A very talented artists wants to interview me!

I received an email from a very talented artist who's interested in interviewing me for her blog about my hand painted glassware- what an honor! This is definitely motivation to continue this hobby...and it's good to know my items are appreciated by other people :-)

The interview is being posted today at her blog so make sure to check it out! She has a good amount of followers and I'm hoping it will help drive traffic to my shop...I'll keep you posted on the outcome :-)

Easy Ways to Update Your Photos

There's been so many times in the past where I've taken photos in poor lighting and just deleted them off of my camera. Because, why would I hold on to a bad picture, right? Well, that was then...before I knew anything about photo editing software. After teaching myself the basics of Photoshop (during my free 30 day trial), I was able to salvage some photos I had taken and enhance other ones...including some of my wedding photos! I wanted to share this information, because it's so easy!

There's a few popular software types that people often use- Picasa (free) & Photoshop (pricey). I just started using Picasa, because it's free and it's super easy to use. This is a before & after of a photo I edited in Picasa using the "tuning" options:

Pretty cool, huh? It's amazing how much difference there is in both pictures and the amount a picture can be enhanced. If I only knew then what I know now!

Woo Hoo

I was honored to get a message from another Etsy artist Explaining that they featured one of my glasses in their blog! How cool and on top of that, it's free advertisement of my shop :-) Here is the link that also features some other cool hand made stuff:
StudioHaus Blog

My newest additions

I've started making wine charms, but I wanted to make something different so I've incorporated bottlecaps. Sounds a little odd, but they actually look nice :-) For these, I used a beer cap and then cut out an image from a stack of scrapbooking paper that I had laying around. I glued the image to the inside of the bottlecap and sealed it with a resin that waterproofs the image and prevents it from fading over time. My goal is to make more collections with cooler images and new, unused bottlecaps....so more to come!!

Avatar Inspiration for Painted Design

I saw Avatar for the second time in 3D over the weekend…if you can’t already tell, I love that movie! I was so inspired by the beautiful colors and nature that were incorporated, I decided to use some of them as inspiration for my next set of painted wine glasses. I especially loved the “Enwa” tree that is somewhat reminiscent of a Weeping Willow. I started painting a tree that ended up turning into something that looks more like a cherry blossom tree:




I love it though- I think they are pretty and there’s actually a lot of symbolism behind cherry blossoms. The Chinese see the cherry blossom as a symbol of power and beauty while the Japanese view a fallen cherry blossom as the beauty of snow and it also has represented a warrior whose life was ended early in battle. Learn something new every day!

Be the change you want to see in the world

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I'd like to give back in some way and do something that either impacts people's lives in a positive way or the environment. For that reason, I decided to donate a portion of my sales to The Water Project. This organization helps provide clean water to people in Africa & India who don't have access to it. It's amazing that something so accessible in the United States is hard to come by in other areas of the world.

I was recently challenged on my decision to support a cause that impacts another country when I could support a charity that impacts Americans. Well, my reason for doing so is because every person in the U.S. has access to clean water...you can walk into almost any public place and use their drinking fountain for free. That is not the case in other places in the world and I personally feel that all people should have access to this basic resource. Here are a few interesting facts on the size of this problem:

• 1 out of every 4 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease
• Nearly 80% of illnesses in developing countries are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions
• A small amount goes a long way...$10 provides 1 person with clean water for 10 years!

Those are just a few of the reasons why I feel this is a cause worth supporting. If you're interested in learning more about this specific charity, visit http://thewaterproject.org/

What to do with the dress after the wedding

I'm not the kind of person that likes to collect things and I certainly don't like clutter around my house! This brings me to my wedding dress- I decided not to get it preserved because I don't plan on keeping it. I thought about keeping it (for a second) to perhaps turn into a Christening outfit for my future baby, but even if I kept my dress it would probably just sit in a closet for many years. So instead of keeping it, I'm trying to sell it! For those that would like to sell their dress after the big day, I suggest using www.preownedweddingdresses.com . You're more likely to get a better cost by selling it through that site instead of Ebay (just my two cents based on researching the bids on wedding dresses via Ebay). This site will charge you $25 to have your listing up for 12 months. I just listed my dress and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone will purchase it. If there are other good ways to sell your wedding dress, please let me know!