Purple Monkey

Busy times here in Sweeneyville! Finally got moved into the new place over the weekend. Now begins the massive unpacking efforts.

I do have a purse to share from a few weeks ago. This was a special request for a friend of a friend. Get this: She likes purple, monkeys and skulls! This is a girl after my own heart.

It's hard to see in the picture, but the purple in the monkey is a fun glittery fabric. The same fabric was used for the lining. I learned the hard way to iron the wrong side of the fabric or the glitter would come off. I used a skull and crossbones button for the tab closure. This was a fun one to make!

Now, I should go unpack the kitchen. Or I could keep watching Heroes. Eh, we'll see. :-)

Picnik

Getting good photographs has definitely been a challenge for me, particularly the close ups needed for my etsy shop. I was aware of Picnik, the online photo editing tool, but hadn't made the time to play with it. I was going through some photos we took in the city over the weekend (expect a post on that soon) and it was the perfect opportunity to see what it can do.

This first picture was taken in Indiana on a return roadtrip from Virginia a couple of weeks ago. The windmills go on and on as far as you can see.

Not a bad picture, right? But not a great one. A little crooked and a little bland. I pulled it into Picnik and started clicking away until I liked it better. This is the picture after straightening it and applying Boost, HDR and Lomo-ish. I still would have liked the blue to be more blue, but I'll keep practicing.

Here's another example. This picture was taken in the city from a moving vehicle as the sun was setting. You can see it's a little dark and doesn't do a good job of focusing on the street performers.

Here it is after cropping, adjusting the exposure and applying Cross Process (I think. It's easy to lose track.) and Lomo-ish.

Thumbs up to Picnik! It can be a little intimidating at first with so many options, but just get in there and start clicking to see what you like. You'll definitely find that you'll develop a few favorite go-to effects. There are also options to add frames, stickers, text and all sorts of fun stuff.

Now I want to go back and work on our wedding photos!

Dresser

I'm not sure I've mentioned it here, but I've been on the hunt for a dresser. When we move to the new townhouse (in 2 weeks!), I'll be executing a new bedroom design plan.

It all started when those wacky kids at Young House Love posted about In Mod's tool for designing your own pillow. While playing with the tool, I landed on this design and inspiration struck!

I'll get into more bedroom design details as they happen, but I will mention that I really want a red dresser for the room. So, the hunt for a cheap, old dresser to refinish began. I've been scouring Craigslist for a few weeks for something with an interesting shape that was in my budget. I decided early on that I didn't want to pay more than $50. Last night, we found a winner!

This is the pic from Craigslist, but I'll get some better ones later (it's currently still in my friends' truck). At $60, I went a little over budget, but I feel good about it. It has a matching mirror and I heart the spindly legs on casters!

I probably won't have time to work on it until after the move since I haven't packed the first thing yet (guess what I'll be doing with my long weekend). But I can't wait for her fantastic red makeover!