Showcase and Discussion of Jewelry Designs by the Alchemists Vessel.
A central place to find our sites all over the web. Custom work may also be discussed. Featured Artists, Crafts, Projects, and Interesting People can all be discovered here.
Unfortunately I cannot embed the video, but I urge you to click the link above and have a look at the desolate and spectacular landscape of Mars.
This is an amazing thing that has been accomplished, the second mission to the red giant with a better Rover.
Most of us have been fascinated with Space and Science Fiction for most of our lives, and we created real things from those stories. Cell phones, video conferencing, medical equipment, and yes, even computers and the internet were all Science Fiction at one time.
Right now in our life time, we have an opportunity like no others before us, we can truly go where no man has gone before, that is exciting, and wonderful and wondrous, a marvelous something to behold.
Thank you for stopping by and having a read. Do check out the brief video.
The Alchemists Vessel would like to wish you a pleasant day, and remind you to shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you still land among the stars.
Friday is here, the weekend is closer and for many of you so is vacation time.
Just because you're on vacation, doesn't mean you can't be creative. You may not be able to carry all your supplies with you but, you can always pack light, especially for the kids.
Things to Bring to Be Creative:
Blank Note Book: small enough to pack, big enough to sketch in.
Pencil or Pen (see above)
Colored Pencils - you can:
Draw the Hotel Sign
Note where you ate
What you saw
Where you went
What you did
Decorate the pages of your notebook
Disposal Camera, so you can take pictures and paste them next the to journal entries, once photos have developed. If you're luck enough to be able to print your own photos at home, take your digital instead.
You just made a Travel Journal!
Get inspired:
Camping? Make a rock drawing around your camp. Pick 'em up and put 'em down in an interesting pattern. Include sticks, leaves and other available things around camp to add interest.
Beach? Sand castles and drawing in the sand are staples, go hunting for seashells and wrap them with craft-wire, or hot glue them together in interesting shapes. (Clean 'em first!)
Elsewhere in general? Check out the local flora and fauna. Ask with Front desk if there are things going on in town. Grab that hotel note pad and jot down what interests you. Then go!
Remember, you can always bring a favorite hobby, too.
Knitting
Crochet
Quilting
Painting
If you can pack it, you can do it on vacation!
I mean that's why you're on vacation anyway, right?
A Quick List For The Kids:
Clipboard or sturdy flat object.
Crayons, you can't go wrong with an eight pack of Crayolas.
Wire bound Sketch book. The kids can draw / color on both sides of the paper and it will flip to fit a clipboard.
Stickers or other things so they can decorate the cover.
Ask them to draw what they see on the way to their destination. Draw objects or places they saw or visited while there. Encourage them to draw something daily. When they get home they will have a picture book of their vacation.
Disposable camera (you don't want them breaking the $200.00 Digitial!)Ask them take pictures (with your help), encourage them to take pictures in front of places they visit or things they have seen with each child in the photo.
NOTE: All these things will fit in your child's school backpack, no extra luggage or special car seat organizers required.
Thank you for stopping by and having a look.
The Alchemists Vessel would like to wish you a wonderful weekend.
Today's Featured Artist is my personal friend Shelly Moody, Jewelry Designer, Photographer, Mother, not necessarily in that order.
Not only does Shelly live and work in Boise, she also has some of her Photography at Exposure, a Gallery here in town. A woman of many talents, she knits, makes jewelry and knitting accessories, has a wonderful eye for composition, is clever and resourceful. Many of her times are "Upcycled" (I like that word), recycled or re-purposed everyday items that she crafted into some unique and wonderful things. She is one of the nicest people I know. I pounced on her yesterday evening, "You're the featured Artist for tomorrow." "OK", she says. Did I mention she is cooperative, too.
So without further ado, Here are several things she offers in her shop. I'm not posting the Octopus Earrings, because they are MINE! I mean I own them, so they are gone from her Etsy Shop. You may navigate to her items by clicking on the title.
I did not get permission to post some of Shelly's Photographs, I will ask her if I might later and come back and add a couple. If you are in Boise, and would like to check out some of her work in person, you can find them in:
Exposure
Location: 213 North 10th Street Boise, ID 83702 (10th and Bannock) Phone: 208.424.8158 Current Hours: Mon - Fri: 10:00 am- 6:00 pm Sat: 12:00 am- 4:00 pm Sun: 11:00 pm- 2:00pm
The gallery is also for a good cause, an a.l.p.h.a. shop benefiting HIV and AIDS Awareness and Education. They do have a website, but the link is not working. If you are on Facebook, you can find them there as well.
Thank you for reading. We would like to wish you a pleasant day.
I am pleased to present and introduce my personal friend, and fabulous Photographer, Stacey DeBono.
Stacey has written a brief bio about herself and her work, I have grabbed several of my favorite pictures that capture her amazing and wonderful talent. Not limited to landscape and nature scenes, she also takes Portraits, and is available for private sittings, public venues and other events. Contact Stacey if you're in the San Francisco, Bay Area. Links to her professional pages may be found below.
BIO:
Photography. Its one of those "catch" words for me. I love it, every single aspect of it, especially vintage type stuff. Capturing images that convey emotion, any emotion, is my goal. I love shooting people (photographically, of course...although I do admit to some feelings of love for shooting people with Nerf guns at times) and capturing subtle nuances of emotion in a contrasting background, with a vintage flair.
I'm Stacey, and Im a City chick, through and through. I've lived and traveled extensively in Europe and California, but I always come back to the Bay. I shoot musicians, bands, and people but specialize in vintage portraits - '40s Hollywood glamour, '60s mod, '70s hippie chick - I love it all.
I'm also working with a few film production companies as a director/dir. of photography and am finding that quite rewarding. I'm opening a new studio March 1 in Oakland where I will be not only creating more vintage portraits with great props, but will be working with some of the best stylists and musicians the Bay has to offer. Exciting things happening in 2012!
Home! San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge
Seagull!
Beach Glass along the Hayward, CA shore.
This is one of my personal favorites of Stacey's shots. It evokes emotion at a glance, subtle tones of black and white capture the lone, gnarled, and stately tree in a California park. Simply stunning!
You thought I was going to say artists didn't you. I would like to, but so many of them are busy creating and crafting and promoting that it is difficult to do one more thing! So in light of an artist this week, I thought we would discuss Macro Photography and then Etsy's coupon code entry.
For the longest time I put off internet sites and shops because I felt my pictures were not good enough to use as a selling point. A friend, who is a wealth of knowledge, taught me about Macro Photography, or more appropriately taught me about the menu on my camera, which as luck would have it, has a MACRO setting. Macro photography is for taking clear, close up shots of tiny objects. Below are two examples of Macro Photography. A bracelet of my own (Brecciated Jasper), that I photographed using the Macro option on my camera, and a professional photograph of a baby octopus.
Detail of the focal stone. Shot at home on a gray velvet display board.
Professional Macro photograph.
Macro settings allow you to capture the smallest detail. I use a Canon Power Shot A480 - the Youtube video below was originally e-mailed to me by my friend. I love this camera. I will say that the manual is lacking in instruction on the menu and the settings the icons represent. This young man will walk you through the basics. If you are unsure if you camera has a Macro setting, search Youtube or other tutorial pages for your camera's make and model. Your shop items or whatever you're photographing will look better for it.
A quick note about coupon codes.
As most of you have probably seen, I post the occasional coupon code for a percentage off your purchase price or free shipping. Either you all forget to enter the code or not sure of where or when to do so. Like so many I am guilty of rushing though a purchase at times, the information is automatically entered for you, what's there to think about! That darned coupon code! That is important, it saves you money!
I urge you to REVIEW you orders or whatever you are doing on the net, before pressing that "Submit" button. This first picture shows your order before you click the check out button. Notice the Apply shop coupon code link in light blue between the payment options and the order summary. Click that before clicking the check out button!
This second picture shows your order before you click the check out button and after you have clicked the Apply shop coupon code link. Notice the Apply shop coupon code link has been replaced with a text box between the payment options and the order summary. Enter the coupon code here if one is provided before you click the check out button. Your discount or Free Shipping will be applied and subtracted from your total! Your new total will appear and your order will reflect the discount in the order summary.
Now you can shop to your heart's content and get all the good discounts offered by so many of the shop owners / vendors.
Thank you for stopping by and having a look. Comments are always welcome!
