Some awesome tech that I ♥

I have a few websites & iPhone apps that I wanted to share & review with you today.  I having been loving these ever since I found them and I think that they are just too good to keep to myself, so here you are!

Instragram

Okay, so a lot of bloggers already know about this free app for the iPhone, but I want to share it anyway just in case. 

Instagram is a great app for anyone who loves to capture an instant photo, and with the added advantage of a polaroid type picture, it produces some pretty cool snaps.  It’s simple and easy to use, so this app is superb for everybody! 

The thing that I personally like the most about Instagram is that it forces you to work with limited lens and capture technology.  It’s a challenge to get a good picture, but once you do, you can make it look pretty spiffy with the tilt shift function and the awesome range of filters.  I like that I can grab a shot when I see it, and still have to rise to the challenge to put the shot together in a way that looks good.  I think that this is great app for furthering my photography skills and technique so that’s why I am loving it!*

Verdict:

4.5 /5  ~  could be faster to load up into the camera view, other than that, fantastic.

Extragram

And if you are taking all these gorgeous photos how are you going to share them?  Why, with the Extragram website of course!  You can share your photos and follow other people, and much like Twitter, receive the feed of the people you are following on you iPhone.  Sweetness!   There are some great pictures out there and it is really inspiring to see what you can do with a simple phone camera.

Ravelry

Okay, now I heading off in another direction and into another hobby of mine; knitting and crochet.  If you are a knitter or crocheter { or both; like me! } and you’ve looked up patterns on the internet, Ravelry might be old news to you.  However, I only just discovered it recently and I am impressed! 

It provides a nifty way of not only finding patterns, but also storing them, keeping track of your UFOs { Un~Finished Objects! }, your yarn stash, and, of course, the successful projects that you have finished and want to gloat over.   I like that I can put up photographs of my projects and keep them all organized ~ so again, loving this site. 

2Do

Speaking of organization, I have to mention 2Do.  It’s an iPhone app, so it’s limited in availability, and you also have to pay a $7.49AUD fee for it{ it’s gone up since I bought it{ !! }but if you consider how much you pay for an organizer, it’s still worth it and you never have to throw it out or buy new pages }.  If you are wanting something to help you stay on top of things however, and you happen to have an iPhone, I can really recommend this app. 

Usually { as you probably know } I am a traditionalist.  Give me good old paper over tech any time!  But the thing is, I can only fit so much in my tiny vintage handbags and using this app helps me to loose an address book, a to-do list, shopping lists, a social calendar, a blogging calendar, an art & craft ideas notebook, etc ~ basically the brick of paper that is a Filofax/organizer!

I like that I can bundle most of my life into my phone and I am good to go!  Okay, so I still keep a separate journal, but between 2Do and Instagram I am pretty much set.  I have slimmed down the contents of my purse, and as a bonus, feel a lot less “scattered” with all my bits and bobs in one place.  Yay!   > ω <   ~  ♥

Verdict:

5/5  ~  You know what?  No complaints from me.  I was trying to think of a downer, but there just isn’t one.  All in all it’s a really great app!

What apps/websites do you use to help keep you organized?  Are there any that you just love?

xox,

bonita

*All the pictures were taken with Instagram.  Theodore makes the best subject!  ^  U  ^  ~  ♥ ♥ ♥

Panda Pants!

It’s so exciting ~ I finished my very first sewing project: The Panda Pants!!!!!!

It was quite easy actually.  I read the instructions and I had my Sewing Guru there to explain little tips and hints, such as how to stretch the material for ease when hemming the legs, how to press when the leg seams open once they have been sewn up, and how to sew the elastic waist band together without adding bulk {overlap and stitch along all four sides in a box shape}, etc.  She just made the process so much smoother and hassle free.  If I thought something was going wrong I could check with her and ask for advice.  Me being the worrier I am, it was a relief to have that.  Her help allowed me to relax and actually enjoy the process of creating a garment.

The pattern we used was Kwik Sew 3028.  I made the waist band wider and thus, the waist is lower than what the pattern called for.  I also added the two side pocket option and put a ribbon bow on the front so a). you could tell it was the front and b). to make it look awesome.  Bows rock.

Now for a plethora of pictures.  Excited much?    You should have seen me dancing!

Sewing the rest of the pants ~

                                

 

                        So close…

 

Hemming time.

                     

                      

 

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNDD    Tada!

 

Left to Right  ~  Pocket view featuring Needle Mouse, the cuff hem and bow~tastic detail. 

Last but not least, the machine I sewed the pants on ~

                     

The workstation complete with cup of tea. 

I must say, I adore this machine.  The soft hum, the smoothness of stitch and the solid feel of the cool metal ~ it gives me confidence that I can actually use it.  It’s a Bernina 830 {the old school one} and I want.  When I am ready to purchase my first machine I am going to try and find one of these.   It is easy to work with, and it won’t fall apart {if it’s been well looked after that is}.   Plus, the added advantage is that my Sewing Guru owns one, so if I have any questions I can ask her about it.    : ) 

xox,

b.

~ Wrapt ~ Inspiration

I love this blog – the clothes, the quirk, the beautiful backgrounds… One day (as my DH witnessed) I announced that  I want to go to Alaska, rent a boat and spend a week on one of their beautiful glacial lakes in the middle of a mellow Alaskan summer (ooo!  Doesn’t that phase just sound delightful?  “Alaskan summer”…)  and you can blame Elizabeth from Delightfully Tacky.   Oh yeah, and I’m really beginning to like Winnebagoes thanks to her as well!

Recently she did a post that featured not only the cutest boots, but a fake tattoo she drew on her arm .  You might ask what that has got to do with anything around here, but I was inspired.  I took two of the elements from her tattoo and drew a picture around them. 
I called it Wrapt ~






If you want to know what  the original looked like, here it is:
      
      

Even better, check out Delightfully Tacky’s blog and see for yourself!  You won’t be disappointed I promise.
In passing, I think that I will continue this trend of not just posting the ‘inspiration’ like I know a lot of bloggers do, or just the finished results (there will be enough of that in my studio galleries once it is up and running) but do both together.  I always like to know the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff, so maybe you will too.
Another project I’m totally keen to start as soon as I get myself some wool is this super cute collar ~



I want to make it in white, black, red and purple (if it turns out well).  And once I’ve done those, I might even try felting it.  Although that will shrink it, so I’ve got to figure out how to make it bigger so that it won’t choke me once I’ve shrunk it in the washing machine.  (It’s a felting technique I learnt off The Crimson Owl, another great blog to check out)   I think it’ll be fantastic to trim boring tops with.  I want to figure out a way to clip it on so I can change the collars around as I please.  I’m a big fan of be able to style a piece of clothing with different accessories rather than making the changes permanent.  That way you can have a much bigger wardrobe just by switching the accessories and creating a completely different look for the garment each time. 
Finally; to finish off another uber long post – sorry people,  I just want to announce some seriously exciting news……   (Wait for it) ……………..

I just brought my new camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   *big squee*  It’s a Cannon 55oD Digital SLR.  I originally wanted the 50D, but for twice the price and the only difference being the 6.8 fps and the alloy body – both of which I can live without, so I decided it’s not worth it.  Especially when JB Hi-Fi were having a fantastic sale on the 55oD.  I got the camera body and twin lenses (one is 18mm to 55mm and the other 55mm to 200mm – both with a manual zoom and anti-shake features) as well as a Polaroid filter, a 16GB memory card (wish it was bigger, because I’ll capturing with RAW files, but that’ll have to do) and a two year extended warranty for cheaper than the 50D camera body alone!!  How sweet is that?!?

So now I finally have my own camera again.   I did have a point and shoot Olympus MJU for few years.  It was a good camera, but it broke and this is better by far!  The only downside is that I have got to wait at least a week for the camera to come, but once it does – expect an onslaught of photographs, because I am going to have sooo much fun with this bad boy. 

Bye for now, not forever ~
b.