2008.02.29.thing.a.day

today i copied craftykeg and made a haramaki/tummy warmer: mine is very simple, not like hers with the cute pattern, but i like it still and am going to wear it today. i didn't follow the instructions to the tutorial closely and chose to make mine single layered instead of double (basically, i just sewed 2 pieces of jersey together on each side)---i liked craftykeg's idea of tapering for the waist and did the same. i like to layer my tshirts, so i think of this as an extra tshirt layer that i can interchange easily. i want to make more---with patterns and designs, i also think it'd be cute to add lace or a lettuce/rolled edge using a serger. i also might want to add long sleeve arms to a short sleeve tee following the same idea. i also wasn't entirely happy with my results from yesterday, so i re-worked one of them (the first one):

yesterday	today

i tried to make the vignette softer, but i didn't really notice until afterwards that i probably could have softened it even more and made it lighter. i also backed off on the cyan/blue color tinting because i thought it was too heavy handed yesterday. similarly for the second photo, i took out the color tinting effect entirely. i have really enjoyed participating in thing.a.day and am sad that today is the last day. there are some projects that i'd hope to do/do more of this past month that i didn't get to, so i'll try to do them in the near future:

• re-learn illustrator
• make tshirts from illustrator and/other designs---try iron-on transfers or diy silkscreening
• needle felting
• re-learn crochet
• crochet hyperbolic planes and sea slugs
• knit squares for a blanket
• make more stuffed animals/creatures

i'll probably keep documenting my projects on my blog (probably not every day though) and look forward to next year!

2008.02.28.thing.a.day

today i copied invisible.co's earlier post and followed the same tutorial to give a film-like effect to a photo. my photoshop version didn't seem to have all of the adjustment layers/filters that the tutorial called for (exposure and lens blur) but i approximated the best that i could and tried the effect on two of my photos:

before	after

the vignetting effect on the top photo is too prominent/hard, i was going to add black bars to crop to cinemascope or re-do the vignette. i also saved non-cyan/blue tinted images that can be viewed here.

2008.02.27.thing.a.day

today i practiced some more in photoshop... first i tried the gold tutorial that i tried earlier this month on a photo that i took last week. the gold doesn't look so much like gold, but the matte edge looks better than my first golden egg attempt. also, i think i like the original photo better, but that's ok... * i have edited the gold look from earlier today based on feedback and the fact that i didn't like what i made earlier... i think it definitely works better but still doesn't look quite gold-like...

before	after

next i composited a pink cocktail umbrella into a photo that was taken of a friend of mine:

before	after

he just loves pink. i might even add a cherry/pineapple to the drink if i have time...

2008.02.26.thing.a.day

i'm really bad about finishing things like weaving in loose ends for knitting and hemming for sewing (that's why tshirts are ideal for me---because they will just roll, don't have to be hemmed). today, i finished 2 scarves that i made last year and have been wearing, but never weaved in the loose ends. i also added fringe to the blue one. both scarves were knitted using a combination of lion brand fun fur and moda dea dream (both are available at michael's). they were knitted in garter stitch and every 3-4 rows, i wrapped one to so that some rows are longer/have more space.

2008.02.25.thing.a.day

my friends gave me a tshirt that has a bunch of pandas in various tai chi poses. the sleeves were a little too long and bunched up a little under my arms, so i altered the sleeves to be capsleeves. i matched the sleeves to another tshirt of mine that fit well. i thought that i could just sew under the arms to make the sleeves tighter, but i ended up having to cut off the sleeves and re-sew them onto the shirt because they were angled too high before. it's probably not that noticeable a difference (besides the fact that they are shorter) but i'm happier with the fit, and the shirt/sleeves are more comfortable as a result (doesn't pull across the shoulders or bunch up under my arms as much).

before	after

2008.02.24.thing.a.day

i reconstructed another oversized tshirt today: i got the idea from 99 ways to cut, sew, trim, and tie your t-shirt into something special (#15, mimi) but had to modify the sleeves to make them fit better and also made the belt significantly shorter.

2008.02.23.thing.a.day

tonight i made brazilian cheese rolls: i used a yoki mix but you can also find recipes online to make them from scratch. here are the directions (the instructions are in portuguese): add 1/2 cup water, 2 eggs to the mix; bake for 40 min at 350 degrees. i normally add an additional 1/4 cup of shredded cheese mix (mozzarella, romano, asiago, parmesan work well) but didn 't have any tonight---i have to say, they taste much better with the extra cheese... also, i usually bake for less time---somewhere between 20-30 min so they are chewier and less dry.

2008.02.22.thing.a.day

originally, i wanted to make a crochet hyperbolic plane for today, but i attempted to do some crochet and found that i need to re-learn it a little better before tackling something more ambitious. i ended up taking a photo of a pig lighter that was given to me as a gift: and also made a mii of george washington for this week's nintendo mii contest:

2008.02.21.thing.a.day

i tried out the same tutorial that annie_22 posted about and tried yesterday: there are some issues---like the fact that the border is jagged and there is a hard black edge. i would've worked on it more, but it's late, and i need to get some sleep. i might try to tweak it some more later though... i learned some p-shop tricks that i didn't know either, so that was cool... thanks for the tutorial, annie_22!

2008.02.20.thing.a.day

today i attempted to complete the origami stag model that i tried/failed to make the other day: it's kind of a sad stag, i know... i got further this time, but there are still some very wrong portions, and by the end, i was just mushing things all together which you can see if you look closely... i'm pretty sure it is all wrong. but it's late, so i decided that's going to have to be my attempted thing for today. maybe i'll try to see if i can get an origami expert to help me correct my mistakes later...

2008.02.19.thing.a.day

today i steamed an artichoke for dinner: i got it from the farmer's market the other day. i know it doesn't sound that significant, but i'm not much of a cook, so it was a big deal for me...

2008.02.18.thing.a.day

i remade a american apparel men's XL tshirt today: i got the idea from save this shirt (fit to be thai'd) but didn't realize until afterwards that the part that is woven through the back is supposed to remain connected to the rest of the shirt. i don't think it matters all that much though. if i were doing it over again, i would have made the length a little bit longer, but otherwise, i'm happy with it.

2008.02.17.thing.a.day

i took some photos with my friends' leica m8 camera today:

2008.02.16.thing.a.day

i baked another kahlua chocolate for my husband's birthday. i was going to bake it last week but postponed it because i was sick. i photographed some eggs before i baked them:

2008.02.15.thing.a.day

tonight i dyed a turtleneck from a creme color to gray. i know that's totally boring, but it had to be done, and it probably wouldn't've happened for another month or more (past turtleneck-wearing season), had it not been for thing.a.day... why not just buy a gray turtleneck, you ask? that's a good question! i did look for one, but i couldn't find one that i liked and that didn't tickle my neck... you see, i have this thing about turtlenecks and can't usually wear them---in fact, i haven't worn them since high school until this year... because they tickle my neck, and i used end up having to pull them down off my neck all day whenever i would wear them... but i found a kind that i like... it's thin and good for layering and the neck is loose enough (but not too loose!) so it doesn't tickle my neck. i bought a bunch of them in multiple colors, but they were out of gray. so i bought a creme-colored one thinking that i could dye it if i needed to... and i even continued to look for another gray turtleneck, but couldn't find one... this was like 3 months ago.... and i tend to procrastinate about stuff like this... so it didn't look like i would actually get a gray turtleneck anytime soon, but today, because i hadn't made a thing yet, i decided that would be my thing today, and i actually dragged myself to the store after work, bought some dye, and dyed/dried the whole thing when i got home. thank you, thing.a.day! my other clothes thank you too, for now they will have a gray turtleneck companion to keep them company!

also, here is a picture of a scorpion that i took the other day but forgot to upload:

2008.02.14.thing.a.day

i took a picture of some glass hearts in honor of valentine's day: and i finally finished my jarful of olives! for more pictures of hearts and olives (including one of the olives actually in a jar) please see my flickr page.

2008.02.13.thing.a.day

experimenting with an ir filter: i don't think i entirely know what i'm doing, so i'll probably read up on ir filters a little more, ask around, and practice some more. but i thought it was kind of cool/funky-looking... the photo came out too dark, so i adjusted it a little and added a little bit of a vignette that i thought helped with the overall composition of the image.

2008.02.12.thing.a.day

today i made clones of myself: i have made these before and find them to be fascinating to look at, as well as fun to make. the idea is to take a portrait, preferably one that is shot from the front and evenly lit---you might have to rotate the picture a little if the head is tilted. then split the photo in half and flip each side horizontally and match to the corresponding side---so 2 right halves to form one face and 2 left halves to form another. most people will have a dominant side that has stronger, bigger features, and a less dominant side that will look more sensitive. here are some more clones that i have made of myself in the past.

2008.02.11.thing.a.day

after my failed attempts to make an origami model yesterday, i decided to try again, but picked a much simpler model: i got the instructions from here. you're supposed to use a new dollar bill, but i didn't have one, so mine is a little bit wrinkled. i made it in the waiting room of a doctor's office because, sadly, i'm still sick today.

2008.02.10.thing.a.day

i'm still sick today and wasn't feeling so inspired. i used to enjoy folding origami, so in keeping with the 'paper' theme, i thought i'd try it again... after 3 failed attempts to make an armadillo by joseph wu, a stag from a dollar bill by fred rohm, and a rose by bloom4ever, i gave up. next, i knit yet another olive---now i have 5, but i figure people are probably tired of seeing photos of single olives, so i'll wait until i have my jarful to post the result. then i decided to make another mii---this week's nintendo's check mii out contest is themed 'abraham lincoln' in honor of his birthday. here was my attempt: i was trying to capture his strong eyes, high forehead, stern expression, and narrow, long, and chiseled face. finally, i took a picture of some bamboo outside my window:

2008.02.09.thing.a.day

this is kinda lame, but i'm sick today... and the only energy i could muster was to knit another olive: i have 4 right now, so i'm well on my way to making a jarful...

2008.02.08.thing.a.day

i baked a kahlua chocolate cake for my boss---it's his birthday today: it's my mother's recipe---it's super easy to make, but tastes great---everytime i bake it, people ask for the recipe. unfortunately, i ran out of kahlua so i had to improvise a little---added some espresso powder and bailey's. we'll see how it turned out (i haven't tried it yet...)

2008.02.07.thing.a.day

today i wanted to wish everyone a happy chinese new year! the rat is somewhat similar to a bunny that i designed awhile ago... i'm hoping to be able to learn illustrator this month so that i can reproduce both of these and other designs... i'd hoped to be able to email my family and friends with my message, and although it is technically still chinese new year right now, most of them won't see it till tomorrow...

2008.02.06.thing.a.day

i saw lola's post from yesterday about altering photographs to make them look like they were taken with a lomo camera and decided to try my hand. this is the original tutorial that she posted and that i tried to follow, but i don't have photoshop, so i tried to approximate the best i could using photoshop elements:

processed	original

there are more examples on my flickr page. i would be curious to get some feedback---what people think works/doesn't work, etc. thanks!

2008.02.05.thing.a.day

knitted olive:

2008.02.04.thing.a.day

today i made a fingerless glove... i don't like it all that much and hope to improve on it the next time i make one and/or make its partner...