As a general rule, I don’t like polished things. If it feels too perfect, I find it boring. For example, my husband made me realize a lot of the artists I listen to don’t have what would be considered typically “good” singing voices. Some don’t play their instruments with perfect technique. There’s an edge of rasp. More feeling than precision.
I do enjoy bloggers that have it all together and their life looks like it’s a magazine. I know their life doesn’t always look like that and I appreciate and drool over the artistry that goes into crafting their photos, but that’s just not my thing. I don’t want that kind of refinement for this little blog.
My family and I went to a roadside "pumpkin patch” this past weekend. The same one that pops up every year. My main goal was to get some decent pictures of my adorable nephew, but after that, I enjoyed snapping pictures willy-nilly. One of my favorite “techniques” is to take pictures without holding the camera to my face. Shoot from the hip, if you will. Sometimes I end up with grass or sky, but sometimes I get angles that are great and effortless. Try it.
Another technique is to give the camera to my snap-happy husband. He’s not a photographer, but he captures moments by sheer persistence. I was trying to choose a pumpkin and he was clicking away while I was talking to him. I like the result. Yes, you can tell I don’t wear makeup-- but I actually don’t wear makeup. I happen to like the “texture” in this picture. Yes, the texture of my imperfect skin, which I’ll be honest I’m not usually a fan of, but I guess that shows sometimes imperfections have their place.
Do you have any fun photography quirks?
As you may know, I don’t believe in confining Halloween things to October. I have a toy ghost on my dashboard all year round, keep orange and black sprinkles in the house at all times, and wear clothes that feature iconic spooky creatures. But it’s October so now I can wear a DIY bat sweatshirt in the cool mornings and shed a layer to reveal a sleeveless skull button-up to combat the warm sun without it being out of place.
When I saw A Clothes Horse’s bat sweatshirt last year, I was in love. However, not wanting to spend the money at the time, I vowed to make my own using sharpie. I got the idea from a shirt my husband has from high school. He used sharpie to stencil his last name on it and I was surprised how good it looks and how well it has held up over the years.
Fast forward to cool weather 2015 and I’m ready to get my dream bat sweatshirt. I got a plain white one for cheap at Hanes Outlet and picked up a fabric pen from Michael’s for around $3. I took a step up from my sharpie plans because I wanted to make sure it looked as nice as possible. It was fun to create my own little bat buddy using references from image searches and trial and error. I'm quite pleased with the result! It’s tempting to draw on more of my clothes...
Tips for using fabric markers
-Use a pencil to sketch your design. Once you’re happy, make a thick outline around your sketch using a black sharpie.
-If you’re a confident sketcher, you could just sketch directly onto the fabric using whatever implement will show up on the fabric color you are using.
-If the fabric is a light color, you can slide the darkened outline under the clothing you’re working with to plan placement and check the size in proportion of your item.
-Before marking with the fabric pen, slide a piece of cardboard between the back of your sketch paper and the back of the clothing to prevent bleed through. I just used the sketchbook.
-Work in light sweeps of the fabric pen to prevent the ink bleeding outside of your outline.
Outfit details
Sweatshirt: Hanes Brand
Skull shirt: Modcloth (similar)
Shorts: Forever21 (old)
Boots: Steve Madden (similar)
Purse: JCPenney (old)
Tights: DKNY
Well, there’s a hurricane raining itself out and my husband is upstairs asleep because he is working midnight shift. Instead of wishing things were different, I’m embracing it (and hoping there’s less rain tomorrow). A rainy day is no good without the proper music, so let’s talk about it.
I have been rendered dumbstruck on a regular basis by the lyrics by Ben Cooper of Radical Face. My husband and I stop talking when we listen to Radical Face in the car. I take that back. We do talk, but only to use a hushed voice to say how amazing a section of lyrics are, and then we go back to listening.
I’m a lyrics person, through and through. I used to spend way too much time looking up lyrics to my favorite albums and pasting them into iTunes for reference. Or if they weren’t online, I would transcribe them. These days I don’t make that a priority, which is a shame because Radical Face has lyrics that deserve the attention. So today I did just that with the two albums I have, The Branches and The Roots. I’m not too familiar with the ins and outs of Ben Cooper, but it looks like he is active online, sharing updates and extras with fans, which is pretty neat.
What I admire the most about Radical Face is the way the songs at the same time feel real but magical. Sad, yet oddly optimistic. Many times they seem to be from the perspective of a child who is just relaying what they observe. As he observes, he sees more than he realizes and can understand and as we listen, we can put the pieces together.
One of our favorite songs is Severus and Stone. Instead of talking too much about it, I’ll just post what I’ll inaccurately call my favorite section of it (it’s all the best), which is the beginning:
all the trees stood like skeletons
silhouettes of spilled ink
and the snows fell in sheets and got wrapped around our feet
we built the fire evermore with winter beating at the door
brother's eyes were getting heavier
his bony hands cold and white
and I could hear his ragged breathing like the wind along a knife
there beside him through the night, in the hum of candlelight
I no longer felt the time
brother woke just after midnight
and he didn't make a sound
and as he climbed from out of bed with severed rings around his head
his feet didn't touch the ground
I could feel it then
a tiny miracle
so I followed him
into the woods
crossed beneath the trees
but only I left my prints in tow
So do yourself a favor and listen to the rest because it’s like a story. You need to journey to the end to see what happens. After you've done that, check out their Noise Trade page for some free EPs.
What's your favorite rainy day music?
What's your favorite rainy day music?
