the haystack needle

out & about: inspired by a barbershop pole

I have a new accessory that I'm carrying around these days, and it weighs much more than my lip balm. I'm now the proud owner of a digital SLR camera, a Nikon that amazes me with its potential and shooting powers. I'm also only halfway through the first of three photography books that I picked up to teach myself how to use this camera to its fullest extent. I'm impatient anxious to learn all the functions of my Nikon and play around with the lenses. I'm sure the best way to learn how to use this camera is to use it. There's hardly a day where I walk out my door and don't see something in this city that inspires me. So I decided to start this series called Out & About. This photography series will share a photograph that I took while I was out and about with my camera paired with a shopping inspiration list inspired by that photo. Because you know I love lists! I hope you enjoy the new series. I'm making it a weekly series, but the day may change around depending on when I can snap a good photo.

For the first Out & About, I was inspired by this old school barbershop pole that I spotted in my neighborhood.

 

(from top right): vintage airmail envelopes; a handmade twist lollipop from one of the oldest candymakers; a correspondence set with a classic pattern inspired by a barbershop pole, paper straws in swirly stripes of red and blue; letterpress thank yous create a graphic stripe pattern; love Jack and Lulu's whistle bag with cotton duck finished in red and blue stripes (and a brass whistle); inspiration from Once Wed for throwing a party in red + blue (photograph, Brooke Schwab.)

shake shack on a snow day

Last week, I found myself near Madison Square Park as it started to snow. I headed over to Shake Shack and treated myself to a cheeseburger for lunch — walked right up to the window as there was no line! I love how you can get away with so much on a snow day. I snapped this photo of their globe lights twinkling outside in the snow.

elizabeth maclennan

Do you remember the distinct time when you and a friend bonded and became friends? I have a great memory for moments like that, and I can say that Elizabeth MacLennan and I bonded over Funkins. Liz is a true styling talent in the business, and I feel so lucky that our paths crossed on a shoot for this feature I was producing on paint makeovers (we actually met over a stenciled dining table!). She worked with me as the crafting genius and stylist for a Halloween story next. So what are Funkins? One element of the story was carving pumpkins. But you see, magazines shoot their stories typically 3-4 months prior to you picking up their glossy pages on the newsstand. And there are no pumpkins available in July. None. So we used these fake pumpkins called Funkins, that look pretty real in photos, but are foam and weird to carve — and you can't use real candles inside them without creating a scary fire hazard situation. We bonded.

Simply put, I love Liz's style. She has an eye for a certain kind of crafting that perfectly meshes with what I love — part modern, part nostalgic, and simply pretty.  She has a passion for making things, and her creative energy is contagious when you're around her. So I'm sure it's no surprise that we were fated to be friends as we both have collections of rubber stamps and I seriously envy her gocco. We spent 12 hours trying to make handmade hearts look straight for this shoot, above.The top photos are from one of my favorite shoots we worked on together — Liz engraved glasses with simple words and botanical patterns. They turned out gorgeous. If you're interested, the idea stemmed from one of my favorite books, Remake Restyle Reuse, which is infused with this cool French boho style of crafting.

I'm so happy to share today that Liz has a brand new site up and running, which shares her crafting and styling portfolio as well as a peek at her passion for making things. You can contact Liz if you're interested in any of her artwork or prints. I'm personally loving all of her screenprints and want one for my home office. Have fun poking around her fancy flash site!

A few notes on everyone involved:

+ Removable Dante designed the site.

+ the amazing Anna Beckman is behind the fun calligraphy. 

+ Lara Robby photographed the photos above (she's another favorite person of mine.)

And here's another reason I love Liz's work — she created the banner for this site! That embroidered banner may be my favorite thing that she's made. Congratulations on the new site, Liz! You'll be hearing from Liz in the next few weeks, because she's working on a number of guest posts for me, inspired by her recent trip to Japan. Get ready for some amazing craft posts from a crafting master! I'm super excited!

maine through my diana camera

I just got back the remaining film from my Maine trip. That Diana camera continues to surprise me with photos I love. Here are a few favorites. Above: the dock at Dan's family's camp.

a sweet farmhouse on a Maine country road

fresh farmstand eggs by the roadside

 

Enjoying homemade ice cream (my second love) with Dan (my first love.)

and a couple more from our strawberry picking adventure

diana+ photographs

Meet my new friend, Diana. She took all these photographs with her surprise light leaks, super saturated colors, and vignette frames. These are exactly how the photos turned out — I didn't tweak the photos at all. Getting the medium format film developed yesterday was like waiting to try my first croissant in Paris. I had a feeling it was going to be good. These are a few favorites from my first roll of film using my Diana F+ camera. I love the dreamy quality of photos taken with a Diana+ camera. If you're looking for a fun camera where you don't need to think and you're rewarded for just playing around — check out Lomography's remake of the 1960s Diana camera. You'll be seeing much more from Diana here — we're attached to the hip right now up in Maine.

a few tips if you treat yourself to a Diana+ camera:

+ check out this little video on how to load it — super helpful. I don't know about you, but I completely forgot how to load film after years of using a digital camera. And there are a few special details with loading film on a Diana.

+ you can do double or triple exposures with your Diana. For the most part, I don't think that's the look I'm shooting for, and I did forget to wind the film a couple times. Try to get in the habit of winding right after you take the photo if you want each shot to be its own.

+ remember to change the focal zoom on the lens to reflect how far away you are from the subject. I inadvertently chopped off Dan's head in a couple shots because I forgot to change the focal distance.

+ I'd love to splurge on some of this film. Sounds like it creates gorgeous photos!

+ remember that it's a fun camera and there are no mistakes — that's the beauty of it.

+ get ready for people to remark on your "antique" camera. But it's actually a remake of the plastic camera from Hong Kong that arrived on scene in the 1960s, selling for just $1. The Diana quickly fell to discontinued status when 35mm cameras started their run. Lomography started selling the Diana+ in 2007 — it's the original design with a few extra bells.

p.s. these photos are all from our Fourth of July party at the camp. We ate lobster, corn on the cob, and then another thunderstorm promptly moved the party indoors where we huddled together laughing on the porch. Hope you had a fun holiday weekend wherever you were!

jenifer altman + la dolce luce

I am loving Jenifer Altman's La Dolce Luce collection of photographs (from her recent trip to Italy.) Nine years ago, my friends Trisha, Erin, and I backpacked our way through Western Europe. Italy was a major highlight. The Cinque Terre stole my heart. These amazing photographs are available to buy as prints you can hang on your wall. I'm having a hard time deciding on just one — would love to scoop them all up! I remember those five little villages in Italy with so much detail, and long to go back. Favorite memories: hiking through patches of lemon trees, laying like lizards on rocks by the water, jumping into turquoise ocean, sitting on stone steps with a cone of gelato.

Yes, I have a girl crush on Jen Altman that hovers around the height of that towering cliff of colorful Italian homes. So I thought it'd be good to share how her super Polaroids have been turned into the cutest notecards, thanks to Chronicle Books. You can pick up a set right here.

{all photographs by jenifer altman, of course!}

susannah conway + kitchen art

Since our move has had enough things go wrong to qualify for a reality TV show, I've been dreaming about the fun part. The part of moving in when you decide what goes on which wall and shuffle your art around in a way that feels so rewarding. I'm so anxious to get cooking in our new kitchen, and I would love to bring a few amazing food photographs into the space as inspiration. This cupcakes of happiness photograph by Susannah Conway is in the running for sure. I love Susannah's work (she has a gorgeous photo blog and offers special Unravelling e-courses, inspired by her own bout with unraveling.) I dare say cupcakes are one of the best anti-depressants around (perhaps only rivaled by ice cream.) 

{photograph by susannah conway, of course!}