MCP Project 52 Week 11/52 - Darks and Lights

I drew a complete blank with this theme at first, and just happened to notice a couple of potential shots while I wasn't really looking. This one I had taken a few weeks ago, but luckily the graffiti was still there so I went back and took another shot especially for this project. I liked the positive message rather than the usual swear words and 'woz ere'! 

I brightened the image and then added the Orton and Holga effects to enhance the contrast and darken the edges. I think the image fits the theme, not only because it is black and white, but because the 'light' message of smile is a contrast to the 'dark' setting. Not explained it very well, but that's how I see it!

Some reject shots:

I was cooking/burning some toast the other day as the sun was shining through my kitchen door, and the sun lit up the smoke (don't worry, there wasn't much smoke!). I used a longer exposure and then increased the contrast on Picnik.

And here is the black and white version.

O is for One-Eye

If you've ever visited my Fur Will Fly etsy shop you'll probably have noticed that all my plush creatures have one eye. You may have wondered why. Now, I could just tell you, but I thought I'd make it a little more interesting and give you the answer in a mini quiz format! So you get to choose which of these options is the most plausible, or amusing, answer:

a) I am a stingy cheapskate who wanted to save on using expensive buttons for eyes by only using one for each creature, thereby making them last double as long.

b) It was quite by chance as I noticed it was a cool quirky feature for my toys, after making my first plushies which were robots with one eye. It just sort of stuck.

c) It's not really an eye at all - it's a mini camera to spy on all my customers after they've bought a plush from me!

d) I was so worried about accidentally making my creatures cross-eyed that I decided to just use one eye instead.

e) I just forgot that creatures normally have 2 eyes.

Please enter your guess here:

Why only one eye?

N is for Nails

My terrible confession is that I bite my nails. I've bitten them for as long as I remember, apart from a few months here and there when I've managed to stop. Lately I have been biting them until they get very sore, so I figured it was time to give quitting another proper go. So I'm making it public - I am going to stop biting my nails from today. There. I've said it. I'm slightly more accountable now so maybe that will help.

I have the Big Cold Turkey wristband and horrid tasting nail polish - so I'm armed and ready to fight! 

I'm too ashamed to post a photo of my nails as they are today, but here is a shot of how pretty they were last summer (OK, they are fake nails but I had to grow my own first to get them attached so I'm not totally cheating!).

M is for Monthly Dream Boards

Something I've found really useful for motivation this year is to create monthly dream boards from magazine pictures and words. I choose them to represent some of the things I want to do in the coming month, along with some motivational phrases and just some pictures I like!

So here is my year so far in dream boards:

January:

February:

March:

April: (I'll add this one when I've taken a good photo!)

I thoroughly recommend giving dream boards a go - it can be so helpful looking back at them when your enthusiasm is dwindling mid-month, to remember what you wanted to achieve!

L is for London

I love having days out in London - exploring new areas, lounging in the parks, spending money in the shops and visiting attractions. I'm lucky to live only an hour away on the train, but I haven't made the journey for ages. So, I'm writing a little list with all the things I want to do/places to go to, so that when I have the money and time, it will inspire me!

1) Thames river cruise - just because I've never done one.

2) The London Eye - I must be the only UK-er not to have been on it!

3) Street Art tour - or find my own walk around these areas.

4) Chelsea Physic Garden - looks like they have some great plants for macro photos too!

5) Greenwich market, shops and park.

Any other  ideas are more than welcome!

K is for Knowing When to Draw the Line

Specifically I am talking about drawing the line between business and personal blogging. I originally started this blog as a way of sharing more of my plush creatures and telling stories about what they get up to while they wait for someone to liberate them from my shop. I let it lie dormant for quite some time and then I resurrected it by adding in my 2 other Etsy shops and writing about all my different creative projects and creations.  

In the past few months I have been doing more online courses and a current one, Unravelling, has really made me think about sharing a bit more of myself with the world. I woudl like to create a sort of personal journal on a blog, where I write a bit about what is going on in my world (and my head!), and hopefully connecting a bit more with others. Now, here is the question - does that fit with this generally rather light-hearted blog or should I start a completely new one? Do you, the readers, want to read about the adventures of the 365 Scientist followed by my anxieties or worries on body image for example?

Also, just how personal do I want to get when people can see who I am? I would feel more comfortable blogging anonymously about such things - I don't want people to connect my fun toys with a person talking about sadder things, and I don't want to accidentally offend anyone who actually knows me in real life.

There is also the question of how to gain any readers and followers of a new and personal blog - I would feel disheartened at talking online pretty much to myself, and can't connect with followers I already have if I want to be anonymous - aaaggghhhh! 

I would love some knowledge from anyone who writes a personal blog, or who mixes personal and business successfully. 

Thanks for reading this post even though there is only one picture and lots of my ramblings!!

J is for Just Do It!

Just a short post today to share my mantra for the year...

JUST DO IT!

I is for Immune Cells

By day I work with white blood cells of the immune system, and weirdly these cells have inspired my plush making. I haven't made all the different blood cells yet but have made a start!

Here we have the red blood cell:

The macrophage:

The neutrophil:

The monocyte:

I'm aiming to finish making a basophil, eosinophil, B cell and T cell soon!!

H is for Hearts

I know there are probably thousands of heart-shaped and heart-themed items out there, but I love the slightly more unusual ones. For example, I made an anatomically-correct heart plush for Valentines Day, with the message 'blue without you' sewn onto the reverse:

Here are some other heart-themed items from Etsy:

Beat Black Heart Necklace by Beat Black

Shimmery Marriage Heart Formed Hands by Moonlight Aura

Two Hearts 7 x 5 Print  by Photos Will Fly

I've also got a little sneak preview of a new design range I'm working on, to do with the hearts theme:

Because I like heart-shaped things I'm always on the lookout for them and I found one in my crisp packet a while ago!

See you on Monday for 'G' day!

G is for Groups

I love Flickr and as of today, I have joined 100 Flickr groups - hurray! So to celebrate I thought I'd make my 'G' post all about my favourite and most visited groups!

For the last year I've been taking lots of online courses in art, photography and journalling, so for their duration I tend to visit the group page every day to read, share and post. Most of these groups are private so I'll stick with the public ones so you can go and visit them too!

My 5 favourite public Flickr groups:

1) MCP Project 52: Photo a Week

• This is a brilliant photography challenge with a different theme each week. I am loving this project so much as it really is helping me become more creative. I've only got a digital compact camera and not a dSLR, but that doesn't matter at all - my latest photo was taken with my phone camera!

2) The 365 Toy Project

• This group is full of photos of toys in strange places or doing weird activities! I have my own 365 Scientist who I photograph every day, and I share my photos on here. This group always makes me smile!

3) The Sketchbook Challenge

• I love looking through everyone's sketchbook pages and it makes me feel so inspired to open my own. Plus there is a theme every month to work on - great for when you run out of ideas!

4) Cloudporn

• As the name suggests, this group is for photos of clouds! Cloudwatching is something I love doing, so it's great to share my own photos and look through everyone elses too. The sky really can be totally amazing.

5) UK Handmade

• When it comes to gift ideas, it can be so useful looking through this group to see what people have made here in the UK. There are so many unique ideas here.

Here's to the next 100 groups I join!