Wandering Camera – August Linky Party

Camera And Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

Welcome to the August edition of the Wandering Camera linky party.  Thank you so much for the lovely comments and for sharing your photos.  I love visiting your world through photography.

A little introduction for newcomers – This year I started taking one photo per day.  I also started hosting this photography linky party at the same time.  On the first Thursday of every month I share my monthly crop of photos here, along with a few photography tips and I invite you to link up your photo posts from the previous month.

July was insanely busy for me, with very long days and weekends.  Usually, my idea of relaxation is to play with a bit of photography, but I didn’t feel like doing much of that after those long days.  Last month was also exceedingly hot, so I didn’t feel much like driving out either.  Most of the photos of this month are therefore taken in close proximity of our house.  It made me look at simple and familiar things differently, which, of course, is the purpose of taking one photo per day.

I had also been wanting to fiddle with astrophotography a bit and I finally got most of my equipment properly set up for that.  In July I took my first set of photos of Mars and Saturn by connecting my camera to my telescope.

Here are my photos from the month of July in chronological order –

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

1. My first Mars photo

2.  Saturn the next night

3. Black Eyed Susans always make me stop and admire them

4. Every sunrise is different

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

5.  He is a very happy kitty when he sits on my desk like this

6. Last couple of plums still hanging on the tree

7.  Rising balloons.  Reminds me of my last month’s finish – Floating At Dawn

8.  A very ornate Victorian house

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

9.  House right across the street from our favourite cafe

10.  The Star Vega – I love the star flares on this photo

11. Morning at the park

12.  A Zinnia up close – another flower is starting to bloom within it

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

13.  Bookmarks and booklets made for the Christmas In July blog hop

14.  Field of gold

15. Basking in the morning sun

16. A beautiful doorway

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

17.  We pass a lot of these restored houses on our walks…

18.  and these blue flowers that are still blooming in the park

19.  Playing with the macro adapter – these thorns are extremely sharp

20.  One of many

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

21. Perfect peach

22. That power pole was his usual spot until the blackbirds chased him way.

23. A really beautiful and large window

24.  Jasmine

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

25. Backlit yellow thistle

26. My first two blocks for the Lego Harry Potter Quilt

27. We were running a bit late that morning.  These flowers only open up this much in full sunlight.

28. I had to run up the hill to capture these clouds before the sun peeked over the mountain.

 

Photo Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

29. Glowing grass pods

30.  I went back to this house to get another photo of the upper level

31. Some houses let local bands perform in front of their houses on Porchfest Day.  It was a cool and breezy Sunday.  We walked around a lot and stopped by several houses.  In the evening we went out for dinner and a movie.  It was a great way to end a month that had left me exhausted.

 

Since I am more than ready for a break, I wanted to share a couple of things with you before I disappeared for a while.

 

Lego Harry Potter Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

Introductory post with information and dates

Many thanks to everyone who left a comment on the very first Lego Harry Potter Quilt Along post.  It really made my day.

Since quite a few people have written to me afterwards, I could not keep my resolve.  I will post the first two patterns one more time when I publish the next two.  This way, latecomers can catch up / join in.

 

Freespirit Fabrics | Whims And Fancies

 

As I was writing, the postman delivered a package containing these charm packs.  They came from my fellow Christmas In July blog hop participant Paige Alexander.  I usually shy away from leaving comments on giveaways, but I had to let her know how much I loved her project.  Imagine my surprise when I won!   Thank you so much, Paige!  Please pay her a visit at Quilted Blooms.

 

Let’s move on to talking some more about photography, specifically White Balance.

 

White Balance

You will notice that sometimes your photos have a noticeable blue, orange or yellow colour cast on them.   That is due to the surrounding light source, which causes white to not appear as true white.  The White Balance control removes that colour cast, so white appears truly white.

Digital cameras use AWB (auto white balance) to achieve this.  Most of the time it works very well, but sometimes you end up getting those colour casts anyway.  In those cases, you can remove the colour cast by setting the White Balance manually.

Almost all digital cameras come with a few White Balance presets for different light conditions.  They are daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, white flourescent and flash.  If you see your photos having a colour tinge, then either change the white balance to match the light source or continue to change it until you see the desired effect.  In most scenarios, the preset WB settings are more than enough.  You can also be a bit more adventurous and set a custom white balance.

So next time your photos have that unwanted colour cast on them, you know how to fix that!

 

Now it’s your turn to share your photo posts. I always look forward to seeing them.

 

Badge to share on your post and website

Camera And Photography Linky Party | Whims And Fancies

 

You can add any number of links to your posts from the previous month. The posts should have photos in them, with a story or anecdote. Your project photos (quilting, sewing, painting, knitting, etc.) are most welcome. You can also write a new post to link up. Please do not link up posts that are older than the previous month, they will be removed.

Please make sure to include the badge or a text link back to this site on each post that you link up. You can also add the badge to your blog. I am happy either way as long as you link back :-)

Spread a little encouragement amongst each other.

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that will run on the first Thursday of every month.  If you follow me via email, bloglovin or facebook, you will get a reminder.

Have fun!!

 


 

I am also linking up on Photo Friday, Life Thru The Lens, Through My Lens, Our World Tuesday and Friday Photo Journal along with with other linky parties on my sidebar.

 

 

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Books And Bookmarks

Easy Book And Bookmarks Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

If you didn’t know this already, I love playing with paper and art supplies.  That obsession started at a very early age.

As a child I learned how to make little booklets in which I saved magazine and newspaper cuttings containing short stories, comic strips and trivia.  I drew and painted in them too.  Making those little art booklets was one of my favourite hobbies as a child.  They were a reflection of how I saw the world around me.

I will show you how to make very simple booklets with two kinds of bindings, and a few bookmarks with very easy watercolour techniques.  Kids can make these easily, with a little help.

You already have most of the things that you need for these projects at home.  You can also use up some of your fabric scraps.

 

Making a Signature

 

Books are made of signatures.  These books are going to be made of one signature.  We are going to make the signature first, then bind it.

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

You will need one piece of card stock for the cover.

Other than that you can use any paper.  Printer paper will be more than fine.  If you wish to paint in your booklet however, you will want thicker stock than printer paper.

Just one thing to remember:  The thicker your paper, less the number of papers you are going to be able to fit into a signature.  I made a multi-purpose book where I want to draw, paint and write.  So I used 1 sheet of watercolour paper, 1 sheet of card stock and 5 sheets of sketchbook paper.  Watercolour and sketchbook papers are larger than card stock paper.  So I trimmed them all to 8.5″ x 11″ to match the card stock.

Fold each paper in the middle. Run the side of a ruler along the fold for a crisp fold.

Insert the folded sheets into each other.

Place one sheet of folded card stock as the outermost sheet to create the cover.

Depending on the size of your signature, you may need to trim the side.

Now that we have a signature made, we are ready to bind.

 

 Ribbon Binding

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

Fold a new sheet of card stock to make a template first.   On the folded side, Measure 1.5″ from the top and bottom.  Mark those two points and the centre with a pencil.  Using a hole puncher, punch a semicircular hole on those marks.  If you insert the hole puncher too far past the fold and punch a circular hole, you will end up with two separate holes when you unfold the sheet.

When you open up the page, you should see three circular holes along the fold.  It’s fine if they are not perfect.  They will be folded anyway.

Now place the folded template on top of the folded sheets of the signature so that the folded edges are all facing the same way.  Using the template as a guide, punch holes in the sheets.  Remember to make the holes semicircular.  Depending on the thickness and number of sheets, you may have to do this in a couple of stages.

Tip – Use a paper clip to keep the papers and the template together.

Once the sheets are all punched, and you are happy with the arrangement of the signature, cut a yard of 3/8″ wide ribbon.  Feed the ribbon through the two outer holes toward the inside.

Then grasp the two endings together from the inside and feed them through the middle hole toward the outside.  After that, place one ribbon end on each side of the centre hole.  If you have any twists in the ribbon, fix those at this time as well.

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

Tie a pretty knot.  Trim if necessary.  You may also want to trim the tips of the ribbon to a V shape to avoid fraying.

That’s it!  The first book is made and ready to be used.

Your kids can start with decorating the cover now.  Doodle, draw, paint, add stickers.  Anything goes!

You can take out some of your fabric scraps too and press Heat-N-Bond on the back.  Let your kid draw his/her own designs on the backing.  Cut them out, arrange them on the cover.  Place another piece of card-stock on top and iron on the cut-outs using a low setting.

That’s how I added the leaves on my book above.  I might go back and add something else to it later on.  Great way to use up those scraps of fabric, don’t you think?!

 

Stitched Binding

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

Cut a 9.5″ x 12″ piece of decorative paper.  Use an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of card stock as cover paper.  Apply generous amount of glue all over one side of the cover paper.  Place it in the middle of the decorative paper, positioning it so that there is approximately 0.5″ of decorative paper overhang on all sides.  Press it down.  Then add glue to the overhang on the decorative paper and fold it over the cover page.

Now cut another 8″ x 10.5″ piece of decorative paper and apply glue to its reverse side.  Place that paper in the middle of the cover page, making sure there is a 0.25″ gap to the edge on each side.  Press it down.

Tip – A good quality glue stick works really well for me.  No mess this way.

Fold the cover page back again along the centre.

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

Use another piece of card stock to make a template for the sewing holes.  Mark 1.25″ from the top, then continue to mark 1.0″ after that until you reach the bottom 1.25″.  Push a push-pin through each of those marks and you have the template.

Now unfold the papers of your signature and place them underneath the template piece.  You may want to hold them together with paper clips.  Then push the pin through each of the holes in your template. You may have to do this in couple of stages, depending on the thickness of the stock you have chosen.

Once you have made holes in all of your sheets, put the signature together again.  Now it’s ready for sewing.

Take a piece of thread that is a little longer than twice the length of your book.  A little thicker thread like DMC Pearl Cotton works best.  Using this thread and a needle, sew through every other hole starting at the top hole, on the inside.  Make sure to leave a few inches of thread behind as a tail.

Once you have reached the bottom, come back up again, sewing through every other hole.  You should now have filled the gaps you left when you sewed your first pass.  Once you reach the second hole from the top, tie a knot with the tail-end of the thread from the first hole.

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

This is how the book looks, on the inside and outside.  Decorate the cover more or start using it as-is.

 

Easy Book Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

They took hardly any time to make.  You and the kids can make a bunch of them together.  Fill them up with artwork or give blank books as Christmas presents.

 

Watercolour Bookmarks

 

Now I will show you how to make a few bookmarks using simple watercolour techniques.

 

Watercolour bookmarks with kids | Whims And Fancies

 

All you need for the bookmarks are strips of watercolour paper, paint, a flat brush and a round brush.  Don’t worry if you can’t find a cheap flat brush, a bigger round brush will work well enough.

I used 7″ x 2″ strips of watercolour paper for my bookmarks.  I used leftover scraps from bookmaking.

 

Watercolour bookmarks with kids | Whims And Fancies

 

Using the flat brush, apply water all over the paper.  Then dab paint on the wet paper, letting the difference paints flow into each other.

Then sprinkle salt on the wet paint.  The salt starts absorbing the paint and creates a fun texture. I used a little too much on the top one and you can see how it lifted a lot more paint than I intended.  I left it as-is to show you the difference.  I will use it as background and paint on top of it later on.

Let the salt dry completely; this takes a while.  Once completely dry, brush the salt off and you’re done!  Use the bookmark as-is, draw on it with markers, stamp a favourite quote, anything you want.

 

Watercolour bookmarks with kids | Whims And Fancies

 

For these two, I used the flat brush again to apply water all over the paper.  I went back and forth on them with paint and let the different paints blend into each other.

For the left one, I dipped my brush in clean water.  On the wet paint, I drew a couple of lines with the brush and then splattered a few drops of water by tapping on the brush.  Let this dry and you will see the effect water has on paint.  I will go back and paint on it.

For the right one, I used a cotton swab to lift off paint to create those fuzzy white dots.  I cut a tree out of a scrap of silver fabric and ironed it on to the bookmark using Heat-N-Bond, just like the way I ironed on the leaves on the first book.

 

Watercolour bookmarks with kids | Whims And Fancies

 

I love making bookmarks.  They are fast, fun and easy to make.  You can make a whole bunch all together.  Sometimes I even make bookmarks to match the book I am reading.

 

Easy Book And Bookmarks Making With Kids | Whims And Fancies

 

I hope this inspired you and your kids to make a few of these as gifts.  Personalize them for the recipient.  Make a few for yourselves.   Fill the books with wonderful art.  Spend time together playing in the book and then swap them with each other at Christmas!

Happy Crafting,
-Soma

 

 

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