A little update

The end of my spring break is drawing nearer - I'm really not looking forward to going back to school on Monday. However, a lot of positive things have come of this time off. I definitely feel a lot more prepared to handle life, for sure.

Growing up in a very small town in a very religious Roman-Catholic family, I've been accustomed to a certain way of living and holiday celebrations all my life. But tonight, just for fun, I'm joining my good friend and his family for their Passover celebration, to, in his words, "experience Jewishness." Religion fascinates me even though I'm not particularly religious myself, so it'll be great to learn a little bit more about a different culture of sorts.

As part of my personal growth and development, I've been attempting to eat new foods, do new things, talk to new people and maintain a new, positive attitude. So far, I've been doing very well. I hope to leave to dark pits of anxiety, depression, hypochondriasis and phobia far behind me as time goes on. :) Wish me luck!

As for those DIYs I was talking about... I'll get to them eventually, I promise.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wall Space

So sorry about my silence this week. I intended to be sharing several DIYs with you all this week, but I haven't gotten the chance to get to AC Moore and pick up a few things I needed. So, to fill time, I thought I'd share a few of the ways I fill wall space in my bedroom!

I have a pretty big room, which means lots of empty wall space to fill. In my eyes, empty walls are sad walls, so I'm in the process of fixing them up!

This is my little desk nook. The bookshelf is nestled in the corner, and on the adjacent wall a window lets in lots of extra light. My desk divides up my room so the floors don't look so empty, and is not fully pictured here because it's currently covered in a plethora of craft supplies, journals and lists.

Anyway, the birds adorning my walls are vinyl stick on wall art decorations found at this website. I have another wall-art to be put up above my couch, a white dandelion blowing in the breeze! In the upper left hand corner you'll see some watercolour artwork of mine, and directly in the middle is my calendar and bulletin board, where I've actually been keeping surprisingly organized and planning out my life. 

For anyone who was wondering, this is the quote I painted on my wall! Designed and hand-painted by myself. It was such a fun, fulfilling project to accomplish. I chose this quote because I knew it would inspire me every day with the reminder that nothing is impossible and I have to keep working at my dreams.

A very simple way to hang artwork: clothespins and glue dots! Glue dots can be found at your local craft store: simply stick one onto the back of the clothespin and put it up on the wall! I was getting sick of waiting around to frame and hang my work, so I just grabbed the available supplies and put it all up. I actually quite like this technique, though.

My nightstand is also a bit of a trainwreck right now (I'm in the process of redecorating and organizing my room), but the space above it is worth sharing! Another bit of watercolour artwork hung with a clothespin, and my headphones resting on a thumbtack stuck in my wall. I'm a bit impatient, and I have a very specific vision for my room, so when it takes too long to get something done, I use the next best thing and do it myself.

P.S. Who likes my little keychain Totoro? He's hanging around my lamp, keeping me safe at night. Pete gave him to me for our one-year anniversary. Isn't he sweet?

This is an old shelf right beside my door. When I was young, I kept all my stuffed animals in it, but now I have cameras and my tripod on the bottom shelf, hairbands and other such supplies on the top shelf, and jewelry and perfume on the top of the whole thing. The box on the left was given to me by a close family friend who serves in the military, and got it for me in Afghanistan. And of course, my picture frame/branch necklace hanger is hung up on the wall! That was also a fun project to make.

I hope you enjoyed that little wall tour and perhaps got some ideas for your own spaces! :)

Coffee dates

I've mentioned Pete in passing about fifty million times on this blog, but I don't think I've ever actually spent a blog post talking about him and how much he means to me.

Little coffee dates like this make me so happy. It's so nice on lazy days just to sit with him and wear his hoodie and talk to him and be out in the world. We actually had a random stranger who was waiting for his coffee tell us we were "so cute!" today, which was pretty funny.

And I guess we are pretty cute. I'm sitting on my couch writing this post right now while he's dozing off next to me, and I can't stop glancing back at him every few moments while I type and being overcome by my love for him. I am so beyond blessed to have found someone who brings me so much joy and comfort this early in my life. We've been together for a little over a year now. The ring you'll see in every single picture of me is his promise ring, and every time I glance at it I'm reminded of the beautiful future we're going to have together in our future cozy house with our future perfect children.

I'll stop being so obnoxiously lovesick now, but I guess my point is that this perfectly imperfect boy is my dream come true, and I couldn't be happier.

I just caught him staring at me. I guess he isn't asleep after all. c:

Repurpose is once again From The Mind Of A Dreamer!

Ah, it's good to have my old title back. I've been feeling that repurpose didn't quite fit the feel of this blog, and I decided to fall back on my first ever blog title, From The Mind Of A Dreamer. It fits me so much better.

Unfortunately, my original URL, without the dash, was stolen after I switched to repurpose. What's worse, the person using it ISN'T EVEN BLOGGING. There are no posts. Ack. Anyway, the new URL is:

http://from-themindofadreamer.blogspot.com/


Get it down!

If you were following me on Bloglovin, keep following here.

Thank you all so much for following, I really appreciate it. Hopefully as this becomes an even bigger part of my life I'll be able to turn it into part of my career some day!

Hopefully soon I'll have this little images available for you all to link to my blog on your sidebars if you'd like! Stay tuned. :)

5 Ways To Take Great Product Photos

Hello, all! Today I bring you five handy tips to taking great product photos. These apply to almost any photos you're taking, actually!

1. Create a simple background! I used a lace dress of mine draped over my computer as a backdrop. Make sure it's not distracting and covers the whole background of your frame!

2. Back up and use your camera's zoom. This will ensure a clearer focus and less obstruction of natural light on your subject!

 3. Shoot near a window or door! Even if the sun isn't shining, natural light still beats artificial light or flash any day.

4. Add a pop of contrast to make sure you can see the subject clearly! This white bunny spirit camouflaged right in with my dress, blurring all his edges and making the viewer strain their eyes to see what the picture was actually of. So, I took a red plastic egg and placed it behind him, creating a sharp contrast and a better visual.

5. One of the most misleading things about product photos is, I find, the lack of scale. Especially with a close-up shot, it's difficult to tell how big something actually is. So, make sure to include one picture comparing the size to your hand, your body, or a commonplace object such as a tennis ball. Your potential buyer will then know exactly what they're getting!

I hope you found these photography tips helpful! They're great rules of thumb for anything, not just product photography. Happy shooting!

Hello, April!

Happy April everyone! It's looking pretty gloomy over here, but I've been making the most of it by means of a creativity brain-blast! 

You'll get to see this creativity manifest in the form of DIYs, recipes, lots of pictures and, most excitingly, a whole new line of little creations on my Etsy!

Enjoy this sneak-peak picture below, and have a wonderful April Fools Day!