. What ever was I to do??

I thought about it for about thirty seconds and went with the narcissism. Adina Designs it is! (Well, will be, anyway. Once I get it all up and running...)

some entertainment

from ihasahotdog.com

This one took a while to make - the cylinders always take longer than I think they will. I really like it, though.

My camera is doing weird things. It takes pictures fine, but it won't save new ones to my computer. (It will, however, save old ones. And it's not a memory thing, because I keep erasing different ones, but the same ones will save.) This picture from my phone will have to do.

Obsession

I think my brain is wired to love beads. These last few weeks, I've been completely obsessed. I bought a lot of beads and supplies, and I can't say I regret it at all. My friend, Maria, at work suggested that I host a tupperware-like party at my apartment to sell things, which was extremely encouraging for me. I just have to wait until I go home to Australia in three weeks so I can get my old stuff from my mom's house! Seed beading really takes a long time, and I don't have enough of a collection for that right now...but I'm beading as fast as I can! Most of what I've been making is to sell (some time in the near future)...unless, that is, I get separation issues. Here are the objects of my life from the past few weeks (well, the ones I've actually finished anyway):
On Thursday night, I made two rings for myself:
I liked them a lot... so I made five more.
That lovely blue background to these photos is my futon. Photography is not my forte. I ain't no photographer. It's frusterating, because it's really hard for me to get the details, especially with the sparkly beads. If anyone has any tips on how to better photograph these pieces, I'm all ears!

I've been knitting a little (as in, a few rows little) and beading a lot. I've been coming up with lots of ideas, which make me think of more ideas, which make me think of even more ideas...but I had forgotten how long these things take to make! I'm thinking way faster than I'm beading. Up until this past weekend, I finished every single thing I started to bead (unless I didn't finish it at all). But I've begun to leave my beaded works unfinished! (My knitting habit is spreading!!)

Wow. I am such a dork.

The past two days have been awesome!

For Valentines Day, Sam gave me New Ideas for Crochet: Stylish Projects for the Home. He gave me a crochet book because he knew that I had so many knitting books, but only one on crochet. Knowing Sam, I am sure he looked through all of the crochet books and figured out which one had stuff that looked like things I would use or wear. However, I doubt that he could have known that I have been looking for a book with these types of patterns since long before I met him. (I think that the coolest thing ever would be to have a home furnished mostly with things I made!) Once I move out of this place and get furniture that is not third- and fourth-hand, I am totally going to make the cushions, afghans, and even place mats in this book and have the coolest apartment ever.

Today after work, I went out with my friend, Katie. We got exhausted very early, both having had long weeks. But when I got home, I found the bead stuff I had ordered from the internet earlier this week! Amongst this was a booklet on bead and chain jewelry. On the first page, under the heading, "Basics," are some techniques I have always wanted to know but, being self taught, have never learned in all my years of beading. So, about twenty minutes ago, I apparently learned the very basics of beading, which I can now add to my 15 years of experience. Wahoo! Tomorrow, Sam and I are going away for the long weekend, but before I go, I'm going to swing by Beads World and get some wire. I'm impatient and can't wait another day!! (Yes, I know, living in New York spoils me...)