Bad Quality Pictures = Bad Quality Product

**EDIT** I'm going to try to make a photo to do and to don't list - if you have any tips or ideas, let me know!

Please bare with me if this post doesn't make much sense haha, I'm taking full doses of pain medication and it's making me a little drowsy haha.

I've been seeing a lot of new business's facebook pages recently, where they only have a few items up, and I guess this is kind of a message to them?

Pictures are incredibly important for online businesses. If you don't have pictures, you're not going to sell anything. Though there is also a balance - if you have 10 pictures of each item, and most of them are the same or similar views, people are going to get bored flipping through them and move on to the next page.

But one thing I've seen a lot of is bad quality pictures. If a picture is bad quality (dark, blurry, etc.) that translates to the customer as the item pictured is also bad quality.

It's ok to occasionally have bad quality pictures, like if your camera is broken for a little while, or you don't have good lighting but need to take pictures right then (I HATE taking pictures without natural lighting, but that's only available during certain hours...).

But if you don't have a camera - borrow one. Except for the new fancy phones, a phone camera is not going to cut it. I've seen a lot taken with what seems like a phone camera, and the person tried to get a close up, but most phone cameras can't do clear shots of stuff up close, so you can't see any detail.

One of the main ways people shop is by looking at and holding things. Online shopping doesn't have this advantage, so you need to make up for it through pictures. You have to have pictures good enough so the person feels like they're really looking right at it. And if you don't have pictures like that, you're just not going to sell well, that's all it comes down to.

New Item - Soft Headbands!

Soft headbands were an idea kicking around my head for a long time - way before I got my sewing machine, and one of the reasons I wanted to get it soooo bad!

I have a sheet of scrap paper with a ton of different color combinations - many military! - even though it's just pen and I labeled the colors haha. I should get out my colored pencils...

I have ideas for ribbons to decorate them with, bows to make clips out of to go on the headbands or to match them, different decorative stitches on my machine I can use...

But I finally got a chance to sew, so I plopped myself down on the floor and went through my giant fabric box, finding patterns and solids that went together. I have a ton more patterns I want to use - like hot pink zebra, and a blue and green stained glass kind-of-looking pattern - but I didn't have good solids for them. So I'll just have to go to the store ;-)

I love this one, so I decided to keep it for myself :)

Actually, it was going to be mine anyway. I have the sewing notions fabric in black, red, and pale yellow, all scraps, and I was originally going to make it in red until I realized the scraps weren't the right shape, so I did it in black, which I actually like a lot better.


The satin one I really like, too.

I feel like it makes it a bit fancier so maybe it could be worn with a dress up outfit :)

The fish one I made with the scraps from a bag that I made my cousin for Christmas, and the other side is the lining fabric from it - I think I might have used the same thread too! I want to make some in camo too, like Mossy Oak camo :)

Check out the rest of them in the Hair Accessories album on Facebook! They're already listed for sale on the website :)

New Store Color Scheme

Well, now that summer's half over [ :( ], I finally got a summer color scheme up on the store website. I fully intended to keep up with changing the colors better, but I had a busy spring so I never got around to changing it to spring colors, and since I've been home for the summer, I haven't been on my laptop much.

But I've changed it now! The banner picture is a picture I took last summer (my intention is for them to all be my photography) of the same lake I just spent my vacation on. My mom grew up in this town, some family is still here, and the rest comes back to visit. We've been coming here since I was a kid, and it's one of my favorite places on earth. This lake means summer to me, because we always stay at our camp during the summer (no insulation, tv, phone, internet, cell service…)  So, what better place for the summer store banner to be of :) I may fiddle with the colors more, because I'm not completely happy with it, but for now it's good :)

Surgery Numero 2

So, this surgery seemed to go better than the last time. I woke up from anesthesia better, at least. Mr. Man came along with Mom for the day, which was nice :) We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am, and I actually went into surgery at like 7:30 - last time it was like 9:30. Chatted with all the nurses and the doctor and the anesthesiologist for a bit. Only one picture this time, because Mom forgot the camera, that Mr. Man took with his phone during his "shift" with me before surgery (I could only have one person in with me).

Mm, hospital gowns are so flattering...

So last time, the surgeon wrote "yes" and "no" on my ankles, to remind him of which foot to cut open. The surgeon… is ridiculous haha. He's rarely serious (he didn't have a Hawaiian shirt on today! I was disappointed… I think today was the first time I haven't seen him in one. And I've seen him many times since December haha). So, as a joke, my mom and I wrote "yes" in 4 different languages on my right ankle in red marker haha (he writes in black). The left foot he had to cut open to take the screws out, so we didn't know what to write, so we just left it blank. He wrote "yuppers" on my right ankle, and "also" on my left haha.

 This time, they didn't knock me out in ambulatory care like last time… I was still awake when I got into the OR, and I remember them transferring me to the table from the stretcher. But not after that.  Or, now that I think about it, much from the recovery room. I remember going back to ambulatory care though, because they put me in the spot of the room I was in before and after for my previous surgery, but before surgery this time I was in a different spot.

I think the white haired anesthesiologist picked the color of my cast, because I'd been talking about how I'm a dancer. I heard him talking to the doctor and all I could hear was "pink" and "dancer." Guess what color my cast is? Hot Pink. Which actually matched the writing on my dance sweatpants… And the wrapping on my left foot is pink with purple hearts. My first thought was that I would have preferred green with dinosaurs haha, but I don't know if they even had that.  I asked the surgeon later if I could have green next time, which is my favorite color :)

There was some broken communication lines between the nurse and me, much to my displeasure. Anesthesia didn't make me as weepy this time as it did last time, but this almost got me crying. I asked if my mom and my boyfriend could come back in now, and she said yes… and went and sat at the desk. I kept trying to ask, but apparently no one could hear me (I have no idea how quiet my voice was, it could have been very). Another patient came in with a few people with her, and while the nurses were a little closer to my bed, I started to ask again, but only got "Can" out before they turned away again. However, one of the patient's friends saw me, and asked if I needed anything and I said that my mom and my boyfriend were in the waiting room and I wanted them to come back in if they could. So she goes and asks the nurse, they talk for a bit, the woman follows her friend and the nurse sits back down.

Nothing.

As far as I could tell, the nurse was completely ignoring the fact that I wanted them to come back in.

About five minutes later, a portable X-Ray machine was rolled in to take pictures of my foot. After, the nurse said "ok, NOW they can come back in" and immediately go gets them.

I don't think she knew that last time, they took X-Rays while I was still knocked out, and I didn't know that until my check up with the surgeon a week later.

They were in there with me (both!) for a bit and the surgeon came in to check on me. He had told me earlier that he was going to put a plate in instead of the two larger screws, so I asked him how big it was. He said about the size of a dinner plate, gesturing the size of a large one, and steel. By now, I'm getting to know his sarcasm, even though his voice stays the same. So I just said "alrighty" and then he said "well actually, it's titanium" so I said "oh good, I'll be able to lift it at least then." Haha. I forget now how big it actually is, but obviously not dinner plate sized.

We were able to leave by 1:30, two hours earlier than last time, stopped at McDonald's for lunch, then off to home. Mr. Man carried me into the house and put me on the couch and helped me get settled, then cuddled with me on the couch :)

He fell asleep before I did, and then got "mad" because I didn't wake him up when he was snoring haha. Being from much higher in altitude, he still hasn't gotten used to air so thick he can "chew" it :-P.  All in all, today was a much better surgery day than last time. But I can't decide if I want the summer to go by fast or not...

Vacation Days Two Through Six

Vacation Day Two - Saturday

Today actually turned out to be a nice, bright, sunny, warm day, so I didn't get much sewing done. I did figure out all the cutting measurements for everything I need to cut out for the bag, but since I hate cutting fabric, someone's got to light a fire under my butt to get me to do it.

But I did get to go swimming twice, with my cousin and then with my puppy. My cousin and I went shopping, and I spent more money on more clothes I don't need, but hey, it's vacation ;-) And it was all on sale, so, you can't really go wrong with that (one of the shirts I got has Ducky from Land Before Time XD ).

Tomorrow's supposed to be rainy for part of the day, so I'm hoping to at least get the lining fabric cut out (there's less of that!).

Vacation Day Three - Sunday

Well, Mr. Man and Mom's Mr. Man came out late Saturday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. There was some swimming, but since the day was gloomy and rainy, it was mostly spent napping. Course, we got up late and they left before dinner, so there wasn't much to the day. After they left, I DID get the lining of the bag cut out, plus a few of the outside pieces! I was quite proud of that :)

Vacation Day Four - Monday

Happy Fourth of July! Today I wore my new shirt from Rue 21 that says "Freedom Rocks" with a guitar :) Which means, my other patriotic shirt with lots of stars on it that doesn't really fit me anymore can now go in my craft bin (I already have an idea for it's upcycling…).

I cut out all the fabric for the bag - everything! Even the thing that goes over the end of the zipper, and the key fob strip. Well, I didn't cut out the fabric for the zip bag, but I'll get there.

But I decided that instead of starting to sew it, I should start cutting out the fabric for my roommate's dresses, because I need to be able to stand to cut them, since they're so big. Which means, sewing of the bag will be delayed, even more. Because I'm not going to be doing much sewing the first week after my surgery haha, or using an iron… that could be bad…

I did, however, make a headband with the scrap fabrics, and I loooooove it! I've drawn out a ton of ideas for color combinations to make for the store. I had been thinking of bringing scrap fabric to make these headbands (I've had pictures of them kicking around my head for awhile) but I made myself not because I had so much else I should do. But I totally could have made more yesterday, because I wasn't up to starting another cutting project and I didn't want to start the bag because I wanted to have an iron for folds. So I did nothing :( I had other fabric with me for another project that I fully intend on making a headband out of the scraps, but I don't want to cut the pieces out before it's scraps because I don't know how much scraps there'll be. But - when I get home… 

Vacation Day Five - Tuesday 

I set out one of the dress fabrics last night so I could start cutting this morning. As I was laying everything out, I realized we didn't get enough :( I have no idea how it happened, but we can stop and get more on the way on Wednesday. But that brought my cutting to a halt, because I'm waiting for Mom to get home so she can have a look. Maybe she can magically rearranged everything so there's enough room. But I don't really think so. I really ought to take out another color and start cutting it… After lunch.

My puppy has this thing about jumping off the end of the dock... She doesn't like it much. She wouldn't do it last summer. I think we got her to do it like twice, maybe. This week, however, sometimes she'd jump off before anyone even threw the ball! She be ready and rearing to go and just hop right off. And then randomly she'd just stop, and she'd run back to land and go into the water that way. Silly pup.

Vacation Day Six - Wednesday

Well, I didn't end up cutting out another dress, but I did cut out everything on that one that I could. We packed up and headed off, stopping at the Wicked Good Store and the market in search of tee shirts. I wanted to get a "Wicked Good" one for Mr Man who's from the mid-west and isn't used to us Mainahs sayin' wicked ;-) But, they didn't have any. So I got him one that said Route 5, the main road through town, and myself one of the same shirts, but a different color, because I thought that might be weird if I got us matching ones haha. I got HIM the color I wanted because they didn't have my size :(

We stopped at Joann's on the way home, in hopes of getting extra yellow fabric, but no such luck. I did, however, get more fabric remnants… That I did not need… But I have ideas for them!

Vacation Day One

Since I didn't have internet, when I wanted to blog about something, I typed it up on my computer and saved it, so I could post it later. Here are my thoughts from Friday :)

Sewing Machine - Up and Running!

Vacation is supposed to be relaxing, doing things you enjoy but don't have time to do normally, right?

It's officially vacation! I've sewn!

Well, as I'm writing this I've only sewn two long zig zag seams, but that's ok. I figured out how to wind a bobbin, load it, and thread the machine (it's different than my mom's… and I have an automatic threader!) Mom wanted me to sew zig zags on the cut edges of a bunch of fabric she got, so she could wash it without it unraveling completely. She would do it herself, but her machine has been living in Boston with my brother and his girlfriend for awhile. My brother's girlfriend needed it for something, but I think she just ended up hand sewing what she needed because she couldn't figure out my mom's machine… I was trying to help her from Maine, on AIM with a picture of my mom's type of machine from Google (webcam wasn't working). But it didn't work.

I've just finished strengthening the bottom insert for the first bag I'm going to make, so as soon as I finish edging the other four fabrics Mom has for me, I can cut out the fabric for the bag! Which will probably take longer than I want, because I have to make the pattern pieces too.

What a pain.

But I like designing stuff. Even though I hate cutting fabric out (but every fun thing to do has that boring part, doesn't it?). If I use the original pattern for anything, it'll just be the instructions to know what to sew first, but I have a feeling I'm just going to wing it anyway haha. With Mom's help, of course.

Alright, back to sewing!

I have a lead foot…

… Even with a presser foot.

This is what I was thinking earlier while I was sewing haha. My machine has different speed settings, and I had it on the fastest, hammered down, flying through those zig zag stitches. I was afraid I'd break my machine!

I was thinking it would be a cute bumper sticker, but then I realized not so much… Especially around cops.

This Is How We Do

When I was in high school, I took a sewing class a couple times, and the teacher was all about the commercial patterns, we only use commercial patterns.

I think I gave her conniption fits.

The first time, I finished my shirt early, and wanted to make a skirt. So my mom and I made a pattern for me to cut out. I brought it into class to show her…

"This looks like newspaper."

"… It is."

I think "managed" is the best word to describe how she helped me haha. But then, with the scraps of my shirt and my skirt, I was going to make another skirt (I never did finish that… this was 5 years ago…) and we used computer paper for pattern pieces. I don't remember what I did the second time around… The dress I made was a kimono style one, so I think it took me the whole semester.

So anyway, I'm working on making and cutting out the pattern pieces for the bag, and my materials are a stack of almost year old newspapers from the woodstove pile, and an orange Crayola marker :) I learned from the best ;-)

Great Start to the Vacation...

So, my mom and I packed up our two cars to head off to camp for the week. We were going to take one, but since the dog takes up half mine, there wasn't enough room for all our stuff, so we brought hers too. Her new car, it's only like two months old. I don't know the way, so I was following her. We ran errands around town (including washing both cars, in hopes that the waxy finish would help keep the pitch from sticking), and then headed on our way.

Half an hour down the road…

I'm singing along to the radio and periodically looking back at Dora, to make sure she's fine in the back seat, when I look up to see the car in the oncoming lane start to cross the yellow lines right in front of my mom.  My heart starts beating faster as I see my mom going into the breakdown lane and the sedan KEEPS GOING.

Now, they're coming at me.

I start to go into the left lane, where they should have been (realizing later that there were cars coming there, too), but then the sedan finally sees where they are, and jerk back to their lane. Seeing them coming at me, again, I jump back to my own lane, in time to see my mom…

Driving into the ditch.

I swerve to the side of the road (Dora I'm sure was impressed with all this jerking around. She seemed to be fine though), slam on the brakes and come to a stop. I could barely put it in park, turn it off and get out of my seat belt before I was out of the car.

I took off running, screaming "MOOOMMM!!!" (well, screeching I think would be more accurate). Her car was tipped enough in the ditch that gravity didn't want the door to open, and I fumbled with the handle to get it open. I'm still screaming "mom" while my mom's trying to yell "I'm fine, I'm fine!"

It wasn't until she was out of the car and I could see that she was walking and unscathed that I think I started breathing again.

The people who were behind the swerving car (which at this point was long gone) had pulled over to make sure we were ok, and one of the women had gotten out. Mom used her phone to call the police, and we talked a bit about what happened until she called AAA for a tow.

Apparently, they'd been following the sedan for awhile, and the driver had been swerving a lot.

The left, and within 10 minutes, three other people had stopped (I love living in a small area in Maine. People are nice). One truck had stopped, I think to see if we needed a tow (I don't quite remember… I think for whatever job he had he was also obligated to check for oil spills). They left, and then a van and a woman in a pick up stopped, to make sure we were ok, and then the woman also was EMT/CAN trained, and was obligated to stop and make sure people were ok. Plus, she said she could tow us out, but not until the police had come because they'd want to know everything that happened she said. She had quite a few things to say about the police…

They were both still there when the cop showed up, and the woman starts in with "You're here, so I'm leaving, I was just obligated to stop." And of course, he has no idea what's going on, so if I were him I'd be suspicious too. So he got her name and date of birth, which she wasn't impressed with because she wasn't involved, but she gave it to him. Then she left and he asked the other guy who he was and he said nobody, just stopped to make sure we were ok. The cop asked if he witnessed anything, which the guy didn't so he said no, so the cop said the guy could go, which he did.

We gave the cop the run down of what happened, gave witness statements (they'd gotten another call about the driver and they knew who it was and I think would be able to catch them, so our statements would help charge them with driving to endangerment and stuff). Dora, of course, tried to chew his fingers when he reached in the window to pet her, but not hard (when another cop showed up later, the first one told him to beware of the vicious dog ;-) haha). She got towed out, got some grass taken off, and we were off again.

This was the first time I'd been this close to an accident before, so it was a bit of a scare for me (my best friend and I came upon an accident my step-mom was in about 5 minutes after it happened [and before police showed up] but that's been it).

It could, however, have been much worse.

See how close she got to the culvert?

If she'd gone a foot farther and down over the edge of that, it would have been bad news bears, though mostly for her car. There was also a telephone pole that she passed feet from that could have caused a much bigger problem.

But, all is well. We had a couple deep breathing hugs (the tow truck guy said I must be related to her, because he didn't get a hug like that haha), and were both unscathed. Well, I made my already weak ankle sore from jumping out of the car and bolting, but it'll be fine.

The rest of the road trip was much less eventful haha. That was perfectly fine with both of us.