Fine Tuning of the Marble Magnets With a Mini Photoshop Lesson!

So in the midst of all the hoopla getting the booth set up, I haven’t had time to work on a lot of craft projects. I have however, been slowly perfecting my marble magnet technique. I know there are 1000 tutorials online on how to make them, but I have found that your technique and materials can make all the difference between okay magnets and awesome ones! By awesome, I mean clean, clear, and durable.

Here is the latest set! I made them for my friend with pictures of her little girl, Melanie!

For custom sets like this one, I have found it’s easiest to print out the pictures at the size I need them, by bringing them into Photoshop for quick and easy size adjustment.  Start by opening up a new document sized at 8.5 x 11, with a resolution of 300 dpi.

Tip: Remember, if you are going to print an image, the ideal resolution is 300 dpi (dots per inch, or ppi, pixels per inch). Anything less than that, in terms of resolution, will come out pixellated and unclear. For web viewing only, (images for use on your blog, website, etc.) you can get away with 72 dpi.

Then, open up all the images you want to use for your magnets. Select the crop tool. Set your crop settings to 20 mm for the width and height, and the resolution. See the screen capture below. I use 20 mm because that’s the size of the marbles I am using…so obviously size according to your materials!

Crop all of your images and drag them onto your new document one by one. They should look like this:

You can see I did two of each. I selected them (one at a time) in the layer palette, right clicked to make a duplicate of that layer, and re-sized them a little smaller using edit > transform > scale. Sometimes 20 mm is slightly too big, depending on the content of the picture. I like having options.

I suppose instead of all this, you could just eyeball it and use your magnet to test and see if the images are small enough. I am just slightly obsessive-compulsive and  I’ll use any excuse to play around in Photoshop!

I used this technique with other images I found online. Here are a few sets that I plan to make!

 

 

Supplies to get if you plan on mass producing these things:

A 20 mm hole punch, found in the scrap booking section of the craft store. Saves a ton of time and makes a nice, clean cut.

A bulk order of clear, “cabochons”. They are flat backed, perfectly clear, acrylic little marbles. They come individually wrapped like this:

I hate that it’s such a waste of packaging…it’s not very “green.” BUT, it does mean your marbles are perfectly clean and clear and have virtually no defects. I would never go back to using the marbles from the craft store….they aren’t clear enough for my liking.

I bought mine in bulk here! The rest of the supplies/technique can be found in my old marble magnet tutorials; this post was just about tweaking them.

I would love to see your magnets if you try these! Check out The Graphics Fairy for AWESOME, free vintage art, which would be great for this project!!!!

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!! Talk to ya’ll later!

 

Welcome to Booth #84 at The Carriage Place!

I am so excited to share these pictures of the new booth with everyone! My friend Christine came down for the weekend to help me set up and I am THRILLED with how it turned out!

A chilly but gorgeous spring(ish) day at The Carriage Place!

And here is it, all set up! The 3 large lamps hanging from the ceiling are not mine, and are going to be moved soon.

Vintage garden seed signs, just in time for spring!

I’ve hit up some great sales lately, including a church rummage sale where I acquired the limited-edition Normal Rockwell plates (on the wall in pic below) and that large, fabulous, enamel ware pan! Score!

A few cool items stacked up: a vintage black trunk, a heavy metal ammunition case, and a wooden carrier full of country star ornaments!

Love these tin flowers for spring and summer!

If only you could smell these sachets…they make the entire corner of the building smell AWESOME! They are adorned with a variety of vintage flower seeds art.

Got this charming little folk art soldier man at the rummage sale. I had to have him for the new space! I LOVE little folk art characters!!!

An antique sewing box, lots of enamel bowls, and some wooden shelves take up the space under the big table!

Gotta love dusty old bottles…

And a view from the main hallway!

Teeny and I, after a long day of setting up. Thanks again Teeny for all your help!!!

I also want to say thanks to everyone who has continued to follow my blog even though I have been less than faithful at blogging lately. It’s just been so busy getting things in order for the new space! I plan on doing lots of thrift store shopping and crafting as the weather continues to get nicer!

Have a great week all and thanks for stoppin’ in!

A Quick Booth Update!

First of all, I wanna say THANKS to the awesome people at Dollar Store Crafts for mentioning my blog on their Facebook page over the weekend! I would die without my Dollar Tree and am so happy to share my dollar store projects with some fellow crafters!! If you missed my post on “Country Themed Dollar Store Crafts”, see it here!

Well, it’s rainy and yucky here in WNY, but that’s okay because yesterday was absolutely gorgeous for moving my first load into my new space at the Carriage Place! They have a professional appraiser come in every other month, who happened to be there yesterday, and the place was buzzing! The boy scouts were there selling hot dogs, it was almost 60 degrees…. just a great spring day for antiquing!

I took a few pictures with my phone of what I have set up so far. Excuse the crappy photo quality, but I just HAD to share! It’s kinda bare right now, but my friend Christine is coming down next weekend to help me fill it in with all my little crafts and knick-knacks! For now I just wanted to get some of the bigger pieces in there.

I recently acquired a wonderful primitive lap desk (on the white table) which everyone was drooling over (including me)! Isn’t it frickin fabulous???

I thought these cute little tin flowers screamed SPRING! I am using my shutter shelf made by my step-dad for now until I get another shelf for the booth. It’s not for sale…I could never bare=e to part with it!!!

I put out a few wooden bunnies for Easter. I also got this little black trunk at a garage sale a few days ago. LOVE it!

I haven’t had much luck selling my signs at the craft shows, but I am hoping that they will do better here!

I put these signs up until I get the space filled with goodies!

It’s so much fun but a little nerve-racking at the same time. I met a lot of nice vendors who were encouraging and told me things looked great so far. Can’t wait to get in there this weekend and tinker around some more!!!

Have a great day everyone!

It’s Official…I Have A Booth!

I’m so giddy and excited that I just HAD to share!

Yup, I signed the papers last night and dropped off my first month’s rent, which is for April. The owner said I can move in whenever I want, giving me two extra weeks before my official contract starts. I think I am going to move in my first load of stuff on Sunday! YAY! THIS IS SO FREAKIN EXCITING!!!

I decided on a place called The Carriage Place in Brockport, NY. The owner and other vendors have been SO nice and I my gut tells me this is where my first booth should be. It’s a 6600 square foot craft/antique co-op with about 40 booths. There seems to be more primitives/antiques than there are crafts, but I think that will mean my booth will stand out (I hope!). I have a nice mix of both antiques, folk art, and crafts, and I think it’s gonna fit right in!!!

Here’s the booth as it stands right now…just waiting to be filled up with my goodies!

It’s got that ladder hanging from the ceiling which I can already see inter-twined with grapevines and twinkly lights! I’d like to paint the booth a taupe/brown color as well; I’m not a huge fan of the cream walls….they’re a little too plain for me.

I will keep ya’ll posted and take some more pictures this weekend. The ideas are flowing and I can’t wait to get started. This is the next big step in my craft business and I can’t wait to see what happens!!!

Oh yeah, by the way, HAPPY ST. PATTIE’S DAY! To all my Irish friends and family…CHEERS!

A Few Thrift Store Tid-Bits and Some Cool “Vintage” Tin Signs

Is anyone else getting that itch to go out antiquing? To garage sales, estate sales, and flea markets?? I’ve got that itch, BAD! I was at least able to make a run to the thrift store recently, and found a few little goodies!

I love these simple tin candle holders…

This dark navy candle holder with white polka dots called to me…for some reason I picture it with a rusty snowflake ornament around the neck, and displayed around Christmas/winter time.

A blue glass mason jar with cool designs…a no brainer!

I think this is one of those change holders, but you could really use it to hold anything!

And my favorite find…these wonderful little tins with vintage school children scenes on them! What do you suppose I use these for…any ideas?

Speaking of vintage tin items, I wanted to share some great tin signs I picked up at a wholesale gift show. I got them in the hopes that I will have a permanent booth by summer time. They are reproductions obviously, but I still think the imagery is so charming! They are pretty convincing as vintage advertising!

Sorry for the crappy pictures, but you get the idea! Aren’t they freakin’ FABULOUS?

That’s all for now. Have a great week everyone, and keep THINKIN’ SPRING! We are almost there!

Grubby Candles and Tapers

Who doesn’t love a grubby, chunky, little candle? I decided to make some today, by modifying some small votives and tapers I had lying around. I think they came out pretty darn good! Wanna try?? Here’s how I did it!

Start out with your basic votives. I got these at Wally World.

The other supplies can be found at the Dollar Tree, except this large pillar candle which I also got at Walmart. I chose this color/scent to melt down, because it sort of matches the votives. I HIGHLY recommend using a tin pan or something disposable for this project. It’s SUPER messy and washing wax off of dishes is not easy. Trust me.

I made my own ghetto double-boiler using a small pan that set in a larger flat pan. This prevents the wax from getting too hot and burning. All of these pans have been sacrificed and are my permanent candle-making pans…I wouldn’t use them to cook with afterwards.

Pour some melted wax into the foil pan. You gotta work QUICK! Wait just a few moments for the wax to cool (just hot enough to work with), and start rolling your votives. I recommend using gloves! I just got my nails did, and I refuse to chip wax off of them for the next week!

Shake some cinnamon/nutmeg right in with the wax. Be liberal, depending on how grubby you want them. The consistency shown below seems to work best – when it’s still melted but just starting to harden. Roll the votive around and pack it on the sides, like you’re packing a snowball!

Meanwhile, Paco supervises this messy operation.

After they dry, they look like this.

Next, find a small container that the votive will fit all the way in, to dip them once more to seal. I cut down a ricotta cheese container because it’s narrow and I won’t need as much melted wax to fill it up. I knew I hoarded those plastic containers for a reason!

And dip…

Place on wax paper to dry. Once dry, I dusted them with cinnamon. Here’s the finished product! I love them!

And now for the tapers. I got these like a year ago, for 25 cents a piece, when some craft booth was going out of business. I knew I’d find a use for them eventually.

Any tall, narrow container will do. I used an old glass vase. Being tall and narrow, you don’t need as much wax to fill it up, as say a large pot. I like to melt as little wax as possible, for times sake. Then…dip, dip, dip away! *Please note the delicious roast in the crock pot in the background. Dinner tonight…YUUUM!

Roll in cinnamon mixture and re-dip. Repeat as much as you’d like, to create, thicker, grubbier tapers.

My professional candle drying rack…nifty, huh?

And here they are. I plan to finish them off by tying together with some raffia or homespun and adding a little rusty star, or something like that!

Whew. It’s a very time-consuming and MESSY project, but well worth it. I love how everything came out. Here my helper Paco rests after a long, day…

As always, if you try these, I’d loooooove to see some pix!

And now for that pot roast…..:P

Stamping Hang Tags, Skeleton Keys, and Possibly A PERMANENT BOOTH?!?!

Yes, I think I am about to take a plunge into the world of craft co-ops! It’s not 100% yet but I have spoken to the owner of this wonderful craft/antique co-op called Liberty Hollow, and am looking at a few booth options. I will most likely start small and if things work out, I’ll move into a larger booth!

THIS IS SO EXCITING! It’s been consuming my mind lately!!! Also, Liberty Hollow has a…how do I put this…”sub-par” website lacking a lot of basic information and design so I offered to re-do the website in exchange for a few bucks off my monthly booth fee, which the owner seemed very interested in.  I hope it works out; this place is right up my alley! It’s one of my favorite places to shop, and I know the place like the back of my hand! I’ll keep ya’ll posted!

In the mean time, I have acquired some really great new rubber stamps that I picked out especially for stamping my grubby hang tags. The first is a lovely little bird cage…these seem like they’d be great for Valentine’s Day!

I realllllly love these ones….skeleton keys, of course! They are my new obsession lately…not sure why!

I love the flower with the script behind it. It’s so….romantic.

And lastly is my favorite, a Victorian style woman writing at her desk…

I plan on grouping them together and selling them for crafts, scrapbooking, gift wrapping, or whatever your primitive little heart desires! I recently saw unstamped grubby hang tags in a catalog selling 5 for $5….gimme a break! I am thinking more like 5 for $1!

I attached a (reproduction) skeleton key to the tag for interest.

It was inspired by the pic below from Confessions of a Plate Addict. I am certain they are the same keys from Hobby Lobby!

I could make these all day! Not sure what to do with them though…they’re just so PRETTY. Hang up or use as bowl fillers perhaps? Do you like the homespun (below) or the ribbon (above) better? I usually prefer homespun for all projects, but I might be leaning towards the ribbon for these.

And the left overs became funky hanging ornaments!

The other project I worked on over the weekend was replenishing my stock of country tea lights. The little plastic flames are wrapped with masking tape to avoid getting the texture paste on them.

I textured a few of these little rusty stars to make small star ornaments. I love them as plain ol’ rusty stars, but couldn’t help experimenting here. Cute and simple stars never fail!

Well, I got my crafting fix…for now! The possibility of a real booth has motivated me. I am overwhelmed with ideas and to-do lists!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Ophthalmic Photography: Part II

I have been dying to get down and dirty with some crafting and getting some new projects posted on here, but work has been so freakin busy lately! By the time I get home, I am too tired to craft! So I figured…since work has been consuming me lately, why not share a few of the interesting cases I have been photographing!

These diagnostic images are interesting displays of how complex our bodies are, and become a sort of “abstract art.”  Some of these are quite rare conditions and make for very “eye-catching” images (pun totally intended).

This is a very complex case of a patient who, according to our MD, has wet macular degeneration along with an arterial macroaneurysm. There is blood both above and below the retina. The images are a color photograph complimented by an OCT scan. OCT stands for optical coherence tomography, and is a type of high magnification, cross-sectional imaging. The orientation of the OCT can be seen in the lower left corner of the inset. I love how the cyst of half fluid and half blood looks on the scan!

Shown here is some kind of crazy blood vessel abnormality…obviously!! I can’t find the dude’s chart or else I’d give a little more information on how the MD described this pathology. I think it’s just plain COOL! Super sharp, tortuous veins and arteries always make for interesting photos!

This patient has a very large tumor in his eye, seen on the right. This image is a mosaic, made up of multiple images shot on multiple planes of focus. The top of the tumor seen here is actually about 8-9 millimeters elevated from the retina…which is a lot in terms of tiny eyeballs. Unfortunately, this eye will most likely have to be removed.

This is a 9 mm OCT scan of a patient with a very rare disease called Vogt Koyanagi Harada Syndrome. It is typically seen in Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern patients. It is an inflammatory disease which causes severe swelling and detaching of the retina. In a normal retina, the scan would be flat, without all of the gaps between the layers.

Here are two images, the right and left eye, respectively. The patient has what is known as “Bulls Eye Maculopathy.” It can result from hereditary conditions and also from drug toxicity, as seen with this patient (or so the MD suspects). It’s symmetry and similar appearance in each eye, when put back to back, is really neat!

This patient has “Solar Retinopathy.” This is essentially a small hole in the retina which results from staring at the sun! So, in summary, DON’T stare a the sun!!! You can really see the definition of the fine retinal layers with this black and white image.

Another interesting OCT scan shows a patient with “Foveoschisis,” which can occur in myopic eyes. It is essentially a shallow retinal detachment. I particularly like the positive/negative space effects in this scan.

This pathology is called a “Macular Star” for obvious reasons. The little yellow spots are little deposits of lipids, or fatty molecules that are in the blood. They can often create a star pattern, radiating out from the macula, which is the area of the retina responsible for central vision.

Spider webs? Nope! This is a high-mag image of a diabetic eye with tons of blood vessel abnormalities. There are even spots where the capillaries have closed off. This is the result of a diabetic patient who doesn’t take care of themselves or watch their blood sugars!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed these images as much as I have enjoyed sharing them. I am so blessed to have a job that I love, that directly helps the patients. I may take a million photos a day, but I never get sick of this stuff!!!